Sorry for the long wait. I've been focusing on the Sacred Gear series and I'm getting annoyed with how long the Grail War is going to take here. I'm thinking about switching to Issei early and cover some of the things he do before coming back to the Grail War. Issei will have two arcs or so before the Noire and co's return from Nasuverse anyway so maybe I should cover one of Issei's arc when I got to the middle of the Grail War. Just saying though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Nasuverse or DxD. Although I eat kinoko, I don't like nasu.

Chapter 10: Fuyuki War part 1

-With Noire and Xenovia-

"Alright, this doesn't look good at all."

"You don't have to tell me that."

Noire and Xenovia whisper to each other as they noticed the arrival of the eight Blue faction members.

"Well well, what do we have here? It seems like we got a big prey this time. The Shijou brat and the Wizard Marshall's apprentice though she's not looking too good for wear."

One of the Master stepped forward. It is a female with shoulder-length white hair around the same age as Irisviel (appearance-wise) wearing a suit.

"Geh, the old hag Lisa Argent."

And it is not just her that Noire recognize. There is the red head from the Sophia-Ri family, Bram Nuadha-Re Sophia-Ri. He is the master of Berserker since he stood beside him. Beside a man wearing a blue bodysuit wielding a long red spear is the Irish Enforcer, Bazett Fraga Mcremitz. Last of the group is a man sneering at him. He has short blonde hair and red eyes and look to be in his forties, the oldest of the group of four and also the one Noire dislike the most of the four. His name is Glen Trifa and he is the Master of Archer.

"Who are you calling old hag!"

Lisa shouted in irritation. She never like Noire much. In fact they irritate each other by making light jabs here and there. But they are at least cordial when needed.

"So where's your Servant? Don't tell me you forgot to bring your Servant with you when you go out."

Noire gave her a sheepish smile which is all the answer Lisa needs to confirm that he indeed left without his Servant. But Lisa won't move recklessly even knowing that. Noire is powerful and so is his partner. Archer and Berserker said they could match a Servant for a limited time. She knows that if he is actually serious, he could be very dangerous. The boy could fight the lower-ranking DAA evenly. And his partner is Xenovia who wields Durandal, a Noble Phantasm, according to Berserker. She was one of the three who slew Wallachia when he came to Misaki city. Neither of them would be an easy enemy even without their Servant.

"So I guess confrontation is inevitable. Well, before we start, let me send my friend here bac—"

Noire was prevented from sending Valerie back by an arrow destroying the ground inches from him.

"Well, that's too bad."

Noire commented. And the fight started.

"Rider!"

"Come… Caster!"

Both Xenovia and Noire commanded using their command seal. Without waiting for Caster to fully materialize, he tossed Valerie to Xenovia who in turn gave her to Rider to guard. Noire drew his black keys and felt his body being reinforced to unheard level. Caster.

"Xenovia, Noire, I'll be multi-tasking between supporting both of you and healing Valerie. I won't be able to move so protect me! Rider, give Valerie to me and help them!"

Sophia commanded. Rider acknowledged and pass Valerie to her and descent to the ground and dismount from his Hippogriff, drawing his sword. Sophia who is floating over her team had erected a barrier around her with Valerie in her arm being healed. Dozens of flaming blades began to form all around her.

"Archer and Assassin are coming so hold out until then. Saber is occupied with the other Saber and Lancer is also on her way with the others. I don't know where Berserker is but he is probably fighting. Can you guys hold out until I finish healing Valerie at least?"

"No problem Caster."

Rider gave a thumb up as he joins his Master in the fight. Xenovia went straight to Berserker who is smirking while Rider engaged the enemy Rider, Lisa's Servant, which leaves Noire to fend off Archer and Lancer.

"Two Servants? Are you trying to kill me Caster?"

"I'm supporting you Master. Don't worry, I've applied extreme reinforcement to you and my blades can still provide distraction at least."

At Caster's cue, her blades began to fly around, intent on at least disturbing the enemies. Caster also remembers to at least assign two blades to occupy the enemy Masters so that they won't interfere. Even if each Master is outclassed by Noire and Xenovia, they could become a nuisance that could proof to be fatal in combat against Servants. As the blades began to chase away the Blue Masters, the Red faction fighters engage the enemy Servants.

Xenovia with her body reinforced further by Caster now possess the required strength to stand up to Berserker. Having felt the power of the Heroic Spirit with her own body in their last encounter, Xenovia decided to go all out right from the start. Wielding Durandal with her right arm, she drew her black keys and began to engage Berserker of Blue in multi-range combat.

In a straight-up fight, Xenovia is severely outclassed by Berserker in skill and even with extreme reinforcement (which she is determined to learn) the Servant of madness is still the superior one in physical might.

So now better equipped and more prepared, Xenovia became a legitimate threat to Berserker. The speed at which her keys flies are like bullets with how she launch them using the same principles as Prana burst, something she recently learn from their Saber. Although she can't use it to increase her physical prowess, she can use it to launch her keys at bullet speed. Coupled with the fact that these are new keys crafted by Caster after finding their old keys near useless, her attacks are seriously dangerous even to Servants. Coupled with the relentless attack from Caster's flaming blades, Xenovia managed to keep Berserker on the defensive.

When she got in close using Durandal, Xenovia always watch for the two swords that Berserker wields. Xenovia carefully dodge around Berserker's accurate and powerful slashes, although occasionally blocking using the flat of her own massive blade. For now Xenovia employs a hit-and-run tactic, slowly wearing down Berserker with the number of attacks happening at the same time. Alone she might've had a harder time but Caster's blades are very effective and whenever Berserker struck them down, they sometimes explode when Xenovia is outside the blast radius and another flaming blade quickly replace them. For now, the fight is at a stalemate as both fighters tried to get the battle into their pace.

Not far from where Xenovia and Berserker are fighting, the Riders of both factions are facing each other.

Astolfo, the adventurous Paladin of Charlemagne, is not known for his martial prowess. To be honest, if not for his Master's immense talent, he would've had a harder time against his fellow Rider using only his sword alone. No, his value lies in the use of the treasures he received during his life. His superior Master is the reason why despite the difference in skill, Astolfo is still keeping up with Rider of Blue. It is mostly because unlike him, Rider of Blue's Master is incompatible with him and thus the other Rider's performance suffers. It is actually Rider of Blue's skill that kept the battle even. If not, Astolfo could've eventually overwhelmed the enemy Rider with his superior spec and Caster's support.

But the really fierce fight is between Noire and the two Servants. Armed with his black keys and shadows, Noire swiftly move throughout the battlefield, not straying far from Caster but far enough to keep the battle away from the Servant of spell until she heals Valerie. It is a good thing that Archer seems to be fixated on him. Then again, he and Caster pushed back Archer and that coupled with Glen Trifa being her master, Archer of Blue's fixation on him is understandable.

Glen Trifa had been a proud Magus and his family hates the Shijou for a reason and that is because they also use shadows as weapon. They have the magecraft that could mold shadow into solid objects and uses shadow as means to attack. They uses shadows just like him but more offensive than for mobility and pathway creation. They are also older than the Shijou by three generations but had not been very successful in their research. On the other hand, the Shijou family had not only made steady progress but had actually produced Shijou Momoka who was said to be an impossible genius and went to obtain Second Magic and even meld it together with her own magecraft to create the powerful Black Kaleido. The one-sided rivalry between two shadow-user families ended with the Trifa's defeat. Even so, that one-sided rivalry still continues and it annoys Noire to no end. He's really going to kill Trifa in this war.

Shijou Noire proves to be very fast and nimble with how he could avoid all of Lancer and Archer's attacks while also throwing black keys at them, the same new black keys like Xenovia's. He has to admit, the crafting ability of a Brave is truly fearsome, especially Sophia's if she can make so many new keys that are powerful enough to match a Servant's weapon. The battle is less of a battle as the three are keeping things at range and more like a game of cat and mouse, or hide and seek with how they are constantly moving and hiding.

Noire would throw multiple black keys at Lancer's shadow to keep him grounded which can usually hold the Servant of Spear down for around two seconds while also occasionally countering Archer's arrows with his keys. Archer would keep firing at Noire while Lancer try to get close to the Red Master to finish him. Whenever Lancer could get close though, Noire would disappear into the shadow began countering.

"Heh, a slippery one ain't ya!"

Lancer of Blue yelled as he tries to pinpoint Noire's location. If he doesn't know any better, he would've thought that he is fighting Assassin with how good Noire is in concealing his presence and running away. He can't blame him for not fighting him directly though. He is, in the end, a human. A very skilled and powerful one supported by a capable Caster but still a human in the end. Facing both himself and Archer of Blue in direct combat is tantamount to suicide. That's why he opted to fight like this by constantly moving and hiding while also attacking them from range with powerful weapon. Plus he is only buying time for now. Once Caster healed the Dead Apostle girl, she will join the fight and most likely be the most dangerous enemy on the field. All Noire has to do is survive and keep them busy, something he is doing very well in.

While Noire is having an intense game of cat and mouse with Atalanta and Lancer of Blue, Caster of Red, Sophia Brave is about to finish healing Valerie. The dead apostle began to stir in Sophia's arm and finally regain consciousness.

"Are you up?"

Sophia asked the still listless vampire.

"Ugh… Caster? Is that you?"

"Yup, it's Sophia Brave! Everyone's favorite Caster!"

Caster energetically said. Now Valerie is convinced that it is indeed Sophia with how much energy she has. Then she jumped when she remembered her fight with the Inferno. Only when she's falling did she realize that they were in the air. Valerie landed on the ground perfectly and immediately scan her surrounding for any presence of enemies. Instead of finding Inferno or his sister, Valeire felt the presence of Servants.

"Caster!"

"We're in combat with the Blue team."

Caster explained simply.

"You cannot use Sepiroth Graal again. I've healed your physical damage but mental fatigue is another thing entirely."

"How can I help then? Berserker is in combat with the other DAA and is currently occupied."

"It's done. The weapon you asked me to make is done."

Caster then hands Valerie a rapier, a silver rapier made personally by her, Sophia Brave, the greatest craftsman of the Brave family. Valrie traced the beautifully made hilt of her new weapon with her finger. She grip the hilt and draws the thin blade from its scabbard. The weight feels right and the blade is flawless. It is a blade that shows Caster's worth as a crafter; Beautiful and powerful, enough to stand side-by-side with legendary weapons and not be found lacking.

"It's hard to make it but… it's finally done. It is my best creation after my own weapon and Momoka's compass and made from the same material."

Valerie decide to admire the work of art later. Swinging the sword twice to test it, Valerie let out a satisfied smirk as she joins her friends on the battlefield. Caster then took to the air once again as she felt the presence of their allies arriving.

It is time for the Red team to counterattack.

It came fast and hard. Three arrows was about to hit Lancer of Blue when he was engaging Noire in a clash of blades when he noticed the arrows from the corner of his vision. Spinning his spear skillfully, the blue Lancer intercepted all the arrows with his red spear before glaring straight at the source of the attack. On top of a building not far from there stood Archer of Red holding a black composite bow. The white haired Archer's steel eyes met the red eyes of the blue Lancer. During that short exchange between Lancer and Archer, Noire had already disappeared, now engaging Atalanta as Archer of Red resume shooting at Lancer of Blue which the skilled Lancer either evade or strike down.

'Tch. Guess I need to get closer.'

Rushing to the Archer's location, Lancer dematerialize into spirit form.

When Noire noticed that reinforcement had arrived, he breathed a sigh of relief as he had been pushing himself to the limit to fight two very capable Servants even if he is mostly running away. With their Archer getting Lancer's attention, he could focus on fighting Archer of Blue, Atalanta.

"Noire!"

"Valerie, help Astolfo against the enemy Rider!"

Noire commanded. Valerie would like to help Noire but with Caster now free, she can help Noire fight Archer of Blue. As it is not the time to argue, Valerie nodded and went off to find Rider.

"You should've let the vampire help you. You cannot triumph against me alone."

Archer said as she shot another barrage of arrows that Noire intercepted using his keys. Noire smirked as he replies;

"Not alone."

Atalanta's beast-like instinct alerted her as she jump away from her current spot, barely avoiding being incinerated as the ground beneath her erupts in a burst of flame.

"Caster."

The cat girl growled as the Servant of Spell descends upon her with sword drawn. More flaming blades began to appear and the wind began to blow stronger as Caster release her arcane might. Archer had to keep jumping to avoid Caster's sword, both the flying ones and the one in her hand.

"Tch. A Caster using sword?"

"Maa, it just so happen that I am a decent swordsman. Just like what Momo-tan said. The more range you can cover the better."

Atalanta would've dismissed Caster's sword skill if not for the fact that she managed to intercept her fast arrows using her sword. Not only that but Noire suddenly appeared behind her and slashed at her with his keys. Unable to avoid Caster's attack from the front and Noire's ambush from the shadows, Atalanta could only try to minimize the damage she would receive. Noire's keys cut through her right side while Caster's sword manage to slash her left thigh. The first blood goes to the Servant and Master duo.

Atalanta wished that her Master could at least help her by distracting Noire but the boy outclasses Glen Trifa by quite a margin. Having her Master fight the boy is too dangerous as he is skilled enough to match a Servant and Caster's magic will definitely support him.

Being pushed by the combined effort of the Master and Servant, Archer decided to go all out. She finally unleash her Noble Phantasm. She pulled Tauropolos' string to the limit and unleashed a single arrow towards the sky.

"Phoebus… Catastrophe!"

I'll be honest, the Casters in this Grail War are the true monsters, both of them. Yup, Sophia just kept all the enemy Masters in check while assisting Noire, Xenovia, and Astolfo in their battle against enemy Servants. Overpowered? I will say yes. Don't worry, Caster of Blue is a match to her and she will have to use her full power to win against him. There's a reason why Sophia is so powerful and can use seemingly endless amount of prana. I'll reveal part of her true power next chapter.

Next chapter will continue the battle and Kiritsugu's arrival. I don't know how many more chapters till the night ends since there is still Mordred vs Arthur and then Shirou Kotomine and Semiramis and we can't forget about Kotomine Kirei and Gil... Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Maybe I'll kill a few characters off screen or the Grail War will have around 20 chapters or maybe more.

Anyway, like I said in the beginning, I might get back to Issei right in the middle of Heaven's Feel and finish one of his arcs first before getting back and it's becoming more tempting by the minute.

Now for the revs

dragonrider66: Just consider it a messed up Grail War... Actually, I forgot about another Ruler. I'm keeping Jeanne for later so I don't have anyone to be the Ruler for this Grail War. Just chalk it up to the mess created by a lot of things like Momoka's fight with the black beast. As for characters from other series, I have three characters ready in reserve. One of them will be Issei's main while the other two I haven't decided. Anyway, take a guess who those two are. One is from Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei and the other is from Madan no Ou to Vanadis. I'll be tinkering with their power a little to fit either DxD or Nasuverse's system.

Hikari Nova: Well, the 5th Heaven's Feel arc focuses on the OC, Xenovia, and Valerie. Issei will be taking the lead in the next arc so I'm interchanging them with each arc. The Grail War is taking too long though so you might see Issei soon since I'll probably cut it in the middle and do one Issei arc before returning.

So sorry for the long wait. Please follow and give me more prana through revs. People will start dying next chapter... and I forgot about Brunhilde and Fiore.