"Shit, already? That was fast.." Andrew said. "Everyone, get ready! This will be a lot harder to deal with than the Rider and Assassin." He turned his focus to the Servant directly in front of him whose steed he sat upon. "Your Majesty, would myself remaining on your noble steed reduce your combat effectiveness?"
"No, Andrew you would probably be safest on it, during the fight. And do not worry about falling off, Guillotine Breaker will keep you on it." Marie answered.
Andrew took note of Fou leaving his shoulder and leaping over to Mash to take cover inside her shield where he seemingly usually hid while he responded. "Thank you, your Majesty." He then turned to address the musician. "Mozart, could you start with your music now?" He asked.
"Yes, I can use it to assist your Servants Andrew, for I do not think it can do anything against that beast," Mozart spoke as he looked towards the northern horizon.
Andrew followed his gaze to see an absolutely massive dragon with scales dark as the night and a large green glowing sigil on its chest flying towards them at high speed. The green marking was what made the connection easy; that was- "Fafnir." He said aloud, in awe and fear at the dragon. The wyverns were nothing compared to the real dragon coming at them.
And for a moment, Andrew felt a type of dread he'd never felt before. Lev, the Alters, they'd been human shaped. Human-sized. Easy to contextualize into a normal person's mind. This? This was an actual, living, breathing, ready to tear him to shreds dragon.
As the dragon approached, and the dread grew, it clicked. And Andrew began to laugh. A hysterical laugh, like the laugh of a man at his own execution who was just pardoned.
"Fear is an appropriate response to seeing, him, but do not fret Master by the name of Andrew, even weakened as I am that dragon fears me more still," Siegfried spoke with utter confidence.
Andrew turned to the Saber, a twisted mirth in his expression. "And that is exactly why I'm not afraid in the slightest anymore," Andrew said, spreading his arms wide in a dramatic gesture. "You killed Fafnir in life with the same, if not less than what you have right now, so you could probably kill it one-on-one no problem, but we have an entire squadron's worth of Servants to take it down! Against the dragon, our victory is practically assured!" Some of the elation he felt left him as he spoke. "Its the three servants that I'm worried about. Hopefully, they go down as easily as the others."
Andrew saw Siegfried walk past him and Marie as he spoke again. "Ah, sorry I misjudged your laughter like that of fear." Andrew saw Fafnir land at such a distance he could see Jeanne Alter standing on top of the dragon's head. "But I will have to admit, I don't remember how I beat Fafnir the first time," Siegfried admitted. "Sorry."
That was then Jeanne Alter decided to speak up her voice loud enough for everyone of them to hear. "Dammit, you're still alive Dragon Slayer, I thought my curse and wounds would have killed you already. Fafnir get back into the air you big stupid ass dragon!" Jeanne Alter commanded the dragon, which Andrew noticed was actually shaking a bit.
"You won't leave unscathed. O' Sword Let thee be Filled Balmung!" Siegfried shouted as he activated the Noble Phantasm and unleashed the sword beam on the evil dragon. The blue cleaved through the town destroying more of it. But it didn't manage to kill Fafnir as the dragon was still in the air, but Andrew could see the wound it had sustained, and it would take some time for it to heal properly. "To think that the curse has weakened me and Balmung power this much," Siegfried said.
And got a response in the form of an angry Jeanne Alter. "Damn you, Siegfried, how dare you hurt my Faf, Assassin, Berserker kill them all, and summon you wyverns and Carmilla to this location. Fafnir let us retreat for now." And the dragon obeyed as it turned around in the air.
Andrew heard the sound of two things landing on the ground in front of them.
"Well, guess we'll get to our Assured Victory later," Andrew said, honestly a bit disappointed now that he'd have to wait after turning his fear into excitement. "In the meantime, let's get rid of these two pests before we move on to the main prize. Caster, incinerate them." He ordered.
"Sure thing Master." Cu said, which was followed by an announcement from Dr. Roman.
"Guys a new Servant entered the perimeter of the town, and I'm detecting a hoard of wyverns approaching at least over a hundred of them."
Andrew grinned as he redirected his excitement from earlier. "Wyverns? No problem. They may have a hundred, but we have 8 Servants, one of which has the legend of slaying dragons baked into his existence! This'll be a piece of cake." He said. "Now, let's get these Servants out of the way first, and then we can focus on the fun part."
At that Cu fired a fireball using the rune Ansuz at the cloud of dust thatthe two Servants had created.
But before it could connect at blow whoever it was, it was destroyed as a figure of smoke and darkness seemingly came running through it, doing nothing to hurt or impede it.
"ARRRRRRR!" The figure screamed as it rushed the group in its hands Andrew could see two swords, one in each hand. But their form was twisted, as they were now black with red lines running through them.
"What in the world?" Cu asked in surprise as the dark figure rushed at him with its weapons. Cu dodged the attack by doing something with his feet as blasted himself backward. The figure smashed the corrupted looking weapons down into the ground making a small crater. That was then Andrew got a good look at the smoky figure. Who was now looking directly at Lily, seemingly shaking as it did.
"Shitshitshitshitshit EVERYONE MOVE NOW!" Andrew shouted at his Servants upon recognizing the most likely identity of just which Berserker stood before them. One who had bitch-smacked Gilgamesh with a fighter jet. "AND LILY STICK TO MASH!"
As he shouted that the Berserker Lancelot blasted towards said Servant, but thankfully the first attack was blocked by Mash. But the next one pushed her back a bit. Though that was when the rest of combat able Servants moved to attack Lancelot, with inhuman grace, the Berserker blocked and parried every single attack. But he seemingly kept his focus on trying to attack Lily and Jeanne switching between the two.
Andrew stared at the action with wide eyes trying to think of a way to kill Lancelot quickly before he could harm his Servants. He quickly tried to use his Stat-o-Vision on the dark knight.
But he got nothing; not a single stat was visible to him, it was like he was trying to see invisitext without the proper add-on.
That was when he heard a male voice speak up. "While you might outnumber us, you don't outpower us. Not against this Berserker my Master has summoned."
Andrew turned his head towards the Servant that had spoken, who he had forgotten about completely for a moment.
His voice and appearance also got a response from Marie and Mozart.
"It can't be?" Asked Marie.
"Why are you working with the enemy Sanson?" Mozart asked.
"Why hello Mozart, Marie it has been a long time since we've seen each other. After all, you both died before I did. Well, Mozart, you died of disease and Marie, my beautiful queen Marie I cut your head off." Spoke Sanson with a calm and sophisticated tone, one of high society like Marie and Mozart. Andrew decided to use his monologuing as a good time to use his Stat-o-Vision. "As for why I work with the Dragon Witch it's quite simple. It's the job I've been hired for. I'm an executioner, after all, it's my job, to kill even if it's an entire country. Now, what about you Mozart do you still think human beings are trash?" Sanson asked the musician.
[spoiler= Charles-Henri Sanson]
True Name: Charles-Henri Sanson
Class: Assassin
Master: Jeanne d'Arc Alter
Parameters:
Strength: D
Endurance: D
Agility: C
Mana: D
Luck: A
Noble Phantasm: B
Class Skills:
Presence Concealment: D
Mad Enhancement: C
Personal Skills:
Executioner: A++
Medical Techniques: A
Human Anatomy Research: B
Noble Phantasm:
La Mort Espoir: Death is Hope for Tomorrow(Anti-Unit): A
[/spoiler]
Andrew had the feeling this guy had some sort of insta-kill move with that A++ Executioner skill and that Noble Phantasm. He and his Servants would probably have to keep their distance.
"Of course humans are and always will be trash, but since I'm human too, I'm also trash. But we're beautiful trash, and we will continue to be so, as longs as we have vices and desires." The composer answered.
"Hmm, and you still give the same answer every time. But as you continue to spout that I will continue to hate you, Amadeus. For, despite being an executioner I find human life precious, and life no matter how low should not be spit upon. And for a thing, I never got to say to you before you died." Sanson took in a breath. "Your music sucks."
"Ouch, I just felt a part of me die, you truly are an executioner Sanson killing my pride like that." Mozart bemoaned. Which Andrew saw caused Sanson's eyebrow to twitch.
"You don't know how to be quiet do you, Mozart."
"Nope, my mouth is like a waterfall when you get it going."
"Then I shall be delighted to cut your head off to stop it. This truly must be destiny or the work of god hand for me to experience this. But before I kill you again Marie can you answer a question for me?" Sanson asked.
"What is it you wish to know Sanson?" Marie asked, and for the first time, Andrew heard her sound serious.
"How did it feel when I cut your head off? What did you feel and think at that moment then my Guillotine blade met your neck? I always wanted to know what the people I executed felt like in those last moments. But then I did the autopsy on your body, I think it was orgasmic wasn't it?" Sanson's faced turned absolutely creepy as he said that.
Andrew felt Marie's body tense as she sat on the horse.
"Ah," Andrew said flatly. "You're one of those creeps aren't you." He stated rather than asked. As he did, he grabbed a Runestone-ice-from his bag and got ready to toss it using Marie and her steed to block the Assassin's line of sight. It wouldn't do much, but it would probably make for a great distraction.
"Please, do think me of participating in necrophilia, I'm merely just commenting on what I saw. I have much respect for the dead to even have such thoughts. Especially towards Marie, for that, I shall cut your head of first. Well, we have played around enough the wyverns are here, and Carmilla is hiding behind me. Berserker use your most powerful Noble Phantasm!"
And it was true, Andrew looked up for a second, and he saw the mass off wyverns circling the town ready to strike.
"Shit," Andrew said. He'd gotten too distracted, and now they were going to be swarmed by a mass of wyverns, dealing with Lancelot, Sanson, and that vampire lady from earlier. "Well, guess there's only one real thing to do." He chose that moment to throw the already-activated Runestone at the Assassin, using his old skill as a little league baseball pitcher.
The stone flew towards Sanson, who blocked it using his weapon. It exploded surrounding the claymore-like weapon he had and his hand in thick magical ice.
"Damn, brat," Sanson said.
And that was when pandemonium happened. "Fire the cannon, drive the monsters away, for France and for our Maiden!" Shouted a male voice, and Andrew heard the sound of cannons beings fired. And the sound of wyverns screeching in pain.
"No, it can't be, Sir Lancelot how could this have happened to you?" Andrew heard the sound of Lily's voice.
Andrew looked over at where his Servants were busy fighting off Lancelot, to see that the smoke had disappeared around the Knight of the Round, and his face was visible for all to see. The mad knight was surrounded in a semi-circle by his Servants and in his hand was now a single sword different from those he had used before. It was long, a greatsword like Balmung, almost the length of the man's body.
"Arthur," Andrew heard the Berserker growl.
Though its name escaped him, Andrew knew the sword was able to clash with Excalibur with no problem, meaning they needed to kill the knight quickly if they wanted to get out alive. But there was still the Executioner before him. He could either focus on the disabled Assassin first while he was weakened or on the much more of a threat Lancelot. He was conflicted.
Then he made his decision. "Your Majesty, my deepest apologies but I'm going to have to ask you to help in killing that Berserker over there. I don't know if my Servants can handle him for long and I'd rather kill him as quickly as possible." He asked the queen whose steed he still rode.
That was then Andrew heard the voice of the man who had shouted earlier speak again this time right behind Andrew, Marie, and Mozart. "Go, fight the knight whose heart has been blackened by grief." Andrew turned around to see who was speaking. It was a man he had never seen before wearing most of a suit of plate armor with some pieces seeming to be missing.
Pressed for time, he decided to take the man's offer. "Thank you, kind stranger." He said before motioning to Marie to go towards Lancelot to help defeat the Berserker.
As they turned around went towards Lancelot to fight they heard the clash of steel. Andrew heard Sanson, and the stranger speaks to each other.
"Who, are you Servant to prevent me from my duty as an executioner."
"I am Servant Saber Gilles de Rais, a proud knight of France and loyal soldier to Jeanne d'Arc."
"I see, you looked familiar, so this is you while sane? Very well then I Servant Assassin Charles-Henri Sanson! I shall have your head!"
Andrew decided to deal with that later when he wasn't dealing with an enemy Lancelot with infinite mana. Instead, he palmed another ice Runestone to try and pull off the same trick if he could.
The fighting between Lancelot and his Servants had resumed, and it looked to be going so much worse now. Where before they were able to reliably defend against him and even get a few hits. Now they had to try with all their might and not die to the most skillful Knight of the Round.
Andrew waited for the right moment before throwing the Runestone at Lancelot with all his might, hoping to disrupt the Berserker for even a moment.
"Mozart it's for use to assist and help." Andrew heard Marie say. As he threw the Runestone of ice at Lancelot. Guillotine Breaker began to pulse with energy again, as the stone flew, and to his surprise, it landed on the ground right at Lancelot's feet. The earth and his legs were frozen instantly, right before Lily would have been skewered by the black blade.
It lasted only for a second, but it along with Guillotine Breaker and Mozart's music a second wind was granted.
Andrew saw a look of determination in Lily's eyes as she thrusted Caliburn right into Lancelot's chest.
The Holy blade piercing all the way through.
Andrew felt a sense of relief as Lancelot's blade fell out of his hands down to the ground.
And Lancelot himself began to disappear, but before he did Andrew saw one of his hands caress Lily's cheek before he disappeared completely.
Leaving only behind a Saint Quartz which fell to the floor and Lily picked it up. She turned her gaze towards Andrew, and he saw a few tears appear in her eyes.
Andrew really, really wanted to comfort her right now, but they were still surrounded by Wyverns, and there were two enemy Assassins still nearby. "I'm so, so sorry Lily, but we have to focus on defeating the enemy right now." He said, motioning to the surrounding chaos.
"Your right Master, there can be time for tears later. We need to stop the enemies forces here." Lily spoke, but before she could say more Dr. Roman popped up.
"Good, news the Assassins have retreated with the death of Berserker Lancelot. The other Servant is approaching you, though you need to deal with wyverns quickly before they manage to kill the rest of what is probably the French Army."
"Affirmative," Andrew responded, before turning towards the horde of wyverns, trying to bring back that excitement he'd felt earlier, though most of it had faded after Lancelot and Sanson. "Let's kill some wyverns!" He said, chucking a lightning Runestone into a small group of the wyverns, the shock didn't harm them, but it made them fall out of the air.
And what followed was a massacre of the wyverns as all of Andrew's Servants were able to put their focus on them. Which took all of five minutes to do.
God, wyverns were so weak, it wasn't even funny to Andrew as he just watched his Servants butcher them.
Which now just left Andrew to confront the Saber Gilles de Rais and the army he had brought.
"You're Jeanne d'Arc, aren't you the true one, and not the Dragon Witch, what am I saying. Yes, of course, it's you, my dear Jeanne. I could never forget those eyes of steel that you possess, that banner of undefying determination." Gilles spoke, with a voice that sounded heavy with memories.
"Yes, it is me, Gilles," Jeanne answered.
And that was then the much taller man hugged her.
"There Gilles its okay, its okay. There is no need to cry." She patted him on the back.
"Right, we have much bigger problems. You boy?" Gilles turned his attention towards Andrew.
"Yes, sir?" Andrew said, showing the man who had allowed for them to kill Lancelot so quickly and who was close to Jeanne some respect.
"I can see that you're the Master of most of these Servants. So, do you have information, about the Dragon Witch that we can use to fight her?" He asked.
"Right. A quick summary of what we know right now: she has summoned several Servants so far, which of the survivors we've confirmed to include Count Dracula as a Berserker, Carmilla as an Assassin, Chevalier d'Eon as a Saber being coerced into obeying via Mad Enhancement, and Charles-Henri Sanson as Assassin. Alongside a massive army of Wyverns and the True Dragon Fafnir. On top of all this, she seems to be straining on our Jeanne's legend, actively making her weaker than she should be. And she intends to wipe out humanity due to no longer being able to hear the voice of God." Andrew explained to the Saber before him.
Andrew saw Gilles' face turn grim at the last part. "Thank you for telling me boy, I have been trying to gather the remaining French Army to fight her, but we have nothing to fight against a legendary Dragon such as Fafnir."
Andrew grinned at that. "Oh, we won't have to worry about Fafnir. We have his slayer, along with 8 other Servants, including yourself. Our victory is practically assured against the dragon." His grin turned downwards somewhat. "It's the Witch I'm worried about. We've been able to take down her Servants pretty easily so far, relatively, but I have this sinking feeling she has something hidden up her sleeve that has to do with that-" he pointed at the hole in the sky "-which we still haven't been able to figure out. And she has a Grail, so she has practically unlimited Mana."
"Andrew, you have to remember that I'm still cursed, so if I do not get that lifted, I might not be able to kill Fafnir in one strike. And you're underestimating Dragons, the wyverns are easy to kill as they are pretty much newborn babies. But Fafnir is Dragon with a legend attached to him, making him more like a Servant than a Phantasmal Beast." Siegfried said.
Andrew turned towards the dragon slayer. "Are you absolutely certain that we can't just stab him in the shoulder and be done with it while you're still cursed?"
"No, it would not I would need to obliterate him in one strike as he is now. Or he would be able to come back. And besides, I really don't like being in constant pain, due to the curse." Siegfried answered.
Andrew's eyes widened somewhat at that. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize the curse was causing you pain as well. We'll find some way to lift the curse, then slay Fafnir, and then we'll kill the Witch with everyone together bearing their full power." He said as sincerely as he could to the Saber. "But first, Mash how do you contact Chaldea from this side with your armband?" He said, addressing his Kouhai.
"I just need to press the button here to initiate conversation," Mash said as she pressed a certain part of the armband.
"Hey, everyone did you need something?" Asked the holographic form of Dr. Roman.
"Hmm, Impressive communication Magecraft. I wish the church weren't so stingy with good mages joining or we could have something like this." Gilles grumbled.
Andrew ignored Gilles as he spoke. "Doctor, how many Wyvern corpses do you think Da Vinci can make use of? And for that matter, how many do you think we could actually contain?"
"Well, the ones you already sent are enough for her to last, but we can contain about twice more what you sent, for other Casters you could summon."
"So about 40?"
"Yes, that is the room we have able in cold storage for them."
"Alright then, we'll be sending over about 30 wyvern corpses then, so we still have some room in storage," Andrew said after a moment.
"We'll get ready for Rayshifting them." Dr. Roman said as he disappeared.
"Well, I'll have my men help collect the bodies for you to transport to our headquarters. But concerning Mr. Siegfried's curse, my men have heard rumors of a Holy Knight defending the town of Bordeaux, at the eastern side of the country." Gilles said. "Perhaps he can be of help?"
"Thank you for your continued assistance, sir. That seems like it will be our best bet in breaking the curse; we'll head over there once these wyverns are dealt with." Andrew said.
"I recommend that you just send a small party to seek out the knight, while the rest of us head towards Orleans to fight the Dragon Witch, as with your Servants our fighting chance has increased tremendously." Gilles offered his opinion.
Andrew considered his suggestion before turning to his Servants and speaking. "Obviously Siegfried would be in that party, but who else would be best to accompany him? And should I go with as well?"
"No, I shall go get the Holy Knight for you," Marie said.
Andrew turned to the queen. "Are you sure Your Majesty?" He asked of the Red Rider. "We know not of any potential enemies who could be lurking near the Knight's position, waiting to strike."
Marie just shook her head. "Oh, Andrew you worry too much, I will be fine. With Guillotine Breaker I'll make the journey in a few hours. If I took anyone with me, I would just be slowed down. Guillotine is normally a one-seater and even with you on your slowing him down tremendously. So if Siegfried came along, all his muscle would make me slow as a snail." She grinned at Andrew while saying that. "And the sword and armor too."
Andrew glanced over at the Saber in question before responding. "Yeah, that is quite a lot of muscle." He paused. "And the sword and armor," he said with a similar grin.
"Oh my, Andrew you make it sound like you like muscled men?" Came Mozart.
Andrew's face turned about 15 shades redder. "N-no, I'm just able to appreciate certain aesthetics, I'm sure you'd understand." He said to the musician.
"Master, you're just digging the hole deeper, but look at Mash she looks so sad to find out her Senpai is more into men than her." Came Cu's voice.
"What! No, I'm not." Mash said, with a firm denial.
"Shut it dog, Siegfried's just eye candy I barely know the guy," Andrew said, before realizing what he had just said and deepening another 20 shades of red. "Just. Just shut up."
All he got was a laugh from everyone, even Jeanne looked like she was about to crack into laughter.
"Come on, like you all are any better! I'm willing to bet most of you don't follow the 'other gender only' thing either!" He said, incredibly flustered.
"Sorry about that Master, but none of us actually have done it with the same gender. And Mash, Jeanne and Lily here are virgins." Cu said as he pointed at his fellow Servants.
"I-I mean neither have I but wow, bold claim coming from the Irishman," Andrew said, before seeing the rest of his Servants and smiling. "Oh, poor Cu Chulainn, narrowly avoiding death by Lancelot only to be defeated by his own allies."
"Oh, tell me I can feel their glare trying to set my soul on fire. But actually, I have never done it with a man. I actually only had sex with Scatach, Aife, and Emer. And I never did it with Medb for unlike Fergus I know not to stick my dick in crazy." Cu answered bluntly.
"Okay, just forget anyone said anything alright? Marie is heading to get that knight, we're going to gather up these corpses and send them off to Chaldea, and you-" Andrew pointed at the Child of Light "-are going to be training with them." He said, pointing at the trio the Caster had insulted.
"And I don't think you mean normal training Master?" Cu asked nervously.
Andrew glared at Cu Chulainn at the underlying implication of his words. "Girls, go all out on Cu Chulainn, everything short of your Noble Phantasms. Cu Chulainn, you're aren't allowed to retaliate."
And then everyone was witness to Cu being beaten on by the three woman, and Andrew bade farewell for now to Marie, as she took off to find the Knight.
