I do not own Fate/Zero nor any other Servants depicted here.
Ascension
Heavy was his breath. Rider and the fellow generals with him looked at the abomination before them. They have tried everything and nothing seemed to get past the armor that was welded onto him. Rider began to wonder if this 'warp fire' also transformed the armor into something a lot more sturdier.
"Brother, perhaps we should all strike at once," growled out Zhang Fei as the thing roared out in defiance as it fought off Ma Chao and Zhao Yun.
"We must first find a way past the armor before we could even talk of such things," Rider replied with a great frown. It was finally able to throw off its two attackers and let loose another roar.
"We should focus repeatedly at the armor, of course by your order," breathed out the youngest and the loudest general among them.
"I fully agree with Ma Chao, General. Let us put this plan into action," agreed the other.
Yet, before Rider could give the order, his younger oath brother shouted, "Let us not waste time! Charge!" Although taken aback, the others followed suit, intent on finishing off this maligned warrior. True to his word, Zhang Fei ran straight up to the monstrosity and was actually able to knock it back, smashing the length of his spear shaft into the helmet. Releasing his hold on his weapon, he then bent down, grabbed it by the legs, and started spinning. "Let's finish this now!" he shouted as he released.
"I'll hold nothing back!" shouted Zhao Yun as he leaped into the air, his spear burning blue with power. Aiming carefully, he threw the spear; the force of the point slammed into the monster's armor, knocking it to the ground. He grabbed the falling spear just as it toppled towards him.
The mutated beast roared in defiance, grabbing the general by the legs with its tentacled hand and tossed him towards Zhang Fei, both men tumbling over. Getting up, it suddenly was faced with Ma Chao. "Face my spear of justice!" he roared as he slashed its chest piece. It was then suddenly surrounded by the general and three more clones. All four image leveraged themselves on their spears and kicked it. All four merged together and Ma Chao delivered another slash before landing behind it. "General!" he signaled loudly.
"You shall fall!" cried out Rider as he brought down his mighty blade on the abomination. Both enemies stood still in position for a moment, and then the armor crumbled, the pieces falling clattering to the ground. However, it revealed something even more sinister. A series of jagged lines ran all the way from the abdomen to the chest, looking like an opening that was sewed shut. Then before their startled reactions, the lines separated and a mouth full of teeth was in full view of the four generals. Rider did not have time to react when the horrendous mouth spewed out a vile smelling, green substance.
For the first time, Lancer did not know how he would defeat this new enemy. Its skill with a blade, in his opinion, was on par with Saber. Along with its unnatural agility and endurance, it was a very formidable foe. Even when under Haste, the demon seemed to be able to anticipate his attacks and block and parry with its blade accordingly. And that was before Berserker entered the fray as well. It was now that he was busy trying to come up with a way to defeat the demon while it was battling the Mad Servant on equal footing. Equal footing! Yet from whatever information he was able to glean from its attacks, Lancer got the impression that the demon was aiming to disable instead of killing outright, its blade aimed for the joints of the arms and legs. He refused to imagine what might possibly happen should the demon be able to prevent him from fighting back. He was also aware of the vulnerable position both his Master and Mistress were in right now.
"Master. You have to retreat. I shall remain to ensure this demon doesn't follow after," he told them without taking his eyes off the dueling demon.
"I... I..." stuttered Kayneth, knocked out of his stupor. He felt tired, ever so tired; having retrieved his fiancée, he could only comfort and calm her while he watched aghast at the demon summoning. Only after Lancer's words jolted him out of his despair did he realize that Sola-Ui was rescued and was in his arms. Hope flowed back into his being as he quickly scooped up the trembling woman in a bridal carry and said, "Very well, Lancer. I leave this to you." He slowly made his way out of the clearing with his Mystic Code trembling after him.
Even with his Master's departure, Lancer was still unsure on how to combat the demon. "Would it be possible for me to injure it with Holy?" he wondered as he switched to the blue white lance. Deciding to at least try something, he calmly got into stance, the tip of the spearhead aimed at the demon warrior, carefully following its every move. While it was locked in a duel of seemingly equal strength with Berserker, the Servant knew that only time will tell if either one would falter. It did not look like the demon would have to wait much longer, as his sharp eyes did notice the Mad Servant slowing down only just slightly. He would have to time his attack correctly as not to accidentally hit the other Servant and end up being the target of his wrath. He could not afford to.
Her movement was graceful and precise. She did not waste much breath and movement as she quickly cut down another of those horrific demon beasts. She was the only one left standing and was trying her utmost to prevent the beastly army from trying to get through. She was now standing at the only opening that led to the inner circle of the defense arranged by Huang Zhong. The aged veteran and general had decided to close up all other weaknesses in the wall save one and have the slowly increasing tide of demons funnel through that opening. The change of strategy had proven useful, as there were not many who had decided to clamber over the wall of green terracotta. Those that did were greeted with arrows. Yet by some unknown reason, Huang Zhong was suddenly overcome by a sudden bout of crippling pain. Brushing off all concerns, he did explain, much to the worry of the two Masters, "The Five Tiger Generals share a sacred bond through our service to Liu Bei, later styled Emperor of Shu Han. Something must have happened to General Guan. I know not what, but if I should be feeling this, then Guan Yu must have experienced this tenfold."
"Oh no! Then, maybe I should recall him back here and..." started Waver nervously but was interrupted by the old general.
"You will do no such thing!" the old one shouted in anger, "It would dishonor him greatly if you should dare do such a thing! He is the one who would sit by and calmly play weiqi while Huo To scraped away poison from the bone! This bit of pain is nothing to the likes of him!" He then continued to shoot at the stragglers that decided to scale the wall, ignoring the two Masters. Waver was somewhat and felt ashamed about his lack of faith in his Servant, while Irisviel was quite impressed by the faith the aged general had in Rider.
Without warning, something huge crashed through another part of the wall. The eyes of the two Masters widened in horror while the Servant of the Sword narrowed hers. The aged general, meanwhile, let out a cry of alarm.
"What is the meaning of this!?" he yelled as he ran over to check on his fellow generals. An inhuman howl later, the abomination stepped through the newly made opening. It reached for the sky and roared again. It was apparently a signal, as demons and beasts started pouring in through the new opening.
"Irisviel!" cried Saber. She sorely wanted to go over and help but she was currently engaged by eight of the demons that suddenly forced their way through the old opening. Huang Zhong leaped into the air and started raining fire arrows onto the demon force, but the monster bounded up to him, grabbed him with his tentacles and threw him to the ground. At that moment, all seemed lost and defeat looked imminent.
"There... Release... Blade... Light..."
Four white orbs swirled into existence, flanking the inner circle and facing the incoming horde. A second later, white lances of energy streaked through the space in front of it, the crisscross pattern of the shots burning and killing two thirds of the charging force. Much to both Master's awe and the others surprise, an almost-naked Archer slowly drifted down in front of them, her modesty saved by strategically placed bits of skin-tight fabric which was supposedly what was left of her battle dress. Now she had bladed gauntlets and bladed greaves, both white in color. Her cap had been replaced with a white head plate with long horns; her blonde hair was long and cascaded down her back in a distinct fray, no longer restricted by the cap. She had not large white pauldrons on her shoulders with slight blue and red extensions rising upwards. She no longer held her guns nor any other weapon; instead, a set of eight disembodied swords as long as her legs floated behind her in a wing-like formation. Overall, it was as if a metal angel had descended from the heavens to save them.
The remnants of the charging force were still charging straight at her. Slowly, she floated forward.
"Lost Dreams..."
The disembodied swords swooped around and arranged themselves into a trapezoidal shape, lighting up and creating a blue barrier just as the first few leaped at her. Somehow the barrier repelled them and sent them flying back. As more came at her, she leaned back a bit with her arms stretching backwards, the swords all aligned in a row and pointed forward.
"Sword of Decimation..."
Bending forward, she sent her arms forward as if she was slashing the air in front of her; the blades traveled in unison like a flash of light, cutting through the charging demons like butter, leaving only a few stragglers left.
"Foolish..."
A white orb appeared in front of her; at the same time, one of the others disappeared, making it seem like it was teleported over. The beam of light struck the lead demon through the chest. And just as the rest was within striking distance...
"Releasing..."
The white orb exploded violently, quickly decimating the remnants of the charging horde. However, the other orbs exploded as well, quickly causing the flanks of the inner circle to get destroyed in the process, much to Waver's and Irisviel's shock.
"Archer! How could you be so careless!? I thought we are allies!" shouted Saber, after already having dealt with her defense.
Surprisingly, Archer stared at Saber with her now azure blue eyes, and then answered monotonously, "Servant Caster is designated as the main objective. All other targets are designated as targets of opportunity."
But, before the Servant of the Sword could muster a furious retort, there was one more thing that had to be taken care of, and that thing was currently charging straight at Archer with a loud roar. Turning back to her almost forgotten foe, she surprisingly curled up and then stood straight with her arms gestured outwards with her eyes closed, the swords behind her vanishing from sight. The abomination was just upon her with the mouth on its front wide open when it was suddenly caught in a transparent ball with strands of white light piercing it in multiple places, immobilizing it completely.
"Wisdom of the divines..."
She was heard muttering as she semi-twirled in place, disappearing. She reappeared above the abomination, finishing her twirl and her whole body outstretched. She opened her eyes; glowing blades of light appeared in the sky with her, all eight of them aimed at the immobile target below.
"Erase the world and I will also disappear..."
As she crossed her arms on her chest, the swords fell onto the target, cutting it to pieces. She then teleported to ground level once more. The two Masters looked at her in awe. Saber took her place beside the Einzbern while Waver attempted to heal Rider.
"Archer, how dare you say that earlier!" Saber said angrily, yet Irisviel placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Let it go, Saber. I wasn't harmed by the explosion."
"But Irisviel, she..." she started but was interrupted by Rider's groaning.
"Rider! Are you alright?" asked Waver, looking half-afraid of the answer, not feeling that confident of his handiwork. The other three that were more closely affected were also beginning to stir.
"I shall... A commendable job, Master..." the Servant replied when with no clear warning, the ground beneath them started rumbling. This was followed by a rather harsh wind blowing across the battlefield. Somehow, above the wind, they were able to hear the sound of metal boots making their way towards them.
Everyone present moved towards the larger of the two openings at their own speed. To the surprise of the Masters and the visible anger of the Heroic Spirits present, with the exception of Archer, they saw the cause of the strange turn of the weather.
The two hurried through the forest, Kayneth taking great care not to trip and drop a now sleeping Sola-Ui. His fear still remained in his heart, even though he was confident that his Servant would be able to pull through.
"Don't worry, Sola-Ui," he thought as he continued on his way, "You are safe now... I will not let anything else happen to..."
The mercurial Mystic Code suddenly warped around him, stopping in his tracks. It was then he was aware of metallic clinking behind him. He nearly dropped his fiancée there and then.
"What!? Which fool thought to attack me!? With guns no less..." he trailed off as he carefully laid the sleeping woman on the ground.
"Show yourself!" he shouted, anger seeping into his voice, "Who dares to attack the ninth Lord of the Archibalds!? Which one of the Masters would stoop so low as to hire guns to eliminate their most worthy rivals!?" Beside being angry, he was also concerned about Sola-Ui's safety and was determined to make the Code to be at maximum strength until he was sure that the assailant was neutralized.
It was then she suddenly started shrieking in pain.
"I must admit that all of you have been very impressive in fighting back the daemons that I brought here," commended Caster as he stopped at a distance from them with his staff at hand, "But you are merely stalling the inevitable. Allow me to show you the great gifts of the Ruinous Powers."
The quaking and the wind started picking up. His entire being was now glowing purple and red. He dismissed his Bedlam staff and raised his hands to the air, his arms outstretched to the side. His body started levitating a few inches in the air. The aura slowly engulfed and encased him like a ball.
"Allow me to show you the cunning of Tzeentch... the might of Khorne... the perseverance of Nurgle... the thirst of Slaanesh..." the Servant declared darkly.
Kayneth was dumbfounded when Sola-Ui started thrashing and crying out in pain. He knew not what had happened as she was suddenly struck with the wild fit she was in.
"Sola-Ui! Please! Tell me what is wrong!" he shouted in despair as he watched her writhe in pain. Much to his horror, her skin had suddenly paled to an ashen grey tone. A strange stiff, purple colored substance started forming over her hands. Even her hair started decolorizing.
"Too much! Please make it stop!" she screeched as she curled up and stretched and rolled on the ground, "No! I'm so sorry Kayneth! So, so sorry! Please end me!" A black tattoo that resembled an eight pointed star slowly surfaced over her face as she continued to thrash around.
"No! Please, Sola-Ui! What is wrong!? Please tell me!" he pleaded, the sight becoming ever so unbearable to watch and yet he was unable to tear his eyes away. Only a sharp metal sound crashing on his Code did he remember that someone was still attempting to accost him during his escape from the clearing. He was torn between getting his fiancée to a magus who could help her while letting the one who was attacking them get away and trying to eliminate the attacker or maybe attackers while letting his fiancée succumb to whatever ailment that torments her.
Suddenly, a great force suddenly exploded out from within the confines of his protective Mystic Code, bursting the bubble and sending him crashing into a tree. Dazed from the impact, he lay there for a moment in confusion before getting on his hands and feet, quickly scrambling over to her. She had stopped her thrashing around and had ceased screaming, laying on the ground very still, the changes she had suddenly undergone still visible upon her. He hurriedly pulled her limp body to him and held her in his embrace, softly calling her name and gently shaking her.
"Sola-Ui... Sola-Ui... Sola-Ui... please... no..." he mumbled to her, ultimately extremely scared to acknowledge the reality that had just happened. He did not come here to watch his fiancée die in front of him. He came here to win. To gain the honor that came with winning. To show her that he was worthy. To show her how much he loved her.
A few seconds later, an anguished cry ripped through the forest.
"SOLA-UI!"
A gunshot rang out afterwards.
It was the darkest night ever in the history of Fuyuki City. The emergency lines were all clogged up with multiple reports of sudden deaths happening all over the city. People dying all over the city. All of them were without any clear warning; not only that, the causes of the deaths were extremely rare and puzzling that the police and the hospital could not make head or tail off it. Sudden bodily explosions, sudden appearance of lethal tumors in sensitive parts of the body, exploding body parts, and spontaneous immolation were among the cases that were brought in. The only similarity that surfaced in all those cases was a black tattoo on the victim's faces.
In some parts of the city, the streets did run red with blood. Fuyuki City was filled with despair and anguish throughout the following days. Some people even speculated that the spate of sudden deaths were only just the beginning...
"Protect my Master!" Rider roared over the harsh wind. The other for generals complied and quickly got into a triangle formation around Waver, with Rider on point. All thoughts of commanding what was left of the earthen soldiers were abandoned. Although weakened, with all five of the Tiger Generals gathered, they were confident that they will be able to overcome any odds.
Archer remained stoic and seemingly unaffected that the change that had transpired, as if already anticipating what was going to happen. She remained in place and silently observed what Caster was doing.
"Irisviel! Get back. It is best to take shelter with Master of Rider!" Saber shouted over the wind. After making sure the Einzbern was safely behind them, she quickly turned her attention to Caster.
"Caster! Your terror stops here!" she cried as she thundered towards the glowing ball of power in a Prana Burst charge.
"Are you absolutely sure, Saber?" the voice of the titled Servant of Sorcery reverberated out.
The orb suddenly burst into a peculiar reddish-purple smoke. Such a thing did not deter her, and she continued along her path, absolutely certain of where to strike. Delving into the smoke, she attacked. As expected, her sword clashed against something, but surprisingly she wasn't able to cut any further. Something or someone was pushing back and was able to match the power she put into her strike.
"He must have done something to increase his strength. What sort of spell would..."
Her train of thought halted when the smoke finally cleared. The ground once again still and the winds were blowing softly at the smoke. And now, she was filled with disgust at the thing in front of her.
Caster was taller. If he was tall before, he now towered over her. It looked like he burst out of his armor; gone were the boots, the gauntlets and the helmet. The snake-like extensions that rose from his back were now facing front and looked more like dragon heads than that of snakes. His scale-like skin was seen to be a deep blue hue. Nails became sharp claws. He held a large sword which to her, was the size of a claymore, in his right hand. In his left he held a purple orb that was encased in a bronze holder shaped like a snake's head. His head was revealed to the draconic in nature; its head was covered with blue scales with specks of green and silver over its slitted eyes.
The Servant let off a dark chuckle and grinned, revealing two rows of razor sharp teeth. Saber leaped back, wary of any sudden moves. She wasn't sure if this was Caster's true form or that he had gained some new ability in addition to his magic.
"Behold the gifts of Chaos," he declared loudly for all to hear, "Gifts of power from thousands of years of service. Power only given through sacrifice." As he spoke, the orb in his hand began to glow and pulsate with power.
"All power demands sacrifice... and pain," he continued as the smiling Servant began taking steps towards Saber, holding up the orb as he did so, "The universe rewards those willing to spill their life's blood for the promise of power. This is the culmination of such power! I Have Ascended! None may challenge me!"
Commentary:-
I have finished another chapter! Yeah, I did finish this finally. Happy to say that I completed my other crossover, so now I am able to fully focus on this one. Joy! Right, let's get on to business. I daresay this would be... quite a crazy chapter, with two Servants undergoing some very significant transformations. Though I would like to take note that I did change Caster's ascended looks, tailored for a more Alpha Legion style daemon prince. I do hope you guys let me know if his new look works or if you prefer the generic looking one from the game. IMO, I prefer this one.
Ok, so please read and review! I really need to know what you guys think of this one. And I will see you guys in the next chapter.