Chapter 20: The Temple Part II

It was clear the first punch was just a warm up. Caster's Master had the advantage, and I had become a punching bag. His strikes were not of an average impact. The force behind them was extraordinary. Shirou laid on the ground still. That was fine, at least he was out of the way.

I kept my eyes open, but for every one dodged attack he would strike somewhere else. He kicked me into the wall, and I was cornered. This wasn't good. He was swift. Even though I had spent time building my core strength, he was still stronger. I couldn't tell where he would strike with his arms flinging like whips. He was everywhere. Bazett at least focused most of her blows head on so they could be blocked. I was trying to protect vital areas, being my neck, head, and heart but that only meant he went for open areas, which still hurt. I was in over my head on this to think I could take him with no magic. I thought Caster was hard, but at least I could gage her attacks. He was unpredictable.

"Screw it." I said and put up a large shield to push him away. I wanted to be fair like I was to those guys I'd fight at the bars, but he was unnatural, so magic was necessary. I miscalculated there.

Whoever trained him made him an expert. His style was unique and took me off guard, but I had to think the name in order to counter it. I healed the parts of my body that were bleeding inside, or what I could. He stayed put, and I placed up some small shields around my neck and torso. I couldn't stab him through the chest like I had done to past enemies, his limbs were the most deadly. I had to target a hand, the left was his primary, which meant his right was stronger. He would wait to use it last. I got up and stood tall. He presented a challenge which was good for me.

"You can heal." He said.

I smiled. "Enough to manage." I spit out some blood and walked forward. "Your style is impressive. I'm glad."

"You're smiling?" He asked and I made a defensive position. He needed to know that I was appreciating this duel.

"Because I enjoy fighters like you. Cunning and silent. Ones that make me think." I curled my hands into fists. "I won't underestimate you twice." I said.

The only way I could think of disabling his limbs was to take a hit directly. I had to get close enough to do some damage. I had read about his style now that I had time to think, Snake was the name though I had never practiced it. All I remembered was how it played on misconception. Trying to take out your opponent as fast as possible while making your limbs flexible like whips. I regretted not learning it now, but at least knowing something I could have a chance.

He ran towards me and I braced myself, it was going to hurt. He went for my face, probably trying to get ahold of my neck. I did my best to push his fists to the side and leave my stomach guarded. After a few hits, he switched tactics and punched me in the gut, hard enough to break my shield. I felt my circuits become numb from the force, it was the strongest blow he had dealt so far. Souichirou grabbed the back of my neck to shove it into his knee. He wanted it to be the final blow, so now was my chance. I got ahold of his wrist and made a blade, pushing his hand off of my neck. I released myself and saw that I had cut a hole through his right wrist. That would help.

He still charged me and began to use his legs to attack. I crept low, figuring he would try to go for where he had previously hit. The pain was still there, but I could heal later. I propelled myself away to create distance. I stood tall again and he held his bleeding wrist. It was lifeless, but I still needed to take out the other limbs.I was panting, that blow made it hard to breathe even when he didn't hit my lungs.

"You let down your defense." He recognized.

"A body can be broken many ways, but will still work." I replied, still panting. But he knew that all the same. I thought it was time to ask a question. "What the hell do you teach anyway?"

"World History." He responded. I guess it was a cover for his actual line of work.

"Well your students must be obedient." I said with a smile. I thought he would at least chuckle, but the man had no emotion.

"Caster said there was one Master she wanted to side with. But I wasn't imagining a woman who smiles while bleeding." He charged and I dodged his fist.

"I appreciate a challenge." I said, and turned to kick him but he jumped away. "I will kill you though, as I told my servant."

I peered in at Archer's match. He was still alone though it looked like he was managing. But where was Lancer? Shirou was still breathing but was weak. He couldn't get himself off the ground. I looked back to see Souichirou coming at me with just his one fist. I kept blocking, but it was almost like with one hand gone, all of the effort went into the other.

I started using my legs to deflect his blows, so I could protect my side and heal. He understood what I was doing and he swung a kick when I was expecting a punch. Our left legs locked in mid-air. I tried to hold it there but he moved his leg up and bent my foot in the other direction just with force. It felt broken and he saw I was off balance. He then grabbed me with his left hand and held me in a choke hold. I put up a shield around my chest and neck as he jabbed his right elbow into my side, I made another shield there. But getting me close again only meant I would try to escape. That came with wanting to survive, you always found a way to get out.

I made a switch blade on my right foot and kicked his right shin. Jabbing the blade in his leg and leaving it there. As soon as I broke away, I wouldn't be able to wound him. I made another yellow switch blade with my wrist and plunged it into his left wrist, leaving a similar hole. But he still held on, now pressing his elbow against my collarbone trying to crush it. My shield protected me from that, but we were deadlocked, both wounded but neither of us would let go.

"Master!" Caster shouted. I made a shield around the both of us, thick to protect. I still had some mana left, but holding all of the shields and the blades would drain me. She fired some blasts and Archer grabbed Shirou, throwing his body out of the line of fire. He glared at me through the yellow haze of my shield.

"End this quickly." Archer said, I understood. I kept Souichirou stationary. He had one unwounded leg that I kept my eye on. Archer fired some arrows to draw her away from the fight. I waited a moment before speaking.

"Souichirou, one of use will have to give in." I said.

"I have nothing to sacrifice. You are the one who is trapped." He responded. His voice was cold. He had seen much blood shed and it no longer affected him. But tonight he would meet his end.

"You and I are both killers aren't we?" I responded. I had to act now while Caster was distracted. "I hope you said goodbye to your family."

I left the switch blade in his wrist and I took a step forward as he went to jab me with his right elbow again. He turned his back to use his left leg to kick me. In that split second I drove a large blade with my left arm through his back before his kick launched me away. I was surprised he still managed to do that. I stayed down but watched the scene before me. The gash I made was bleeding out and he fell.

"Master!" Caster screamed and appeared at his side. She cradled his dying body in her arms.

"Caster…"

"I'm sorry, I failed you." She replied to him.

"No, I should have obeyed." He said. Grabbing her hand. He had a slight smile before he drew his final breathe. I stood up. He was a worthy opponent that I underestimated. But seeing this meant I had come in between a woman and her lover. That was even more deadly.

"You witch!" She shouted and the entire pavement of the courtyard and main roof of the Temple began to crack. Things began to fall apart, Tiles from the main roof began to crumble down and I braced myself, seeing her open her cloak and aim her attacks. However before they struck, someone grabbed me. I felt like I was flying through the air and ended up on the crumbling roof top. When I looked at my rescuer, it was good to see a familiar face.

"Lancer." I said, cradling my wounded side.

"You're hurt." He observed. That didn't matter. I could still throw punches.

"Is Assassin dead?" I asked.

"Saber took over." That was good. She could finish him off. I couldn't balance with my foot on the slanted roof. It also began to crumble along with the rest of the Temple from the surge of mana she had just sent through the area. We needed to be grounded.

"You will pay for what you did. I'll stain this place with your blood." Caster said, and began firing volleys. Lancer was quick enough to dodge them even with carrying me. He maneuvered through the crumbling roof and propelled himself into the air with me by his side, just before the Temple completely fell apart. I could see the main roof had fallen forward and split in half and the rest of the area followed. I couldn't worry about the casualties, those monks were probably entangled in her mana draining spell anyway. It sucked, but we still had to kill her. Gravity took its toll, and skeletal creatures appeared and littered the courtyard.

"Golems." I said. Lancer pointed the Gae Bolg towards the ground and the impact shattered some of them so we were able to have room to fight. He let go of me and I landed. I could balance on the toes of my left foot but would need to shoot volleys from my arms so I wouldn't harm myself further.

She kept summoning more golems as we slew them. They were one hit wonders, but still the amount was troublesome. I began to see a blade cut through the back of the armada, it didn't appear to be Saber, and Archer had vanished. Once Lancer and I had gotten through the center more, I noticed that it was someone unexpected. Shirou had been the one attacking the outside. I guess as long as he was helpful he could stay. We kept fighting until eventually we met up. Shirou slew the last one and we waited.

"Nice work." I complemented Shirou. With Avalon it made some sense how he could still stand after almost having his gut punched out. His face was serious, he actually looked like a fighter. The ground began to glow purple. I stood back to back with Lancer and we waited. But I noticed that she had made lines from the ashes of her fallen pets. They grabbed my wounded foot. Lancer went to release the restraints but Caster blasted the space between us and he was hit.

"Lancer!" I went to turn my head but couldn't. She had put a barrier on me. One that restricted my movement. The ashes were just part of her mana. She intended us to slay all of those monsters. This was bad, and I only had a limited supply of mana after fighting Souichirou. I had to think of something, or hope someone would help. I hated being the damsel in distress.