Watching Avengers left me a bit drained, but here we go lol
Seed
Collingwood was pushing his leg against the boy's twisted arms, right into his back. That way he was pretty much immobile and would not struggle. The kid couldn't have been older than 17. Probably still went to high-school. For a magus this was an appropriate age to step into the world of adulthood, but this one wasn't even qualified to become someone's assistant. He could pretty much feel no prana from him. The amount of magic circuits this kid had could either be counted in one hand or he had none at all.
Somehow he had summoned a Servant though. He couldn't pretend that he wasn't curious about that. The Grail chose qualified candidates, but until now he had assumed it was a ritual solely for mages or people with magic aptitude. How did one sustain a Servant otherwise?
Either way, he now had pinned down a Master without much effort, so he should make use of that situation. The boy kept quiet and wasn't even trying to talk himself out of the situation.
"You are in over your head… but that is not my problem." Something about this kid reminded him of someone else… He watched the blue Command Seals on the boy's right hand glow mildly. "Did you even know? If you kill a Master you gain their Command Seals for yourself."
It was a rule he had only learned of a short while ago himself, so it wouldn't surprise him if this outsider had no idea. And sure enough, he stiffened up after hearing those words. Fear exuded from his body.
It was almost too easy. Like picking fruit from a low hanging branch…
Collingwood touched the Command Seal with his little finger and felt a strange tenseness rise inside him. It was right here in front of him. A foolish Master like this one would not make it through the war anyway. The seals and privilege were wasted on him. The sooner he took this nuisance out of the equation the faster he'd be rid of another enemy Servant and so much closer to his goal.
The Grail was shimmering through the reflection of Collingwood's eyes… the blue pattern on the boy's hand… It would not even be painful…
Having double the amount of seals would make his battle so much easier. He could give Caster support and still have plenty of room to keep her in line. So much power at his fingertips. The temptation was immense.
He noticed that the boy was twisting his hand as if trying to raise it. Only a few seconds more and he would call out to his Servant.
"Are you confident that she will arrive faster than I can terminate you?" He threatened him angrily. The gall this failure had to still try and resist. Some people needed to know when to give up.
It was time to take him out. He stretched his hand forward, the needle glimmering in the glow of the distant street lights.
In a swift twist he put his arm around the shaking Master's neck and then choked him out. In seconds the green haired boy lost consciousness.
Collingwood exhaled as he felt they boy go limp. Some of his tears had dripped on his hand. He wiped it on his coat and then moved back. He felt a bit guilty for going weak for a second. For a moment he had actually considered doing something horrible to the kid. But killing him would only have weighed on his conscience.
Of course he could not allow such a prime opportunity to pass him by. No sane Master would ignore such a present handed to them. Those Command Seals were his for the taking.
He put his needle away and then traced the boy's right hand. There were other ways to transfer these marks from one person to another. While he had never learned transfer magecraft in particular, his family style was rather perfect for this type of thing. His Origin was binding and he could transfer concepts to a certain degree. Combined with what basic knowledge he possessed of mana transfers and the like, he was certain that he could pull it off. At least when doing it to an unconscious subject.
"Analyzing structure…" He muttered as he kept tracing the seals. "…concept code… destabilizing…" A weak green glow connected Collingwood's hand and that of the enemy Master's. "…opening vault… subtracting conceptual barriers…" Hundreds of details rushed through his mind. The spell was turning more complex by the second. Not using the needles as a conduit made the range of his magecraft grow immensely, but this task was daunting. The information flooding his brain was almost overwhelming.
The world was made of concepts. What humans perceived as 'matter' and 'existence' were just concepts given form. To bind the essence of everything to himself was the truth of his spells.
The blue Command Seals' concept was 'addition'. It added immense amounts mana to a single command. Straight provided by the Grail, its second layer was 'communication'. To directly affect the Servant's spiritual core and make them unable to resist. Each layer was peeled away slowly and methodically until Collingwood could feel the flowing 'essence' of the seals gush inside the meta-realm beyond human eyes.
"You are mine!" He focused his eyes and focused his prana into a single point.
That's when his stretched out foot hit something small inside the tiny puddle of blood that was flowing from the boy's injured leg. A pendant?
The one second of distraction was fatal. Not because the spell had dissolved or become unstable, but rather…
"Oof!" Collingwood could not believe what happened. He had received a heavy blow to the guts and was then tackled by the one he had assumed to be subdued and unconscious!
"Grandpa's… pendant…" The boy raised his hand where he had picked the small piece of jewelry up. His eyes were dull, as if he was barely conscious, but his aura was completely different. The young man was clutching the pendant with what seemed a wooden marble in its center and huffed in pain. The needle stuck in his calf was probably still hurting him.
"You should have stayed down." Collingwood gritted his teeth. This pointless interruption strained his patience. Now he had to knock the kid out again. It was a waste of his energy.
"Rider-san is depending on me." The boy seemed to struggle with standing straight, but his voice had become determined. He put the pendant around his neck and raised up his fists.
It couldn't be… he actually decided to take Collingwood on?
"This is why I can't deal with children." He growled.
The air was still. The moment before two great forces clashed the scenery always seemed quiet and slowed down. Silver eyes met purple. The ribbons flowed gently across the destruction. The green runes pulsated on impact.
In under a second Gyllir had crashed into Caster.
In less than even that time, Caster had jumped through an Astral Gate.
A path of destruction was razed into the park as the winged horse flashed across it. It spun around and hit Caster again. Rider stretched her lance forward and stabbed through the girl's dress. She only hit fabric as the incredibly agile magician had dodged at the last second, but the moment they even touched a huge shockwave of pressured air created a crater inside the earth below them. One of the runes had flared up and then turned dark.
Caster jumped over the armored woman's shoulder, waving her torn dress behind without hesitation. The next moment she shot forward a magic chain. Gyllir moved too fast for it to reach, but a portal appeared and swallowed the chain. The next instant the white steed was behind Caster, but was intercepted by the chain that passed through the end of the wormhole.
Rider cut through it and shattered it.
As the sparkling chain links rained down the white streak grazed Caster ten, no fifteen… twenty times! It was picking up speed beyond anything the human eye could follow. Tearing the sound barrier and all that stood in its path apart. Trees and benches exploded into shrapnel and Caster's silhouette was torn apart.
Jump, pass, jump, pass – tear- jump!
Beyond the impossible speed lay the never stabilizing existence of the magician girl that kept jumping short distances with each blink of her enemy.
How much longer could she keep it up!?
Chains shot from her hands - crushed.
Blasts that would tear apart even the blue-clad armor spread across the air, but the white streak slalomed between them!
Dodge, dodge, dodge!
Whoever landed the blow would be victorious!
Caster stopped in the middle of the storm of destruction and stretched her hands to the sides.
"DIE!" Rider's silver eyes shone in all their beauty and flashed across the slowed down world. Her lance already impaled the doubles and went straight for the true Caster's throat. The shockwave from her boosted lance was making the magician's hair flutter back and tore off some of her ribbons-
The world stopped.
Rider's arm was extended forward to its utter limit and the lance gently touched Caster's neck with just one atom.
"W-h-a-t…?" Gyllir had stopped moving in mid-gallop. Rider's silver eyes turned blue as she felt the exhaustion from the insane rush catch up to her. The world unfroze and all the destroyed trees and objects around them crashed down.
Rider could not move, similar to her steed.
Caster smiled, albeit with a sweat covered face. That smile was definitive… she won. In a rather jovial gesture she pushed the lance to the side with her fingertips and then flung her devastated dress back to cover her exposed skin. With a clap of her hands the two dozen portals closed.
And at the same time the invisible chains took on the color of violet flowers.
Gyllir and Rider were caught in 200 hundred mighty chains. Unable to move a single muscle inside the crisscrossing shackles. The magical bindings had been stuck into the ground, the air and dozens of portals all over the place. They even seemed to be attached to the very air itself, until one noticed that they infect stuck to astral cards.
The flying destruction had been caught similar to an insect in a spider's web.
"You pushed me quite far. This headache will follow me for at least an entire day." Caster put a hand to her head and chuckled unhappily.
"You believe chains would stop me?!" Rider pushed her lance back and crushed one of the chains. As long as she was wearing this armor and able to move even a little, she could easily break out of-
BOOM!
The wave of heat from the explosion singed some of Gyllir's hair. Rider coughed as the smoke dissipated. She was clueless as to what had happened. Caster hadn't even moved.
"My dear knight, you have found yourself in an unfortunate trap. Mobility is the one thing I could not allow you to keep, so I had to resort to a somewhat crude… solution." She lightly tapped one of the chains and it shook enough to pique Rider's attention. Finally it became obvious just how dire the situation was.
Every single chain was covered in several fully loaded astral cards. Every single of them explosive. Just as the vibration was about to hit the card, Caster made it stop magically.
"…." Rider was speechless. She had allowed herself to be caught in such a basic trap. Now she was completely at her enemy's mercy. A single wrong move and they would be blown to bits. This shame… it was unbearable. After all of that, she was not even able to force this smug girl to use her Noble Phantasm?
"Let me ease your mind. The reason I have not relied on my true power is that it is not suited for this kind of battle." Caster saw right through her thoughts.
It was almost eerie. Those clever eyes did not betray a lie, not that Rider could tell anymore now that she was too exhausted to make use of her Mystic Eyes.
To be comforted by the words of a monster like her though… Rider gripped her lance so tightly that her gauntlets began to deform. She felt even more agonizing shame, rather than taking solace in it. The puppet master had played her as well.
"We should have a swift talk." Caster hummed with a much more relaxed expression than before and sat down on top of a barrier as if it was a chair. "Aha, but I could never face you with such an unseemly look. Just a moment." She slid her hands across the tattered dress and it was instantly recovered to its former beauty and wholesomeness.
She was mocking her. There was no doubt in Rider's mind. This insult to her pride and ability could only have been to make her make a wrong move and end it. This Caster took a cruel pleasure from torturing her.
"Much better. So let me introduce myself once more. I am a Servant of the Caster class. My life motto is: 'I serve everyone, but bow to none'." She bowed her head exaggeratedly with an elegant hand gesture. "For the sake of courtesy I do not take it too literally." She winked.
"You bastard…" Rider was biting her lip until it started to bleed.
"We should not bring family into this conversation. That would be a sore topic for the both of us I presume?" She raised a brow, but didn't break her smile. Those knowing eyes were rubbing her the wrong way. "To make a long story short, we met with bad blood between us. In my humble opinion the cause for this is a misunderstanding."
No word she could spout would change Rider's mind now. It was meaningless to listen to her prattle on. Her loss was certain already, so she would not give her the pleasure of joining her little play.
Her left hand was resting on Gyllir's back. She needed to release her steed fast, so she would not be harmed. To drag this noble creature into her failure was against everything she believed in.
The pulse of the horse reverberated inside her veins. They were connected far beyond the bond of friendship and trust. They were soul mates. If she had to end her ambitions and lay down her life, she was glad that she could spend her last moments at the side of an old friend.
Her mind wandered to Shige. She had failed him the most. After his decision to risk his life and well-being for her selfish wish too. Under this dark sky she could only hope that he had reached their good natured allies and found safety in their abode. Koyuki was a kind soul and Archer a gentleman that would defend the weak. Perhaps forging and alliance with that pair was the only good decision she had made.
Gyllir's low huffing snapped her out of her reverie. She could feel the old comrade's intentions through a single exchange of looks. The dark black eye of the horse was all-telling.
Rider was unable to respond. Gyllir had not given up yet. But what she wished to do was suicidal!
Rider subtly shook her head and rubbed her steed's neck. It was over. She would accept it as long as Gyllir could escape.
The phantasmal beast's wing slowly moved throughout the hundreds of chains, it was so close to its body that it had an easy time sliding below Rider's legs.
"Are you listening?" Caster clapped her hands to regain her attention. "We have a common enemy. It would be prudent to at least hear me out, after all your life is at my fingertips." She didn't seem to enjoy threatening her much… no, what was she thinking? Someone who relied on such trickery was clearly heartless.
A common enemy? This was a deathmatch. Everyone was their enemy, but there was no reason to listen to whatever proposal came next. It was predictable enough. Certain of her superiority, she would force her and Shige into submission and use them as her new pawns to fight her enemies. Then she would throw them away at the end of the war. This humiliating end would not come to pass.
Gyllir subtly moved forward with her wing. Rider could feel a steady hold below her boot. There were dozens of chains in front of her. Touching them could have horrible repercussions. She could not do it. Not for her own sake, but Gyllir's.
This trusty horse… was real. Unlike a Servant who was just a copy of a true hero, this was the one true Gyllir! She could not endanger her life any more than this. She would undo their contract by breaking the flute, so Gyllir could instantly return to her world. The moment she disappeared the chains would crash down on her and tear her apart with magic explosions, but it would have cost just her already lost life.
The wish of a dead woman could not outlive her oldest friend.
Gyllir neighed.
"I have never gotten quite used to horses." Caster seemed more intrigued than alarmed. "You should rein it in, lest you accidentally touch something you had better not." She warned her nonetheless.
"Gyllir…" Rider felt unspeakable emotions when looking at her friend's determination. It was selfish to think that she was doing this for her. In truth, she had just resigned herself and wanted to ease her conscience! Gyllir had sensed her weakness and was urging her forward.
The enemy was right in front of them. Even if it was risky, as long as she could deal the finishing blow right away, they could save the lives of countless people from that manipulating Servant.
"That's a beautiful name." Caster commented quietly. She seemed to truly think so as even her eyes turned more gentle.
Deception. Nothing she was new to. A look so condemnably fake she wanted to destroy it.
That was the trigger.
In an instant Gyllir's wing tensed up and pushed forward with the strength of a cannon! Rider flashed forward and right through the intricate web of chains. Her spear had already cut through Caster's surprised defenseless body before she had realized what was going on.
Rider knelt behind the cut down Caster and leaned on her lance. This time she had felt a clear direct hit. The blood on the top of her trident like lance was real too.
"…how bold…" Caster gasped for a moment.
Rider spun around. She had not finished her off, so another strike was necessary!
"Does your companion mean so little to you?" The cold words were hitting her like a wall of ice. Caster's eyes were so utterly devoid of emotion that it made even Rider feel distressed.
The lance stopped in front of Caster's outstretched hand.
Her other hand was ever so close to flicking the index finger and middle finger. She would do it. Without another warning she would kill Gyllir in an inferno of magic. All the cards across the chains were glowing.
"Put. Your. Weapon. Down." Her orders were at the critical limit.
Rider's hands were shaking… until she let the lance sink downward. It clanked as it hit the pavement. Surrender.
Gyllir's black eyes stared onward with sadness.
"You are lucky, so very lucky, that I am an endlessly patient person." Caster's cutting words were far from her previous playfulness. "This kind of madness would have gotten your friend killed by anyone else." She held her bleeding side. Rider had cut her waist quite deeply, and the wound was only closing slowly. She leaned against a barrier behind her, so she wouldn't topple over. It looked incredibly painful, but she did not even twist her face. It was a mask.
"I surrender my life… but let Gyllir go." Rider swallowed her pride and begged for her friend's life.
"Such pleading might have been more effective about one murderous attack ago." Caster mocked her with venomous words.
"…I beg you… for… forgiveness…" She could barely utter another word. She went onto one knee.
"Fine~"
Everything changed.
In the next moment all the chains surrounding Gyllir disappeared and she was free as a bird. Caster's mouth turned upwards and she returned to her casual smile.
Rider felt the confusion starting to affect her sanity.
"Those who ask for forgiveness should be forgiven if they truly mean it. Heed my advice though, as it is usually precisely accurate, if you ever attempt something so foolish again, you will not get a second chance." The happiest smile accompanied the darkest threat.
It was nonsensical. She had given up her absolute advantage. She was injured and weakened. This was madness!
"You cannot…" Rider's mouth was agape. There were no words.
"Oh, but I did!" Caster laughed. She actually laughed, while holding her bleeding side! "Are you now more favorable to listen to my story, honorable knight?"
The way she said 'honorable' solidified it.
Rider was in the wrong. It was a fact. Had she not been the one to hunt this magician down relentlessly without giving her a chance to make a case? The one who resorted to a cowardly surprise attack was not the lilac haired girl subtly breathing through the pain. It was all her.
Gyllir walked over hesitantly. Her life was spared far too easily, so even the graceful horse seemed to feel indebted.
"Haah… phew." Caster was clearly not alright, but she hid it quite well behind excessive poses. "You are not one for conversation, I have taken note. To be brief then, my Master and I have encountered this 'manipulator' you spoke off. We have made the unpleasant acquaintance already. A Servant that took control of normal citizens and used them to attack my Master." She spun a ribbon around her index finger and recollected the event shortly.
"…" Rider could only listen. She had no right to ask anything.
"We will keep looking out for them as well. Seeing as we have set off on the wrong foot, I will not ask you to work with me, but at the very least you should refrain from accusing me of being someone that I am not. That is the only transgression I cannot stand." She pushed her finger against Rider's nose almost casually and then disappeared with a sardonic grin as she noticed the blue-clad woman's shock.
"Blue matches your outfit much more than silver~" Her voice dissipated as the illusion did as well. Even the blood spread across the ground vanished.
Rider felt an immense sense of defeat. To the very last moment she had been toyed with. Had she ever even talked the true Caster? The blow she landed had felt real, but…
The moment she had deactivated her Mystic Eyes, Caster had returned to using her deception. How foolish to think otherwise. In the end she was not trustworthy. Something inside Rider's heart still told her that she was grateful, but it was overshadowed by suspicion and reluctant fear.
Could she believe any of the words she had heard this night? Perhaps not. There was no proof that Caster had truly met the same dark Servant they were hunting. One thing was certain though.
Never would she take this illusionist lightly again.
Shigechiyo was drowning inside darkness. In the realm between consciousness and dreams there was nothing to witness. Nothing to realize. Nowhere to go.
Like stardust on the blackest sky a few thoughts trickled across.
He had met his end at the hands of an enemy Master. His life was over. But this was not the afterlife. This was not even nothingness. Where was he?
An image flashed by the dark landscape.
The pendant was lying not too far away. Out of reach still, but he could see it clearly.
"Grandpa's... pendant…." He stretched out his hand. He had to grab it. It was all he had left of his grandfather. How had he forgotten about it inside the dusty box on top of the wardrobe all this time? He used to look at it all the time as his grandpa played with it… telling stories of his adventures.
He missed him so much. There had never been enough time. Then the sickness had made it harder for them to connect… eventually there was nothing tying them together.
Mom and dad had left for Tokyo, but Shige never left.
Never… left…
The pendant was in his hand. The pendant his grandfather owned. The pendant that kept Rider-san in this world.
Rider-san… she was relying on him. A pendant so small and breakable was all that tied them together.
He would not lose this bond again. Never.
Shige opened his eyes. He stood in front of the annoyed looking mage. His fists were raised as if to await the next attack. Even though he did not remember how he had survived or gotten out of that stranglehold, he knew that he was in danger.
"You should have stayed down." The gruff man said angrily.
But Shige couldn't. If he stayed down he would lose something again. The life he had been given by Rider-san was still useful. He could still go further than this.
"Rider-san is depending on me." His eyes regained their light and he moved forward. With a left hook he tried to hit the magus' chin, but he dodged.
"This will end the same way as last time, just give up." He threw another of his long needles at Shige, who had predicted as much and moved out of the way.
The mage had expected his counter as well and jumped to the side. With a flick of his hand the needle that had missed Shige returned from behind and stabbed him in the back.
Or it should have.
"Hell." The enemy Master looked at Shige with resignation.
Shige looked back and noticed that the needle was floating in the air. Stopped short right behind his spine. It slowly moved backwards and then fell down into the street gutter. To his surprise the needle that was stuck in his leg did the same. It moved out of the wound and then uselessly fell on the hard pavement. The wound did not bleed anymore either.
"How is this possible…?" He hastily looked all across his body, but he saw nothing unusual.
While he was still checking for oddities he was caught off guard by a sudden stab to his shoulder. It was a hunting knife with a sharp pattern! The mage had pulled it out from his pocket and instantly stabbed him.
Except it uselessly bounced off.
Shige was just as surprised as his enemy. No, more so!
"I see. A protective charm." The mage deduced with a sigh. What was he talking about? He could not follow, probably because of the shock. "Doesn't matter. I have some experience with that kind of stuff." His dark brown eyes were becoming scary.
"B-bring it on!" Shige was glad to be alive, but the fight was still not won. He swung again, but his fist was not fast enough. The knife cut his arm – bounced off- and then he felt a kick to the back of his knee – which also stopped short.
"Armor type." The mage jumped out of the way of Shige's kick. Due to his previous attack he was in a bad spot though and finally received one of his punches. The feeling of hitting the man across the face was surprisingly numb. Like he was wearing boxing gloves. "Pfft." He spat out red saliva.
The fight continued like this for a while. The magus was getting dozens of hits in with his knife and melee strikes, but they did not even reach Shige. In turn he could get some lucky hits in. Just as he felt like he had gotten the advantage he suddenly heard a loud creaking.
"Waaah!" He shouted as the lamppost hit him. It had been felled somehow when he had been distracted. It crushed down on his head- "Eh?" He blinked. The long metal post bend as if it had hit something extremely durable and then rolled off his head.
"That isn't normal." The magus said while cupping his swollen chin. He mustered Shige with analyzing eyes. Despite the blows he had taken he seemed mostly fine.
Not normal? Yeah he knew as much! This was insane. Somehow his body was completely protected from damage.
"Ow…" He felt a light sting in his chest for a second, but then it was fine.
"?" His enemy had noticed, but could not make anything of it. He instead jumped forward for a punch. As Shige just tried to take it (he was invincible right now), he was suddenly grabbed by the arm. The hold was slightly above his actual sleeves, but somehow he still was pulled forward. "Down you go!" He was slammed into the ground.
It didn't hurt, but he was still surprised that he was actually moved. The next moment he felt some light weight on top of him. He looked up and saw that the magus tried to pin him down again, but it wasn't as painful as last time.
A long needle touched the protective sphere again. This time it slowly slid through the defenses though. Shige panicked and kicked the man off.
"Unbelievable." The magus growled as he looked at his needle in contemplation.
He was just figuring Shige's capabilities out right now. If he let him do as he pleased he would eventually find a way to hurt him again… Shige balled his fists and went for an all out attack. His body felt so light, but his punches really hit harder than usual. The taller man had to retreat between his chained punches. Now he even deflected the attacks with his knife a few times.
Shige moved forward to headbutt the cornered magus, but then the floor below him crumbled and he fell into the sewer hole! Just as he seemed to fall into darkness he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and then held up forcefully. A huge piece of a metal fence was place on his arm to pin him in place.
Shige struggled as best as he could, but the man was seriously good. His experienced movements made it harder and harder to struggle.
"You will make it only more painful if you keep this up." He said with squinted eyes and put his needle through the defensive barrier.
"Ouuuch!" He felt the needle penetrate his hand. It was really painful.
"I will be taking these… so shut up and bear with it." He was focused on the blue Command Seals.
Take them? Didn't he say before that killing a Master would transfer them? Like hell he would let himself get killed! He pushed his legs against the inside of the sewer ladder and forcefully pushed himself out.
The man suddenly rammed a heavy metal cover on top of his chest. It was the one that usually sealed the sewer hole. And it was glowing with a green seal. Despite his protection, the weight actually managed to come through, albeit weakly.
'Shit!' He was completely unable to move. He gritted his teeth, but to no avail. His heart sank into his stomach as he realized that he was pinned down for good.
"Forcing…. Concept transfer…." The mage was sweating too. Whatever he was doing apparently took a lot of concentration and energy. The needle inside Shige's hand was pulsating, not just from pain anymore.
"I don't know how this works, but Rider-san!" He shouted into the empty street. Now was the time to use one of those seals this bastard wanted so badly. He would summon her over to help him.
His heart stopped. What if Rider-san was about to corner the puppet master? Did his failure really justify stopping her just cause…? His pathetic self hit him again. If he was so weak he should have ran again, to get help. Instead he had gotten overconfident and thought the could fight on his own the moment this miracle happened.
He shakingly pushed his body to its limits. With determination alone he moved the unbelievably heavy sewer cover off his chest. The pain in his right hand was already numbing his feelings in his entire arm.
It was time to prove he was worthy of Rider-san's trust!
With a powerful kick he flipped back and surprised the magus. They collided and rolled over the ground. The needle in his hand was pushed in deeper, which brought him close to pained tears, but he instead punched him with his left.
He grabbed the hunting knife from the ground and stabbed forward. At the last second the mage pulled back and let go of the needle. He then kicked Shige without effect and got a knee to the gut. No time to slow down!
Another barrage of Shige's punches finally worked out. The momentum was unstoppable. He managed to draw blood with the hits and even cut open the coat several times with the knife.
"Huah!" And then it was all reversed. With a numb feeling to his neck Shige noticed that he was hit by a long pipe. The magus held it like it was light as a feather, but at the last moment it had returned to its true weight and actually made Shige stagger. The next moment he was disarmed. Then he was pushed against a car and crashed face first through the window.
Each time he got hit by the metal door he felt a sting in his chest rather than his face.
Finally the needle vibrated in his hand and was pushed out. Its metallic clanking on the car hood was what snapped the man out of his bloodlust. He let go of Shige's neck and stepped back with a distressed expression.
Shige felt numb all over and his chest hurt, but otherwise he was still able to fight. He got out of the wrecked car and focused his blurry eyes. His fist was raised and he could feel the blood drip from the inside.
"I didn't mean to…" The magus whispered something in clear shock, but Shige didn't care. He would bring this bastard down tonight!
Just as he was about to launch a new attack, the magus seemed to react unnaturally fast. He rammed his needle into Shige's neck area, which was stopped short, but not enough. The needles pierced the pendant's chain and it suddenly fell down onto the sidewalk.
Without warning all places he had been stabbed or cut before started burning again and the bleeding returned!
The magus breathed heavily and watched Shige squirm on the ground. He hastily kicked the pendant further away. Between the painful jolts in his mind Shige recognized what that meant. The pendant had given him this super-durability.
"No hard feelings kid…" The man said with a shaking mouth and finally calmed down. He grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up again. "If it's any consolation… you were tough." He grabbed the right hand to transfer the Command Seals again. Shige had not strength left to resist.
Fwish
Something insanely fast cut off a single strand of the magus' hair. His eyes widened in shock and he immediately turned to look towards the roof on the opposite end of the street.
There he stood, in his red and black uniform. The imposing silhouette of the powerful Servant.
"Archer…-san…" Shige called out weakly with infinite relief.
"Reinforcements?!" The man could not believe it.
But it made sense to Shige. He could finally see the Yukimura Shrine in the distance. The big hill/small mountain was visible from the crossing. Shige had… made it. He fainted instantly.
He had been so close. This couldn't be happening. Collingwood was losing his cool. The boy was still in his grasp. The seals in his hand. Only a bit more and he would take out the first Master.
The Servant standing in the distance was aiming his bow straight at Collingwood. The next arrow was already ready to be fired.
Instinctively he grabbed the fainted boy and held him up as a human shield. This was his hostage… his only way out.
"I suggest you let go of Shigechiyo-sama. My arrows will find the right target no matter where you stand." The deep voice of the Servant reached him all the way across the street as if he stood right next to him.
"Sano-senpai!" And yet another person arrived from the end of the street. Unlike the Servant she could not jump across rooftops and instead just ran on ground level. She seemed quite out of breath. Collingwood was too anxious of the Servant to really take note of her at this point.
Archer. Of all the possible enemies he had to encounter the one he had the least chance of escaping. What option was left to him? As the Servant said, he would headshot Collingwood even if he had a hostage. This wasn't even the red Servant's Master.
"A-Archer-dono, please don't shoot!"
"As you wish Koyuki-sama." The Servant obliged.
Collingwood could not believe it. The girl must have been the Master then, but why would she say something so stupid? For just a few moments at least, he was safe?
"Please let Sano-senpai go and we will not hurt you." The girl shouted across the street. She was walking over slowly, as if not to make him do something hasty.
Of course he knew that she was completely wrong about how to approach a hostage situation, but he was not actually trying to take a hostage anyway and for now that girl's naiveté was his only lifeline.
"Back away Koyuki!" He yelled back. Picking up names fast was essential for survival.
"Ah, uhm… y-yes." She stopped her steps nervously.
Now was the decisive time. He had come this far. If he just kept distracting her he could get away…
Something in his mind slipped out. Couldn't he do even more?
His hand was still on that of the boy's (was he called Shigechiyo?). He could still finish the transfer. It would only take a few more seconds. Sweat ran down his bruised face. It was risky, but he felt confident… no he had to be confident.
"If you don't move I won't kill him." He put the knife the Shigechiyo's throat to underline his superior position. Hopefully that Archer was as obedient as he seemed.
"I u-understand, but c-can you not let him go? We will not harm you if you do not harm him. I promise this on the Yukimura name."
For some reason this young girl assumed that the 'Yukimura name' meant anything to him. Also was she dressed in a shrine maiden uniform? It almost felt like he had seen her before.
"Why should I trust you?" He asked to buy time. The blue seal were already starting to fade from Shigechiyo's hand.
"Because… er… I really mean it." She stuttered and pushed her hands together as if in prayer.
Was this girl real? Even Collingwood could not stay completely tense when met with so much innocence. His hand would not slip despite that though.
"Alright, if you are so serious, then order your Servant not to attack me." He was really pushing it with that, but he needed only a few more seconds.
"…if that is what it takes." Koyuki had lowered her head, but now she looked up seriously. She raised her hand over her head and the Command Seals lit up.
"Koyuki-sama… you have no need to obey a hoodlum like that." Archer said gently. He did not bark at her or complain, he just seemed to make a suggestion. His patience was rather shocking.
"I know Archer-dono. But I think that I can trust him. His aura feels… familiar." The girl was too far away for him to see what she looked like. Maybe she was actually joking or perhaps she looked crazy.
But for just a moment he felt his heart convulse painfully. It was the sting of guilt… and curiosity. Trust? How could she use that word so freely? In this situation?
His hand wavered.
Why now? He couldn't even understand his own heart anymore. His hand sank down from Shigechiyo's arm…
"The tin man has a heart after all." A rather familiar voice reached his ear from close by. "We should make ourselves sparse, don't you think so too Master?" Caster put a hand on his back. The next moment only the two of them stood inside an empty alley. A trash container and some moths were the only other things around.
"Did you win?" Collingwood asked with his hand still stretched in an angle to hold up the boy. His stiff arm had trouble moving back after the tense situation.
"I won some valuable Intel on who not to play tag with." Caster replied sardonically.
"…you are hurt." Collingwood glanced at her bleeding side.
"Shallower than it appears. It will close in a bit, conveniently enough. We Servants are truly resilient." She leaned against the dumpster with a fleeting sigh. Despite her words, the wound seemed to heal rather slowly. It must have been really deep when she received it. "It seems you did run into some trouble as well."
"I could have handled it…" He replied as he pulled a out a cigarette from his chest pocket and shakingly put it into his mouth.
"It was an unwise attempt to continue the theft of the boy's seals."
"How-"
"I had been watching for a while." She replied with a smirk. "You were surely aware that this would have ended in your demise?"
"You think… that Archer would have shot me?" Collingwood asked with the cigarette shaking between his lips.
"Hmhm, I could not pretend to know that. But the boy's gallant knight in shining armor was already on her way. Furthermore you were watched by another uninvited guest." Her eyes turned sharper.
"Who?"
"I suppose a… common enemy." She replied with an instinctive motion to her injury.
He didn't know exactly what she was implying, but there was one particular enemy that came to mind. If that was true then he had underestimated the sphere of influence of that thing.
Caster stared at him for a while. Her purple eyes were mysterious, but he had no mind to discern their meaning right now.
"Even the calmest of sages will run out of patience eventually." She finally opened her mouth.
"What now?"
"It appears everyone wishes to test me today." She sighed theatrically. "I still await your special words with baited breath."
"Huh?" He gnawed on his unlit cigarette and squinted.
"How many times does this make I wonder? A less humble person than me would surely have kept count." She stepped forward in an exaggerated way and looked up his face. "You are proficient at playing the damsel in distress, if nothing else." She put a hand to his chest and grinned.
Now he got it. But that didn't mean he was going to indulge this behavior.
"I save you again and again, but where is my thanks? What is a frail maiden to do with such a stingy Master?" She pretended to be deeply distressed.
"…" He would ignore her all the way to the hotel. Without saying anything he walked out of the alley.
"Even for a hermit, you are simply too antisocial." She said with a hint of genuine disappointment and slumped forward. The sudden movement seemed to sting her side.
"…let's stop by the 24 hour pharmacy on the way back." He mumbled. "You used up my first aid kit after all. Need some painkillers and balms."
"Hehe." She chuckled with a soft expression at his clumsy attempt to be considerate.