I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

Chap 15

It was 10 to 4 in the afternoon, Saber and Akeno had remained at the shrine. Ironically the only room that survived the battle between Saber and Lancer was Issei's room so the master and servant decided to use it for the day. The boy's stuff was still here, untouched. Currently Saber was polishing her katanas. Although when she was summoned her weapons were at the most optimal state, any true Japanese swordmaster who follows the path of the warrior knows that it is their duty to clean and polish their weapons oftenly. It is a way to communicate with their weapons, which is essential for combat. Since Saber didn't have her kit with her when she became a servant she borrowed one from her master who happened to use a katana too.

Archer was standing outside, smoking. Earlier he offered her the white stick but she declined it. Her master wasn't fond of smoking so she didn't try it, even though Saber was curious about that unpleasant smell and how it could help people relax.

Yesterday was a fluke for them, despite having Lancer and her master at their throats those two managed to escape at the end. Saber guessed that her master truly didn't have the heart to eliminate Issei, despite being drowned in hate. She also noticed that Lancer had completely healed up in less than a week unlike what she said, as expected Issei's Sacred Gear was tough to deal with. It would be a matter of time before he and Lancer joined the war again.

Saber didn't know what had happened at the Himejima headquarter, but the news of the death of Shuri Himejima broke them all. She didn't know what Lancer thought, but she knew among Issei, Akeno and herself nobody expected that, especially Akeno. She could also see that Issei was heartbroken when he told them the truth, but who was to blame for? Issei was idealistic, but Akeno was no different from him in that regard.

Life wasn't fair. That was just how it is.

After her master shut herself in her room Saber thought that she would be too hurtful to continue the war, and it would take at least weeks for Akeno to recover from the painful truth. She was wrong.

The same midnight Akeno called Saber to discuss a plan to take Lancer from Issei. She explained that in the morning she would tamper with the food, just make it so that when Issei ate breakfast he would lose his strength, and it would be up to Saber to judge whether she should cut Issei's left arm to remove his command spells or not in the dining room. Issei would be allowed to stay alive, but Akeno didn't say anything about taking one or two of his limbs. With Lancer being weakened Saber should have no problem subjugating her.

Saber knew the plan was foolish, because as a servant she knew Lancer would be able to see through this typical act of betrayal. Issei might be naive, but Lancer had always been serious from the start. That western knight had prepared to kill Saber and Akeno any time given the chance, because the sole reason why they were on friendly term was because of Issei. They had discussed that, and they knew Lancer would be suspicious when Saber didn't arrive on time to help Lancer on the day Berserker attacked her at the abandoned warehouse. So on paper they were allies, but in reality they were ready to kill each other.

So the plan failed, but Akeno didn't order her to chase after Lancer. Instead she called Archer's master to discuss a plan to get the grail, which involved taking over the hill of Kuoh.

Thanks to Archer's master they had learned that a few months ago an Asian woman who suspiciously looked like the black cat had been on her way to Kuoh Town, so she must be the master and the blue fox Caster. However that also meant that they were going to fight either Tamamo-no-mae, Daji or Kumiho, and they were all monsters in their legends.

Saber's heart pumped up just thinking about it. Her, a swordmaster, had a chance to slay one of the most famous great youkais in the east. Such a glorious battle awaited her.

Last night they had burned Kuoh High school, and in a way Saber felt that Akeno had been venting her anger. This morning they had set up multiple spells to seal off all the road to Kuoh hill to prepare for the assault. Any bystander citizens would be a pain to deal with.

Saber understood that her master's judgement was clouded by her hatred toward the Himejima clan. If Saber was alive she would stop Akeno. However she was but a ghost summoned by the living, so she had to honor her master's wish by accompanying her to the very end regardless of the outcome. That is what Saber had chosen.

For that Saber was no longer a human, she had become a sword for the sake of her master.

Saber sheathed her katanas, and returned the cleaning kit to Akeno. It was her sign to show that she was ready. Akeno too had changed into her combat attire with a katana on her waist. The only one who wasn't here was Archer's master, but that was expected. Akeno had told her of Archer and his master's role, so if he showed himself there was a chance that he would be killed by Saber or other servants, which defeated the role of observing and killing Akeno when she tried to betray the Himejima.

That's why Akeno had to hold back instead of killing Archer and his master when Issei told her the truth. She wanted them to be ignorant, so that when she dragged them to hell they wouldn't be able to see it. After all there was no point of living if her mother was dead.

"It's time. Let us begin." Akeno closed the door to Issei's room. If the boy survived and returned here he would still be able to get back his stuff, that was the last favor they would do for him.

Archer flicked his smoke into the yard and turned into his spirit form. Saber and Akeno then rushed to the hill where Caster and her master resided.

Normally Saber could use her noble phantasm three times in a day, four times even if Akeno gave her best. However if they were to obtain a huge source of mana Saber would have no problem using her ultimate attack 8-9 times a day, which was no different from a death sentence for their opponents. It would also serve as a bargain to recruit Lancer since her master couldn't supply mana properly now. Saber could even yield her wish to Lancer if she wanted to sweeten the deal.

An hour later they arrived at the foot of the hill. Akeno took a short break and prepared for the battle.

"The bounded field created by Caster will decrease our strength, it's best if we finish it fast." Archer's master said through a communication type of magecraft. "Archer is in position now, he will support Saber when she hunts down Caster and her master."

"Do we know where they are now?" Akeno asked.

"They are at the central leyline of the hill. Saber and Archer should be able to sense the concentration of the mana." Archer's master answered.

Saber touched the familiar handles of her katanas. They were still the same like those years when she traveled around Japan. Today they would be tainted by blood, just like those lives she had taken back then.

One thing they had learned about Archer is that he could blend into a forest, to the point that unless Saber was 5 meters away from him she wouldn't be able to sense him. Akeno had concluded that it was his noble phantasm, which allowed him to become one with the forest. In a way it was a perfect tool for an assassin. If they were fighting in a forest without doubt Archer would be able to kill them with ease.

Saber wasted no time climbing the hill. Immediately she could feel the effects of the bounded field of Caster. It was not just any normal field but a grand magical formation which was made to hamper the enemies. Every of her physical stat dropped at least one rank. Despite rocking a high rank of Magic Resistance she still got a penalty, such was a testament to how strong Caster was.

Regardless Saber and Archer still advanced, because they knew that there was no way for Caster to beat them in melee combat. The sky thundered and darkened with clouds, then chunks of ice and balls of fire dropped like rain on the pair of servants.

Barrages of arrows flew from the forest to counter them, it was as if over a dozen of archers were shooting at the same time. The arrows cut down the majority of the long range attacks of Caster, and Saber had no problem cutting down the rest to open a path.

"Heh, to think you would gang up on a lonesome me like this. What a bunch of savages!"

The blue fox, or Caster appeared to confront them, but there were at least 15-20 of her. Without doubt that was a cloning technique similar to what she had used in their first meeting, only it was on a higher scale. Above the chunks of ice and balls of fire were still falling on Saber and Archer, but Archer had started firing arrows at Caster.

"You have to try harder than that!"

Defensive barriers appeared before every of Caster and her clones to protect them against Archer's assault, and since he was weakened by the bounded field his arrows were ineffective.

Saber had a special skill which should allow her to cancel this cloning spell of Caster, but she did not want to show it to Archer. So for the time being she targeted the clones within her reach. The barrier might have protected Casters from the arrows, but they couldn't hold against multiple attacks. Saber cut through the barrier and the person behind it, yet she knew she didn't hit the right one.

"Hah, I can do this all day long!" Casters said, more of her clones appeared and began to launch charms at Saber. The charms were the explosive type that Akeno used but more powerful, yet they weren't powerful enough to be a problem for Saber or Archer. The problem was that Caster could launch them with her clones, and they were all 'real'. Therefore Saber had to watch out for the charms from Casters and the raining attack from above. She wanted to get to the central leyline to take out the master, but the rate of attack from Casters prevented her from doing so.

Archer also had trouble countering Casters, because those balls of fire which he didn't shoot down burned the trees which reduced his dominant territory. There was cyclones too to slow down his arrows. It was a surprise to Saber that Caster alone could hold off two servants, despite having a disadvantage against them.

'No, it is clear that Caster is enhanced by a command spell or two so she can fight both of us.'

Yet that gave Saber a clue on how to defeat Caster, but first she needed to confirm it.

30 minutes later and the situation didn't change. Saber destroyed the clones, Archer countered the raining attack and Caster made more clones and kept using spells against them. Since Caster had the support of the leyline she had no problem keeping up the pace, but for Saber and Archer the longer the fight dragged on the higher the chance of them losing.

'Master, send all the familiar you have to search the area around the hill.' Saber said through telepathy. 'Focus on the shortest route to get out of this town.'

'I'm on it.' Replied Akeno.

It was Saber expected, because 10 minutes later Caster had a sour face.

"Distraction can lead to a loss, you know!" Saber began to speed up as she cut down multiple clones. Archer also helped because the raining attack had decreased.

"You…!"

All the Casters stopped using charms, and instead they gathered a ball of dark and light in their palms, and then they shot it at Saber. However Caster obviously wasn't a warrior, so their attacks were predictable. Saber had no problem dodging them. The place where those dark and light balls hit however, lost its color and turned to dust.

"Tch!"

'Caster's master is running away with another person on her back. There is also a clone of Caster with them. Archer's master is chasing after them. Good job Saber.' Akeno said.

Saber and Archer continued to push Caster who was losing ground. Earlier Saber had become suspicious on why Caster and her master didn't run away, especially when they knew there were two servants coming to this hill. Unless Caster is a very strong opponent it is close to impossible for her to defeat two servants, let alone Saber who also gets a homeland advantage.

Therefore Caster must be stalling them, and Saber was right when Akeno found out that the master was running away. They must have come to the conclusion that they couldn't win so at the very least Caster would protect her master by holding the hostile servants here. In this case the master's live was more important than winning this war.

Saber could see how loyal Caster to her master was, but loyalty alone couldn't win the battle.

Caster was a good mage, yet she couldn't keep her calm under pressure and thus had made a mistake. With one step Saber appeared before one of the clones, and with one slash she cut her neck.

Instantly the clones disappeared along with the raining attack from above.

"...H-How…?" The bleeding head of Caster said in a weak voice.

"Your clones definitely have a similar aura, but they lack the will to fight. I only need to observe long enough to figure out which one is the real you."

"Curse you Saber…" Caster still opened her eyes as if she wanted to eat Saber's liver.

Saber didn't reply to the dead, she simply sheathed her katanas.

"Good work." Archer came out from the forest, he took out a cigarette and began to smoke. Archer too was tired after the fight against Caster, certainly taking out so many chunks of ice and balls of fire must have drained him.

Saber slowly walked toward Archer, her left hand held the scabbard and her right hand was opened.

"Ah… Man, I thought I could at least finish this." Archer exhaled. "Run, master."

Saber had walked past Archer, but her katana was unsheathed. A second later Archer's head fell on the ground, the cigarette still hot in his mouth.

"Should I pursue Archer's master or Caster's master?" Saber asked her master had come to the hill.

"That would be a waste of time, without their servants there is little they can do. Archer's master must be contacting the headquarter in Kyoto now. We have at least 36 hours before the Himejima can send their soldiers here." Akeno said as she headed toward the central leyline.

"So we need to get the grail in less than 36 hours." Saber followed after Akeno.

"That's why I will need to redirect the leylines to you, and if it's possible we should try to recruit Lancer again. Hm… even with so many attacks this hill doesn't seem to be devastated. Caster must have reinforced the entire hill with mana so that it can take a punishment-"

Akeno suddenly kneeled down and coughed up blood. Saber too felt dizzy but she did her best to stand still.

"Impossible...! There's no way Caster's bounded field can still affect us now that she's dead!" But Saber could feel that her stats were still downed 1 rank. She helped Akeno up but it was clear that her master had been working hard to keep her consciousness.

"Caster… Tamamo-no-mae…." Akeno said, pointing at the big stone which was formed by Caster's corpse.

"I recall it now… When Tamamo-no-mae died she became a stone, which held her grudge against her killers. That stone is called the Killing Stone because it killed people who came near it." Saber bit her lips. "We need to destroy the stone before you-"

"Heeeellooooo! Good evening bitches!"

They knew that voice, it was the same guy who was in control of Berserker. Saber gritted her teeth, how did she let them in this close?

'No… My senses must have become dulled due to the penalty from the bounded field and the curse of Caster, and master has sent her familiars away so there's no one to alert us.'

They did expect the church side to come here, but they didn't expect it to happen right now.

"Hahaha look at you pussies now! Who's laughing now!?"

A group of 9 showed themselves from behind. Saber could see the psycho Freed, 4 unknown people, a white hair woman in a cage-like dress with a mask who she was sure was Assassin according to Archer's master's report. Rider and his master were also there along with a strange man.

"No… That's not a human…" Saber corrected herself.

The strange man was holding a western sword. His chest was exposed, showing a cross-like green tattoo on dark brown skin. There were a pair of dark grey horns on his white head, and Saber could see that he had a pair of monstrous wings and a tail too. However there was only madness on his handsome face.

'Another servant…? But how?'

Berserker had been killed by Lancer, the church side should only have 2 servants left with them. So how did they have another one now?

"Well, what are you waiting for Berserker? Murder them." Freed ordered

"Grah!" Berserker roared. He swung his sword toward Saber to launch a wave of light at her. Using all of her strength Saber carried Akeno and jumped sideway to dodge it. Fortunately for her Berserker was crazy, so his aim wasn't totally accurate. Saber doubted that he would miss a second time however.

"Freed!" The black hair woman shouted.

"What the fuck!? This guy just used his noble phantasm!" Yet Freed only laughed at that.

"That's a Berserker for you, he just uses his strongest attack to destroy the enemy. What more do you want?" The man in a thick grey coat said.

"Heh, to think you have a catalyst to summon such a monster." The short blond woman said.

"Hm, why don't we test how strong he is?" The blue hair woman said.

"I disagree, they just kill Archer who should die by my hand. I have the right to extract my revenge on them." Assassin complained, but Saber was sure she just wanted to suck their blood dried.

"Oh fuck off, my Berserker need a sandbag to practise you bitch!" Freed argued, he didn't fear Assassin simply because he was in control of another Berserker.

"Alright, how about this? Freed you are free to test Berserker's power, Assassin you are free to attack them if they become a bother to us." The black hair woman said, Saber had a feeling that she was indeed Assassin's master. "Also Dohnaseek, didn't I say that you would be the master of the new Berserker?"

"Well I lost a bet against Freed." The man shrugged. "So that's that."

Saber put Akeno behind her. She could see that her master was breathing hard, and there was little she could do besides resisting the terrible curse of the Killing Stone. Saber too was weakened, it was as if she were carrying a temple on her back. Saber checked her body and understood that because she was the killer of Tamamo-no-mae her noble phantasm was cursed, it would cause more harm to her if she used it. Yet her opponent was a brand new Berserker who wasted no time using his long range noble phantasm as his opening move, and Assassin who couldn't help herself but wait like a hungry snake. Any moment Saber let down her guard she would be devoured by Assassin.

Saber had run over 10 scenarios in her mind when she saw the church side, and 8 more after Berserker attacked them. She lost 18 out of 18 battles, and that wasn't factoring in Rider and his master. The only way for her to win was to escape this hill, but if she did that Assassin would use her iron maidens to catch them. If Akeno was to be trapped within one she would be killed for sure, and yet if Saber held up in this defensive position the Killing Stone and Berserker would kill them eventually.

Another alternative way was to advance to enter melee combat against Berserker, but that meant abandoning her master who was helpless. Saber tried to think of a way to let the noble phantasm of Berserker help her destroy the Killing Stone, but the angle was wrong, and Akeno would be fully exposed.

Saber glanced at Akeno, and saw that there was tiredness and hopeless in her eyes. Undoubtedly her master was gradually losing the will to fight. The curse of the Killing Stone was too much for her when they were this close.

"Well master, I don't know what you are thinking, but I regret not having Lancer at our side now." Saber chuckled, still she took a stance. Both of her katanas were drawn. The wave of light from Berserker had come to them again. Saber opened her eyes wide, and cut the wave with a slash.

"What the fuck!?" Freed exclaimed. "How the fuck does that bitch just cut my Berserker's noble phantasm like that!?"

It was true that Saber couldn't employ her noble phantasm to retaliate. However she still had her skills, and one of them was the Empyrean Eye. Saber knew the attack from Berserker was magical in nature, which meant it was formed by mana. Therefore if she cut the mana the attack itself would be neutralized. As long as Saber focused on the wave she could cut it, because she had eliminated all the possibilities to zero.

"Kill her Berserker! Use your noble phantasm! Do not let her live!" Screamed Freed.

Berserker let out another roar, and then he swung his sword. He swung, swung and swung. He kept swinging nonstop at Saber, every time his sword was swung a wave of light would fly toward Saber. The whole hill was filled with blue light of destruction.

Yet all of them were reduced into mere mana participle under the swordsmanship of Saber. Theoretically Saber could keep up with Berserker… that is if her katanas were supernatural themselves. One truth remained was that Saber was a human swordmaster, and her pair of katanas, skillfully forged as they were, was normal unlike Berserker's sword. So even if her skills were great enough to cut the waves, it was just a matter of time before the katanas eventually succumbed to the supernatural power of Berserker's noble phantasm.

How many times could Saber cut Berserker's wave of light? She had no time to think about that, but she did know that she would protect her master to the bitter end.

"Hah, so this is how a samurai feels." Saber licked her lips. She knew she would die, but she also had to admit that she enjoyed this kind of despair.

"Now let's see if Lady Bodhisattva is with me."

"So Lancer didn't take the bait?"

"Yep." Dohnaseek shrugged. "She even threw the crystal back at us when we were hiding the forest to observe her. If Rider wasn't there I would have lost my head back then."

Rider said nothing, he had a slight regret that he didn't just let Lancer kill off Dohnaseek or Kalawarner. On that day when Dohnassek and Kalawarner tried to recruit Lancer he was ordered to guard them, forcing his master to use a command spell even. On the other hand he learned that Lancer was loyal to Issei, so that was a good thing to know. However the biggest thing he got were the mana crystal which was forgotten by Dohnaseek, and an advice from Lancer herself. If Rider had a chance to meet her again he would thank her for that. Rider lightly touched the mana crystal which he was hiding within his armor. It would be his ticket to help Asia. What Rider needed to do was to wait for the right time.

"I have to say, Berserker certainly wastes no time eating up all the crystal." Kalawarner said. "The viking before didn't burn up as fast as this guy."

One big secret the heretic side (Rider refused to acknowledge them as a church's affiliates) had was that they actually heavily prepared for this holy grail war, including the possession of a lot of mana crystals which used to support the servants. Thanks to these mana crystals Berserker had no problem using his noble phantasm consecutively. Assassin was also boosted thanks to them, on top of those bloody rituals which involved human sacrifices.

Rider however, wasn't hooked to those mana crystals because Reynare, as he had finally learned the name of Assassin's master, feared that he would take advantage of it to help Asia. So right now he was fighting with just his master's mana, which was just enough.

Besides the mana crystals they also had the help from the observer, who should be neutral in this war, and a reserve vessel to summon an extra servant, which was the reason why they could summon another Berserker after the first one was killed. At first Rider couldn't understand how they managed to get their hands on so many resources, but then he found out that all of them: Reynare, Kalawarner, Dohnaseek and Mittelt, belonged to the heretic Grigory. This supernatural faction led by the Fallen Azazel was big even in the Great War back then, so it was natural that they were crushing this war thanks to the backup of the Grigory.

Rider returned his focus on the battle between Saber and Berserker again. From the outside perspective it looked unnatural, because Saber had survived this far against Berserker's onslaught with nothing but her swords and skills. No matter how strong a servant is, it is not possible to destroy a direct attack from a noble phantasm without activating one's. Yet Saber had done it, repeatedly.

Rider's impression on Saber was that she was an eastern warrior. During their short encounter at the warehouse he knew she was very strong with her two-sword style, and right now he was witnessing her true worth in this war. Had she not been cursed by Caster and cornered by three servants things might have gone differently.

"Hm?" There was a rise of magical energy from Saber's master, then lightning aura began to cover her body. Rider could see that she was gathering lightning in her hand to shoot at an object in the distance. However she must have missed it as nothing happened next.

"Wait what? Holy fuck that is the lightning of Lord Baraqiel!" Dohnaseek panicked. "That girl is one of his daughters! Fuck! Stop attacking! Stop attacking!"

'Baraqiel!? One of the strongest Fallen Angels among the Grigory!? Saber's master is his daughter!?' Rider couldn't believe it, he might not have seen Baraqiel personally, but if Dohnaseek was in this state that it couldn't be far from the truth.

Usually strong Fallen Angels like Baraqiel couldn't stay in this world for long. After the Age of Gods was usurped by the Age of Man the World had set up a great restriction on supernatural creatures. Weaklings like Reynare could only stay on earth as long as they didn't use their powers intensively. However the likes of Baraqiel could only stay for a week at most, unless he was heavily wounded to the point the World recognized him as a low-class supernatural being.

'That must have been how he impregnated a human woman here.' Thought Rider.

Saber's master finally collapsed on the ground, it seemed that she had lost her consciousness after that last gambit.

"Freed what the hell are you doing!? Stop this right now! Tell Berserker to stop! You too Reynare, if Lord Baraqiel finds out that we were trying to kill his daughter he will burn us to crisp!" Kalawarner grabbed Reynare who was biting her thumb.

"Tch-!" Reynare then pushed Kalawarner away. "Assassin, silence these fools."

"With pleasure." A smile creeped on Assassin's face.

"Reynare you bitch! You're gonna get us killed!" Dohnaseek, Kalawarner and Mittelt all grew a pair of black wings on their backs. In their hands were light spears. However Assassin was faster, instantly three iron maidens appeared and trapped the three Fallen within them.

Yet they didn't yield to Assassin's weapons. The three of them broke the iron maidens and began to throw their spears at Reynare, who also grew a pair of black wings to dodge and summoned her own light spear to fight back. Rider could see that Assassin was toying with her enemies again. He knew his time was coming, but he had to make sure that both Berserker and Assassin were occupied.

Rider turned his head back to Saber and saw that there was a black dog, as big as a pony, and there was a man in black attire who was putting Saber's master on the dog after saying something to Saber. Even from here he could feel that the black dog belonged to a Sacred Gear, or possibly a Sacred Gear itself.

'An ally of Saber's master?'

The man and the dog then ran away while Saber began to advance toward Berserker.

"Come to me Bayard! Master, please!"

Asia immediately stuck out her hand.

"I-Asia Argento, shall forfeit this war!"

"I-Rider, shall no longer serve my master!"

The contract was canceled by the consent of the master and servant. Asia then climbed on the horse with the help of Rider, the crystal inside his armor had also begun to supply him with mana.

"It has been a short time, but thank you Rider! May God be with you!"

"It has been a pleasure to be with you sister Asia. Please, stay alive!"

Bayard took Asia away from this battlefield under the shocked eyes of Reynare.

"What the hell are you doing Rider!? Stop them Assassin!"

A huge iron maiden trapped Bayard and Asia, but the horse broke it immediately without losing its speed.

"Rider's mount is too fast and powerful master, I can't restrain it without killing the person on it." Said Assassin.

Rider watched as Asia had successfully escaped, then he drew his blade.

The three Fallen Angels had been killed, and her master had been secured so Saber had entered melee combat against Berserker.

"You…! This is your plan to cancel the geas!" Reynare bit her lips, unexpected to see her plan ruined by Rider.

Asia Argento had no magic crest, so her command spells were what the geas used to bind her. However when she stopped participating in this war she chose to lose her command spells intentionally, thus the geas also disappeared with them. Without the command spells and geas there was nothing Reynare could do to lord over Rider.

Rider could only execute this because Lancer had given him the clue, and the crystal.

"Heretics! Taste my Ascalon!" Rider had no reason to hold back anymore. "You will never harm my master Asia Argento or use her for your evil plan!"

Saber and Rider, they kept fighting for the sake of their masters even when they no longer received support from them. They both knew that if one of them was to run away the other would be killed quickly, and their masters would be hunted down in a vulnerable state.

The outcome could not be more obvious.

Low mana. Unable to activate noble phantasm. No anchor.

Their opponents were strong servants with no restriction on magical energy, and they still had their masters for support.

Saber's katanas finally broke, and Rider had to fight without his beloved horse.

Against Berserker whose body could take any attack, against Assassin whose weapon was harmful against females.

The two servants knew what was waiting for them, but they had no hesitation.

They placed their trust on that naive boy, because there was no doubt that he would absolutely help their masters.

Four servants were eliminated on that night. The war was coming to an end.

AN: I made a mistake so I have to correct and reupload the chapter.