"Nach ihnen! Sie dürfen nicht lebend davon kommen!"
The Dead apostles yelled at each other in German as they gave chase. Despite not being able to catch up to the chariots, they were able to keep in pace using their superhuman strength and stamina. And thanks to the moon being out, they all gained a considerable boost in power.
"What are they saying?" Gray muttered quietly.
"'After them! Do not let them leave alive!'." Waver translated, earning surprised looks from everyone.
"You can speak german?" Reines asked, causing Waver to give a snort.
"I'm a scholar. I get students from all over the world so I studied bits and pieces of multiple languages." Waver said with a sigh, not understanding why everyone thought that was such a big surprise. He was a bit of a bookworm when he was younger, after all. "Anyway, do any of you have a plan? We can't just outrun all of them until the sun rises."
"Very good attention to detail, my pupil!" Rider boomed with a grin, causing Waver to groan in annoyance.
"You know if I didn't know you, I would have called you a smartass." Waver muttered in annoyance. He knew that Alexander was one of the most famous military commanders of all time, but the dude could act pretty stupid when it came to things other than strategy and fighting.
"We were ordered by miss Ruler to head straight towards the Yggdmillenia castle. As of now, the Holy Grail War has been called off and we have no choice but to join up with the Black faction to combat the threat." Rider continued, causing everyone to look at him in alarm.
"What?! But the black faction has absolutely no idea about what is going on! If they see all of us riding towards their base, they'll take it as an attack and strike back with their entire force!" Reines argued.
"Ruler says not to worry about it. Once they see her riding with us, they will be hesitant to strike at us for fear of incurring her wrath. Once we have reached the castle safely, we will have to explain what is going on." Rider said as he whipped the reigns, causing the bulls pulling the chariot to bellow as they smashed through trees.
"It's the only option we have. We'll deal with the vampires when we get there." Waver said, accepting that this was the only available option that they could come up with.
"Why couldn't we have just killed the priest while we were there? If we could have, it wouldn't have led to this mess." Gray asked, obviously not loving the situation one bit.
"We were already in a massive disadvantage at the time, young Gray." Rider replied. "15 dead apostles, a magical queen, and the original being that is synonymous with Assassination is more than any of us can possibly handle. It doesn't help we were in their territory. Retreating was the most tactical decision we could have made at the time. Even then without Ruler's servant, you all would have been slaughtered by the Old Man of the Mountain."
Hassan-I-Sabbah is a name and tittle that corresponds with the term of 'Assassin'. Even though there have been many others who have killed in the shadows before them, they were the ones who stuck as Assassins right until their history ended. That is why using the word 'Assassin' is a catalyst that will summon any candidates who have taken the title of Hassan during their life.
The Hassan that had introduced himself, however, implied himself to be the original. He was the first from which all other Hassans derived from. Due to such a powerful legend concerning a class that were best utilized in killing Masters behind the scenes, it was incredible unwise to leave their masters there, even if the other servants were within reach.
Suddenly, the rider's eyes widened as something screeched past the chariot and exploded in front of them. Turning to look behind them, they could see several of the dead apostles bringing out long weapons that resembled tubes with a small cone strapped to the end. A simple grip rested near the end of the weapon, giving the user a way of stability and control to deal with the recoil.
Waver's eyes widened when he realized what it was.
He had expected it to be some kind of portable grenade launcher.
No.
It was far worse that that.
It was a Panzerfaust, a german Anti-tank weapon that was used in World War 2 to help infantry grunts deal with heavily armored vehicles such as tanks. They could be called the prototype of what would eventually become modern rocket launchers.
They weren't as modern as the anti-tank weapons of today, but they all glowed faintly with a purple hue that covered the weapons ominously. It was a clear sign that the weapon had been enchanted to some degree, possibly by Assassin or Caster.
No modern weapon of this day and age would be sufficient, or powerful enough to destroy a spiritual body like a servant. If the weapon was enchanted, however, by someone from the Age of the Gods who wielded unmatched magecraft, it was certainly possible to turn a modern weapon into a D-ranked Noble phantasm. Even at such a low rank on the power scale, it was still a force powerful enough to be above anything a normal magi could wield.
"Rider! Pull up!" Waver ordered frantically.
Whipping the reigns, Rider quickly ordered the magical bulls to quickly pull the chariot upwards. Quickly taking to the skies, the group narrowly avoided being blown to bits as numerous missiles screamed below them, exploding against the trees and showered them with splinters.
"You guys alright?" Lancer asked as he pulled up besides them in his own chariot.
"Yes, we are all unharmed." Reines replied, dusting off splinters from her dress.
"We must hurry and warn the Black Faction. The fortress has begun moving and we don't have the power to bring down a Noble phantasm of that scale." Jeanne said with a grim look on her face.
"What about your servant, Miss Ruler? Isn't he a god?" Gray asked, causing Jeanne's face to fall.
"Yes, I believe so. Right now, however, he is busy holding off Hassan for us to make our escape. I also cannot seem to contact him through our connection right now." Jeanne said miserably, already feeling worried for her fellow companion.
"Bah! Why are you so worried, woman? If he's a god, then he should be fine! What kind of person would he be if he were beaten so easily by some old man of the mountain?" Saber said in a rude tone, but Jeanne could tell that the knight of betrayal was only trying to reassure and cheer her up.
"Yes, you are right. I believe he will come out victorious." Jeanne said with a small smile. "Now, let us continue. I don't believe we have lost them yet."
Sure enough, a hail of bullets zipped past them as the dead apostles continued to give chase while firing their guns upwards at them. Saber gave an impressed whistle at the tenacity these guys had. They may not be able to compare to a servant, but they were certainly better than the homunculi and golems they had faced at the black camp.
"It is time for us to leave! Ride with me, Lancer!" Rider roared as he spurred the bulls on.
"Right!" Lancer grinned as he rode side by side with the king of conquerors. He may have claimed to not work well with those of royalty or of kingship, but he certainly found himself getting along quite well with the giant Rider. Despite being a king, he was one who fought with his men and not behind them, treating each of them like his brothers instead of pawns that were meant to die on the field of battle.
And plus, the dude was awesome at drinking challenges. That's a plus, right?
Naruto grunted as he was kicked straight off the floating island, smashing into the distant earth below with enough force to create a small crater. Despite this, he still stood up without problem other than a small stiffness in his shoulder.
Glowing with the chakra shroud that was given to him as the host of the ten tails, his specialized armor already began to heal any of the light wounds that he may have received earlier. Despite having his defenses raised to abnormal levels, he still had numerous cuts and bruises that covered his body from Assassin's raw strength.
He even had his heart crushed at least 5 times by now, but he got better.
He found it amazing that an opponent could push him this far. Upon the release of his Chakra cloak, the Assassin had decided to release more of is own power to keep up. Activating the Zabaniya of each of his successors, the Assassin proved himself to be quite the troublesome opponent.
The Zabaniya were techniques created by the assassins that were classified as first rate killing techniques easily able to swiftly kill an opponent in an instant. In a sense, they were similar to hidden ninjutsu, techniques that were unique only to the wielders themselves.
As the original Hassan, it was only natural that he would possess their techniques as the compound being made from their deeds. The Zabaniya noble phantasms were supposed to be used to their full potential against defenseless Masters, but the King Hassan's power and skill level elevated those techniques into extremely high levels. Even if they weren't sure to kill him, it would sure hurt like hell if he was struck by one of those techniques.
Suddenly, The King of Assassins dropped out of the air, easily remaining upright as he slammed into the ground and created a similar sized crater.
"Zabaniya: Delusional Poison Body."
As the Assassin spoke out the name of the technique, a strong smell immediately wafted throughout the air. All around them, plants wilted and died as the scent immediately got stronger, causing Naruto's lungs to burn slightly as it reached his nose.
"Poison..." Naruto muttered as he recognized the familiar smell that coated Shinobi weaponry. Quickly circulating his chakra to expel the toxin, he took up a stance as Hassan began walking towards him, not affected at all by the pollution.
"You even managed to resist the effect of my poison? You are as strong as the legends say you are." Hassan rasped.
"And you as well, Old man of the mountain. It's a shame we couldn't meet in more favorable conditions." Naruto responded politely.
"Indeed. I loathe the command spell that chains me, but I have no choice but to obey the order that has been grafted onto me." Hassan apologized as he took up a stance. "Quickly, let us resume our battle and get this over with. Just as I have my orders, you have something you must do as well."
Naruto nodded. "Yes, you are correct. Let us continue."
Before another breath could pass, Hassan had already begun his charge, swinging his sword with the ferocity and precision of a highly trained killer. Quickly materializing a red chakra sword, Naruto quickly parried the strike and responded with his own.
Stepping backwards and deflecting the blow, Hassan's free hand quickly shot forward to grasp at Naruto's face. Lashing out with his foot, Hassan stumbled backwards with a grunt as Naruto's kick smashed into his stomach.
Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance when his foot failed to do more damage. "So... His body is still as solid as diamond despite turning it into poison. How bothersome."
He swung his sword again, this time with enough force to slice several trees in half with the simple aftershock of the attack. Stepping forward fearlessly, Hassan ducked under the attack and thrusted his sword forward to pierce his heart.
Using the momentum of his missed swing, Naruto twisted a full 360 degrees and sliced his sword with even more power. Upon contact between weapons, an explosion of prana and Chakra erupted between them, sending them both flying backwards.
Quickly recovering, the two suddenly found their hands free of their weapons. Naruto's chakra blade had dissipated in the explosion while Hassan's own blade had found itself lodged int the trunk of a nearby tree with others bisected in half beneath it. Looking at each other, the both stood up and began walking towards each other.
"Fine." Hassan grunted as he raised his hands. "I'll just use my fists."
"So will I. I'll just beat you to death." Naruto said as settled into a standard combat stance.
Striking with the speed of a viper, Naruto quickly blocked several strikes in less than a single breath as the two of them immediately struck at each other with the intent to kill. For each strike that they landed, they would receive a strike of their own, forgoing defense in favor of them pummeling each other to death so they could break through their defenses.
"Ora!" Naruto roared as he switched up his tactics and opted for a grapple. Ignoring the poison as it hissed against his skin, he looped his arms around a punch and used his momentum to thrown the Assassin over his shoulder, send him crashing through several trees.
Rolling to a halt, Hassan quickly stood back up and launched a punch immediately, predicting that Naruto would charge in to prevent him from recovering. Predicting correctly, Hassan found his fist smashed against Naruto's face. As he tried to send him flying, however, Hassan's nonexistent eyes widened in surprise as Naruto suddenly exploded into smoke.
"A clone?!"
"Rasengan!"
Hassan didn't even have time to spin around as a Rasengan slammed into his back and sent him flying. Growling in annoyance as the Rasengan managed to actually harm him through his diamond skin, Dirks appeared in Hassan's hands and were thrown mid-flight with the speed of a bullet.
Not having expected such an attack while airborne, Naruto raised his hands and winced in slight annoyance as 5 dirks struck him in the arm, leg, and shoulder. The throwing knives were all hooked to make removal of the blades difficult, but Naruto quickly immediately began pulling them out, his open wounds already closing thanks to his regenerative powers.
Looking up, he could see that Hassan had already recovered as well and was zooming towards him with two dirks in his hand. Ducking underneath a slash, he quickly wrapped his arms around hassan's waist and swerved behind him, jerking him to a stop and lifting him backwards as he performed a german suplex.
He learned that technique from watching wrestling on TV. If there was one thing humanity did right for entertainment, wrestling was obviously the best.
Dropping his weapons as his body hit the dirt, Hassan suddenly cursed in arabic as Naruto rolled over and positioned himself on his chest to pin him down. At this point, the only thing the man of the mountain could do was buck, flail, and claw at the face in the hopes of throwing Naruto off of him.
Grabbing one of the hands that moved to gouge out his eyes, Naruto quickly jerked it harshly and snapped it, earning a hiss of pain from the man beneath him. Seeing as his left hand was useless, the right hand snapped forward in its stead. Repeating what he had just done, Naruto snapped the other hand as well before he pummeled hassan's face twice with his fists for good measure.
Calming down from his combat high, Naruto inhaled and exhaled slowly in an effort to get his breathing under control. Beneath him, Hassan laid there in a daze of pain with injuries that would have made any normal man black out from the pain.
"Heh... heh..." Hassan gave a tired laugh. "I admit... defeat. It seems you are just too strong. A pity. I had thought that my assassination techniques would have been a match for you."
"Well, you pushed me this far. Not many people can ever say that they managed to do that." Naruto said as his chakra cloak disappeared, no longer needed.
"It was a good run while it lasted."
"Yes, but I still have a question for you before I go." Naruto said as he leaned forward. "How is the priest keeping you materialized in this world? A spirit as powerful as you wouldn't be able to stay materialized in this world without a master, and I highly doubt that he has enough power on his own for you to act at such a level."
"Hm..." Hassan muttered as he craned his neck to see. "He's using Grail shards."
"Grail shards?"
"Yes, leftover remnants from other fake grail wars that have occurred in the past. As an overseer, he said he has been stationed in several grail wars and collecting resources in preparation for this day. Inside each of us is a shard from the countless fake grails that have been scattered across the world. Even if they were fake, they still have enough power to at least sustain a servant and keep them materialized in the world."
"Then where are those shards now? They must be close by for them to work, right?" Naruto asked, earning a chuckle from the man.
"You're correct, and they're closer than you think." He nodded towards his chest. "I have several of them placed in my chest. The other rogue servants that you have encountered only required 1 or 2 shards to deal with their upkeep, but I recently had eight of these added to perform at maximum efficiency against you."
"And what would happen if those grail shards run out of power?"
"Well, we'd disappear of course. Even with that large amount of power, it can't recover prana as fast as we release it during a fight. For today, however, Shirou Kotomine has decided to drop all of his servants in an assault on the Yggdmillenia castle."
"So he plans to settle this war today, huh?" Naruto muttered as he glanced in the direction of the Yggmillenia castle. "How large is the assault?"
"He never disclosed such information for me. All I know is that he has an unknown amount of dead apostles that could make up a small battalion. As for the servants, I do not know. I was mostly locked away in the basement before I was allowed to fight you." Hassan admitted, laying his head back down on the ground. "I've said all that I know. Now... hurry up and finish me off. I'm starting to get a bitch of an itch that I can't scratch."
It sounded like a joke, but neither of them laughed. Materializing a truth seeking orb in his hand, he changed its shape and elongated it into a black pole with a sharp point at the end. As he raised it above his head, he gave his opponent a sad look.
"Rest easy, Old man."
The man could only chuckle without humor as Naruto stabbed downward.
Arjuna whistled to himself as he kept a watchful eye in his usual vantage point up in the tallest tower. Normally he would have been dutifully standing with his bow in hand. Today, however, he was taking it easy. Having set up a small hammock, he casually lazed around it as he worked.
Having nearly been clubbed to death by a metal suit, he deserved a break. And it's not like he couldn't afford to slack off at a time like this, right? The red faction had just retreated a couple hours ago and most likely won't attack until they have organized themselves.
He was also eating his favorite dish of mapo tofu that he had made by himself. Even after all these years of being dead, he still hadn't forgotten how to make such a hellish dish that was so potent, nobody in the entire castle could even take a small bite. Even the ever stoic Siegfried and the mechanical Frankenstein couldn't withstand the food of the devil.
As he enjoyed his small treat, his ears suddenly perked up as a cracking sound reached his ears. At first, he thought nothing of it and simply thought it was some kind of firework that some kids had brought into the woods. When he continued to hear it, though, he growled in annoyance and peaked over the edge.
"What in Shiva's name is going on-"
His words died in his throat and his eyes widened in shock at the sight before him. Riding towards the castle were servants of the red faction and their masters inside their chariots. Falling out of the hammock, he quickly grabbed his bow and immediately sighted in on his target.
"What the hell? They're attacking already?!" Archer of Black muttered in shock as he watched them. Shaking his head, he quickly began pulling back on the bowstring. "No matter. I have to stop them before they rea-"
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!"
Turning towards the sound of that voice, his eyes widened further when he saw Ruler herself standing in one of the chariots. In her hands was her golden flag that she was currently waving around frantically with a panicked expression on her face. Seeing this, his grip on the bow slackened just a little bit.
What was she doing with the red faction? He didn't know. What he did know was that he couldn't risk firing upon the mediator. His master said that the Ruler came with command spells for each servant in the war, and that was not even concerning her universe level servant.
Something tugged at him the wrong way as he stared at her expression. Why was she so frantic? Sure, he could have fired upon her without a second thought, but he was sure that she would have used a command seal on him.
Seeing her gesturing towards the woods, he turned his attention to where she was pointing and narrowed his eyes as several dark shapes darted out of the trees and ran towards the Chariot, obviously tailing the vehicle.
He could immediately tell that they were dead apostles. No human being could possibly run like that without the use of magecraft, yet they did so effortlessly. Plus, the smell of death coming from them was a huge tip off.
Shifting his goals, he quickly brought his bow around and took aim. He would eliminate the pests now and ask Ruler questions later. Dead apostles were always troublesome beings, no matter which side they were one.
Just as he was about to fire, however, somebody else beat him to it. Raining down from above, numerous swords and spears screeched down from the sky like missiles and impaled each of the vampires, not even giving them a chance to scream before they were shredded instantly.
Looking upwards in shock, he saw a golden ship descending down upon the stunned members of the Red Camp.
Masters and servants looked up with gaping jaws as the golden ship descended upon them. Moving silently and precisely with a speed that shouldn't have been possible with how large it was. As it settled in front of them, a latch opened up from above and a golden throne began to push out.
"Foolish mongrels, did they think that they could lay hands on my master simply because I had been gone? Foolish beasts." A familiar voice spoke haughtily as a figure appeared sitting on the throne. When they realized who it was, their mouths dropped even further.
"Archer!?" Lancer and Rider exclaimed.
"Damn it... he's not dead!" Saber muttered under her breath.
"Nooo..." Reines and Waver moaned.
"Gilgamesh?!" Gray gaped. "But... You were killed in your battle with Ruler's servant!"
"You have no idea, girl." Gilgamesh groaned. "After my battle with the god, I was taken by surprise from behind! Weakened from my battle, I couldn't muster another set of my treasures to blast the cowardly mongrel who would strike at me dishonorably! As such, I was forced to flee into my own vault to survive!"
"But... how did you survive? I don't believe my prana could reach you from here." Gray asked with a curious look.
"I have my ways, girl." Gilgamesh snorted as he stood up and snapped his fingers, causing the ship to dematerialize as it faded back into the vault. "Now, I have missed quite a bit since my time in the vault and I demand a report on what has been going on in my absence. Why were you being chased by those filthy mutts, and why are you here in this sorry excuse for a camp?"
Everyone looked at each other, obviously waiting for someone to explain. Not seeing any volunteers, Ruler decided to speak up.
"Let's talk about this later."
Gilgamesh snorted. "You better, girl. I have gone through hell while I was in my vault because of your servant. My patience is growing thin."
Everyone paled at that. The dude was a nasty piece of work whenever he was angry or bored.