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

Chap 18

Issei woke up to the stinging pain on his left hand. He shut his eyes tightly before opening them again.

"Woah what?"

The command spell was throbbing, and if he was right this was the indication that Lancer was in danger.

"Ddraig, what's going on?"

His head was fuzzy, he couldn't remember what happened after he was stabbed by Berserker… He was sure that he had been killed by that hot as hellfire sword, but for some reasons he was still alive.

[The short story is that Lancer has defeated Berserker and used her Phoenix Tear to save you, then headed to the church to fight Assassin.]

Issei immediately turned his head toward the church. It was vague, but he could feel that Lancer was there.

"Ugh…!"

The command spell on his left hand continued to ache, which meant Lancer had yet to be safe. Issei wondered what could happen to her, because according to Lancer Assassin wasn't a tough opponent. Then again she just fought Berserker who had a dragon-slayer noble phantasm so she might have been weakened.

There was no way he could get to the church in time. Even if Issei had become faster now, it would still at least take a few hours for him to run to the church. However that time was enough for the servants to finish their battle.

"Do I?" He muttered at the sight of his command spell.

Issei was torn between the two options.

If he used the command spell to teleport Lancer here he would absolutely remove her from danger, but if she was in the middle of finishing Assassin then they would miss their biggest chance to end the war. Issei recalled their battle against the first Berserker, wasn't it because they charged forward instead of retreating that they were able to kill him?

Yet if he did nothing there was a chance that Lancer could be killed for real, and Issei would hate himself the rest of his life if he let something like that happen. Sometimes it was better safe than sorry.

Issei bit his lips, and after a deep breath he decided to use his last command spell. He would just have to apologize to Lancer if he interrupted her when she was about to end Assassin.

The thought of Lancer backstabbing him when he no longer had any command spell to control her never crossed his mind.

"By my command spell, I order you to return here!"

The last stroke of the three faded, and with a flash the blond knight appeared in front of Issei.

"Lancer!"

She had lost both of her arms, and there were huge holes all over her body. Undoubtedly Assassin had used the iron maidens on her. Lancer's breathing was rough, and her flesh looked like it had been drained of blood. Issei could even see the internal organs underneath her broken armor.

"Hang on, I got you!" He immediately reached for the Phoenix Tear in his pocket, but then he realized that his clothes had been ripped apart. Issei quickly searched for the bottle, and managed to find it among the grass where he was laying. However he found himself in a difficult spot when he didn't know where to pour the Phoenix Tear on Lancer.

[There are too many wounds on her body, a single drop of Phoenix Tear wouldn't be able to heal all of them at the same time. The correct way to do it is to have her drink the Phoenix Tear. Her servant body will receive a surge in overall regeneration to close up those holes.]

"Thank you Ddraig!"

Issei gently lifted Lancer's head with his left hand carefully so he wouldn't accidentally hurt her, and put the bottle-top in her lips so she could drink the potion.

The effect could be seen clearly as Lancer's breathing had returned to normal, and since they were close Lancer was taking in more of his mana to heal herself. In a blink most of the wounds were healed, but her arms had yet to regrow.

"... Master?"

"Yeah, I'm here Lancer. You are safe."

"I see…" Lancer closed her eyes. "Thank you for saving me. I thought I would have died by Assassin's hands for real."

"You saved me too Lancer." Issei smiled. "So we're even."

"Heh." Lancer chuckled at that.

Because she was still in the process of healing Issei let her take a rest. He could always ask her about her battle against Assassin later.

In his mind if Lancer was in this state then there was no doubt that they had lost, since they would never kill Reynare and Assassin in time before those two successfully summoned the grail now.

Issei let out a sigh. Nonetheless he was glad that he had made the right decision to save Lancer. He wouldn't know what to do if his command spell failed him.

5 minutes later the knight tried to get up herself.

"You haven't completely healed yet Lancer."

"I'm fine master. I have dealt a critical blow to Assassin, whose true name is Elizabeth Bathory the blood countess. But given enough time she would recover. We need to kill her for real before she could escape." Lancer said in a hurried voice. "This servant body of mine has healed enough to function normally, so you don't need to care about that."

"... We have lost, haven't we?" Asked Issei.

"Yeah… Reynare has won the race of time and got the grail." She replied in a low voice. "The war is over."

That confirmed Issei's suspicion, yet strangely he didn't feel that sad. In the first place he didn't really aim for the grail, and the fact that both of them could survive was something to be happy about.

Though Issei was certain Lancer didn't feel the same.

"Come on, you can ride on my back." After fishing all the important things from his ripped clothes Issei lowered his body to let Lancer climb on him. "We will get to the church together. Hopefully you can regrow your arms in the meantime."

"... No, I cannot do that Issei. First and foremost I am your servant, I cannot ride on you like that." Unexpectedly Lancer rejected his proposal.

[I don't care how you want to go, but whatever you choose, do it fast. You don't want this town folks to see you in this state.] Ddraig said.

What the dragon said made sense, therefore Lancer reluctantly climbed on Issei's back. Issei meanwhile was happy to carry her.

The pair of master and servant began their trip to the church.

"So what happened?"

Lancer began to tell Issei how she killed Freed and Berserker, next she destroyed the castle of Assassin but found out it was a distraction, then she rushed to the church to fight Assassin, and finally she had learned that Reynare had given her servant the command spells after getting their hands on the grail.

"In the midst of that I became careless and let that countess took my arms, however she too let down her guard and consequently received a fatal strike from me. That is when you teleported me back to the hill with your final command spell, just before her counter move claimed my life."

"I see… Still it's good that we are still alive right?"

Lancer didn't answer him, and he could guess that her pride was wounded since she let Elizabeth win the grail war and almost enslave her.

"On the other hand since Duh Stallion has sacrificed himself for us to defeat Berserker you no longer have a mount right? Well you can use me as a replacement, I can be your ride!" He jokingly said.

"..." But Lancer didn't say anything to his joke either.

There were only a few hours left before night ended, so Issei picked a less populated route to avoid early risers. He was running, but Lancer had no problem sitting firmly on his back thanks to her Riding skill.

Halfway there Issei started another conversation.

"Did you find out the reason why Assassin, or Elizabeth Bathory, is as strong as you or Saber?"

"... They said that she had bathed in the blood of hundreds of maidens, and the more she did that sadistic ritual the younger she became. That belief must have shaped her legend. I suspect that it is a part of her noble phantasm along with the castle which increases her stats when she baths in the blood of young females."

A terrifying method to gain power, and since she had killed so many women she must have gained an anti-female noble phantasm similar to the dragon-slayer Rider and Berserker too. Lancer must have been at a disadvantage when she fought Assassin, something that she probably wouldn't want to acknowledge.

"That does explain why she reeks of blood." Issei said.

"Her ability to turn herself into liquid is far more problematic for us. Speaking of which, Issei can you breathe fire?"

"That would be amazing if I can, but I'm afraid I don't know how to do that yet." He shook his head.

"That's too bad. But no matter, if we fight together she wouldn't be able to use her iron maidens to catch us due to your size." Lancer explained. "You will be hurt, but please endure during the time I charge my noble phantasm to finish that cursed woman in one hit."

Issei nodded. "Got it, we will finish her together."

The pair of master and servant became tense when they could see the church from afar.

Lancer's arms had regrown, and her body had been completely healed. Issei slowly stepped closer to the church while Lancer had her lance and armor equipped.

"... That bloody wench is not here." Lancer confirmed after sensing the area thoroughly. "Her Presence Concealment skill cannot hide her trace anymore due to the smell of blood, so we can be sure of that."

So Assassin had escaped, but they had expected that. Since she had achieved her goal Lancer was only the dessert to her, but if it was a life-threatening situation it was more than likely that Elizabeth would just flee for the sake of her life.

Neither Issei nor Lancer had the energy to chase after Assassin, so he just observed the church which was still in one piece, but it felt more like a grave to him.

"Hm?"

Issei could feel his Sacred Gear somewhat pulling him in a weird manner, as if it were telling him to move forward.

"Shall we?" He asked Lancer who just jumped down from his back.

The knight nodded. Together they ventured into the church for the first time.

Inside it was still the same church that he had been there with his childhood friend Shido 10 years ago. The difference was that it somehow looked… more creepy with those deviant decorations. There were signs of living, he could pick out the smell of food, candles, oil, trash and even blood. His Sacred Gear however continued to pull him downward.

After Lancer had confirmed that there was no one here they broke through the door to the basement.

"What's that?"

In the middle of the room was a strange object. It was a cube the size of a soccer ball with numerous colors blending together. On the ground was a grand magic circle which Issei assumed was the one feeding the mana into said cube. It had been deactivated and wasted. Issei doubted he or Lancer could fix it, and they wouldn't want to drain the mana from his hometown anyway.

"That is the holy grail?" Issei walked toward it, with Lancer next to him.

[Yes, that is the holy grail.] Verified the dragon.

The cube gently floated between his hands, and he could feel that his Sacred Gear and the grail were resonating to each other. Although he didn't understand why they did that.

The object that they had been seeking this entire time, now it was in their hands.

Issei felt like it had been years since he met Lancer at that abandoned house. So many things had happened over such a short time.

"Let's go outside, there's nothing here for us to gain." Said Lancer after she lightly touched the cube, which showed no reaction.

"Yeah…" Issei agreed with her, there was nothing for them in this room.

They were both uncomfortable in the basement so naturally they wanted to get outside of the church. There was one room where it had the smell of blood the strongest. Issei admitted that he was curious, but he knew Lancer wasn't in a mood for exploring. They both knew whose room it was anyway, and it would only salt the wound if they broke in.

Issei carried the cube out of the church and settled down at the backyard.

"I thought it would look like a grail, you know." He said.

[Mere appearance can be changed casually.] Answered the dragon. [The true nature of the grail, the one that comes from the forge of God, is a divine instrument. When it absorbs enough mana it can execute a calculation accordingly to the wish, then it will warp the result into reality. Of course sometimes the Will of Mankind will oppose dangerous wishes but that's a story for another time. I can feel that this one here still has a little mana left in it, otherwise it would have disappeared right after the miracle is completed.]

"You sure know a lot Ddraig."

[This isn't my first holy grail war.] Replied the dragon. [One of my hosts back then did join a war like this, although it was way more messed up than this one.]

"Huh." Issei tilted his head.

"I have a question: Why did they leave it there? Anyone would have brought the grail back regardless of its state." Asked Lancer. "Although I never saw Galahad bring back the holy grail after his quest."

[Because without the right container the grail cannot be stored, and since Reynare is a Fallen Angel she cannot carry the grail through the dimension back to her home in the Reverse Side of the World. She probably considers it is too much work to bring it with her so she left it on earth.] Ddraig explained. [It will eventually disappear by itself after some time anyway.]

"Is that so?"

Then there was only silence. Neither Issei nor Lancer had anything to talk about, not after the fact that they had lost the war conclusively sank into their consciousness.

Issei still held the cube between his hands, his mind drifted in a sea of thought.

Of the possibility that he could achieve.

['I know what you are thinking Issei. Listen, you do not have to do this. Think about it, you have done so much for her, and you even sacrifice your humanity for her. What is wrong with losing a war or two? Who could blame you two on losing when you have tried your best? If you want you can just participate in another grail war. The fact remains, is that you have survived the holy grail war against unfair, dangerous and cunning enemies. Is that not your original objective? Don't you see that you still have a bright life in front of you? And hey, if you notice does this not mean you can spend more time with Lancer? Forget about the past, you only need to shower her with the future. Her heart will absolutely melt when you two go on a gourmet trip around the world. You should know that Lancer will also feel incredibly guilty when she realizes she is the one who made you into this, and thus she will do everything to compensate you. You only have to speak your mind, and she will fulfill your demands. Is that not such a wonderful thing?']

"I have a promise to keep."

['... You do know that there will not be any reward for you at the end if you do that right? Do you absolutely want to walk down that path?']

"I do."

AN: So lostbelt 3 has been released, and then we will have Christmas for grinding. I will try my best to finish the story this year, and again thank you for your support.