Author's Note: I do not own the Fate series or Fate/Apocrypha in any way. All credits goes to its creator, as well as anything I use from other animes.
With that, enjoy the chapter.
italic [spells and chants]
'thoughts/telepathy'
Chapter 9: Unexpected Encounters
(Normal P.O.V)
It was currently very late at night, possibly midnight as Adrian, Mordred and Kairi were walking along the streets of Trifas. They had finished their dinner soon after and have left the restaurant. Right now the three of them contemplated on where to go now as they took a stroll around Trifas.
"By the way, I forgot to thank you for the clothes Master, they feel amazing." Mordred said as she twirled around with her arms out looking at her outfit.
"Your welcome, it was a necessary expense." Kairi shrugged as they walked through the buildings in Trifas.
"So… that's why you were wearing modern clothing instead of going into spirit form. You prefer being materialized rather than in your spirit form." Adrian commented as he walked alongside the Master and Servant pair.
"Of course I prefer that. I can't calm myself without my own feet planted on the ground. And I cannot walk around the city in my armor." She explained her reason.
"Though you could have worn something that is less revealing, you are going to attract more attention to yourself wearing that."
"Who cares, I like the outfit." Mordred dismissed Adrian's suggestion to wear something more covered up but she was completely fine with the outfit she was wearing now.
As they walked around, shadows of movement kept occurring as what seems to be several people moving very fast in the shadows.
"Anyway, it's weird, we are currently here breaking into enemy territory but how come no one has attacked us yet?" Mordred asked the two Masters.
"Don't worry, this is a city that is under the supervision of the Yggdmillennia. So we will run any opposition made by them anytime soon." Kairi answered.
"And by anytime soon, we mean now." Adrian said as the three of them stopped in their tracks as the accessed the situation in front of them.
They were surrounded. A line of people with red eyes dressed in white military uniforms equipped with spears and halberds were standing in their way with several large hulking rock golems standing behind them. Not only that, several more personnel were spotted on top of the roofs of buildings with bows in their hands.
"Quite the number of golems and homunculus. But they will have to do more than that to take care of us." Adrian said as drew his weapon.
Kairi pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, fully loaded with gandr imbued fingers while Adrian had his dagger-pistol out and was twirling it, both ready to fight the adversaries.
"Oh I get it. So we don't just use you, but you yourself are willing to be a bait, huh? Looks like you're pretty crazy as a Master!" Mordred giggled as she slapped Kairi on the back, with her strength, caused Kairi to lose his balance a bit.
"And you." She turned to face Adrian. "You also seem to have no problems being bait alongside my Master. You may be just as crazy as him."
"Well… What can I say, I am a rather unconventional magus and sometimes you just have to go with the flow." Adrian shrugged his shoulders.
Saber had a rather feral grin, seemingly happy with that response. "Heh, I like you both!"
As they talked, they could hear the heavy footsteps of the forces' reinforcements coming behind them, so it was time to act.
"Saber, you take the golems. Adrian and I will take care with the homunculi." Kairi ordered.
"I'll take care of the ones on the rooftops." Adrian said.
"Alright. Show them your real strength Saber!" Kairi said as he and Adrian moved to face the enemy.
Mordred turned and caught an attack from one of the golems that had sneaked onto them with one hand. She had a grin on her face. "Okay, Master!"
The battle could not really be called as one, it was more of a one-sided slaughter.
Saber of Red went ahead as her armor was slowly materialising as she fought the golems. They were no match for her as she was bursting with power with no restraints. She smashed the first golem with just her fists before deciding to summon her sword.
She then moved in a red lightning blur, as she started mowing down the golems to size. She took down three more golems with ease as she stopped with her armor fully donned with her headpiece on as the golems erupted with explosions behind her.
Several more golems appeared to deal with her but Saber of Red was already one step ahead. She threw her sword at one of the golems before turning to counter a punch from a golem behind her.
The golem's arm broke from Saber's strength as she proceeded to destroy the remaining golems with ease without her sword and just using her fists and kicks.
With Kairi and Adrian, the homunculi were no match for them. Kairi dodged a few swings from a few of their halberds as he fired his shotgun. The bullets flew through the air three bullets appeared and split to aim at three homunculi with one shot.
The bullets went through their heads as they collapsed one by one, lying there dead. After killing them a few more came from around the corner to strike him but Kairi threw a weird red grenade at them.
The grenade exploded as red smoke filled the area were the homunculi were in. Slowly they inhaled the air there before coughing out blood as their skin turned pale.
The grenade was filled with poison gas, as the group of homunculi fell to the ground as they inhaled too much poison gas and died.
On the rooftops, the ones stationed there prepared to fire their arrows at Kairi but before they could, something flew past and their bows shattered into pieces.
They turned to see what hit their weapons but all they saw was a torrent of flames that flew towards them and hit them. There was a scream as the flames completely consumed them and burned them alive as they fell, joining those that fell before them.
The flames slowly dissipate as Adrian appeared from the other end of the flames, his left hand was holding was seems a magic circle as flames were coming out from the circle.
There were still three homunculi that came behind him and fired two arrows at him. However, Adrian didn't bother turning around as he simply drew three red handles from somewhere that had pommels on them. The handles them materialised the shape of a sword where the pommels were and he threw them at their direction.
The swords flew through the air and pierced through the arrows and still headed for the three homunculi. They had no time to dodge as the swords flew and went through the chest and heart.
They stood there in shock as they only registered the attack on them much later before one by one, they landed on the ground.
Soon, Mordred went to the last golem and took the imbedded sword and sliced the golem to pieces. The army of golems were now nothing but rock and the army of homunculi were all sprawling everywhere, done in by the two Masters.
Saber of Red simply smiled at the destruction she caused as Kairi stowed his gun inside his jacket. "Looks like we're done here." He observed.
"I'm surprised by your skill, Master. You were far better than I thought, and that other Master isn't half-bad either." Mordred complemented.
"Still, we've caused quite a scene, yet they didn't even send one of their Servants after all that. Those cowards." She whined as with all that, she thought that there would be a Servant that would come and deal with them.
Though before they continued talking, another golem that Mordred apparently missed was rising from the rubble. It began forming again into shape as currently, only the top half is built.
Mordred turned as she commented. "Huh, I actually missed one. Oh well…" She got her sword, ready to take out the remaining golem.
But before she could do anything, a blast was seemed to be a red laser went passed her and hit the golem in the head. The golem stopped in its tracks as it began to crack, soon enough, the golem broke into nothing but rocks.
The Master-Servant pair turned to look where the attack came from and saw Adrian on the rooftop. He had his dagger in its gun form as smoke was coming out from the nozzle, with a red magic circle visible at the nozzle as well.
With every golem confirmed destroyed, he jumped down from the rooftop and landed lightly and rejoined the duo on the ground.
"Always ensure that the enemy is dead before bantering, you two." He told them before sheathing his weapon at his back.
Kairi had to asked what he just did. "What was that attack you did just now? From the fight, I know that you are quite good in pyromancy, so how did you…"
"Concentrated flames. I condensed the flames to a very small area, which is the barrel of my gun. That way when I fired, the accumulated amount of flames come out as one concentrated flame attack that acts like a laser." Adrian explained.
"Huh, I didn't know you could do that. So you can also use your magecraft to amplify the attacks your weapons normally deal. Not only that, those were black keys you threw earlier. You also trained as an executor of the church?"
Adrian replied with a sigh, "Let's just say, my skill set is very broad, I don't want to get into details as it's a very long story."
"Well, most magi always have secrets they want to hide, so I won't probe any further." Kairi said, deciding not to pry any further.
"I think that's enough for today." He continued, examining some of the rubble of the golems, more precisely, the purple gems imbedded in them. "It's not a complete waste.
"Yeah, we should go our separate ways from here. Else we get targeted as a group more often than not." Adrian said.
"Heh, I was thinking the same thing."
"Anyway, now that everything is done here..." The two Masters turned to Mordred as she got their attention. "What do you think about my skills as a warrior? Pretty good right?"
"Perfect, I sure got myself a good Servant here." Kairi declared.
"Though, wasn't that showing off a bit too much?" Adrian asked.
"Bah! Like I care, what's done is done here!" Mordred concurred. "I am the only knight who can surpassed my father."
"Well, I'm going to take my leave now. I'll let you know of anything interesting that pops up." Adrian said as he walked away.
"Sure, see you around Adrian." Kairi said. Adrian simply waved his arm without looking back as he continued walking down the alley.
Kairi and Mordred watched him leave before Mordred commented. "He is rather something, isn't he Master?"
"Yup… Though I have to agree with him on one thing." Kairi chuckled. "That part where you throw a sword into the enemy, wasn't that a bit too much?"
"Idiot!" Mordred grinned merrily as the two of them staring walking in another direction. "As long as you win, it doesn't matter how right?"
"I guess I have to agree with that one." He said as they continued walking.
Unknown to the trio, there was something observing their actions. In the sky was a rock bird-like familiar as it flew around Trifas. The familiar only had one eye as it watched the whole scene of the fight.
Back in the Yggdimennia stronghold, a screen is being projected by Caster of Black who connected the screen to the bird familiar that was observing. That way, they can now see what the bird sees and observed Saber of Red's actions.
The Masters and Servants of Black all watched as Saber of Red took down the army of golems with ease and that the two Masters there took down the homunculi.
"As expected, their Saber is strong." Vlad III said.
"Though we've considered other Saber classes, he is quite strong." Archer of Black said.
Vlad III, sitting on his throne looked at Saber of Black before asking him. "Can you defeat him?"
"No problem." He said as he bowed to Vlad.
Vlad III simply nodded his head as he began to contemplate his thoughts.
Suddenly, a loud sound erupted as they all looked back to the screen. The screen became unfocused and became static as it now shows the ground and increasing in size. Now, the screen only shows the sidewalk and a certain part of the walkway.
"It would appear that the familiar was shot from the sky." Caster of Black commented as the rest watching the situation wondered who took down the familiar.
"Looks like I was right, the familiar was watching the whole thing unfold, so the Yggdmillennia were watching everything unfold and now they have a rough idea about Saber of Red." They all heard someone speaking through the screen as the sound of footsteps was heard.
Due to the familiar's view, all they saw was the view of a person's feet that were walking towards and soon were in front of the familiar.
"A Master?" Fiore asked. "It would appear that this Master of Red has figured out that we have been observing them." Archer of Black commented.
"I guess it can't be helped, I'm going to have to be more careful about my surroundings." The person said as a sound echoed as he took out the familiar and the screen turns to static before it turns off.
The people watching were surprised that someone noticed the familiar after all that fighting, let alone destroying it. "It appears there is at least one person on the enemy side who is observant. Though I feel there is something off about that man." Vlad III said.
"I will investigate more on this Master, my Lord." Darnic said.
"Please do so, Darnic. We shall not leave anything up to chance." He told Darnic.
(Adrian P.O.V)
I cannot wait to go back and rest for the remainder of the day. I wasn't expecting an ambush from the Yggdmillennia so early in the Great Holy Grail War.
Now that I think back to the encounter, I have to admit that they are rather smart and meticulous in their preparations for the war. The quality of the golems we faced were very high, although not enough to deal with a Servant, an average magus would have a rough time dealing with them.
In that case, there was most likely a Servant who was responsible for the golem making. I have a rough idea of who it may be, but I don't want to jump to conclusions yet. I am going to need more evidence to truly identify them for sure.
The homunculi were also not bad either. They were capable of putting up a decent fight against a low class magus, though whether or not they are also proficient in magecraft, I have yet to see. I'll probably see them use magecraft as the Holy Grail War continues.
When I was walking, I noticed something in the sky. It looked like a bird but there was something I found strange about it. It was circling, like how a hawk would circle its prey before striking down.
I decided to take it down because I had a bad feeling about it. I took out my dagger, went into its gun form and used my fire magecraft to fire a blast at it. The blast hit the bird and went crashing into the ground.
When I went to check up on it, I saw that it wasn't a bird after all but a familiar. That would mean that the familiar was watching the whole scene with Saber and Kairi. I cursed loudly that I had to be more careful as I destroyed the familiar.
With that out of the way, I made my way back to Targu Mures to go back to the house. I did not really have any plans for today apart from meeting with the Master. But on the way back, I felt a surge of mana in the air.
It was faint, but I was certain it was there. I faced to where the surge came from, which is mostly likely outside the city. From the looks of it, it surge was like a Servant is fighting against another Servant.
'Don't tell me one of our Servants took the fight to Servants of Black, or is it the other way around? Damn it! I got no clue on what's going on there.' I thought to myself.
I'm going to have to ask Atalanta about this when I relay her a message. I would go forward with checking out the situation that occurred there but I can't be bothered to do so.
For the time being, I have to deal with a certain someone who has been tailing me for some time. I noticed a while ago that there was someone following me, and said person has been rather persistent.
The presence has been around for quite some time, most likely when I was still with Kairi and Mordred the stalker was there but was very good at hiding.
So, I walked to an alley where there is zero light and simply stand in the middle of the alley. This is definitely a suicidal move I'm making, but hey, sometimes you just have to make do with what you have.
"Are you going to reveal yourself or am I going to have to make you?" I said to no particular direction as I have no idea where my stalker would be.
There was nothing but silence in the air, and there was me, standing in the middle of a walkway like an idiot. After several seconds though, a voice echoed through the silence, but it was more of laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"So you realised I was tailing you, I see you are rather observant." A male voice was heard behind me. I turned around to see my so called stalker, but all I saw was a shadowy form.
Most likely the person was using the night to cover his or her identity. So I am unable to figure out the appearance of the stalker. However, the more concerning thing was the mana I sense. I can say for certain that the one in front of me is a Servant.
"Are you a Servant of Black?" I had to ask. If the person was a Servant affiliated with Yggdmillennia, I have a big problem. If is our faction, I'm going to have a stern word with Shirou Kotomine or this Servant's Master when I get my hands on them.
"I am not. But I am also not affiliated with your side either." He said. That got my attention, a Servant who is not affiliated with either faction of the Great Holy Grail War.
If that was the case, then the Servant in front of me is one that is summoned by the Grail itself. But that means that this Servant would be much stronger that most since the supply of mana the Servant is receiving is directly from the Grail itself.
"You're an extra class Servant?" I asked. It was unlikely that the Servant is one of the seven classes, so the Servant would most likely be an uncommon class but I could be wrong.
The Servant simply smiled as he replied. "Not bad, you also deduced that just from that statement."
"I was born of sadness and given form through my unending resentment, rage and hatred as an extra class… yes, you can call me Avenger."
That got me wide-eyed. An Avenger Class Servant in this already seven versus seven Servant war? Things just got from bad to worse.
An Avenger Class is a Servant that is founded on vengeance, born from powerful resentment that does not fade even after death. If that is the case, what compelled this Servant to be summoned?
"I will admit, meeting an extra Class Servant, let alone an Avenger is something no one expected. I take it that you would keep your identity hidden from everyone?" I had to ask.
"Very likely, but you on the other hand might be able to figure me out." He replied.
"Me?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Let me tell you an old story, it will help." The Servant grabbed a cigarette from somewhere and lit it. He huffed a smoke before telling his story.
"There was a story that was written a long time ago, some people say that it is the greatest tale of revenge that was ever written to date.
It was a story about an innocent man who lived by the sea. He was very honest man and he never knew that the world is full of evil. But that was when you fell into a trap.
He was falsely accused and wronged, which resulted in him being was convicted into prison. After several years in that hell, he broke out of his captivity. In his wrath, he put all he had in seeking revenge on those who wronged him.
One by one, he terrified and slew all those who had sent him to that hell. He eventually had his revenge after so long."
He paused to have another smoke from his cigarette before he continued talking. "I think that will be enough for me to say about the story."
"A wicked author wrote it all down and the story became known throughout the world. The man's life became a story or perhaps the story was his life. In any case, the story received unparalleled acclaim and countless emotions turned it into a myth of revenge."
As he explained the story, there was one thing that came to mind. There was no doubt that the story he told was probably the greatest tale of revenge. I know it because that particular story is one of my favourites.
There was something about that story that I felt some form of kinship to it, like I knew how the character felt. As such, it didn't really take long for me to have an idea of who the Servant was.
There was one thing I have to confirm if my suspicions are correct, I had to ask. "The story that you mentioned… does it occur at the Château d'If?"
There was a silence as I waited for his reply as I literary stared at the dark shadow. Until a chuckle came by, soon it erupted into cackling like how a villain would laugh.
"Kahahahahahahahaha! So you already put the pieces together? I expected no less from you!"
He removed the shadow camouflage as the moonlight revealed the mysterious Servant in question, so now I see who this Servant truly likes.
He was wearing a grey suit, over the suit is a large dark teal cloak with an emblem holding the cloak together at the front. He had white hair and goldish ember eyes that burns and a fedora on his head.
"Then, allow me to introduce myself properly. I am the Avenger, the Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès! A wicked shadow carved into mankind's history!"
With that declaration, I simply gulped as attempt to not show fear at him, though my palms that are filled with cold sweat says otherwise.
"So, what do you want from me, Count?" I asked
"I have been observing how the war goes about, though you may not notice it yet, things are already set in motion for what's about to come in this war." Avenger explained.
"I for one plan to make things more interesting, I want to form an alliance with you"
What?
An Avenger Servant wants to have a partnership with me? While its true it is only an alliance, this means I have an unexpected ally that no one will expect for the period of the Holy Grail War.
"An alliance, while that is to my benefit, what's in it for you?" There is definitely a price to pay for dealing with this sort of thing, I don't want to risk it.
"I do it for one reason only, to get information about a certain member in your faction. I believe you already sense something off about him, the overseer of the Holy Grail War."
That got my attention, he is more interested in the priest. If that is the case, then there is really something going on with that guy.
In any case, after considering the risks and outcomes, I made a decision.
"Alright, I'll work with you for the time being in this war." He had a satisfied look on his face after I told him my decision.
"Good decision, though you haven't introduced yourself." "Adrian, one of the Masters of Red." I introduced myself.
"Well then Adrian, I look forward to our partnership in this war." He said as he finished smoking, dropping his cigarette onto the floor.
"I'll be seeing you again soon." Avenger turned and was prepared to leave, but then he stopped and turned his face as he had a rather feral grin on his face.
"I can tell you this, the flames of vengeance will burn bright in this Great Holy Grail War, and I can say you will be the centre of it, my collaborator."
With that declaration, lighting erupted from the sky which startled me for a second as I turned behind me. As soon as I looked back, the count had already gone, leaving no trace that he was here at all.
"The Count of Monte Christo… Huh" I sighed as I thought of this whole situation. If Avenger was summoned, then this means there is something about this Holy Grail War that will go bad. Whether he is here to deal with it when the time comes, I have no idea.
"Let's just hope that things won't get more complicated as it already is." I commented as I proceeded back to my house while keeping close attention to my surroundings for any threat.
Though, after everything is all over and done with, I will look back to this moment and simply laugh at the irony I made for myself.
Whew, here is chapter 8 after a month. Do you like the surprise, I have Avenger summoned in this Great Holy Grail War and now the AU really goes a different path for the war. I decided to skip the first Karna and Siegfried fight as I decided the OC doesn't have to get involve in that situation.
Anyway, the next chapter will be out in either late November or December, depending on my work schedule.
So I will be glad if you readers are patient enough until I update. Do leave a review so that I know how is it I can improve on the story.
With that, thank you for reading!