Hello everyone, here I bring you the last part of the first battle of the War for the Holy Grail. I hope you like it.
On reviews:
Angelvan105: Thank you because you liked it. You are one of those who know how to praise this. The truth was it was a bit difficult to write the battle scenes but it was worth it.
Maxim7: Yeah, I suppose there is no reason to worry that Ichigo does not have Avalon, since he has someone more powerful than that by his side.
By the way, I think you are wrong that Urahara as a Captain-level Shinigami is much stronger than any Servant. He may be a warrior experienced only in the Kidō arts, so if he were summoned as a Servant, Caster would be the right class for him.
But speaking as Shinigami, if he can against Servants, he might have a chance against Caster, Assassin, Rider or Lancer.
Also, he does not intervene because he is very discreet and knows that this is a match between Servants.
Chapter 13: Conclusion. End of the first confrontation
23/12/2020
Ichigo Kurosaki's lifeless body still lay motionless on the ground without seeming to ever move. The pupils of his eyes had darkened, appearing inert. His half-open mouth emerged blood that spilled on the ground in a small red pool as a result of Berserker's attack who that not only crushed and pull to pieces many bones, but also smashed the lungs and stomach, and that is why he bled after his death.
Everyone looked in shock and horror at the corpse of the orange haired teenager.
The first battle had claimed its first victim.
On top of the container, both Uryū and Orihime did not stop staring at their friend's lifeless body in horror and shock respectively. Urahara just put a grim expression with the hat shading his eyes.
Orihime's mind had gone completely blank when she came to the possibility that he was probably dead as it happened when she saw him in that state in one of the towers of Las Noches when Grimmjow took her out of cell and carried her towards him having a hole perforated on the chest. The next time it was in front of her eyes atop the Las Noches dome when Ulquiorra crossed him with a cero, which was horrible to witness.
She did not expect to see this scene again.
Uryū was also felt helpless for not having done anything about it. The truth is that he should have predicted that the former Shinigami would do such a thing knowing how he is. But he did not have time to react to the situation.
"Kono baka!"
In Rider's chariot, both Waver and Kon could only watch in utter horror as the teenager flew off when Berserker had hit him like a baseball like he did with Mordred before, except that unlike the blonde warrior, the orange haired boy did not survive to the blow. The Rider's Master mind was in conflict like a whirlwind unable to understand what had happened in front of his eyes. He just did not get it. He kept wondering in his mind over and over again, why did he do that.
Kon wasted no time and got out of Rider's chariot to rush towards Ichigo's body. He got to him without problems and immediately began to reprimand him.
"Imbecile, why have you died now?"
Even Mordred was at a loss for words and did not know what to think about it. Clearly her fate was sealed when the black knight was about to make her crash his makeshift weapon at her. She had growled angrily at her impending doom and cursed her luck for not being too strong to crush that bastard and continue her fight with father where she had left off.
That thought made nicks in her mind. She had already forgotten the joy of meeting the most hated person in her life again and clashing swords against her. She thought that she had learned from her last fight with her on that hill and now she could fight on an equal conditions with father, but the sudden appearance of Berserker and her fight against her and the way he had left her made her understand that she was still far from her be at the same height as father.
How could she challenge her if she could not even beat that mad savage?
She almost wanted to blame her Master for not giving her that power supply she didn't know about, and being him a incompetent. However, just before Berserker had performed the coup de grace, something had happened that she had not expected. Her incompetent Master had suddenly yelled 'Leave her alone!" before running straight for Berserker in a futile attempt to save her. Mordred tried to warn him not to, but it was too late when her Master flew off when the black knight hit him with the pole, and he fell to the ground dead.
After that, she did not know exactly what to think about this. As a knight, well actually she no longer considered herself a knight after the past circumstances, but she was a great warrior who had lived through many battles and shed a lot of blood initially from the enemies of the king she previously served. Later when she started her rebellion, she had spilled the blood of her own compatriots who stood in her way and finally that of father. Despite the fact that in some of that battles she has been involved in dangerous situations that threatened her own life, she always managed to get out of it without help from anyone, and she never to be rescued by another. She could not remember a time when someone had jumped in front of a blade for her.
One part was angry at that brainless fool for sacrificing himself and another part wanted to unleash all her fury on the black armored bastard responsible for his death. Even in her weakened state she give him the most malevolent glare she could muster.
Naturally, the black knight did not seem at all intimidated by that and soon raised the pole to swing it towards her.
*SMASH*
However, just as he lunged at her, Mordred had avoided the blow with a leap and landed at a distance a bit far away and ran towards where her Master was slumped ignoring the pain her felt from the blows he was given earlier. Of course, the black knight did not let her get away so easily and went after her.
Just halfway there a barrage of luminous blue projectile resembling Archer's attacks descended from above and struck right in front of Berserker, who stopped dead and backed away the way he had come. Once the rain was over, he fixed his attention on where the attack came from and saw that it was coming from over one of the containers and the user was a boy in his teens holding in his hands a kind of circular bow.
Mordred stood right in front of her Master's lifeless body and didn't like what she saw. He was definitely dead as she feared, and she knew very well what it meant. If avoiding Berserker's second attack was a relief, it did not change her situation much. The life of a Servant depended on his Master as it his energy supply that keeps him tied in this world, and now without that bond, the Servant is no longer worth anything and would soon disappear from this world.
Mordred was very frustrated with herself that things had to end this way now that she was finally able to meet again with father and could do nothing more. She felt the need to blame someone and it would be very easy to throw it on her stupid Master if he was still were alive. Or she could also throw it on her Master's friends for not stopping him from rushing in like crazy, but it didn't matter now.
However, even if her only source in this world was dead, she still had some mana left and she would use it to keep fighting until she was exhausted and disappeared, but not without before taking that crazy bastard with her.
"Kurosaki-kun!"
Just as the red knight was about to turn around to face the bastard responsible for this, she heard a familiar voice and looked to her right to see Orihime (who got off the container) approaching them.
"It's Orihime-san! We are saved!" Kon exclaimed with joy when he saw the bubbly girl. However, Mordred did not understand the enthusiasm of the talking teddy lion.
"Quick, you have to lead Ichigo to Orihime-san!" Kon yelled at the Servant urgently.
"What are you talking about?" The blonde asked without understanding.
"Orihime-san is the only one who can save Ichigo now. Remember that she has extraordinary powers that allows her to heal fatal wounds no matter how serious they are, she can even raise the dead."
Mordred was taken aback upon hearing that. Raise the dead? Sure, she recalled around noon while they waited for that man with wooden sandals and ridiculous hat to arrive, the talkative girl had displayed strange and unusual abilities that would make her mother envious like summoning 7 tiny fairies and doing things like heal serious injuries, but which she remembered, she said nothing about raising the dead.
"Hurry! Don't waste any more time and lead Ichigo to Orihime-san!" Kon yelled once more in a hurry.
Turning to the black knight who was entertained by the rain of arrows from Uryū, she wanted to resume her fight now that Berserker was distracted, but if it were true that her Master could be saved from the clothes of death, she did not miss this opportunity and took Ichigo's body in her arms and ran to where the healer was.
"Wait for me!" Kon yelled following her as his soft and little legs could drag him.
Orihime was surprised as Mordred stood in front of her with Ichigo's body in her arms. The former's mind wavered as she saw Ichigo's state.
"Hey, is that true what you can save him from?" Mordred asked ignoring the other girl's state of mind. It took a moment for her to react to the blonde's question, when the orange haired girl nodded immediately.
"Yes, I can do it. We need to hide so I can do it without problems." So, the 2 girls and the Mod soul, went to the hiding place next to the containers, and there Mordred laid Ichigo's body on the ground, while Orihime prepared to heal him.
"Sōten Kisshun!"
Once Orihime had uttered her kotodama, 2 of her bobby pins instantly lit up before flying out of her hair and immediately its forming a sort of golden shaped like a half-oval barrier that descended and completely covered Ichigo.
"I reject!"
With the rest of the kotodama finished, the barrier began to do its job, and both Mordred and Kon stared anxiously at the results. After a few moments, the Sōten Kisshun took effect as the blood that was pouring out of Ichigo's mouth began to recede the same way it had come until there was no red left on the lips as if it never happened, which puzzled him guide a bit Mordred.
'What class of magic is this?'
She had never seen a type of enchantment like that, and not even her mother would be able to do something like that no matter how powerful she was. Definitely this girl was a mystery, and she wondered what more else she could do.
Even Waver and Rider were watching the strange healing charm from a distance, intrigued.
"Hmm, I wonder if that girl was blessed by Artemis." Rider commented as he watched interest in Orihime's abilities.
Berserker was also silently watching the strange golden glow that the girl was emitting, and it could hardly be said whether or not the madman was interested because of the helmet that covered his entire head. It was in a moment of inspiration that he turned back and looked on the blue Saber. Without a moment's hesitation, he headed towards his other goal.
It did not take long to close the distance between them, and he raised his makeshift weapon above him and lunged him towards her. Arturia never had time to dodge it and just stood there waiting for the imminent attack.
"Saber, no!"
*CLANG*
Everyone froze upon hearing the sound of the impact, but it wasn't the blue Saber taking the hit. She opens her eyes and they widened for surprise to see 2 spears (one a red and one yellow) crossed, blocking the attack. His user, Lancer had saved Saber. The former mustered strength to push Berserker back, causing the latter to stagger.
"Lancer..." Arturia said surprised by his unexpected appearance. In fact, everyone was amazed at the action the first one took.
Lancer glanced at the mad black knight in guard.
"That is enough of games, Berserker." He declared challenging the black knight. "Saber has a prior engagement with me. If you insist on interfering, I will raise my spear against you."
Just as Berserker was about to give his 'answer' to this, suddenly Lancer's Master's voice echoed across the harbor.
"What are you doing, Lancer? This is your chance to defeat Saber now that the other one is down for the count." Kayneth spoke not tolerating the association between his Servant with the enemy, and considering that Berserker was only going for Saber, it was likely that he ignored the rest of the Servants and Kayneth did not want to risk fighting the Servant of Madness.
Lancer only frowned at his Master's orders. As a Servant, he had to obey his Master's orders without question him, but that was not included in his code of honor.
"I will defeat Saber! I, Diarmuid O'Dyna, swear this on my honor!" Lancer (newly identified as Diarmuid) yelled so loud for his Master to hear. "If you insist, I kill her here. But before, I will defeat that mad dog. Please, my lord!"
The atmosphere fell into a deep silence after hearing the words full of conviction and honor worthy of a knight, and Diarmuid only hoped that his Master understand.
But...
"With my Command Spell, I order you..."
Lancer's eyes widened in shock. "My lord!"
Kayneth was not finished when he removed a white glove from his sleeve, revealing his Command Seals. "Assist Berserker and... ...kill Saber."
Everyone listened in perplexity to the orders given from the Lancer's Master even using a Command Seal. Lancer tried to resist hard against the influence of the spell on his body, but the control was too strong for him. It was like this that with a simple movement of muscle and fast, he unleashed of his spear towards Saber behind, who the latter backed away thus avoiding the imminent attack.
"Lancer!" Saber yelled in surprise before realizing that the former was trying to resist the command's influence, but it was useless.
Lancer incorporated up fully and looked at the blonde with a sad and regretful expression.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me..."
That was what she had to hear when confirming that it was inevitable that Lancer would attack her as well. While, she didn't blame Fianna's first knight for turning against her, as this was the doing of his miserable Master, but she had no choice but to fight 2 fearsome enemies.
With that, she prepared himself for the inevitable battle.
"My, my, it looks like this is going to get worse." Kisuke commented as he watched this new turn of events.
Uryū grunted seeing this as well. That Saber may not be one of his since she is an enemy, but he could not bear the idea that she was going to face 2 enemies at the same time besides that Lancer had been honorable enough not to do it, but his Master had been quite lousy at seeing his chivalry and forced him to ally himself with Berserker. The Quincy really hated such nasty, cowardly kind of people.
And if that were not enough, chances are that once the Servants duo take down the blue Saber, they will set their sights on a wounded Mordred and an Inoue who still is healing Kurosaki, and that would be a big deal.
In order to avoid this, Uryū could only think of a single option and that is to neutralize Lancer's Master. Considering where his voice had come from, he suspected that he was not far away and could attack him even from here.
However, the problem is that he still had no idea what he was capable of that man as a magus, since if he could defend himself against their attacks, he could retaliate like calling Lancer and sending him to fight where they were hidden, and he did not want to risk having him so close to Inoue.
It was thus that he ran out of options.
Meanwhile, Mordred growled angrily and indignantly at what he was seeing. That mad dog that almost killed her had luckily decided to ignore her, and focused on father, but that was not what bothered her. Lancer had apparently offered to help father fight Berserker, but his Master showed itself very heartless before the association and went to far to use one of his Command Seals to ensure that Lancer ally with Berserker and that they both kill father.
Mordred was truly outraged by this. She did not really care what they were going to do father, she just could not allow them to get the glory of being able to kill the King of Knights right now. No! It is she who should bury her sword in the father's body and no other than her. It should be the one that ends the life of the King of Knights for the second time. She could not to let a rabid beast and a miserable spearman take the glory from her.
She turned her head back to see her Master still in the process of healing within that strange magical barrier created by the girl. While she was still skeptical of the other girl's strange abilities, but she had to trust her Master would be saved.
With that in mind, she made a decision. "Listen, I want you to stay here and take care of that idiot until you finish, understood?"
Orihime seemed surprised by her words and did not understand what she was referring to, but just as she was about to ask, the red Saber wasted no time going straight into battle again.
"Saber-san!"
Just when Berserker had passed Lancer's side, he was suddenly on kicked in the back by the red Saber that sent him flying away and he crashed to the ground seemingly in a daze. Lancer was totally perplexed by the action but did not have time to process what had happened when he saw the other Saber swing her sword diagonally at him, but this latter managed to block the attack in time.
*CLANG*
Lancer did his best to block the attack. He had to admit that she had enough strength in it as her blue counterpart, but not as strong, probably because she would exhausted from her fight against Berserker. Using his free arm, Lancer slid his other spear towards the head of his attacker to try to impale her, but she reacted quickly to the imminent attack by tilting her head to the side and the spear only pierced the void but not before grazing the cheek. The red knight decided to separate from the Irish knight a few meters away and they looked at each other.
The Irish spearman was calm without showing any signs of fatigue in him, although it could not be said of the blonde swordswoman who looked exhausted in addition to a new cut of blood on her other cheek and was also very frustrated by that. However, she was not going to let that dissuade her from leaving the fight. She will won't to that and even in these very dire conditions.
Lancer stared expectantly as the warrior who looked quite like the King of Knights and using the additional information given him by the Throne of Heroes, he was able to identify who her was.
"I see, so you are the disgrace of Camelot, right?"
The Knight of Treachery only gave a big arrogant smile that framed her face.
"So what If I'm the one who destroyed Camelot, huh?"
"You are nothing but the shame of knights, you don't even deserve to be a knight." Lancer replied indifferently in his voice.
The smile that adorned the red Saber's expression instantly vanished before replaced by a frown clenching her teeth in anger and her eyes narrowed dangerously by the insult.
How dare that bastard insult her like that like she was a scum? She would not tolerate it anymore.
"Why youuu!? She shouted as she charged like an enraged beast towards her opponent.
She was the heir to the throne of Camelot, and she would not let anyone tell her otherwise, especially father who never recognized her that right, and since then has vowed to make her pay for it. But first she would take care of this dammed spearman.
*CLANG* *CLANG* *SLASH*
Despite the battle impetus the red Saber was giving him, she found herself at a disadvantage against her new opponent as she was still sore from the previous battle, but she kept going trying to ignore the pain.
"I swear I'm going to make sure you feel twice as much pain here. No one calls me a scum and gets away with it!" Mordred shouted in anger.
Lancer did not respond and continued to concentrate with that indifferent look that the red knight hated so much.
*CLANG* *CLANG*
Lancer had managed well to defend himself against the fierce attacks of his opponent with his spear and it seemed that she was not going to stop, however little by little he felt that her movements were heavier and slower, probably due to fatigue. Stopping another attack, Lancer again aimed his other spear at her, only instead of the head, it was going straight for the dent in the breastplate.
*STAB*
"Gah!"
Mordred winced at the stabbing in her wound as the spear nearly embedded itself in the chest. She stepped back and then checked the wound. That damned bastard had managed to pierce through her battered armor and almost managed to pierce through flesh and into a vital organ, but luckily, he did not. However, it did not leave the fact that she could have been almost on the brink of death and impaled by that spear... Like that time in the last moments of her first life when she was impaled by father's holy spear that ended her life.
Mordred cringed at the memory and swore that never going to allow that to happen again.
Just at the moment when the red Saber was going to attack, Berserker got up and set his gaze on the blue Saber and charged.
*CLANG*
Lancer noticed this and when he was about to intervene, he suddenly realized that the other Saber would not allow it when the latter charged again off guard.
*CLANG*
Lancer joined his 2 spears adopting an almost scissors shape and managed to block Clarent between the 2.
"Ghr..." Mordred growled again as her attack stopped.
Lancer narrowed his eyes as he resisted his opponent's attack. Despite wanting to end the life of the traitorous knight for what she did in the past, he had other more important priorities such as preventing Berserker from finishing with the King of Knight and he had to get rid of her son first.
He turned his body next to that of his opponent whose sword was still stuck between his spears to the right, catching red knight's attention.
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked the Irish knight.
Instead of responding, the Irish knight thrust his spears forward, forcing the other knight finally to separate, and quickly raised one bent leg between his thigh while the other stood on the ground for support.
*BAM*
It was so that in the same way as Archer with Berserker before, Lancer hit the red Saber with a kick to the abdomen that forced her to crash back the containers. Unlike the previous 2, the impact was not so brutal, but it had left her a bit stunned but not unconscious.
Orihime heard the blow from a long distance and watched Mordred crash again.
"Saber-san!"
The blonde knight snapped out of her daze and glared at Lancer. The latter looked at her indifferently, raised his red spear and hurried it at her.
"Saber-san, BE CAREFUL!"
*STAB*
"GAAAAAH!"
The red spear was embedded in the blonde's left thigh causing her to scream in pain.
"Saber-san, no!" Orihime screamed in panic before running off to where Saber was impaled.
"Inoue-san!" Ishida yelled trying to stop her, but she ignored him as she ran.
Lancer decided to ignore the now incapacitated red Saber and decided to help the other. Shortly after, Orihime arrives to help her Saber.
"Are you okay, Saber-san?"
"What are you doing here, you fool?" Mordred protested to the orange haired girl. "You should be with Ichigo."
"Kurosaki-kun is fine." Orihime replied before leaning over the blonde's impaled leg to see the wound. It did not look good as she thought, but she could deal with it. "Hang on, this is going to hurt." She warned before catching the spear with both hands. Orihime tried to push back to try to extract it from her thigh. Mordred hissed in pain as Orihime struggled to remove it but could not. It was well fitted.
Meanwhile, just as Lancer was about to intervene in the fight between Berserker and the blue Saber again, his body suddenly stopped obeying his brain's command, and he immediately knew why.
"Lancer, I thought I ordered you not to attack Berserker and to ally yourself with him!" Kayneth's voice echoed across the harbor.
Lancer frowned upon hearing his Master's orders. "But my lord!"
"I will no longer tolerate your disobedience. Besides, that other Saber is still alive. Kill her at once."
Orihime and Mordred cringed upon hearing that, and the latter could only glare at seeing that this was not over yet and then she noticed Berserker still fighting by father and realized how far away she was to join the struggle.
"Berserker...!" Growled Mordred in scorn.
Suddenly as if he had heard her, Berserker stopped attacking Arturia and turning his attention to the other blonde who had a disabled left leg. Without hesitation, he took a powerful leap into the air and landed a few meters in front of the 2 girls. The two of them froze when the black knight fixed his gaze on them like a cheetah its prey.
"Inoue-san!" Ishida yelled worried when he saw Berserker in front of the girls.
"Orihime-san!" Kon yelled also worried.
Berserker began to walk slowly towards where they were, and this latters could not do anything else but watch something fearfuls of the approaching danger.
"What are you waiting for, you idiot? Run away! He's just coming for me!" Mordred warned to the other girl who the latter looked on almost paralyzed with fear.
Orihime barely heard the blonde Servant's words as her mind was directed towards the dark monster that had caused so much trouble for Mordred and nearly, he killed Kurosaki. Her mind still hesitated to run away and abandon the blonde to her fate despite the fear she felt at witnessing what this monster was capable of before. The fear she felt was comparable when she saw the first Arrancars arrive in the living world, and that big guy Yammy almost killed Chad with one blow.
'No! I shouldn't think about that now...'
She was right. She could not allow himself to be carried away by fear again. She had been through this before, and she was not going to let them dominate her again. She had to protect her friends!
With that resolution, the girl decided to face the dark knight.
The black knight cut the distance between them and reached out to push away the first annoyance.
"Santen Kesshun!"
The other 3 hairpins lit up like the others, before flying out of her hair and immediately forming a golden triangle-shaped barrier right in front between Orihime and Berserker. The knight's fist collided with the magic barrier and he was suddenly deflected for the contact as if something had repelled him.
Everyone who had no knowledge of it was puzzled as they watched the magical display. Berserker decided to strike the barrier again, only what with more force possible, but Orihime was already prepared for this.
"Tsubaki!"
Adding a fourth more hairpin to the shield, Berserker delivered his strongest punch, but instead of breaking it, the shield seemed to absorb the blow and Tsubaki took the opportunity to return it. Like an instantaneous explosion, the black knight flew out the way it came as if it had been hit by a powerful shock wave and crashed a little far away.
Everyone was stumped upon seeing this. Had that strange girl managed to throw that dangerous beast by the air?
Uryū and Kon were also at a loss for words upon seeing the girl's new attack, as this was the first time, they had seen it. The Santen Kesshun was supposed to be a defensive technique of the Shun Shun Rikka that consisted of repelling the enemy attack through a triangular-shaped barrier as they have just seen. However, that did not include an instantaneous explosion suddenly occurring the moment Berserker connected his fist with the barrier as if the technique had become offensive.
Uryū wondered if this phenomenon was the result of the intense training that Orihime had been doing with Chad in these 17 months.
"What did she just do?" Lancer asked still stunned by what he saw.
It was only a moment later that the black knight rose from the ground again, limping from the last attack and resumed his march towards the girls. Orihime stood on guard ready for what was coming again.
"Can he still stand after that?" Ishida asked surprised by the resistance that monster had after having endured many blows.
"Hmm, I must admit that he is quite resistant as would be expected of someone of his class." Urahara commented as she watched the dark form of Berserker trudging along. "However, I think he should have reached his limit by now. His Master should no longer be enduring such agony."
Ishida raised his head a little to look at the shopkeeper expectantly without understanding what he meant.
Unable to bear this excruciating internal pain, the Berserker Master crouched to the ground and ... vomited blood from his mouth. After a moment of panting like a dying animal, the person spoke.
"Damn Berserker...! I ordered him to only attack Archer and no one else..."
His entire body was shaking violently, his veins bulging as if they were about to explode. He could no longer endure this cruel torture of sending his magical energy towards his Servant without the risk of it subtracting his life energy in return and collapsing as a result.
No!
He still could not die now. Not right now. He still had a mission to fulfill...
It was so, that he raised a hand with his Command Seals and said the following.
"Berserker, I order you to come back here and quit the fight."
The seal lit up instantly and a section of it disappeared.
Just as the black knight took another step, he suddenly stopped abruptly and did not continue any further. Everyone watched this action expectantly, waiting for a possible move. It was not like that when suddenly his body vanished in a whisp of black dust.
"As can you observe, our dear friend has decided to leave us for this pleasant evening." Rider commented upon seeing how Berserker disappeared, surely because his Master would have ordered it. Once everything was calm, Rider fixed himself on the place where Lancer's Master was supposed to be.
"Listen, de Lancer Master, I'm not going to tolerate this for much longer!" Rider yelled as loud as he could so that the first one would hear him. "Don't dare to interfere in a duel between two honorable knights with you wiles. Withdraw Lancer immediately! Otherwise, if you insist on humiliating him any further, then I shall assist the two Sabers. I doubt that only Lancer have a chance against the three of us. What will you do?"
From his hiding place, Kayneth sneered hard as he saw how now everything turned against him. He had certainly been confident that alongside Berserker, he could have won this first round, but now that Berserker was gone, and the King of Conquerors had joined the 2 Sabers, his chances of winning were nil. He felt utterly disgraced but managed to spit the words out grudgingly.
"Retreat, Lancer. This will be all for r tonight." He said aloud for the whole harbor to hear.
The tension in Lancer's arms immediately relaxed which was a sure sign that he was free from the influence of the first seal. He raised an arm to see his hand, opening and closing it to confirm his mastery now over his muscles, and having seen the satisfactory results, the Irish knight made his way to the red Saber with his other spear still impaled on his left thigh.
Watching Lancer slowly approach them, Orihime stood in a defensive pose with her arms outstretched on either side. Lancer stopped momentarily.
"I just came to retrieve my spear. Don't worry."
Orihime barely let down her guard somewhat uncertain about the enemy Servant's intentions, but the latter said nothing more as he resumed his calm march. With a bit of hesitation, Orihime stepped aside, letting Lancer pass until he stood in front of the traitorous knight. The latter continued to look at him with rage and suspicion, but he ignored her as he only looked at his spear still impaled on her thigh. Wasting no time, he put his free hand on the hilt of the spear and hastily removed if from the leg.
"Gaaah!" Mordred grave a little cry of pain as the red spear was pulled from her leg and she fell to her knee.
"Saber-san!" Orihime cried out in concern as she went to help her.
Glancing a little at the tip of his spear bloody with the traitor's blood, Lancer sent an appreciative look at Rider. "You have my gratitude, King of Conquerors."
The large Servant gave him a big friendly smile on his face. "It was nothing, man. I enjoy watching the flowers of a battlefield in bloom."
With a nod of respect, he turned to the blue Saber, who the latter gives a nod of her head. Lancer does the same before his body faded from view.
"Inoue-san!" Inoue heard Ishida's scream and turned to the left to see the latter running towards her.
"Ishida-kun!"
The Quincy arrived where Orihime was with an injured Mordred safely. "Are you okay?"
"Hai." The orange haired girl replied before turning to Mordred. The former rested the latter's armored arm around her neck before being able to lift her with little effort to a standing position. "How is Kurosaki-kun?"
"He's almost recovered. Don't worry."
Orihime smiled in relief at that, and although Mordred did not show it, she was also relieved that that idiot was still with life. So she can berate him in her own way for what he did.
"Oi, are you alright?" The 2 teenagers saw how Rider still mounted in his chariot approached them and stopped a few meters from them to inspect them. "Glad to see you guys are alright. Good job."
The 2 teenagers could not tell if they were grateful for the enormous Servant's compliment considering that he had not helped when they needed it most and he remained on the sidelines, except when he intervened to persuade Lancer's Master to leave the fight. Despite the uncertainty they felt, they wanted answers.
"Why didn't you go help her, Rider?"
"What are you talking about?" Rider asked a bit confused. "Don't you remember that while we were forging our alliance, your Saber and I agreed not to interfere in each other's combat? I have kept my word and I had already warned her that if she were ever in serious trouble, I would not be there to save her."
Mordred grunted upon hearing that. As if she ever had to be saved by a damn barbarian.
"By the way." Rider said now looking at Orihime. "What you have done with that black crazy before has been amazing, girl. You are definitely a good fighter."
Orihime could not help but blush at the huge Servant's praise.
"Uh, hey..."
Uryū and Orihime were on guard when they heard a voice very close to them and saw that it was the albino woman who was supposed to be the Master of the other Saber. She was a few meters from them with a worried face. When she came into view of the 2 teenagers and the red Saber, they could not help but look at her puzzled by her unusual appearance on her features. It was obvious that she was not Japanese and must have been Western, but her distinguished silver hair, pale skin, and strange crimson eyes indicated that she did not appear to be human in some way. In fact, it was rare to see her.
"You two are friends with that boy?" The woman spoke in a dialect Uryū could recognize well as German, and it the way she spoke she seemed... concerned?
"Is that boy okay?"
Uryū and Orihime could only stare blankly at the strange woman's reaction. They were supposed to be enemies in this war, and she suddenly care about them?
"I have realized that you are very young, how old are you?" The albino asked next.
The teenagers could not believe what they were hearing. Was she really asking that? What was she plotting?
"Irisviel!"
Now the teenagers turned to the source of the other voice, being the other Saber who was rushing to reach the albino woman. When the blue Saber stood next to Irisviel the teenagers's eyes widened in shock at seeing her face on the little close, while Mordred only gave a look of anger and hatred towards her.
Golden blonde hair.
Emerald eyes.
There was no doubt that she was exactly identical to their Saber as if they were twins, and they even looked to the latter to confirm it.
"Yes, I'm fine, Saber." Irisviel replied with a smile before turning to the stunned teens.
"Excuse me, I know I shouldn't talk to you considering that we are enemies in this war, but I keep wondering if any of your or that boy that Berserker killed was the Master of she." She spoke solemnly to adolescents.
Ichigo's friends were almost speechless and were almost hesitant to respond, but immediately Uryū regained his composure and spoke.
"To answer your question; yes, that boy is the Master of our Saber, and despite having received that fatal blow, we can save him and prevent him from dying."
The woman's expression eased slightly upon hearing that.
"Thank God."
Before anyone could ask her why she was so concerned, the blue Saber spoke up as well.
"We better leave immediately."
"Huh? Fine." The albino replied before turning to the teenagers and bowing slightly in respect. "I hope you guys are careful."
She and her Saber turned and began to walk away, but one did not want that to happen.
"Wait! Where do you think you're going?" The red Saber suddenly barked to the surprise of her Master's friends. "I am talking to you."
The blue Saber did not stop and kept walking ignoring the calls of her persistent son.
"We're not done yet! Fight me!"
"Saber-san!" Orihime exclaimed worriedly.
"What are you saying now?" Uryū asked confusedly. "You are no longer fit."
Unfortunately, Mordred ignored the teenagers's words as he kept looking defiantly at father. The latter was also looking at her in silence without saying anything with an unreadable expression on his face and listless eyes. She decided to look straight ahead and resume walking.
This made Mordred more enraged.
"Where are you going? Are you ignoring me again like when I revealed my lineage to you? Are you going to ignore me again as a mere mistake that wouldn't be worth your time just like that time on that damn hill!?"
This time the blue Saber's expression wavered a bit upon hearing that, but she decided not to show it to anyone and continued onward.
Mordred clenched her teeth in pure rage at the sight of this and was not going to allow herself to be ignored again.
"Damn you, don't run away!" She screamed as she tried to lunge towards her despite the teenagers making efforts to hold her back. "I told you don't run away, ARTHUR!"
Suddenly, Uryū and Orihime froze upon hearing the last thing she said. Arthur?
It was thus that Mordred managed to free herself from her captors and went directly to father, but after a few steps, the pain in her left thigh took a toll on her, forcing her to lose her balance and collapse on her knees to the ground. Arturia saw this and she could not help feeling a little sorry for her, but nothing could be done. Fate was really cruel and unscrupulous. With that in mind, she continued to walk away.
Mordred looked up as father continued to ignore her as she walked away from her as something not worth seeing. This enraged her even more and she tried to get up again, but the pain forced her to stay on the ground helplessly.
"Saber-san!" Orihime screamed in concern as she and Ishida ran towards her to help her. "Are you okay?"
Mordred completely ignored the other girl as she hid her face on the ground, hiding the wrath, sadness and humiliation she felt at feeling so helpless in these conditions for doing nothing and showing that she was at the same height as father, but the reality was as far away was as the distance they were at.
Pathetic.
Really pathetic.
Merely, she was still far from as strong as her.
"Shit!" The knight cursed as she smashed her armored fist into the pavement causing a small hole.
Neither of the 2 dared to ask about the knight's untypical behavior as they looked at the latter with nostalgia and confusion.
And so, the first battle ended.
Well that's it. Actually my original intention was to enlarge the chapter more as in my original version, but then I thought that it would not be worth doing as it would be exhausting and I wanted to finish this before time.
By the way, I'm going to take a break until the end of the new year.
Merry Christmas!