Fate's Way
Chapter 6 - The Mad Servant
"Tohsaka, I wanted to ask something." Rin turns her head toward Artoria and sending her a questioning look
"Would doing all this work even destroy the bounded field placed here?" It puzzles Artoria really, they've been walking around the school area locating and disenchanting the magic circles, but she doesn't understand the purpose behind it.
While she knew Magus Instructor Nilrem most likely could destroy the bounded field, she's not so sure about her newest ally Tohsaka Rin.
As far as she knows, even when Tohsaka had a disenchantment spell advanced enough to manually remove the sigils. All it would actually do is just hinder the bounded field and delay its deployment time, while the removal of these sigils could weaken it enough for a Magus skilled in the arts of Bounded Fields to completely destroy it entirely, she very much doubts the schoolmate she's talking to is one of that level.
There's also another factor that the creator of the bounded field could simply pump magical energy to speed up its self-repair feature, and the sigils would rejuvenate.
"Why would you think otherwise?" Tohsaka asked puzzledly
"I don't think removing the sigils would do anything other than delay it." Her words clicked inside the Tohsaka's head
For a moment the girl was silent, but then her face started to go beet red.
"Of course! How could I forget the basics of Bounded Fields! This is unbecoming of me as the heir of the Tohsaka Family!"
"Eh Tohsaka, It's fine to forget once in a while." Emiya started but was cut off
"Shut up you idiot! It's not fine at all!." She practically screamed at her ally
Saber began chuckling at the sight, the others unaware that he's recalling old memories.
"Do you have a deathwish?!" She made threatening remarks at the grinning Servant
"Milady, you should calm down before you make yourself look like a fool." The red-haired Archer advised his Master
The Tohsaka took some deep breaths, yes very deep indeed. Before she rationalized herself.
"I suppose our time spent here is entirely worthless." Rin sighed
"How so?" Both of the blonde girls present synchronized asked
"Whoever set the bounded field up is most likely a Servant, therefore the Master is probably too incompetent to be able to actually supply their Servant. By doing this, we've made the Servant waste their presumed limited magical energy." The Tohsaka explained while in a lecturing pose
"So that means what we did was waste the Servant's energy supply!" The Emiya stated the obvious
Ignoring his dumb statement, Rin continued "That is what I believe is happening, though it might possibly be a bait I wouldn't bet on it." Artoria remembered something she discovered the day before
"Wait Rin, so what you're saying is the servant is a form of bloodsucker?" Rin had raised her eyebrow at the sudden familiarity Artoria was giving but ignored it for the main point
"The Servant is a Dead Apostle? How did you gain this information?" The Tohsaka inquisitively narrows her eyes
"I doubt it's a Dead Apostle, the composition was closer to a form of Phantasmal Species, but to answer your question I had cast Structural Analysis on the Magic Circles, that is what I managed to gather from it," Artoria explained
"If that's the case, then it might be so. If a Magus was willing to waste such material to craft this half-assed Bounded Field, then they must be insane." The Tohsaka sighs again
"While such additional information narrows down who the mysterious Servant could be, there are still many inhuman Heroes in history, so we are better off working on other things for now," Rin concluded
"By the way, how is your Structural Analysis capable of such intensive information gathering?"
"My Magecraft revolves on extreme Reinforcement, mainly on myself, to pull it off I needed to be able to analyze my body structure to the cellular level to be able to be precise enough to pull it off. Being able to discern it from my body happens to also mean I can do the same to other objects, primarily anything organic." Artoria summarized it as best as it could, while Rin's jaws fell when her question is actually answered
'Why am I even surprised? First Emiya, now even her?' Her newly acquired ally had practically told her everything about her ability as a Magus, and the way she obtained the information is identical to how she got Emiya to tell her his magecraft.
It further serves to reinforce her perception that anyone she attracts would all be idiots, and the only other one who isn't an idiot happens to be the only non-magus of the group.
"So you could use it for Biology projects?" Gwen asked with a nod of understanding
'Nevermind she's an idiot too, to suggest using a spell to cheat at School is the most wasteful idea she's ever heard of' She resigns to her circle of absolutely stubborn and dense idiots
"I could, but it would be the same as cheating, and that is illegal." Artoria shakes her head in disapproval
"Artoria-san, you came from the Household of Pendragon, right? I don't remember any Magus families with that name." Tohsaka asked, recalling the blonde's name
"Because it's not, I learnt magecraft from the Magus Nilrem." Artoria swiftly responded
Tohsaka's eye twitches, "I presume he doesn't live in this city?"
"Not sure, he never took me to his home," Artoria answered contemplatively
"So let me get this straight, a random Magus just decided to teach you, a random civilian for absolutely no reason at all?" Tohsaka rubs her temples in frustration at
"I wouldn't say for absolutely no reason, he was supposed to be my tutor at elementary school after all, why?" She didn't know why her counterpart is so frustrated
"Forget it! I guess as a Master you've at least already talked to the fake priest right?"
"The who?" Her eyes were of confusion
"Who is this priest that you're talking about Tohsaka?" Emiya asked
"The Overseer of War! How do you even know about the Grail War otherwise?"
"Hm… I had summoned Saber by accident when being chased by Lancer, and he has been telling us about it thus far."
Rin was speechless, pinching the bridge of her nose, she gave her answer.
"Fine then, let's get back to our homes first and meet up at Emiya-kun's house at six. I'll bring you to the overseer." Rin said before turning back and leaving
The others nodded and followed suit.
Going out of the building and exiting the school through the gate they went their separate ways.
Arriving at the Emiya Household were Artoria and Guinevere, both of them changed out of their school uniforms. Artoria opted out changing into a practical set of clothes, a simple shirt and some comfortable shorts. Meanwhile, Gwen opted for a single piece dress. Nothing particularly eye-catching or interesting.
Following behind them is Saber, over his usual combat uniform was a black trench coat. His scarf now makes more sense with it, previously it looks out of place and makes her question his fashion sense.
Arriving at the front door, they knocked at the door.
It was soon greeted by a familiar redhead.
"Oh you're here, Tohsaka is already here waiting-" Emiya suddenly got pulled aside as the Tohsaka replaced him
"You're finally here, so let's all get moving."
"Now that you mentioned it, where was this church and who are we planning to meet?"
"It's in the neighbouring town, for your second question, we're going to meet with the fake priest I mentioned earlier." Tohsaka makes an evil smile upon the clueless reaction everyone is giving
"The overseer of the war is Kotomine Kirei of the Kotomine Church, he is my father's former disciple and my guardian who taught me Magecraft. Which makes him both my senior and my second teacher." She admitted bitterly
"I see, but why did we have to meet here for that, couldn't we find somewhere closer?"
"That's because I was planning to move in with Emiya-kun for the duration of the war." Artoria gave her questioning look
Rin sighed, "That idiot wanted to repay me after I saved his life twice, but it turns out he's barely a Magus at all, so in the end, I needed to teach him if I want to get any use out of that fool."
"Whoever that taught him must be a horrible teacher, because he doesn't even have any knowledge of the basics of the basics of thaumaturgy, the only thing he could accomplish was Reinforcement and it doesn't even work out most of the time," Rin complained
"Tohsaka! Don't insult my father, he isn't that bad of a teacher." Emiya defends his teacher
"Of course he is, who in their right mind would skip an entire step, it is probably attributed to why your spell keeps failing." The Tohsaka rebutted
"Ah, can both of you calm down please?" Gwen requested hopefully
"I suppose so, we're getting off track right now." Rin walked away
"What are all of you doing standing over there, we're going now. We should be back by night, tomorrow is Saturday remember? So we shouldn't stay too late, we still have school." Artoria sighs that they won't be getting any rest, while her friend Gwen was patting her
They walk through the afternoon town.
It's six and a half, the sun is setting right now, it would make a pleasant atmosphere if it weren't for the bickering they were having on the road. It seems that Tohsaka Rin is the opposite of what she shows at school, especially when it comes to dealing with Emiya's magecraft education.
To other people, they just seem to be a typical group of teenagers. At this time there's still quite a few walking through the streets going home, and the town is starting to illuminate with the lights being activated.
"Hey Tohsaka, are you planning on walking to the neighbouring town?" Emiya asked a valid question, Why were they walking? The buses and trains are still running at this time, so it wouldn't be too hard to catch one.
"Yeah. It's going to be nighttime soon, so it's better to get some exercise in preparation for enemy servants. Besides a little walking session wouldn't hurt, right?" Rin turned to the red-haired boy while tilting her head
"I see, then if it's not too much to ask, do you know how long will it take to get there?"
"Well, it should take about an hour to walk there. We have more than enough time." The Tohsaka responded
Suddenly a growling sound was heard, everyone turned towards the perpetrator… Artoria
"Ah-Ehh,.." She turned her head away and ignores the stares the others were giving
"Arty, are you hungry already?" Gwen asked with concern
"My my, my Master sure is a glutton." The so-far silent Saber voiced his musings, causing Artoria to grow even more embarrassed
"Saber! You promised to not tell anyone!" Saber chuckled in response
"I did no such thing, but your own bottomless stomach betrayed your expectations." Artoria's face fell flat
"I suppose it's a good thing I cooked up an extra batch." Saber opens the bag he has been carrying to reveal that it is filled with french fries.
Artoria drools at the sight of the contents. These french fries are a lifesaver, she had been getting sick of eating mashed potatoes but her father's stockpile of them is practically endless, now with a personal five-star chef she could finally eat something decent with those potatoes
"If any of you want some, feel free to grab a portion." The white-haired man offered
Rin took up the offer first and took a piece. It was a perfectly cut piece that is a golden brown colour and seems to be seasoned heftily. Taking a bite, it immediately was made apparent how delicious it is.
The perfection of this single fry was honestly surprising coming from a Servant, a Hero, how many heroes in history actually knew how to cook? Especially a relatively modern food such as french fries.
"My this is surprising, and you cooked this?" She asked impressively
"Of course, I put my effort into perfecting the art of cooking." The man answered smugly
"Mhm, that explains how you became a Saber class even with stats as horrible as those." Artoria retorted her arrogant looking servant
Saber was shocked at his Master's words, before feigning of being insulted.
"Artoria you bad girl, I guess I'll be letting your father have his kitchen tonight." Artoria immediately panicked and complained
"Why are you so petty!" Saber and Gwen chuckles at Artoria's attitude
"I guess this is where the saying "Don't mess with the Chef" comes from- Eh wait. Where are you going Emiya-kun?" Rin sees the Emiya suddenly going the wrong way
"We need to get to the bridge, right? Then this will be a shortcut." He says making his way to a small side-road
The others followed without objection while Artoria continued snacking on her supply of fries.
We come out into a park, and the bridge that leads to the neighbouring town is visible.
"Woah, I didn't know about this road. I see, since we can get to the bridge from the park all we need to do is head for the park to reach the bridge faster." Rin talks deep in fascination
"Let's go. We didn't come here to play around." Emiya hurried
"I agree, we should get to the church as early as we could to avoid unnecessary encounters." Artoria nods in agreement while her mouth is full
"Arty, you shouldn't talk while you're eating." Gwen worried
Night has arrived, once they reached the road alongside the bridge, they walked straight ahead to the neighbouring town of Shinto.
There's no one on the bridge, which was unsurprising for them. Not many people even use it during the daytime. It's more normal to use the bus or the train to get from town to town, so the bridge is rarely used for anything.
There's also a fear that is shared by many that the bridge may collapse due to its length. Location wise, especially in the afternoons it's perfect for romantic settings in Artoria's opinion, not that she truly understands romance, but she gets by.
"...That's stupid. What am I thinking?" Emiya suddenly murmurs, before seeming to hurry across the bridge
Beyond the bridge, Tohsaka continues to lead us into the suburbs.
"The church is up here. Everyone has been here at least once, right?" Tohsaka addresses everyone
"No. I know it used to be an orphanage though." Emiya answered
"I may have passed by a few times, but I never entered it." Gwen nodded affirmatively with Artoria's case
"I see. Then this would be everyone's first time today. You should prepare yourself, the priest there is a difficult man to deal with." Rin advised
"Since Artoria-san should be informed well enough from Saber, let's make this quick." Tohsaka start going up the hill
At the top of the hill, Artoria sees a building… a church atop it. It didn't take long before they reach the top.
What greeted them was a large flat field, and the church she saw earlier. It wasn't a particularly big one, but it's not small either. Artoria wonder though why would they build a church this far away from town?
"Master, I shall be remaining outside," Saber spoke up
"Eh? Why?"
"To keep watch of the surrounding area, although it is a neutral zone some Masters would attack regardless." Saber half-lied, while his words are of the truth, his concerns was but. His true reason is that of what lies beneath the basement.
He could still vividly remember the bodies of the people who were sacrificed to feed Gilgamesh's existence in his visit to the church near the end of his own war. Those people were the same as the orphans whom he'd met at the same hospital where he was adopted.
Those people- No... kids, who looked much like corpses were very much alive, their lifeforce being drained to supply Gilgamesh. The terrifying part is that he could've been one of them if Kiritsugu didn't decide to adopt him.
It wouldn't be good if he lost composure. No matter what he wishes he couldn't save them, the only thing he could do is to end their misery. That is the cold hard truth of his younger's ideals, no matter what you do there would always be someone you couldn't save.
The unfairness of the world, he who had survived the Great Fire through being a sword, a sword forged by the fire who needs no meaning to exist, prevails over those others who had survived through sheer will. Being the lone survivor once more, it haunted his earlier days.
Regardless he couldn't even save them from the hell right now, as the golden king inhabits the church. He would need to find an opportunity to do so, Kirei would kill them soon anyway, but even if the difference was only a few days when it's already been happening for years, it would at least bring some peace to his conscience.
"That's a good point, but such measures aren't that necessary unless the Master wants to anger the Church and the Association." Tohsaka pointed out, though Saber doesn't seem to budge
Artoria decides to respect her servant's decision.
"Alright, then I expect you to be still here by the time I exit." Saber nodded
"Of course Master, stay safe." Everyone except the two servants went off to the entrance of the church.
Opening the gate lies a large chapel.
"Tohsaka, what kind of a person is the priest here?" Emiya asks
"It's hard to explain, even when I've known him for ten years I still can't grasp his character," Tohsaka told him
"You've mentioned it before, you said he was your senior as an apprentice, but why? Shouldn't priests be forbidden from using magic?" It is common sense that a magus and the church can't be in harmony
The relationship between the Holy Church and the Mage's Association is quite complicated, the two are similar in some ways, but they try to kill each other regardless when given a chance and only cooperate against common enemies like the Dead Apostles.
The church simply hates heretics, and magic-users that aren't of their Saints would count as inhuman, therefore eliminating them. There is no exception even within the church
"That is true for the most part, but he is a part of a special section of the church, the Enforcers. Which allows the usage of magic to eliminate stronger beings like Dead Apostles. He is also as previously mentioned the Agent sent by the church to supervise the Holy Grail War." She explained
Her footsteps echo as she approaches the altar.
"His name was Kotomine… Kirei right?" Gwen asked
"Yes, we've had an inseparable relationship for ten years now, though I very much wished I had never met him," Rin said
"I feel the same way, I did not want an apprentice who did not respect her teacher." The voice of a man was heard
"You didn't answer my repeated calls, and now you bring in several strange guests. I presume one of them is the seventh one, Rin? The man asked
"Right, the one holding the sword is the one. She's a magus, but has no clue about the war before her accidental summoning, so I couldn't let her be."
"I believe it was within the rules that you invented to report here when one becomes a Master, right? For this time, I'll follow it."
"Very well. Then I must thank young woman, though what may the others be here for?"
"They're bystanders that agreed to participate as support for each of us, ignore them if you will."
Kotomine slowly turns to her, it made her feel uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Emiya stood back.
Artoria doesn't detect any hostilities, nor does she feel fear from looking at him, but his presence seems to make the atmosphere heavy
"I am Kotomine Kirei, the one entrusted with this church. What is your name, seventh Master?"
Without hesitation, she introduces herself, "My name is Artoria Pendragon." Her will of steel clashes against the heavy presence emitted by the priest.
[A time skip brought to you by laziness. I'm sourcing my shit from the VN, and Kirei's talk is going to take up much of the chapter, which I would rather not bore you guys with]
They left the church's gates.
What greeted her sight was a coated servant of the sword, standing waiting for her silently. He seems to already expect the decision she had made in the end.
The conversation in the church went darker than she had truly expected, to learn the cause of the Great Fire 10 years previously was due to the Grail being misused. Emiya seems to react to the information, more volatilely, as if recalling a bad memory.
"Let's go. We're going the same way we came from until we get back to town." Tohsaka starts walking after saying that
Following after her, we all left the church's premises as well.
The five of us descended the hill together, we didn't talk much in the meantime, unlike the lively bickering we had before… Artoria starts munching on the rest of the french fries she had left.
After the events that occurred in the church, it seems Tohsaka is walking a little apart from the group. That is probably because Artoria has become a real Master now, although their truce is still in effect regardless.
Walking back, after crossing the bridge they eventually arrive at an intersection, Tohsaka suddenly stops.
"Tohsaka?" Emiya questioned her sudden cease of movement
"We'll part ways here, everyone besides Emiya could go home on your own," Tohsaka said her seriousness clear
"Eh? Why?" Gwen asked curiously to the sudden change of attitude
"Initially I only brought you here because you're not a Master yet, but now Artoria-san has become one, even with the truce we're still enemies."
"Even so, I still consider you a trustworthy ally." Rin clearly flattered
"Flattering me wouldn't change anything, Artoria-san."
"I'm telling you my honest opinion, you've so far been nothing but helpful. Therefore, even if you don't accept it, I will assist you regardless until I reconsider it." Artoria said
"Mhm, I think so too. We could be friends you know?" Gwen agreed with a smile
"Tohsaka, they're decent people, I don't want us to be enemies if I can help it." Emiya tries persuading
Archer suddenly materialized "Milady, I trust their characters, I believe it is beneficial to accept their hands, but my bow will not stay if you order me to."
"..." Rin outnumbered and outmatched, crouched down and complains about her team of idiots
"A-Anyway, just run to the church if your Servant ever gets killed. That way at least your life would be safe." She rushes to conclude this discussion
She turns her back and starts walking, but her feet stop dead in their tracks.
Artoria understood her reaction, as she too detected the enormous magical presence behind them, judging from the way the mark on her hand is reacting, it must be a servant."
"Tohsaka?" "Arty?" Both Emiya and Gwen asked for their counterparts sudden stiffness
"Hey, have you finished talking? A voice of a young girl echoes through the night
Every member of the group turns back immediately, Saber has already manifested the Golden Blade he used at School.
Their vision was drawn to the top of the hill they came from not too long ago.
The clouds parted, and the silver moon shone across the sky.
"...Berserker," Tohsaka mumbles upon seeing the enemy servant
"Good evening, Onii-chan. It's the second time we've met like this." The girl akin to a fairy smiles as she says so, it was directed towards the only human male in this group
Artoria recalls the sound of blades clashing before her magic circuits start flowing with magical energy. Reinforcing her eyes, she focuses on the one behind the girl.
The Spirit standing behind the girl, is a monster…
Not that metaphorically, but literally.
The parameters of the Servant of Madness is truly as insane as the class itself.
True Name: ?
Parameters:
Strength: A+
Endurance: A
Agility: A
Mana: A
Luck: B
NP: ?
Her muscles stiffened, upon reading the enemy's status sheet.
"Crap. He's totally on a completely different level." Well said Tohsaka, but that is clear as day
The girl walks closer to the group before lifting the sides of her skirt and bows,
"It's nice to meet you, Rin. My name is Illya." She introduces herself
"Illyasviel von Einzbern."
" Einzbern…" Tohsaka's body twitches slightly as she recognises that name
"And who may you be?" She asked Artoria with an innocent smile
"Artoria Pendragon." Artoria merely responds
"The Servant's parameters alone could face the other six alone." Spoke the Saber
"This isn't an enemy we could face simply using brute force," Tohsaka said
Flicking a glance towards the Saber
She lays down her orders
"Archer, fight from a medium-range and actively support the battle if need be act as a second Saber, our Saber's parameters are unconvincing."
"Understood, Milady." The dematerializing Servants leaps away to a further position
"Emiya-kun, it's your choice to run or fight. But if you could, then run away." Rin mercilessly told the red-haired boy.
Emiya's eyes hesitate upon hearing what she has to say.
'Master, your orders?' Saber asked Artoria
'... Fight Saber, do whatever you could to win.' She puts her trust in Saber's capability, though his parameters may be severely outmatched, his endless options of armaments may prevail.
'Of course, Master.' Saber assured his Master
"Can I get started now?" The girl asked politely
With no response, she continues. "Alright, then I'll kill you now. Get them, Berserker." she cheerily says
The Servant of Madness responds with a roar, the brick road beneath it was immediately damaged from his sheer strength. Gusts of dust were blown to all directions from the pressure of his roar.
The large body leaps to the air, Berserker comes flying down from the top of the hill aiming to slam his axe sword but is intercepted mid-air by a flurry of shooting stars.
The silver lights landed their marks with beyond human precision and force the mad warrior down back to the ground to a better footing.
The warrior intercepts the further incoming arrows with his agility and strength, destroying the incoming arrows before a lone arrow gets past his defences. An explosion follows it.
The dust soon clears up to reveal a Berserker that is slightly injured with a cut on where the arrow landed.
"No way! The effect was that little?" Tohsaka gasps in surprise
The Mad Warrior proceeds to dash towards them at great speeds
"Emiya-kun!' Rin tries to warn, but Saber has already made his move
"Trace… On" With a hammer of a gun firing, the servant reinforced his body
Saber ran towards Berserker's stopping point and swung the golden blade to intercept the blow of the mad warrior.
The two swords sparks upon contact, the air trembles from the sheer pressure of the two swords clashing.
Saber had stopped Berserker's greatsword with his golden sword. The clash pained Saber the Berserker was clearly overpowering him, but he pushed on regardless.
"Get back everyone!" He barks at the group highschoolers
The two warriors fought like a hurricane against a firestorm.
The Berserker's ferocity of a whirlwind tries to put down the warrior of the sword, but Saber's resistance grows stronger matching the beast-like warrior, the Berserker's attacks fueling his own will to fight.
Saber blocks and parries the blows to attempt to find openings to exploit, and evades any blows he could not face.
It is clear which of the two is the stronger one, but Saber's defence was impeccable.
For each step Berserker advances, the price to pay is twice as large, Saber is going to make Berserker work for each and every step.
The awe in Artoria's face is clear in her observation of the clash of two Heroes. Saber's combat experience is showing, planning each step to lead to even the smallest of openings and take advantage of it to put a cut or two.
Even though the cuts are insignificant compared to the body of the giant before them, it is a sign of progress.
Berserker manages to create an opening in Saber's stance using his raw strength advantage.
Noticing this, Rin snaps out of her concentrated state
"...Archer, back him up!" She shouted
In response, several more silver lights were fired.
The arrows filled with magical energy approaches the giant. The berserker perceives the arrows coming, and knowing it could injure it, decides to intercept the arrows.
Saber dashes at the momentarily opening, Berserker is unable to respond in time due to being occupied with the incoming arrows.
Golden flecks of lights were seen raising from the surrounding field, before accumulating into a single spot… A single blade… The Golden Sword which brings victory for her people.
The Golden Sword of the Victorious, the sword that chooses Kings.
"Caliburn…" Saber whispers, unheard by the rest
Whispering its name, the glory of the sword is revealed in an instant, and he plunges it into Berserker.
The golden sword digs deep into the Mad Warrior, and a bright light bursts forth out of the blade engulfing him from the inside.
Even if it Saber barely gathered enough magical energy to power it, even if it was for an instant. It was enough. The glorious light destroyed the Berserker's upper half, and the light of the sword dissipates, the area once more silent.
Neither the howling of the mad warrior that shook the earth nor the blow that cut it down remains
It was as if he had relived that moment once more.
It was completely silent, suspiciously so. Then the long-awaited reaction was found, the supposedly dead warrior's body started to recover rapidly, the signs of damage completely disappeared, as if time itself had reversed.
"What! Immortality?" Rin exclaimed with disbelief
"Mhm. That is my Berserker's Noble Phantasm, "God's Hand", it is a reward for the times he had avoided death in life." and with an evil smile
"The true identity of Berserker is Heracles, the greatest of all Greek heroes." Saber already knew of this, but the other's that had yet to figure out had their reactions of surprise
Another batch of shooting stars fell upon the Berserker, and another explosion occurred.
But it did not do much more than delaying it for a second, as the mad warrior kicked the dust-up with a great leap, and slammed the greatsword against the white-haired warrior's golden sword.
The crash of steel tears the air, and a thunderous roar was heard, Saber was pushed back, and slid the brick road as a result.
Even when successfully predicting and blocking the sword, he was driven back along with his sword.
"Gah" Saber's arms collapse momentarily from the strain it has been put against, it was surprising that it didn't immediately collapse when meeting such a great force.
The mad warrior dashes after the servant and slashes towards the weakened servant
Saber abandoned his blade and leapt back to avoid the dangerous blow, his golden sword ended up being hit and slammed away to the group.
"Saber!" Artoria yells, picking up the fallen golden blade without thinking
Suddenly she saw unfamiliar scenes.
A girl that was entrusted to a mere old knight, with destiny to carry the burdens of a king.
The adolescent years of the girl with vivid clarity, raised as a boy, alongside her brother.
Running around the village the girl inhabited.
Playing with her brother in the mud, and chasing each other in the deep forests.
With the old knight lecturing the two siblings.
Attending events in their village, with the girl happily gouging at the pile of food presented.
The joys and laughter of the family of three were heard.
The beautiful landscapes near the village the girl inhabits green in her heart.
With the details etched in the back of her mind.
It is merely a collection of short scenes, but each of them is truly valuable to the girl.
The girl grew up as the successor under a simple and wise old knight.
The girl trained day after day to become stronger than anyone else, and one day was visited upon by the wizard.
With her naive worldview powering her, she dreams of a utopia where everyone in her Kingdom was happy.
If only a king can save a country headed for ruin, the girl swore to bear the sword for that reason alone, unaware of her fate that was set in stone.
The day of the awaited prophecy came, on the site was a naked sword with inscription on the hilt of the sword
"Whosoe'er pulle/! 0u? Th;s sw3r. of $hls stone is r?!htwise King born of !?.1['d"
The girl neared the deserted stone of selection and reached out for the ?!..2 without hesitation,
The magus warned her that she would no longer be human once she pulled the sword, she nodded, not a single night had she not feared of the complications, but even so-
The sword was pulled out as if it were only natural to do so, and the field illuminated, being filled with-
"Keep it, just get back!" The sound of her Servant snaps her back into reality
Saber projected a familiar pair of Chinese falchions, he didn't need to think to know what he needed to do next and sidestepped, barely avoiding another one.
Detecting the opening he went for his counter attack and slashes the enemy servant with all of his might. But his favourite pair of blades wasn't even able to pierce the skin of his enemy. "Damn."
'So this is the strength of the great Heracles, I now understood how much struggling she had to go through now that I'm in her position.'
The Berserker used his free hand and clumped it into a fist and sent a deadly punch.
Saber pulled both of his shortswords and successfully blocked the heavy blow, his arms trembling and his blade crackling from the kinetic energy behind the punch.
Saber jumped back into the nearby woods, effectively luring the mad warrior to chase him away from the group.
After the two servants went further away, Artoria looked back at the blade she held in her hands.
It was the same golden blade that she saw in her dreams, every single detail, ranging from the identical shape and measurements of the blade, the golden inscription on the hilt, although she can't read it. Even she recognises the conceptual weight within it.
Just by touching this replica... She felt the blade reacting to her as if it recognises her, and so did she felt like the sword has belonged to her since the start. On the back of her mind, she heard a faint voice
'Thou art worthy.' But she was lost to her thoughts to hear it
Just by holding it sparks memories that she didn't remember happening, it is vividly similar to the dreams she had… She didn't know why it keeps reappearing in her dreams, even more so how the blade she dreamt of is a Noble Phantasm that truly exists in the real world.
It incited her memories that were repressed due to the inconsistencies of her dreams and traumatic experiences, the pieces start to connect, and her mind starts to formulate a chronological order-
"No!" She told herself and shook her head, she shouldn't be thinking about these things, there are things more important than mere illusions of the brain at this moment.
She looks back on the incriminating scene and sees the Master of Berserker walking away.
"It seems this night would be a long one." Artoria unintentionally made her observations known, with a few nods coming from the others.
Author's Note:
Today's chapter consists of 6000 words.
Initially, I intended on just finishing the fight this chapter altogether, but I ended up changing my mind as I realized how long it would be and would take another day to write.
So I decided to put the rest of the content in the next chapter. Hmm, I apologize if the start of the chapter felt rushed, but I just want to skip to the parts where I can "Trace On!" the VN as a basis of what the scene would become.
I'm pretty sure everyone knows this already, but Heracles' God's Hand could only protect against attacks that are below A-Rank, so considering Tristan/Archer's Strength stat is a B and his bow Failnaught being an A, I believe it is justified that it could injure Berserker, though with normal arrows it wouldn't be enough to do anything beyond.
Saber this chapter also used Caliburn to take a single life of Berserker if you haven't noticed. While indeed in the original I believe it had managed to take 5 of them with the help of Seiba manifesting its true strength, here Saber isn't a prana factory so he obviously wouldn't be able to fill it within an instant. So here he gathered enough magical energy to kill Berserker once, and then this weapon is now forever completely useless against him-
Artoria is getting flashbacks of her youth up until she pulls out her sword. Though I made it so she only gets bits and pieces of the memories, so hopefully she won't be remembering any time soon. Though if I can't delay it, then I'll just make sure that Artoria keeps it a secret from the others because I very much don't have the brainpower to deal with it right now.
I wanted to rant about it more, but I don't wanna spoil anything else for a more natural progression.
Also… REVIEWssss… I need feedback about what you guys think of the story right now, I'm getting some anxiety that there was only a single review last chapter.
That's it for today's Author's Notes, see you all on the next one… Or maybe when I post an extra notes section tomorrow, we'll see where we end up with until the next chapter.
Extra Notes (23/05/21):
Been procrastinating, motivation is at an all time low right, i guess i should have expected that, I'll try posting the next chapter either Monday or Tuesday hopefully, and time to answer some guest reviews because i want to feel that I'm actually being productive.
As i previously mentioned, the POV would be focused on Saber, Artoria, or the viewer's perspective. I'm trying to limit it so it wouldn't be a jumbled mess, and i'd rather keep the sense of mysteriousness.
That's the reason why you're not getting the POV of Human Shirou, and Rin's thoughts are limited to what Artoria and Saber could perceive, same goes for Tristan, of course, he doesn't just nod it off, but he's concealing his thoughts that's why his reaction is pretty dull considering he met a carbon copy of his king.
Moving on, Shirou will be on the side at the start of the story, of course his suicidal tendencies would take over the spotlight every now and then, but right now he's not strong enough to do anything impactful. His strength and importance to the story would be built up piece by piece.
I'll be starting his powerboost i guess by the 8th chapter, which i happen to plan to start from Shirou's POV, i mean that chapter would be mostly info dumps or filler. I'll explain it when i get there, probably in the author's notes because i plan to finish the 7th at when Illya finally leaves them so as to have more content for the 8th chapter, therefore you won't know what occurred to Shirou at that night after they went home.