Author's Note
Hey there! It's been... two years since I last had my hand on this fic, and it has been a long, long absence. If you have been reading this from the first day, and you're reading this, no.. this isn't a dream, and I must apologise for not writing for a long period of time. Other than things going on IRL, I realised that Fanfiction has been blocked in my country (there's only 2 countries in the world that actually blocked Fanfiction, so you can pretty much guess where I'm from) and I have only gotten around to finding a way around the block recently. I don't really have a long way to go with Fate/Coda Tale as I hope to wrap the whole story up by Act V. Onwards!
ACT V
Chapter 1
"Tch!"
Lord El-Melloi II grimaced as he clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. He has been hard at work for nearly half an hour, but he has not even seen an iota of progress thus far. Based on what he has done so far, he should have figured out a way to destroy the Grail by now. However, the only thing he learned was concerning the Grail's physical location.
"Just how did the Grail even get in that deep?" Lord El-Melloi II muttered to himself as he paced about the cavern.
While he was deep in his thoughts, Luvia's distress call caught his attention.
"Shero! Miss Gorilla! Get over here and help us quickly! Archer and I are in trouble!"
"Where are you all?" Rin's reply was heard.
"We're at the Einzbern Castle," Luvia's reply came. Judging by her manner of speech, Lord El-Melloi II was able to deduce that Luvia was certainly having a major problem to the point of asking for assistance.
"What manner of danger are you in, Edelfelt?" Lord El-Melloi II asked.
"Berserker has been turned over to Caster's side," Luvia explained. "Bram and Rider are currently engaged with Berserker, but things don't look good at all. Caster has her attention on us now!"
"Bram and Rider?" Shiro and Rin asked. Even Lord El-Melloi II stood puzzled at why Luvia was with Bram.
"Look, I don't have time to explain, but we need Saber here to turn the tide to our side!"
Rin sighed audibly before she replied. "I never thought I would see the day where you would plead for our help like this."
"Just shut up and get over here now if we are to have any chance to get out of here alive!" Luvia demanded.
"Alright… alright," Rin responded. "Saber is going to get us there right now."
Of the seven classes represented in a Grail War, the Caster class has long held a reputation for being one of the most difficult classes to deal with.
On the surface, their perceived lack of any martial ability may make them look like easy targets, but that assumption could never be further from the truth.
Luvia cursed under her breath as she watched the battle unfold before her eyes.
From the get go, Archer's strategy was to ignore Mikhel and attack Caster right away. While it was the right thing to do, it was actually easier said than done. If Mikhel did not specialise in direct combat in the first place, a Servant would have been able to make short work of him and then turn their attention to defeating Caster. However, Archer was struggling to deal with Mikhel largely due to Mikhel's disposition to be on the front lines, but it was also due to the fact that Caster is also a powerful magus herself who laid a powerful body enhancement spell on Mikhel, further enhancing his fighting capability.
"I can hardly believe that I have had to beg Miss Gorilla for her help!" Luvia thought to herself. Surely there was a way for her to defeat Caster without having to resort to getting help. Most of the spells that Luvia mastered were ones that required the use of gems, and while it may be powerful, she did not have an unlimited supply of gems. The only spell that she had which did not require the use of gems was her Gandr shot, which would hardly even cause so much as a scratch on Caster or Mikhel. However, if she waited for Tohsaka Rin to come to her rescue, she would never hear the end of it for a very long time. With that reasoning alone, Luvia pulled out one of her gems and crushed it in her hands. Gripping the crushed gem, she steeled herself and inched herself towards the fight between Archer and Mikhel.
"Oho? What could you be doing?" Caster cooed, turning her attention to Luvia. "I was perfectly fine just watching my Master's battle with your Servant, but it seems to me that you're not quite content with just spectating there now, are you not?"
Luvia gritted her teeth. Her plan was noticed by Caster, and it's too late to turn back now.
"Archer! Do your thing!"
Luvia tossed the crushed gems towards Mikhel. Luvia's left arm glowed as she recited the incantation for her spell.
"Vorgehen! Hülle Zielsetzung!"
The crushed gems homed in towards Mikhel who didn't fail to notice the events that was unfolding. Despite his realisation, he was quickly covered by the crushed gems, which quickly began expanding on Mikhel's skin. Eventually, Mikhel began struggling to move as he was enveloped by layers of crystals.
"That cocoon won't hold for long, Archer!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Archer chuckled. "Fly now and strike your foe with Apollo's might!"
"Fu fu fu… That was very cute indeed."
Archer's face was grim as he held his stance. His bow, which was glowing bright, staining the air around it in a golden hue, was ready to fire. However, Archer did not loose his bow, having noticed that Luvia got caught in Caster's tentacles and another was poised to stab her through her torso.
"I am touched indeed, watching your cute little girl attempt to appear helpful, but I cannot stand by and watch her harm my Master," Caster continued sternly.
"Release her, or your Master dies," Archer commanded.
"My thoughts exactly," Caster replied, tightening her grip on Luvia. "If you shoot my Master, you will lose yours."
"You release her first!" Archer demanded. His eyes narrowed as he drew his bow further back.
Caster, who was not amused by Archer's actions, glared at Archer while the tentacles that was around Luvia's neck continued to tighten, causing Luvia to struggle with her breathing. "Cease your attack at-"
CRASH!
Both Caster and Archer's attention was quickly interrupted as Mikhel broke free of the crystal cage he was in, and immediately lunged forward at Archer.
Archer, being taken by surprise from the sudden movement of Mikhel, released his arrow that was nocked and drawn. A great shaft of light streaked from Archer's bow as the arrow made its way towards Mikhel's head.
"No!" Caster screamed in horror. Seeing that her Master in danger, Caster released Luvia and directed her tentacles towards Mikhel in an attempt to save Mikhel from Archer's Noble Phantasm. However, Caster's worries were all for naught while Archer was bewildered by the turn of events that followed.
Mikhel easily dodged the arrow that was loosed at him, and quickly closed the gap between himself and Archer, landing a solid hit on Archer's gut. Archer grimaced as he coughed blood, clearly feeling the impact from Mikhel's blow.
"How..?" Archer and Caster wondered aloud at the same time. Despite uttering the same words, Archer's tone was more of a person who couldn't believe what he had just seen, while Caster's tone was closer to that of admiration and relief.
Mikhel did not stop there, however. While Archer was stunned by the earlier blow on his gut, Mikhel took the opportunity created by Archer's temporary incapacitation by grabbing and breaking Archer's bow arm, disarming him as a result. Mikhel followed that up by landing a series of blows on Archer which resulted in Archer lying on the ground unable to put up a reasonable fight.
"My… Noble Phantasm is supposed to be impossible for someone who is not a Servant to dodge… How..?" Archer groaned.
"Fortunately for myself, your little Master did me a favour by allowing herself to be caught by my Caster. During that little standoff, all I had to do was to pay attention to where your bow was aiming at while I made my way out of your Master's crystal cage," Mikhel explained, putting his foot on Archer's neck. "Once I broke free, I merely adjusted my body to keep it out of your arrow's flight path."
Archer grimaced as he placed his good hand on Mikhel's foot and attempted to push Mikhel's foot away.
"It's no use, Archer. My Caster has already enhanced my body to the point where I can physically fight on par with a Servant," Mikhel continued, applying more weight onto Archer's neck. "Just lie down here and allow me to snap your neck right here and right now."
"Do not waste anymore time, my Master!" Caster urged. "Kill Archer right-"
"Stop right there, Morgan."
Morgan displayed a devilish grin as she turned to face the person who stopped her.
"So you've finally come, my dear sister!"
"I must advise your Master to release Archer right now, seeing that he is under threat," Saber continued. Standing beside Saber was Shiro, bow in hand and aiming an arrow at Mikhel. "I shall fight you in the place of Archer and his Master."
"What makes you think you are going to dissuade me from killing Archer right now before you can shoot me yourself?" Mikhel demanded, applying more weight onto Archer's neck.
Shiro tensed as he took aim at Mikhel. "Saber, I will have to suggest that I shoot Mikhel now and be done with it."
"Morgan, this fight is between the both of us," Saber stressed. "Do not involve Archer in this!"
"Fu fu fu… I am at a position where I can snuff out the life of one Servant and reduce the number of opponents that I have to face, beloved sister," Caster said, forming a slight smile on her face. "If you really want to fight me that badly, you can do that once I take the head of Archer!"
"No you don't!" Shiro exclaimed. He had already set his mind onto firing his arrow when a sudden crash jolted everyone.
Berserker, hurtling through the air, landed on the ground beside Archer, catching Mikhel by surprise and punched him, catapulting Mikhel into the air and crash landing on the walls of the Einzbern castle. Rider, who was in pursuit of Berserker, arrived soon after, and quickly reengaged with Berserker.
Caster was taken aback by the sudden change in the tide of battle, but her surprise quickly gave way to horror when she realised that Mikhel was hit hard by Berserker.
"W-what just… happened..?"
It was during this confusion that Shiro attempted to seize the initiative.
"Saber! Use this opportunity to engage with Caster! I will make sure Mikhel is definitely taken out of this fight!"
"By authority of the Command Seals, I bid you to massacre everyone here, then kill yourself!"
Nearly everyone turned their attention to Caster, wearing stunned looks on their faces upon hearing Caster's command to Berserker.
"That wench has gone mad!" Rider exclaimed, just before he got swept aside from Berserker's punch.
Berserker let out a loud roar as his eyes glowed bright red. Fully succumbed to his insanity, Berserker began his rampage, attacking Bree's golems, with the men under Caster's spell dangerously close to getting attacked by Berserker as well.
"If this continues, innocent lives will get caught up in this fight!" Shiro growled, as he turned his attention to Caster. "Saber! We have to kill Caster immediately to stop Berserker!"
Saber wasted no time in launching herself forward towards Caster and was about to swing her sword down on Caster when Saber was quickly beset upon by Caster's tentacles. "Cease this stupidity at once!" Saber shouted as she cut down Caster's tentacles. She was barely finished dealing with those when Mikhel, who performed an emergency healing technique on himself, leapt off the roof and engaged Saber. It was at this time too, that Berserker caught sight of the group and leapt forward, ready to attack all of them.
"Caster!" Saber screamed. "You must stop this at once! Berserker will kill everyone, including yourself!"
"Fu fu fu… Berserker will indeed kill everyone, but he will not kill neither my Master nor myself," Caster laughed. "I shall take my Master and retreat right now and leave-"
"Aaaaaaargh! Die, you cursed woman!"
Caster turned around in surprise, witnessing an enraged Bram stumbling forward towards her, holding Rider's sword in his hand. Caster's reaction was quick enough only to summon a tentacle to stop Bram from stabbing her with Rider's sword, but almost immediately after, as Bram dropped Rider's sword, a bloodied Rider was seen leaping forward to grab his sword and engage Caster.
"Caster!" Mikhel shouted, bounding forward in an attempt to engage Rider, but Berserker was already upon the group.
"By authority of the Command Seals, I bid you to massacre everyone here, then kill yourself!"
"Damn it!" Shiro cursed. The situation here had become tense and convoluted that he was momentarily at a loss.
From the moment Caster ordered Berserker to massacre everyone, he had no time to think. Berserker would attack anything that moves without regard of friend or foe.
"If this continues, innocent lives will get caught up in this fight!" Shiro growled, as he turned his attention to Caster. "Saber! We have to kill Caster immediately to stop Berserker!"
Almost as soon as he turned his attention to Caster, Shiro was immediately conflicted as to what he had to do. If he attacked Caster, it would probably be the fastest way to stop Berserker, but there's no telling how long it would take before Berserker would run out of prana. If he ignored Caster and engaged Berserker… no… attacking Berserker is out of the option so long as Caster is still in control.
… But these innocent men… If I don't do anything, Berserker will soon make short work of Rider and macBranain's golems, and these men would die!"
Turning his attention to Rin, who was bewildered at the sudden turn of events, Shiro knew that there was only one thing that he had to do, which was to rescue the men that was just beyond Berserker's reach. "Rin! Cast a strengthening spell on my body! I need to take these men away from Berserker's sight!"
"... Uh… Ah!" Rin stammered. Turning around sharply, she stretched her right hand towards Shiro, her left hand grabbing her right.
"Es ist groß, Es ist klein, Vox Gott Es Atlas!"
Upon receiving Rin's strengthening spell, Shiro leapt forward towards Bree.
"Wh-what are you doing here!?" Bree exclaimed. "Don't you dare think of taking advantage of the confusion to attack me!"
"macBranain-san! Direct all your golems to attack Berserker now! We need to save those men!" Shiro urged. "We don't have time to lose!" Upon relaying those orders, Shiro set off to try and save the men that was within sight of Berserker, leaving Bree dumbfounded at what just happened. Before long, Bree realised what she had to do, and directed all of her golems towards Berserker.
Thanks to Shiro's quick thinking, he was able to quickly knock out the men that were under Caster's spell and within Berserker's sight, and swiftly carried them around the back of the Einzbern castle, away from the battle. With Rin's strengthening spell, he was able to round up all the men in that fashion, effectively putting them out of danger.
"Phew, that should be all of them," Shiro sighed as he laid the last man on the ground. As he stood up, a brilliant flash of gold streaked up into the sky on the front end of the Einzbern castle, catching his attention.
"By authority of the Command Seals, I bid you to massacre everyone here, then kill yourself!"
Luvia stood dumbfounded as she witnessed the events unfolding before her. She remained rooted to her spot even as Shiro sprung into action, having Rin to magically strengthen his body in order for him to be able to save the lives of the men under Caster's spell.
"Hey, Master… don't just stand there. A little help, maybe?" Archer's weak voice was heard in Luvia's mind, startling her. Having snapped out of her daze, she scrambled towards Archer, who was struggling to get up.
"Geez, how many times did I have to heal you ever since the War began," Luvia grumbled as she cast a healing spell on Archer.
"I see you're regaining your composure now, seeing how feisty you are," Archer quipped, further irritating Luvia.
"Keep this up, and I won't be healing you the next time you injure yourself!" Luvia scoffed, folding her arms and turning away from Archer.
"My apologies, Master," Archer replied, placing his hand on Luvia's shoulder, causing her to blush. "You have indeed been a splendid Master, exceeding my initial expectations. But I suppose this is going to be the last time you will have to heal me."
"Wha-?" Luvia wheeled around in surprise. Before she could ask any further, Archer was already upright and walking towards Berserker, who was attacking Bree's golems.
"I have to stop my onii-sama at all costs, but given the circumstances, I may have to pay a heavy price with my own life," Archer continued, his bow materialising in his hand.
"A-Archer!"
Archer stopped momentarily, turning his head to cast a glance at Luvia.
"By authority of these Command Seals, I command you to stop Berserker at all costs!"
A red ripple pulsated from the command seals on Luvia's hand as one of the seals dissolved. Archer, who received the command from Luvia, felt his body strengthen under the magic spell that would have been impossible without the miracle of the Command Seals, a very high form of magic that would allow Servants to perform feats that they would otherwise not have been able to do under normal circumstances.
"Command received, Master," Archer replied. "If this is the last moment I get to spend my time with you, I bid you a fond farewell."
"... Go and grab victory with your two hands," Luvia ordered, trying her best to hold back her tears.
Archer wasted no time. Bounding forward at Berserker, who had already dispatched of Bree's golems and set his sights on the fight involving Saber, Mikhel and Caster, along with Bram and Rider.
"By authority of the Command Seals, I bid you to massacre everyone here, then kill yourself!"
Bram and Rider's eyes widened when they heard Caster's command to Berserker.
"That wench has gone mad!" Rider bellowed. He had hardly finished his sentence when Berserker quickly swooped his fist at Rider, knocking Rider off his horse and sending him hurtling along the ground. Berserker let out a roar as he was fully under the effects of the Command Seals, turning his attention to Bree's golems.
Bram, who was standing just a short distance away in the bushes together with Bree, wasted no time in running in the direction of the place where Rider landed.
"Rider!"
It wasn't too difficult for Bram to locate Rider as all Bram had to do was to follow the trail of broken foliage as he approached Rider's landing spot. Before long, he found Rider, lying in a bloodied heap, spitting out blood as he struggled to get up.
"Rider! How did you allow yourself to be hit like that!?" Bram exclaimed.
"Quit your complaining!" Rider grunted as he got up, only to stumble to the ground again. "It's only a small knock. I will be up again before long."
Rider's words were not heeded at all. Bram was already storming away from Rider, with Rider's sword in hand.
"That cursed woman! If only she was never summoned into this War, I would not have had to contend with this situation!"
"Hey, boy! What do you think you're doing!? And with my own sword, no less!?" Rider demanded.
"That woman, I must stop!" Bram hissed. "She has been a thorn in my side from the get go, and it is only fair if I stopped her myself, even if I were to risk my life and limb for this!"
"Ugh!" Rider began to cough again, his blood forming a fine mist as it sprayed out of his mouth while he coughed. "There's doing things yourself, and there's doing things without a plan!"
Rider stumbled up onto his feet again and proceeded to give chase to Bram, who was already within several feet away from Caster, who was too distracted by her fight with Saber to notice Bram.
"Aaaaaaargh! Die, you cursed woman!"
For Rider, time seemed to slow down as he witnessed Bram getting caught by Caster as he lunged forward with Rider's sword. While Caster's tentacle wrapped itself around Bram's sword arm, Bram somehow lost his grip on Rider's sword, allowing it to fall to the ground. Rider instinctively leapt forward, catching his sword, and took one more step towards Caster with the intent of cleaving Caster in two.
Rider was only just half a step away from doing so when he heard two voices approaching him.
"Caster!"
"RRRUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH!"