After several minutes of overworking his vehicle, Franz finally reached the edge of the city. Around him were several residential blocks and warehouses, a quiet and isolated area. Glancing at the hotel rooftop from the distance, he could still see the signs of battle. Several lightning flashes and fireballs could be seen criss crossing across the night sky, a sign that he was not too late.
Without warning, his Servant suddenly gripped his shoulder, "Stop the vehicle."
Listening to his servant's advice, Franz stomped on the brakes, bringing the car to a skidding stop within seconds. Alone on the road, there was a sudden explosion in front of him as a boulder the size of his engine smashed into the road, sending asphalt and concrete flying everywhere. Startled, Franz could hardly react as a chunk of pavement flew into his reinforced windshield.
"Get out of the car." Saber's voice shook Franz into action. Unlocking the door he dove out as Saber finished manifesting beside him. Now fully materialized, the Servant stood at his full height, blocking Franz who was still crouched. In the dark his massive turban seemed to overshadow everything before him, accentuating his middle eastern attire. In his right hand he held his fully drawn curved sabre, ready to meet the threat in front of him.
In the darkness, as Franz's eyes finally adjusted to the night, he realized the source of the boulder. In front of the car, several dozen meters away, stood an enormous figure, like a statue blocking the road. Having been so large, Franz had mistaken it for a shadow on the road while far away, yet now that he focused the power this Servant emanated seemed to wash over him.
Even from a distance, he could tell that the Servant was well over two meters of what appeared to be pure muscle, rippling with strength underneath his olive toned skin. Wearing robes that suggested middle eastern or mediterranean in origin, it held a single object in his that Franz could not make out from the distance. His long hair seemed like a cloak that extended to his waist, making his silhouette ever more intimidating.
All this seemed to reflect the abilities Franz could make out around the Servant. Calmly, he began reading his opponent's stats through the lens of his Master's abilities. A strength of A+, agility of B+, endurance of A+, mana of A. A Servant with such stellar physical and magical abilities was usually only reserved for the Saber class. But seeing the appearance of his opponent, he was confident that the monolith before him was a Berserker.
"So, Berserker, eh?" Saber's voice cut through the silence, his confidence undeterred. Pointing his sword forward, he showed no signs of fear, despite his own abilities being vastly overshadowed by his opponent. In a forward brawl he had little chance of overcoming this beatstick of an opponent. Even so, he continued confidently, as though assured in victory. "Then, I shall cut you down like the beast you are!"
In response, Berserker inhaled, sucking a vast amount of air, before unleashing a bellow that shattered the remaining glass on the car in a shockwave. In the next instant, he charged. With two bounds, he sent asphalt flying, as Berserker closed the several dozen meter distance with his right arm raised. Despite his massive frame, Franz's eyes failed to track him, as his body flew forward as though shot from a bow.
Saber was unfettered. With a flourish of his sword, he shouted a single command that cut through the air, "Janissaries, open fire!". At his behest, seven glowing golden bodies suddenly manifested in a line extending from either side of him, each in the distinct uniform of the elite Ottoman infantry unit. Their figures appeared to be made up of floating particles of mana, similar to the dematerialization process of Servants, giving them an ephemeral presence. Simultaneously, they fired their arquebuses at the charging enemy, the crack of their weapons filling the air. Upon firing, each of the bodies vanished back into nothingness, having been manifested for the sole purpose as an infantry unit.
Their projectiles, however, continued to soar through the air unabated. Enhanced by a Servant's mana, a well placed shot was lethal to enemy Servants. The destructive power in each of the projectiles, while originating from an outdated weapon, could reduce reinforced concrete to rubble.
Berserker instinctively understood all this and ignored it, instead covering his face with a massive arm, and continuing to rush forwards. The projectiles penetrated his skin with a dull thud, before stopping abruptly short of any vital organs, his thick frame acting like a natural armor. Despite this, the sheer momentum and quantity of rounds had transferred their energy into him, forcing his body to stagger.
In a roar, he seemed to ignore the damage, and swung his right arm at the Saber that stood in front of him. As he swung, his arm turned into arc pure destruction as his weapon slashed through the air.
Saber once again flourished his sword, as two more glowing figures suddenly manifested, each wielding a similarly curved Kiliji, Ottoman sabers. With synchronized counter swings, they canceled out its momentum, cracking the road beneath them as they stopped the powerful attack before disappearing like before.
Meanwhile, another transient figure had manifested next to Saber, this one a towering behemoth that stood a head taller than Saber, though still noticeably shorter than Berserker. A brutish warrior, he swung a massive mace that smashed through the air towards Berserker's head..
As the attack neared it's target, however, Berserker raised his hand, catching the mace by the handle and abruptly stopping the momentous attack, before crushing the shaft. The speed with which he moved seemed to defy his large frame. The large warrior disappeared, having finished his attack.
Now, however, Saber had stepped forward, slashing his sword in a powerful swing targeted across Berserker's chest. It cut into his thick skin briefly, before Berserker nimbly spun away to mitigate the damage.
With a shout from Saber, he charged forward, summoning his familiars to attack and counterattack Berserker, while Berserker seemed to destroy or absorb everything thrown at him.
"That's a Berserker? His physical abilities are remarkable.." Franz had long since retreated to a safe distance, standing back as he watched the battle unfold. To him, the behemoth Servant looked like a force of nature, destroying everything in his path.
Still, we can beat him. He's nothing more than brute physical abilities. Saber has the ability to defeat him, or his Master will run out of mana soon enough.. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out a handful of gems, each containing a day's worth of excess stored prana. In a practiced motion, he tossed four gems, each in a corner surrounding Berserker. "Erstellen!"
As each impacted the ground, they filled the ground with his stored prana, casting a spell that formed a pillar from the concrete. Each pillar was angled about forty five degrees, so that as they rose from the ground they also slammed into each side of Berserker. With his attention focused on Saber, he noticed far too late the reinforced concrete closing on on every side of him. By the time he took notice, they had already locked him in place, pressing against his ribs, chest, and back, holding him in place.
"Now, Saber!" Even if his opponent was Berserker with an A+ strength, he would still require a moment to break the reinforced pillars. Until then, he was immobile. Saber wasted no time, his sword swinging in a wide arc towards his opponent's neck. Although his enemy was corporeal, if they were beheaded it would almost certainly be the same as destroying their spiritual core, what anchored them to this world.
Instead of Berserker's head flying, however, Saber's sword stopped centimeters short of his neck, as it hit the bone of the forearm that had moved to block his blow. As Saber had hastily attempted to cut through Berserker's neck, Berserker had moved his left hand to intercept the attack. Due to his unbalanced slash, Saber had failed to cut through.
As his blade slowed to a stop in Berserker's arm, Saber was astonished by the density of Berserker's flesh. It's like clay. No wonder my rounds failed to deal significant damage. By the time they reach his core, they've already lost their power.
Berserker ignored the wound, and instead moved to raise his arms. Grimacing, Saber quickly pulled out his sword before retreating, not willing to risk continuing his assault. It turned out to be a wise move, as Berserker quickly brought down his arms, smashing his restraints and sending debris everywhere. If Saber had remained standing there attempting another attack, he would have been pulverized.
Meanwhile, several of the debris pieces soared through the air towards Franz. Like fragmentation from a grenade, they cut through the air with enough velocity to fracture his skull or embed themselves in his abdomen. Despite being far too numerous and fast for Franz to react to, a barrier suddenly erected itself around Franz, composed of reinforced concrete, intercepting the attacks before sinking back into the ground. Around Franz was a circle drawn in chalk inscribed with a variety of symbols, a magic ritual circle he had taken the liberty of constructing while Saber had engaged Berserker.
A unique spell he had developed specifically for combat, it erected a bounded field that detected incoming attacks with minimal prana expenditure. After detecting the location of an attack, it automatically drew magical energy from Franz to create a barrier of earth, reinforcing its rigidity with a custom spell. All this happened much faster than Franz could react, meaning it could block even attacks as fast as sniper rounds. Of course, its durabilities had limits, and the Berserker before him would no doubt be able to smash through his defenses with a committed attack.
Against collateral damage and other mages, however, it proved quite effective.
There was one point that was troubling Franz, however. Among the debris firing his way, he had heard an unnatural sound like a gunshot, distinct even among the chaos in front of him.
Meanwhile, Berserker had retreated momentarily, his left arm almost severed off, along with several bullet wounds from Saber. Suddenly, his body seemed to close up the lacerations and projectile holes, growing over the injured areas like plugging up leaks. His blood stopped leaking and he roared, an explosive voice that shook the earth.
Even a Mage specializing in healing magecraft could not produce such immediate results. So, he had a skill to further enhance his durability. Franz grimaced at the thought.
Witnessing his opponent's recovery, Saber flourished his sword once more, summoning even more Janissaries than before, forming a firing line to maintain a volley of bullets. Dozens of arquebuses shot an iron wall of bullets, smashing into Berserker who tanked them all.
Franz felt his prana being rapidly drained by Saber's method of engagement, but paid little heed. At the current pace he had no problem keeping up demand, at least for the next few minutes. Instead, his attention had turned to a figure behind Berserker, and the sheen of a gun barrel.
A few minutes earlier
Lieutenant Tanner had positioned himself in a roof two buildings away from the conflict ragin atop the hotel, observing the battle through the safety of his scope and binoculars. For now, his safety had been turned on. A servant catching wind of his presence from an accidental shot was the last thing he wanted.
Lieutenant Brown was posted nearby, observing through her own HUD. If any servants engaged them, the fate of the squad rested on her shoulders. Even if it was a highly praised prototype, many had doubts about the performance of her new armor.
The other members of the squad had split into fireteams of two, forming a total of six pairings that had formed a perimeter, both to keep out civilians and observe the movements of other masters.
From his vantage point, Lieutenant Tanner had observed the battle between Caster and Lancer, as well as their respective masters unfold. Reporting back to his commander, he had noted the similar strategies the mercenary had used, while being sure to emphasize the capabilities of Caster's Master. It was the abilities of the Servants that had left the most impact on the soldier, however.
Although he was relatively young, not yet thirty, he had seen his fair share of intense experiences in fighting Mages, Dead Apostles, and other humans. Still, the fight between Lancer and Caster could hardly be called that. To him, it seemed closer to the essence of a war, seeing the pure destructive powers Caster could easily summon, and the physical abilities Lancer mustered to counter. He wondered if even an entire platoon could defeat a single Servant.
Regardless, he kept his eyes on the battle, tracking every movement through his right pupil. If one looked closer, they would have seen his prana flowing through it, the mana activating his special mystic eyes. From this distance, he was be able to follow the movements of even a Servant.
Maintaining communications with the rest of the team, he had updated them about the arrival of Assassin, who had seemingly just materialized on another roof, as well as his Master who joined in later. After seeing Caster's Master leave, he had begun to train his scope on the other two individuals. If he took a shot from here, even with Lancer's speed, he could guarantee taking out at least one of the Masters.
Although he had no doubt Lancer could deflect his attacks, as a sniper he specialized in surprise attacks. Even a Servant could not defend against an attack they did not see coming. His modified M107 would be more than capable of neutralizing a human target. Of course, if he opened fire he would reveal his location to the remaining Servants, practically guaranteeing his immediate demise. Still, he was prepared to pull the trigger and kill one of the targets if ordered, even if it meant his mutual death. Just as he considered the thought, however, a chill ran down his spine, as though someone were looking directly at him.
Strange. Am I sweating? Lieutenant Tanner, who rarely feared the thought of dying, struggled to understand the anxiety that had taken hold of him. As a sniper who had taken so many lives, the fear of death had dulled seeing how fragile the concept was. Yet now, he felt an unexplainable unease take hold. In his position he would be virtually invisible to anyone who did not know of his location beforehand, as long as he held his fire.
Scanning the rooftop, he suddenly stopped in front of Assassin, who, while talking with Lancer, was staring directly at him, his grin appearing to point at his location. Impossible, can he see me?
Lieutenant Tanner considered the possibility, his hand tightening on the trigger as he moved to release his safety, before holding. After a few moments, Assassin had disappeared, still looking directly at him, as the other two Masters left the rooftop.
"Hawkeye, reporting in. Targets have all left the rooftop. Extensive structural damage, no casualties observed." Lieutenant Tanner finished relaying the information to the rest of command as he felt a slight weight lift from his back seeing Assassin disappear. "Hold." Shifting his line of sight, he spotted movement at a distance of over four kilometers, on the outskirts of the city to the west, as well as the faint sounds of explosions in the distance.
Looking from behind his scope, he concentrated his prana through his right eye, producing a magnification far greater than his built in scope. For a few seconds, he saw in great detail the battle between two servants. "New report. There appears to be a fight between the Servants Saber and Berserker. Someone has erected a bounded field, but their conflict is nearing the edges of the city. Several residential blocks are at risk of being dragged into the conflict. Be advised, Berserker's attacks are especially destructive."
Ending his report, he looked back through his scope, training his scope on the back of Berserker, before looking over at Saber, and the individual standing still behind him. Although he was unable to discern any of their characteristics, he noted the close proximity Saber's master stood to the conflict while remaining unharmed. As though to answer his interest, a wall formed from the concrete beneath his feet, blocking the debris Berserker had sent flying. An autonomous defense system.
Sweeping back, Lieutenant Tanner was unable to locate Berserker's Master. Although he maintained his calm, his thoughts began to shift as he thought about the possible identities of the one who could control such destruction.
As Lieutenant Tanner was observing the conflict, another presence had noticed the battle and was weighing their options. "Hmmm, perhaps he may grow to be too much to control in the future." The dark shadow of V was deep in thought, looking at the battle that was raging on the outskirts of town from the inside of his penthouse.
"Wow, this night just won't slow down. Quite a wonderful start, wouldn't you agree?" A pale figure was standing closer to the window, her face almost pressed against the glass. A grin of satisfaction was stretched across her face as her voice betrayed her enthusiasm.
"Do you find something funny, Serith?"
"Oh, of course! It is always a pleasure to see humans tearing each other to pieces. Almost as much as doing it yourself. And when you give them Servants… imagine my excitement knowing these humans are fighting each other with their own heroes."
"Hn."
"But what was that about being too much to control in the future?"
"Berserker and his Master could be a threat if they break loose."
"Really? I would have thought Saber would have been the harder one to control."
"No. Saber's Master is firmly in our grasp. We are playing a dangerous game with Berserker's Master though."
"Oh, are you talking about a game, Mister?" A young child wearing a petite dress, who had been standing near Serith, suddenly turned around, running towards V tugging one of their fingers. "Can I play?"
Following her, the woman knelt, patting her head gently. "Sorry, but only adults are allowed to play in this game. Don't worry, your daddy is playing for you." Although her words were gentle, a sinister undertone hid behind her smile. The familiar bloodlust that emanated from Dead Apostles surrounded her.
The child appeared to be unfazed by her bloodlust, however, "Really? Then you better prepare yourself. Daddy always wins!"
"Is that so?"
"Stop that Serith. If she dies, our plan risks falling apart." V's voice snapped, their voice growing dangerously cold.
"Of course. I'm just teasing you." Serith promptly returned to the window, now uninterested in the child who remained unbothered by her demeanor. "Still, to think you yourself would be so worried about Berserker's Master, when we have what he wants right here. I can't imagine he would betray us."
"Berserker's power is something I don't want to trifle with. We are on very thin ice with his Master right now. If we make one mistake, we might have to deal with both Berserker and his Master. And quite frankly, I don't trust you to restrain yourself."
"My, my. After all these years you still don't trust me?" Sertih turned her head, her smile and tone hardly implying she was hurt. "Well, I suppose that's only natural. What do you want to do then, Master?"
"I'll test him. If he's too weak he'll die. If he survives, just make sure we have a tighter grip on his leash."
"How cruel, pitting your pawns against each other." Serith laughed, apparently finding the idea amusing. "I suppose it makes no difference in the end who dies first though. But I do have one last question. What should we do about those six who came crawling back?"
"Do with them as you please. It makes no difference to me."
"Well, I'm positively starving, but seeing you having so much fun has given me an idea." Licking her lips she left the window, walking out of the room. "Happy hunting, Avenger."
Around the same time, at the military installation to the northeast of the city, Colonel Mitchell, upon hearing the end of Lieutenant Tanner's report, immediately began moving out. "Come, Rider."
"So, while they're distracted with each other we'll come up from behind? Good!" The sound of Rider boomed through the enclosed space, as he materialized. "The problem now is whether or not we have the approval of the General."
Turning towards General Kittinger, Colonel MItchell paused, awaiting his instructions. Although the Colonel's frame and presence seemed to overwhelm the General's smaller frame, the General commanded a cold respect over the Colonel. At this point, however, the Colonel was unsure if he would be able to obey his superior's orders to refrain from engaging.
The General opened his mouth to speak, before pausing for a moment, as though reconsidering. His next words were full of his usual authority, but now his command was one of approval rather than rejection. "Go, neutralize Berserker. He presents a threat too large to ignore. Ally with Saber if possible."
"Understood, sir." Without questioning his directive to ally with Saber, he left the command center, a large number of soldiers following him.
Approaching his humvee, he considered his options. "Rider, what is your mount?"
Waving his hand, Rider manifested his horse. Elegant yet sturdy, it's dark pelt pelt rippled with life as it reared its head, ready to ride for conflict. Rider swung himself onto its saddle with ease, before gesturing for the Colonel to follow. "Although this is not my usual steed, it is what I will be using for fast transportation."
Colonel Mitchell took one look at the horse before entering his Humvee. "I'll stick with what I know."
"Suit yourself. I'll be entering the battlefield first then!" With that, Rider reared his horse, before he began charging through the streets, having received the destination through his telepathic link. Although the mount that he rode was a relic replaced by modern machines, it had been enhanced by its ancient links and legends, reaching nearly three hundred kilometers per hour over the empty lands on the outskirts of the city.
Colonel Mitchell let out a small grunt, exacerbated by his Servant's actions, but did not bother trying to stop him. Instead he climbed into his humvee, which hummed to life, as several more soldiers climbed in behind him. Disregarding the speed limits and regulations, he hurriedly began pursuing his Servant on more developed stretches of roads, a convoy of two more humvees following him.
Saber was in the midst of engaging Berserker, alternating between his long range arquebuses and close range melee familiars, his switch ups just managing to keep Berserker's attacks at bay. The pure destructive power of Berserker was something to behold, however. Even glancing blows carved up the ground. One wrong move by Saber meant his immediate demise. Meanwhile, despite having been filled with projectiles and slashes Berserker seemed unfazed, continuously healing even the most devastating debilitating wounds.
Saber, however continued to issue his challenge, his confidence never faltering in face of such an intense onslaught. His face of concentration showed hints of excitement at the challenge in front of him, unfazed by the prospect of a small mistake leading to his imminent obliteration.
Franz's attention was no longer concentrated towards the raging battle, however. His eyes had focused on another figure, hiding in the shadow of a nearby warehouse on the side of the road. There. Another flash pierced the darkness, almost at the same time another bullet smashed into his autonomous defense system.
Hm. So that's Berserker's Master. Franz reached into his pocket, fishing around for a round gem. While he specialized in Alchemy and Transmutation, he found gem magic a convenient form of instant mana release. Although he was a skilled mage, his personal prana could only supply so much at a time. So, for instances such as this where the enemy was at a long range, he could use these stores of extra mana.
Fifty meters, eleven o'clock, from my position. Crouching, he placed a gem on the ground, infusing the ground with his stored mana. Using the gem he created an artificial magical circuit through the earth, zeroing on his predetermined coordinates. At the location, he would send a pulse of mana through the circuit, transmuting a cage to trap his opponent in an instant.
Just before he could send the signal, a force knocked him off balance, as he felt something push his left shoulder. Turning his head, he saw a hole in his protective barrier where an object had smashed through, a round tearing through his left shoulder. The unnaturally intact bullet cut a clean hole through his skin, muscles, and ligaments, shocking Franz momentarily before the searing pain ripped through him.
"GGGAAGHHH—" With a trembling right hand, he reached into his pocket, struggling to take out another piece of chalk. As he began drawing, another bullet tore through his autonomous barrier, centimeters from his head.
How? My barrier was deflecting their rounds with no problem before. Did they reinforce their rounds? Struggling to think through the pain, his adrenaline fueled scribbles completed a new magic circle, which he hurriedly activated. "Rüstungsschild!" A new, permanent barrier of increased reinforced concrete erected itself seconds before a third shot aimed directly at his chest smashed into it. Although it dug in deeply, this permanent shield was Franz's strongest barrier. It could even possibly block a blow from Berserker. A bullet from a pistol, even reinforced, was never getting through. The downside was the massive mana expenditure it required, namely five gems. Already, Franz was running low on his magical gems, with three remaining in his right pocket.
Focus on the immediate situation first. Franz grunted in pain, inspecting his wound. The bullet had torn clean through between his left shoulder and chest, its immense penetrating power ironically minimizing the internal damage. After a quick examination, he determined it had missed his major blood vessels and nerves. At the very least, he would not bleed out for some time. For now, he could still function mostly intact.
Saber was too busy focused on Berserker, tip toeing on the dangerous line of surviving, to turn his head. "Are you alright, my Master?" His telepathic voice echoed through Franz's head, cutting through his pain with authority.
"Yes, focus on the battle Saber, I'm alright."
"Understood. I am regretful to inform you, but I am afraid that I may have to use my Noble Phantasm, or Berserker may overwhelm me."
"Give me a few moments. I need a bit of time to take out his Master, you just need to survive that long.
Reaching his previously installed ritual from behind the wall, he sent a pulse of Prana through his artificial circuit and activated his cage, hearing a crunching noise as concrete snapped close around his enemy. Designed to capture, not kill, it would spring up with thin concrete walls, before locking them in without the ability to move. In most cases, combative mages had the ability to destroy such restraints, but In order to do so they also put themselves at risk from both the shrapnel and the blast of their own spells.
Peering out from his shield, Franz heard a loud crack as his concrete restraints were blown out from the inside, a figure emerging from the cage holding a silenced pistol. Does he not care about risking his life?
Stepping into the moonlight, the figure answered his question. Wearing a dark outfit that seemed to accentuate his callous and uncaring nature, his face and limbs were covered in bloody streaks from the shrapnel that had flown everywhere when he blasted out the inside of his confinement. Blood covered one of his eyes as he looked at Franz. Despite the distance, Franz could feel the piercing gaze of his eyes seemingly boring into him. In his thirty years as a mage, Franz had never faced down such cold determination that seemed to dwarf his own.
"Saber, I have miscalculated. You are given permission to utilize your Noble Phantasm." Dodging behind his cover once more, Franz revised his strategy. Facing someone with such disregard for their own wellbeing had thrown his calculations and assumptions into disarray. Devising a successful path towards victory was no longer guaranteed against this man.
"Very well. Feast your eyes upon my glory!" Raising his sword, Saber prepared to declare the name of the Noble Phantasm, a crystallization of his unique abilities as a hero of Humanity and a trump card that defied understanding. "Crushing Adv — What is that?"
Cutting off his Noble Phantasm activation, he had a moment to focus on another charging object, before it smashed into Berserker, who had closed in mere meters in front of Saber.
Franz turned to look at the source of the commotion, as an enormous entity barreled across his vision into Berserker. His opponent mage similarly turned his head. They were not so much as distracted, but had decided that whatever had charged into Berserker was too dangerous to ignore. An object over four meters tall had smashed into Berserker, pushing him away from Saber.
"Is that… an elephant?" Franz stared in disbelief.
"AHAHAHA, WHAT A BRUTE!" The explosive voice of Rider filled the air as his mount smashed into Berserker. "What I would have given to conscript him into my army. Hm?"
Looking down from his mount, he saw a sight that gave him pause. Against most enemies, the reasonable counter to a charging mystical elephant would have been to avoid the charge and retaliate against its rider or flank. Yet, during his lifetime and even after death, he had never imagined someone facing his charge head on and surviving. Those foolish enough to try had been smashed apart, not even the well disciplined line of Roman heavy infantry stood a chance in their great numbers. Yet, here was a single individual defying all logic.
Berserker had turned around milliseconds before impact, dodging the tusks and taken the headbutt head on. Now, he had gripped the tusks with his bare hands and braced his feet into the ground.
"Grrrr…..RAAAAHHH!" With a roar of exertion, Berserker twisted his entire body, slamming the head of the elephant into the ground. Stunned, the elephant temporarily stopped moving as Berserker raised his right hand holding a jawbone, before bringing it down like a hammer on its skull.
"Fire!" Moments before the blow impacted, another volley was sent from Saber's firing line, knocking Berserker just enough off balance to his left that his blow hit the concrete insead, leaving a crater several centimeters deep in the concrete as though a blasting charge had gone off.
Berserker stumbled backwards for a moment, unbalanced. As though he had teleported, Rider suddenly appeared behind him, bellying his own massive frame. "So, this is your weak point?" Raising a short sword, Rider swung towards the nape of Berserker's neck.
Just as the blade touched Berserker's hair however, Rider suddenly retreated as Berserker spun, his fist slicing through the air where Rider had been moments earlier.
"Tch, a trap?" Rider flourished his sword, preparing to attack again. "He's smarter than he looks."
Meanwhile, Franz had turned his attention back towards Berserker's Master, satisfied that Rider was not attacking Saber at the moment. As he looked back, however, he noticed a new sound of rumbling engines. Approaching from behind Berserker's Master, he saw headlights from a convoy illuminating his enemy's figure.
Individuals dressed in military armor and camouflage quickly exited the vehicles in tight formations, filing out to form several lines of covering fire. Equipped with rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers, the platoon wielded enough firepower to storm a fortified mage's workshop. The mounted machine guns on each of the humvees swiveled to face Berserker's master.
A voice sounded over a bullhorn, "DROP YOUR WEAPON, MASTER OF BERSERKER, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"
Berserker's Master turned towards the vehicles. Despite the overwhelming firepower that faced him, and bloody state, he remained unfazed as he stared at the convoy. His grip on his pistol did not loosen as his left hand moved to reach inside his coat.
The lead military gunner, seeing this, pointed the barrel of his fifty caliber machine gun towards the dirt, before squeezing his thumbs. The M2 Browning machine gun thumped to life, firing a splatter of rounds into the ground kicking up dust in front of Berserker's master. "THAT IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"
"Berserker, we're leaving." The man spoke his command, unabated, still reaching into his coat. Seeing this, the convoy opened fire. The first rounds came from Sergeant Hickory kneeling in front. Directly in the center of the firing line, he was first to react upon seeing Berserker's Master reaching into his coat. Despite being a new addition to the team, his instincts told him of the danger that the left hand held. His experience in the cave had told him to listen to his instincts.
Almost immediately, the convoy followed his lead, sending lead downrange as though to erase even the body from existence. Rounds from the rifles cut through the air alongside larger fifty caliber rounds shot from the machine gun. Grenades were launched without reservation, flying dozens of meters before detonating, their shockwaves and shrapnel cutting down everything around them. This was the standard method for dealing with mages. Mages had mercury barriers to block fully automatic small arms fire, a body that could dissipate into bugs to avoid lethal damage, or healing magic that could reverse nearly fatal wounds. The military response was to use anti-materiel armor piercing rounds, grenades to eviscerate everything, or enough lead to kill a person over and over.
None of this touched Berserker's master. Standing in front of the Master, crouched to block the barrage, was his Servant, who had leapt away from the battle against Saber and Rider in an instant before the first bullets left their chambers. Although the rounds would have eaten away armored plating in mere seconds, against Berserker's flesh they were comically ineffective. The smaller rounds simply impacted against his skin like clay, before bouncing off. Even the fifty caliber rounds that could punch through half an inch of tempered steel and explosive grenades failed to deal substantial damage.
These men and women had figured out how to fight magic without mana, yet there were some heights that their modern tools could not reach. Unenchanted weapons would never be able to hurt a Servant, an entity that embodied a hero of history, an existence different from living humans.
Still, at the current moment they had managed to force his hand, forcing him to stay in place. If Berserker tried to move, his master would be revealed, and instantly torn to pieces. Modern weapons failed to hurt Servants, but with the current barrage they were lethal against anything else.
Saber seized this opportunity, gathering his arquebuses to aim directly at Berserker's head. Before he could open fire, however, Berserker's master pulled out several canisters, throwing them towards the military group. Sailing into the barrage, several bullets tore through the canister, which instant depressurized, releasing a cloud of colored gas obscuring both Berserker and his Master from sight. Despite this, the military continued firing into the cloud until a voice shouted over the bullhorn once more.
"CEASE FIRE, CEASE FIRE!" Almost immediately, all the soldiers uniformly stopped firing, the silence without their gunshots eerily filling the air once more. Several soldiers checked their ammunition, replacing spent magazines while others carefully kept their sights on target. Sergeant Hickory eyed the cloud of smoke approaching, his instincts screaming an unseen danger even as his finger tightened against the trigger.
"Fall back and put your masks on, don't breathe in that smoke!" The voice commanded the group once more. Uniformly, they all unfurled their masks from their side pack, a close fitting plastic rubber hybrid with a filtration device fitted at the front. In seconds they had donned their masks, before pulling up their hoods and falling back.
Rider meanwhile leapt back onto the back of his elephant as Saber and Franz watched cautiously, but instead of heading towards the two, he simply rode his mount over towards the cloud. With a swipe of his trunk, the cloud dispersed, revealing only empty space, Berserker having long since escaped through the cloud.
"Hawkeye, do you have eyes on the target?" The Colonel spoke into his radio from inside the humvee, his right hand reaching for his sidearm under his left arm.
"Negative, they moved too fast into concealment. Their general direction was away from the convoy and they seem to have retreated."
"Understood. Continue overwatch and check if anyone is tailing us when we move back to base."
"Copy. Hawkeye out."
Colonel Mitchell exited his vehicle, just as Corporal Rockwell ran up to him having finished his analysis of the gas residue. Having read the results of the testing kit, he looked visibly concerned. "It should decompose soon, but I recommend we deploy a Hazardous Material team here and move our line back. It's Sarin Gas."
"Hm. Fall back!" Acknowledging his advice, the Colonel turned towards his troops, his voice ringing clear through the night even without the bullhorn, cutting through the chatter that had begun to rise from the troops speculating what they had just seen. The power and ferocity Berserker had displayed was beyond anything they had prepared for, even with briefings, so they were reasonably astonished. As soon the Colonel barked his orders, however, they all stopped and obeyed command, falling back to a safer distance.
Franz watched all this unfold without moving from his position behind his wall. At a reasonable distance from the gas, he was contemplating trying to escape or negotiating with these new arrivals. At the very least, they did not bear any hostility, but they could easily eliminate him if they wanted to. Best to be cautious. Inscribing another circle into the ground with his chalk, he checked his wound once more, before waving to Saber. "Cover me."
Saber nodded, moving to stand between the military and his master, on guard but suppressing any sense of hostility.
Turning to face the two, Colonel Mitchell glanced at their posture, before his eyes fell to Franz's shoulder injury. "Corporal Rockwell, see to his wound."
"Roger." Without hesitation, the Corporal started running over. Franz stayed close to his inscribed runes, but dropped his guard slightly as the medic took a look at his arm, who began retrieving gauze and bandages to staunch the wound. Franz began to feel more at ease as the Corporal chanted a small incantation to heal him, its effect immediately apparent as he felt his muscles and ligaments begin to stitch themselves back together.
"Keep those bandages on for the next day, and you''ll be good as new." Rockwell patted him on his uninjured shoulder before heading back to the convoy, whose commander had approached. Rider followed closely behind, his large frame matching that of the Colonel's who now stood in front of Franz. His chiseled face seemed to soften as he extended a hand to the German. "Colonel Mitchell of the United States Supernatural and Mystery Task Force, at your service."
"Franz, contestant in the Holy Grail war." Shaking his hand cautiously, Franz had begun to piece together why these military clad individuals had not reduced him to mincemeat. Glancing at the destruction left behind by Berserker, his eyes fell onto his servant, silently glancing at Rider who was similarly sizing up Saber.
"So I've noticed. Normally, as a fellow contestant we would be engaged in combat to decide the rights to the grail. However, as you may have noticed, circumstances have changed." Gesturing towards the path of destruction Berserker had caused in his rampage, he paused before continuing, "As a representative of the U.S. military, it is my duty to ensure the protection of this country and its citizens first and foremost. Berserker presents a direct threat to that objective. He seems to have no regard for the possible collateral damage, and the greatest threat to both of us as contestants."
"Hm, so you propose an alliance until Berserker is eliminated?"
"That is correct. You and your servant have proven quite capable to have survived until we arrived, and your servant is at least sane."
"Then I accept your proposal for an alliance until Berserker is defeated."
"That easily? You don't have any suspicions or conditions?"
"It would do you no good to try to backstab me when Berserker presents the greater threat. It is also beneficial for myself to find a capable ally against Berserker. And while I can't prove it, I trust you are not the sort of man to use such underhanded tactics."
"I agree, underhanded tactics such as backstabbing are bad form for the strong." Colonel Mitchell concurred, pleasantly satisfied with the assessment. "Well then, I suppose we should establish a form of communication and be on our way." Reaching into a satchel hanging from his hip, he produced a radio, before handing it to his new ally. "I trust you know how to operate this?"
"Of course." Franz took the radio, studying it momentarily. He was familiar with operating such devices in his field work, outside of his workshop where communication had been key.
"Then I trust we have an alliance until Berserker is eliminated?"
"Yes."
"Very good." Turning around, the Colonel marched back to his troops who had been carefully studying the meeting, several ready to raise their rifles at a moment's notice to protect their commander. "All right, move out, we are heading back to HQ." In an instant, the troops broke from their on guard position and began filing back into their vehicles.
"Hmm…" Franz stared at the vehicles as they disappeared into the distance, before turning back to Saber. "What do you think?"
Saber appeared deep in thought, before he spoke again, his mind recalling the past few minutes of battle. "It hurts my pride as a conqueror to say this, but Berserker is an enemy I am unlikely to defeat alone. Perhaps if I was given an opportunity to use my Noble Phantasm, that would be different, but that is failing to take into account his Noble Phantasm. Rider is a capable ally, to say nothing of his master."
"Then, I suppose we are in agreement."
"Hm. How is your wound, Master?"
"Healing." Franz turned towards his destroyed car, letting out a small sigh of defeat. "It's going to take quite a bit of mana to repair that."
Author's Note: So, firstly I apologize for not establishing a clear update schedule, if this has annoyed any readers. I'll try to post every two to three weeks from now on.
Second, I have been confused by a general question of what can and cannot hurt a Servant. Does something have to be magical to hurt a Servant? Can non magical poison gas affect them? And if I dropped a nuke on their head, would they be unscathed? If a human punches a servant, would that hurt them more than a non-magical attack (because humans have mana, and can thus interact with Servants).
Oh, and I want to give a little teaser for anyone wondering about the identities of the Servants, now that all of them have had a chance to shine. Only one of them has ever been referenced in Fate lore as far as I can tell.
Anyways, thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter.