Day 6 - VS Assassin

The dark object that flies towards my face at sonic speed—

"—Oi!"

—is parried away by a crimson spear.

Saber's sword is already poised right behind it, ready to bat it away, but Lancer was faster.

"Oi oi, where's your manners? Not even a greeting first, and you've already gone in for the kill?"

Lancer shouts as he strides in confidently.

We follow cautiously behind him, and I notice the dark projectile thrown at me stuck in the ground next to the gate.

"…A dagger?"

I analyse it unconsciously, reading into the purpose and history of the weapon.

"…Saber, Lancer. That just now was a Dirk. These are used for throwing more so than for melee, so I think—"

"Yeah, I get that."

Lancer replies cooly as reaches the middle of the grounds. He whirls his lance and stabs it into the concrete.

"Come out, you shitty sandworm. I can smell you from miles away…!"

There is no reply. Instead, three more daggers whistle through the air, this time targeted at Lancer.

"—Heh."

And they are casually deflected safely away.

"There you are, little worm…!"

Lancer directs his hostility at the roof of the temple.

I follow his gaze, guard still up, and see a white skull shining brightly in the darkness.

"…Assassin…!"

Saber growls next to me.

I can understand her frustration. Under any other circumstance, she would have long since charged at the opposing Servant in a bid to quickly end the battle.

However, this is Servant Assassin, the one participant in the War whose speciality is taking out Masters that are separated from their Servant. If Saber were to move carelessly, Assassin would no doubt take advantage of that small opening and kill me.

In many ways, due to my inexperience and general inability to defend myself properly as a Master, this Servant is our worst enemy.

And with Saber locked down on defence duty, we would likely have been in checkmate, if Assassin's Master showed himself and made it two-on-two. However—

"Ki—Kikikikikiki—!"

The cloaked Servant races across the rooftop and leaps down to the courtyard, firing tens of Dirks at the Servant in front of us as he lets off an inhuman shriek. Each Dirk is fired with the accuracy befitting that of the name of Archer, every single projectile certain to at least maim if they were to land.

Neck, heart, both arms, both feet—

As Assassin races towards us, he throws over thirty Dirks at the unmoving Lancer in front of us, who picks up his Lance casually in response.

"Oi oi oi, is that all you got—?!"

Like a red whirlwind, Lancer easily repels them all.

"—Ki—?!"

Assassin comes to an abrupt stop, around forty metres ahead of us. He's stopped firing Dirks and is staring intensely at Lancer, almost as if enraged but also genuinely curious as to the phenomenon that just occurred.

I cannot blame him. It is an abnormal situation. No matter how great a spearman Lancer may be, he could not have possibly blocked thirty daggers thrown at him all at once.

The lance is a long weapon, and while it has range greater than other melee weapons, its weakness lies in the wielder's inability to instantly and accurately deflect attacks coming from the sides. With the daggers swerving into him from all directions, how was he able to come out of that unscathed, and casually at that?

"…Hey, is that really all you can do?"

I can feel Lancer's intent to kill sharpen even more as he shifts his stance, readying himself to charge at his foe.

"Just so you know, projectile weapons are useless against me. If I can see them coming, I'm blocking them, simple as that."

For the first time since the battle began, the cloaked Servant speaks.

"I sEE, PRoteCtIon AgaiNst ArrOws. …Kuku, as EXpecTed frOm a HeRo WIth A nAMe…"

The voice that comes out of the dark shroud is disjointed and animalistic, accompanied by a grinding noise that grates my ears.

I take a step back in horror unconsciously.

"…Saber, is that really a Servant?"

"Yes, unfortunately. I can confirm that that abomination is in fact a Servant."

Saber replies curtly, her concentration unwavering but she's clearly also slightly unnerved by Assassin's voice.

On the other hand, Lancer snorts and crouches down even further.

"You're clearly Assassin, but you aren't exactly the samurai guy I fought just the other night. So in that case, I can take a wild guess what happened."

"…yOU FoUGht tHe SeRVAnT I waS BOrn FrOM…"

"…Yeah. Geez, whoever your Master is, he's got a messed up way of summoning you. I don't know the details of how you guys did what you did, but I don't really care either."

And as he says this, he bursts towards Assassin in a straight line—

"—Now, let's see who's under that mask—!"

In response to the simplistic charge, Assassin fires another six daggers, a rapid barrage thrown to challenge the reckless move from the spearman.

"—Didn't I just say…"

But Lancer turns them all aside with a slight swing of his spear, not even slowing down a single fraction as he closes in on his prey.

"…that that's useless against me—!"

The red lance is thrust towards the Servant's face.

"—Kikiki—!"

But in that instance, the white skill grins and unleashes a single dagger past that strike—

"Kii—?!"

I cannot believe what I am seeing, and no doubt Assassin too is shocked.

The moment the dagger is released, Lancer simple turns his spear towards the projectile, deflects it, then spins in a circle. Then, almost as if that was his plan all along, he stabs the spear into the ground behind him, pushes up against it, and with all the momentum from his run, delivers a double-footed kick into the Servant's face—!

Defence and counter. He performs both actions without any hesitation, and the cloaked foe is propelled through the air until he hits the Temple building with a resounding crash.

Lancer does not pursue his foe, instead opting to pluck his lance out from the ground again and stand casually in place.

"…Lancer."

I call over to him as Saber and I walk over.

He glances at us from behind his shoulder, before returning his gaze to the downed Assassin.

"Hey kid, how was that for a move? You can complain it's a bit anticlimactic of course, but that's why the Assassin class isn't known for fighting directly."

"Does a farmer get praised for tending to his fields? I expected nothing less from one of the three knight classes, and if anything you didn't even finish him off."

Saber quips with a slight smirk as we walk up to him.

"Oh come on, you and I both know why I couldn't do that. Ah well, at least we get to see what's under the mask…"

He whines good-naturedly back but trails off as his gaze falls on Assassin's again.

"—"

And as I follow suit, I too lose the smile on my face.

The white skull has slipped from the Servant's face.

At first, I thought it was a trick of the light, due to the temple grounds being so dark. Moreover, his face is still facing slightly downwards, likely still recovering from the heavy blow Lancer dealt him.

However, I am certain of it.

His face is flat and utterly featureless.

There is nothing on that head besides pitch blackness.

"Giiiiii—! yoU SAw My FaCe…!"

"And I'm honestly unimpressed. I still don't know what hero you are."

Lancer drawls in the face of Assassin's screeches.

Assassin takes this time to snatch his mask up from the ground beside him and place it back on his face.

"tHIs ArRogaNCE…!"

He slowly gets up back on his feet, and as he does so Saber moves in front of me again.

…But that is all he does. Assassin simply stands there, tilting his head curiously.

"BUT LAnCER…I sEE YOu HavE A bINd. No WONdeR YoU DiD Not KilL me JuST noW."

"…"

Lancer just clicks his tongue in irritation as a reply.

And as he does so—

"eVeN so, TWo aGAiNsT oNE Is NoT idEAL. Kikikikikiki—!"

The black Servant sinks down to the ground, then springs up and over the temple roof in one monstrous leap.

As he does so, another six flashes of silver are thrown into the air, this time targeted at me—

"…Tch."

And again, just as Saber takes a step forward, Lancer is already ahead of her, his red lance slicing through the air at supersonic speed, taking down every single projectile without hesitation.

He's clearly frustrated though, as his eyes are drawn into beastly slits, and there is an angry scowl on his face.

"…If not for this stupid command, I would've ended this farce in one blow. Damn you, you piece of shit Master…"

I remember our encounter a couple of nights ago. He called his Master senile and asked Saber if she was willing to call it even. Was that also a part of this command his Master gave, and is that why he cannot deal the finishing blow on any Servant?

"—This is no time to think about something like that! Saber, Assassin's getting away!"

I shout to Saber as the white skull retreats into the darkness of the temple grounds.

"Shirou, he is likely leading us into a trap. We cannot rush in after him, especially since he's Assassin."

Saber is right. Logically, this is what Assassin is likely trying to do. He will lure us deeper into the temple grounds before springing a trap. What's more, an inexperienced Master like me would be a sitting duck, and Saber would be forced into a defensive position like just now. It is definitely the right decision to hold position and wait to see our enemy's next move.

However.

"—Oi oi! This sandworm is getting on my nerves running away like this. Hey kid, you and Saber just wait right here. I'll get after him."

Lancer does not seem to care. He looks back at us with a cocky grin.

"Besides, re-engaging him after this…counts as our second fight, right?"

Just like that, Lancer has leapt onto the temple rooftops and vanishes into the night.

"Lancer—!"

Saber shouts after him, but Lancer is already long gone. She lets out a long sigh and puts one hand on her hip.

I completely understand why Saber is so annoyed by this. Because she needs to defend me, we are automatically forced into a losing position by the very presence of Assassin. However, Lancer turns this around completely, as he is able to freely attack the enemy Servant while Saber can focus on keeping me alive. On the other hand, if Lancer acts on his own and somehow gets incapacitated by a trap sprung by Assassin, or Assassin decides to shake him off his trail and circle back to attack us, we would be back to the initial problem.

So there's only one clear answer to this.

"Saber, let's go around the main building. I'll watch your back."

We would have to follow Lancer and make sure we are there to provide backup for him if needed.

Saber, who must have reached the same conclusion as I did, nods back grimly and starts moving cautiously deeper into the grounds, keeping her invisible sword at the ready in front of her.

"I can't believe we have to rely on that man."

I follow closely behind her, and as we circle round the left side of the main building, stepping onto the wooden hallway, I hear her softly complain.

"Well, at least he's here, right Saber? I don't think we would've had this easy a time with Assassin if he wasn't here to help out."

I can't help but try and defend our newfound temporary ally.

"I agree he's useful, but he could at least try to be less hot-headed. Although, I am impressed that he has a rare skill like Protection From Arrows."

"Ireland's Child of Light…"

We will eventually have to face such a tough foe, and while neither Saber nor I use long-ranged weapons to fight, the very option to do so is blotted out against this Servant. That leaves close combat, which would mean we would again be in range of his Noble Phantasm, Gae Bolg.

We are lucky to have him on our side for now, but when the time comes, we must think of a way to take him down.

"—?!"

"…! Shirou. Wait."

As we round the corridor to the backyard just before the mountainside lake, Saber stops and calls out to me. But she didn't have to. My body had just as quickly involuntarily stopped moving forward.

It wasn't the damp, rotten smell in the air - I had already gotten used to it. It's not Assassin either, as scary as his featureless face is. Whatever is right outside the temple is something I don't want to ever face.

Something bad is close by. So I have to run away. My body commands me to do so.

But there is one other thought in my head.

"Saber! Lancer is in trouble!"

Our reckless ally who has leapt into whatever trap is ahead of us cannot possibly fight this.

Saber does not reply, but I know she'll agree with my decision. Going closer to whatever is ahead is dangerous for me, but staying back and letting our counter against Assassin get killed is a gamble not worth taking.

I shake away the freezing air surrounding me, and tighten my grip on the shinai. And almost as if a machine working in unison, both of us sprint forward, Saber ahead and left of me as we charge through the backyard and through the back entrance of the temple—

An instant.

I take in everything that is happening.

Lancer, leaping into the air above the lake.

A black thing. Something beneath him. Water exploding upwards with black tendrils.

And a cloaked figure across the water with an arm upraised in a grotesque angle—

"NoBLE phAnTaSM—"

No time to think. My right hand moves before I can even open my mouth to give the command.

"SABER—!"

I slam the hammer down and blast all the prana from my circuits into the shinai. The wooden sword cracks and strains under the glowing energy but as long as it can withstand another second, that's all I need from it.

Even reinforced, my arms would never have the strength to throw a mildly heavy object like a shinai across a lake. However, this is different with Saber at my side.

This is the only Noble Phantasm I know that my partner has, the only one that she has deemed safe for an amateur magus like me to know about.

So obviously, I put all my trust into it.

I pull my right arm back—

"Strike—"

"—NOW!"

—and launch the overcharged shinai like a lance towards the cloaked figure.

"—Air!"

And from Saber's invisible sword flows a windstorm howling like a divine dragon, chasing the weapon from behind and propelling it forward with the force of a bullet.

Saber has released the air pressure from her sword, the guardian hiding the true form of her sword being unleashed to propel the projectile far beyond its usual range at a far deadlier velocity.

Assassin has no time to react. His attention drawn to the blue Servant above him and his body open in a defenceless stance as he is about to unleash his strongest attack, he has no time to adjust to a flying projectile fast approaching from across the lake.

"zaB—guUUUuHhhH?!"

The improvised projectile smashes into his white mask with a sickening crack, and with a strangled squeal the Servant is knocked back.

The grotesque right arm follows its master in flopping onto the ground.

And in this moment of reprieve, the blue Servant twists around in the air and draws a single rune.

"—!"

What he says is blotted out by an eruption of water as a further mass of black tendrils explode from underneath him looking to grab its prey. The dark tentacles close in on all sides, like a deep-sea monster from ancient times.

But in a blue flash Lancer is no longer there, and the tentacles grasp nothing but air.

Lancer rockets towards us propelled by a jet of wind behind him, and lands next to me on all fours. He looks up at us, and I can see instead of his usual confident grin there is a ferociously serious glare on his face.

"Kid. Saber."

He dispels the red lance in his hands, and right on cue behind him something explodes into action.

The black thing lashes out towards us. Tens of metres are covered in a single split second, a pure black malice opening its maw to swallow us—

"—RUN!"

Lancer picks me up with one arm and bundles me over his back roughly, and suddenly we're moving away from the lake back through the temple gate at a blistering pace.

"Oi oi oi oi! Lancer! What are you—?!"

"Shut up kid! We're getting out of here!"

At the speed we're moving at, and with my body bunched over his shoulder, my eyes tear up from all the shaking and sharp winds in my face, and I can barely see anything. However, I make out a golden glow on my left. It must be Saber, who is keeping up with Lancer somehow.

And right in front of my face, behind us is—

"—!"

I instinctively think of it.

The tentacle reaching out right into my face will kill me if I don't stop it. There are numerous other appendages nearby, but this one is accurately shooting towards my face.

A weapon. I need a weapon strong enough to deflect this.

Emiya Shirou cannot stop this by reinforcing his body, and even if he still had the shinai, it would not be enough to stop a thing that scared even the animalistic Lancer into retreating immediately.

A black blade I saw for a split second, which imprinted itself into my mind, just like its twin.

It closes in, twisting to strike towards my left temple. I see myself with my head smashed off, a rain of blood and brains. I need a weapon—

"—Trace, on! (Projection, start!)"

A black shortsword appears in my left hand, and I thrust upwards just as the tentacle slams forward to strike.

"—Guh!"

The appendage slams into the black sword, which lasts for just a second before breaking apart like an illusion. The force of the attack rattles my bones, and my left arm feels as if it has been ripped from my socket from just the residual force of the attack.

However, that is just enough.

"Shirou!"

A ray of gold light slashes across my vision, and the black thing is gone.

"Saber! Are you alright?"

I take care not to bite my tongue amidst the wild shaking as I shift my watery eyes to the side, where I can still make out the golden glow.

"Hang tight kid, we're almost out of here!"

The gruff voice from behind me replies instead and then with a grunt, we're suddenly both airborne.

Once we've dropped back down, I see the front gate of the temple right before my eyes, and the tentacles behind us no longer rushing at us at the pace that they had been. Another instant and we're at the bottom of the long flight of steps, right where we were little more than fifteen minutes ago.

"Alright we should be safe now, there ya go."

And I'm dumped unceremoniously onto the hard stone floor by the ungrateful idiot.

"Ow ow ow…Oi Lancer—"

Dazed with a headache from the exertion just now, I fumble about to stand up and give him a piece of my mind, but as I do I notice an outstretched hand from the man in blue.

"…"

"Thanks kid, that was a close call. I probably would've died if you guys weren't there."

I sigh and force a weary smile.

"Same here I guess, so you're welcome."

I take his peace offering and get helped up to my feet.

This is when I notice Saber by my side, who is still staring silently at the temple gates. No, she is staring at something past the gates, the mysterious thing that had come so close to claiming all three of our lives tonight.

"…That was…"

I can hear her say softly, a frown etched on her beautiful face. I notice her sword is hidden again, the golden glow singing our victory hidden behind the winds again.

I only caught a moment's sight of it, but I'm sure that was…

"—Ah."

A crack in my head and I almost crumble to the floor.

"Shirou?! Are you alright?"

Saber is immediately supporting me, keeping me from falling over.

Static runs across my vision, and my senses almost completely black out. I dig my fingernails into my palm and somehow remain conscious. I think I've pushed myself too far tonight, having done magecraft far beyond my capabilities.

Projection.

The first magecraft I mastered. It's an inefficient and useless process that produces only empty objects, though it's always been a helpful way to regain my confidence after failing in strengthening magecraft.

However, the sword I created just now…

It was only for a split second, but it did withstand the thing's attack. And more importantly, I felt it deep inside me that the sword was not just an empty imitation.

Flawed and very much a pale imitation of the real thing, it still had something that managed to defend me long enough for Saber to come to my rescue.

Before I can think more however, I feel a strong pat on my back.

"You go ahead and rest kid, I think our little adventure tonight has come to an end. I've also got a few words or so for my Master for sending me here, so I'll be heading off now. He's got a lot to answer to after this, that's for sure.

"I think I know why he's gone to evacuate the temple yesterday then. I thought it was to avoid them walking into one of our fights due to their spiritual awareness, or maybe because of Caster, but now all his little plans are starting to make sense."

I turn around and tiredly glance up at Lancer, who has already turned around to walk away.

"Lancer. We—"

Saber calls out to him, but he interrupts her with a wave of his hand.

"We'll meet again soon, Saber. I think we've both had enough fun for tonight, and any more would simply ruin the mood."

He turns around, and this time, his trademark smirk is back on his face.

"But next time we meet, come at me with that golden sword from the start, alright?"

And with those parting words, he turns into spirit form and we're finally alone again.

"Shirou. Are you alright?"

Saber is clearly worried as my face is still scrunched up in pain. I thank Saber and push myself off her supporting arm.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired. Let's go, Saber."

"…Shirou. About the thing just now…"

"It's alright, let's leave it for tomorrow. I'm sorry but right now I think I need to…huh…?"

My vision gets woozy and the static in my brain increases.

And before I can think to say anything else, I black out.