Story Update: 10th of November 2022
And another 10 days gone. While I've gotten some work done, my pace still hasn't been the best. Mostly due to my studies and an extreme distraction called God of War: Ragnarök. (Man, it's so good!) I'm attempting to finish this chapter by the end of the month, but I don't make promises. If you couldn't already tell, this is another long one. Next update on the 20th.
Chapter 13 process: 28000 words
Section 1: Fully complete
Section 2: Fully complete
Section 3: Fully complete
Section 4: Fully complete
Section 5: Fully complete
Section 6: Almost complete
Section 7: Mostly complete
Section 8: Fully complete
Section 9: Halfway complete
Section 10: Mostly complete
Section 11: Partially complete
Section 12: Halfway complete
Section 13: Partially complete
Section 14: Partially complete
Section 15: Mostly complete
Section 16: Fully complete
Section 17: Partially complete
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Note: For the maximum immersion, listen to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - Against the Black Knight while reading this. Berserkerlot is a problem, and the game did him super dirty in this part of the story.
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As Marie's carriage raced along the forest road, Ritsuka did her best to fully assess the situation. They were currently being chased by at least three Servants and a flock of wyverns, which was hardly ideal, considering that they had a heavily injured Servant to protect. Thankfully Jeanne Alter had at least seemed to stay behind, more than likely to look after Fafnir, so that was one strong enemy they didn't have to worry about at the moment. The last thing they needed was even more powerful Servants joining up. Putting the most troublesome enemy chasing them out of her mind for now, she then focused her attention on the two enemies riding wyverns farther away. The clearly stronger of the two was a person who looked like a musketeer, and the Master honestly couldn't tell if they were a man or a woman. They were just... beautiful. But what she could tell was that they were fairly powerful and possessed both Magic Resistance and Riding, meaning they were most likely a Saber. The other one was the Assassin in a black long coat with nothing that notable about him. Unless he possessed some amazing technique or Noble Phantasm, he was likely less troublesome to fight than Carmilla. And then there was the big problem: the knight covered in black fog. No matter how many arrows Lemminkäinen shot at the wyvern the knight was riding, they would all get deflected by the long polearm in their hands. And since the other two had positioned their wyverns behind the knight a good distance away, they couldn't be shot down either. Ritsuka bit the inside of her cheek. This really wasn't ideal. Lemminkäinen was their only long range attacker thanks to his bow, and while Kiyohime had some range with her flames, their power greatly diminished with distance. At the moment, they simply lacked a strong enough attack to get past the Servant's guard and take the wyvern down. Her frustration increasing, the redhead turned to Roman and Dio, hoping for at least something she could use. "Guys, do you have anything on that Servant closest to us? I can't get a read on them."
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"Nothing, sorry," Roman shook his head, much to Ritsuka's disappointment. "There's something blocking our observational equipment from properly reading that Servant. Either a Skill or a Noble Phantasm."
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The Master sighed. It really had been too much to hope for. "Figured. Do you have the positions on the other Servants?"
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"That we can do. Jeanne Alter stayed with Fafnir, most likely to guard it, and since Lemminkäinen burned/cut Carmilla's legs off, she's not pursuing you either. Vlad is lagging a bit behind, but he's closing in as well." Ritsuka frowned at the report. At least the most troublesome enemy was staying behind, along with the other Jeanne, and Carmilla was just one less problem to worry about. But Vlad coming after them was really bad as well, so the conditions still couldn't be called ideal.
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And as if more bad news were needed, Lemminkäinen spoke up: "I can tell you one thing about this new guy at least: He's good. Both his strength and skills as a fighter are on a different level from the others we've fought so far."
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Seeing his wide grin, the redhead was almost afraid to even ask, but ultimately did it anyway. "...How bad is it?"
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"As a quick estimation, I'd say he's at least as skilled as Martha and about as strong as Vlad," Lemminkäinen chuckled, getting immediate concerned reactions from the others on the carriage.
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As for Ritsuka, his excitement only served to sour her mood further as she mumbled: "Terrific..." Just what they needed: another stupidly strong enemy.
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"At your current pace, the knight will catch up to you in about 75 to 78 seconds, so I'd recommend thinking of something quickly," Dio informed them, getting the Master's brain working. Even if giving her a timer increased stress, it helped her in estimating what she could work with and with motivation. But before she could properly get going, she pointed at the slowly approaching knight and his bluish gray mount.
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"Keep shooting, Saber. Slow the guy down as much as possible," she instructed, hoping to buy at least a few seconds of extra time. As Lemminkäinen kept sniping at different parts of the wyvern and the knight kept knocking the arrows away, Ritsuka started racking her brain for options. In the next dozen or so seconds, she managed to come up with a few different approaches, all of them with their advantages and drawbacks, and decided to go with the most promising one. Although, it was the most promising because it had a condition to be fulfilled, a condition that needed the consent of their group's sole Berserker. Hurriedly, Ritsuka turned to her. "Kiyohime, can I ask for your help?"
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As Kiyohime blinked in clear surprise at the question, the redhead's worry increased. Of all the Servants in their group, she had the least amount of reason to join this fight. She'd originally come along with them as a whim, lacked any motivation to fight aside from it basically being 'the right thing' and most importantly, she wasn't even really a warrior despite being a Servant. With all those points together, Ritsuka wouldn't have blamed her in the least if she just wanted to leave their group. But thankfully, a surprisingly eager smile spread on Kiyohime's lips as she nodded. "You may. I'm at your service."
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Ritsuka let out a relieved sigh and flashed her a grateful smile. Any alternatives to the plan would've been far more difficult without her cooperation. "Thanks. As soon as I give you my mark, start collecting as much firepower as you can handle, and when I give you another, blast the wyvern with everything you've got."
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"Understood," the Berserker nodded, moving at the back of the carriage roof in preparation, next to Lemminkäinen, who kept firing his arrows.
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Ritsuka turned to the rest of the Servants. With that possible hurdle avoided, she could move on to explaining her plan to them. "Good. Listen up, everyone. That knight is definitely our most troublesome enemy at the moment, so I'd prefer not facing them right now. With that in mind, our goal is to kill the wyvern they're on and then quickly ride away."
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Jeanne's eyes widened in realization. "I see. The knight will most likely be unable to keep up with Marie's carriage without a mount, and doing so will also give Lemminkäinen an opportunity to shoot down the other pursuers," she said, causing Ritsuka to cheer internally. Not that she'd expect anything less from a military commander, but it really was helpful that she caught on to her plans so quickly. With a satisfied smile, the Ruler nodded. "I approve of this plan, Master. What should I do?"
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"First off, Marie needs to keep going as she's done so far. As for you Jeanne, based on their strength and skill, the knight will almost definitely try to leap at or attack the carriage the instant the wyvern goes down, so I need you and Mash to block either of those. I can then get you both back to the carriage with Command Shuffle."
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"Understood."
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"Yes, Master." Following her directions, Jeanne and Mash headed for their positions. At this point, the carriage roof was getting really crowded at the back portion, so as the two defenders moved behind Kiyohime, Lemminkäinen retreated past them, not seizing his firing for a moment. Ritsuka couldn't help but be impressed. Just how many arrows did he prepare? That quiver he'd made definitely had some type of compression magecraft applied to it. Still, this took care of the preparations. All that was left was making sure the plan worked out without a-
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"What about me?" A voice suddenly asked, causing the Master to turn around in surprise, only to come face-to-face with confused Elizabeth looking at her expectantly. "I didn't get to fight Carmilla with all those other piggies in the way, so what should I do?"
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"Oh? Umm..." Ritsuka's mind went blank for a second. They already had everything they needed to carry out the plan. Yet, before she could tell her that, Elizabeth's wide, blue eyes, sparkling in anticipation, got her to change her mind. She hadn't really thought about it like that, but given the circumstances, she'd also feel really lousy if she was the only one not helping in the plan. Even if it wouldn't be vital, she should at least give the Lancer a task that would serve a possible purpose and sounded important. And so, after a few seconds of thinking, Ritsuka pointed at the small section by the wheels at the back of the carriage where it was possible for a person to stand and hang on. "Of course, I need you to be our final line of defense. Just in case the knight does something unexpected that gets past Jeanne and Mash, can I ask you to try and block it?"
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Elizabeth's eyes widened even further as a proud smile grew on her lips. "I suppose I don't have a choice if such a vital task falls to me," she chuckled before hopping down to the small foothold. Ritsuka was... honestly surprised her last second suggestion had been met with such satisfaction. The Lancer certainly wasn't the brightest person in their group. In fact, that attitude just reminded her of a proverb she'd heard. It really was easy for simple people to obtain even the slightest bit of happiness.
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"Gettin' closer," Lemminkäinen noted, even if they could all literally see the knight approaching. At this point, he was only about twenty meters away.
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Which meant that it was go time, so Ritsuka gave her mark. "Kiyohime." Unfolding her fan, the Berserker began collecting energy like instructed, forming a dense sphere of fire on top of it. As it kept growing stronger, the Master quickly retreated behind Mash. Even with the rush of air pushing the heat away from her, it was still getting really hot. The temperature was nowhere near as bad as after Fafnir's breath, but still more than enough to make her sweat. As the knight crossed the fifteen meter mark, Lemminkäinen kept firing at him and he kept defending as usual, not caring in the least about the collecting fireball. Ritsuka couldn't tell if the guy was just crazy determined or simply didn't care about the attack, but it was daunting nonetheless. And a few seconds later, after the knight was only ten meters away from them, Kiyohime was now visibly struggling on holding the ball of fire together. Not that Ritsuka could blame her. It almost looked like the Berserker was holding a second sun on top of her fan. But, she could ease off now, seeing how the distance between them and the approaching knight was about as close as Ritsuka would let it. And with that, she gave her second mark: "Now!"
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"Shaaaaa!" With a sharp cry, Kiyohime launched her fireball of death. With the short distance between them and the speed they were moving at, it was basically impossible for the wyvern to avoid the attack, leading to it being consumed by the explosion. And, as expected, the black knight burst through the flames the instant they hit his mount, lunging towards the carriage while whirling his polearm like the propeller of a helicopter to stave off the fire. He really was just as ridiculous as Lemminkäinen had said. However...
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"We won't let you!" Jeanne shouted as she leapt past Kiyohime towards the knight with Mash by her side, flagpole and shield prepared to block his strike.
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"Arrrr!" Screeching in an inhuman tone, the knight swung his polearm with the force of a tempest, slamming it into the defenders, but with the two Servants working together to halt it and their momentum from the jump, it never came anywhere close to the carriage. As the three were separated by the force of the blow, Ritsuka focused on Jeanne and Mash and applied the Mystic Code's spell the instant both of their feet were touching the ground. While the two started sliding across the ground with speed great enough that the Shielder nearly fell over, the knight landed with shocking grace despite having his trajectory drastically altered midair and let out another warped scream: "Ooooooo!" Without missing his chance, as soon as both Mash and Jeanne slid past the carriage, the knight twirled his polearm and hurled it like a javelin at the back axle, catching the Master completely off guard. But there was no time for her to think as the weapon shot towards the carriage...
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Clang
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Only to be smacked aside by Elizabeth's spear and quickly disappearing into the woods. Ritsuka, along with the other Servants on the carriage, and Mash and Jeanne hanging by the sides, turned to the Lancer with clear surprise while she let out a relieved sigh. "Whew, that was close." A proud smile then grew on her face as she turned to face the others. "Thankfully you had me here in case something like this happened, right Deerlet?"
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Still in disbelief, Ritsuka moved her gaze back to their enemy who was chasing them on foot now. And yet, despite him leaping like some super kangaroo, he fell farther behind with hop. The knight was definitely fast, but he wouldn't be able to keep up with the carriage. With a sigh, the Master flashed the Lancer a grateful smile. "Exactly. Thank you, Elizabeth. You really saved the carriage at the end there." Clearly pleased with the praise, Elizabeth puffed out her chest boastfully, flashing a smirk towards Kiyohime. While the Berserker was starting to look extremely irate, which was somewhat worrying, Ritsuka couldn't help but to let out a relieved laugh. The plan had really worked out despite the slight hiccup. "Great work, everyone. There was that close call at the end, but otherwise everything went perf-"
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It happened in an instant. With speed great enough that Ritsuka would have missed the entire thing if she'd blinked. As the pursuing knight leapt through a few low hanging branches, demolishing them on impact, something appeared in his hands. And as soon as the mysterious objects appeared, they vanished, launching towards the carriage like bullets. And...
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Crash
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The back wheels shattered like glass.
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As an immediate consequence, the back end of the carriage dropped and crashed into the dirt road, nearly throwing it into the woods and greatly diminishing its speed. While Marie struggled to keep it from completely falling over, the passengers each lost their balance and stumbled, barely hanging on to the carriage. At least, all the Servants with their superhuman bodies did that. Unfortunately for Ritsuka, while she was strong for a human, she was still far below the level of even the weakest of Servants, leading to the sudden shift in balance throwing her off the side of the roof. But fortunately, Mash was still hanging on by the door on that very same side, staring at her with wide eyes as she fell to the same level. "Senpai!" she cried out, just barely grabbing the redhead's hand to keep her from hitting the ground, her white boots gracing the grass by the side of the road.
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As the Shielder pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her waist to secure her, Ritsuka quickly put her own arm to Mash's shoulder to balance herself, her heart feeling just about ready to burst out of her chest. "Thanks, Mash. That was way too close." Still, she couldn't let this near death experience distract her from their current situation. She had to get to the bottom of their condition immediately. So, despite some light protest from Mash, she leaned away from the carriage to get a better look at the back portion and cringed. Much like she'd feared, the back wheels were indeed completely destroyed. "Wh-what just happened!?" she cried out, hoping that anyone could shed at least some light on the last few seconds. It had looked to her like the knight threw something, but she simply couldn't figure out what. What could be launched that fast and with enough force to destroy the back wheels so easily?
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"The crazy bastard literally threw a bunch of sticks and wood scraps at us, and it worked!" Lemminkäinen shouted, getting disbelieving looks from literally everyone on board, but he just shook his head with an impressed sneer. "I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it. This guy's got some wild skills."
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Ritsuka... honestly felt infuriated. This knight had completely ruined her plan at the last possible moment. And yet, a pressing question haunted her mind, pushing all other thoughts aside: "But how could a random bunch of wood shatter the wheels that easily?"
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While others looked as confused as ever, Jeanne provided her with the closest thing to an answer. "I'm not entirely sure of its nature, but as soon as they were grabbed, a great deal of magical energy was transported into the sticks. Perhaps it is a Skill that knight possesses?"
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"Enhancing the properties of projectiles or something of that nature? It does sound plausible," Dio nodded in agreement. "But enough chit chat. The knight is coming in fast."
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While Ritsuka was still doing her best to process all this new information, she turned her attention towards the direction they were running from. Like a dark cloud of death, the black knight rushed towards them with inexhaustible vigor. With its smooth bottom and the speed they were traveling, the carriage could still keep going along the dirt road they were on despite the back end dragging along the ground, but its pace had slowed down considerably. Most crucially, it was now slow enough that the knight could catch up to them on foot. It would still take a minute or two, but he could definitely do it. The situation was starting to look extremely bad. Desperately, Ritsuka turned to the one in control of the vehicle. "Marie, can you fix the wheels?"
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"Yes, but not that quickly. And I can't reform them while the back end is dragging against the ground," the Rider answered apologetically, much like Ritsuka had feared. "And while my horses can keep dragging the carriage, they won't be able to outrun those wyverns."
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Going over everything relevant to the situation, the Master wracked her brain once more. At this point, their options were just ridiculously limited. And so, in the end, after a few seconds of intense planning, Ritsuka was forced to let out a sigh. "A battle it is, then." Most of the Servants looked at her with surprise, but she really couldn't see a better way out of this mess. The longer they took, the closer the other enemies would get to the knight, making their situation that much tougher. He alone would be troublesome, but adding three more Servants and several wyverns into the mix was just catastrophic. "Marie and Mozart, please take some distance from us and continue keeping Siegfried safe! Everyone else, jump down on my signal and focus on the enemy Servants!"
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While the other Servants held some mixed reactions to her plan, Mash was quick to respond with confidence: "Yes, Master!" Ritsuka felt as if a tiny weight had been removed from her shoulder. Even if she hadn't earned that unshakeable faith the Shielder had in her, it truly felt comforting at times like these, motivating her to work even harder not to let those feelings go to waste.
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"So it really came to this in the end, huh?" Roman sighed, sharing Ritsuka's feelings on the matter. As much as she'd done her best not to, she'd underestimated just how much of a menace this single knight could be. "Very well. We can't do too much, but we'll support you in any way we can."
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"Thanks. We're counting on it." The Master was more than thankful towards those in Chaldea for giving them information about the environment as well as possible enemies, so she definitely wouldn't complain. But then, she received an urgent tap on her shoulder.
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"Pomo," Lemminkäinen noted expectantly, pointing towards something behind the approaching wyverns. Even while strengthening her eyes to their absolute limit, all Ritsuka could see was a black dot against the blue sky, but given the report from earlier, she knew what it was. Yup. That was definitely Vlad.
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The Master took a second to consider the proposition of sending the Saber off to fight him, but that's all it took to convince herself of the idea. Letting either Vlad or the knight get anywhere near Siegfried was just absurdly risky, speak nothing of them both, so keeping at least one of them further away would be worth it. And fortunately, they had a volunteer who could keep the Lancer busy by himself. Even more fortunately, the volunteer was actually someone strong enough to accomplish the task and not die in the process. "Go on," she nodded. The usual smirk that knew no doubt spreading on his lips, Lemminkäinen hopped off the carriage with a wink, disappearing into the woods in an instant.
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"There's a clearing large enough to reach with your carriage about a kilometer ahead if you take a left turn after 700 meters. If you want to stop, I'd recommend doing it there," Dio informed them, giving Ritsuka the last piece of knowledge she'd really need.
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"Thanks for the info." The open road was hardly the best place to fight the wyverns, but letting them set the forest on fire in order to smoke them out was even worse. Now they had a battlefield that had some cover, but wasn't at risk of being burned down completely. "You take a break there, Marie and focus on fixing your carriage for as long as you can, while the rest of us will jump down and confront the knight here. We shouldn't get too far from each other, so that we can send you some backup in case something happens."
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Marie exchanged uneasy nods with everyone on top of the carriage. Given how caring she was, the prospect of leaving them all behind clearly didn't sit well with her, but she still gave them an uneasy nod. "Very well. Please take care, everyone!"
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"We will! You as well, Marie!" Jeanne flashed her a hopeful smile, which got a small smile to grow on the Rider's lips as well. The four Servants, one human and one critter then jumped off, the last two carried by Mash, and watched as the carriage grew more distant by the second, until it took a turn towards the left and disappeared into the woods. Oh, that just gave Ritsuka really depressing wibes. It better not have been a sign of something. She would do everything in her meager power to ensure that they all made it through this alive. But, those thoughts would need to wait. Ritsuka fired up her magic circuits in anticipation as the Servants summoned their weapons. Even if she was just a magus, she could still feel the dreadful presence approaching. Standing in front of the group with her flag at the ready, even Jeanne seemed nervous. "Here he comes..."
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Seeing how they had jumped off the carriage to wait for him, the knight came to a halt as well, standing in the middle of the road about 50 meters from their group. Ritsuka forcefully stopped herself from shuddering. Even compared to someone like Vlad or Fafnir, the knight possessed a terrifying presence. While it didn't feel like he had limitless power, the way he carried himself just made him seem... invincible. He was so confident in his ability to catch them that he'd even gone back to pick up his damn polearm. Now that it was still, Ritsuka could also finally properly see what it was: a disturbingly black poleaxe with red markings spread across it, like the veins on a leaf. A frighteningly fearsome weapon that could be used for just about any type of attack. For just an instant, the knight's gaze moved through the entire group before locking in on Jeanne. And then, he roared: "Aa-Urrrrr!"
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In the blink of an eye, the knight blasted forward like a rocket and closed the gap between them, attacking Jeanne with everything he had. The Ruler grunted at the impact as she was pushed backwards. Not even her flag could fully halt the sheer force of the blow. "Such power!"
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"Arrrrrrrrrrr!" With an almost inhuman screech, he charged the Ruler again, this time attacking with a barrage of blows. The other three Servants rushed in to help her, but the attacker dodged or deflected each of their attempts with shocking ease before returning to his original target. Even as powerful as she was, Jeanne was genuinely struggling to withstand the knight's onslaught as they clashed. And it wasn't just due to the strength of the blows either. Like Lemminkäinen had said, the knight seemed to be a frightfully skilled combatant, with each of his attacks being unbelievably sharp and controlled despite his constant raving. Even while looking at it from the side, Ritsuka was having genuine trouble understanding just what he was doing with each blow, like trying to discern the exact position of a leaf in a tornado. She couldn't even imagine what it was like to actually try and intercept those attacks. And to make the situation worse, the four Servants working together didn't exactly have the best teamwork to say the least. Jeanne and Mash were doing quite fine, since their defensive styles of fighting were somewhat similar, but Elizabeth mostly just did her best to stab with her spear and flail with her tail, while Kiyohime kept shooting fire at the enemy. Against such an unrefined assault, the knight didn't have too much trouble slipping through the openings their attacks left.
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Still, as disorienting as this all was, there was a particular detail Ritsuka couldn't help but to notice: Even with other Servants attacking him, the knight only focused on them just long enough to either block or counter, then his attention moved right back to the Ruler. Using their contract, the redhead locked on to Jeanne's connection and spoke quietly. "The knight seems fixated on you, Jeanne? Do you think it's someone you know?"
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"Unlikely. My strength comes mostly from being a Ruler. I can't imagine anyone from my time becoming this powerful of a Servant, even with Madness Enhancement," she grunted while being blown backwards once more.
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Dodging a stab from Elizabeth before kicking her aside, the knight screeched again and rushed towards the Ruler. "Arrrrrrrr!" Ritsuka cringed. Wow, that was starting to hurt her ears.
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Still, even if it wasn't a personal connection, there had to be some reason for this behavior. "Perhaps it's some attribute that he's drawn to, then?" Maybe this knight just really had it out for saints? Thinking about it, she could remember at least a few tales of some wicked knights opposing saints on their quests, so maybe he was one of them.
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"That's possible, but he is also clearly different from the other Servants we've fought thus far," Jeanne continued between quick breaths. She wisely only talked during the short moments when the knight wasn't pummeling away at her. Right now, he was busy repelling a double breath attack from the two dragon girls, so the Ruler was allowed to share her theory. "While it might be slightly presumptuous to say so early, I believe he's a genuine Berserker. Unlike the others who just had Madness Enhancement forced onto them, he was summoned as a true mad warrior."
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Oh? That was a possibility Ritsuka had actually ignored, but now that she mentioned it... "Makes sense, given his... well, clear insanity. Maybe that madness also explains his clear obsession with you." That unhinged screaming of his was a pretty good indicator of that. Still, it was pretty surprising that the Dragon Witch would summon a regular Berserker, given her other Servants, but maybe it was something that she didn't have full control over. Ritsuka really hoped that was the case.
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But, the time for such thoughts had passed, indicated by Roman's frantic warning. "Heads up, guys! The other Servants are almost there!"
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"Oh, perfect..." Ritsuka groaned. She'd hoped to take the knight out or at least weaken him before the reinforcements arrived, but that seemed to have been basically impossible from the start. Also taking notice of the figures drawing closer above the trees, the Servants appeared just as pleased with this development as she was. The Master let out a sigh. If it had come to this point, she had no choice. Focusing magical energy onto her right hand, she was preparing to use a Command Spell to give Jeanne a serious powerboost in order for her to either kill or seriously injure the knight. If their foe would be even slightly distracted by the arrival of allies, they might just pull this off. It was a risky plan, but basically the only one they had. ...But that all changed when she noticed the pursuers' trajectory. It hadn't been clear from a distance, but now that they were this close, it was obvious to everyone present that they weren't heading for their group.
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"They're... ignoring us?" Elizabeth asked, tilting her head in confusion as the two Servants and their group of wyverns did indeed fly right past them. The other Servants looked just as confused. At least, until they were forced to focus back on the fight at hand as the knight rushed Jeanne once more.
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While still ready to launch a spell if any were necessary, Ritsuka pondered over the situation as well. No matter what, their group held a high priority for the enemy, so there shouldn't be any reason for them to be ignored... But then, she remembered what Jeanne Alter had ordered her Servants to do, and it all became clear. "No! They're going after Siegfried!" she shouted, gaining the attention of all the Servants on her side. Judging by their shocked expressions, they too realized the troubling implications. The legendary Dragon Slayer was without question their best hope for solving this Singularity, so they couldn't let him die no matter what. But, thanks to her charm managing to keep panic at bay, Ritsuka quickly came to the most sensible conclusion available: "Kiyohime and Elizabeth! Please go help Marie! She can't possibly hold off two Servants and a bunch of wyverns with just Amadeus as backup!"
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The two dragon girls looked at her with equal surprise which soon switched to apprehension. Elizabeth being the first to voice her worry. "Both of us? But don't you need help as well? This knight is stupid strong!"
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"Exactly," Kiyohime agreed.
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Ritsuka appreciated their concern, but there really wasn't any time to argue. "We can figure something out with all of our combined abilities, but Marie is really low on options! I'll move you a bit closer with Command Shuffle, but please hurry!"
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The two Servants shared a look and spent a second completely silent, until Kiyohime turned back to Ritsuka with an understanding nod. "Very well. If you are sure, Master."
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Elizabeth, not one to fall behind, gave a far more energetic reply. "We're on it, Deerlet! You don't need to worry about Marie or the others!"
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Ritsuka felt a rush of relief at their understanding and gave the duo a quick bow. "Great. Thank you both." As she fueled magical energy into her Mystic Code, the two dragon girls soon blasted down the road towards the direction their allies had traveled earlier. And the moment the spell's effect ran out, they both dashed forward with their own feet. Though at the last second, Kiyohime's eyes lingered on Ritsuka before she disappeared into the distance. It was a bit odd to the redhead, considering that they'd only met a few hours ago, but she still appreciated how much concern the Berserker felt for their safety.
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And, with her trust placed on them, Ritsuka could focus most of her attention on the battle against the knight. "Jeanne. Mash. Keep working together to the best of your ability. Unless you see a clear opening, don't even try to attack. Focus on defense," she instructed. And while both of her Servants were busy clashing with the knight, they still gave her affirming nods. "Roman. Please tell me if the situation with the other party changes drastically or if anything else happens. Our current situation depends on how quickly we can respond to the changing conditions. Any change needs to be responded to immediately."
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The Doctor, while clearly nervous, still flashed her a smile and a thumbs up. "You got it, Ritsuka. You can count on us to accomplish that."
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"Thanks. We're counting on you." With that, Ritsuka focused her attention fully on the battle in front of her, magic circuits ready to fire off any supporting spells at a moments notice. Which is why she didn't notice the creature right behind her until...
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"Fo!"
'
"Huh!?" Ritsuka's attention snapped to her left as a sudden weight appeared on her shoulder, followed by a sound. But, as soon as she noticed it was Fou, her increased tension fell back down. The little critter snuggled against her cheek encouragingly, getting a small giggle out of her as she gave him a pat. "Thank you as well, Fou." It did feel a bit weird, but she definitely wasn't going to refuse an emotional support animal that was this adorable. And with that, the redhead could finally place her full focus on the battle in front of her.