The night was proving to be nothing more than an irritation. The storm wasn't helping matters; likely the cause as to why I couldn't find any of the other masters. No, not the other masters, but those damn summons of Rider were as persistent as ever.
"Tch… nothing more than flies…"
As if to agree, Berserker let out a roar into the night, the latest fly to have buzzed too close dissipated into nothingness; scattered to dust. Between them and the occasional pot-shot from Archer, presumably whenever he thought we wouldn't notice, it was all I could manage to keep Berserker in line. He wanted to rampage; retaliate against those who attacked.
Playing babysitter was an annoyance. Berserker was powerful, but if no one made an appearance, that power was meaningless! It felt no different than being around Sortiara. Honestly, Johnathan, why do you even put up with her? How do you ever put up with her?!
"…Whatever" I waved dismissively. "Onward, Berserker. You'll get your fight eventually."
No masters to crush, and no leads as to the whereabouts of father's corpse. Play dumb all you want with me, Johnathan, but there's no way your mother didn't also play a part in his murder, and no way you know nothing about it!
…I wanted to go after them. The both of them. Get my vengeance! But it was just too dangerous. Not that I couldn't take on both of them if I was prepared, and not that Berserker couldn't take on both Lancer and Saber. But that man… he knew. I don't know how he knew, but he undoubtedly knew.
"Watch out! Poison!"
I don't know how they met, or what sort of arrangement they had, but if the three of them were in an alliance, then they would know Berserker's true name as well. That was a disadvantage that I couldn't overcome if I just went right at them. No, I had to catch them unprepared; out in the open.
"If only this damn storm would let up!"
Couldn't take Berserker around the city for long each day, and I could already feel my control over him slipping, bit by bit, day by day. Berserkers were like ticking timebombs for their masters, and I was running out of time. I had to find the other masters soon, or else I'd be the one losing this damn thing!
*twang*
I didn't even have to look at this point. The sound of one of Archer's arrows embedding itself in Berserker's shield was common enough place that I recognized it immediately. Ripping the arrow out and throwing it to the ground, Berserker let out another roar.
"Forget it, Berserker! It's a distraction, nothing more!"
…Fuck. Off. Archer! Don't you understand how difficult it is keeping him under control! …Probably did, and that's why he was taking these type of shots… Couldn't go after him either though, so long as he was content with sitting up in the damn high-rises, shooting away! Berserker would demolish the structure, if not bring about its collapse, and there was no hiding something that major.
Seven leylines run through the city, thanks to Johnathan's mother. Of course, his house sat upon one. Archer's master took control over another, and was content just camping there for the entire war it seemed. As for the other five… yeah, because random tunnel entrances popping up out of nowhere are totally not the work of Caster!
Five leylines! The Caster servant has control over five leylines! How the fuck do I dislodge him from those, especially since he appears to be all set up with whatever territory he wanted to create?!
And that man with those two could only be either the master of Assassin, or the master of Caster! Worse still, I had no idea as to which! He doesn't even appear to be a magus, for God's sake! How the hell did he even manage to summon a servant?!
"Get out here, damnit… All you cowards, calling yourselves masters…"
Curse my fate all I like, it didn't change the fact that, real soon, Berserker was going to go bounding off on his own, and at that point even a command spell would have difficulty reigning him in. Unlike those two, I knew better; command spells were not inherently absolute. Powerful, yes, but even they could be resisted, under the right conditions. This was going to have to be the end of the hunt for tonight.
Not that I have many nights left…
"…Gods damnit!"
I looked towards the sky to let the cool rain pelt against my face a bit. Nowhere near enough to calm me down, but it did feel… nice.
"Ugh… Pack it in, Berserker. We're-"
A bright flash of green light came to life in the night sky. It swirled around before dissipating, and even though it seemed to be a fair bit away, there was the unmistakeable sound of the wind whipping around.
"...Was that-"
Another flash of green light. Similar in nature, but a bit further away. It was… moving. I didn't recognize the spell, but it would have been delusional to believe that the three of us had shown each other everything we could do. So, Sortiara was busting out some new spells, huh?
…That meant she was fighting…
…That meant they both would be fighting…
…Masters were fighting…
Fortune was finally shifting my way!
"All right! Berserker! Crush them all" I gave him my order, pointing out towards the blasts of green light filling the sky.
With a mighty bellow, Berserker grabbed me with one hand and took off bounding down the streets.
Tonight, you two… Tonight will be your end, and that of any who dares oppose Berserker!
A/N
Really short, especially for a week long absence. I'm sorry, but university is just so damn busy towards the end of the term; just don't have much time at the moment to put shit to paper (or in my case, a word doc). I legit can't wait to get to winter break; I plan to post so much shit during that time, I hope it'll make up for all the dead spots I'm currently suffering from in my uploads xD
All that said, this is it! Things are finally about to kick off, and I can't wait to unleash what I've been planning and building up to for you all. I do hope you'll enjoy the coming posts, however long they may take, and, of course, apologies in advance for any delays the next few weeks (finals period is a bitch and a half...)
As always, thanks to all of you sticking with this, and see y'all in the next post o7
