Thanks to FinchFlyingAce for the suggestion
Confusion radiated around the room, especially from the elder mages in their huddle. A small collective had decided to come together in order to infiltrate and win the next Holy Grail War. of course they joined after every other class had filled because those elder mages couldn't agree on class or specific spirit. So in the end they had agreed, rather been forced to, summon a hero in the 'unofficial' Avenger class.
That led to the group's current predicament where nobody had any idea what servant stood in front of them. It was unmistakable an Avenger given the palpable hatred in the air, but it didn't look the part. A six foot something kid dressed in some sort of uniform with what resembled rectangles hanging at his side. Now the chosen master didn't quite care who this servant was, but rather that they were capable. "Are you servant Avenger?"
The old men turned and stared at the masters gall, but the servant responded," Yes I am."
The master regarded him for a moment, ignoring the grumbles of the old men, taking in his body posture. The servant wasn't comfortable in this room, but they weren't outright hostile like one would expect an Avenger to be. That left him with the option that the true hate was something different. "I am your master, and I look forward to fighting this war with you."
The old men grumbled and stepped forward to get in the master's face, but he didn't care. Avenger seemed to show some sort of amusement at the old men, and eventually followed the master out of the room. The duo strolled casually towards the exit, but Avenger suddenly stopped short. The master paused before sighing heavily, "There's a servant out there isn't there."
Avenger nodded with a primal sort of grin, " I sensed them earlier."
The master groaned and grumbled something about morons not listening, before pulling out a cheap cigarette. He lit it up before speaking up again, "Then as your master, lets see what the dreaded Avenger Class can do."
The servant rushed out the door and with the sound of pressurized air sped away out of sight. The master waited a moment before proceeding up to the door, though his mind was definitely on other things. Mainly the fact that his servant wasn't actively showing him hatred, something that he understood was prerequisite. So that meant they had royally fucked the summoning, which given who he was working with was possible, or the hatred was based on something that wasn't in the room.
He forced the thought out of his mind and made his way to the entrance, where he was greeted by the sounds of clashing weapons. Avenger flew through the air slamming it's twin blades into the spear of the opposing servant, which was some sort of dragon humanoid. He didn't ponder it long, since his attention was grabbed by the wire that pulled Avenger into the air and out of the way of a brutal downward lance strike.
From there Avenger detached and spun like a top, slamming it's blades furiously into what he assumed was Lancer's rushed guard. The opposing servant tried to back up to get some distance, but Avenger refused to let them escape by using it's wire system to take to the air before slamming back into the servant.
Lancer barely managed to avoid a lethal blow, still gaining a nasty wound across it's torso. The two servants paused for a second, actually letting the master see the twisted smile on Avengers face. Lancer spoke up saying something the master couldn't quite hear, but the response from Avenger was loud and clear, "It's humanity's turn now."
In an explosive movement Avenger took to the air, spun, and slammed the blades into Lancers guard forcing them backwards. They were shoved away and forced to dodge a series of thrusts from Lancer. It batted one thrust away and used the wire to move to Lancers side, and was able to land a nasty cut along.
Lancer buckled over in pain, letting Avenger begin a new assault. Two cuts exploded along the opposing servants back before they tried to use their tale to knock Avenger out of the air. However, in a fluid movement Avenger ducked its body and slid under before cleanly slicing the tail off. Lancer didn't even have time to yell as Avenger landed a flurry of unguardable blows. It culminated in one swift strike along the back of the neck ending the life of Lancer.
The master couldn't help but be impressed at the display. At this point it didn't matter if they had screwed up the summoning he was willing to run with this servant till the end.
The master was still reeling from the conversation he had with his servant. It somehow explained their status as an Avenger perfectly, but also made him question the destiny of man. He drove those thoughts from his mind and turned his attention back to the...guest that sat across from him, a young man who represented the older mages. Part of him wanted to ignore the kid and just run this war as he wanted, but he had to play nice. "...And Master Kermits suggests targeting servant caster or archer next, based on the fact that the masters are of a lower quality bloodline."
A huff escaped his mouth as the kid prattled on. It was a decision based entirely on fear for their stations, since the Avenger should have never been summoned at all and there were at least two prominent families directly competing. All these old men wanted to do was save their station and still try to win the war. His attention was grabbed again by the kid who indignantly cried," Are you even listening?"
Apparently he had been too obvious, and based on the kids growing rant he wasn't going to be able to apologize his way out of this. The rant was growing with fervor and threats, not really doing anything to the master. He was starting to zone out again, but the sudden shimmer of light behind the kid caught his attention. Avenger silently and swiftly placed one of it's blades on the kids shoulder before leaning in close. " I really hate your kind."
The kid went pale and began to stammer as Avenger just continued on, "All that talk, but you will never actually do anything. Just walk about with your nose held high."
The sword was ripped away in a fluid motion drawing a slight line of red across the kids neck. Following that was the hilarious sight of the kid dropping to the ground and scrambling back, a noticeable wet spot appearing on his pants. The master resisted the urge to laugh and just watched the kid as he bolted. There was a beat of silence before the master broke it," What's your opinion?"
The servant glanced over," Don't really have one, though I'd rather not play it slow."
The master chuckled, but it was just a facade as he took in Avenger. The malice still hung in the air, but compared to the initial fight and summoning it was diluted. Altogether it was confusing to try and determine where the wrath was focused, though it probably had something to do with his backstory. His servant had been very careful in how they described their origins, leaving out a good deal of details. He didn't mind too much, since all that really mattered was results. "Well….I guess we'll just go hunting."
Avenger smirked, and the master couldn't ignore the shiver down his spine.
Shingles exploded off a roof as ,what the master guessed was, Saber crashed into it. The hunting party had managed to stumble into this fight and not immediately get involved. Avenger was close by in spirit form, and was blatantly eager to dive into the melee. Thankfully the servant had listened, if barely, and was letting the master get a feel for the situation.
Another roof exploding as some sort of knight skidded across it, having lost another exchange with the Saber. It was all the master needed to see, 'Go wild, Avenger'. He could almost feel what he assumed was a smirk as the now familiar pneumatic hiss sounded off. He kept his eyes on the action, though he did notice a blurry shape in his peripheral.
There was a beat as the two original servants paused, one having noticed the noise and the other noticing the confusion. It turned to complete chaos when from the blind side of the roof Avenger exploded up and nearly landed a deep slash across the back of Saber. The opposing servant spun and barely managed to block it, though he was pushed towards the edge of the roof. Avenger went to land, but was forced to quickly contort their body in order to dodge an sudden arrow.
They plummeted over the edge of the roof shielding themself while falling back. Avenger hadn't managed to get the kill off the first attack, but they had turned this fight into a three way. By doing that it forced the other masters to make a call; Team up and eliminate Avenger, or Target the one that is distracted. Realistically it would be the latter, since at least Saber is tied to a prominent mage family. This meant it would be more valuable for the other master to remove Saber and eliminate the powerful family.
The master snapped out of his maniacal planning as Avenger launched from the ground directly at Saber, slamming into his guard with the sound of a car crash. Saber held, but the sounds of harp signaled an arrow slamming into the back of their shoulder. The master swore that there was a look of disbelief for a second before Avenger was thrown off and down onto the roof, being forced to narrowly dodge a stomp from Saber.
Avenger tried to move towards the edge again, but Archer didn't let him with several well placed arrows. One wasn't fully dodged and grazed their leg, but they still managed to avoid Saber's attempt at a finishing move. Saber's leg knocked out from under him, letting the Archer land another arrow. Saber grunted but still focused on Avenger, though the archer was able to split their attention forcing Avenger to dodge yet again.
It looked like this dance was going to continue, but the master sensed a presence quickly approaching. A quick evaluation of the situation made him feel like his servant was at the disadvantage. In a this three way fight his servant was able to benefit from the divided attention of Archer, but with another servant approaching it meant his servant could be teamed up on. 'Avenger return, we'll retreat for now.'
There was a beat of silence as he waited, but his servant showed no signs of disengaging and instead dove back into a clash with Saber. The presence was approaching quickly and judging by the expression on Archers face, it was some form of support. 'AVENGER RETURN!'
The command was ignored again and the master felt his frustration rise. His servant seemed incapable of understanding that they were heading into a disadvantageous situation. He didn't doubt his servants' power but the Holy Grail War was a marathon, and taking too much damage here would cost them the war. Especially with how Caster, Assassin, and Berserker were still unknowns. He glanced down towards his hand and took in the command seal spiraling across the back of his hand. It was a fierce internal debate but in the end he decided for it.
Magical power surged into the seal as he declared his command, 'AVENGER FALL BACK.'
There was a visible change in his servants' posture, but as bound by the command seal they inevitably disengaged and made to retreat. In perfect time as well as the sound of carriage wheels loudly filled the area. The master turned on his heels and quickly beat a retreat, his servant in spirit form nearby. Though the malice still hung heavily in the air surrounding him.
This was going to be a bitch to deal with.
There was an amount of effort that the master was willing to put in, and convincing Avenger why they had retreated surpassed that. Though he hadn't quit soon enough in order to prevent the splitting headache that came from getting yelled at by the servant. At least he had figured out why the servant held the avenger status; an unquenchable hatred for all things inhuman. Explained the initial desire to hack apart Lancer, thorough apparently the servant also had some sort of battle fervor. He sighed heavily as the feeling of malice suddenly pressured the room. "Are we fighting yet, Master."
He mentally ran over the information he had received; Archer had been slain as well as Assassin. That left Rider, Caster, Saber, and Berserker still in this war, with a half confirmation that Saber and Rider had an alliance. He felt his heart suddenly speed up as the malice increased, Avenger making their displeasure known. The master internally grumbled but eventually settled on a decision; If his servant wanted to throw away their chance to win the war then so be it.
"We're heading out in an hour," The master responded in deadpan, prompting Avenger to walk away.
It was just a matter of picking the best possible match up at this point, but deep in his heart he knew it wouldn't matter. Even with two command seals it was going to be hell trying to control this servant. It was a solid guess that ordering Avenger to follow his commands would only backfire and probably get him killed.
The reason that Avenger was deemed a forbidden class in terms of the holy grail war was suddenly making sense. Both in a practical and emotional sense, since now the volatile and battle hungry servant was starting to grate his nerves. At least now it was just a matter of letting himself survive, since it was an acceptable outcome to lose the war now.
He stopped his train of hatred and pushed himself out of his chair. It was time to go deal with an uncooperative servant in a coordinated battlefield. Who did he piss off to get this bullshit?
A building exploded making the master dodge out of the way. It had been easy to find a servant, the issue was that it had been Caster and they were very good at managing their position. Thankfully, Avenger was good at moving and the city was doing wonders for its advantage. At least the master assumed based on the constant pneumatic hiss's that sounded off from around the area. One of the automatons that Caster made exploded as Avenger literally crashed through it on its way to try and decapitate the opposing servant.
The attempt didn't connect, but it did force Caster to move front their position. This put them over the exposed street, which normally wouldn't mean much but the sudden appearance of Berserker forced a split in attention. Caster narrowly avoided a thrown axe, but wasn't able to avoid the followup strike from Avenger.
A brutal downward strike cleaved Casters arm, forcing the servant to fall as the shock quickly set in. This put them back in range of the rather small Berserker not giving them a moment to rest. The finishing blow was delayed as the automatons intercepted the strike, keeping the axe from eliminating the caster.
He expected Avenger to try to finish the other servant off, but they instead pulled themself up to a roof and stared off to the distance. The master was confused, but the sudden sound of wheels drew his attention and confirmed what he expected to happen a while ago; Saber and Rider have arrived. He could almost feel the excitement radiating from Avenger, and his tactical mind screamed at him to direct his servant to fall back. He didn't bother though since the servants weren't at all interested in him, and he didn't want them to be.
Avenger didn't seem to think about it and instead launched down the street in an obvious attempt to split Rider in half. It was easily intercepted by Saber, but all the speed it had built up forced the opposing servant back. Rider didn't seem to care and instead kept barreling towards the battling Caster and Berserker. It seemed that the only alliance was intent on finishing off the rest, but there was some small part of the master that believed it would fail. It was just a baseless feeling, but it was there.
His attention snapped back to Avenger as they collided with Saber, its two swords nearly breaking Sabers guard. The opposing servant held however, and returned with a heavy slash that actually broke one of Avengers blades. Saber didn't manage to finish Avenger with that move but the sword did graze it's chest.
Avenger took back to the skies with a pneumatic hiss, prompting Saber to take a defensive stance in preparation for the 'inevitable' charge. However unlike the previous attempt, Avenger breezed past Saber and flew towards the air towards the back of the unsuspecting Caster. A fluid motion ended the servants life, forcing them to disappear in a cloud of golden dust.
The move made Rider pause for a second and the suddenness of the strike, but all that did was allow for Berserker to close the distance and land a glancing blow. Avenger avoided a similar state by immediately taking off again, letting him avoid a crushing sword blow from Saber.
From there it devolved into a series of high speed hit and run tactics, but the master was able to get a solid read on the situation….and it wasn't good. It turned out that Avengers bloodlust was actually working against him in this situation. It was certainly attacking viciously and swiftly and even landing a series of shallow slashes, but this servant wasn't phased in the slightest. And for every vicious run Saber was also beginning to land their attacks, and they were deeper than passing slashes. He briefly considered burning a command seal, but there was no way they were going to win this war unless something major swung the tides. He would hope that Avengers noble phantasm would amount to something, but based on what the servant shared he shouldn't hold his breath.
He snapped out of his musings as a powerful blue energy began to swirl and gather around Sabers blade. Avenger paid it no heed and rushed forward intent on ending the fight. There was half a second where Avenger lurched forward, both blades aiming to pierce the Sabers heart. But an explosion of blue energy slammed into them tearing the body and throwing Avenger through the air and into the road with a sickening crunch. The master wasn't too surprised but he couldn't deny that a small part of him had wanted to win this war for some reason.
Saber turned away and sent to go assist its ally since the fight with berserker wasn't close to being over. The masters attention was torn away as he felt his magic circuits explode in pain. He swung his attention back to his servant and nearly had a heart attack. Blood red mist swirled around its bloody form as steam started to poor out from the servants body.
That was odd but not as odd as the fact the body began to grow, the muscles expanding as the horrible sounds of bone creaking filled the air. Saber seemed to notice the sudden shift and backed off the fight with Rider and Berserker in order to figure out what's going on. It was apparently too late as in an explosion of steam something new was standing there.
A huge giant like figure loomed over the rest of the servants as it huffed these deep primal breaths. The three servant paused their fight and stopped to look at the 'new' challenger. That ceasefire didn't last long as in an explosion of movement the….titan, was upon the group of servants. Saber easily dodged given that they had disengaged earlier, Berserker flashed with the power of a command seal and dashed back with impossible speed, but Rider wasn't so lucky.
Rider tried to flee but a giant foot impacted the side of their mount sending it into a wall, and subsequently taking the wall down. The master assumed that Rider tried to recover but he couldn't actually see in the flurry of blows the titan unleashed. It was an easy enough assumption that that servant was dead, but there were currently some more pressing issues to what he assumed was still Avenger.
Saber stood to the side and began to charge the previously lethal attack, but with its giant strides Avenger closed the distance and open-palm slapped the other servant. Saber's guard held, but he was still launched through the air. Avenger didn't give him a second before trying to catch and then crush the aggravating servant. However, Instead Avenger just lost two fingers in the exchange as their sword flashed with deadly precision.
Despite the damage Saber was eventually swatted back into the ground with prejudice before being punted into a building. The master didn't know if the Saber was still alive, but he had seen the servant somewhat guard both attacks. That definitely was proving the preconception of saber servants being the strongest, and even Avenger seemed to consider going into the rubble for the kill but something caught its attention.
Berserker was now swelling in size, enough to match Avenger though they still had an axe in their hand. The titans stood there in some sort of stalemate before Avenger exploded forward in a complete frenzy, obliterating the buildings in their way.
The master couldn't do anything but watch in a mix of awe and fear as the two clashed. His attention was suddenly stolen as the rubble moved and the ever bloodied and beaten Saber pulled themself out. One arm hung useless at their side and one eye was obviously full of blood, and those were just the visible wounds. Once again with one hand the phantasmal blue energy began to swell around the sword as it took aim at the two towering figures.
There was no way that this wasn't the last encounter, but it also was the end of the city no matter who won.
Avenger Class Servant- Eren Yeager
Noble Phantasm- Fifteen Meters, Unyielding Rage
-Unleashes the full might of Eren's Attack Titan form causing him to swell in size and gain an incredible increase in strength. Reason leaves him at this point as all that's left is his rage, but this form still retains Eren's combat prowess.