Chapter XII
"Master, I believe it prudent that you keep yourself hidden," spoke Atalanta with a concerned frown as we traversed the halls of the Hanging Garden, waiting for when the enemy Servants would come in knocking. "With a good majority of the enemy Servants here, it's possible you may be caught in the crossfire if you're not careful."
"Aw, c'mon, Sis," said Achilles with an easy-going grin before I could say anything, "why not have your Master have some fun? I'd love to see him in a fight, especially since he was able to keep up with the two of us, speed-wise. Besides, don't you trust him?"
"I trust him, plenty," Atalanta narrowed her eyes at the Servant of the Chariot. "It is the enemy that I have no faith in."
I glanced at Karna from the corner of my eye, and while the man looked intrigued by the conversation, he didn't say a thing. Though, he did begin to eye me in interest.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Yggdmillennia sent some of their golems and homunculi along with their Servants to back them up," I said, drawing everyone's attention. "I'll keep to the side and deal with them while the rest of you deal with the other Servants." I turned my gaze to Atalanta's, "If the situation changes and becomes more dangerous, I'll retreat."
She narrowed her eyes at me.
I'll be fine. Besides, I have an ace up my sleeve if things do get dicey, I spoke to her via the mental link.
Your hand cannon won't do much against a Servant besides surprising them, Master, she replied dubiously.
I wasn't talking about the Custom Eagle.
What? Then what are you talking about?
I imagined an image of my hidden ace and sent it to her.
What is that?
It's… a weapon of sorts…
What kind of weapon? Why didn't you tell me of this?
I shifted sheepishly. To be honest, I was hoping, still hoping, that I don't have to use it all. If I do and word gets out, there will be a lot of interested parties who might start plotting against me and my family.
Lin would be affected by this as well, wouldn't she?
More so than me.
I see. Will it be able to defeat a Servant?
Its capabilities will be able to surprise a Servant.
"Very well," she spoke aloud.
"Awesome," Achilles grinned as he led the way, "now let's go kick some ass!"
We will have words later.
I sighed resignedly, I know. Shifting, I couldn't help but wonder if this is what Dad feels like whenever Mom's mad at him.
"Master of Archer, might I ask you if you know the other Masters in our faction?" asked Karna from beside me.
"Well, besides Saber of Red's Master, I don't know the others personally," I replied to the Indian demi-god. "Why?"
"Besides the priest, you are the only Master of Red that I have met," replied Karna.
I frowned. Him too? What was going with the other Masters? I didn't know the other freelancers, but I knew one of the Masters, Sembren, was an instructor of the Clocktower and I had seen him in passing every once in a while. I never had him as an instructor at all when I was a student, but the student rumor mill said that he was a competent, no-nonsense kind of guy. No way would he be the type to hide this much, especially to his own Servant.
"Yeah, Achilles mentioned he was in the same boat too," I nodded. I pondered on the subject for a moment, before shaking my head. "Yeah, sorry, but I couldn't possibly give a viable explanation as to your Master's behavior."
Karna frowned, silent for a moment, before sighing, "No, it is I who must apologize for thinking one mage could explain the behavior of his fellow mages."
"Don't worry about it," I waved it off.
Karna nodded in thanks before his eyes narrowed, "Assassin has located where the enemy has infiltrated." He turned to me, "Are what Rider and Archer say is true, you can keep up with us Servants?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "I'll be a few paces behind you, but I can still keep up."
"Good, then let us go," spinning on his heel, he led the way, moving at a pace that was almost on par with Atalanta's.
Almost.
Achilles grinned as he followed suit after the Servant of the Spear as Atalanta shook her head. The two of us shared a rueful look before we followed after the two. Karna led us all down some passageways before we stopped in the middle of a hall.
"They approach," Karna declared as he drew a ball of fire in one hand and sent it down the hall. Only for it be blocked by a wall of conjured stakes.
"It seems they have arrived," spoke the regal Servant who summoned the stakes, Lancer of Black, Vlad III. "Good, this saves me a lot of trouble, Lancer of Red," the Count of Wallachia smirked.
"Pardon me for earlier," Karna replied, slightly frowning at the Hero of Romania. "Since we have the opportunity to fight once more, I should be courteous. And I will defeat you this time."
Lancer of Black seemed to find that amusing as he grinned sardonically. "Is that so? Then let me promise you this! You will not leave here without being impaled!" he proclaimed, readying his lance, giving the signal for the other Servants on his side to move into action.
Caster of Black ran over to a nearby wall and pressed a jeweled core to it, causing a team of golems to come forth, reinforcing the squad of homunculi.
"As we discussed, I'll take care of the homunculi and golems," I said to the three Servants on my side before dashing off to the side and out of the way, drawing Mugetsu and channeling it with mana.
Lancer and Archer of Black seemed to realize that I was a Master and aimed a few attacks at me, but I continued unfettered as Karna's flames and Atalanta's arrows intercepted Lancer of Black's stakes and Archer of Black's arrows.
"Ignore the Master, Lancer of Black!" proclaimed Karna, dashing forward and crossed spears with Vlad III, beginning his duel once again with the man feared around the world as Count Dracula. "Your fight is with me."
Dashing forward, a golem stepped in my way, but I ignored it too as one of Atalanta's arrows flew over my shoulder and made its mark on the golem's shoulder, causing its arm to implode and making it fall. Jumping over the golem, I cut the head off of one homunculus' spear before landing on the floor before him, spun around to deliver a roundhouse kick to his abdomen, and sent him flying. It wouldn't kill the guy, but he wouldn't be getting up from that anytime soon. Dodging a strike and moving away from another homunculus, my move made me land in the direction of another one of Caster of Black's golems. Hearing Atalanta's warning via the mental link, I leaned back to allow one of Atalanta's arrows to fly by and strike back the golem that had raised its arm to attack me.
I then jumped into the air to place both my feet against the wall that had been behind me to propel me forward towards the squad of homunculi again. Like I did with the first one, I aimed at their weapons, trying to make them as near useless as possible to bring down their ability as a viable threat before knocking them out with a punch, a kick, or even the back of Mugetsu's hilt for good measure. Idly, I noticed Achilles and Archer of Black's fight and despite that Rider should have the advantage in close combat, that Archer was using some sort of martial art to compensate.
Huh, I don't recognize it.
Ignoring the unknown fighting style, at least to me, I continued disabling the homunculi and had noticed Atalanta was keeping Caster of Black and golems back. I may still not know that Caster's identity, but I could see that controlling and making golems were all he could do, which is probably why he was summoned into his class. It was the only one he could contend for and not that well, even I who barely practiced my family's magecraft could do better with runes and Reinforcement in conjunction with my fighting style. And that wasn't even taking into account the use of my guns on top of it all.
I also noticed that there had been a drastic change in the battle between the two Lancers, where before they seemed to be evenly matched, Lancer of Black looked like he was struggling to keep up with the Indian demi-god, which was odd because he should be near-invincible while in Romania. And then it hit me, we weren't in Romania. Technically we were above the land of Romania in the fortress created by the Assyrian Queen, her domain. Which effectively negated all of Lancer of Black's passive power boost while in his home country.
And given that a majority of Karna's power was reliant on his status as a powerful demi-god child, that made him the stronger Servant in this scenario. Just as I slammed the back of Mugetsu's hilt into the stomach of the last homunculus, Karna had sent Lancer of Black back, even causing him to fall to a knee.
"How unfortunate," Karna stared at Lancer of Black stoically, readying his spear for the final blow.
"No, victory is not yet out of reach," spoke a voice that caught everyone's attention. "Arise, King of Romania! Surely you do not want to fall in a place like this!"
Turning my head toward the voice's speaker, my eyes widened at who I saw. Up on the balcony was Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia and he didn't look a day over twenty, odd given that he was over a hundred years old. After all, he did participate in the Third Fuyuki Holy Grail War in the 1930s.
"Guess the rumors are true," I said to myself as I frowned at the man who was the head for the whole Yggdmillennia clan, "he really did fuse his soul with an infant's."
Many magus had looked for ways to prolong their lives in order to reach the grail. Such methods of prolonging life include implanting one's soul within familiars or turning oneself into a Dead Apostle, but the least viable method was fusing one's soul with an infant. That method did indeed prolong the life of the caster as long as they ate other souls to stabilize the effects for an infant's soul was incredibly fragile despite its large potential. However, using this method also chipped away at the caster's soul, often causing fragmentation of the personality and significant memory loss, which made the method less appealing. For what's the point of trying to prolong your life if you inevitably forgot the magecraft you wanted to perfect to reach the Root? It's why the typical method of prolonging life at the Clocktower was vampirism, that is if you were overconfident and stupid enough to think you could pull a fast one on Barthomeloi who usually had those members dealt with sooner rather later.
"You were summoned here for a reason," Darnic continued, narrowing his eyes at Lancer of Black. Was he Lancer of Black's Master? It would make sense given that Darnic has been alive this entire time. "Was there not a wish you desired from the Grail?"
"Darnic, why are you here?" Vlad III frowned. "Leave this place, this is a battle between Heroes!"
"No," Darnic denied, shaking his head, "I must do whatever it takes to seize the Greater Grail. By doing so, I will bring victory to Yggdmillennia. And for that to happen, it is imperative that you prevail in this fight. Despite not having the boost in power in enemy territory, there is still a chance to attain victory!"
I had to raise a brow at that. How? Vlad III was a regular human in life and while I myself had referenced him as Count Dracula, the Count of Wallachia was not a vampire. And even if he was, he would've displayed vampiric tendencies long before now as his version of vampirism was based on what mundane humans believed vampirism to be.
"If you are willing to use that Noble Phantasm…" Darnic finished darkly.
"I'm sorry," Lancer of Black spoke tonelessly, belying the rage in his tone, as he picked himself up to his full height, "it seems I misheard you. What did you just suggest?"
"I want you to release that Noble Phantasm," Darnic spoke down to the Lancer. "Whether we achieve victory or defeat depends on it!"
"It seems you have forgotten what I said before!" snarled Vlad III.
"It is you who has forgotten!" Darnic snapped. "You are a Servant, a familiar given form due to my power! You are nothing more than a copy of the real King of Wallachia! Right now, you are nothing more than a lowly minion!"
I know I should've probably drawn my 5.7 Custom or even the Custom Eagle and fired a shot at the Yggdmillennia clan head right now given how much of an easy target he was. But I stood transfixed at the event happening before me. Sure there were stories of Masters and Servants not getting along due to having opposite personalities, but this looked like Lancer of Black was one step away from disqualifying himself for the Grail by killing his own Master.
"I will not allow anything to stop us from obtaining the Holy Grail!" Darnic's rant continued, his hackles rising with each word. "If we don't, my dream will die! That is the one thing I will not allow!" He then raised the hand that contained his Command Seals. "You will have no choice, Lancer! Heed the will of my Command Seal! By my Command Seal, I order you to unleash your Noble Phantasm, Legend of Dracula!"
"Darnic, you bastard!" Lancer screamed his rage.
But not a second later, Lancer of Black's body began to contort and extend gruesomely, with bat-like wings coming from his back.
"NO!" he screamed in anguish and denial as he became the one thing he dreaded to be that humanity placed on him. "I WILL NOT BE A VAMPIRE! I REFUSE TO BE!"
"Do not be afraid of who you are!" Darnic gave a cruel laugh as he watched his Servant become what mundane humans had thought a vampire was. "You are the Count Dracula! Embrace your true nature! And with my second Command Seal I-"
I wasn't surprised when Lancer of Black leaped onto the balcony and ran his spear through Darnic's torso. Everyone had a button that shouldn't be pushed, a line no one should cross, and Darnic did just that.
"Do not expect things to go exactly as you planned," Lancer growled. "I said that I would rather give up the Grail than use this Noble Phantasm and I meant it."
Even from down here, I could see Darnic cough up blood as he grinned. Oh, wait, shit, he was expecting that?
"I… I order you to continue fighting until you obtain the Greater Holy Grail!" Darnic managed through fits of coughing up blood, cackling madly.
Fangs grew from Lancer's mouth and in an attempt to kill his Master and take him with him in death, he planted them in Darnic's neck. No doubt this act sickened the King of Wallachia, playing into the behavior of a vampire, the thing he hated that was attached to his legend. But unfortunately, that too was also playing into Darnic's hands.
"Yes, yes, that's it, Lancer!" Darnic laughed maniacally as he grinned at the Servant killing him. "Drain me of my blood just like a true vampire would! And with my third and final Command Seal, I order you to engrave my existence into your soul!"
Wait, the fuck?
No, no, no! If Lancer of Black had killed Darnic before he made that final order with the Command Seal, Lancer would've been able to fade as the main source of the mana that kept his presence in the world had died. But in this instance as a vampire, Lancer would take Darnic into his being, and Master and Servant would be one person.
"Yes! This is it!" Darnic laughed as his body began to fade. "My dreams can finally come to fruition!"
With the last of Darnic absorbed, Lancer reared his head back and roared in agony. I wasn't an expert on spiritual evocation, but I figured Darnic and Lancer were probably fighting for control right now. And given the orders Darnic gave with Command Seals before dying, Lancer wasn't winning.
"Yes!" Lancer spoke in Darnic's voice. "I can turn Lancer into a monster that seeks the Holy Grail!"
"No! Stop! Stop it!" came Lancer's agonized cries in his original voice as his whole body struggled with the battle of souls that was taking place within it. "I am the King of Wallachia, son of Vlad II!"
"No! In this form, we are one in the same!" Darnic's voice laughed gleefully. "This, all of this is for the Holy Grail!"
"N-No! Damn you, you bastard!"
"My dream will take root in the monster it has been planted in! It will last for eternity!"
"Karna!" I exclaimed.
The Servant seemed to have followed the same thoughts as he jumped forward and attempted to pierce the monster with his spear. Unfortunately, as a vampire, Lancer turned into a cloud of smoke and appeared on the hall floor.
"Return my Holy Grail back to me!" ordered Lancer/Darnic. "Once it is back in my hands, I will use it to fulfill Yggdmillennia's every wish!"
"So Lancer turned into a vampire, eh?" Achilles grinned at the challenge. "Who cares?"
With that, he readied his spear and made a beeline for what had once been Vlad III. But to the Servant's surprise, Lancer/Darnic caught the spearhead in one hand, which had caused the flesh to rip from it. Only for it to regenerate near instantaneously. Swinging his inhumanly long arm, Lancer/Darnic then slammed Achilles to the floor and made to bite the Servant's neck. However, before the vampire could, Archer of Black slid along the floor to kick Achilles out of Lancer's grasp.
"Oi! What the hell was that?!" Achilles demanded of the Archer after he landed near my position in a heap.
"He was doing you a favor," I said as I raised my blade, channeling mana into it.
Reaching over with my left hand, I drew Custom Eagle from its holster. To be honest, I had no idea if its manticore bullets would even work on Lancer/Darnic. Sure, he was a vampire, but he was also a Servant with a magus' soul and mana inside him. For all I knew, there was no body or magical circuits that the bullet fragments could burn, just pure mana.
"What?" Achilles frowned at me.
"You are incapable of being wounded by those who are not of divine origins," said Archer of Black to the green-haired greek as he kept his eyes trained on the vampire/Servant/magus hybrid. "However, wounding you isn't the only way to defeat you."
"What?" Achilles frowned, "what do you mean?"
"You can still be turned into a vampire," I answered before Archer of Black could speak. "And if you were, you would become an unkillable one considering that the invulnerability given to you by the Divine Flame created in the River Styx would still apply to your vampiric body."
"Di immortales," Achilles whispered, "is that even possible?"
"That thing is technically a Servant, a vampire, and a magus Master," I growled at him. "You really want to see if it's truly possible?"
"Oh, er, right," Achilles looked chastised.
However, before another word could be said, Lancer/Darnic disappeared and reappeared behind the group of homunculi that I had fought against. And I was really regretting not killing them now, for before anyone could react, Lancer plunged his fangs into his first victim for a moment before going after the next.
"Fuck, ALL Servants fall back and regroup!" I barked.
"What?" Achilles looked at me incredulously. "You mean both faction Servants?"
"Now!" I snapped as I retreated some distance from where Lancer was.
I really wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone's reservations right now. A threat that could endanger the whole planet is right in front of us. As far as I was concerned, the Holy Grail War was put on hold to deal with this.
Caster of Black seemed to hesitate, but that vanished when Archer of Black heeded my order. Achilles hesitated as well, but shook off whatever doubt he had and regrouped with us. Atalanta had responded to my command easily with Karna complying a moment later.
"Master of Red, you have a plan?" asked Archer of Black.
"Containment," I replied, keeping my eyes on the vampire as the first victims of Lancer/Darnic became thralls and launched themselves at what was once their brethren. "For all we know, this could be a whole new strain of vampirism and I'd rather not find out if it's on par with Dead Apostles or god forbid, an Apostle Ancestor."
"Agreed," Archer of Black nodded grimly.
"Caster, have your golems deal with the thralls, they're the only ones who can deal with without getting bit," I began. "Smash them until they're nothing but smears to wipe off our boots."
"... understood," Caster's reply came after Archer of Black's nod to the masked Servant.
"Karna, Achilles, the two of you are front lining," I continued, ignoring Caster of Black's reservations. "Use whatever you can to keep Lancer of Black busy, but keep your distance. I don't want to know if demi-gods or invulnerable heroes turned vampires count as threats that the Counter Force needs to get involved with."
"Right," Achilles nodded.
"Understood," Karna replied, readying his lance.
"Archers of both factions support those two," I continued. "Either get Karna and Achilles out of a pickle or set Lancer up so that they can knock the vampire down."
"On it," Atalanta nodded.
"Of course," Archer of Black nodded as well.
"Listen, all of you, the gun in my hand uses bullets that can be extremely harmful to vampires," I spoke, glancing at the weapon in question. "But unfortunately due to the making of both the gun and the bullets themselves, one shot will cause my arm to lock up for approximately four minutes before I can move my arm to fire it again. And due to how heavy the bullets are compared to regular ones, I only have two extra magazines, each containing seven shots. To top it all off, we don't even know if it'll work on him."
"So we only have twenty-one shots that may or may not be able to hurt this guy with four-minute windows in between," surmised Achilles.
"Karna might be able to wound him severely enough," I eyed the Indian demi-god before looking back at the coven Lancer/Darnic just made. "His father is Surya, the Indian Sun god. So Karna's flames may be able to burn him to crisp."
"I would have to get close to him," Karna replied.
"So we both need windows of opportunity," I frowned. Dammit.
"Unfortunately."
"And to do that we might need more power," I gritted my teeth. I could use a Command Seal on Atalanta with the order of "Kill Lancer of Black" to give her a boost, but I couldn't do the same to all of these Servants whose Masters weren't even in the area.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance then."
Chancing a glance behind me, I found a young blonde woman wearing medieval armor and brandishing a furled-up banner.
"Ruler?" spoke Atalanta, baffled by the fifteenth Servant's arrival.
But Ruler's eyes were trained on the vampiric Lancer. "I understand the situation," she said. "As Ruler, I am placing the Holy Grail War on hold and declaring an official ceasefire until this threat has been dealt with." She then turned to me, looking at me with approval. "Master of Red, I commend your ability to see the bigger picture and having the remaining Servants team up against Lancer of Black."
I merely nodded in reply.
"Your plan is sound," Ruler continued before raising her banner. "So in the power given to me as the Servant Ruler, I, Jeanne d'Arc, order all Servants, to heed this Master of Red's plan and defeat the vampire!"
Golden light covered the remaining Servants of Black and Red for a moment as the power given to them by Ruler's Command Seal imbued them.
"You think you can get in my way?!" Lancer/Darnic laughed before pointing at us, causing his thralls to make a mad dash at us.
Caster raised his hand, causing a team of golems to smash the first line of thralls to the floor, smashing their heads in. With the battle commencing, Achilles and Karna sped towards Lancer of Black, their spears at the ready to strike the vampire down. Channeling mana into Mugetsu, I slashed at a straggler thrall that made it past Casters golems as both Archers leaped to the balconies to fire upon Lancer of Black from viable firing positions. Another thrall got past the golems and made a beeline for Ruler, but without even batting an eye, she slammed it with her furled banner right into the waiting, glowing edge of Mugetsu as I cleaved its head in two.
Sorry, Sieg, but right now death was a mercy on them.
Soon, Caster had his golems drive back the rest of Lancer/Darnic's thralls, corralling and forcing them into another hallway, ensuring that the rest of us didn't have to worry about them catching us off guard.
"Leave them to me," his voice sounded off from behind his golden mask as he followed after his golems.
"Right," Ruler nodded before she turned her gaze back to the battle between four Servants and a vampire. "Master of Red, you said your gun can harm Lancer of Black, correct?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "But like Karna, I need a window of opportunity otherwise I would have either wasted a bullet and have to deal with a four-minute period before I can fire the gun again, or worse, Lancer manages to turn me."
"I see," Ruler frowned, "then let us get you that window!"
Above, Karna and Achilles were attacking Lancer head-on as the fight went up and down the walls as much as it happened on the floor. The two Servants were careful of the vampire's fangs but also avoiding his sharpened, elongated claw-like nails as well. Atalanta and Archer of Black were firing their arrows almost nonstop, either cutting off Lancer's retreat or pinning him to the wall. Unfortunately, Lancer never stayed pinned for long for he turned into a cloud of smoke before Karna or Achilles could capitalize on the opening.
Ruler charged forward just as Achilles slammed his spear against Lancer, causing the vampire to slam against the ground, allowing Ruler to pin Lancer's wing with the sharp end of her banner.
"Now!" she called out.
Running and jumping up to get a good shot at the vampire, Lancer narrowed his eyes at me before spun, tearing his wing off before swiping at me with his claws.
"Master!" Atalanta cried out.
Reinforcing my arm, I grunted in pain as Lancer's claws tore through my blazer and made light cuts on my skin. Unfortunately, though, it wasn't really my arm Lancer had been focusing on, but on Custom Eagle, for one of his claws cut right through the barrel of the hand cannon, cutting the firearm in two as both pieces flew out. But Lancer wasn't done there, for he then spun around to backhand me into the wall. It had been quick thinking and instinctual reactions that caused me to Reinforce my skull and spine, otherwise, they may have broken on the brick wall as the hit caused me to have lost my grip on Mugetsu. Before I could fall to the floor in a crumpled heap, Lancer grabbed me, his now inhuman hands were big and long enough to grasp me so that I could barely move my arms.
"Let go of him!" shouted Atalanta angrily, firing her arrows at Lancer's head.
But with the lower portion of Lancer's body turning into smoke, he sped away with me in his grasp, raising me up just as Karna or Achilles attempted to attack but backed off as they knew with me dead, it wouldn't be long before Atalanta was gone as well. At least it explained why he hadn't bitten me yet.
"We have to get him out of Lancer's grasp," frowned Archer of Black, aiming carefully as to not hit me accidentally.
"I'm all ears, teacher!" Achilles snapped back before he groaned in frustration for having to jump back at the last second to avoid hitting me.
This freakin' sucked that I was a goddamn human shield. If I could just reach for that in my inner pocket, I can pull some weapons out of it to slow this monster down. Inching my hand toward my chest, my fingers were able to touch it. But unfortunately, I needed the full range of motion of my arm to use it.
"Release him, monster!" exclaimed Karna, as appeared behind Lancer, the tip of his spear lighting up in divine flame and slammed against the vampire's back.
"GRAAAGH!" Lancer grunted in pain, but the power of the blow did manage to get him to let go out of me.
Moving quickly, Atalanta sped forward and caught me before I could hit the floor and jumped back.
"Thanks," I said gratefully to her.
"Are you alright?" she looked me over for any sign of injury.
"Yeah," I held back a wince as I moved to get up, "but now I'm pissed off."
"No, Faelan!" Atalanta shook her head, putting her hand on my chest to stop me, "With your hand cannon destroyed, there's nothing you can do against Lancer of Black, not as you are right now. You gave us a viable plan, retreat further into the Gardens, let us Servants take care of this!"
Yeah, retreating would be the smart thing to do. But right now, my pride couldn't take the hit knowing I was forced back like this.
I gave her a knowing smirk, "Yeah, you're right, Atalanta. I can't do anything to even put a scratch on him. Which is why I'm glad that I have this."
Pulling out what looked like an intricate dagger from my blazer's inner pocket, it would actually be more apt to say to call it a key. For while it did have the hilt and handguard of a dagger, the blade was replaced with an intricate key. Stretching my arm and holding the key out, I then poured as much as I could that wasn't supporting Atalanta into the artifact, causing it to glow in golden mana.
"What is…?" Atalanta frowned at the key in my hand.
"With the King's permission," I intoned as mechanisms on the key began to turn and rotate before a golden ripple appeared and the key began to go into it. "I open this treasury that had once held weapons of renown and the treasures of the world for the future. Open, Gate of Babylon!"
And then, four golden ripples appeared behind me, and out from them, Black Keys fired off that were aimed at the vampire.
Sparing a glance at Atalanta, I saw that she was looking at the golden ripples in complete bafflement, as she had no idea that the thing I had been hiding had been a Noble Phantasm. I couldn't use the Gates of Babylon in the same capacity as the King of Heroes could, four portals were the only number I could make so far in the two years since I found it. And when I did find it those years ago, the treasury was empty. Unsurprising given that Nitocris and both Darius I and III had plundered the treasury after Gilgamesh's death, spreading the wealth and the weapons that had laid therein to the world. With some weapons gaining fame by other users, such as Cu Cuchulainn and the weapon that became Gae Bolg or King Arthur and the weapon that was reforged as Caliburn. Well, that was a lie, there was one weapon left in there, but there was only one person who could hold it, much less wield it, and that person has long since been dead.
So with an empty treasure house that I was somehow able to open, I learned to use it as a weapon, filling the treasury with weapons of my own; Black Keys, unique Mystic Codes, swords, and other weapons that I liked but still found Mugetsu more favorable, hell even a few custom guns that my Mystic Code smith made in her spare time. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight of ordering a spare version of Custom Eagle and throwing it into the Gate. But still, Black Keys would work fine for now.
"By the gods, now I'm freakin' jealous that he's your Master, Sis!" Achilles laughed as the other Servants, especially Ruler, were stunned for a moment before following the momentum that I had created and engaged the monster before us.
With the Gates of Babylon following my line of sight, Lancer/Darnic soon became trapped between Karna's and Achilles' attacks and the Black Keys that I fired from the Gate, as the vampire was doing everything he could to avoid the holy based weapons. As the hall soon began to be littered with Black Keys and the Servants preventing him from retreating further into the Hanging Gardens, Lancer would inevitably become trapped.
As Archer of Black slammed a powerful kick right into Lancer/Darnic's face, the vampire rolled onto the ground and stopped himself when I fired a few more Black Keys that stabbed themselves in front of him. But that was a mistake, for Karna immediately took advantage and with fire empowered spear, bathed his fellow Lancer in flames.
"To ashes, go to hell and leave no regrets," spoke Karna as the vampire burned.
"Hahahaha!" the vampire laughed as the flames dissipated and his body began to turn into smoke. "Try as you may, I will not die until I hold the Greater Grail in my hands!"
Honestly, now this was just sad. I don't know who I felt pity more for, Lancer of Black who had no say in the matter as his very essence became a vessel for his Master's manic attempts to win. Or for Darnic, who before he even merged with his Servant, acted like a very demented and out of touch man. Still, whatever pity I feel had to be discarded. They were a threat to the world and needed to be dealt with.
"Learn to die and be silent!" I growled.
Two more Black Keys from the Gate impaled themselves into Lancer/Darnic's body, causing him to scream as his form was stuck between his corporeal body and the smoke. Allowing Karna to release an aura of fire that enveloped the area, these flames burning more in intensity than the last.
"GRAAAGHHH!" the monster shrieked in agony before falling to the ground in a burned heap.
"I said, to ashes!" Karna spoke imperiously as I approached Lancer of Red's side, the Gate of Babylon active and ready to help him finish off the vampire as I grabbed Mugetsu from where it had fallen.
"Master of Archer, would you like the honor?" the Indian demi-god offered.
"No," I shook my head as another two Black Keys impaled themselves into Lancer of Black's remaining wings, preventing him from escaping. "Finish him off and let us be done with this mess."
"Of course," Karna nodded as he raised his spear for the killing blow.
However, before he could, Lancer of Red froze, his golden spear clattering onto the floor before falling to a knee.
"Lancer!" Achilles called out before he winced as the same thing happened to him. "Wh-what is this?"
Seeing a window of opportunity, Lancer of Black ripped his other wing off his back and slashed at me, making me jump back to avoid his claws. Before I could fire off a weapon from the Gate of Babylon however, Lancer's wings fully regenerated, allowing him to fly off further into the Hanging Gardens.
"No, stop!" Ruler shouted, before running after him. "Come, we have to stop him from leaving the Gardens!"
The Archer Servants and I quickly caught up with the fifteenth Servant of this Great Holy Grail War as we tried to keep the vampire within our sights so not as to lose him. Both Archer of Black and Atalanta fired arrows at Lancer, but without even looking behind him, the vampire merely transformed to smoke for a moment to allow the arrows to pass through him. I could fire some Black Keys, but he might pull the same trick again and I don't have an infinite number of the Church's holy weapons and rather not waste them all if I could help it.
"Master of Red, do you know why the other Servants of Red hesitated back there?" Ruler asked, looking over her shoulder towards me.
"No," I shook my head, "The only Master in my faction that I know beyond hearsay, rumor, or beyond one meeting is the Master of Saber. Honestly, I'm just as confused as to what's been going on with my Faction too. Both Karna and Achilles have told me that they have never met their respective Masters and when Berserker of Red made a run towards the Black faction's home city some days ago, his Master should have used a Command Seal to either calm Berserker down or teleport him back."
"I considered for a moment that the Masters may have protested against the sudden truce," spoke Archer of Black, a frown on his features, "but the timing was off. If they truly were against their Servants' actions, they would've done something when you started giving us orders, Master of Red."
"Agreed," I nodded with a frown of my own.
"Something has definitely been amiss with our faction," Atalanta chimed in, "although given that the only Master I've met besides my own is the priest, I could never say for certain as to what it was."
"Priest?" Ruler looked over to the Huntress in alarm. "What did he look like?"
Atalanta frowned, "Asian features, white hair, gold eyes, tan skin." At Ruler's stricken look, the Huntress frowned, "Why?"
Before Ruler could answer, however, two pillars with faces fired a shot of mana that Lancer moved out of the way of and almost hit Ruler herself. However, all of us dove behind a corner in case the defenses fired again. Who were they aiming for? If Lancer was the target, more defenses would have been firing and it wouldn't make sense if Assassin and the priest betrayed us at the moment due to the ceasefire and the fact there were still other Servants of Black left.
"A self-defense mechanism," Archer of Black frowned.
"Are they targeting only you and I then?" Ruler asked the man.
"I'm not sure," he answered as looked over at Atalanta and I.
"Don't look at us, dude, we're just in the dark as you are," I shrugged.
"We can deliberate as to what is going on later," Atalanta interjected, "if the vampire escapes, then not only will he endanger what is left of both factions, but the world as well should he turn other humans into vampires."
Archer of Black maintained his frown for a moment before nodding, "Agreed."
Peering around the corner, I counted many of Assassin's defenses that were implanted into the walls of the hall. "I think with two Archers and my Gate of Babylon, we can disable those defenses and provide you a window, Ruler." Raising a hand over my shoulder, a ripple from the Gate opened and a few Black Keys slipped out onto my hand before I offered them to her. "Here, they might not be able to kill him, but it can slow him down."
Ruler stared at the holy weapons for a moment before she took them with a nod. "Thank you, Master of Red."
"Let's go," I looked at the Archers.
Both nodded before we slipped out from behind the corner and fired projectiles at the defenses placed throughout the hall before they could fire and impede Ruler's progress. They were easily dealt with by either the arrows of the Servants or by the ordinary swords that I had kept in the Gate. To be honest, the reason I kept those ordinary swords as ammunition for the Gate of Babylon was because they were worthless and were similar in quality to the swords mundane people bought. They had no mysteries, no innate abilities, which meant they were akin to the normal rounds in my guns because retrieving them, if they weren't broken that is, was such a hassle that I didn't want to deal with. It's a shame that I didn't have a spell or something to bring weapons back into the Gate.
Sometime later, after the last defense was dealt with, the other Servants joined us.
"Hey, Achilles, Karna, what happened back there?" I asked the other Servants of Red.
"Our Masters were changed," frowned Achilles. "That's why we kinda went inert like that, Lancer and I had to get used to the new connection of mana."
"What?" Atalanta blinked in surprise. "To whom was your Masters changed to?"
"That's what we are hoping to find out," Karna narrowed his eyes.
Atalanta and I shared concerned looks while I noticed Archer of Black's expression had turned into a contemplative frown, no doubt trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Absentee Masters in one faction, one Master of his rocker and going cray-cray on the other. It was all maddening. Not that I blamed him, everything, the situation, it just felt off and I couldn't put my finger on it. Which made my frustration with it all even worse.
"Where is Ruler?" Caster of Black asked.
"She went ahead," answered Archer of Black. "Were Lancer of Black's thralls dealt with?"
"They were," Caster nodded.
"Let's find Ruler," I said, looking into the direction Ruler went in. "Hopefully, she has dealt with the vampire by now and we can deal with this odd situation before we can go back to killing each other."
Achilles and Karna shared a look and so did Archer and Casters of Black, but they all nodded in agreement. Using Atalanta's enhanced senses, it didn't take us long to find Ruler's trail and follow it.
And the trail led us to… a chapel?
In it stood three people; Ruler, Assassin of Red, and the priest. And in between Ruler and the Master-Servant duo was a pile of ashes and a number of Black Keys. Had that been Lancer? Well, at least Vlad III could rest easy now that Darnic had finally kicked the bucket and had been purged from him as only Heroic Spirits can return to the Throne of Heroes.
"Ah, you're all here, wonderful," smiled Shirou before eyeing me in intrigue. "And the Master of Archer of Red as well. Hmm, how fortuitous."
Atalanta stepped in front of me, bow in hand.
"What the hell is going on?" Achilles demanded. "Lancer's and I's Masters were changed earlier. And consider it intuition, but I have the feeling you're the reason why, priest."
Semiramis seemed to take offense at the Greek hero's brashness as she made to speak, no doubt to tell the Servant of the Chariot off, but the priest raised a hand before his Servant, causing her to reluctantly keep silent.
"Of course," spoke Shirou, "your Masters and I gathered for peaceful discussion when we gained possession of the Holy Grail and they agreed to cede their Command Seals to me. Which means that I, Ruler Shirou Amakusa, is Master to Lancer and Rider of Red."
Wait. A second Ruler? Well isn't that a monkey wrench tossed into the system.
Achilles' eyes narrowed in anger before he dashed forward with his spear with the full intent to strike down the priest. However, before his spear could even touch him, Semiramis moved in front of her Master and conjured some sort of shield on her arm that took the form of fish scales. Right, her mother was a Syrian mermaid goddess.
Achilles' spear broke the scales of the divine fish and moved to strike again, but before he could, his spear was intercepted by the spear of Karna, who reacted with an unreadable expression.
"You pierced the scales of a divine fish with such ease," Semiramis commended as Achilles jumped back before raising her hand, creating a magic circle of glyphs behind her. "Unfortunately for you, I will not allow you to kill our Master."
"Lancer, are you really going to accept this?" Achilles demanded.
"There are questions to be answered," Karna replied, "we should postpone any violence until then."
Achilles gritted his teeth but lowered his spear nonetheless.
"Thank you very much," Shirou said gratefully to the Indian demigod.
"Spare me your gratitude," Karna scoffed. "I have not yet approved this change in Masters."
"I must say," spoke Semiramis, casting one last reproachful glare at Achilles before lowering her hand, and turning to address me, "when I was summoned in this era, the last thing I ever expected was for someone to be able to open King Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon, Faelan Ashford. That was what you were keeping in your belongings when we met, yes?"
I was instantly on guard, tightening my grip on Mugetsu's hilt. She knew I had a key to the Gate? How? It was covered in runes written by Touko Aozaki, only a master rune user would be able to tell that there was a dagger-shaped item, much less a key to the greatest treasure house in history.
"I did not know what it was at the time," she continued, settling my fears a little, "but in hindsight, it all makes sense. The Gate of Babylon is truly a wonder to behold and it impresses me that such a Noble Phantasm still remains." She then gave a dangerous smirk, "Especially since according to Gilgamesh's legend, only he is able to use it."
I was silent for a moment before I opened my mouth, "I'm his descendant."
"Oh?" Semiramis raised a hand to her mouth, seemingly pleasantly surprised. "Truly? Then we should feel honored that one of the King of Heroes' blood stands among us. After all, all of our Noble Phantasms did originate from him in one way or another." That caught the attention of the other Servants, besides Atalanta, looked at me warily.
I frowned at Semiramis before turning to her Master, "Father Kotomine, Ruler, whatever you call yourself, what is your goal in all this? Why compete for the Holy Grail, why take the Seals of the other Masters?"
"I'm glad you asked," smiled Shirou as regarded me. "But before I tell you, let me ask you a question first."
"Ask," I replied, looking at him suspiciously.
He offered his hand toward me, "Would you please join me?"
…
Was this guy for real? He stole the Command Seals of the other Masters of Red! I wouldn't trust this guy to be in the same room as me even if he was the dumbest idiot on the planet.
"You're kidding," I replied dubiously.
"No, I'm not," he shook his head. "Faelan, I know what's been done to you. When your uncle kidnapped you in order to use as both a sacrifice and a catalyst to summon a Servant outside a Grail war and even what happened in New Mexico, and I wish to-"
Semiramis had to intercede on her Master's behalf once again as a broadsword had been launched from the Gate of Babylon at a high speed, with the Queen of Assyria using the scales of the divine fish once more to shield him. Unlike Achilles' spear, the sword, whose origin was mundane, wasn't a match for the scales for the sword's blade had shattered the moment the point met the scales.
"Forgive me," Shirou raised his hands apologetically, "I overstepped my bounds, I did not mean to bring back such unpleasant memories."
Bullshit.
It took everything I had not to overreact in a negative way, like fire every weapon I had from the Gate of Babylon or rushing forward in an attempt to strike him down with Mugetsu. Because if I did, it would've been in vain what with Assassin and Lancer protecting him. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Atalanta had looked at me in concern for a moment, but I ignored that as I kept my gaze on the sixteenth Servant in this Grail War. Though I did notice that the glow on Mugetsu's edge was increasing in intensity as I held the blade before me.
"Although my offer isn't just exclusive to the young Ashford, I ask the Servants of Black to surrender and join me as well," Shirou continued looking over the other Servants.
"Surrender, you say?" Archer of Black frowned. "I do not think the current situation is that dire for us."
"Says the one who lies in the belly of the beast," Semiramis remarked.
"Perhaps you should consider which of your allies are still with you," replied the Archer Servant. "With just one word, it seems your Master has turned an ally in your own faction against you."
"Again, I deeply apologize for that," Shirou turned to me once more. "I only wished to bring it up because that is exactly what I want to prevent, so that what happened to you never happens again."
My only response was to narrow my eyes at the priest as my lips parted in a snarl.
Upon realizing that either I was a lost cause or that bringing up what happened to me wasn't going to win him any points with me, he shook his head before he turned to the Caster of Black. "What do you feel about these events, Avicebron?"
That's who Caster of Black was? Well, it made sense why he seemed not to be well versed in magecraft despite being a Caster. Solomon ibn Gabirol, which was later Latinized as Avicebron, was known to be a philosopher and a poet. Though the man was credited in the magus society for being the founding father of the Kabbalah branch of thaumaturgy, the practice of deciphering codes within holy scriptures. And it was well known amongst the mage community that Avicebron was the creator of a highly capable golem that many golem makers use the base blueprints even today.
"Surrender? How utterly foolish," Avicebron spoke up, his tone dismissive at first, but then it turned a 180 as his tone then became one of intrigue. "Well, that's what I should say. However, it seems you are quite knowledgeable about the Greater Grail."
"That is correct," Shirou nodded.
"My wish is not one that concerns the Holy Grail," the Caster admitted, "but we may have similar interests."
"You are betraying our faction, Caster?" frowned Archer of Black.
"I only have one condition," Avicebron ignored his fellow Servant of Black.
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"Do not harm my Master," was Avicebron's request. "An acceptable condition for surrender, is it not?"
Shirou smiled before giving a nod.
"My, how noble of you," spoke Semiramis, amused at the prospect "choosing to yield in order to ensure your Master's safety."
"Why, Caster? Why betray us? Do you really think we are incapable of winning?" accused Archer of Black.
"Not at all," Avicebron shook his head. "I simply have a wish that I have longed to fulfill. I will gladly set aside my own pride and morals to see my wish fulfilled."
"Traitor!" barked Archer before firing an arrow at the Caster.
However, Avicebron himself didn't have to do anything for the scales of Semiramis' divine fish appeared in front of Caster, shielding him from the Archer's arrow. Though the arrow did deflect upwards and impact on the ceiling above.
"Do not do that again, Archer of Black," Assassin of Red warned as she glared at the damaged ceiling. "I will not permit any more damage to my Hanging Gardens."
"Though we have not yet made an official pact yet, Caster," spoke Shirou, "may I ask you to deal with the rest?"
"Very well, Master…"
With a snap of his fingers, a small group of Caster's golems appeared from behind, blocking the entrance to the chapel.
"I am truly reluctant in this course of action," Shirou had the gall to actually look remorseful, "especially you, Ruler, given you are a fellow believer of God, but you are in my way. So you must be purged along with the Archer Servants."
Master.
I have two more smoke grenades along with a flashbang. Get ready to move.
Understood.
Keeping myself hidden behind the other Servants, my left hand slowly reached for my belt. Though I noted that Karna seemed to be distracted by something in the hall behind us.
"Out of my way!" exclaimed Ruler as with a wave of her banner, she sent a few golems reeling, but had to deflect the chains that Semiramis summoned to attack.
So this was the power of a Ruler.
"She has arrived," Karna announced, eyes narrowed.
The person in question was Saber of Red, wearing her modern clothing, as she appeared from behind and cleaved a golem in two.
"I see, so you were our faction's Saber," Shirou mused. "The Knight of Treachery, Sir Mordred."
Saber gained a peeved look as she regarded the priest in anger. "Hey asshole, I never gave anyone permission to use my name!" With a swing of her sword, the rest of the golems were destroyed.
"Are you betraying us, Saber?" accessed Semiramis
"What kind of dumbass question is that?" Mordred scoffed, pointing her sword at Semiramis. " Not only did you try to deceive my Master, you also screwed with one of my subjects!" she exclaimed angrily, while at the same time pointing at me.
Subject? Was she talking about me?
"Well then," Semiramis' eyes narrowed as she conjured another magic circle, "then as a traitor, you must be executed! What is the modern saying? Oh yes, off with her head!"
"Bring it on bitch!" Mordred returned, ready to dash forward.
However, before the fight could commence, a pair of smoke grenades were thrown into the chapel and quickly enveloped the room in smoke.
"Saber, we need to retreat!" came Sisigou's voice.
Clicking her tongue, Mordred turned to the rest of us who didn't join up with Kotomine, or Amakusa, whatever. "Hey, we need to go!"
The four of us shared a look before nodding and retreated. As we ran, I noticed that Atalanta was looking at me in concern.
"Master," she tried as we ran through the smoke.
"We should get out of here, Archer," I kept my gaze forward.
"Faelan…"
"Please, Atalanta," I whispered, "not here…"
She regarded me for a moment she nodded.
"As you wish…"
…
To see such substandard tools within my treasure house irritates me, mongrel, regardless of the empty state you found it in. You may be its owner now, but you had better fill it with treasures that will outshine all in this ugly world, my patience is not infinite.
Omake: Whatever Happened to Lancer of Black's Ashes?
As the staredown between the two Rulers took place, the others came into the chapel, confused by many things. What happened to Lancer of Black? Why was there a change in Masters? What was going on?
However, before anyone got a word in…
"WAIT!"
Every Servant gathered looked over to the only Master in the vicinity in surprise, however, he wasn't even looking at them. Instead, he was looking at… the big pile of ash that used to be Lancer. Before anyone could question him, Faelan reached into the Gate of Babylon and pulled out… a vacuum cleaner?
The home appliance's cord was still connected to the ripple that represented the portal to the treasury and to everyone's complete bafflement, Faelan turned on the device and began to vacuum up Lancer's ashes, moving about as the ashes soon disappeared into the vacuum's waste compartment.
"Phew!" Faelan wiped his forehead with the back of his arm before tossing the vacuum back into the Gate of Babylon without a care, a large smile on his face. "Sorry about that, but that was bugging the heck out of me."
All the Servants continued to stare at Faelan in befuddlement, unable to say a thing. Well, save for one. as Atalanta was palming her face as she released a tired, suffered sigh.
"I apologize for him…"
AN:
Right, so if you didn't see Faelan pulling out the Gate of Babylon coming, I don't know what to tell you. I left some subtle and not-so-subtle clues in previous chapters so that's on you if you didn't see it coming. Though to be honest, the only reason why I'm having Faelan has GoB is for one reason and one reason only, which will be revealed much later, though that doesn't mean Faelan can't enjoy the benefits of having a mystical treasure house on his person wherever he goes.
The BB event is over and we are now in the Chaldea Boys event. To be honest, I'm kinda getting tired of these events as they are preventing me from completing Losbelt 3 as I get tired from farming the event missions, though the Seraph event completely exhausted me at the end. I wish anyone luck who is rolling for any of the Servants this week, you all have quite a list of Servants to pull from.
Quick update on my RWBY story, I'm delaying it for a few more weeks because I'm still figuring things out with it, and ironically enough, as I was writing it, I got inspiration and motivation to write more on this story and it kinda took off from there. What can you do, am I right?
Anyway, see you all next week!