Chapter XV

"Hey, kid, what took you so long?" Sisigou greeted Atalanta and I as we arrived at the crypt that he had apparently set up his temporary base of operations at.

Though in hindsight, since it was an underground cemetery it would make sense given that the old man was a necromancer. That and it was both easily defendable and given the multiple exits, it would be easy to ditch it too if needed. Now that thought about it, as convenient as the cave I had just vacated was, it would really suck if I had to retreat there given that there was only one entrance.

"Sorry, had a conversation with my boss," I replied apologetically.

"Oooh, how'd that go?"

"How do you think?"

"That bad?"

"Well, I just found out that there's a strong possibility that someone is screwing with Barthomeloi's office as the letter granting my request was a fake and the person I spoke with to request the elimination of a pair of lamyros was either a fake or doesn't really exist. So yeah… that bad."

"Oh," The old man stared at me, his expression reflecting befuddlement before turning incredulous. "Wait, seriously?"

"Looks that way," I shrugged.

"And the reason you're not panicking right now?"

"What can I do?" I shrugged again. "We're still in this mess with the priest, gotta prioritize, old man. Sure, when I find the guy who's screwing with me, I am so gonna go to town with Mugetsu on the fucker, but until then, one problem at a time."

The old man looked over to Atalanta, who shrugged in reply. "He has been very calm since his phone call with Barthomeelooo"

"Barthomeloi," I corrected her, chuckling.

"Yes, yes," she waved off dismissively.

"So, what's the reason you called us out here?" I turned back to the old man.

"Right," he nodded, sobering into seriousness as he turned on his heel towards the underground cemetery. "Well, c'mon in. I don't want any other ears potentially listening in on this."

Frowning, I shared a glance with Atalanta before following the old man in. Apparently, Sisigou didn't use the first room in this underground labyrinth that was this cemetery as we had to follow him further in via some tunnels before we found ourselves in a crypt where Saber of Red was lounging on a sleeping bag, looking bored out of her mind.

"Oh!" her eyes lit up. "You guys finally arrived! Hey kid, you happen to have any of those snacks on you?"

"Not a kid," I sighed as I opened the Gate of Babylon and tossed her a bag of chips.

"Says the youngest person in the room," Mordred snarked as she munched on a handful of potato chips.

Shaking my head, knowing I probably wasn't going to win no matter what I said, I just kept my silence. "So, old man, the reason we're here?"

"Right," Sisigou nodded as he took a seat. "There's a Dead Apostle in Sighisoara."

I blinked, wow okay, not that I didn't that coming but it wasn't exactly groundbreaking. "Okay?" I raised a brow skeptically. "This wouldn't be the first time a vampire was found in Romania."

"I know who he is," the old man frowned from behind his shades. "Goes by the name of Guesyr Sanlenar, a magus whose magecraft involved the manipulation of blood."

I raised a brow. Wow, talk about a magecraft best suited for vampirism.

"Back in Sighisoara's morgue, there was a body that had evidence he was attacked by Sanlenar," he continued, sending a frown to the side.

"Yeah, I remember a corpse catching your attention," I frowned. "But how do you know it was this Sanlenar who did it?"

"No bite marks," he replied.

I frowned at him for a moment before it hit me. "Right, if he can manipulate blood, he wouldn't need to suck it out, all he'd have to do is use his magecraft to pull it out." I glanced over at the Servants. "So that explains why you need my help, but why not ask Yggdmillennia for help? More Servants would mean taking him down would be easy."

"It would," the old man nodded, "but I bet they're busy dealing with Assassin of Black, right? Besides, our Servants are of the Knight classes, so it would be easy for them to take out Sanlenar with ease. Archer can take out his familiars with her Noble Phantasm while Saber deals with the man himself and the two of us can settle for the leftovers."

"Okay, but why bother?" I asked, still frowning. "Why not call the Church to have them deal with it then? There are other things we could be doing, like preparing for the attack on the Hanging Gardens."

"Normally, I'd agree with you," he nodded. "But Sanlenar is not only a Dead Apostle but a Sealing Designate that fled the Clocktower. He's wanted for the death of several heirs of various mage families and stealing parts of their Crests as well."

"So a paycheck then?" I raised a brow.

"No, payback," Sisigou shook his head before indicating the scratches on his face. "A parting gift from him when I tracked him down in Germany. I had managed to destroy a large majority of a blood bank he kept there to make him vulnerable and in order to finally kill him, but he got the jump on me and escaped. I know Saber can definitely take him down, but I'd rather not leave things to chance and cover my bases just in case. So I'd like your help."

I glanced at Atalanta, What do you think?

The necromancer does raise a good point. If this magus is indeed capable of manipulating blood, using a Servant whose blood is in actuality, magical energy, Saber and I facing this vampire would be a far superior plan than for either the necromancer or even you, despite having the Gate of Babylon.

So…?

I don't see why not.

"Okay," I said to the old man, "we're in."

"Fighting a vampire wasn't on my list of fun things to do, but I guess it'll at least be interesting," sighed Mordred before munching on another handful of chips. "Hey kid, at least I'll be able to see you use that Gate of Babylon in action. I kinda missed it the last time."

"Mm, well don't expect too much," I warned, "The fight against Lancer of Black back in Hanging Gardens depleted a large stock of the Black Keys I can use."

"Not only that, but your hand cannon has been destroyed," Atalanta piped in.

I grimaced at the reminder. Right, the Custom Eagle was in pieces that were not supposed to be apart in, and its creator was gonna be so pissed at me when she finds about it. Or rather, when I have to go back to her for repairs.

"Right," I sighed before looking over at Sisigou. "So, back to Sighișoara?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "we'll get some rooms, do some light recon first. We'll figure out where he's based out from and we'll figure it out from there. Ideally, he'll be somewhere remote, that way we don't have to worry about the mundane."

"Sounds good," I nodded. "Well, at least this cemetery is closer to the city than the cave was, I'm guessing we'll carpool there?"

"Yeah, got a car out back," Sisigou nodded before looking over to Mordred. "Against my better judgment… wanna drive?"

Mordred grinned, "Oh, do I!"

…

As they drove to Sighisoara, Kairi sat in the front passenger seat of the car he and Mordred stole a few days back, and in the back were Faelan and Archer. From the rearview mirror, Kairi had noticed that the kid had fallen asleep. Sure, the cemetery he chose for his hideout was closer to Sighisoara, but it was still a few hour's drive. The farther he was away from the priest, the better, was his thinking when he chose it way back when.

At least now, he felt justified given Amakusa's betrayal.

"Necromancer," Atalanta spoke up quietly, careful not as to wake her Master.

"Yeah, what's up?" he replied.

"Did Faelan's father really ask you to watch over him during the war?" she asked. "I had only met the man once, but he seemed to trust his son and his capabilities enough in that he wouldn't have to worry if this Grail War had played out normally."

He really wished he could smoke right now if given the way this conversation seemed to be going. However, he knew Saber would put up a fuss, which would wake up the kid they were talking about. Glancing at Saber from the corner of his eye, he saw that she was keeping her eye on the road, minding her own business, but there was little doubt that she had at least an ear listening in.

"And ol' Galen does trust his kid," sighed Kairi, leaning back into the seat. "Who he doesn't trust is, or was, the other Masters. We are mages, after all, honor isn't really what we're known for."

"He seems to have trusted you," Atalanta accused.

Kairi was silent for a moment, his gaze turning to the passing scenery. "Has the kid ever mentioned anything about New Mexico?" he eventually asked.

Atalanta hesitated, her gaze moving to Faelan for a moment before she nodded. "Yes, he has confided in me about what occurred there."

"Really?" chuckled Kairi mirthlessly.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Atalanta asked defensively.

"No," Kairi shook his head. "In fact, I'm glad he's told someone besides that therapist of his. As good as she is, she can only look at his experience objectively, it's her job to. The kid never really had any real friends, especially when Barthomeloi made it clear that she was overseeing his education to make sure it was up to her standards."

Atalanta pondered on that for a moment, "You kept an eye on him."

"I did," Kairi nodded. "I was part of the team that his mom led to save him."

"So you know what had been done to him?" she asked somberly.

"Yeah," he sighed again. "I know. I know every grizzly detail and what they did to him, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Hell, it's a miracle in and of itself that Faelan survived the process at all." After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he spoke again. "Well, we've diverted off the original topic enough. Yes, Galen wanted me to keep an eye on the kid since Faelan asked for the key to the Gate of Babylon to be among the supplies he asked his father for. Yeah, some members of the Ashford family have boasted that they were descendants of King Gilgamesh, but that's what they have been, boasts. That is until the kid actually used the key to open the Gate."

"And what does that mean for mages exactly?" Mordred asked.

Kairi glanced at her for a moment, "It means that the kid would've been looking at kidnapping attempts for the rest of his life. And given the way the Ashford family is with the rest of the mage community, any magus worth their salt would at least consider taking the kid for their own ends, regardless of who his parents are."

"Then why?" Atalanta frowned. "Is that not a problem now?"

"No, it's because of Barthomeloi," Kairi replied. "No one would ever raise their hand against the family, much less the Vice-Director. I mean, she does hunt Apostle Ancestors in her spare time after all. And when the kid started going to the Clocktower for his education, Barthomeloi started taking an unprecedented interest in his academic career."

"Really? In what way?" Atalanta asked.

"Apparently one of her servants would take him after a class and he'd be gone for a while before he had to show up for the next one," he shrugged. "Galen told me that Barthomeloi was quizzing him or would ask him what his career goals were, nudging him this or that way."

"The kid was an investment," Mordred realized.

"A big one too," Kairi nodded. "Rumor was that Barthomeloi wasn't just taking an interest in an aspiring, capable magus, but raising a potential heir. The rumors really got around, especially when it was discovered that Aella was pregnant with a second child."

"Lin," Atalanta frowned, "from what Faelan has told me, she would be a far suitable heir to the Ashford Crest than he is."

"I wouldn't know anything about that," he shrugged. "The kid's told me about her once two years ago, but not really much else. And Galen and Aella have been disturbingly quiet about the kid's sister now that I think about it too."

Atalanta blinked. Ah, so he doesn't know that the Ashford family had been interested in shielding Lin as much as they could from the Moonlit world.

"Well, everyone's entitled to their own secrets," Kairi sighed, leaning back into his seat.

Looking over to her slumbering Master, Atalanta couldn't help but agree. But she just hoped that a secret wouldn't come back to hurt them.

…

When we arrived in Sighisoara, we still had some daylight left. We found a decent hotel before we all split up to cover more ground to look for any clues as to the whereabouts of Sanlenar's hideout. Atalanta had the East end of the city, I had the South, Mordred the West, and that left old man Sisigou with the North. Though to be honest, I couldn't tell if I drew the short straw or not. A Dead Apostle would indeed want to be near enough to a food source so that they could expend as little energy as possible, but they wouldn't be in the middle of a populated area that their actions would alert either the Church or the Clocktower.

Having the tactical case slung on my back, I had to keep both Mugetsu and my 5.7 Custom in it in case I did manage to happen on Sanlenar's lair by accident. But I'd rather have at least worn the holster on my leg so that I had an easier access to the sidearm. Ah, well, no use complaining about it.

After several hours of combing through the streets though, it was clear I wasn't making any progress. Heading back to the city center, I made my way to a restaurant, the place where we agreed to meet. Entering the restaurant, I took a quick look around to see that I had been the first to arrive.

"Bună seara, aveți rezervare?" the restaurant greeter smiled at me.

"Um, bună ziua, vorbești engleza?" I spoke slowly. My Romanian wasn't that good as I could understand languages easier than I could speak them for some reason.

"Ah, yes, I do," she nodded. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, it's under Ashford," I replied.

She looked down at her list before nodding. "Ah, yes, here you are. A party of four, yes? Will the others be arriving soon?"

"Yeah," I answered, "they just got held up."

"Of course," she nodded, "if you'd like, I can show you to your table?"

"Please," I nodded.

She nodded one more time before she led me over to an empty table. "If you'd like, I can have a server get you some water or an appetizer while you wait."

"A water, please," I said as I took a seat.

I gave a nod to the waiter who delivered my glass of water, but I didn't have to wait much longer as the others soon arrived.

"Hey, kid, looks like you beat us here," chuckled the old man as he took the seat across from me, with Mordred sitting in the chair next to him, leaving the seat next to me for Atalanta. "How'd your end go?" he asked after giving his request to the waiter when he asked the others what they wanted to drink.

"Not even a footprint," I shook my head with a sigh.

"I found nothing either," said Atalanta.

"Yup, same here," Mordred gave a helpless shrug.

"Well, don't I feel lucky then," the old man smirked. "Guess I hit the jackpot."

I blinked, "Wait, really?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "but we'll talk about it later. Too many ears here. Until then, let's focus on what we're going to order."

"Oh, yes!" Mordred cheered before she grabbed her menu.

"Say, since the reservation was under your name, that means you're paying, right?" Sisigou grinned at me.

While I didn't necessarily mind footing the bill, there was something in the way the old man looked at me that caused a small shiver to go down my spine. I glanced over at Atalanta, but she could only offer a shrug. Ah, well, why the hell not?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

…

"Where the hell does it all go?" I said tonelessly, staring at Mordred with a perplexed expression. The Saber Servant had ordered at least one of everything on the restaurant's menu and swept it all up like a vacuum.

Seriously, she was a petite girl and had eaten enough food for a large party!

"Servant's, am I right?" Sisigou chuckled as we walked back to the hotel.

I blinked once, before my gaze shifted over to Atalanta, did all Servants eat like that? She stared back at me with a brow raised for a moment, confused. But then she seemed to figure out what I was thinking and smacked my arm.

"Hey!" I protested, shifting away from her.

"Then stop saying stupid things," she scoffed.

"I didn't even say anything!"

"You were thinking about it."

Knowing I wouldn't even win, I simply shook my head and kept quiet. Glancing over at Sisigou and Mordred, I saw the two weren't even making an attempt to hide their smirks. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I just kept on walking. After all, saying something would only just fuel them. When we finally got to the hotel, we gathered in Mordred's and Sisgou's room to talk.

"So, you found where Sanlenar's been hiding?" I asked, leaning against the wall next to the chair Atalanta was sitting in.

"Well, the Bounded Field surrounding it," Sisigou shrugged. "I walked around its perimeter and found a path that's been used both regularly and recently."

"At least we know he's in the city," said Atalanta.

"Right," he nodded, "good thing is, the place is remote enough from the city that your Noble Phantasm might be able to go unnoticed."

"What about mine?" asked Mordred.

"Your Noble Phantasm becomes a literal beacon of light and magical energy, what do you think?" Sisigou deadpanned.

"Meh, fair enough," she shrugged easily.

"So, what, should we have Atalanta scout it out from a distance then?" I asked.

"If it's not too much trouble," he nodded. "Sanlenar will probably out to feed since it has been a few days at least since the last feeding I hope." He turned to my Servant, "Make note of any familiars and traps. If you aren't sure, mark it down anyway. Sanlenar has a habit of making things a bit more organic given his magecraft. Saber will stay here to keep an eye on things while we sleep and in the morning, we'll scout it one last time before making a move upon nightfall."

"Sounds good," I nodded.

"If that will be all, then I will find a spot to look out from," said Atalanta standing up. "Where is the location of the vampire's lair?"

Pulling out a map, the old man pointed out the spot where he found the edges of the Bounded Field he discovered. Atalanta nodded once more before she dematerialized, heading off to find a perch to gather information from. If I were her, I would've used the city's clocktower, it would provide her distance and given that her vision allowed her to take down a target kilometers away even on a cloudy night, scouting out Salenar's hideout would be child's play for her.

"I'm gonna do some recon of my own on my computer before I hit the hay," I said, glancing out the window at the night sky. "Maybe there's some parts of the geography we might be able to use to our advantage."

"If you think it'll help," shrugged Sisigou.

I gave one last nod before heading over to my hotel room. Sitting on the couch, I pulled one of my laptops from the Gate of Babylon and booted it up, putting it on the table in front of me. Connecting to the hotel's wi-fi, I started going through online maps of the area outside Sighisoara. North of the city was a large forest of trees and while there is a road or two into the forest, we would have to go on foot to approach Sanlenar's hideout.

With a Dead Apostle who could manipulate blood, I wouldn't be surprised if he was able to use a small amount of his own blood as a catalyst in order to manipulate the blood of others and gather it, thereby making his collection of blood bigger from just a small cost. Hell, in fact, it was more than likely the case. And in a forest full of animals, the old man and I wouldn't be the only source of blood. If Mordred was going to take him on, she'd ideally have to get to a desolate spot where Sanlenar was the only container of blood for miles around. Well, ideally. But if Atalanta and Mordred were able to coordinate together, they'd be able to keep the Dead Apostle on his toes long enough for the Saber Servant to make the killing strike. Huh, maybe I could give her a few Black Keys to weaken the vampire to make the fight easier.

"You're still up?" Mordred raised a brow as she materialized in front of me.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"It's been two hours since you left," she replied.

I glanced over to the clock and was surprised to see that she was right. I had been staring at the map and thinking over the ideal tactics to fight Sanlenar, but I never would've thought that I had been so lost in thought for this long.

"Huh," was all I could say.

"Hey, kid, you mind answering a question of mine?" Mordred asked, taking a seat at the far side of the couch.

"Shoot," I shrugged as I decided to call it a night and turned off my laptop.

"Would you have joined the priest?"

"No," I answered immediately.

"That was fast," she commented.

"Even the mundane have figured out "be careful of what you wish for," which is doubly so for mages," I shook my head, giving a small chuckle. "We understand that every word can be just as dangerous as a blade or a bullet. And it is often the well-intentioned who typically make the situation worse. While Amakusa's wish may end up mercy killing every person on the planet, I'm afraid of a far worse development."

"What's that?" Mordred asked curiously.

"Stagnation," I replied.

"Stagnation?" she tilted her head dubiously. "Really?"

"Despite the fact that human history is filled with events that are at its core, a repetition of the same mistakes made in the past, people have the motivation to continue forward," I spoke. "Sure, a person may end up making the same mistake his ancestors did all in the same lifetime before actually doing something important and life-changing, but at least the drive is still there. Imagine if Amakusa's wish makes humanity immortal. Sure, humanity might enjoy the benefits for the first few centuries or so, but eventually, they'll end up being bored of themselves, the people around them, and the world. Of course, an argument can be made that people are already bored, but immortality is a factor that will eventually prove disastrous for humanity as a whole. Good intentions or not."

"You really have so little faith for humans?" she asked.

"You don't?" I raised a brow.

She stared at me for a moment before she leaned back into the couch with a sigh. "No, you're right. A lot of humans are self-absorbed and are only interested in helping themselves. If what you said came true, the worst would only use up humanity until it's a used-up carcass of its former self, toss it aside without a care, and blame someone else if anyone asks."

"Yup," I replied, leaning back against the couch's backrest too. "Makes you wonder if humanity isn't that well off since they ceded from the gods that used to rule the planet."

"Well, I found that humans created this really stupid dance called flossing?" Mordred looked unsure. "Anyway, from that alone, I think they're doomed."

I couldn't help but guffaw into laughter, "No arguments here."

"Well, you better get some rest, kid," said Mordred standing up. "We all have a long day ahead of us."

"Yeah, you're right," I nodded. "Thanks, Saber."

"Hmm? For what?" she raised a brow.

For listening? For talking?

But instead of answering, I drew out a box of cookies from the Gate and tossed it to her. "Ah, nevermind. Forget I said anything."

"Cheers, kid," she raised the box a little in thanks as she left the room.

Shaking my head, I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a v-neck shirt before heading to bed. She was right, we were going to have a long day tomorrow.

…

The next evening, the four of us were in the car heading to the forest north of Sighisoara. Atalanta had pointed out several traps and familiars she had seen from her perch the night before. Of course, there were more that she wouldn't have been able to see through the treetops, but the only one who really had to worry about traps, in particular, was Mordred. Atalanta was going to find a tree to perch from to provide long-distance support to the Saber Servant who was going to frontline the raid on Sanlenar. The old man and I were going to be set up in different parts of the forest at the edge in case the Dead Apostle decided to bolt and hoped that a human body would be enticing enough for the vampire to head either of our way so that Atalanta could hopefully pin Sanlenar down enough for Mordred to arrive and finish him off.

"All right, end of the road," said Mordred, turning off the ignition.

Adjusting the earpiece in my left ear, I checked the radio I had on my belt to make sure it was working fine while fastening Mugetsu to my back. The earpiece had a built-in microphone, allowing us to not worry about having to use our hands when using the radio. The only ones who had them were Sisigou and I as both Atalanta and Mordred might have to dematerialize to move more quickly.

Opening the Gate of Babylon, I pulled out several Black Keys and held them out to the Saber Servant. "Here, they might be able to kill the guy in one blow, but they'll at least either slow him down or weaken him."

"Thanks, kid," Mordred nodded, putting on her armor in a flash of red lightning, and took the throwing weapons.

"We all know our jobs," said Sisigou, getting out of the car. "So let's get this done."

"Shoot some legs," I smirked at Atalanta.

She simply shook her head in amusement at me. "Try not to get into too much trouble," she said before turning on her heel and dematerializing.

"Good luck you two," I said to Sisigou and Mordred.

"Back at you," he nodded.

"Meh, I don't need luck," she gave a toothy grin. "I just need a poor unfortunate soul to sharpen my sword on."

I gave a chuckle before turning on my heel and headed over to where I was supposed to go. Hopefully, Atalanta and Mordred would be able to take him down easily and this night would just be another simple one. After all, what meager Dead Apostle could be a match for two Servants of the Holy Grail?

…

Mordred was making a beeline for where her Master had said where the Dead Apostles' lair was. Her fellow Servant had the task of taking out the vampire's familiars that were posted as lookouts that were in her path before they could spot her. The plan was hopefully the vampire would get curious enough and figure out the pattern to intercept her. The sooner, the better too, because her blood was itching for a fight.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here, Servant…"

Well, well, well. Wish and ye shall receive!

"You are a long way from the Grail War," the vampire, who had the visage of a young man in his late twenties, said. He narrowed his eyes at her, "Why are you here?"

"What else?" Mordred grinned from behind her helmet, brandishing her sword Clarent in front of her. "To kill you."

"I have no quarrel with you, Servant," Sanlenar scowled at her.

"See, the problem with that is that my Master has a bone to pick with you, actually," she replied with a shrug as if she was just a victim of her Master's wishes. "And he's quite insistent on it too, you see."

"And who, pray tell, is your Master?" the vampire demanded.

"Kairi Sisigou," she replied.

"That wretched old soul?" he scoffed. "Hmph, and here I thought it was someone who actually posed a threat. At least he was smart enough to actually use his Servant to fight his battles for him. So tell me, Servant, do you really think you can beat me?"

"Oh, I have little doubt that I can," Mordred laughed, pointing Clarent at him.

However, before the vampire could react, an arrow flew past her head and impaled itself into the vampire's shoulder, causing him to stumble back. He managed to catch himself before he could fall onto his back, staring at the arrow in his shoulder, stupefied.

"The thing is," she shrugged as she then took out one of the Black Keys the kid gave her, "I'm not the only Servant you're fighting tonight."

Sanlenar gritted his teeth before he tossed up a vial of blood into the air, which broke out of its confinement and hardened itself into a spear that was aimed at her. She easily deflected it with the backhand of her fist. The blood spear broke apart into a liquid as it hung in the air for a moment. Another blood spear appeared from the vampire and its spearhead moved so that it could strike her from the side, but an arrow from Archer stopped that plan.

However, to Mordred's surprise, the dispersed blood gathered together once more into a spear again and this time aimed itself into the holes in her helmet's visor. At least this fight would be interesting! Deciding that being on the defensive was getting boring, she broke the blood spear with Clarent and dashed over to the vampire. Sanlenar's eyes widened at the speed of the Servant that she had just displayed.

Panicking a bit, the vampire brought his hand up and blood began to gather in the middle of his palm, bubbling to create a sharpened point. Mordred jerked her head to the side to avoid the blood-formed weapon before pulling her head back and slammed it forward to bash her helmeted head against the vampire's nose.

Which broke with a loud crack that echoed a bit amongst the trees. Dazed, Sanlenar stumbled back a bit and nearly fell onto his back. But he managed to catch himself again before he wiped the blood onto his hand before the blood became a dagger, which he threw at the Servant. But that dagger was caught by an arrow from Archer, which the makeshift weapon fell to the ground before spilling into blood again, soaking the soil.

The vampire glared in the direction where the arrow came from. If he was fighting the Servant in front of him one on one, he would be able to cause a distraction to confuse the Servant before making a getaway. His fighting technique was effective on his long-term enemy, Enforcers and Burial Agents from the Clocktower and the Church respectively. Fighting a Servant wasn't something he thought would ever happen as he believed that the Servants and Masters would be too busy fighting each other.

He would need to get creative if he wanted to get out of this alive…

"Graaggh!" he screamed as his arm was sliced clean off.

"You know, you really suck at this," Mordred deadpanned, flicking Clarent of blood before resting the sword on her armored shoulder. "I could tell what you're thinking with just one look at you."

"You'll regret this, Servant!" Sanlenar hissed.

"Nah, I don't think I will," Mordred chuckled. "But here's what I'll do, I'll do you a favor, you can make the first move."

The vampire gritted his teeth, weighing his options before he dashed forward. Grabbing his bisected arm from the ground, he focused his magical energy and a large amount of blood that had flown from the limb before hardening into a blade. He dashed forward to engage the Servant, his arm reared to strike the Servant at the head.

But what was he to a Servant whose class lived and breathed one of humanity's oldest weapons? Mordred simply deflected the sword with a flick of her wrist before twirling her sword and stabbed it into his torso, its point easily running through and out his back. Coughing up blood, he focused his magical energy again and several points of gathered blood flew from the wound on his back and aimed itself at the Servant in a desperate attack. But several arrows flew and destroyed those blood-spears. However, these arrows had come from much closer.

"This fight was a lot easier than I thought it would be, two Servants aside," said Atalanta as she approached, her bow at the ready.

"Tell me about it," Mordred shook her head before turning her attention back to her adversary. "Was that really all you had?"

Bloody teeth gritted again, Sanlenar's blood began to gather to create a bigger blood-spear, but when its tip struck against the Servant's armor, the tip shattered before spilling onto the ground.

"Well, that was disappointing," Mordred shook her head with a sigh before she pushed Clarent in deeper, causing Sanlenar to cough up more blood before she pulled the sword out.

Weakened, the Dead Apostle fell back onto the ground with a loud splat, blood seeping from his body and pooling around him as he took ragged, wet gasps of air. His last from the looks of it.

"You know I thought this fight would at least be interesting enough not to bore me," Mordred sighed again, looking down at the Dead Apostle. "Now all I feel is bitter disappointment. You know, I kinda figured that you would have at least a coven to make this fight worth using two Servants against you."

"And now… I regret selling them…" rasped Sanlenar.

"You sold your own coven?" Atalanta raised a brow dubiously.

"A sale… I now realize… I shouldn't… have done…"

"Then why did ya?" asked Mordred, crouching down to hear the dying vampire better.

"She… offered me… too big a price…" he then released a weak chuckle. "To think… that mere… minutes… after… the sale… I would have… to fight… a pair of Servants…" With one last raspy breath, he stilled.

Mordred and Atalanta shared looks, though the Saber Servant's visage was shielded, it mirrored the surprise on the Archer's. If the sale happened moments before they arrived, that meant that whoever had control over the coven now could still be in the area.

Master! Mordred called her Master via the mental link.

Yeah?

Have you seen anyone pass by you? The Dead Apostle apparently just sold his coven before we came here.

What? No, everything's been quiet on my end.

"My Master's safe," Mordred frowned as she looked over to her fellow Servant. "How about yours?"

Atalanta's face had become pale as panic began to set in.

Before Mordred could get another word in, the Archer Servant sped off in the direction where her Master was stationed at.

Master, can you get in touch with the kid?

Hold on a sec…

…

Ah shit, he's not answering! Saber!

I'm on it!

Running in the direction Archer had run in, she knew she wouldn't be able to catch up with the faster Servant as her own agility was a rank lower than the Archer Servant's. When she finally did catch up with her, Archer was staring at the headset and the radio it was connected to that was on the ground. But the fact that it wasn't on the person who was supposed to have it wasn't what caused Mordred to worry. It was the fact that the earpiece had a furrow that was torn along the plastic.

"Oh hell…"

…

When I finally got to where I was supposed to wait in case Sanlenar decided to bolt, the scene was peaceful in the night setting. Almost picture perfect really and I was almost tempted to take a picture for Lin to show her when I got back home. Something to do later though when this hunt was said and done. Looking around, I noticed that the clouds were moving in, moonlight began to barely filter in.

I was about to head over to a tree to lean against it so that there was something protecting my back when my senses screamed at me. Moving my head to the side, I barely dodged the set of long, sharpened nails that sheared through the plastic casing of my radio's earpiece. Twisting around, I backpedaled to get some distance between myself and my aggressor. My hand went instinctively towards my right shoulder for Mugetsu's handle.

But before I could pull my sword out, another body slammed into me and sent us both sprawling to the ground. Before I could get my wits about me, more bodies began to pile atop me, and from the way they were moaning and groaning listlessly, they sounded like the mindless coven of a lesser Dead Apostle.

Well, shit.

Straining against their weight, I was surprised they weren't trying to bite me.

"Good evening, Faelan. How are we doing…?"

I stilled at the voice, a shiver traveling down my spine as I recognized the voice immediately. And soon, the voice's owner casually strolled over in front of me, hands in her pockets as she grinned down at me.

"You…" I whispered as fear set through me.

"We have business, you and I," she smirked down at me before she reared her foot back and the sole of her shoe was the last thing I saw before losing consciousness.

AN:

Right, so I know I promised this chapter three days ago, but three things got in the way; tests, essays, and FGO. I'm going to try to keep to the release schedule that I made for myself, but April is probably going to be the time when the weekly releases will slow down and I might release a chapter every other week instead as I've gotta focus on research papers and such.

Speaking of FGO, I finished the event's story yesterday and I've already farmed and bought all the materials I wanted/needed. It was surprisingly easier than the CCC Seraph event, though I credit my ease to Nyalter, Berserkerlot, and Skadi for the easy wins. Back to farming QP. And if anyone is still rolling for Kama and/or Parvati, again, I wish you luck.

In the next chapter, we won't see Faelan's perspective on things, so it'll be completely third person for the entire chapter.

Stay safe and see you all next time!