Here we are again. Nothing much to say other than let's get this show on the road!
Beta: CrowSkull
Other Beta: Cam
The Seventh War
Chapter 5
Francis sighed as he viewed the rising sun from over the horizon. His muscles, especially the ones in his legs and arms, were sore. Sorer than he'd ever been after any exercise. He wondered why that was the case. He could work out and get his body in peak condition and not feel so sore afterward, but as soon as he got into a real fight it was different. It was a different kind of workout, fighting for your life. It was much more stressful, as he quickly learned during his battle against Berserkers Master. He was just so angry. His magic circuits especially were strained. The fact that he still hadn't slept yet and it had to be about four to five in the morning didn't make it any easier. As soon as he got home he was going to take a nice hot shower and fall into his bed. After that, the day can be his resting period. He didn't care what else happened.
His grandfather Victor would want to know what happened. It's already been days since he's even entered his room. He figured that after a few days of the war he must be worried. He'd make sure that he knew that his worrying had no warrant to be so. What he was more worried about were his parents. They were bound to start asking questions the moment he walked through the door. It wasn't necessarily a surprise to him that he'd be out so long and so often, but it would be a surprise that he wasn't answering their calls or texts. Francis actually had to block them just so his phone would stop vibrating constantly with missed calls, voicemails, and texts. It only served as a distraction that could cost him anything, and with a Master like Berserkers out there, he only felt safe in the day time now.
"Almost there, Master," Assassin seemed to taunt him as they grew closer to his home. "Just a few dozen more steps until we're there. Don't kick the bucket now, it'd be very inconvenient if you passed out here."
"Wouldn't you just have to carry me the rest of the way there then?" Francis countered mentally while chuckling physically.
"I might, I might not. It may just be even more amusing to just look at you while you're face down on the pavement here." Assassin laughed.
"Wow, some Servant you are. And here I thought we had something going on, you and I."
"Oh yeah there's definitely something. You're on my good side and you don't ask questions you know you won't get answers to," Considering he just found out and was confirmed that Azael's Saber Servant was none other than Susano's sister, he could see why he would be grateful for that. "Just not a super good side, y' know? Keep to your limits and I might consider carrying you after I finish laughing."
"I'll keep that in mind," Francis replied, smirking as he felt amused. He was grateful that he had a Servant like this. His personality has much to be desired but what he liked about it was his redeeming qualities. Honestly, he wasn't too concerned with Amaterasu at the moment. With Aza's Command Spell in order, she won't pose an issue unless for some reason Aza rescinds the order with another Spell, which he highly doubts would ever happen. To think that he was so close to using a Spell of his own to give Susano an extra boost in power - which he didn't even know he could do, he was just about to try it - before Aza used her own. He wondered what would have changed because of that. If Susano still lost, he'd have been killed easily. If Susano won, then Aza might have resented him for taking away her status as a Master.
There was no point in thinking about the hypotheticals, Francis thought as he shook his head and snapped out of that train of thought. What happened, happened and there was no changing that unless he asked the Grail to go back in time somehow. There was only one thing to be concerned about now, and that was the next night. He wondered if he should sit tight and wait it out this time around, but he would make that decision only after he takes a well-needed rest and nap to recover from what had just happened. The emotional exhaustion of nearly losing Aza, having to deal with her father again, and seeing Masuru after so long was draining, to say the least.
When he came up to the gate in front of his home, he couldn't help but compare it to Aza's mansion. Hers was so much bigger, so much more opulent and pristine as if it had just been built. While his own was much more humble and suggesting of the middle class. He envied that part of Aza, just a bit. But he wasn't jealous. He was happy with what he had, even if his house was about three times smaller than hers, the concept of a home was where the heart was, as the saying went.
He reached into his pocket for his key before realizing that he didn't have the key on him at the time. Earlier he had decided that he wouldn't keep his house key on him just in case he fell in battle. He didn't want anyone like Berserker's Master to be able to do more harm to his family after he was already dead. It would be his last line of defense for his family. Now he was regretting it because right now he was still breathing and very much alive and he'd have to wake up one of his parents in order to get into the house.
With a resigned sigh, Francis conceited to his fate and knocked on the door. He might as well get it over with-
The door swung open and his mother already had her hands on his shoulders by the time he was even able to open his mouth.
"Francis! Where have you been!? What have you been doing!?" His mother didn't give him time to answer as she pulled him into a tight hug. "I've been worried sick about you! Didn't you hear that there is a serial killer targeting kids in the city right now!? Why didn't you answer my calls!?"
"M-mom," Francis tried to pull away but stopped when his mother only tightened her grip on him. "I'm sorry, I've been busy with school and everything and-" He bit his lips, apologizing to Aza for what he was about to do next. "Aza came back,"
His mother went from panicked and afraid of understanding and teasing as if a switch was flipped in her mind. Gone was her tight hug and came to a teasing stare as she nuzzled the crook of his neck with her elbow.
"Oh~, is that right?" His mother said in a saccharine voice. "That certainly explains why you blocked my number, why didn't you say anything? I love little Azael! I would have been fine with the two of you catch up. Or at least that is what I'll tell myself."
"Mooom," Francis forced out a whine and a peal of nervous laughter, making it easier and easier for his mother to believe the half-lie. "Don't imply stuff like that, it's gross when it comes from you."
"Haha, I know, I know. Come in!" His mother ushered him inside. "Tell me about little Aza and what you've been doing together. I always thought it was adorable that you didn't pursue any other girls while she was away, or at least that's as far as I know…?"
Francis sighed, he would have to sacrifice time to sleep for this, but it was better this than her finding out about what he was really doing.
No, he and Azael didn't do anything she would have to worry about becoming a grandmother over. Yes, her hair was still red and again yes, she still couldn't believe that was natural. It was the same line of questions that he has grown all too used to answering when it came to his mother. He just dealt with it because it was harder to try and get out of it than it was just going along. She always said that it made him all the more similar to his father, which he could see, maybe, if he ever paid attention to what she said half of the time that she actually spoke to him.
After talking so much he nearly passed out on the couch that his mother had trapped him in, said father awoke from his slumber, and made his way into the room. Looking at the two of them with a tired look in his blue eyes as he ran a hand through his white hair. "Oi, stop being too loud. I can barely get any sleep. You're lucky I don't have work today."
"Oh, sorry Vincent," His mother said with a soft giggle. "Our son was just telling me about Aza, did you know that she returned from her trip to Japan?"
Vincent laughed. "Is that right? That explains his disappearance for the last couple of days. Though, you definitely chose the worst time. Your mother has been worried sick about you ever since that serial killer popped up out of the woodworks and started causing trouble in the city."
"Sorry to make you worried," Francis drawled with a roll of his eyes.
"Francis I'm not sure I need to be worried about you," Vincent remarked. Obviously referring to his magical capabilities. "Anyway, welcome back son. And Anne, I think it's time you let our son get some sleep. You can bother him about his little girlfriend another time."
"Hmph, you're lucky your father is right," Anne huffed. "Go get some rest sweetie. Make sure you talk to your grandfather before you do anything tomorrow, he's been asking for you every time we enter the room."
That had a pang of guilt running through Francis' mind. Victor must have been worried that there has been no sign of him for the past few days, and considering that he's been participating in the Holy Grail War, he must have been getting more and more concerned for his well being. Francis nodded his head and made a mental note to go speak to him the moment he woke up. Just in case, he would ask Assassin to remind him as well. Better safe than sorry. He'd have to tell him what he found out about the other wars as well, especially the Sixth. The fact that it ended in just a single day was beyond concerning, and that the mediator saw it fit to lie to him about it amplified that even more.
He was just halfway up the steps before he heard something knock on the door. His eyes perked up and slid all the way open. A knock on the door this early in the morning was… very rare. The only time it really happened was when the mailman came to deliver a package or someone delivering food to their home. Whatever it was, it had Francis put his guard up immediately.
He started making his way back down the steps when another single knock on the door came. His mother Anne was just about to check who it was before he stopped her.
"I'll get it," He said as he looked into his mother's eyes. "Go get some rest, I'll take care of this for you."
He had to be safe, considering the war. He didn't want his mother to argue back and since his father was most definitely listening in right now, he didn't even want to risk it. He hated using spells on his family, but this was the only kind of manipulation that he would allow himself to use on them.
Anne's eyes went half-lidded as a yawn escaped from her mouth. She rocked back and forth and nodded her head. Wordlessly allowing her son to take the reigns as he made to answer the door himself. Francis only considered the option after his mother was back in her room upstairs and that his father was with her. Once they were safe, he took in a deep breath as a third and final knock rattled on the door. He was reckless, he didn't consider the possibility that he was being followed.
Wind waved around his face as he opened the door. At first, there was no one there, not in front of the door at least. As he looked down at the doormat he found out that there were no knocks on the door at all. Three small rocks littered the ground right next to his feet.
"About time someone answered," a voice he'd heard mere hours ago made his eyes widen as he recognized it. "I was running out of rocks to throw."
"You," Francis scowled and initiated a stance as he stared down at Berserker's Master. "You followed me, didn't you. I hope you don't think that I'm going to be letting you past me." The girl was also present, though she wasn't even facing him. She was staring up at the sky with what he could imagine was a blank look on her face. That didn't mean that she wasn't dangerous, however. She stabbed Aza and incapacitated her. Despite her young age and size, she could very easily catch him off guard if he wasn't careful.
"Nothing of the sort," Berserker's Master laughed as he leaned against the gate on the other side away from his home. "It'd be pointless to even try as I know there is a shield blocking me from going a step past this gate. But I had to get your attention somehow, my fellow Master. You put Berserker through the wringer last night, or at least your Servant did. Either way, that impressed me." The enemy Master said with a smile. "And as impressed as I was, it also enabled me to take the initiative. I followed you not as an enemy, but with a proposal to make."
"You tried to kill someone important to me," Francis said, already shaking his head as frost and lightning crackled off of his hands. "You're lucky that I haven't attacked you already. Get out of here so I can kill you later, and don't you dare try coming back to this place."
"Ah, you're almost as feisty as that girl," The man replied. "Perhaps more. But nevertheless, you have not attacked me yet. Why is that?" Francis bit his lip and cursed in his mind. "It can't be because of a lack of strength. You may be tired, but I saw that magic crest on you before I retreated. And I am going to be honest here, I am tired, and a little injured." He raised his left arm and pulled down his sleeve. The frost was still frozen to his skin, but the frostbite was being warded off by dark shadows. He was basically egging him on to try and attack, and yet he still didn't.
"No, no, it must be because of who's in that house of yours. You're not attacking me because you don't want to or can't, you have the power to and the rules say that Servant's cannot fight while the sun is out. Nothing to say about Masters, though I assume they still don't want us to start a ruckus that'd get us all discovered. No, you are trying to hide the fact that you are a Master. I can see it in the panicked look in your eyes." The man smiled. "You never accounted for something like this to happen, did you? How reckless. Even though I admit that you could kill me here and now, you won't because of the noise I'd make before our battle would end."
"What do you want?" Francis asked, forcing himself to reign his power under control. "You're here for a reason, aren't you? Spit it out and be done with it."
"Ah, straight to the point. Fair enough," The man cleared his throat. The girl beside him looked at him as he did so, tilting her head curiously as he continued. "My name is Eren, I'm sure you won't care about my surname as it's not one that is known publicly. And what I want from you is simple; Leave me alone," Francis scrunched down his eyebrow in his confusion. "Leave me alone and let me do what I wish. I won't ask you to be an ally because let's face it, you or I would stab each other in the back at the first chance we get. But you are a Master who fights smart and has a strong Servant. I don't want you causing trouble for me."
"And what happens if I tell you to fuck off?" Francis asked.
"Well, I'll find a way to break into that home of yours and murder everyone you love," Eren said with a shrug. "I don't know why I had to say it. The threat was clear, no?"
"You can't break through this shield," Francis pointed out. "Even if you had months, you wouldn't be able to break it."
"Are you so sure about that?" Eren asked, tilting his head as he did so. "There are ways to apply magecraft to even the most impossible of circumstances. As you were able to do to the shield I created last night to shatter it completely, I am sure there is a way I can do the same. Even if I can't, what if I can? One day you'd come home after a nice, hard fight, only to find everyone dead."
Francis' eyes glared hatefully at the man. "You're the killer, aren't you? The one that has been running rampant around the city and kidnapping children and murdering people. I understand why they were never able to even get a glimpse of you."
"Got it in one, smart boy." Eren sarcastically commented. "I could go into details but I don't care enough to. I'm blackmailing you, mess with me again, and I'll personally make sure you regret it. Work with me, and perhaps I'll save you for last,"
"Some deal," Francis sighed through his nose. "There isn't much choice for me is there? I'm not doing this willingly, but if I ever see you this close to my house again or even on the same block, I don't care what deal you think you made with me. I will try to kill you."
"We shall see, boy Master." Eren waved at him with three fingers before turning away. He began walking, whistling a tune as he made his way down the sidewalk. Francis watched him as he went by, though he couldn't help but notice that the girl from before hadn't gone with him. She was still in the same spot as before, though now she was staring at him. Not with disdain, disgust, hatred, or any other emotion for that matter. Just, curiously? Francis didn't know how to describe it. But when he tilted his head at her she did the same, mimicking his actions. He didn't know what to say to her, though it seemed that he had her attention somehow.
When she stifled down a cry Francis just grew all the more confused. For about a second and a half, she looked like she was about to break down. But the moment Eren stepped back to her and placed a hand on her shoulder she stiffened back up and the emotions drained away from her face instantly.
"Come Destiny, we have work to do and Berserker is hungry. It wouldn't be any good for him to be left waiting, don't you think?" Destiny didn't seem to be listening to him but she nodded her head anyway. Turning away from Francis without a second thought. He watched as they both left this time around, though Eren had a tight grip on Destiny's wrist and was practically yanking her along and telling her to go faster. She just let herself get abused as such, simply taking it without so much of a whimper.
Why had she done that? Francis didn't know what to make of it, she wasn't a Master yet she was still an enemy. She had stabbed Azael after all. Even still, he couldn't help but pity the girl. Clearly, she's been broken and forced into this as part of that man's sick game. That much was obvious based purely off of that reaction she showed him. But it didn't change that she was working with him. Francis couldn't let himself be fooled by the young girl, he'll worry about her when she becomes a problem, for now, he'd stick to what he could control for right now.
"You handled that well," Susano remarked as Francis closed the door shut behind him.
"How?" He asked out loud. "I let him win, now he is going to keep finding ways to blackmail me."
"A man with any less self-control would have attacked him immediately," Susano explained. "There are better ways to destroy a conflict without bloodshed. Let's face it, you were going to lose either way. He knows where you live, and knows when you will be going out again. Considering the strength of Berserker on top of that, I wouldn't put it past him to try and attack you the moment you stepped out of the safety of your magic barrier. All hell would have broken loose after that."
Francis nodded his head and agreed with his Assassin. It was a hard pill to swallow, but if this meant he bought himself some more time to plan and think ahead in the war then it was something he could abide by for now. It was all he could do.
Later then, he thought. Once I speak to grandfather tomorrow I'll hash some things out for him. He must know something about the Sixth Holy Grail War, he said that he was one of the Masters in it.
Which didn't make sense now that he thought about it. If Victor really did participate in the last war just a few years ago, then by that logic he would have been the last surviving Master. Obviously, that meant that he'd be the winner. The fact that he was bedridden and now relying on him to win the war for the Glacier family told two different stories. It was either Father Paul was lying, or his grandfather was lying.
He would get to the bottom of it, he had to. No one else would.
"Hm," Ne Zha hummed as he watched Eren Vex walk away from the home of the Master he saw the other night on the cameras on that block. "Well, that's boring. I was hoping they'd fight."
"What was that?" Katherine perked up from her computer. "Two Masters interacted with each other?"
"If you call cowardly blackmailing and manipulation as interaction, then yeah, sure." Ne Zha drawled, tapping a finger against his spear as he sat on top of it.
"Well don't hold back what is definitely crucial information, tell me what you saw," Katherine said as she stepped in front of him. "If you do, then we can potentially use this information to cause some havoc amongst the ranks of the other Masters. Something that I'm sure you'd be happy doing."
"Oh really?" Ne Zha tried to make it look like he wasn't interested, but he couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly at the very idea of going out and fighting another Servant. He hoped they were as strong as Susano, he was able to make him sweat for a bit. He just wanted to be able to go all out and have fun! He didn't want to waste his time with the small fry, that wouldn't be fun at all.
"Indeed," Katherine said as she placed her hands on his shoulders, looming over him from behind. "I know you have pent up energy that you are just aching to let loose, no? I know I am right; you don't like very happy sitting at this monitor keeping an eye all over the entire city. You are a fighter, not a watcher. Right?"
"Yeah," Ne Zha smiled as he looked back up at her. "That's what I am, fighting someone on par with my own strength is just the best feeling in the world to me."
"Then all you need to do is simply wait just a little longer," Katherine continued quickly. "I know, I know it must be a hassle to you, but trust me, Lancer. Listen to me for just a little while longer and when the time comes, I will personally make sure that you are able to get that fight that you have been itching for. In fact, I'll make sure that your battle doesn't need to end after just one. Can you do that for me?"
"Hm…" The Lancer Servant leaned forward and cupped his chin in thought. It didn't take long, evident by how he craned his neck back up to give his Master a gentle nod. "Yes, I can agree with that. But don't think I don't see what you're doing!" Ne Zha exclaimed, turning his spear around so that he sat facing her. "You're good at dealing with kids, I caught you trying to manipulate me. I'm only letting it happen because you put up a good bargain!"
Katherine laughed and raised her hands in surrender. "You've caught me. But still, do I have a deal with my Servant? I do believe that it is quite generous on my end. Allowing you to go out for so long and doing battle against so many Servants according to my plan is a risky thought. Of course, I will be remaining here, but I will be trusting you to know when to pull back. At that time, going all out will be fine, but if you start getting overwhelmed and tired out, then I will want you to retreat."
"Pfft, on the off chance that they manage to tire me out, don't worry. I might be a fighting enthusiast but that doesn't mean that I don't know my own limits. I won't let myself die, this is still the Holy Grail War, after all. If the circumstances were different, that's another thing. Though, it clearly isn't." Ne Zha explained. "But even if someone did surprise me, at the very least I can promise that I won't be going down alone!"
"I am sure of it," Katherine said with a nod. "Thank you for your cooperation. Now, back to what you saw before, what is the Master of Assassin doing with the Master of Berserker after their recent battle?"
"Well, it's like I said before," Ne Zha said as he spun back around and worked the computer to replay a recording of the two Master's latest encounter. He had caught on to the advanced technology quite quickly. Or at least fast enough that Katherine more than approved of. It wasn't like he had much else to do while he was stuck up there in the tower with her. "Eren here caught up to whats-his-name and he forged some kind of blackmailing agreement with him. Didn't even bother sugarcoating it. Basically said that if he screws with him again that he'd break through the magic barrier protecting his house and kill his family."
"Hm, that is certainly one way to have control over one of the other Masters," Katherine commented. "Though I do not believe that this will last longer than a day. We already know that this Francis boy has allied with at least two of the other Masters, one being Saber's Master and the other the old man with the reality marble."
"What about the Asian guy?" Ne Zha asked. "He could have killed the two Masters when they were tired and weak but let them go. That has to count for something, right?"
"Hm, perhaps. But I doubt it." Katherine replied. "I recognize the Rān family name as one who holds honor above all else. Taking the lives of two young Masters who had just gotten out of a battle tired and exhausted with weakened Servants would not have been honorable in his eyes. While I certainly would have capitalized on such an opportunity, I can at least understand why Mister Rān wouldn't have stooped so low."
"I wouldn't either!" Ne Zha chirped. "Taking out exhausted enemies is as dissatisfying as squashing a harmless bug. What's the point? Unless they attacked me first and didn't even want to bother to try and get away, it would just be annoying to have to remember that."
"Hm," Katherine was going to make sure she kept that in mind, it may be a problem in the future if they come to a similar situation as Archer's Master did. "Next up we have Caster. I haven't even managed to get a clear shot of him as putting cameras in cemeteries wasn't something I was extremely concerned with, but he put on quite the light show last night."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." Ne Zha said as he commanded the screen to bring up a recording of that event that was marked down as 'Greenlight show'. "I'm familiar with taking on the kind of people who relied on magic and spells alone. My bro was one of them, after all. But he's a weird one, he doesn't look like much. I feel like if I could get close to him I could kill him in an instant but… it's strange,"
Katherine watched as Lancer looked deep in thought. This was the first time she saw him actually deeply think about, well, anything. He rubbed his chin and let out sighs as he went through theories and hypotheticals in his head. Katherine for one had no idea what to think about the Caster. The only image that they were able to get of him was a silhouette of his body along with his Masters. Both of them were mysteries as of now, but judging from the silhouette, Caster appeared to be a very tall, thin man wearing some kind of suit. It was strange, they were the only Master and Servant pair that she didn't know what to make of. Not only in appearance but also in terms of motives and desires. The other Masters like Francis, Lao, Piotyr, and Azael she had a general idea of. The only other one who was difficult to understand was Eren, as she had nothing on him other than footage of him doing battle against two of the other Masters and Servants. In terms of activity, Berserker's Master was the most active. But that still left Caster to worry about…
"Keep an eye on that one," Katherine instructed her Servant. "Anything you find out about him will be relayed to me immediately. I do not want any surprises. Understand?"
"Yeah, sure," Ne Zha said with yet another sigh. "I'll just sit here until something exciting happens, I guess."
"Oh don't be like that, you know just as much as I that you are going to get your fun very soon," Katherine remarked, earning an exciting chuckle from the child Servant as he tried his best to stifle it all down and pretend that he wasn't happy.
Lancer really was a hassle even at the best of times. Thankfully, Greg had recovered completely from the knockout punch that was dealt onto him from before by the Lancer so that was an issue that was solved quickly. But the more time that Katherine spent with her Servant the more she learned about him. Some of the things she learned she liked, other things she was more hesitant about.
It was the consequence of being the Master of a child-like servant, she supposed.
Lao Ran sat and meditated on the highest floor of his home, which had a viewpoint over as much city as he could see being just three floors up. The wind brushed against his face and made his hair wave along with the air. As he felt the warmth of sunlight slowly become cooler and cooler as the sun fell and surrendered to the subtle glow of the moon, his eyes opened and he knew what time it had become. After taking a deep breath to calm his fraying nerves, he gripped the sheath of his sword and calmly strapped to his waist. He was ready.
Archer materialized just as he stood up. An eyebrow cocked and his armour glistening ever still. "Is it time?" He asked.
"Indeed," Lao nodded. "We have been stagnant long enough, even if it really has just been a day," He chuckled. "I have sensed other Masters and Servants in nearly every direction, and I know that they can sense us as well. The fact that they haven't tried to even bother coming to us means that we have to go to them lest this becomes the longest Holy Grail War in history."
"Hm, it has been several days already." Archer agreed. "And this would make it the third night already. Yet there have only been a few battles and no Servants have perished as of yet."
"A passive war, surely." Lao shrugged. "We can't help that we are the only ones going out looking for a fight. I doubt that we are going to see those two young Masters again, at least not so soon after their recent battle with Berserker and his Master."
"Are we going to try and hunt them down again?" Horus asked as they descended to the ground floor.
"If you are referring to Eren and his Servant… I don't think so," Lao said with a shake of his head. "They've already escaped us twice. I fear that they will be expecting us to come for them again. I may have considered it if they were closeby, but they are actually the farthest away from us."
"So then, I presume that we will be going after the closer signatures," Horus replied. "Such as the several that popped up throughout the previous night, and those which have returned for this one as well."
"Correct," Lao said, stopping at the exit to his home and turning toward his servants. "Take care of the home while I am gone, do not rely on the magic barrier to protect you. Ming, I will be putting you in charge until my return,"
The servant nodded her head obediently. "Yes, Lord Rān."
Lao nodded his head in return and closed the door behind him, waiting and listening as Ming locked the door. The door wouldn't be open for anyone, even if they shared the same voice as himself until the sun rose as per his orders. In the situation where they absolutely needed to get back to their home, Horus could always fly them there with his wings. But until that situation came, they were locked out.
"Stay dematerialized but close to me for now," Lao said as they departed the grounds of his home. "This could very well be another trap. This is a Servant that we have not encountered yet, we don't know what to expect and so I want you close to me tonight."
"I understand," Horus said as he faded away into golden particles.
"I am glad that I have been blessed with such an easy-going Servant," Lao grinned as he began his third patrol. "If I had anyone else less so, I would have a harder time navigating the war, surely."
"I see fit that the best way to work with a Master such as yourself is to be compliant," Horus explained. "Even if I am a Servant descending from Godhood, you are still the Master. As long as you have those Command Spells I am bound to you. So making this difficult for both of us by favoring pride over my end goals is a pointless endeavor."
"I can't agree more even if I tried," Lao replied from within his mind. "Explain to me as I grow nearer to the new signal your abilities in more detail. I notice that you have a bow, which should be obvious given your class. Are there abilities that I should know about since it's one of your Noble Phantasms?"
"Hm, my bow works in ways that may be difficult to understand, but I was not a true Archer during my time alive. I mostly favored a shield and spear approach, but that changed as I battled against my brother countless times. I used my flight abilities along with what limited knowledge I had on archery to do what I can. The abilities of such a weapon are some that even I am not aware of just yet, but what I do know is that my arrows travel extremely quickly, which is to be expected considering the draw weight."
"What is the draw weight?"
"Translated into terms you understand, my draw weight is equal to the weight of Egypt on my shoulders."
"That… what does that mean?"
"It means the draw weight is as powerful as the weight of Egypt."
"That's impossible," Lao tried to wrap his head around it. None of it made sense to him. "If you are speaking in literal terms then the draw weight of your bow would be billions into trillions of pounds. If that is true, then your arrow should have done more than pierce Eren the other night. He should have been a red stain on the floors and walls the moment the arrow touched him."
"As I said, the draw weight is equal to the weight of Egypt on my shoulders," Horus chuckled. "As interesting as that sounds, I can confirm that it is not that exaggerated. All you need to do is that my arrows are just as fast as I need them to be, and the power that goes with it is determined by my desire to destroy what is in front of me. The other night I was focusing trying to kill a human who was trying to hurt you, which to be frank does not require an extreme amount of strength."
"So the power of your bow scales to who you are battling. I see," Lao replied, finally piecing it together. "It is confusing, but that would prove bothersome against human opponents."
"I remind you that is just for my bow; I have other ways of doing battle if the situation requires it," Considering that Horus was wearing heavy plated armour, Lao didn't doubt that in the slightest. "I warned you that it may be confusing to understand for a human."
"That you did," Lao sighed, only to smirk seconds later. "It is comforting to know that there is so much more that I have yet to learn. Are there other actual abilities of your bow that I should know about aside from extremely fast arrows and a scaling draw weight dependent on whichever enemy you face?"
"My arrows also pierce armour," Horus said. "That much should be easy for you to understand. Once I mastered the technique my brother abandoned his own set of armour as it quickly became useless and only served to slow him down."
"That is much easier to understand," Lao said out loud as he looked around the streets around him. It was strange, it was quiet that night for some reason. Usually, there was always at least someone around walking somewhere or doing something. It was something he was going to keep a mental note of. "Regrettably, I think we shall cut this conversation short." He slowly slid his sword out of its sheath, the shine of the metal katana glimmering in the moonlight as he sensed magic all around him. "It seems that the signal has found us instead. We are surrounded."
"Shall I materialize?"
"No, not yet," Lao whispered. "I want you to be a surprise. I can handle myself for now, but the moment a Servant reveals themselves is the moment you shall appear."
Horus replied by using silence. Lao narrowed his eyes and nodded subtly. He was surrounded, which meant that he was at a natural disadvantage if they all decided to attack at once.
"Sense Enhance: Hearing." Lao chanted, his circuits glowing for a moment. His hearing became more clear and detailed. He heard ragged breathing all around him. "Sight Enhance: Yoru no Hikari." The darkness became more bright around him as his eyes glowed a soft green color, and to his sight alone, his sword glowed bright green as well. Highlighting it in the relative darkness before him. With two quick spells, he knew exactly what was around him, from every angle. As he narrowed his eyes toward the closest sense, he saw a man wearing a ripped up suit. He was missing his left pant leg and one of his shoes. What was also notable was that his skin was literally falling apart, especially around his face. His teeth and jawbone were pretty much completely outside of his face. What was the most notable of his features was his missing eyes and nose, and yet in the holes that were left behind was a glowing green color.
"Soulless creatures," Lao said with a click of his tongue. "I'll grant you true death and end your suffering." He attacked first, dashing forward and quickly slicing off the head of the nearest creature. He looked down at the skull that had fallen on the ground before him. He looked down at it with disgust in his eyes.
The skull looked up at him and screamed.
"AAAARRRRROOOOOOOOOGH!" The scream was deafening, made even worse by his enhanced hearing. Lao winced and stomped down on the skull, shattering it underneath his foot and dashing back away from the headless body that yet still lived.
Hearing that there was one behind him as well, Lao spun and slashed his sword at the same time. Cleaving the female creature in half. He looked down and felt surprised as the creature still came after him, including the bottom half which was just a pair of legs connected by a pelvis. Whatever these creatures were, he didn't want them to touch him. He spun away from the woman and ran back toward the headless one that he had decapitated before, dodging and getting away from the other creatures that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"I don't understand," He said to himself as he looked at the headless zombie-like creature and the one that was crawling toward him on the ground. "Why are they not dead yet? Perhaps destroying the head simply isn't enough…"
"Sight Enhance: X-sen."
He let out a pained groan as his eyes grew strained and became bloodshot. It was a necessary pain that he would deal with as it gave him a sight into their bodies. He searched for any point of weakness that he could exploit. Other than the glowing eyes and nose, there was only one other point that he saw that looked like it required a certain touch to incapacitate. Within the chest, it wasn't the heart but something within the creature's left lung. Lao locked onto it and brought his sword up to his shoulder, dashing in a stabbing through it and tearing it out in a spray of dark blood that splattered on the floor and wall closest to him.
The zombified human let out a terrible screech as it burned away into green ashes. That was it! Lao turned and stabbed the headless zombie in the left lung, and pulled the sword in the same direction as before.
The zombie simply groaned and tried to grab him, causing his eyes to widen as he slashed the hand that reached to him. It writhed on the floor, and yet even that pulled itself back up and ran on all its fingers trying to reach him. Lao stomped down on it as it lunged at him. Then jumped up into the air and grabbed onto one of the railings of the balcony above him. He looked down at the crowd of zombies, which was the only thing that he could think to call them. Perhaps they were husks, he couldn't sense any form of life within them, just a magical sense which controlled them.
Turning X-sen back on, he peered into the bodies that were clawing up at him from below. There, he realized it. The point of weakness was different in every single zombie. That was going to be troublesome. It meant that without Sight Enhance: X-sen, he would have no way of knowing where the weak point within their body would be.
Thankfully, he needn't have to worry. Taking in a deep breath, Lao knew what he had to do. There was only one way to destroy them and he couldn't rely on X-sen for it as it would damage his eyes the longer he used it combined with Yoru no Hikari.
"Body Enhance: Jūnansei." He felt his muscles get looser while also expanding at the same time. With a sharp intake of breath, Lao let go of the railing he was holding on to and landed on top of the shoulders of the most healthy-looking zombie. He jumped off and flipped through the air, landing on one knee as he returned his sword into his sheathe.
When the zombies grew closer and swarmed him. He launched his attack.
In a flurry of sharp green wind, Lao's sword sliced through each and every one of them with the speed he was sure was one par with that of a Servant. To his count, he cut through at least two dozen bodies. The attack lasted less than three seconds as he came through to the other side of the hoard, clicking his sword back into place as he turned and looked at the pile of green ash burning away and being lifted up into the air by the wind waves he had created. Some were still alive but were in so many pieces that they weren't much of a threat anymore.
Yet it wasn't over yet. Lao wiped the sweat from his forehead and held his sword in both hands and pointed it toward a man wearing a jacket who was clapping his hand slowly at him. With his Sight Enhance online he could see the man clearly. Dark tan skin, leather jacket, black pants with boots of the same color. Though he could see the man's dark brown eyes, the lower half of his face was covered by a black cloth. Likely to hide his identity.
"Wow, you actually survived all that huh? I gotta say, I am fucking impressed."
"State your name, enemy Master," Lao said as he took a stance.
"State your name he says, PFT," the Master laughed at him. "Don't make me laugh, it might make me feel bad considering what I'm about to do to you. You have to be tired after that fight of yours, right?"
Lao didn't reply, he simply narrowed his eyes and strengthened his stance.
"No more talking?" The enemy Master asked. "Fine then, be like that…"
His fist glowed a vibrant purple, forming bracers of some kind which extended out to the rest of his hand, covering them and his knuckles. Reinforcement magecraft, Lao instantly pegged it as. At least a bastardized version of it. But not necessarily an inefficient kind from what he could see. Taking a hit from that without another Body Enhance would lead to broken bones and heavy internal bleeding along with bruising.
The Master played it smart, as much as he hated to admit it. He was tired, not helpless by any means, but he was at a clear disadvantage. Whoever this was, they were dangerous. It almost reminded him of Eren, but this man was definitely not him. He might have been dead already if it was.
Thankfully, he needn't worry about losing.
Horus materialized behind the enemy Master. His arms were crossed, and it was the glow of his armour which gave him away. The Master turned with widened eyes, blocking Horus' casual swing of his wing which slammed the Master into the brick wall beside them. "Petty human," Horus said as he took a step toward the Master. "Die like the coward you are."
The Master dove to the side and rolled as Horus' wing stabbed into the wall he was just thrown up against. He let out a loud curse as he scrambled up to his feet. "Hey Caster! A little help here please!"
Lao widened his eyes. "Archer, move!"
Horus beat his wings once and flew up into the sky, just barely dodging a blast of green energy which completely caved in the sidewalk where he once stood. Horus landed on top of the adjacent building and summoned his bow, looking around to try and see who exactly sent the blast at him in the first place. He didn't get the time to search as he spotted another green explosion just getting ready to blow right beneath his feet. He flew up into the sky again and hovered there that time to be safe. His Adjut eyes activated, and he knew exactly where to loose his arrow next.
From another nearby rooftop. Lao witnessed as a sharp arrow of gold pierced through the air and stabbed into something. There was no explosion or mess of destruction, just a simple shockwave of wind as something was pierced into the roof up above.
"Well, this is an interesting turn of events," The voice that just had to be Caster's said as a dark body materialized from the pierced arrow. "You have to admit though, Master, it was a good test of their abilities."
"Yeah? Well, I'm done being the bait now!" The Master from before exclaimed. "Now get down from there and help me out!"
"Now, now, let's not be too hasty," Horus said as he landed back on the ground, pointing an arrow at the Master as he pulled back on the bowstring. "You started a fight that you cannot finish, now face the consequences of your actions."
"Shit-" The Master screamed out as an arrow pierced through both his armored hands, just barely missing his neck and throwing him back into a car. He looked at his pierced hands with shock in his eyes, clearly not expecting them to be pierced so easily. He broke the arrow after wrenching his bleeding hands away from each other. Though it didn't stop the flow of blood he at least regained the use of his hands again.
"No, no, not just yet. I still need you, Master." Caster appeared once again before his Master, becoming fully visible for the first time in Lao's vision. The purple suit, purple top hat, yellow eyes, and skin blacker than the night sky. He didn't know who this was, which irritated him as he spent so long studying every other pantheon that he could while he was waiting for the war to officially begin. He turned and grabbed his Master's hands, a green glow emanated from his own and when he took them away, his Master was healed. "This was a test run, I apologize for the inconvenience, Archer and the other Master," The Caster Servant said with a chuckle. "Thank you for exploiting the weakness of my zombies, this will certainly help me in the future as I create more. We will be seeing you again. But the next time we see each other, I can promise you that meeting will be much more eventful. For now, we retreat!"
"Stop them!" Lao ordered his Servant.
Horus shot three arrows at them, each piercing into the Caster's back as he protected his Master. In the next moment, before the other seven could reach him, they disappeared in an explosion of green energy.
"Damn!" Lao said with a shake of his head. "Which Servant was that, Caster?"
"Yes," Horus confirmed with a sigh. "I apologize, Master, once again I let an enemy get away."
"Don't apologize to me Archer, you could hardly be blamed." Even saying that Lao was beyond frustrated. "How many enemy Masters rely on cowardly tactics and retreat the moment the battle turns against them?"
"At least two of them," Horus answered for him with a frustrated sigh of his own. "We can try and hunt them down, they can't have gone far and I can still sense Caster."
"We can't," Lao remarked as he turned to the still living zombies. "We can't let these creatures or their remains to be discovered. It is regrettable, but we have to follow the rules of the war and dispose of this mess."
"Urgh," Horus was just as annoyed as he was at that. "This constant game of cat and mouse is getting more frustrating than I was prepared for. I almost wish that another Servant appeared, but everyone else is where we last sensed them."
"Annoying, yes," Lao said. "But least we can worry about them later. Come, let us get rid of this mess and return home. It is annoying but at the very least we know a bit of what Caster is capable of. He is a Necromancer and practices in the dark arts. I will study other pantheons and see if I can find out his identity."
"You do that," Horus said as he weakly kicked at one of the piles of green ash. "I'll keep an eye out for anything else, just in case."
Lao looked at the Archer strangely. "Is that you genuinely being concerned or do you just not want to be bothered with cleaning duty."
Horus sighed and crossed his arms. "Yes."
Ah this took me longer than I planned it would. Meh, at least it was finally done. A bit longer than last chapter, but that is to be expected. Thought about doing one more but figured that this was a good place to end this chapter off. Next chapter we go back to the others and see how they're doing. Should be a fun time all around.
T w itter . com (slash) genatools
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