CHAPTER 3: SINISTER SHADOW CITY PART 3

Footsteps sounded out the dark halls of the castle as the throne doors flew open.

"Someone dares enter my throne without permission!" a man's voice boomed.

"You believe I don't require such a thing." the intruder spoke.

The intruder was a well developed woman clothed in a black and blue robe. A crown sat upon her long blonde hair. Below was a familiar, yet slightly different face; almost like a certain King of Knights.

The man meanwhile was one wrapped in a regal, blue cape adorned with golden trinkets. A black hat sporting red feathers and a decorative white puff held back his brown hair. His sharp shaven goatee highlighted his deep set facial features.

"Hmph, such arrogance. My knights, kill her!" the man spoke.

On cue, four knights flanked the woman. However, a dark electricity sparked from her. It shot outward, striking each knight through their helmets, killing them.

"A waste of resources." she spoke, gazing at the corpses. "Now, why don't you call out the true ruler of this castle."

"Why you-"

"Silence!" another woman's voice called out. She stepped out of the shadows to reveal herself as a brunette in a gothic lolita dress with a fox eyed smile.

"But she-"

"Now." she shot him a glare, slightly opening her eyes.

"Y-yes…" he slunk back.

"Forgive his rudeness. Even if his reasoning and sanity is more rational, he was still summoned as a Berserker." the girl spoke. "Now, for what purpose do we have for your visit?"

"I was tasked with observing each Impact Point, making sure everyone is in their place."

"Well, as you can see, everything is going fine. Complete control of the city is mine. Everything's perfect…even if it's this place."

"I see." the blonde woman said. "It would appear you have problems with my own jurisdiction. I know you'd prefer to rule over your own former kingdom, but remember what you once ruled was always rightfully mine."

"But of course. Everyone knew of you: Morgan le Fay, the true ruler of the British Isle." the woman said, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Since you seem to know your place and have everything in order, I'll take my leave. However, remember that you must assert your rule. I've heard rumors of resistance."

—

Saya and Mash followed as Arsene led the pair through the city. Traveling through rooftops, they found it a bit hard to keep up with the man in green.

"Can we break?" Saya said, exhausted.

"If you want." Arsene approached the two in the rear. "We're about halfway there. Unfortunately, it gets harder from here."

"I see." Mash stated as she gazed at the much taller buildings ahead. "How do we get up there?"

"We don't." Arsene replied. "From here on forward, we'll need to move about the streets."

"But didn't you talk about how we need to avoid them? I remember those knights we fought before." Saya said.

"Those knights are the least of our worries. They only patrol certain sections of the city. Where we're headed, we'll have to move through some of the dangerous sections."

"You mean…"

"Indeed. It's where some reports of the mysterious assailants have been made."

"Aw, that's sweet. You're worried about us." a man's voice called out.

The trio turned their attention to the staircase's doorway where the voice's owner stood. The man wore dull, light brown slacks and an off-cream shirt. Each bore rips and patched holes. He had short, black hair with signs of chin stubble.

"Master, stand back." Mash said, summoning her shield.

"Be careful." Da Vinci interjected. "He's giving off a Servant reading."

"A Servant!" Mash went wide eyed.

"So you're a Servant." Arsene spoke. "Might I say you look quite poor for someone of that stature."

"You say that, but what's truly poor is your perception skills." the man said. "I've followed you for blocks and you only noticed when I decided to reveal myself. And not only that, I'm not the only one."

Saya spotted a glint of light shine on her right. Before she knew what was happening, Mash leapt beside her, the sound of metal clinging off her shield.

"Are you okay, Senpai?"

"Yeah. But just what was that?" Saya asked.

Four more people came out of the shadows as the Servant smiled, his teeth bloodstained.

"You're probably wondering how we accomplished this." the Servant spoke. "Since this is the end for you, I might as well introduce us. Assassin class Servant, Alexander Bean, although people also called me Sawney. All these folks are my family."

"Looks like we aren't getting out of here unscathed." Arsene noted as the five encircled them.

"Our best bet is targeting him." Mash said. "Da Vinci only picked up one Servant. If he's saying the others are his family, he could be the one anchoring them here."

"How smart of you." Sawney Bean grinned. "One problem with that though."

On cue, the five charged in, knives drawn. Arsene and Mash went on the defense, holding off the many blades aimed at them. As things seemed to settle in, an unexpected arrow whizzed by their heads.

"Is that…"

Nearby, a few figures appeared out of the shadows.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling dead men." Sawney gloated. "I brought all my family here. All 45 of us are here together."

"What…"

"Let's say we carve up the Master and Demi-Servant." Sawney spoke. "It's been a while since we had something like them."

"This doesn't look good." Arsene said. "We're outnumbered and I'm not the best at fighting straight out. And we were so close too."

"How unfortunate." Sawney taunted. "Looks like there's really no way out."

A glint in the sky caught the eye of the Assassin. A rain of arrows fell as if in defiance of his claims. The arrows fell in such a way to prove a buffer between the Assassin and his family and the three.

"Seems like you needed the help!" a voice called out. "It's a good thing I was in the area!"

"Tsk." Sawney clicked his tongue. "You five, hold them off. The rest of us are pulling out for now. Our advantage is gone."

One by one, the clan began to fade away as the five chosen charged the three. Mash raised her shield as Arsene flipped back to avoid a knife. As one rushed the trio, an arrow sniped them through the head.

"Arsene, set them up!"

"Of course!" he replied back to the far off Servant.

As Mash dealt with two, the man in green strung along the other pair. While they were weary of a distance attack, the man locked their blades in a stalemate long enough for arrows to find their targets. With those two down, Mash brought her shield down on the others.

"Even for someone of the Assassin class, they don't seem like much." Mash said before realizing something. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean anything about you."

"It's no problem." Arsene shrugged it off. "I know we're not powerhouses. Truth is, even in life, I was only trained enough to be able to get out of situations."

"So, who's your friend?" Saya asked.

"I'll let her introduce herself. But she's the one I was planning to meet.

—

"Looks like they're the ones." a man in a coonskin hat.

"Indeed." spoke a white haired man. "Let's follow them back. We've got a lot to discuss with them.