Sorry for the long wait once again. First off, I wanted to say I was planning on just giving up on this story, I had every intention of just saying screw it, cancel it and delete it due to how long it always took me to get back to wanting to write it. But even now despite my lack of motivation to write it and the overall time it usually takes per chapter, people still continued to favourite and follow it. I'm honestly surprised no ones just given up on it.
That said, I decided I can't really just give up on this story, not when so many people are following it, so I decided to force myself off my lazy ass and get back to it despite not really being in a Fate/Dark Souls mood. So, I think I might be feeling a little rusty so apologies if some things in this chapter seem off compared to the last five, also don't be surprised by the fights being so short, I kinda prefer fights that don't drag on for like ten or so chapters.
Chapter 6:
'Reunited'
"LET'S FIND OUT!"
Lancer jumped at Saber with Smough charging up right behind him.
Noticing how slow the large knight was, Saber concluded that he could use Smough's lack of speed to his advantage and made his move.
His first move was to block the attempted stab from Lancer's spear, Saber then pushed the knight back before leaping into the air, jumping over Smough in the process before landing a small distance away.
Irisviel, not wanting to get in Saber's way, made sure to back away and keep herself a safe distance from the fight.
Smough turned and glared at the ash black knight, and shouted, "Damn you! Get over here!" He shouted before charging his opponent yet again.
Lancer dashed forward, passing by his partner in the blink of an eye.
Upon reaching Saber, Lancer went in for another stab, but Saber blocked it yet again, this time he brought his sword down in retaliation, but Lancer dodged, stepping to the side before thrusting his spear a second time.
Saber blocked it once more, his greatshield proving to be very reliable in protecting himself from fatal attacks, much to Lancer's annoyance.
When the sword wielding servant swung his blade at Lancer again, the spear fighter jumped backwards, allowing a clear path for Smough to close the gap without running over his partner.
Smirking behind his helmet, Saber jumped to the side and leaped into the air after Lancer, barely dodging the large knight's giant hammer once it was swung at him.
Eyes widening in surprise at the ash black knight's speed, Lancer, still in mid-air, just barely raised his spear in time to block a fatal strike from Saber's sword.
Saber followed up his strike by delivering a swift kick to the spear fighters waist, a powerful kick that sent Lancer flying and crashing into one of the containers.
Upon landing on his feet, Saber turned his attention to Smough, who was already charging him yet again, this time with a furious and very frustrated scream.
There was no question he could defeat them.
However, how he would go about doing it was entirely different matter, and Saber knew it.
Defeating the spear fighter was simple, as Lancer was the smaller of the two, the same size as Saber himself, all the sword wielding servant needed was an opening to deliver the killing blow. Smough on the other hand was a different matter.
The large fat knight was obviously much larger than Saber himself, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the giant hammer his opponent wielded could potentially cripple him in one shot. The executioner also had a strength advantage, going well with his size advantage, making it much more difficult for Saber to figure out how to deal with him.
Speed may have been his only weakness, but he was still fast enough to swing the giant hammer, just enough for Saber to realise that it would be a major gamble to try and attack him.
Saber knew that if he attacked, and he wasn't fast enough, that was it, that giant hammer would end him where he stood, and if the first blow didn't kill him, he knew he wouldn't be in any condition to stop the second blow from finishing him off.
The large knight was going to be a problem, and the list of solutions was slim to none.
As the executioner closed in, Saber prepared to make another leap over him, until he looked up and saw Lancer in the air above him, coming down at him with his spear aimed at him.
He was stuck.
Jumping into the air would only bring him into a collision with Lancer, which would ultimately send him back down and right into Smough's attack, whereas charging Smough and attacking him would leave him open to the spear fighters attack, and the executioner would very likely overpower him anyway.
As the two closed in, Saber had no choice but to bring his shield up, holding it with all of his strength as the executioners hammer collided with it.
The sword wielding servant was sent flying across the docks, and Irisviel started to grow worried that the servant was outmatched.
Saber quickly stabbed his sword into the ground, causing it to wreck the concrete and leave a ruined trail in his wake as the move slowed him down to a stop near Irisviel.
"Are you okay, Saber?" Irisviel asked, concerned.
The sword wielding servant panted lightly for a moment before rising to his full height. "I'm fine..." He quietly replied, adding, "Although I admit, this may prove to be more difficult than I originally thought."
"You can't fight two servants alone Saber. I hate to say this, but we should retreat." Irisviel suggested.
Saber said nothing, instead keeping his eyes forward on his two opponents just up ahead, both preparing to make their next move.
When her servant didn't respond, Irisviel added, "Saber…"
"I will not retreat Irisviel." Saber replied, tightening his grip on his sword. "Even if I am outnumbered and outmatched, I refuse to retreat."
The firm tone in his response told Irisviel all she needed to know.
Saber had every intention of fighting this battle to the end.
From the shadows, another servant watched the battle.
While he was tempted to chase after the master that the seemingly still alive Assassin scared off, he considered the current battle to be more important.
Mostly due to the participants involved in the battle.
"That servant, I sense something, familiar." He quietly muttered to himself as he observed Lancer.
He recalled hearing of a knight whose description was very similar to Lancer's, except Lancer wore bright armour whereas the knight he heard about wore dark armour.
Even so, the similarities were too close, and he felt a need to personally investigate and find out for himself.
His attention then went towards the sole reason for his desire to remain and watch.
But as Lancer and his partner made their next moves, the desire to stand by and watch faded.
And suddenly he felt a new desire to act.
"Saber! Here they come!" Irisviel said as she backed away.
Gritting his teeth, Saber braced himself as the two enemy servants charged towards him once more.
Lancer's speed already allowed him to close the distance in seconds.
This time, he was ready for Saber's greatshield.
When the sword wielding servant raised his shield and attempted to strike his opponent with it, Lancer jumped into the air, leaping over it and leaving Saber open to his attack.
"SABER!"
Unable to recover in time to stop it, Saber could only look up and watch as Lancer's spear closed in on his head.
"ORNSTEIN!"
The spear never found its mark however.
A loud smack and the toll of a bell followed when Saber witnessed Lancer being swatted aside by an intervening knight at the last second.
Saber watched as Lancer crashed to the ground near the executioner, stopping Smough in his tracks as they both tried to process what just happened.
"WHO DARES INTERFERE?!" Smough shouted.
Irisviel turned her eyes to the new arrival, a large fancy looking knight in bulky dark gold armour, just slightly bigger than Saber.
The knight turned and then said to Saber, "You never let anyone get the upper hand on you so easily, you're getting sloppy." He then turned to Smough and Lancer who was still recovering from the attack. "Two on one is rather cowardly, no? Sorry to say, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to step in and put your unfair advantage to an end."
Smough just growled in anger, clearly on the verge of blowing a fuse at this point. "How dare you..."
Saber was silent.
He didn't know what to say right now, too focused on trying to process the individual standing next to him, who just saved him from suffering a lethal, possibly fatal blow.
One glance, and he immediately recognised the armour, the hammer and the face.
"It can't be...why him of all people?" Saber muttered quietly to himself.
The knight looked back at him, waiting for him to say something.
Saber didn't know what to say though.
Right now, he had mixed feelings on the presence of the knight.
He was happy, but he was furious at the same time.
Finally, after waiting too long for him to say something, the new arrival spoke instead. "I was expecting you to be a little more happy to see me."
Those words finally helped Saber find the response he was looking for. "Ha! You'll forgive me if I find no joy in a reunion with you of all people, Velstadt."
Velstadt frowned a little at the ash black knight. "Even after saving you?"
"Even after saving me." Saber said almost instantly.
A long silence went by as the two stared each other down.
Irisviel started to grow nervous, worried that the exchange between the two would lead to them clashing with one another despite the other two servants still being present.
"...Your hatred is completely justified." Velstadt said, sighing now. "And I don't blame you for it, Raime."
Saber narrowed his gaze at his brother, glaring at him for a brief moment before turning his attention to the other two servants. "...We'll talk later."
Velstadt nodded, "Agreed." He said, also turning to face their opponents.
An exhausted Lancer, still recovering from Velstadt's attack, asked, "Which...which servant are you?"
"I am of the Caster class, you can address me as such." Velstadt, or Caster as he preferred at the moment, responded.
Lancer frowned behind his helmet, clearly not happy with how things had turned out so far. "Why are you aiding Saber? All servants of the Holy Grail War are enemies to one another."
Caster nodded, "You're right. They are. However, there's no rule that says two servants can't ally with each other against another. You would know about that, wouldn't you?"
He wasn't happy with that response, but Lancer couldn't deny Caster had a point.
Once he got back to both feet, Lancer asked, "That's not the only reason though. Clearly you two are familiar with each other."
"Just as you two are." Caster replied with a smirk.
The response got a chuckle out of Lancer. "True."
Smough then spoke up, or rather, shouted, "Shut up! Ornstein, get a hold of yourself!"
Lancer nodded, "Of course." He let out a pained hiss as he tried to rise to his full height. "We didn't plan for any setbacks such as this, but we will adapt accordingly."
"Cease the pointless chatter, focus on the battle, both of you." The voice of Lancer's master echoed around them.
The spear fighter was engulfed in a glow, and within seconds, his wounds had healed just like that.
"Of course, my thanks, master." Lancer said with a newfound confidence now that he had been healed.
Each of the four servants tightened their grips around their weapons and prepared to charge one another.
"I'll handle the fat one. I should have no problems matching his strength with my own." Caster said to Saber.
Saber just chuckled. "That's fine with me, I have a score to settle with Lancer anyway."
"ENOUGH TALK! IT'S TIME FOR WAR!" Smough roared.
Just as the servants made their moves, they were all immediately stopped in their tracks by a hail of glowing arrows raining down between them.
Saber reacted by standing between Caster and the barrage of arrows, using his greatshield to protect them both from the unexpected attack.
Lancer just barely evaded it, while Smough wasn't as lucky, having been struck by quite a few arrows before successfully rolling out of the way of the rest. Thankfully, his armour was thick and bulky enough to stop him from suffering any injuries.
"What was that? Another servant?" Irisviel asked as she looked around for the source of the arrows.
The four servants took a moment to recover from the surprise attack, before glancing around, trying to find the one responsible.
"What a pity." A new voice echoed around them.
Given the only other voice they'd heard until now was Lancer's master, it wasn't difficult to separate him from the other new arrival, especially given the monstrous tone the new voice had to it.
"I was hoping to save myself some valuable time and just kill you all in the blink of an eye. But it would seem you're all smarter than that. Well, almost all of you."
A large form, a being that looked half human and half monster, materialised on top of a pile of containers, looking down at them with a wicked grin.
The very presence of this abomination froze all of them where they stood.
But while Saber and Caster were merely surprised by the new arrival, it was Lancer and Smough who were shocked the most.
"L-Lord...Gwyndolin…?" Lancer whispered.
Smough took a small step back, his confidence starting to waver. "No...not him...not him..."
"Archer, the servant that defeated Assassin." Irisviel said as she struggled to take her eyes off of the monstrosity.
Caster glanced over at her, brow raised. "The servant that...ah, I see..."
It didn't take long for him to put two and two together.
Likely, most of the participants in the Holy Grail War believe Assassin has been eliminated, completely unaware that he is still active in the Holy Grail War.
He knew this the moment he saw the servant in question chase off a master or two who were hiding in the shadows.
Approaching Caster, Saber asked, "Velstadt, are you familiar with that being?"
"No. I've never seen him before. However..." He stopped, glancing over to the other two servants. "Judging by their reactions, I think it's safe to assume those two are very familiar with him."
Irisviel then asked, "Could they be, allies?"
"I don't think so." Caster replied, adding, "He tried to kill them too. That tells me that they are his enemies as well."
Saber nodded, "Indeed. Irisviel stay back, things might get even more dangerous from here on out."
"S-Sure..." Irisviel replied, backing away a little.
Smirking down at the spear fighter and the executioner, Archer said, "I wonder if the same meal tastes as good as it did the first time."
He then turned his attention from Lancer and Smough to the other two servants and the master, and smirked. "I must admit, I'm surprised to see a couple of servants ally with each other this early in the Holy Grail War. Even so, forming an alliance will not save you from my wrath."
Rising to his full height, a large dark bow materialised in Archer's hand as he announced to them, "You will simply be among the many who have all fallen prey to my hunger. I, the Devourer of Gods!"
Besides Saber and Caster, the monstrous laugh sent a shiver down the spines of everyone present, including Lancer's master despite being a safe distance away from the battle.
One master who was hidden away in the shadows smirked in response to the monstrous servant's claim, and simply uttered two words to himself.
"Kill him."
A black aura formed a short distance away, slowly expanding across the ground before exploding into a cloud of nothing but darkness.
It was only after they all sensed the tremendous power emanating from the dark cloud, that the attention of all servants and masters turned to the new arrival.
The darkness subsided a little, just enough for all of them to make out a dark knight of silver and blue, clutching a dark sword in his one good hand.
Given the extremely hostile and aggressive aura and the absolute power radiating from this servant's very being, it didn't take a genius to figure out who the new arrival was.
"Berserker." Caster said in response to the low growl that came from the dark knight.
Lancer and Smough exchanged glances of disbelief, before the former looked back at the new arrival, muttering, "Impossible. Him as well?"
Archer laughed once again, and greeted the new arrival. "Another victim for the feast! By all means, make yourself very comfortable, you will-"
The servant was cut off by the roar of a leaping Berserker, and the dark sword that pierced his monstrous body.
Next Chapter:
"By the power of my Command Seal, I order you..."
"Think of Gough! Think of Ciaran!"
"The wolf blood in my veins..."