I'm dropping this fanfic; I'll dump the rest of the chapters I'd already completed here today, but fear not; from the ashes of a dead story, a new one shall arise.
If you've enjoyed reading my stuff I'll be uploading a new fanfic, it takes place in RWBY, that I've been hard at work on.
My original Systematic Soul Sorting is also now live on my (Early Access) and Amazon.
So I'll be moving on to my next original as well, and the preview chapters will be uploaded here every Friday in place of SSS. The next chapter drop will be on the 28th of August, sometime before 12:00, AEST.
Enjoy!
Fuyuki City, Japan.
January 30th, 2004, 11:17 AM.
Another explosion rocked the buildings before a piercing scream rang out, and a moment afterward, it was followed by a wave of heat that washed over them.
"What was that?" Gudako said awed. "Did they get her?"
Blake wasn't about to drop his guard, but that had been the woman's voice as far as he could tell. Gudako's short servant returned to their group in a series of blurring hops before coming to a stop beside her Master.
"What happened, Assassin?" Gudako asked excitedly.
"Caster dealt a decisive blow that defeated the servant." Assassin said quietly. "He also seems to be wary of my presence."
"Another Assassin running around, and it's not one of the Hassan either?" Caster said, grinning as he led Mash back to them. "Wary? This is actually getting interesting."
"Master!" Mash stopped next to Ritsuka, "Caster defeated her."
"We all defeated her," Caster said, amused.
Romani suddenly appeared once more, projected from Olga's communication module.
"Oho!" Caster said intrigued, as soon as he noticed the projection. "Is that some means of communication through magecraft?"
"Yes," Romani said plainly, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Heroic Spirit, I don't know where you hail from, but it's an honor-"
Caster turned away in annoyance.
"There's no need for such flattery," Caster complained, "Just state your business quickly."
Blake nodded in approval at the man, happy that he had met at least one person who understood.
"U-uh," Romani said utterly derailed.
"Caster, we are here to kill whatever is causing this holy grail war to continue," Blake said evenly, "Members of our party have already encountered Archer, we will be hunting him down soon."
"That's more like it," Caster laughed, "There's more then just Archer running around though, I'll summarise the situation."
Blake twisted his hand, but Olga yanked it back into position when he tried to shake her.
"Somewhere along the way, our Holy Grail War was switched with something else," Caster said thoughtfully, "I don't know all the details, but overnight the town was blanketed with fire, all the humans had disappeared, and only the Servants remained."
"Switched?" Olga said distractedly.
"Saber was the first to start up the Holy Grail War again, and has been extremely effective since," Caster frowned, "Already managing to defeat Archer, Lancer, Berserker, and Assassin."
"So there is another ally we will recruit before engaging with her," Blake said evenly. "Do you know the current location of Rider, or have you already defeated that servant?"
"He's still around, or at least he was several hours ago, somewhere to the west of the city." Caster answered easily, "You've probably noticed all the skeletons running around attacking everyone, they fight for him. The problem is worse than that, however."
"It gets worse?" Gudako said worriedly. "How could it get worse?"
Assassin glanced at her Master for a moment before turning back to the assembled group.
"The situation can always worsen." Assassin said quietly.
Blake nodded at the comment.
"Each of the Servants that Saber has defeated has been corrupted and enthralled to fight alongside her." Caster continued after a moment. "As you have already seen with Lancer."
"Then, with Lancer down, our enemies are Saber, Archer, Berserker, and Assassin." Olga said, frowning, "Have you managed to uncover any of the identities of the other servants?"
"Of course," Caster said, amused, "Assassin is one of the Hassan, and Berserker is clearly Heracles."
"Heracles?!" Olga hissed in alarm.
Blake used the distraction to retake his mostly fixed hand out of her grip, and she bared her teeth at him angrily for a moment, but he ignored her, it was functional enough to use now.
"Will defeating these servants bring the singularity to an end?" Ritsuka asked hesitantly. "Who do we go after?"
"Saber is most likely the destabilizing force because that servant is somehow 'corrupting' all the others," Olga said sternly, "Killing Saber should at the very least vanish the remaining corrupted servants, do you agree Director?"
There was a pause for several moments.
"O-oh!" Romani said suddenly, "It sounds like a reasonable plan of action, but given that all of the servants could attack you, it might be prudent to thin the herd first?"
"It might take some time, but," Blake said evenly, "Separating and killing each of the corrupt servants is the best strategy available, however, provided Caster here stays alive until we can kill Saber."
"I'm not going to vanish any time soon," Caster said smoothly, "I'm getting recharged by the contract with the boy."
"Are you able to keep up the drain of two servants simultaneously?" Olga said, frowning. "Well, commoner?"
"My name is Ritsuka," Ritsuka said, annoyed. "I can support both."
"Senpai," Mash said quietly.
They were getting lost in the weeds again, so Blake refocused them.
"Are we attempting to recruit Rider?" Blake said expectantly.
"Yes." Olga and Romani said at the same time.
Olga flinched and turned away.
"Yes," Romani repeated again after a long moment, "The first objective is to find and attempt to recruit Rider, if he has been corrupted in the meantime you will have to eliminate him."
"Rider is still my enemy in this war, you know?" Caster said, amused.
"Then duel him once Saber is dead," Blake said simply.
Caster laughed.
"Master." Assassin said quietly, "I will find the corrupted Assassin."
"Okay!" Gudako chirped, "Don't fight on your own, though! Come back, and we can beat him up together."
The Assassin looked vaguely amused at the idea but bowed her head in agreement.
"I will return," Assassin said quietly, before suddenly vanishing in a burst of untraceable speed.
Blake almost smiled at the display of prowess.
"Good luck," Romani said kindly.
"Romani," Blake said evenly before the man could cut the connection. "What's the status of the body double?"
Olga's eyes went wide.
"O-oh!" Romani said suddenly, "I've spoken to Da Vinci already, she is currently working on a solution, but I have no new updates from her at this time."
Blake turned away from the projection to face Caster.
"West?" Blake asked simply.
Caster grinned.
"Saber's Identity?" Caster said thoughtfully, "Of course I know it, any servant who was struck by her Noble Phantasm would know."
The group was traveling carefully west, but there had been no sign of any of the other servants yet, and even Gudako's Assassin had returned several times with reports of no sightings. Gudako had been badgering both Ritsuka and Mash almost the entire way, but Blake's attention was firmly on the discussion that Olga and Caster were having.
"It's the most famous holy sword of all, even in your time period." Caster said evenly. "Its name is Excalibur."
"Excalibur!?" Olga cried out in alarm.
"Mm." Caster said thoughtfully, "The sword belongs to King Arthur, the celebrated King of Knights."
"There's no way Mash can fight King Arthur!" Olga said worriedly, "Her Noble Phantasm hasn't even been released yet! She doesn't even know its name!"
Caster scoffed.
"The young lady has that shield," Caster said simply, "Archer targeted her because of it, the corrupted version, which should make my point obvious."
"If Archer is acting to target her because of the shield, it was on Saber's orders," Blake said evenly.
"Then the shield-" Olga said suddenly.
Assassin appeared next to them once more at the same time Caster spoke up.
"Servant nearby." Caster said suddenly, "Identity unknown for now."
"It is a very large man," Assassin said quietly, "Gold and black armor, he also has a horned helmet."
"That's definitely Rider," Caster said easily.
"How are we going to handle this?" Ritsuka asked seriously.
"Senpai," Mash said thoughtfully, "You should stay here-"
Blake sighed and stepped past them.
"Rider!" Blake called sharply. "We have come to build an alliance against King Arthur and the corrupted servants, will you join us?"
"Blake!" Olga hissed angrily. "Stop doing things!"
Blake ignored her.
"Interesting, we will meet on peaceful terms then." A voice rumbled from inside one of the few still standing buildings. "Let us discuss this alliance."
Rider stooped down to clear the doorway and stepped out onto the street. The man was massive. Easily seven feet tall at least, and covered in muscles. He was wearing a thin black bodysuit that split at the front, lined with golden threads, segmented golden plates adorned the man, shoulders, bracers, and gauntlets. Two massive horned curled up from under his white hood, and Blake could see two handles peeking out from the man's massive shoulders. He was also the third person that Blake had seen today with golden eyes. It seemed to be a common theme how strange.
"Four enemy servants remain, all of which are corrupted and under the control of King Arthur. Caster has joined us to combat their forces." Blake said evenly, "The terms are simple, you join us to kill each of the servants, and then you duel Caster for the grail. If you decline, we will be forced to remove you before going after the others."
"Blake," Olga said furiously, but he was well practiced at ignoring her by now.
The giant man studied the group for a long moment before speaking.
"While you do have two additional servants that are not a part of this war, it would be a difficult battle but not impossible to defeat you." Rider rumbled thoughtfully. "Do you seek to possess the grail as well?"
"No," Blake said immediately, "We are here to end this war and kill Saber, the Grail is of no interest to us."
"Interesting." Rider rumbled evenly.
"You already said that," Caster said, amused, joining the conversation. "What do you say, big guy? We clean up the competition then settle who's better?"
"Very well, I will join your alliance, and we will defeat our enemies before returning to our original purpose." Rider rumbled easily. "Who will be forming the contract?"
"Olga." Blake said immediately, "You have access to more Od, you form the contract."
"That's-" Olga stuttered.
"The pretty lady isn't able to contract with a servant." Caster said, amused. "No talent for it."
"How dare you," Olga hissed, "I am a first-class-"
Blake ignored her and turned back to the massive man.
"Then I will form the contract with you," Blake said evenly, "Is that acceptable?"
"Yes," Rider rumbled in agreement. "The lack of command seals is unfortunate, but at least I will be able to regain my spent power now."
"Don't worry, Olga! I still like you even if you can't summon!" Gudako said cheerfully.
"You-" Olga cried in embarrassment.
"In the interest of maintaining our cohesion, I find I must apologize." Rider rumbled calmly as he strode beside him.
"The attack earlier?" Blake said evenly. "It's barely worth mentioning, nor do we hold any ill will."
"I almost died!" Olga said, annoyed.
"You weren't even remotely close to being killed." Blake said easily, "Perhaps you shouldn't fall over in the middle of a warzone next time."
"I tripped!" Olga hissed at him.
Blake rolled his eyes, and Olga's face continued to grow increasingly red.
"Leave the foreplay for later," Caster said, amused, "We should be approaching where Archer was attacking from earlier."
"Foreplay?!" Olga cried out.
"There, at the top of that tower." Caster gestured vaguely. "He's obviously moved on already, but that was where he was standing."
"Thank you," Assassin said quietly, before vanishing to investigate the tower.
"Be careful!" Gudako called cheerfully.
"Mash?" Ritsuka said quietly.
Blake glanced over at the man; he had a worried look on his face.
"Senpai?" Mash said, startled.
"Are you alright?" Ritsuka said quietly, "Have I overworked you?"
"I'm fine, Senpai." Mash said embarrassedly, "I'm just not used to this yet, I will do better."
"You're doing fine already!" Ritsuka said firmly. "and we have others that you can lean on now."
"S-senpai," Mash said, ducking her head.
Blake raised an eyebrow, Ritsuka had such trust in their temporary allies already? He didn't even appear to have a modicum of suspicion for any of them. Was it naivete or faith? Blake supposed it didn't really matter. If any of the servants betrayed them, he would do his best to kill them before they could hurt his colleagues, but until they made that choice, they were allies that he would fight beside.
"Hm." Rider rumbled suddenly, "Berserker just destroyed several of my men."
"Which direction?" Blake said evenly.
Assassin returned halfway through the question.
"North-west from here, just on the outskirts of the city." Rider rumbled serenely.
"Archers path leads into the mountains to the North." Assasin said quietly, "There is still no sign of the Hassan."
"He will likely attack us during the moment where we are mostly occupied fighting one of the other servants," Rider rumbled easily. "He is unlikely to approach our group alone."
Blake agreed with the assessment, from his study at Chaldeas Assassin was said to be one of the weakest classes in a fair fight, but they never tended to fight that way at all and were quite capable of taking the other servants down in a moment of weakness.
"There's a large amount of energy being emitted from the mountains," Caster said curiously, staring in that direction with narrowed eyes. "That is likely where King Arthur resides."
"Assassin will attack during one of the battles." Bake said evenly, "Which is the easier fight, this Saber, Archer, and Assassin? Or Berserker and Assassin?'"
"Heracles is a force to be reckoned with, even on his own." Caster said thoughtfully, "Assassin could make that fight even worse."
"Saber somehow managed to defeat him," Rider rumbled, "and Archer is now by her side, potentially Assassin as well."
"We shouldn't go after King Arthur until we have defeated most of the others," Olga said seriously. "We should focus our efforts against Berserker."
"I agree," Blake said simply. "He is currently alone, it could be a trap, but I am confident we can defeat a single servant with our current force."
"Assassin, can you keep an eye out for when the Hassan attacks?" Gudako asked curiously.
"Of course," Assassin said simply. "I will not allow him to move freely."
"It looks like this team-up was a good idea after all!" Caster said cheerfully, "If only I hadn't been summoned as a Caster, such bad luck."
Rider let out an amused rumble.
"This isn't you're primary class?" Blake said, intrigued.
Caster had dealt with one of the most physically able classes with relative ease, with a class that he felt limited his ability? Although he did have help at the time.
"I'm a much better fit for Lancer," Caster said, annoyed, "I'm so slow right now."
'Slow' was clearly relative given he was keeping up with a woman who was fast enough to vanish from unenhanced sight with ease.
"Then our next target is Berserker," Ritsuka said firmly.
"Mm." Mash noised confidently.
"Yeah!" Gudako cheered.
"We just need to kill Heracles," Olga said despondently, "How hard could it possibly be?"
"Why would you say that!?" Ritsuka called hysterically, as he hid alongside Gudako behind Mash's shield.
"Olga!" Gudako cried at the same time as Mash called out, "Director!"
Blake dragged the woman to her feet, threw her onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry, and dashed out of the line of fire with reinforced speed.
"I'm not the director anymore!" Olga cried as another tree was uprooted and tossed in there direction. "Ah!"
Blake managed to get clear of the attack barely and unceremoniously dropped Olga on the ground behind Mash.
"Don't just drop me!" Olga hissed.
Blake ignored her and studied the ongoing fight amongst the trees while grinning madly. Heracles was the perfect warrior, his hand to hand skills were superb; he was fast, strong, relentless, and apparently refused to die despite the numerous lethal attacks the other servants had hit him with.
"Why couldn't I have met you before? This is great!" Blake laughed happily, "He keeps getting back up!"
"That's not a good thing!" Ritsuka said incredulously. "It's the opposite of what we want! How is he even doing it?"
Rider was the only one capable of even blocking Berserkers attacks, but even then, they sent him sliding across the ground, dragging twin trenches in the dirt. Blocking was seemingly all he could do, however, and his skill with his pair of twin axes was the only thing keeping him from being outright destroyed.
Caster had already flashed fried the massive man several times, but after the first lethal attack seemingly defeated him, Berserker somehow just got straight back up and kept on fighting. The next time the flame attack smashed down on his position and scorched the area barren, Heracles just pushed through it, the raging flames washing over him without a hint of discomfort.
"Olga," Blake demanded, "Tell me about this, Heracles."
"This isn't the time for a history lesson!" Olga hissed.
"Servants are bound to their history, and it might contain the key to figuring out how to get past his resurrection ability," Blake scoffed.
Ritsuka was the one who spoke up.
"Heracles is a famous Greek hero!" Ritsuka called over his shoulder. "The son of Zeus and a mortal woman!"
A demi-god then, Blake, though, was his resurrecting because of this divinity?
"What weapons did he carry in his life?" Blake called back, "Where is his noble phantasm?"
Heracles had been attacking with his hands and feet the entire fight, and if something came within his grasp, he would inevitably end up throwing it with great precision at one of them.
Ritsuka was apparently completely tapped of his knowledge because he didn't answer immediately, Gudako, on the other hand, spoke up.
"He had lots of weapons!" Gudako cried, "A club, a sword sometimes appeared, but he mostly used a bow!"
Blake frowned. He wished he could have seen the monster of a man wielding a sword.
"What did he do in his life that correlates with the resurrection?" Blake asked idly.
Assassin, Gudako's one, had just appeared out of nowhere to drag Caster out of the way of another attack when Heracles suddenly targeted him. Blake grinned at her obscene speed. He couldn't even see her with his currently maximum reinforcement. Rider stormed back into the fight, looking battered but not yet broken.
"Heracles performed twelve labors in his life, each more challenging than anything a normal human would ever be able to accomplish, and he completed them all." Olga huffed, "This is likely a crystallization of his legend in the form of the immortality he acquires because of those twelve labors."
"How expensive is it?" Blake asked her seriously, "There must be an upward limit."
"Twelve?" Mash said hesitantly, "It fits thematically?"
"Thematically?" Olga said incredulously.
But it held the ring of truth to it, twelve impossible deeds, and twelve impossible resurrections in return. It didn't explain why he was suddenly immune to Casters fire, but it gave them something.
"Where is the noble phantasm responsible for it?" Ritsuka said, frowning. "He's not carrying anything that isn't clothing."
Blake fought down his reflexive motion to attack as Assassin suddenly appeared directly next to him. His adrenaline spiked, and his circuits flared up in response before he forced himself to still.
"It's most likely his body, given that it has such a distinctive grey coloration." Assassin said quietly, having appeared next to them without sound. "Caster is 'Bringing the Odin,' or so he said, you must retreat from the frontlines lest you be caught in the attack."
"What the hell does that mean?" Olga demanded. "Is he claiming to be Odin?"
"I do not know." Assassin said simply.
"Time to move," Blake said evenly.
They fled from the scene of the fight, as a bright light washed over the area, shining brightly down from above. It grew more vivid with every passing moment, and then eventually everything stilled. Blake frowned, as most of the group stopped running away.
"Did he stop?" Ritsuka asked, turning around.
Mash stepped in front of them as a wave of force shattered the ground, but it wasn't nearly enough. Mash skidded backward, even as the others tried to hold her steady. Trees were uprooted and flung away from them, and the roaring wind threatened to tear them all off the ground.
Ritsuka shouted something that was indecipherable in the cacophony, and then somehow, Mash steeled herself, suddenly managing to hold her ground against the onslaught. Blake pieced together what happened a moment later when he caught a glimpse of the back of Ritsuka's hand.
He'd used one of the command seals to reinforce Mash in order to save them.
The roar of light and noise continued for a long moment before it suddenly winked out, and the force pushing violently against Mash vanished, causing her to stumble forwards at the lack of pressure. Blake stepped out from behind the shield to take in the area.
The forest was gone, and in its place, a massive hole hundreds of meters wide remained, with Caster and Rider standing right on the edge of it looking ruffled. The groove that the lip of Mash's shield had dug in the ground the only noticeable thing in the area.
Berserker was nowhere to be seen.
"Did it work?" Olga demanded.
The two other servants were already making their way towards them, but Blake had no intention of dropping his guard.
"I can no longer sense Berserker's presence." Assassin said quietly. "It worked."
"Enemy Assassin still hasn't appeared," Blake said evenly, "That means our last battle will likely be against three servants."
"Maybe Assassin got caught in the blast!" Gudako said optimistically.
"He wasn't even here, Gudako!" Olga cried, "Just-just, Shush!"
"You're not the director of me!" Gudako cried back as the other two servants approached them.
Olga grabbed the other woman by her shoulders as if to throttle her, face bright red.
"Enough," Blake said firmly, "We have more important things to worry about, Caster, do we have confirmation on Berserker's death?"
"He's not getting up from that." Caster said evenly. "He's gone."
"Indeed," Rider rumbled, "To have witnessed such an impressive attack, I am honored."
Blake eyed the two servants for a long moment, that attack had drained Caster greatly, and he was trying to hide the strain. Rider, on the other hand, had taken the brunt of Berserkers rage for long enough that his armor was cracked and broken, and his skin torn from the demigods blows.
"Neither of you are in any condition to fight a second battle." Mash said worriedly, "We are going to need to retreat and recuperate for the moment."
"I concur," Olga said immediately, "Your master is starting to look pale as well."
Blake glanced back at Ritsuka; Olga was right; he had used a command seal already, and apparently, sent additional mana to both Mash and Caster in that last fight.
"Then we shall move to safer territory," Blake said evenly, "Let us return to the base of that tower, Assassin can use the vantage point to keep watch."
"Caster, we know the general area they are hiding at," Olga said imperiously, "Can you 'Bring the Odin' again?"
"No," Caster said dryly, "It will be a long time before I am able to use that again, consider it unusable for the remainder of this war."
"I am heartened by the news, I'll admit." Rider rumbled, but Caster just ignored him.
"What do we know of the fighting styles used by Saber, Archer, and Enemy Assassin?" Blake redirected the conversation. "Let us start with Saber."
"Saber classes are known particularly for there combat prowess," Gudako said pleasantly, "They have resistance to magic as there primary skill."
"So Caster is at a disadvantage already," Ritsuka said grimly, "What else can they do?"
"Riding is a skill they can also utilize," Olga said imperiously, "King Arthur, in particular, uses a Noble Phantasm called Excalibur."
"Does it have any trait that stands out?" Blake asked evenly.
"I saw her use it against Beseker at the beginning of the war." Caster admitted, "She is able to use it to perform a burst of magical energy which is at least at an Anti-Fortress level."
"Archer wields a pair of swords," Rider rumbled, "He is also capable of bringing forth multiple weapons at a moment's notice."
"You fought him as well?" Caster asked curiously, Rider simply nodded.
"He attacked us with a continuous rain of arrows as well," Ritsuka said easily, looking better then he had earlier.
"They weren't arrows," Mash corrected, "They were swords."
There was a pause as everyone digested that.
"Assassin-"
RIP Fate Grand Disparity.