Chapter Seven, Fearsome Opponent
Nero took a step back and looked over at John. "Master, be careful. This Servant is stronger than us two," she whispered.
"That's right," the unknown Servant said with a grin. "You wouldn't stand a chance."
Waver took out a handful of marbles from his pocket. "Who are you? What kind of Servant are you?" He spotted the girl's sword and frowned. "A Saber perhaps?"
The Servant chuckled and covered her mouth with her gloved hand. "Humans are so simple minded. I can see why my Master wants the Grail so badly now."
"Your Master? Who is he?"
"Are you an idiot? Of course I'm not going to tell you who they are." From the cracks in the ground, fire spewed out from the cement and engulfed the nearby buildings around her. "I can tell you this though. My Master's orders are to eliminate you quickly, and to use whatever method that's the most effective."
John took a step back and extended his arm out to protect Liz. "Are you saying that you'll even tear this city apart just to kill us?"
"If it does the job, it does the job," the Servant replied. "But oh, don't worry about being lonely. I brought a few friends to keep you company."
Invading from all around, hundreds of people wearing black robes walked into the open. They all were chanting spells, the glow of their Magic Circuits lighting up the shadows of the buildings. Many more mangled bodies were revealed from the light, each corpse slaughtered in a different way. They were the residents of the temple. Their blood was drained from their bodies, and there were holes in their chest from where their hearts should be.
Liz fell on her knees and covered her mouth as she gagged. The sight was too terrifying for her. Even Philip was feeling a bit green.
Nero's grip tightened around her sword. Her teeth gritted together as her seething rage exited from her soul. "You Monster! How could you ever do something like this and consider yourself human?!"
The Servant smirked and let out a giggle. "Look who's talking! Have you forgotten? We're not humans! We're Servants! Tools made for slaughter! If you don't like your role as a weapon meant to kill, then end yourself before I do!" She lifted her sword up and slammed it into the ground.
The temple shook from the force and threw Waver a bit off balance. "Tch. Gray! Take care of the Mages attacking us! Saber! Tango with that Servant!"
"Umu!" Nero kicked the ground beneath her and launched herself directly at the Servant. She swung her rose red sword in an arc, aiming for her head.
Raising her sword up, she blocked Nero's attack with her own blade with one hand. Their two swords clashed, causing a ferocious explosion. "How weak!" she yelled and raised her leg. With a swift kick, she sent Nero through the ruins of the temple. "A disgrace to the Saber class! Saber's are supposedly the strongest Servants, but all I see is a whimpering girl!" She jumped into the air and dropped straight towards Nero.
"Don't underestimate me!" Through the rubble, Nero swung her sword up and an explosion of flames encircled her, catching the unknown Servant by surprise. "My name is Nero Claudius! The great emperor of Rome! I will show you the power of my homeland!" The rubble around her evaporated into dust as her sword became illuminated with a burning hot flame.
The Servant slid across the ground, sparks flying from her boots, and stood up straight. "Oh?" She smirked and raised her sword to her chest. "How pathetic. That weapon is nothing more but a steel toothpick. I'll show you REAL flames! Reveal yourself, Heshikiri Hasebe Nobunaga!" A tornado of flames encircled the katana and shot upward into the sky.
"They're seriously going all out?! Here?! Now?!" Waver shouted with frustration as he witnessed their miraculous battle. "Elizabeth! Get up! We need to leave now or else we'll evaporate!"
"Wait!" Liz wiped her mouth and groggily stood up. "I… I sense the presence of another Servant here. It's very faint, but it's in one of these buildings!"
"What if it's an enemy Servant?" Philip asked as he covered his face from the heat.
"We have to try though! I can't leave them behind now!" She looked over at the nearby shrine. It was already burning down, but a faint sense of mana was there, and it wasn't from the Earth, nor a human. It was from an injured Servant. She ran over to the burning building while covering her nose and mouth with her shirt.
"Liz! Wait!" John called as he ran after her.
Waver stood up as well with the help of Shirou, but winced in pain as he rubbed his back. "Damn this mortal body. Let's chase after them—"
"Waver! Look out!" Philip tackled Waver and Shirou to the ground as an incoming volley of orbs made from Mana sprayed the ground where they once stood, obliterating the cement and leaving a decently sized hole in the ground.
"Ouch… quick thinking kid," Shirou complimented as he sat up. "You okay yourself?"
Philip nodded and groaned as he stood up. "I'm fine. How about you two?"
"I'm in one piece, but soon enough we'll be filled with holes if we don't get out of here," Waver said as he nodded at the rooftops of the burning buildings. They were surrounded by Mages clothed in a black robe. They all pointed their arms towards them, a black ball created with Mana hovered by their fingertips. "This isn't the ideal situation to be in," he muttered and stood up as well. "What do you Mages want? Why are you doing this? Answer me! With my authority as Lord El-Melloi II, I demand that you answer my inquiry!"
"Our Lord and Savior declares it so," they all said in unison, as if in some kind of trance. "They will save the world. They will save us all. He has declared that it is inevitable. Humanity will be saved."
"What kind of drugs are you all on?" Waver spat on the ground and took out a knife. "Listen Philip. Here's a good life lesson for you when you want to become a hero."
Philip summoned his dual daggers and examined his surroundings. "What lesson, Waver?" He stood close to Waver's flank.
Shirou stood beside them and summoned his own dual daggers as well.
"There's a difference between leading people in the right direction and being a dictator. Do you know what that difference is?"
Though it did seem obvious at first, one sounding like a hero's way of doing things and the other sounding like a villain, yet there was a gray area in between. Leading people and dictatorship are similar, and even their methods can become mirror images of each other, but there's a boundary that keeps those two things two separate ideas.
"One uses an example of courage, while the other uses the example of fear," Philip answered.
"Good. Lead your people to prosperity, not despair. Set yourself as an example so that they can follow in your footsteps. Don't lead them in disarray like these people."
All of the Mages took a step forward and fired their second volley of Mana blasts. "Die for our Lord."
Waver placed his knife to his wrist and slit his artery. He moved his arm in an arc, spraying his blood all over the ground. "Blutschranke!" His blood on the ground glowed and extended upwards into a light red glass-like barrier. It rose above their heads and took in the impact of the Mana shots.
"Gray! Eliminate them!" Waver ordered.
"Yes, my Master," Gray called from above. She dropped down from the sky, her scythe in hand. Bringing down her weapon towards the enemy, she sliced through her opponents like melted cheese, killing several in a single swoop. "Gray… Rave… Crave… Deprave," she chanted as she sliced through her enemies, one by one. "Grave Me…" Her scythe glowed an ominous light blue and the blade extended outward. Her eyes illuminated with a bright gray light. "Grave For You." Streaks of blue light shot through her enemies, and with one single cut of her scythe, her enemies lost their souls and fell dead on the ground.
She sighed and fell on one knee, sweat dripping from her forehead. More Mages were appearing from all around. "Master! There's too many!"
"I see that!" Waver covered his wound with his hand and silently chanted a spell. "Philip, Shirou, I'm going to lower the blood barrier. When I do, eliminate as many of those mages as you can."
"On it, sir. Whenever you're ready," Shirou replied. He nodded to Philip, and Philip nodded back.
"GO!" Waver's hand glowed and the barriers made of blood dissipated into a thin red mist.
Shirou immediately ran towards the enemy and threw his blades toward their throats. "Trace On!" Two long swords formed in Shirou's hands. He sliced through the first mage and pierced the heart of his next victim effortlessly. It was quite a mortifying view. To think that a hero of justice could take lives so swiftly and cleanly without batting an eye.
Philip charged at a small group of Mages and raised his dual daggers above his head to tear them apart. The group of Mages looked him in the eye, including the small child that was within the middle. She looked only ten. He hesitated to swing his blade as the little girl's eyes reflected the light from the sun, her pale rosy cheeks kept at a still, emotionless face.
"Philip! Watch out!" Waver yelled as he dug into his pocket to grab something.
Philip came back to his senses as he saw from the corner of his eyes that the rest of the Mages took out pocket knives and were reaching out to stab him without his noticing. He didn't have enough time to move away from their group effort of an attack. He jumped back, but one of the Mage's blades sank into his thigh. Wincing in pain, he fell on the ground and held his leg.
"Rückzieher!" Waver chanted as he took out a lighter and pulled down on the trigger. A powerful explosion from the lighter sent up a spiral of flames that shot towards the group of Mages.
Fortunately, since Philip was already on the ground, the flames missed him and instead enveloped the enemies in front of him. Most of them burnt away immediately, but a few of them, one of them being the child, screamed in agony before they crumbled to dust.
Philip's eyes widened from shock as he witnessed the petite girl crumble before his eyes, and as well as the other Mages around her. "W-Waver! There was a child in the mix with them!" Philip shouted as he tried to get up, but stumbled on the way.
"They're enemies Philip! It's either kill or be killed in this world!" Waved shouted back angrily as he turned to face in a different direction where another group was approaching him. "Rückzieher!"
His lighter didn't light. It sputtered sparks, but nothing else. "Damn it, all I had for this was one shot?!" Waver complained. He dropped his lighter and once more reached into his coat to take out something else, but the group of attackers were already on to him with their bodies glowing from their Magic Circuits. "Physical Enhancements?!"
The Mages surrounded him all at once in the blink of an eye and all of them simultaneously punched his back, stomach, chest, and legs.
Waver coughed and collapsed on his knees. He held his chest with his good arm while still digging into and mumbling curses. "Don't think that you'll get the best of me just because I'm old..." He took out a handful of blue dust and threw it into the air. The dust glowed blindingly bright and forced the Mages back. "Shirou! I could use some assistance over here!"
"I'm busy myself, Waver!" Shirou replied as he pierced his blade into another Mage's chest. "Aren't you a Lord? Do something about it yourself! Trace On!" A spear formed in his hand and he swung it towards his flank, slicing the throat of another attacker behind him. "Philip! You go help him!"
"B-but I don't want to kill anybody…" Philip clenched his fist and stood up. "Aren't all human lives precious?"
Philip's ghost materialized in front of him and stared him down. Their body seemed to be more physical than before, and some features were starting to be viewable. The ghost had lips now, and seemed to be trying to communicate to him.
Philip examined the ghost's mouth and saw what it was trying to say.
"Being a hero isn't always about saving lives."
The ghost patted Philip's shoulder and ran towards Waver's position. With its dual daggers in hand, the same one Philip used, they sliced through the Mage's necks flawlessly, as if done thousands of times before. Their heads fell down to the ground, a swift and painless death.
As the ghost did the dirty work, Philip stood still where he was and watched the carnage unfold. His hands bled from digging his nails into the skin of his palms just to keep him from screaming in frustration. They're human too, aren't they? Nobody deserves to die. "... I—"
Philip was interrupted by the searing heat of the growing flames by the unknown Servant. Buildings were being evaporated where they stood, and the last one standing was the one in the far opposite corner where Liz and John were heading.
"Elizabeth! Are you sure that your Servant is in there?" John asked as he ran beside her.
"I'm sure they are this time, I swear it. Their aura feels so familiar, there's no way it couldn't be them," Liz answered. She sped up towards the building, but came to a stop as the gust of heat from the spiral of flames near the center of the field grew. She covered her face and slid slightly to the side from the force. "W-what's going on?!"
"I'm guessing that they're using their Noble Phantasms! Elizabeth! We need to hurry!" John pushed forward and pulled her along into the shrine.
It was unbearably hot inside. The walls were steaming, and the glass all around was shattered. Plants died quickly, and the air was so humid that it was hard to breathe. Liz took off her coat and unbuttoned her tuxedo, revealing her sweaty t-shirt.
"Where's the Servant you're sensing, Elizabeth?" John asked as he took off his shirt as well. Underneath his clothes was a black tan-top that surprisingly wasn't a fashion disgrace.
"They should be near the middle of the shrine, but I'm not seeing them here," Liz answered as she took in deep breathes.
"Maybe they're beneath or above us?" John suggested. He placed his hands against the wall and winced from pain when the heat of the wood burnt him. "We really need to hurry though or else we'll turn into a melting meat sludge."
Liz nodded and looked at the wooden floor. It was covered with a white carpet near the center. A slight deformation could be seen near the edge of the carpet, like a bump of some sorts. Liz reached down and swiped the carpet away, revealing a trap door that led downstairs. "They could be down there," Liz said as she opened the hatch.
Underneath the hatch, there were stairs that led downwards to the basement. The intense heat of the stairway seared Liz's face. She was forced to take a step back just so that she could take a short breath.
"Are you sure that you want to go down there? If you don't die from suffocating, you'll die from a heat stroke," John said as he wiped his forehead from sweat.
"Then protect us with your Mystic Code. Either way, I have to go down there."
John sighed. "Fine then, let's go." His body glowed as his Magic Circuits activated. He took a deep breath in and went down the stairs first. Due to his Mystic Code, he was able to breathe easily and the heat wasn't unbearable. It was also affecting Liz, making it easy for her to breathe as well.
The glow from John's body illuminated the stairway, allowing them to peer through the darkness. The ground was mildly shaking from the growing strength of the two Servants outside.
Once they reached the bottom, John leaned against the wall and gasped for air. "Damn it, that stupid Saber. She's draining me dry of my Mana."
Liz looked over at John as she kept walking forward. "Will you be okay?"
"Yeah, for probably fifteen more minutes, then I'll pass out, so we better hurry."
Liz nodded and continued on her way. The basement seemed to be a storage for sacrifices, foods, and gardening tools, but it was barely recognizable from the surrounding damage. Not one container was left intact. They were all shattered into wooden pieces or burnt into ashes. The foods that were once in baskets were now nothing but dust.
Near the middle of the basement was a stone table with a body laying on it. A large blood-red Magic Circle laid underneath the table. It dimly lit the room to expose the body's features. It was a girl with long straight green hair. She wore a single white robe around her body. Her eyes were wide open and stared towards the ceiling.
"Is that them?" John asked as he cautiously approached the body on the stone table.
Liz nodded and ran to her. "It's Lancer! I recognize her! What happened to her?!"
"I don't know, but it probably has to do something with this Magic Circle." He reached down to touch it, but a powerful surge of Mana shocked his hand. He yelled in pain and retracted his arm. "God that hurt. It's probably implanting some kind of curse into her, either that or it's draining her of her Mana. I'll try to disable it, so give me a few minutes to do so."
"You know how to work with Magic Circles?" Liz asked as she crouched beside him.
"Only a little bit. I had to teach myself how so I could summon Saber." He took out a small knife from his pocket and stabbed his palm with it. "Since I can't exert any Mana, I have to pull it out forcefully through my blood." With his blood, he drew his own crest on top of the symbols of the Magic Circles while silently chanting. Even if Liz listened closely, he was chanting in German, so she wouldn't be able to understand anyways. She never learned her homeland's language in the first place, even for Magecraft.
From the stairs, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down into the basement. Liz faced where the noise was coming and stood up. "John, keep trying to free Lancer. I'll try to do… something," Liz whispered.
"Wait Elizabeth." John flipped his dagger around and offered it to Liz. "Take this with you. I'll be fine by myself, but you'll need protection."
"What about the Magic Circle?"
"I'll be fine with this amount of blood, and if I need more, I'll use my teeth. Now be careful over there."
Liz nodded and took the knife from him. "Be safe, John."
The footsteps echoed throughout the building. They were reaching the bottom in an orderly fashion, their steps in unison. She couldn't tell how many were with them. Approaching the entryway, she stood at the foot of the stairway and looked up.
Coming down the stairs were a small group of Mages in black robes. They stared at her with their blank eyes and picked up the pace. "Perish, sinners," they said in unison as they all took out their own knives from their pockets. "Our Lord and Savior will purge this world of all evil. Die for the sake of humanity."
Liz took a step back, her hand shaking from fear. "Go away!" she yelled as she pointed the blade at them.
The Mages marched forward and raised their knives above their heads. "Perish." They charged forward and swung their blades at her chest.
Jumping back, Liz swung her knife and knocked one of the attacker's blades back, but there were still more to them. It was one on five.
Through the darkness though, she squinted at the Mage's faces and noticed that their skin was red. They were suffocating from the lack of oxygen, and since they also don't have the support of John's Mystic Code, they were slowly burning to death. She had the advantage of endurance.
"Why are you doing this?! You'll die if you continue fighting!" Liz yelled as she held her blade in front of her, but her hand shook so badly that it nearly fell out of her grasp.
"Our Lord demands it, so we must obey. We must drain the blood of the sinners," they all said in unison as they stepped forward. One of the Mage's faces was so blue that it was a miracle that they could even talk, even walking seemed impossible.
"Who is your Lord?" Liz asked.
"The soon-to-be Savior of this sinful world." In unison, they slit the palm of their hand and started to chant. When their blood splattered on the floor, it boiled and steamed up. The steam enveloped the Mages and melted off their skin and body, slowly turning them into mush. They screamed in pain as they died a horrible death. It was not swift, and it was not quiet.
Liz nearly fainted from the sight, but instead she leaned against the wall and barfed. She couldn't breathe. Was she having a panic attack? Was it the effects of the steam? Were her lungs already completely evaporated? She had no idea.
The steam was spreading throughout the room and melting anything it touched. Their plan was to take out the two of them in a single attack through any means. If Liz didn't do anything, they would both suffer the same fate as the group of Mages that attacked them.
Standing up with the support of the hot stone walls, she took in a deep breath and pointed her dagger at her stomach. She wanted to test something, but it was most likely suicidal.
The knife in her hand shook so badly that she wasn't even sure if she would hit her mark. "Come on Liz… you can do it," she muttered to herself as she tried to steady the blade.
"You're too much of a coward to kill yourself," her shadow whispered into her ear.
She kept her eyes trained on her dagger and tried to keep all thoughts out of her head. Her plan was semi-working.
"You couldn't do it before, you won't be able to do it now."
"Even if you did, nobody would care, and nobody would remember."
"Your sacrifice would mean nothing. All of your friends will die, and they will drag you to hell with them."
Her shadow grew around her body and wrapped around her neck, choking her. Tears were starting to form by her eyes, but she had to steel herself. This is what she, no, they needed to survive.
Slowly but surely, her shadow was engulfing her body, sucking it into an abyss of pain and darkness. She couldn't even breathe anymore.
But it was all according to plan.
With all of her remaining strength, she impaled her abdomen with the knife while screaming in the anticipation of death and pain, though it wasn't as bad as she expected. She fell on her knees as her hand became painted with her blood.
"Free," the voices whispered in her head.
"Free, free, free, free, free! Free! Free! Free! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE!"
More blood spilled out as her stomach exploded, shooting out huge arms made out of her shadow. "FREE!" the shadow from within her screamed as its thousands of arms covered the entire room, blocking the steam and as well as the exit.
"Please… hurry… John," Liz whispered as she fell on her sides, blood draining from her body, and her shadow going in a frenzy.
It grabbed onto the walls, pulled down supports, and smashed any structure that stood in its way. The hands changed direction mid-air and headed towards John at an alarming speed. "FREEEEE!"
John looked back just as he saw the hundreds of hands charging straight towards him. "C'mon Lancer! Wake up!"
Outside, the unknown Servant smiled at Nero and took a step forward, the entire tornado made of Hell's flames following loyally. "Emperor of Rome! I'll show you the true flames of a demon!" She swung her sword forward, the column of fire falling like a chopped down tree.
"Rome has already been through hell, and we've overcome it!" Nero raised her sword and scraped against the gargantuan pillar of fire. Her Rose sword parried the Servant's Heshikiri Hasebe Nobunaga, causing an explosion where they stood and blew away any remaining structures around them.
Nero slid back from the force, but her sword held true. Its crimson blade shined brighter in the face of the flames of Hell itself, but even with all of the power of Rome in a single blow, it still wasn't enough to tame such devilish strength.
"This is the difference between our power!" the Servant gleefully snarled as she pushed down harder on her blade. "Your joyous Rome was already destroyed by your own hands. Your deeds are what brought its own downfall." The tornado exploded outward, throwing Nero across the field.
Its force blew her back through the air. She fell to the ground and crashed into Philip, who stopped her momentum.
Philip groaned and helped her up. "Are you okay, Saber?" he asked as the blades in his hands disappeared.
Nero didn't answer and shrugged Philip off of her while leaning on her Rose sword. "She's much stronger than any Servant I've faced yet. This is dangerous, so you need to run while you can. I'll try to hold her off."
"That's suicide," Waver scolded as he ran over to her. "She's way out of your league. That Noble Phantasm is ranked A-!"
"That's exactly why you all need to run! I'm a Servant, while you're all humans. At least I have a fighting chance." Nero lifted her sword and pointed it at the Servant.
"This is absurd…" Waver sighed and looked over at Gray. "Gray, support her. If things turn nasty, you better retreat."
Gray stood up from where she was and nodded. "I will, Master."
"Are you done talking?" the unknown Servant asked as she approached Nero with her katana. "You're boring me. Let me slice you all into tiny pieces already!" Dashing to Nero, she swung her blade in a wide arc with a trail of flames at the tip.
The impact from the Servant's attack flicked Nero's sword out of her grasp and into the ground beside her.
"Saber!" Gray ran to Nero's side and swung her scythe upward, throwing the Servant off her balance.
"Oh, interesting. What kind of Servant are you?" the Servant asked as she took a step back and pointed her katana at Gray.
Gray adjusted her grip on her Scythe. "Stay away from us, it's Seven on one. We've taken care of most of the Mages."
"And why do numbers matter? It's quality over quantity!" Stabbing her katana into the ground, dozens of glowing lights surrounded her. The lights extended outward and transformed into musket-like guns, with long barrels and a large hammer at the back.. They hovered above her and pointed towards their direction.
"Oh great! She has guns now!" Shirou stepped behind Gray and nodded. "I'm counting on you, Gray."
Gray nodded back and raised her Scythe. "Add!" she called out.
"On it!" the scythe replied back with a high-pitched scrappy voice.
"Gah! It speaks!" Philip said from surprise as he stared at Gray's weapon.
The scythe's blade shrank and grey shorter, yet thicker, in size, until it reached the form of a shield, cladded in royal blue and gold, and as well as some kind of mechanical face up front. "If I melt to death, I'll force your mentor to give me a new paint job!" the shield threatened.
Gray frowned and bent her knees. "Everyone! Get behind me!"
Waver nodded and did as he was ordered. "Come and brace yourselves!"
The others followed and hid behind Gray's talking shield. "Are you sure this will hold up against an Noble Phantasms?" Shirou asked and placed his hand on the shield. "If not, I'll try to support it with Reinforcement magic."
"It might not, but this is the best we can do. I'll try to keep you both safe," Gray said as she adjusted her posture. "Here it comes!"
"Perish before my mighty arms!" the Servant shouted as she pointed at them. "Ready! Shoo–"
The ground trembled from a mysterious force underneath. The surge of Mana was so overwhelming, it felt nearly intoxicating. Tremors from the ground shook the Servant to her knees. She fell down and her guns disappeared. "What the hell is this?!" she yelled, not from fright, but from frustration.
From underneath, dozens of thick long roots escaped from the cement and shot up into the air. Newly born yet impossibly large trees erupted from the rubbles of the temples, and their thick large roots emerged from the cement. Hundreds of chains shot from the skies towards the Servant.
Rising near the center of the battlefield were hundreds of vines. On top of the vines were three people; John holding Liz in his arms while sweating profusely, and a person they've never seen before. It was another girl with long straight flowing green hair and a beautiful face. Her clothes were simple: a large long white tunic, white pants, and a necklace with a single gold diamond-shaped tip at the end. Her leaf-green eyes stared daggers into the unknown Servant. "Avenger…!" she yelled while jumping down from the vines to greet her.
"Lancer," the Servant, presumably classed as an Avenger, called back as she pulled out her sword from the ground. "I didn't think that you would wake up from that curse this early!" She pointed her blade towards the sky. Surrounding her was a ring of fire that redirected the chains' trajectories, hitting the ground below her. She smirked at Lancer and summoned more of the guns from earlier around her. "This is intriguing."
Lancer dropped down onto the ground and immediately began her barrage of attacks. Her hands transformed into glowing blades of light as she swung her arms towards the Servant. "How dare you put my Master into harm's way just as she came to find me!" she yelled as her hands made of energy slashed towards Avenger.
With the quick swing of her arm, Avenger's katana laid a powerful blow to Lancer's hand. "You've lost against me once already. What difference will it make if you fight me again!" She raised her leg and kicked Enkidu in the stomach.
But unlike Nero, she didn't move an inch. She glared at Avenger in the eyes and golden portals swarmed around the two of them. "The difference is that I now have my Master back! She came back to me, so I will protect her with my life!" The portals shot out dozens of chains that wrapped around Avenger and tossed her onto the concrete floor. Lancer raised her arm and sliced vertically towards her neck.
"Heh, so you're empowered because of pity?!" The guns around them fired. Black smoke engulfed their bodies and scattered inaccurately at Lancer, causing her to stumble back and miss her mark. "Pathetic! Weak!" Flames grew around Avenger's body, causing the chains to snap. "Your mindset is that of a child! What you love will be your greatest weakness!" She raised her katana and pointed it at Lancer. "My hatred is what makes my resolve strong! I WILL burn you and bring you down to the pits of hell!"
Lancer slammed her fist onto the ground and shot tall blades of light from the ground towards Avenger. "Though your hatred may be strong, it will blind you from anything else!"
Avenger launched herself into the air and summoned two guns into her hands. "If so, then prove me wrong by taking my head! Disappear! Return to dust from whence you came!" The tips of the barrels glowed a bright golden aura as the hammers on the back slammed down. With a powerful explosive force, the guns fired their shots with incredible speed and fire rate, devastating the ground below.
Thick trunks of trees erupted from beneath Lancer and merged together above her, sheltering her from the rain of bullets, but even they weren't enough to numb the destruction. The explosive bullets pierced through and barraged Lancer where she stood, shrapnel slashing at her skin.
Avenger dropped her guns and dived towards the trees protecting Lancer. "Don't think that that will protect you from me!" Fire engulfed Avenger's sword as she readied her blade in her hands. "Let this sinner taste the flames of hell! Awaken my blade, and burn her soul away! Heshikiri Hasebe Nobunaga!"
In the vague shape of a huge demon, the flames of Avenger's blade roared above her head as she swung down towards Lancer, the heat transforming any sand nearby into glass, and any wood to burn up into ashes.
"Life, come forth! Let your voice sing!" Lancer called as her body glowed.
As if all creation was singing at once, a loud voice echoed throughout the entire temple. The roar was so immense that the flames itself were being blown away by the force.
"Gah! What now?!" Avenger yelled as the flames started to die. The demon silhouette made of flames weren't as flamboyant as before, but they were still roaring with power.
"Avenger! My name is Enkidu, the Chains of Heaven created by the gods to tether humanity back to the divine! I am the divine lance, and the friend of the great king of all kings, Gilgamesh!" Her eyes turned from light-green to a bright radiating gold.
Avenger gripped her katana tighter and her eyes brightened. "This is nothing, Enkidu!" Her flames grew stronger, and the demon silhouette screeched it's horrendous song of death. "If you think that I'll need my Noble Phantasm to destroy you, you are mistaken!" Glowing brighter, her katana was set ablaze once more and evaporated the air around her. "You're nothing but the dirt under my boots! Burn into ashes!"
The demon grew exponentially in size and raised their gigantic palm into the sky. Slashing her blade through the air, the giant demon followed and slammed their palm above Enkidu.
The humongous demon roared, its war cry echoing throughout the city, then disappeared, leaving a large crater of ashes and dust.
Avenger gently landed on the cement and fell on her knees. She was out of breath, and beads of sweat were forming at her forehead. She smiled at the crater and laughed out loud, her voice echoing throughout the nearly empty temple, aside from the Masters and Mages that oversaw the carnage. "How was that, Enkidu! Your Noble Phantasm couldn't even compare to my strength!"
Philip peeked his head from the side of Gray's shield, his eyes wide opened from shock. "Did she… kill Lancer…?" he asked as his legs trembled. "So this is how the Holy Grail War was supposed to happen…"
Nero gripped her sword tighter and frowned. "This is bad. If she really did eliminate Lancer, then we may not stand a chance."
"Avenger class… that's impossible!" Waver muttered as he squinted at the Servant laughing uncontrollably at the crater where Lancer once stood. "It should be impossible to summon an Avenger to the Holy Grail War. Just who is this Master?!"
Avenger's laugh resides into a chuckle, then died down into a satisfied sigh. She turned to look at the group hiding behind Gray's shield. Her smile turned into a twisted smirk as she wiped the sweat away from her forehead. "Did you see that, participants of the sixth Holy Grail War?! That was my power! My strength! Now, if you desire a quick painless death, come here now and offer your heads! Surrender to me, and I will make sure that your end is swift!"
Nero stepped in front of them and pointed her sword towards Avenger. "I'll never surrender! As long as there's blood coursing through my veins, I will keep fighting to protect my allies!" she boldly stated, yet her sword shook in her hands, the side of her head bleeding.
"Then come, Nero! Offer up your life to me!" Avenger called as she stabbed her sword into the ground.
From behind, a pale hand grabbed onto Avenger's shoulder. "That won't be necessary, for I'll be taking yours," Enkidu whispered into her ears.
In a swift motion, Avenger pulled out her blade from the ground, but it was already too late.
Dozens of golden blades pierced through Nobu's back and through her stomach and chest. She coughed out blood and fell down on the ground.
Enkidu stared coldly at Avenger's unmoving body as her hands transformed back into glowing blades and raised her arm to slice Avenger's head off.
In the distance, an explosion shook the ground. Smoke rose from the buildings. Enkidu turned her head towards the noise and squinted at the smoke. "What was that?" she asked.
Waver looked over too and realized where it was coming from. "That's where the apartment is!"
Shirou was the first to move. He ran through the hole-filled temple and down the stairs, not caring at all about his safety.
"Hey, Shirou! Where do you think you're going?!" Waver called as he tried to run to him, but winced from the pain.
"Rin's in danger! I have to protect her!" Shirou replied as he continued down the hill.
"You idiot! What about this enemy Servant?!"
"Waver! Look out!" John called from above as he slid down the vines that were slowly dying.
Flames were gathering once more where Avenger was. It encircled her and lifted up her body. "This is not over yet, Enkidu!" The blood dripping out of her wounds evaporated. "I may have bitten more than what I could chew, but I swear to you that I will bring the wrath of hell onto you and your Master!" The flames wrapped around her body and caused her to disappear into steam, leaving all of them behind.
Enkidu watched the steam disappear into the atmosphere, and once she was sure it was clear, she collapsed onto the floor breathing heavily. "I… I did it. I fended off Avenger," Enkidu muttered.
Waver sighed and leaned against Gray for support. "This… is much more devastating than I thought it would be," he said as he patted her shoulder. "Are you okay Gray?"
Gray nodded and dropped her shield on the ground. "I'm fine… just tired," she replied and fell back on Waver.
"John, what happened to Elizabeth?" Philip asked as he ran to them.
"A lot of things happened. Something came out of her, but me and Enkidu had to shove it back in because it would've killed us and possibly herself," John explained.
Nero embraced John and released a sigh of relief. "Master, you're alive. I'm so glad you are fine."
"Me too, Nero."John rustled her hair and looked over to Waver. "Are you sure that that explosion came from where everyone else is at?"
"Yeah, I'm sure of it." Waver clenched his fist, his eyes furrowing at the direction of the explosion. "But to think that they summoned an Avenger class Servant… This is insane."
"What is an Avenger class Servant?" Philip asked.
"In the Holy Grail War, there are usually seven Servants, each with a unique class, but there are extra classes for Servants too, one of them being Ruler, and another one called Avenger. What worries me is the existence of Avenger class Servants. They're the direct opposite of Rulers, and if Rulers bring balance and re-enforce the rules, Avengers bring chaos and destruction wherever they are summoned to. They're unbelievably strong, and their hatred for everything is even stronger. That anger is what fuels them and makes it possible for them to manifest as a Servant. What's worse is that since we have very little information on this special class, we don't know how to deal with them, or how they'll deal with us."
"If they're that dangerous, then we need to help Shirou and the others!" Philip said as he was about to run, but Waver grabbed his wrist.
"Don't run off by yourself! If we plan to win this war, we'll need to take this slow and steady."
"But what about Shirou?"
"He has experience dealing with Servants. He was in the fifth Holy Grail War after all."
Gray tugged on Waver's coat. She was still out of breath. "Master, we have to help him. We're fighting against some kind of organization. If we don't fight together, we'll be picked off one by one."
"Tch. So is this their plan?" Waved lowered himself to the ground and rested on his knees. Taking out a cigarette from his pocket, he lit it and slipped it in between his lips. "This isn't good at all," he muttered. "I thought that it would be a good idea to divide and conquer, but that's apparently what they're expecting."
"So should we stick together instead next time?" John asked as he laid Liz on the floor. "Also, can you help me heal her wound? Enkidu sealed it, but she didn't heal it."
"You mean 'he'?" Waver asked as his eyebrow raised. "Enkidu was described as an 'he' in his legends."
"My Master has chosen to perceive me as a female, so that's what my pronouns will be; a woman," Enkidu said from the crater. Her white tunic was covered in ashes, but other than that, she seemed well, aside from being tired and dirty.
Waver blew out some smoke and shook his head. "Then a 'she' you are. As for your question John, it's much more complicated than just 'go or no'. If we split up, we have a higher chance to find him, but we'll be more vulnerable to their attacks. We don't know what they're capable of aside from the Avenger Servant we just met. Our other option is to stick together to bolster our firepower, but in doing so, we limit our search speed."
"So they have us in the palm of their hand," Enkidu said and sat down beside her Master. "Dear friendly Mage, please tend to my Master's wounds. I'm going to regroup with our other allies."
Waver nodded and shuffled next to Liz's unconscious body. "But Enkidu, why are you suddenly so fired up now? Your Master ditched you, and it's already been half a decade since she's last seen you."
"Even so, she's my Master, and I have sworn my loyalty to her. No matter what happens, whatever hardships she may go through, I'll be by her side, even if I'm an ocean away." She brushed Liz's white hair to the side and smiled. "I was overjoyed when I realized she came back for me. I want to repay her kindness by winning this war and keeping her safe." Standing up, Enkidu looked up at the sky and began hovering over them. "So in order to win the war and keep her safe, I must defeat our enemies. Wise Mage, your name is Waver, is it? I'm entrusting her to your hands." She shot up through the sky and headed towards Shirou's location.
John watched her disappear into the clouds, then turned to Waver. "I never actually got to ask, but why were you the only one to help us in this war?"
Waver, for whatever reason, hesitated for a slight moment, but then answered, "Didn't I already tell you? It's because it's my job to keep Magecraft a secret from the public eye, and this eighth Master is breaking that major rule."
"Is that all? You're doing all of this because of a job?"
Waver nodded. "It's what I need to do, so I must do it. The other Mages didn't want to because they were either too lazy, didn't think it'll get out of control, or were too scared. I picked up this responsibility because I was one of the only people who was willing to go. That's all."
John examined his face, looking for some kind of lie or another motivation for him to go, but he couldn't find it. He sighed then looked away. "Nero! Let's go!"