Day 2: Bazett — Soliwo Tiwaz Raido
In Einzbern forest, a woman ran for her life. She wore a dark business suit, and wore black gloves engraved with magical runes that granted enhanced strength and endurance. Her limbs pumped with mechanical precision as she dashed through the undergrowth, her short purple hair and long silver earrings dancing in the breeze of her speed. The woman's name was Bazett Fraga McRemitz, Master of Servant Lancer, and she was being pursued by a monster.
"What's wrong, lady?" a young girl's voice asked. "Were you expecting easier prey?"
The voice was eerily sourceless, seeming to emanate from all the surrounding trees. The forest was better defended than Bazett had bargained for: it was a gigantic bounded field, which allowed for the Einzbern Master to track her location and project taunts to her. While the second was merely annoying, the first was a major tactical disadvantage: the moment she and her Servant had set foot in the forest, the childish Master had known and dispatched her own Servant in response. While losing the element of surprise was a severe setback, that alone might not have been disastrous if the Servant had been a different one. But Berserker was one of the Servants with the worst compatibilities with her fighting style, and so she had no choice but to flee.
"What'd you expect, coming after an Einzbern?" the monster's Master continued. "If you wanted an easy victory, you should have picked one of the no-name magi instead of challenging the Master of the greatest of the Three Great Families on her own territory."
The mighty Berserker ran after Bazett, roaring in mindless rage. Its vocalizations were so intense that they didn't even seem human; it was as though the world itself shuddered under the primal rage of each shout. Bazett didn't look back at the monster pursuing her; she could judge its distance by the thunder of his footfalls and the crash of uprooted tree trunks. The density of the forest was the only reason Bazett had managed to stay ahead of it thus far: while she could dodge between the trunks, the Servant's great bulk meant that it had to cleave them out of its way. Each heavy swing of its stone axe-sword leveled a great swath of forest, but each moment it spent using the weapon was a few precious feet of ground Bazett gained on it.
"Run, run as fast as you can." the unseen girl's voice said in a mocking sing-song tone. "You'll never escape from my Berserker!"
Even magically enhanced, Bazett's strength would not last forever. The monster pursuing her, however, would never tire and never falter. The first glimpse she'd gotten of it had been enough for her to tell that it was possessed of inexhaustible strength; it was not merely an epic spirit, but a superhuman existence — a demigod at the very least. It was only a matter of time before Bazett either grew too tired to continue outpacing the relentless Servant or else reached open ground where it would easily overtake her.
But then, it wasn't her plan to keep running. Her Ace-Killing Joker might be a poor match against a Berserker; but as a Master, she had more than one trump card to play.
"Now, Lancer!" Bazett shouted.
She spoke in the instant after Berserker had unleashed his latest swing, sending the axe-sword surging outwards with unstoppable momentum. And in that same moment, when even all the strength contained in the monster's muscle-packed frame would not be enough to reverse the inertia of the extended sword and draw it back into a guard position, Bazett's Servant jumped from thicket he'd been crouching in and answered with the name of his Noble Phantasm.
"Gae Bolg!"
The Piercing Lance of Death Thorns shot forwards with such speed that it appeared like a shaft of red light impaling the hulking Servant through the heart. However, no splash of blood accompanied the lance's penetration; nor did the mighty Berserker give any utterance of pain. The tip of the spear had embedded itself within the enemy's heart, as the cursed weapon could not fail to do; but it seemed to have superimposed itself without actually inflicting any damage, as though it had pierced naught but fog. When Lancer withdrew the shaft, there was no wound or mark left behind on the Berserker's flesh.
No matter how strong the defense, it should not have been able to resist Gae Bolg. After all, his spear was not a mere shaft of metal, but a Conceptual Weapon embodying "piercing the heart without fail". The fact that it had struck but failed to inflict harm suggested that it had been countered by a Conceptual Weapon embodying an opposing concept; not "dodging" or "blocking", which could not stop Gae Bolg, but something like "negation of all damage". In all likelihood, the enemy Servant had a defensive Noble Phantasm that allowed it to ignore damage from otherwise successful attacks.
"Hah!" Childish laughter echoed through the forest. "As if you could harm Berserker with a second-rate Noble Phantasm like that! Look, if you aren't going to at least use A-rank attacks, he doesn't even have to try to defend; see?"
Bazett stopped running. She turned towards the giant Servant, which was now swinging its stone axe-sword at Lancer as he jumped from tree to tree, and smirked.
"Sorry, kid." she said. "I thought I might be in trouble for a moment there, but it looks like you lose this one after all."
"Oh? Just what do you mean by that?" the voice demanded.
Bazett opened the cap of the cylindrical container slung across her back. A lead sphere levitated out of the container floated above the palm of her outstretched left hand. Sparks of prana crackled like lightning between her glove and the floating sphere. The enemy Berserker took no notice and prepared to swing its mighty axe-sword once more; no attack by a mere human, not even one performed with the support of a powerful magic tool, could hope to overcome its defense. It was sadly ignorant of the sorcery trait of the McRemitz bloodline: "God's Holder". Using a secret technique passed down from Age of Gods, members of the McRemitz family could reproduce and wield the Gouging Sword of the War God, granted to their family by the Celtic god Lugh. What Bazett had summoned to her aid was not a Mystic Code, a merely human tool containing merely human magecraft; it was a true Noble Phantasm, a Divine Mystery capable of surpassing the common laws of the world.
It was Fragarach: That Which Comes Later Cuts First.
Fragarch's nature as a Noble Phantasm was an indefensible counter-attack. Like Gae Bolg, it functioned by altering causality: when the enemy attacked Bazett with their Noble Phantasm, the curse of Fragarach would cause it to reverse the sequence of events and strike them first. It inflicted an instant kill, preventing the enemy from launching their attack in the first place. As the ultimate counter, which could neutralize even the most powerful attack and kill the enemy that had launched it, it was also known as "Answerer" and "Retaliator". However, its nature as a counterattack was also its greatest weakness: it could only be deployed in response to the enemy's use of a Noble Phantasm. It was an Ace-killing Joker, which would beat the highest trump but lose to the lowliest of common attacks.
Bazett had not believed she would have the opportunity to use it against a Berserker-class opponent. The Mad Enhancement which made Berserkers so powerful also caused them to lose their skill with the weapons and special techniques they had wielded in life; they fought with brute strength rather than Noble Phantasms. Even if the axe-sword wielded by the Berserker had been some legendary weapon in life, it was now nothing more than a lump of inert stone in the mad Servant's hands, and Fragarch would not awaken in response to a mundane technique.
But now, in repulsing Lancer's strike, the Berserker had demonstrated that it did still possess a Noble Phantasm that had not been sealed by its insanity: a defensive rather than offensive technique. And even better, since it was permanently active, Fragarach could be utilized against it at any time. Bazett didn't even need to wait for the enormous Servant to begin swinging its weapon at her. She drew back her right hand and punched the floating lead ball.
The transformation was instantaneous. As soon as Bazett's fist struck the back of the sphere, a blade emerged from the front. The sphere then accelerated forwards with incalculable speed, becoming a beam of force that penetrated Berserker through the forehead. With a sound like a hammer striking a ripe melon, the mighty Servant's imposing visage was blown apart. Skull fragments and chunks of pulped brain matter splattered against the surrounding tree trunks. A large eyeball rolled across the ground, coming to a rest staring blindly downwards at the dirt. And the headless Berserker slumped over, steam rising from the ragged, charred stump of its neck.
"It's over, Einzbern." Bazett said to the trees. "If you wish to withdraw from the War, I will promise you safe passage to Kotomine Church. Refuse, and I will send my Lancer to take your heart."
"My, my, aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself." the Einzbern Master's voice said. "I think you'd better take another look at Berserker and reevaluate your situation."
The fallen titan's body shuddered. The flesh Servant's severed neck throbbed and pulsated, then burst upwards as a new skull erupted from the top of the spinal cord. A wave of muscle surged up to cover it, then a wave of flesh flowed over the muscle. Red light blazed in the freshly formed eye sockets. Berserker drew itself back to its full height and roared its defiance of death, causing all the trees of the forest to shake with its fury.
"Since it seems you haven't figured it out yet, I guess I'll just have to tell you." the voice said. "Berserker's true identity is none other than the greatest hero of ancient Greece: Heracles! I'm certain you know the legend of the Twelve Labors. Berserker's Noble Phantasm, God Hand, gives him an extra life for each of the great labors he completed."
Bazett clenched her teeth. If the unseen Einzbern homunculus was speaking the truth, then the opposing Servant was protected by multi-layered resurrection spells. In other words, it was the worst possible opponent for her to face. The great strength of Fragarch was its ability to instantly kill an opponent with a single blow. However, this power came at a price: limited use. It took months to produce a single one of the lead spheres which she used to perform the attack. Bazett had only been able to prepare three of them for this Holy Grail War, one of which she had just used. Bazett had thought this had meant she would be able to eliminate three enemy Servants without difficulty; but due to the power of God Hand, defeating this single Servant would require four times the number of Fragarach she possessed.
"Forgive my impoliteness, but I won't be offering you the same courtesy you offered me." the Einzbern Master continued. "The Holy Grail War is a battle to the death — death of both Servant and Master. I won't be letting you slip away to take sanctuary at the Church — once Berserker has finished off your Lancer, I'll have him grind you into the dirt as well!"
Berserker once more raised his enormous stone axe-sword, and Bazett couldn't help but unconsciously take a step backwards from the inhuman Heroic Spirit.
"Not to worry, my Master; we're not completely out of tricks yet." Lancer said, jumping to the ground beside her. "Scathach taught me a thing or two during my stay in the Land of Shadows."
Lancer traced one finger along the side of Gae Bolg, sketching out runes that glowed with fiery light.
"Soliwo! Tiwaz! Raido!" he incanted.
Bazett felt the burden of supplying her Servant with prana suddenly increase as the demonic lance began to burn with an infernal energy. The power emanating from it seemed to freeze the air around her. She could tell just by looking at it that it had been elevated to an entirely new level as a Noble Phantasm.
"I can't keep this up for long, but that's fine — I'll settle things with one strike." Lancer said. "Gae Bolg!"
The red lance once more leapt from his hand and penetrated Berserker's heart — and this time, there was a spray of blood as the lance's curse took hold. The giant Servant staggered and feel to his knees, and his eyes clouded over with death.
"Wounds inflicted by Gae Bolg don't heal easily." Lancer said casually. "His Noble Phantasm will bring him back to life — but I figure having a hole in his heart might slow him down a bit."
"You really don't know your history, do you?" the Einzbern Master's mocking voice said. "If you were more familiar with Greek mythology, you might be aware that Heracles was fatally poisoned by a cloak soaked in the blood of the centaur Nessus. However, even consumed as he was with unbearable agony as the poisonous blood brought him to the brink of death, he was able to kill the servant Lichas who had brought him the lethal cloak."
"I have a bad feeling about where this is going." Lancer said.
"Because of this feat, Heracles has the Personal Skill called Battle Continuation — the ability to keep fighting no matter how severely he's wounded!" the enemy Master said triumphantly.
Light rekindled in the hulking brute's eyes. Ignoring the blood that continued to ooze from the hole in his chest, he set his sights on Lancer once more.
"Oh, sure, he throws one lousy servant into the sea and gets Battle Continuation." Lancer muttered. "I tied myself to a rock so I could die standing up, you know. It wasn't until the birds set in on me that my enemies actually believed I was dead. I held off an entire army while dead; I earned my Battle Continuation!"
Bazett glanced at Lancer.
"It's not like you to complain." she said.
"Sorry, Master, I didn't mean to whine." Lancer said. "I don't like to abandon a fight just because I'm losing, but it looks like there's no other choice in this case. When I accepted that geas to never back down from a fight, I never imagined facing something like this. And there is my Master's safety to consider, after all."
Bazett nodded.
"I'll knock him down one more time." she said. "As soon as he falls, I'll activate a Command Spell. That should be enough for us to escape."
Command Spells could be used in more than one way. As the name implied, they could force obedience from a reticent Servant. However, if a Servant was already willing to obey a given command, the Command Spell could be used to bolster the Servant's ability to carry it out. Thus far, despite their best efforts to escape, Berserker had been overtaking them; but with reinforcement from a Command Spell, Lancer would probably get the extra boost he needed to carry her to safety. However, not even a Command Spell would help if the ordered task was actually physically impossible for the Servant — which was why Bazett hoped to get a head start by temporarily disabling Berserker with another killing blow. As much as she regretted the necessity of using the second of her three precious Fragarach on an enemy who wouldn't be defeated by it, the top priority at this point was escaping alive. A lead sphere shot from her carrying case and began crackling with electric charge as it hovered over her gloved left hand.
"That's useless." the voice of the Einzbern homunculus said. "You've already killed him with that attack once. But each of the Twelve Labors was different, right? So the blessings of immortality granted for them must each be eliminated in a different way. Too bad for you, but he can't be killed the same way twice."
Bazett, however, only smiled grimly and then punched the floating orb. The sphere crackled with electricity and grew a blade; then Bazett punched it, and it transformed into a blinding beam of pure force shooting towards Berserker. The giant Servant's Noble Phantasm lay in wait, like invisible armor that protected Berserker from harm. It was a power that refuted attacks, refusing to acknowledge any harm from abilities beneath A Rank. Furthermore, it was adaptive: it learned from the attacks that managed to bypass it and claim one of Berserker's twelve lives and changed in response. Fragarach had already slain Berserker once; God Hand knew it now, and had prepared itself to neutralize even the beam of power which promised instant death.
But Fragarch was more than merely a powerful magical attack; it was a true Noble Phantasm, a Divine Mystery that could not so easily be denied. The reason it was an ultimate trump card was because, like Gae Bolg, it altered causality. A normal counterattack could only be launched in response to an attack; thus, any normal counter Bazett might deploy in response to a Noble Phantasm would at best result in a mutual kill. Fragarach, however, was a divine blade that warped causality in order to deliver its counter-strike before the actual attack that triggered it. The opponent would be killed moments before the activation of their Noble Phantasm, thus preventing it from occurring at all. And though God Hand was a defensive rather than offensive Noble Phantasm, the same principle applied.
The beam of force struck Berserker in the inner thigh. It was an attack that had killed him before, and God Hand remembered it; the Noble Phantasm refuted this second strike by applying the Concept of "denial of injury" to the impact. No damage from the attack would be recognized, and no harm would be permitted to occur.
But this denial was meaningless in the face of Fragarach. For when God Hand activated to deny it, Fragarach's causality-alteration ability was triggered: it was the Sword of Retrograde, and it cut backwards through time. The attack impacted Berserker the moment before the Concept of denial would have been applied to it, and Berserker's pelvis was blown apart by the Gouging Sword of the War God. Not only was the titanic Servant once more slain, but one of his legs was severed from his body. Battle Continuation or no, he wouldn't be able to resume pursuit of them within moments of his resurrection; he would at least have to wait long enough for his leg to regenerate. It was the opportunity Bazett had been waiting for.
"By my Command Spell, I order you!" she called. "Lancer — take me to safety!"
Though her left hand was covered by a black glove, she could feel the burst of prana as one of her three marks vanished and the command took hold. Lancer burned brightly with renewed vigor as the seal's magic gave him the power to carry out his desire to save her. He moved with previously unseen speed, snatching Bazett up in his arms as though she were as light as a pillow and then dashing through the forest's trees as naturally as if he'd practiced all his life. Berserker's fallen body soon vanished from sight, and the Einzbern Master's exhortations for her Servant to quickly regenerate and resume pursuit faded as they moved out of earshot. With the incredible speed Lancer was now displaying, it didn't take long for them to completely escape the forest.
Bazett knew the moment that they'd reached safety. She felt a powerful tingling sensation across her body as they passed through the edge of the bounded field which enclosed the Einzbern forest; at the same time, the effects of the Command Spell faded, its purpose having been fulfilled. Now that they were out of the bounded field, the Einzbern Master had no way of keeping track of their movements; and though Berserker was ferocious in combat, its madness made it incapable of tracking them. Still, it wouldn't be wise to tempt fate by lingering in the area too long, so she decided they had best head back to the apartment serving as her base of operations. Lancer set her back on her feet, and the pair began walking.
"Well, that wasn't exactly a success." Lancer said conversationally. "You've already used two of your three Fragarach, and we haven't eliminated even a single opponent."
"The Fragarach haven't provided the advantage I expected." Bazett admitted. "I suppose it was arrogant of me to think that I'd be able to one-hit kill half the opposition."
"Either that, or my E-rank Luck is dragging us down." Lancer said. "Y'know, that Kotomine guy's offer of an alliance is probably still valid. Personally, I don't like him; but it looks like you've worked together before. The way things are going, it seems our only hope of winning is if we pull some kind of dirty trick. I wouldn't personally approve, but I find myself kind of liking you as a Master; if you think it's necessary for our victory, I'll abide by your decision."
"I won't be going to Kotomine." Bazett said.
"Ethical objections at cheating?" Lancer asked. "How very unlike you, my Master. Unless, of course, it's a matter of pride — you want to win the Holy Grail by your own hand, without anyone's support?"
"I have neither moral nor emotional problems with the collaboration." Bazett said, a little stiffly. "In fact, when the Mage's Association first proposed to cooperate with Kotomine in order to ensure we win the Grail, I supported the idea — it seemed the most pragmatic path to victory."
"What changed, then?" Lancer asked.
"Kotomine." Bazett said. "From my interaction with him before summoning you, I could tell that he has changed in many ways from the man I once fought beside... and not for the better. While I am willing to overlook personal conflicts for the sake of the mission, I found his demeanor disturbing enough that I had to reconsider whether he would be a trustworthy accomplice."
"I definitely got a bad vibe from him." Lancer agreed. "Something about the way he chose his words, like everything was a joke that only he got. He was definitely keeping things from us. And I could swear that I felt the presence of another Servant somewhere nearby for just a moment after I was summoned."
"An ally you can't trust is worse than an enemy." Bazett affirmed.
"Still, that leaves you in a pretty bad spot." Lancer said. "We haven't defeated a single opponent, you've lost your planned assistance from the Overseer, you're down to one Fragarach, and I honestly don't stand a chance against that monster of a Servant the Einzberns have managed to summon. I don't think anyone would blame you for dropping out and seeking sanctuary at the Church."
"Out of the question." Bazett said. "I entered this War with the intention to win, and I still fully intend to do so. Even without Kotomine or the Fragarach, we still have options. With a sufficiently considered strategy, we can overcome any opponent."
Lancer grinned ferally.
"You see?" he said. "It's precisely because you go and say things like that that you're worthy of being my Master."
"And E-rank Luck or not, I wouldn't have any Servant other than you." Bazett said.
"Now you're just flattering me." Lancer said.
"No, I'm being sincere." Bazett said, fingering her earrings. "I chose to summon you. The Mage's Association wanted me to use a different catalyst: Saber is considered the most powerful class of Servant, and you're only qualified to be Lancer, Caster, or Berserker. They only relented when I threatened to refuse the assignment entirely unless given the right to summon you. Ever since I was a child, I've admired your story — the Ulster Cycle, I mean. It was your heroic legend that inspired me to work so hard at developing my talent and become a member of the Association in the first place. So I won't give up on fighting with you. No matter how large our disadvantage, I'll figure out a way for us to win."
"What magnificent fighting spirit." Lancer said. "Keep thinking like that, and we're guaranteed to win — or if we lose, at least we'll lose with style. I don't think we'll be accomplishing anything more tonight, though, so let's give the other Masters a chance to have a go at each other. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of them will take out Berserker for us."
The Master and Servant pair disappeared into the night.