See you again, people! I was pleasantly surprised that this story had so much support, so here is the next chapter of this story. And the other surprise was that most of you wanted Jeanne to fall in love with King of Fakers. Fulfilling the request of the majority, I'll get to it. This will be the first time I write anything that has to do with romance, so I'll proceed calmly. The relationship between Jeanne and Sieg won't change much, she just won't fall in love with him spontaneously. Anyway, in this chapter we won't start with that yet.
On the other hand, I guess I didn't make myself clear, but the reason I didn't mention anything about the past of King of Fakers in the previous chapter is because I already wrote it, and it's my first story 'King of Fakers: Saving them all'. I said it was advisable to read it for that, not for spam about it. Anyway, a guest took the trouble to put a review explaining it briefly, although it included a great spoiler. Thanks anyway.
Without further ado, let the chapter begin.
Disclaimer: I don't own any rigth over Type-Moon or the Fate franchise.
Things could not have gone worse while I wasn't here.
When I found Rider, he was hugging with tears in his eyes the lifeless body of the homunculus that he and I were trying to save. Next to him was Saber, who had just torn his heart out to try to save the homunculus, and a girl I didn't know.
This one had blond hair tied in a long braid, purple eyes, and wore a purple dress with pieces of silver armor on top. I'll admit she was quite beautiful.
I couldn't get much information about her by taking a look at her 'weapon', because what I initially thought was a spear was actually a flag. Its concept was too far removed from 'sword' to be able to use structural grasp on it through my eyes.
However, her appearance matched the description of the servant Ruler provided by Saber's master.
The strange thing was that she also looked like Nero, although not as exaggerated as Saber of Red.
After Saber introduced his heart into the homunculus chest, he sat waiting for his imminent death and began to say goodbye to his master and Rider.
That's when I couldn't take it anymore and I stepped in. Maybe for him his sacrifice to save the boy was worth it, but not for me.
I knew it was a hypocrite. I probably would have done something like that if I were in his situation. But, I couldn't stand by and watch such a scene.
I had to do something. I had to save them.
By the time I realized what I was doing, I had already interrupted Saber's farewell and manifested my true noble phantasm in my hand.
I managed to regenerate his heart, but that consumed almost all my reserves of prana. I used my own reserves and not the prana provided by Fiore so as not to exhaust her, and my ability to Independent Action could barely sustain my existence as her prana began to restore my depleted reserves.
Still, I had one last thing to do for the boy.
I asked Ruler to help the boy find freedom. A selfish request on a matter that had nothing to do with her, but I had no other choice. The rest of the black faction would soon arrive, and they would try to regain their 'property'.
If they succeed, everything would have been in vain.
To my great surprise, Ruler accepted and promised to protect the boy.
After that, the boy regained consciousness, and Ruler confirmed after reviewing his body that Siegfried's heart was functioning smoothly.
And, here we are now. Lancer arrived mounted on his war steed, along with the masters of the black faction, and Caster and Berserker materialised around us to block any escape route.
Fiore was brought here by her brother, and she was looking at me full of concern.
"Rider, Archer and Saber, can any of you explain what happened here? And who is this servant?" Darnic was the first to break the tense silence.
Ruler went ahead of us and introduced herself. "I am Servant Ruler, the judge of this Holy Grail War."
"So, what happened here? "Lancer reformulated his master's question in a cold and threatening tone.
"Well... Saber decided to give his heart to save him."
The place fell silent. What Rider had just said made no sense out of context. However, Lancer seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"What Rider says is true, Archer?"
I just nodded without adding any more details, and Saber also did the same thing when was asked.
"Well, that would explain why I can feel the heart of Knowing within the homunculus. In that case, who is he?" This time it was Caster who spoke.
Rider immediately stood in front of the boy, and Saber and I positioned ourselves beside him.
"Answer."
As I thought about how I would respond to get out of this situation, Rider stepped forward and briefly explained what happened.
At least, he described my noble phantasm as "And then Archer drew a very bright golden sword, and did something with it to heal Saber."
I thought I was good at omitting information and telling half-truths, but he took the cake. I don't know if I was lucky or he did it on purpose... Heh, who am I kidding? Me, having luck?
"So we almost lost to Saber because of your incompetence. You can thank Fiore for her Archer being so helpful." Darnic spoke to the still unconscious Saber's master.
"Was that your noble phantasm, Archer?" Fiore asked me in amazement.
"You could say yes."
After observing the boy for quite a while, Caster spoke to Lancer's master. "Darnic, this homunculus is important."
"Rider, hand it over."
"I refuse." Rider's response came quickly, and his face was now totally serious.
"Don't waste my time."
Rider's master raised his left hand intending to use a command seal, but was stopped by Ruler.
"Stop right now. You can't make him participate in the Holy Grail War."
"What?"
"The Holy War has rules. He does not partake in it of his own free will."
"However, he is not detached from it. He received the heart of Saber, or at least a copy."
"Even so, he hasn't become a servant. Caster, you should be able to understand it, right?"
"That's right, he's a homunculus. And that's important to me."
Darnic supported Caster in the discussion. "It's something we create to serve us. It has no personality, no history, no family. It was created to fight."
Luckily, Ruler answered before my patience to hear him was over. I really don't like magus.
"That may be true. But he acted with the will to live. And there are people who want him to live."
"Who? Saber? You wanted it to live?"
Saber nodded. "Yes. My wish was for him to live. That's why I decided to give him my heart." His usually stoic face was now full of resolution.
"I promised to protect him, and I intend to keep that promise." Ruler raised her flag and pointed it at Lancer. Her face left no room for doubt. "I swear on this flag."
Lancer seemed to recognize the flag of Ruler. "Orleans' woman, huh?"
"I won't deliver him, not even by my real name."
The tension in the environment increased considerably. It seemed that the fight would begin at any moment.
Lancer thought it over and let it go. "Rider, do you feel your actions are embarrassing?"
"I don't think so! In fact, I think what I did was the right thing!"
Lancer showed a glimmer of a smile as he saw Rider's sincerity. "Well, thanks to Archer, the losses we suffered tonight were minimal. But, it would not be a good example to leave you unpunished either. The same applies to you, Saber. Caster."
The masked servant set out to restrain Astolfo's hands, but was stopped by my voice.
"Wait a moment."
At once I felt the gaze of all present fixed in me.
"Is there anything you want to add, Archer?"
"I was the one who helped Rider hide the boy and who suggested the escape plan. Also, I was the one who asked Ruler to help him. If you want to punish the culprit for all this, then I am the one you have to punish."
My words surprised everyone. I guess they didn't expect me to try to take the blame alone.
I heard Rider's worried voice beside me. "What are you saying Archer!? You don't have to be punished..."
His impetus died when he looked to my eyes. He understood that I would not recant.
"Is that so? Then, do you regret your actions?" Lancer asked me in a cold tone and an indecipherable expression.
I answered his question by looking at him with eyes full of determination. "Of course not. Helping people isn't wrong. I'm just taking responsibility for my actions."
We kept exchanging glances in silence for a few moments. He seemed to be testing me. Finally, he closed his eyes and smiled.
"Even so, Saber and Rider acted of their own free will, so their punishment will not be revoked. But, since you were the cause of all this, even though you solved the problem you caused, you will assume part of their punishment."
With that said, Caster molded a mass of rock around our hands as shackles.
"Well, let's go." Darnic intended to return to the castle, but his servant interrupted him.
"Wait. We still have to talk. Ruler, as believers of God that we are, is there no way that we can collaborate?"
"No. As long as both sides want the Grail, you will fight according to your pride. I will not interfere in that."
Upon hearing her answer, Lancer ended the negotiation and turned to leave. Everyone else followed him, except Rider.
This one stopped and turned to talk to the boy. "Hey boy! This is the most we could do. Bye! Don't worry! The you of now can do what you want. You can go to the city, meet people, fall in love with someone, hate someone, and have a good life. Understood!?"
At the end of his farewell, he turned to look at Saber and me, "You guys have to say goodbye, too."
The first one to do it was Saber. "I guess this is the farewell, boy. I know that the gift I gave you may be something very heavy for you, but I do not regret giving it to you. I know you will put it to good use."
The boy placed a hand on his chest and nodded resolutely. "Thank you very much, Siegfried."
Then it was my turn to say goodbye. Everyone, even Ruler, looked at me with expectations. I couldn't help but sigh, and I would have scratched the back of my head if it wasn't for my hands being inside a block of rock.
"I suck at goodbyes, but I guess I'll try. I hope you find the path you want to follow, boy. The path you choose and can follow without regrets, and the one that makes you happy."
He nodded with conviction at my words. "Thank you very much too, Archer. I'll be sure to take your advice."
With that said, we turned around and followed the other members of the black faction. For some reason, I thought I saw Ruler looking at me with... concern?
I guess the lack of prana is starting to affect me. Why would Ruler care about me?
Anyway, we were taken to the castle catacombs, and there Rider's master tried to torture us.
The key word was 'tried', since she couldn't do anything with Fafnir's Armor, Saber's passive noble phantasm, and well, to make someone like me suffer in pain, that his first memories are of a hell on earth, it takes a lot more than she could inflict.
Still, for some reason, she became much more obsessed with her own servant.
At least, it only lasted that night, and they let us out the next day.
Meanwhile, in the church of Sighisoara, there was the priest Kotomine along with three of the servants of the red faction, Lancer of Red, Rider of Red and Archer of Red.
Lancer was a tall man with completely pale skin, white hair, blue eyes, and wore golden armor, while Archer was a woman with long brown hair, green eyes, feline-like ears, and she wore green and black fabrics.
"It seems that they captured Espartacus." The priest commented with his calm tone.
"Expected, he went to attack alone." Rider of Red responded still in pain. The wounds caused by Archer of Black's strange projectiles were still healing.
"We couldn't do anything." Archer of Red finished the sentence for him.
"If you say it, it must be true. On the other hand, it looks like Saber of Black almost fell, you know what happened?"
"What do you mean by 'almost fell'?" Rider asked the question the three servants had in mind.
"It was strange. It seemed like he was deliberately taking his own life, but another of the black servants saved him at the last instant." The priest looked strange as he said the last part. He almost looked excited and expectant.
"It must have been a dispute with his master. It's a normal thing." Archer of Red responded with indifference, without making much of a fuss.
"What about you? What do you think?" Shirou turned to look at Lancer as he asked him the question.
"He didn't seem like a man like that. In that case, something must have happened."
"Something?"
"Who knows..."After that vague answer, Lancer went into spirit form and left.
"What about you, Rider? From what I see, your wounds are still healing."
"This was the work of Archer of Black. The projectiles he fired were very rare. It seemed as if he had taken a scythe and twisted the blade."
"Even so, it is troubling that their Archer possesses a weapon that can pierce your defense. Any idea who he might be?"
"Actually, I have no idea. I heard about another fellow Greek hero who owned a scythe that could kill immortals, but to my knowledge he only had one, and I doubt he'd go around shooting it with a bow. Also, the strangest thing is that all the projectiles were totally identical. If you put two together, you couldn't tell them apart."
Shirou remained thoughtful for a few moments. "With such a description, their Archer migth be the hero summoned with the stolen catalyst, King of Fakers."
Both servants looked at him in confusion.
"King of Fakers? I don't know of any hero named that"
"Well, that's probably because his legend isn't very well known. But, still, he seems to be quite dangerous, especially for you Rider."
Said servant put a smile and smashed his fist into his palm. "I'm looking forward to fighting him again and getting to know him."
Soon after, both servants left Shiroualone, thinking to himself under the dim moonlight that seeped through the windows.
"Looks like I found him. A hero who pursues the same dream as me. It's a shame we're on opposite sides, but, maybe I can convince him to join me."
That same night, Fiore was on her way to Darnic's office after being called by this one. Her head at that time was full of thoughts about Archer.
She had already spoken with him about their desires. He wanted to save everyone, but he didn't want to use the Grail to do it. He wanted to do it with his own efforts.
She could respect that, although it was still rare for him to be summoned without desiring the Grail. However, she did not expect him to put his dream above his loyalty to the Yggdmillenia and help escape the homunculus Caster needed to use his noble phantasm.
Added to that was the dream she had the night before. She dreamed of Archer's memories of his life, or at least what was left of them.
What she saw was a lone hero who threw away everything to pursue his dream, and devoted his whole life to making others happy without receiving anything in return.
It just wasn't fair for such a good person to have such a lonely and sad life.
She would have to talk to him more. They almost lost Saber for lack of communication with his master. She couldn't afford for something like this to happen to Archer.
Fiore walked into the office and found Darnic discussing matters with Lancer. "I was told you had something to talk to me about."
The leader of the Yggdmillenia family just gave her a newspaper. "I want you to look at this."
The first news she read was about a series of murders committed in a village near the city of Trifas, Sighisoara. All the bodies had been found mutilated and their hearts ripped out. The news said the event looked like the reappearance of the famous killer, Jack the Ripper.
"This..."
"If you're wondering, yes. Most of the victims were magus from the Magus Association. There is no doubt that the person responsible for this is a servant, and quite possibly our Assassin. Tomorrow, when the sun comes up, we will release your servant from his punishment and you will go and investigate."
After nodding, Fiore left the office and set out to prepare her mystic code.
Jeanne accompanied the homunculus all night, recently called Sieg in honor of the hero who saved him, while they talked about what he wanted to do from now on.
The boy still had doubts, but he seemed inclined to return to save the other homunculi who were still in the castle. She assumed that Archer of Black influenced him a little.
Jeanne couldn't agree more with what he said, "Helping people isn't wrong".
By the time it was dawn, they found a small house in the middle of the countryside. There lived a nice old man who offered to let Sieg live with him.
Finally, Ruler said goodbye to the boy. From now on, he would live a peaceful and happy life there, and she would return to supervise the Holy Grail War. Or at least, that's what she told him.
Her Revelation showed her the boy's fate. He was destined to return to the battlefield.
She could not accept that. Already more was taken from him than he could have had. For him to get involved in this bloody battle again was unfair.
But the source of her concerns was the strange vision she had when Archer of Black was saying goodbye.
She saw him, fighting to the death with another man much like him. She could not recognize the other man as one of the other servants, but she felt that he was important in all this. Besides, Archer was in a pretty sorry state during the vision, and it looked like he was gonna lose.
Archer of Black, a nameless servant summoned to this Holy Grail War without any desire, was already an irregularity. But, she didn't think he was the cause that made this war so strange. Rather, that had to do with the Red faction, specifically their masters.
She would have to investigate this much more thoroughly.
Already in the morning, Fiore came to pick me up from the castle dungeons. On the way to her room, she introduced me to what we were doing tonight, and she told me we had to talk. Her expression was no longer gentle, and she had become full of seriousness.
When we got to her room, we poured each other a tea and she started with the interrogation.
"Archer, why did you decide to help the homunculus escape?"
I didn't even stop to think about the answer. "Because I wanted and it was the right thing."
"Even though it was just a tool we created so Caster could use his noble phantasm?"
"That's from the point of view of a magus, but to me, he's a person like any other. After all, he escaped from the pipe you had him locked in and asked for our help, all of his own free will."
Fiore remained silent for a few moments after hearing my answer. Finally, she resumed the conversation by changing the subject.
"Then, could you tell me a little bit more about your dream, save them all?"
I don't know what the big change of subject came to, but I decided to answer her question anyway.
"I always thought that helping others was the right thing to do. In fact, it was the only thing that made me happy. That is why I decided to dedicate my life to helping and saving others. Seeing their smiles made it worthwhile."
I told her the truth, although I didn't go into much detail either. The explanation would take a long time and would surely be uncomfortable for her.
She was silent again, assimilating the information.
"I see. So that's why you put your ideals above your loyalty to the black faction."
"Yes. I never got along with magus. Their ideology of 'the end justifies the means' is completely opposed to mine, especially since it usually involved the sacrifice of innocent lives. I can't stand them treating the other persons like tools."
Far from getting angry for criticizing her craft, she looked at me with worry and guilt.
"However, that does not apply to you master. I can tell you're not like those heartless people. As long as you do not stray from your current path, I will continue to obey your orders and grant you victory."
My words seemed to improve her mood and she showed her gentle smile again.
"So, again, I'm counting on you, Archer."
It got dark and we were taken to the city Sighisoara in a van that was driven by a homunculus.
We parked the van on a road just outside the city, and Fiore equiped her mystic code. It consisted in four metal appendages attached to her back that gave the sensation of spider legs.
During my life I fought many magus, but I had never seen such a strange mystical code. I didn't understand much of Fiore's explanation, but apparently it was based on bronze manipulation.
With it, she had great mobility, and each of the arms was able to attack and defend with simple commands.
I picked her up in nuptial style, which for some reason made her blush, and headed for one of the tallest buildings in the town.
The first strange thing we noticed was that part of the city was shrouded in a dense fog. Not even reinforcing my eyes I could see what was inside.
After a few minutes, two people came out of the fog into a wide street of the city. We recognized them as Saber of Red and her master.
For some strange reason, even if I looked at the sword of the enemy Saber, I could not get any reading of it. Unlike when I looked at that 'sword', my head didn't hurt, all I got was static.
Her sword was not a divine construct, but something was preventing me from using my structural grasp. Surely it was one of her noble phantasms.
"That must be the mercenary Kairi Sisigou. Archer, prepare to attack."
I nodded at my master's command and traced my bow along with a nameless noble phantasm. However, I didn't get to shoot as a third person came out of the fog.
"Wait master. There is someone else next to them."
That person looked like a child to the naked eye. Her hair was grey, her eyes yellow, and she covered her body with some bandages and a black cloak.
Just by looking at the knives in her hands, you could already tell she wasn't a 'normal' child.
She snuck up to the master of Saber. Her steps made no noise at all at the speed at which she was moving.
Within sseconds, she was standing right next to the mercenary and was about to slit his throat. Saber noticed this just in time and kicked her master's legs, forcing him to bend over and avoid the attack by a short shot.
At the same time, Saber threw her a wide swing with her sword and managed to cut off the arm with which the girl was attacking. The pain made her drop the knife, and she jumped back to recover.
After a brief conversation, the girl threw a few knives at Saber and jumped back into the fog. This one deflected them without difficulty and got into the fog to pursue their enemy. Her master stood outside, deploying a bounded field to drive away the mundane people from the place.
"I guess that's our objective."
"Yes. Assassin of Black, Jack the Ripper."
It was not my first time to meet servants whose gender was misunderstood in legends. Our Berserker was an example of this
Moments later, a huge accumulation of prana was felt within the fog, and it was icleared by several crimson rays. There were Saber of Red and Assassin of Black, about to resume their combat.
Now, Saber's helmet was retired, and that seemed to be what kept me from analyzing her sword. The sword was Clarent, Radiant and Brilliant Royal Sword, the sword symbolizing the kingship and the right to succession to the throne of King Arthur. However, the sword was cursed after it was stolen by Mordred.
Therefore, Saber's identity was Mordred Prendragon, Knight of Treachery, and illegitimate son of King Arthur. A homunculus created in the image and likeness of the King of Knights.
Seeing her identity reminded me of some things from my past war. The Saber of that war was none other than Arturia Pendragon.
I was not surprised that this Saber was so powerful considering how strong her 'father' was, although it raised many questions about how Arturia is supposed to be her 'father'.
I set aside those thoughts and struck the noble phantasm on the rope of my bow. I fired several noble phantasms, all aiming at Saber of Red.
She seemed to notice my attack and stopped her charge against Assassin to jump back. The 'arrows' hit where she was a few seconds ago, exploding and raising quite a lot of smoke.
I clicked my tongue. It seemed that this Saber also inherited the absurd intuition of Arturia.
"Did you succeed?"
"Unfortunately not, master. Saber managed to evade my attack at the last moment. As I expected, she is one of the strongest servants of this war."
"What happened to Assassin?"
I took a look at that servant after the dust cloud cleared. The explosions and shrapnel had damaged it quite a bit, but they didn't knock her out.
I couldn't finish her, although I did damage her. She withdrew in spiritual form."
"Well, as we planned, I will take care of the master, Kairi Sisigou."
"Beware, master." As I said that, I began to shoot noble phantasms at Saber.
The servant of the sword began to run towards our location. She was swinging her sword frantically to deflect my 'arrows', firing prana bursts as the bombardment began to overwhelm her.
"Yes, I know. Be careful too, Archer." After saying that, Fiore jumped off the roof where we were standing and headed for Saber of Red's master.
Inevitably, Saber arrived at the base of the building I was in. Being in the middle of a city, I couldn't afford to use 'arrows' that caused a lot of collateral damage.
I had no choice but to wait for her to approach me and face her in a sword combat.
She started running up the wall of the building, completely ignoring any law of physics. She kept deflecting and dodging my 'arrows' until she got a few feet below me. Then, she threw an upward cut to me, as she jumped up to cover the remaining height between us.
I leaned back and narrowly avoided the blade. Saber landed a few meters behind me and threw herself back at me.
"Come here, Archer!"
I turned quickly, let my bow dissipate, and traced Kanshou and Bakuya. She threw me a horizontal swing with the intention of cutting me in half. I parried it with Kanshou. Her enormous strength made my arm, even reinforced, tremble.
My change of weapons surprised her for a few moments. I took advantage of that and threw a thrust with Bakuya pointing at her neck. She leaned to her right and narrowly dodged my attack, receiving a superficial cut.
She loosened her left hand from the grip of her sword and closed it in a fist as she filled it with prana. She threw an uppercut into my belly while casting a prana burst.
I brought Kanshou in front of my belly and prepared for the impact.
"Guh!"
The blade cracked and I flew off the roof.
I was falling down the street below the building. I pulled myself together as I could and looked back at Saber. She jumped off the roof to chase me.
I turned in the air to land with me feet, and as soon as I landed I jumped back. Seconds later, Saber crashed violently where I had been. I filled both blades with prana to make them unstable and threw them at her.
She hit them to deflect them with a simple swing, but that was a mistake.
"What!?"
The swords exploded in her face, and one of the pieces of shrapnel opened a wound on her head. Blood began to drip down her forehead, and her face showed a manic smile.
"An Archer who shoots twisted swords. You must be the servant the priest spoke of, King of Fakers."
Well, this was problematic. I didn't expect the enemy to discover my identity so soon, although I suppose that's because the catalyst that was used to summon me was stolen from them.
"Draw your sword of the election and fight seriously! I will crush you and prove that I am the rightful successor to the throne of Great Britain."
Just what I need. Now I have a servant with problems with being recognized pointing directly at me.
"Sorry, but I'm not going to use something like that here. You will have to settle for this." By saying that I traced back to Kanshou and Bakuya.
Trying to match her in brute force made no sense. Her parameters were higher than mine, and her prana burst was much more powerful. I will have to face her with my usual fighting style. After all, fighting someone stronger than me is normal for me.
"Then, die!" After roaring, she threw herself at me with a prana burst.
I just dodged and deflected her attacks. Blocking was not an option. Though her sword was of the same rank as mine, with her prana burst, my swords would be shattered in the first Clash. and her attack would follow its trajectory without being deflected.
Although her fighting style was unorthodox, she knew what she was doing. There were hardly any openings between her frantic attacks, and the few I managed to exploit, she avoided my attacks thanks to her intuition.
We stayed that way for a few minutes. Her frustration was starting to grow with every attack I deflected. The street was beginning to fill with craters because of her constant prana bursts.
Seeing that we were going nowhere, I decided to step up my play.
Bakuya clashed violently with Clarent, and my sword broke. She threw a swing immediately to my right side now that that side was unarmed. I struck her blade below with Kanshou, managing to deflect it upward and barely grazing me.
My other blade broke in exchange, but, instead of tracing another pair of married swords, I gathered both hands above my head and traced Durandal. I pumped prana into it and swung it towards her left shoulder with all my strength.
She brought her sword back for little, still confused by the change in fighting style. She blocked my attack, but she was thrown back by my prana burst.
Before she pulled herself together, I threw myself forward, swinging Durandal only with my left hand. She hastily blocked the attack, barely regaining balance.
Quickly, I traced Caladbolg II into my right hand and threw a quick thrust to the left of her chest. I let the experience of the weapon invade me, and my body replicated the enormous strength of its original owner.
Saber leaned slightly to one side, and my attack only grazed her shoulder. Her shoulder trap was destroyed, and her shoulder began to bleed.
"Tsk. Sly bastard!"
Her sword wrapped itself in crimson lightning and she swung it in front of her. I crossed both blades in front of me and let myself be carried away with the blow.
I slipped back a few feet, nailing my boots to the ground to slow down, let Caladbolg vanish and prepared for the next attack.
The Knight of Treachery leapt upon me, swinging her blade still wrapped in lightning to my head. I pumped more prana into Durandal to wrap it in light, and swung it upwards in a motion opposite to her.
Both blades clashed violently. The force of the clash, plus the two prana bursts, created a shockwave that destroyed the crystals around us and ripped the cobblestones off the ground.
The two of us were thrown off to opposite sides of the street, and the fight stopped at a standstill.
Okay, changing weapons suddenly didn't work either. I needed an opening that could allow me to strike a definitive blow. Otherwise, this would become a battle of stamina.
To overcome her absurd reflexes and create that opening, I would have to use the definitive technique I created through all my work with Kanshou and Bakuya.
Through our bond, I noticed that my master was quite nervous, almost as if she was afraid. That could just means she wasn't doing too well.
Her safety came first. Initially we came for Assassin, Saber of Red was only a secondary target in case we met her.
Besides, with all the explosions, it was weird we didn't get the attention of the locals. If this continues to escalate, I'm afraid we may involve some civilian.
"Master, are you okay?"
Her answer was not long in coming. "Yes, in a way. How's it going for you?"
"Saber is a tough opponent. To beat her, I'm going to have to risk it all. What should we do? Should we back off?"
She remained silent for a few moments. Meanwhile, I watched Saber. She had recovered, and was watching me. On her face there was a bestial smile.
"We are withdrawing, Archer. Let's meet at the rendezvous point."
"Understood Master."
"Take this!"
With the decision made, instead of facing Saber's imminent attack, I jumped back to land on the roof of one of the buildings. Her attack hit the ground where I was a few seconds ago, creating another crater in the street.
"Are you running, Archer!?"
"Yes. This is not a suitable battlefield. We'd better leave it for the next time."
She didn't take my words very well. "Wait a moment, bastard!"
But she couldn't follow me because she had to deflect several swords that were fired in her direction. Some of the blades crushed into the ground at her feet, raising a smokescreen that blocked her vision, allowing me to successfully escape.
I went back to the van and there I met Fiore along with her brother Caules. Apparently, he followed us out of the blue and helped Fiore in her fight against the mercenary. If it weren't for him, my master would have been defeated.
I made a mental note to never leave Fiore alone again. Although she was a talented magus, her combat experience was practically nil. Against such an experienced opponent and with a fighting style so far removed from that of an average magus, she found herself overwhelmed.
We returned to the castle in silence to rest for the rest of the night.
Ruler was investigating in Sighisoara the next morning. The trail of the red faction's servants led her to this site, so their masters would probably be here.
Moreover, in this city, Assassin of Black, who had apparently gone rogue, was killing innocent people, which was a clear violation of the rules of Holy Grail War. And, apparently, there was also a fight between Saber of Red and Archer of Black.
The two had made a good number, leaving the road impassable with so much crater, although they managed not to harm any civilians.
It was impressive to see Archer of Black match an opponent as superior in parameters as Saber of Red. Where any other servant would have retired because of the enormous disadvantage, he managed to pair it with what little he had at his disposal.
The trail led her to the church of the city. At first sight, the site seemed abandoned, but she came in anyway. She needed answers.
Upon entering, a trap was activated, and prana chains attempted to restrain her. However, her immense magical resistance caused the chains to be practically destroyed as they approached her.
Still, she stopped completely. The moment she set foot in the place, her Revelation skill activated and showed her a vision.
In it, she saw a man who was in this church a short time ago. His appearance was similar to that of Archer of Black, only his eyes were brown rather than steel grey. He was the master of the red faction, and what was more disturbing, was the same man who saw King of Fakers fight to the death in her previous vision.
Her intuition screamed at her that this man was important, and had much to do with the irregularities of this war.
She needed to meet him.
Following his trail and that of the Red Faction servants, Ruler left the church at full speed.
Sieg was in the room that good man left him. His mind was still thinking about the path he should take from now on.
Part of him wanted to come back to save the other homunculi he left behind in that castle.
After talking to Ruler and the elder about what freedom was, he still didn't understand it very well. However, Rider, Archer and Saber did their utmost to grant it to him. One of them almost sacrificed himself for it.
He thought that, if he deserved all that, then so did his fellow homunculus.
Still, his heart still had doubts. Ruler I told him that if he didn't really want to come back for them, that he shouldn't, that he should stay here and continue his peaceful and happy life. She had the best intentions for him, as did the threesome of altruistic servants, although he still had to work on the smiling thing.
But to live there peacefully and do nothing, while the other homunculus suffered, felt empty.
To go to their rescue was madness. He faced a whole faction of servants and all the security of the castle.
In the midst of that thought, Archer's words resonated in his mind. "Helping people is not wrong."
For that man it was an irrefutable truth, and no matter how much he thought, Sieg found that he agreed with those words.
He made up his mind. Just as the three servants risked to give him freedom, he would risk to grant freedom to the other homunculi.
That was the path he chose to follow, and the one he would not regret following.
"You have to be kidding."
The day had passed without any notable events. Rider and Saber were released, and the second had a chat with his master. He agreed to give him more freedom and revoked his order of absolute silence.
In my opinion, the blonde magus seemed genuinely sorry for his mistake, and promised to increase communication between him and his servant.
Saber was formally introduced to us as Siegfried, and we discussed how we should capture the rogue Assassin to force him into our ranks. Other than that, the only thing Darnic notified us about the red faction was that they'd been gathering relics for weeks, even before the Holy Grail War began. He theorized it was for the noble phantasm of Caster of Red.
The sun was setting on the horizon, and as much as I looked at what was approaching the castle above the forest, it seemed more and more absurd.
A freaking flying fortress! The red faction had decided to attack us on board a freaking flying palace!
The only thing that prepared me for such a sight was the colossal sword that the King of Heroes threw at me during our fight, and it still fell short.
"Of all the ways they could attack us... I never imagined this."
"Archer, what's going on?"
"It's stopped. Looks like they won't be coming right now."
"It seems so." I heard someone else's voice above us, and seconds later, Darnic and Lancer landed next to us.
"Grandfather?"
"Let's go in, Fiore. We can only rely on our servants in this battle."
"That's right. From here on out, it will be our battle. In addition to entering our territory... they've spread that filth around." In stating that, Lancer put on a smile that promised pain to our enemies.
One by one, the remaining servants materialized around us.
Darnic turned to look at his servant and bowed. "My King, use all the power you want."
"Release Berserker of Red."
"Is that what you want?"
"They want a head-on showdown. It would be rude not to use all of our power."
"Understood." After that, the head of the Yggdmillenia entered the castle.
Fiore's eyes met mine. There was no need for words, I nodded and smiled confidently, and she, after showing me one last gentle smile, turned and directed her brother to follow her into the castle.
Moments later, the six servants were on the balcony overlooking the castle gates. In the courtyard in front of us was an army of golems created by Caster and combat homunculus who would join us in the battle.
All six of us had faces full of determination. Well... Bersreker was angry, unsurprisingly, and Lancer was riding on his war horse.
"Saber, you will go to the front. You will be the spearhead, and you will be in charge of facing Saber of Red if she appears."
The servant of the sword nodded stoically.
"Archer, you will lead the homunculus."
That was an acceptable charge. At least I could protect those I could as long as I wasn't fighting another servant.
"Understood. But what if Rider of Red decides to come to me?"
"You will have to deal with him. Saber will help you if hr do not come across Saber of Red."
Saber and I nod to the course of action.
"Caster, you wait here. See when Berserker of Red will be available."
"Understood."
"Rider, you just show us the power of one of the Paladins of Charlemagne."
This one hit his chest with confidence. "Yes! Leave it to me! The table is the table, and the chair is the chair. This fight will be my task!" Despite his strange speech and bizarre gestures, his face remained steady.
"Berserker, you are free. Hit as much as you want." Said servant only snarled in response.
"Finally, Archer, as I do not know your noble phantasm, I will ask you. Can you knock that thing down?"
"That depends on its defenses, although I trust I can make a good hole in it."
"Do it then. It will be a great opening for this glorious battle."
He paused and raised his silver spear toward the flying fortress on the horizon.
"Everyone, we don't have Assassin! They probably have their six warriors except for Berserker. Our forces are even. I will still ask, does anyone think we will lose?."
No one answered. It was not necessary.
"That's right. We'll win. We'll show them our superiority and crush them! We're the protectors of this earth! Let us deal with those unworthy and dirty invaders who dare to enter our territory! Go!"
On his signal, Lancer, Berserker and Saber leaped and rushed into the battlefield. Caster slipped back into the castle, and Rider summoned his mount, a Hypogriff, and flew in the direction of the flying fortress.
I jumped on the roof of the castle and positioned myself to shoot.
"Trace on."
In my left hand appeared my black bow, and in my right hand appeared Caladbolg II. I hit the handle of the Fake Spiral Sword into the bow's rope and pulled it while altering the noble phantasm to make it more aerodynamic.
"I am the bone of my sword." The sword was reinforced by my aria and I overloaded it with prana to turn it into a broken phantasm.
"Caladbolg!" I released the rope, and the sword flew at tremendous speed toward the enemy flying fortress. The tiles around me were torn out by the tremendous pressure of the shot.
The broken phantasm crossed the battlefield sky wrapped in a spatial distortion, marking the beginning of the first great battle of the Great Holy Grail War.
And so this chapter goes. What do you think? Yes, I know I cut it when the good was begining. The good Cliffhanger not Jutsu. But think of it this way, isn't it better to cut it here right when it's going to start and not in the middle of the Great Battle?
Well, this chapter is practically staging for battle. Although we had the fight between King of Fakers and Mordred, and with it, Archer managed to remember Arthur. And this time, Archer didn't shit his pants and run away after being overtaken by his opponent.
It has to be said in Chiron's defense, he didn't have a proper weapon to face Mordred. He only had his fists in hand-to-hand combat against someone who abused prana burst. However, King of Fakers is accustomed to fighting against beings who far surpass him. His fighting style, which is an improved version of that of EMIYA thanks to the prana burst, is explicitly designed for it.
And, the people of culture will have understood that, the scene where King of Fakers uses Durandal and Caladbolg II, is a reference to the fight between EMIYA and Shirou of the visual novel. Adaptations overlooked this, but switching to Durandal for a powerful attack is part of EMIYA's fighting style, as well as using Caladbolg for a thrust.
On another note, Sieg makes his decision to save the other homunculi by the influence of Archer. I don't know what it's like in the novel, but in anime it's practically a spontaneous decision, especially when Jeanne and Astolfo tell him to live a quiet life, several times.
And before you misunderstand, this line from King of Fakers, 'I'll admit she was quite beautiful', does not imply any infatuation on his part. It's a reference to when he met Nero in my first story. They're not the same words, but he also says that she is quite beautiful.
Finally, Jeanne's vision is a small preview of the final fight between Kotomine Shirou and King of Fakers. I will say nothing more and let you draw your conclusions.
Without further ado, as always, any constructive review, follow and fav is welcome, and motivates me to continue writing. And while we're at it, a little spam. At the same time as I'm updating this, I'm uploading the prologue to a new story. It's about the idea of the crossover with Date a Live, which, as I recall, some of you agreed to write it.
With this I bid you farewell for now. Until we meet again!