Steel met steel as a battle raged on, a multitude of onlookers watched as a young blonde woman in blue let out a sharp cry as a lance arced across her vision, sending her skidding back and nearly taking off her head in the process. The concealed blade of her weapon still hummed from the blow as she raised it back up, throwing herself back into the fight and retaliating with a swing of her own.
Her opponent was a young man, handsome too if any other woman or even man were to describe him. A small nagging feeling pulled at the edges of her mind to cease fighting, forcing her gaze to wander at his figure for longer than she would prefer, however her resistance to that pull was even greater.
It was a curse of attraction, pure and simple, the damn spot underneath his right eye that could charm any lesser woman with but a simple gaze. It was a nuisance for the both of them and an incentive to strike down her opponent to be rid of the feeling.
"Impressive display, Saber!" Lancer barked a laugh as the two spun around the battlefield now reduced to rubble, the cargo boxes torn apart like wet cardboard, "But how long do you plan on hiding that precious sword of yours?"
A flourish of his spears was enough to cause her to step back, instincts reading the fight as the speartip had missed her throat by mere centimeters as she blocked a wild swing from the lesser spear. In return, she spoke back, "Perhaps once you've fallen shall you gaze upon its steel, Lancer!"
Another strike parried, the Servant of the Spear couldn't be any happier.
As the two fought, the others were witnessing the fight, planning their next moves. The two most obvious was the foreign woman and the owner of the voice that reverberated throughout their arena, the first was an Einzbern homunculus according to the words of Tokiomi, and the second was Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald according to Kotomine, a professor from some place called the Clock Tower.
A dark shadowy figure sat and perched itself on the very top of a nearby crane overlooking the Mion river, listening to the sounds of battle and watching every single move made. From there, Assassin could gleam that this Kayneth was the Master of Lancer and the homunculus was the Master of Saber-
No, the Servant of the shadow pressed a button on the side of his helmet, his vision zooming in even further. Strange… not a single speck of Command Seals on her hand. This couldn't be a Master.
He relayed the information back to Kirei through the link they shared, who in turn processed the information to Tokiomi. The Spartan was only met with silence as he continued to watch the battle taking place from below, not a single sign from Archer either to his surprise.
Much to his curiosity, Assassin flicked the helmet's sensors through several more settings, his vision focused on the obscured blade Saber was holding before settling back into the normal color spectrum.
'Her sword is even obscured from every form of light on the electromagnetic spectrum… interesting,' Assassin wasn't well-versed in the practice of magecraft, in fact he wouldn't have known it even existed if not for the Grail, but he could tell that the spell provided to hide this swordwoman's weapon was a tough one.
That meant one thing: the identity of the sword gave away the identity of Saber. The only thing he could gleam from her was that fighting style, slashes and cuts swung in the same sense as a knight from Europe would, likely German or British.
Lancer's spears were clothed for the same reason Saber's sword was, though with what appeared to be magecraft-reinforced wrappings.
The sounds of battle came to a halt, both Servants right back where they started. Lancer lowered his spears and Saber lowered her blade in response.
"It's a shame that we cannot introduce each other proper, Saber," the man's smirk was melancholic, "But your skill in combat is second to none, woman or not. I am honored to have been summoned for this War if not for simply meeting you alone."
"Oh?" said the Saber in blue, the edges of her lips tilting into a coy grin, "Such praise coming from a master of the spear. The honor is all mine, Lancer."
A vaguely annoying voice suddenly interrupted their brief exchange, "That's enough toying with your prey, Lancer. Saber is a fierce opponent, I shall give her that. Use your Noble Phantasm and finish her quickly."
Lancer's grin grew even wider, the wraps on the longer spear in his right hand disappearing as he dropped the one on his left. In his hands was a standard spear, colored red like a rose, "Tell me, Saber. You've been using wind magic to conceal that sword of yours, haven't you?"
As Assassin leaned in further to get a better view of the fight, he took notice of the two somewhat conspicuous gunmen hiding in the shadows.
-oOo-
Kiritsugu's rifle had trained itself on the shadowy spirit perched on the crane above them. The lense of his rifle flaring as the outline of white showed him their onlooker.
This had to be Assassin, the real one. Kiritsugu had suspicions that the fight between Archer and Assassin was a ruse meant to mislead the intentions everyone assumed between Kotomine and Tokiomi, but there was no way to know for sure. And even surprising him was the fact that they had attempted to mislead everyone into thinking this was an entirely different Heroic Spirit altogether.
Their body was still shrouded in shadowy black apparel, but that's where the differences between the Assassin they saw then and the one he was seeing now ended. No withered limbs or skull mask, nor a tattered cloak to signify the Middle Eastern origins of Hassan.
Kiritsugu hummed to himself in thought. This was a conundrum that even he didn't see coming, but what surprised him more-so was the lack of activity that the Assassin displayed. The outline of a dagger was sheathed at the waist, but there had been no moves to attack.
There was more to this than meets the eye, the Magus Killer thought to himself.
"Kiritsugu," a voice buzzed in his ear, "I'm within sights of Assassin, I'll distract him while you take out Lancer's Master."
"Don't bother, Maiya," he belayed her order, still peering through the sights, "I doubt bullets would affect a Servant much, we're unprepared to fight them at this time."
He neglected to mention that Assassin was more than likely acting as a scout, under the assumption that the dagger brought with them was merely a weapon of self-defense.
Kiritsugu looked down at his hand, the three seals emblazoned upon it. With a single command, he could order Saber to strike down the Servant and end a Servant properly.
A hidden attacker was always an issue and ending them would get rid of one complicated situation altogether, especially with a rare opportunity of Assassin revealing himself so easily. But even then…
Everyone of importance had watched as he was completely decimated by the Archer class, arrows piercing flesh and shattering bones on contact alone. Assassin shouldn't even exist, and yet here they were like an act of God. It had to be the act of a Noble Phantasm.
Besides, one of the three Knight classes were out right before his own Servant. Saber only had to distract Lancer before his Master was dead. Killing two birds with one stone, as it were.
"Prepare yourself, Saber," a man's voice cautioned, Lancer's, "I'll have your life this time for sure."
Kiritsugu turned back to the fight, noticing the disparaging sight before him.
"Not if I take yours first, Knight of Fianna," the King of Knights responded, her armor replaced and sword in hand, even as her wrist continued to bleed profusely. Their battle sure to continue.
Until the sky exploded in a haze of lightning.
-oOo-
Their fight had been a fierce one, much to the surprise of the Spartan. To anyone else, they could've only seen a blur of blue and green followed by several dozens of sparks bouncing throughout the place as the battlefield further crumbled around them. Their skirmish was a strategic marvel as it had grinded to a halt, resulting in Saber's arm being crippled and Lancer coming out no worse for wear.
"Prepare yourself, Saber. "I'll have your life this time for sure."
"Not if I take yours first, Knight of Fianna!"
Neither would get the chance to take the next strike. The sound of lightning split the air in two as both Servants leapt back out of pure instinct, the sound of braying bulls and the smell of ozone filled the air followed by the rumbling of churning bronze and wooden wheels before finally coming to a stop.
Kiritsugu shielded his face for the moment as flecks of debris and stone had pelted him more than a few times. He lowered his arms as the noise finally died down, revealing a rather concerning new sight.
This was… concerning.
"Lower your weapons, Servants of the Holy Grail War! For you are in the presence of a king!" a voice boomed out towards the sky like thunder as the speaker rose to his full height, arms out in welcome as he grinned, "I am the Rider of this War, but you may call me the King of Conquerors, Iskandar the Great!"
Saber lowered her blade, as did Lancer and Kiritsugu did with their own weapons. Meanwhile, Assassin himself had leaned in closer at what exactly just happened, balancing himself over the edge of the crane as he tried to comprehend the events currently unfolding.
'What,' each of them thought in simultaneous action.
"R-Rider! What the hell are you thinking?! You can't just give away your n-name away like that you moro- gah! " his dwarf for a master exclaimed before earning a quick flick to the face, launching him back into the chariot. Without missing a beat, Rider straightened himself back up, smoothing out his previously billowing crimson cape, predatory yet intelligent eyes gazing at the two before him before he opened his mouth once more.
"As I was saying. I would wish to ask each of you one single question," arms raised on up to the stars as his cape billowed out once more as the grin on his face grew ever wider, "In exchange for serving under my rule, would you care to surrender the Holy Grail to I, Iskandar?! Any and all who shall agree shall be welcomed under my care as allies!"
He was boisterous, loud, a bit of an ape, but no less a potential threat. The King of Conquerors, Iskandar the Great, better known as Alexander. Son of Philip II and Olympias and raised under the belief of being a demigod. Jorge had told the Spartan stories of Greek battles and heroes, strange to think that an older super-soldier even more hellbent on the Covenant's extermination than he was would be an avid scholar on Greek history.
Maybe it was part of training, he'd never figure it out.
Before either Servant could even have the chance to decline. The voice of Lancer's Master had boomed throughout the harbor, the source of his voice unable to be pinpointed due to the effects of Magecraft, "So it was you that decided to steal my catalyst… Waver Velvet."
"I-it can't be!" Waver's pupils shrank to pinpricks as he jerked his head around. Sweat began to form as he knew exactly who this was.
"This is just perfect," everyone could practically hear the smug grin on the Master of Lancer's face as he stepped out of the shadows to get a better look at his old student, "Perhaps I can demonstrate to you what it means for two mages to fight to the death. You've disappointed me time and time again, unworthy of being Rider's Master, perhaps I can help you make up your work by letting you be my guinea pig…"
The threat couldn't have been more clear if it had been carved into Waver's forehead, which precisely explained why the young man was practically curled up into the fetal position as the red-haired Rider looked down at him.
"If the King of Conquerors truly shares my blood, then there would be no sense in even considering yourself just as worthy, Master of Lancer," a voice from beyond spoke, a shower of blue emerged, and from it was a body. The very cargo box creaked under his massive weight and gargantuan size, towering over the newly named Rider by nearly half a meter, "As you can see, this young man, as much of a waif as he appears to be, stands beside his Servant in spite of his fear."
"I couldn't have put it any better!" yelled Rider, much to the anguish of a vertically challenged Master sitting right beside him, "Only those worthy of riding alongside me in the field of battle are worth their mettle to call themselves my Master."
Everyone's eyes were now on the dark-skinned giant standing before them, hair flowing down like the mane of a lion and bearing just as much muscle as one, if not more-so. The aura that radiated from his very presence could only truly be called that of a hero, immortalized like a marble statue that would forever stand the test of time.
Clutched in his left hand was a wooden bow clothed in soft wrappings.
So this was Archer.
The red-haired giant turned to his larger counterpart with a smile on his face, "Those were well said words, Archer. Though we may be enemies for the time being, I'd like to ask for your name so that we would do battle in glory proper."
Archer merely looked to the rest of the Servants stand before him, both Saber and Lancer unconsciously taking a step away from him out of instinct. As heroic as he was, he still gave off murderous intent, "I'm afraid I must decline, Iskandar. However, my first words to you may leave a hint."
Rider's face became quizzical, thinking back to what the man had said not even a full minute ago, "Sharing blood… so a fellow demigod stands before me? And that bow…"
The gargantuan man's smile slowly began to shift into a wider grin, "Ah… now I see who stands before me. With power like yours, there's no doubt about it! This War just became so much more grand!"
Rider laughed, a thunderous laughter that roared and matched the same electrifying intensity of his own chariot. The Servants around him looked on in confusion.
"If that's the case, your secret is safe with me, Archer," Rider clasped a fist against his chest, "I would be more than happy to meet you on the battlefield, but as of now…"
There it was. The moment those words left his mouth, the air seemed to brim with malice as a dark being seemed to materialize out from across the harbor. The sickening growl of a maddened black knight entering the fray rattled the very air around it before coming to a halt.
"We have an onlooker in our midst," Rider spoke grimly, unsheathing his sword and pushing his young master away, "Well then, it was only a matter of time before Berserker showed up."
"What's the matter, Rider?" Lancer smirked, "Are you going to try to recruit this one too?"
Rider stroked the crimson hair under his chin, "Perhaps not, this one is far too heated from what I'm seeing. Speaking of which, are you both willing to-"
"No," Saber and Lancer simultaneously answered.
"Haha! It was worth a shot," Iskandar barked a laugh to himself as he stood back and watched the upcoming battle from afar.
Darkened hazy air blew and swirled around the beast as it looked up at the Archer from up on above. Before anyone, be they Master or Servant, had the chance to react, both Berserker and Archer vanishing from their respective places.
What followed suit was the sound of an explosion in the distance. Rubble scattered the area where it shouldn't have a moment ago.
Archer grunted as a fist had been driven into his abdomen, thrown through several shipping containers before meeting the concrete wall on the other side backfirst. The heavy footsteps of the black knight quickly reached his ears. Dematerializing his bow, Archer pushed himself back to his feet and met the warrior head on with a roar of his own.
Everyone watched as the pair reappeared before them, Archer's arms wrapped around the knight's waist in a mix between a tackle and an attempt to crush their spine. Berserker planted their foot into the ground, concrete breaking apart and leaving a trail of debris as he did so before slamming both fists into the larger man's back, weakening his grip before following back up with a knee slamming straight into Archer's jaw.
The demigod stumbled back, clutching his face with a single hand as he finally came to a stop. Lowering it back down, all had seen the steady stream of crimson pouring from his lips and nose.
Wiping it away with a single hand, Archer grinned.
"Take up arms, Servant of madness," the Servant of the bow straightened back up, "Who knows? You may even have a chance at besting me!"
Despite the effects of Madness Enhancement, the black knight reached forth and pulled a lamppost out of the ground, snapping off the lighted end and leaving a sharpened point where it once stood. The skin of the makeshift spear began to darken, glowing red crackles seemed to break forth as Berserker began his charge.
Archer made no move to defend as the knight drove the spear into his chest, aimed straight for the heart. The force strong enough to make Archer take a step back. For the briefest moment, many had thought that Berserker had finally finished him off, with Archer being the truly mad one for making no effort to defend.
For that moment, they all thought that Archer's arrogance had finally got him killed.
So it was a surprise for everyone to see Archer take hold of the spear, looking back at Berserker and matching that same murderous glint in his eyes, "Only the best may pierce my body, Berserker. You're better off using your FISTS!"
Upon uttering the final word, the Servant wrenched the spear free from Berserker's grip before slamming it against the knight's face, throwing him into the opposing container and crumpling it like aluminum foil.
Archer dropped the spear before charging back at his foe, the darkened skin and red cracks now disappeared and returning to the state of a broken yet normal lamppost.
"Hmm, that's quite an interesting ability," Rider hummed to himself. The Noble Phantasm of Berserker allowed any held object to become a makeshift Noble Phantasm in and of itself. If that were the case, then that spear should've been able to pierce Archer's hide. Unless…
Berserker and Archer continued their onslaught, a flurry of fists, feet, and various other limbs as each Servant fought for supremacy over the other. Despite being a Berserker, Archer was impressed by his opponent's calm disposition in battle, fighting with each movement as fluid and concise as anyone with a clear mind.
Suddenly shifting weight, Berserker launched his foot back down with the speed of a missile, intent on crushing the giant's foot to gain an advantage. Archer grinned and shifted back to avoid the blow, throwing up a cloud of dust that hid the two in the haze.
There it was, an opening! Right between the fists of Berserker was a clear aim for the man's neck. A single punch could end the fight then and there by severing it from the rest of his body.
Archer threw one last punch, putting all the weight in his body into the final blow and intent on finishing this trivial fight.
*Whoosh!*
Pain followed after.
The demigod's fist caught empty space as one side of his vision suddenly disappeared into black, the sound of a crunch as a fist had impaled his abdomen apparent. Archer looked down to see the knight's arm elbow-deep into his chest, the other clutching a set of blackened rock shards.
Ah, clever bastard. While it wasn't an A-rank Noble Phantasm, Berserker had infused his influence on a piece of debris after he attempted to smash his foot in, crushing it in his face before blinding a single eye with his thumb.
Berserker must've been blindingly fast if he managed to accomplish that in under a single second.
Archer stifled a laugh as he coughed up blood, falling back over as the life left his eye.
The dust finally settled and Berserker was revealed the victor. Throwing his head back, the mad warrior let out a beastial cry of victory before setting his sights on the nearest Servant before him, picking up the makeshift polearm before rushing in.
Unfortunately for her, she couldn't do much with a crippled hand.
Saber parried the blow and took a step back, ducking under another swing before retaliating with a haphazard strike of her own. The combined efforts of her own carelessness and Berserker's abilities leaving her open for a free strike.
A flash of red severed the magic from the lamppost and cut through it like a knife meeting butter. Between them, Lancer stood with his crimson spear pointing at the maddened knight, "That's enough from you, Berserker. Saber and I already have an arranged duel. If you want to get to her, you'll have to settle with me first."
Lancer's Master interrupted them, intent on having his Servant pit himself against Saber with Berserker joining him with the use of a Command Seal. Saber faced down two formidable foes with only her sword and a crippled hand.
Iskandar shook his head as he gripped the reins of his chariot, intent on taking matters into his own hands.
That is, until Berserker was sent flying back, the armor covering him warping and bending from the force of the punch. The mad knight let out a rattled scream as he crumpled to the ground.
"I-impossible!" Lancer leaped back, narrowly dodging another swing from his new foe. Stretching out his arms, he ran the blade of Gae Dearg across the flesh of his enemy, failing to pierce it much to his dismay.
Everyone listened as Iskandar burst out into a thunderous fit of laughter once more, letting go of the reins as they all witnessed the newly risen Archer punt Berserker with a single fist through a nearby container.
Archer himself let out a long breath, his skin still reddened from the effects of resurrection, bones popping back into place as flesh and ribs reset themselves. His missing eye suddenly reappearing in his head, blinking as he tested out his renewed depth perception, "Whew, that was exhilarating, Berserker. If I knew you were capable of such trickery, I wouldn't have gone so easy on you."
With his strength back, Archer had finally managed to subdue Berserker with that single punch alone. The divine bowman listened to the faint and injured cries of the mad beast before finally fading away, most likely to lick their wounds.
Lancer's eyes widened, seeing that he was thoroughly outnumbered. Archer's smile faded away as he looked up, "It's three against one, Master of Lancer. I suggest you withdraw, along with your Servant."
Archer looked back down, first to Lancer before turning to Saber, "This won't be a fight he'll win."
Silence pervaded the arena before that grating voice spoke once more, "Lancer, fall back for now. We shall settle this another day."
Lancer closed his eyes, shifting his attention towards the opposing demigod, "You have my deepest thanks, Archer."
With that, the Servant of the spear disappeared, leaving only three other Servants behind.
"Think nothing of it. Your fight with Saber was truly an awe-inspiring spectacle and I would wish to see more," Archer placed a hand on a hip before turning to Rider, who nodded in response "As for you, King of Conquerors, I apologize for never getting that battle, but appears our fight will have to conclude for now."
"Oh?" the red-haired giant raised an eyebrow, "We're evenly matched now, Archer. What's stopping us from fighting now?"
Archer merely shrugged as he turned away, "It appears that my resurrection has sparked a bit of cowardice from my Master. Afraid that such an action would give away my True Name, and having one Servant already know is too much trouble for him. Such a waste of a Command Seal..."
With that, the Servant of the bow disappeared in a haze, leaving behind Rider and Saber.
As they exchanged words, Kiritsugu turned away from the battle, muttering a slight curse to himself as Lancer's Master got away. The threat of Assassin was too high and had caused doubt in his actions. The Magus killer stood up and called to Maiya. Looking back up, he saw that the form of Assassin had disappeared.
He'll settle this another time.
"What's the plan of action, Master?"
"Keep tailing them, Assassin," the voice of Kirei spoke from the shared link he and Assassin had been connected with. Assassin watched from a nearby building as a car drove off through the streets of Fuyuki, "Saber is obviously a force to be reckoned with, so every form of weakness must be searched and exploited."
The Spartan shook his head as he leaped from building to building, landing with a soft thud as each one was made with perfect grace and precision. There wasn't much he could do in the way of scouting for that war should any of the Masters there make a move he didn't like.
It was that sense of control that had given him the title of Hyper Lethal Vector.
And yet here he was tracking a Mercedes-Benz through the streets of some obscure Japanese city and spying on an albino woman and her pet familiar with an oversized toothpick and a crippled arm. It definitely had nothing to do with his Master's obsession with this Kiritsugu person.
Not the best mission to be put on, but it was certainly better than the first.
So it was somewhat of a surprise to see the woman's car breaking down midway. The car leaning to one side as one of the tires lay deflated and slashed.
Six looked down at the knife at his side.
Oops.
So Assassin sat down at the edge of a nearby building, heads-up display allowing him to get a better look at the two from this distance. Missions like these bored him, but it was better than nothing or getting an arrow lodged in a local eye socket. The Spartan unsheathed his knife, twirling the immaculate matte black blade between his fingers, paying close attention to the pair while simultaneously keeping his dexterity up to standards. Out of the corner of his eye were some local food shops, Koshuensaikan Taizan and Edomaeya being two that stuck out to him.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Assassin pulled himself back up to his feet, turning around to see a shadowy figure standing behind him, "You can stop with the hide and seek act, it's not going to help now."
To his surprise, this stalker strode, no- it was more of a staggering shuffle as they made their way into the light. Assassin couldn't help but flinch at the lifeless thing standing before him, its eyes empty and devoid of emotion as its arms hung loosely by their sides. This could've easily blended into a crowd or pass off as some sort of drunkard if anyone else were to see them in a dark alleyway, if the somewhat casual-punkish clothes they wore were anything to go by.
This wasn't a Heroic Spirit, at least he didn't think it was, and yet this thing managed to track him down even as he scaled across several buildings. It dawned on him that there was one other Servant unaccounted for.
"I see Caster decided to send a familiar," the lifeless man nodded, confirming Assassin's suspicions, "You're probably listening from that puppet of yours, aren't you?"
A slight pause before a nod.
Of course, there was no way for this thing, or even someone as skilled as a Caster class Servant, to find him with the ability to conceal his own presence as a Servant. So that meant…
"You're here for Saber, aren't you?"
The empty man stood motionless, a thin blade sliding out of their sleeve as they then gripped the sharp weapon in their hand, nodding silently once more.
Assassin looked down at the blade before looking back up at the familiar, "I don't know what you're after, but picking fights won't get you anywhere," he turned away, waving a hand dismissively, "Leave, go spy on Saber someplace else."
He was instead answered by rapidly approaching footsteps from behind. Without even a single turn of his head, Assassin threw his dagger over his shoulder, sticking the assailant between the eyes as it finally collapsed, blade in hand and blood pooling out.
The "battle" played out entirely as he expected, yet for some reason still couldn't help but feel disappointed.
The Spartan turned back to the corpse and retrieved his dagger, along with his attacker's knife just for keepsake. He turned back once more to see the homunculus and Saber finally get the car into working order.
Did the Riding skill also allowed some knowledge of fixing transportation? Assassin tilted his head, assuming so if the lack of any strangers in the vicinity was anything to go by. The spare tire they put in place could probably drive them back to whatever headquarters they reside themselves in.
Assassin could give chase, but he's had enough for one night. Besides, Caster's newfound involvement will most surely be of intrigue for his Master's superior.
"Assassin, what's going on?" the voice of Kirei spoke into his mind, obvious concern in his voice.
"Master," Assassin began, watching as the corpse's traits began to sizzle and fade away, revealing the pale and featureless innards of the thing that attacked him, leaving behind what appeared to be a mobile phone, "Things have gotten…"
The Servant picked up the phone, fiddling with the device and aiming at the corpse before disappearing in a haze, intent on returning to the two with news.
"Complicated."