Chapter 12: The Threat of the Grail
"Archer, now!"
On that command, Archer fired another volley as the two students were knocked away from Grail. It was turning into a far more heavyweight fight then anyone had expected, but with Grail distracted, the Servants and Masters had managed to overcome whatever power he had used on them.
"Let us see how you handle this! Activate Noble Phantasm: 4th Crusade!" Castor of Red exclaimed, as powerful attacks in the form of arrows and fire also rained down on Grail, showing a sheer might of magic that is known for the Castor class. A shield of transparent gold color had also come to protect them from any counterattacks or from the force of his own attack.
"Indeed! Keep up the attack! We must stop this threat!" Ruler exclaimed. That said, he did not have much attack power himself for a fight like this. At least not without getting close to Grail and also getting hit by attacks. If it had been the previous Ruler, then maybe, but she probably would not have found and confronted Grail as quickly. But she was not available this time around, probably due to the last Greater Holy Grail War.
"Do you think I will be stopped so easily?!" Grail announced, forming a barrier to stop their attacks. It appeared to stop all Noble Phantasms, but only that, as Kyouske was able to fire right through the barrier and hit his arm, injuring him again. Although if it was a normal human, that probably would have taken off the arm.
"Why isn't Kyouske hitting the head?"
"The barrier most likely. Its far more effect on Servants, Masters, and Noble Phantasms given the nature of the Grail, but he is not entirely powerless against others. Most likely, Kyouske is trying for maximum penetration, so while his shots are getting through, they are not hitting the mark".
"If he gets used to it...finds a pattern in the distortion...he should be able to hit".
"Then lets give him the time he needs, or maybe even just break the damn thing itself. Ruler, I need you to refund me a Command Seal" Inuzuka said, despite the fact he had not used one yet. But, everyone essentially understand what that meant.
"Oh! I will use one too if you do that for me also!" Marco added.
"Very well".
"Alright then! By this Command Seal, I command you Archer to break through that barrier with your Noble Phantasm at full power!"
Inuzuka used up a Command Seal, but it was immediately restored by Ruler. Meanwhile, Icarus' Noble Phantasm overflowed with power and rained down what appeared to be dozens, maybe even hundreds, of arrows at once. Enough to far surpass the norm of what people would expect.
"By this Command Seal, unleash your full power!"
And Marco did the same, and was also immediately restored. As a result, Castor of Red rained down a massive aresenal onto Grail as well. Even if his barrier was especially effective on Servants, Masters, and Noble Phantasms, the power provided from two Command Seal uses focused on him would have their effect. And furthermore...
"Now, Berserker! Break through it!"
Berserker of Black joined in. While those two hit it from above, Berserker of Black went and pounded on it, further causing tension and forcing it to fluctuate and collapse.
"Tsk! No choice then! Lancers, by this Command Seal, attack the Masters of Red!"
This caused Lancer of Black and Lancer of Red to appear behind them, and launch an attack on them. Grail had wanted to capture them as well, and use them as pawns, but with his hand forced he decided on this method. Better something then nothing.
Castor of Red used his power to defend against them, but it forced him to focus away from the attack. Furthermore, he was dealing with Lancers, those who used weapons to pierce. His defense would not last long.
But in that moment, where the focus was on them, one figure appeared behind Grail and stabbed into him. That was Assassin of Red. He struck, but then immediately retreated before Grail could use his power to control him. Still, the damage had been done.
"Ahg...damnit! By this Command Spell, Berserker of Red, finish off Berserker of Black's Master!"
And thus, the charcoal colored figure burst through the train they were standing on and came up behind Lobo. However, at that same moment, Kyouske shot another barrage of sniper attacks at Grail, while Reika and Uzumi also struck at the same time, using teamwork to overwhelm Grail. Icarus fired a focused shot through his head to boot, but...even though his head was pierced through, it regenerated.
"The hell?"
"Remember, Grail is possessing some old fart's corpse!" Rune called out, although if one way paying attention, they might have seen Grail twitch just a little when the body that should be dead was called an old fart...but that might have just been their imagination. "So aim for wherever the core is! Vital organs like brains dont matter!"
"So, the gold melted metal part?"
"Yeah! Aim for that!"
Kyouske fired a few rounds into that as Reika fired a few arrows, with Icarus also firing a few. At first, it seemed like nothing happened...but it was clear Grail did feel pain from those attacks. Castor was unable to fire attacks of his own though, as he focused on maintaining the barrier, and Berserker pulled back to punch Berserker of Red in the face before it could attack her master.
And then, Castor of Black finally appeared.
"Sorry for the delay, but we have successfully freed the three Masters".
"Great, then tell them to hurry up and join us!"
"Well, they would, but its freezing up here" Simon mentioned, sitting on the edge of the traincar right behind them. His legs were crossed right in front of him so no one could see anything, but...he was still naked. "We are having some trouble finding our clothes. Well, I happen to have some magic that lets me deal with it though to some degree".
As Simon often liked to use his magic to fly, he had both gotten used to colder temperatures that came with flying at high altitudes and speeds, and also created a magic that created an air pocket of warmer air inbetween him and colder air. Naturally, he was still chilly because it was never intended to be used while he was naked, but it let him join the battle to a degree unlike the other two.
Well, he was also the carefree freedom sort of type. it made him seem lazy to some, but it also meant he was not as...bothered...by his current situation.
"Berserker, stop fooling around and punch that Grail guy in the face".
Hearing the words of his Master who was no longer bound, the control of Grail was starting to lose strength and hold over him.
Well, leaving that aside...
The situation was starting to get worse for Grail now at this point. So as much as it infuriated him...he decided on a choice of action.
"You...I am not done yet!" Grail shouted. "Lancers, by this Command Seal, I order you two to kill your Masters!"
Suddenly, both Lancer's disappeared. Meanwhile, the Grail also disappeared suddenly, retreating at the same time as he dropped something that had a timer onto the train.
"By the way...where do you think all those people in town went?"
He left with those words, as the device drilled itself into the train.
Serdtse watched as the two lancers appeared, right behind their respective Masters, and thrust their weapons forward. Castor and Simon had gone up, while the other two were still searching for their belongings. Ren had only just found them, and so both their backs were totally turned still.
And so, Serdtse had to decide. There was no time to warn them, only act. And of course, he went for Ren. Not just because they were of the same faction, but because she was his student. And so, he tackled her to the ground and saved her life, as Lancer of Red was stabbed through the chest by his own Servant.
And then, the Servant also disappeared without a word, while Lancer of Black turned to face them.
"Ren! Use a Command Seal!"
"By this Command Seal, I order you to stop Berserker!" she said, forcing Berserker to stop now that she could use Command Seals again.
Still, even though he was on the enemy faction, Serdtse felt a bit sad he was unable to help them both.
By the time the group finally was allowed back into the train car, Ren and Simon had finished getting dressed, while a blanket had been thrown over Luca's corpse.
"Well, we were not able to save everyone, but...at least we saved two of the three of them" Holmes mentioned, as everyone, even Kyouske, was back on the train. Castor of Black had already gone up to take control of the train, and Rune and Assassin of Red, along with Archer of Red, were...dealing...with the bomb.
"Alright, you ready Set? It has to be really far!"
"Yep! Icarus, is it clear?"
"Totally! Alright then!"
Icarus moved into position, and grabbed the piece of the ceiling they had ripped out with the bomb on it. They had to wait for an area clear of everyone, and Icarus had just confirmed it. That said...these three also rarely did things normally...
"Alright! 44. 33. Hut hut! Hike!" Rune said, mimicking American Football, as Icarus passed the bomb to Set...who then punted it far off the train and into a snow filled valley. It exploded somewhere before it hit the ground.
"I still think it would have been cooler if we waited till it was at one second and then just disarmed it".
"But what if it was set to go off before then? I mean, I am pretty sure that thing still had three minutes left on it and yet it blew up just now".
"I am amazed he was nice enough to leave a timer on it!"
"Well, it was meant to be his escape plan. He wanted it to be a distraction, not an actual threat".
"Against Mages though?"
Rune pondered that for a moment.
"...hey, yeah. Mages are supposed to be cold blooded people".
"Well, we came here for a rescue, so maybe he figured we were more compassionate?"
"Maybe. Either way, bomb dealt with!"
And the trio high fived each other.
Meanwhile, Castor of Red made note that both factions had their own idiot trio.
With the battle done, and everyone who survived rescued, the group finally had the train move in the opposite direction and brought it back to town. With Grail gone, the innocent people stored inside the train were also fine, but...
"...does Grail just hate people?"
"He probably does...but this is..."
"This is extreme, right?"
Well, a town became very familiar with each other as they woke up. Needless to say, each and every single one of them was going to get mind wiped later to keep the secret of magic. That, or somehow they were going to have to explain how everyone, even children, got so drunk they ended up crammed in that train like that.
Magic was the easier explanation in this case.
But, everything was finally solved...and...
"Ahhhhhhhhhh". (Everyone)
As they did not want to go down the mountain at night, everyone respected the ceasefire, and decided to peacefully enjoy the hot springs together. Well...
"Rune, Set, Icarus! Stop disrupting everyone else!"
Mostly peaceful. Mages and Servants tended to be eccentric in some ways, after all.
"So, apparently the Lesser Grail itself decided to become our enemy?" Terry Blood replied, listening to what was being said over the phone. Inuzuka had called to give him the run down. "Very well. I suppose it would help if we planned out a bit more and martialed our forces".
With everything said and done, he hung up and looked back at his sword.
"I suppose we will have to be careful until Grail is defeated. A force like that, we cant really risk destroying each other...well, at least visibly. But of course, it cant be helped if Grail ends up taking out some of the Black Factions forces during this time, now can it?"
And then, he looked at the picture of Suzuki Subaru.
"And then, we can get rid of the one who is using, maybe even decieving, that homunculus, and take our Sabre of Black to secure our victory".
"Indeed" Dr. Warren said, entering the room. "After all, if we are right, that innocent high school girl...is not innocent in the slighest. And maybe...could even be directly responsible for thousands of deaths".
And so even with this new threat, the Grail War was still not over, and plots would still be formed...or continue to be carried out. But additionally, Terry had his own thought...
"...still...even if its an enemy, a second Grail is now in place...so I wonder if a second wish can also be granted in that case?"
AN: Woot! In case no one noticed yet, these chapters were meant to have a focus on some people who I thought could use some more spotlight. And also, to remind people that this is a Grail War and there is not something like "One side is good" and "one side is evil", at least in such clear terms. Also, its an arc that focused more heavily on the red faction. Shorter then I would have liked...but aside from a few, Red Faction is a lot less social then Black Faction!
I blame the Mages Association. They are practically smothering Red Faction with their administration and ideaology. Its all because of what happened in the last Greater Holy Grail War, you know? After what happened with Shiro's group, they are being all uptight and bothersome!
But, I thought this showed more of them! But here is a question for you people to answer in reviews! Who are the top three people you want to win personally? You cannot choose your own OC, and you have to choose three different OCs. (No putting the same name three times).
I cannot promise this will affect the results of who wins the Holy Grail War, but I also cant deny the possibility it might at least have a small influence. Maybe. So just be honest!