Chapter 16: Two Sabres, Two Blades

AN: Sorry for the delay, but here you go!

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city, Grail was making his way towards the mountains and away from this mess.

"What was that...a servant not bound by the system? It was not ruler, then who was it that attempted to break into my Reality Marble..." Grail said to himself, as Ajax appeared next to him to help.

"Master, we have..."

Before he could finish, the two sensed an attack and dodged out of the way.

And in the distance, four figures were walking towards him.

"Sorry Grail...but we just cant let you keep this Holy Grail War on hold any more" Suzuki Subaru announced as Sabre appeared next to her.

"Indeed. As much as we cant stand each other, we especially cannot stand you" Terry Blood spoke out, as his Sabre also appeared.

Indeed, two Sabres were there, united in their desire to have the Grail War continue, and to take down the entity known as Grail who had interrupted enough to put it on hold.

"Tsk. Ajax, take on Sabre of Black. I shall handle Sabre of Red myself...Command Steal!"

"I dont think so!" Terry Blood said, as he channeled mana through his Command Seals without actually using one. With this overwhelming rush of mana, combined with the Divinity within Zeus, allowed him to resist the power of Grail. Meanwhile, the other Sabre was a former Ruler Class who still held on to some special privlidges. Because of that, she also could not be taken by Grail's power. As such, Grail was incapable of stealing either Sabre Class Servant, or have any real major impact on him.

"Hmmf! Activate Noble Phantasm: Lucifer's Wings!"

Suddenly, Grail had a pair of black wings appear on his back in his attempt to fly away.

"Did you think you could fly away from me, Zeus? The god of storms and lightning?!"

With a lightning bolt in his hands, Zeus threw it, but not at Grail. Rather, he threw it into the sky, and electrified the clouds. A major storm quickly appeared, and brought down multiple bolts of divine lightning down on Grail.

"Now, my turn! Excalibur!" Joan of Arc said. Although technically using her Ruler Powers to weild Excalibur, it was still accepted as doable, and therefore created a massive blaze that was shot right at Ajax and Grail.

"Not on my watch! Activate Noble Phantasm: Bulwark of the Ajax!" Lancer, or rather Ajax, announced, creating a defense to block the attack and bring the battle back towards their control.

"Activate Noble Phantasm: Champion's Rally!" Grail announced as suddenly Ajax was surrounded in Golden Light.

"A support based Noble Phantasm?!"

"Tsk. YOu think that will defeat a God?!"

"Of course it will. Because like the ancient tales of old, Champions defeat gods".

"Arrogance!" Zeus declared as he sent another storm of lightning his way. Ajax was still using his defensive Noble Phantasm though, but the battle was getting more intense and severe by the second.

The clashing of blades, lightning, lances, and Noble Phantasms had only just begun...and yet, that was not the only thing going on.

"You are terrible at singing" Rune declared as they walked around the festival, while the sun was setting.

"So are you!" Toko countered, pointing out his own terrible singing voice.

"Better then you though".

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are no..."

Right as they headed into a shortcut between two school buildings, an arrow was suddenly launched at them. Toko summoned his Moonscale Blades and deflected it, but only barely.

"Who is there?"

"There is a ceasefire you know!"

"...but you are working with the enemy, so you must be eliminated...traitor".

"That voice...Malcolm Lee?"

With those words, Malcolm Lee and his servant, Rider of Black appeared. And then, at the same time...Toko and Rune's Command Seals started to glow and feel like they were burning.

"No...he is under Grail's control!"

Yes, Grail had went and created multiple plans. And using two of his various saved up Command Seals, he ordered Rider of Black and his Master to eliminate the two who possessed Assassins. After that last fight, Grail realized how vulnerable he could be to them, and decided to just eliminate them.

"Now then, Rider of Black. With this Command Seal, I order you to eliminate those two" Malcolm said in a lifeless tone.

"Understood, Master" Rider replied as he charged in. And with their Command Seals like this, neither of them could summon their servants to help.

"Rune: Barrier!" Rune announced as he created a barrier to endure the attacks.

"Activate Artificial Noble Phantasm: Flame Emperor!"

And Toko summoned multiple floating swords and spears made of flame, all of them charging at Rider of Black.

"Activate Artificial Noble Phantasm: Pulseblaster Cannons!" Rune announced as he fired two powerful projectiles from his palms, heading right towards Malcolm. Meanwhile, Toko suddenly moved above with rapid movement, and brought down multiple slash attacks.

However, Rider of Black unleashed a volley upon them both, forcing them to take cover and regroup. It appeared that Rider of Black was quite capable as a Servant.

"Fine then..."

"...very well..."

Suddenly, an overwhelming amount of mana could be felt from the both of them.

"Tsk".

Grail clicked his tongue as he not only held off against an assault against two Sabres, but saw what was going on at the festival. The two masters of assassin, in one of their most vulnerable moments both being away from their Servants, were managing on their own. And that technique they had just used...was troublesome.

However, he did not have any wiggle room to deal with it as he had his own issues, mainly the two Sabres.

"Don't forget about us!" the two masters said, suddenly appearing at either side of Grail. Suzuki drew a sword and dealt a slash to his left, while Terry unleashed a mana infused punch to his right.

"Tsk. YOu know, most mages stand in the rear, hiding in the shadows, waiting and plotting. But you two...you are unusually aggressive".

"It can't be helped. We understand that weakness that comes with not knowing close quarters combat..."

"...and so in addition to physical abilities, we possess magic that lets us delve into that area".

The ultimate team up, of two Sabres, and two of the strongest Masters. None of them apparently can be affected by Grail's abilities, for different reasons. For Suzuki, it is emotion. For Terry, his tempered spirit. For Joan, it is her Ruler Qualities. And for Zeus, it is his Divinity.

By far, it is the least ideal situation of them all.

"Now, by this Command Seal...elimiante them all!"

"Understood!"

And then, Ajax clashed with Zeus and Joan once more, creating a powerful shockwave. Thunder and lightning rained down, and then Joan quickly ducked down and went behind Ajax, striking his back. However, as she did, he twisted around and managed to deal a blow to Zeus. Meanwhile, Grail activated another Noble Phantasm, as it appeared he was able to use them now all of a sudden, and unleashed a massive tidal wave that came from nowhere.

"Did you honestly think you could defeat me with force?! This is my Grail War! And I shall be the victory! I shall not be ignored!"

"Just shut up, you idiotic talking cup!"

"Get smashed to pieces!"

Another flurry of blows, as Grail was knocked back. He landed on his feet though, and braced himself. The next few blows were endured, and he knocked them all away.

"Activate Noble Phantasm: Clarent Blood Arthur!"

"Activate Noble Phantasm: Storm God's Wraith!"

"Activate Noble Phantasm: Avalon!"

"Now, take this!"

"And this!"

"Activate Noble Phantasm, SPear of the Lessar!"

So many blows and strikes, all activated at once. A litteral storm of attacks and blows, of flurries and hits. Overhead, a massive storm had begun as a reaction, with rain drenching the entire area.

"Activate Noble Phantasm: Poison Mist!"

"Activate Noble Phantasm: Divine Judgement!"

"Activate Noble Phantasm: Wheel of Fate!"

As Zeus tried to hit Grail with another attack, Grail suddenly had himself and Zeus switch places, and caused him to attack himself. After all, nothing better to attack Divinity then with Divinity.

"Damnit! He must have been saving this as a trump card! He has access to all the Noble Phantasms!"

"Yes. That is right! Now...Activate Noble Phantasm: Magius Obliteration!"

Suddenly, what appeared to be dozens of orbs appeared in the sky, floating there. And then, almost instantly afterwards, they unleashed a massive assault on all four of them, firing powerful beams of magic. Even for Sabres of their quality, with all their defensive abilities and Magic Resistance, it was practically unthinkable for them to get out of this unscathed...

"Denied!" a voice cried out as they intercepted the attack. Flying on the back of a winged creature, some mysterious figure dressed in a black cloak, top hat, and mask appeared. This person had pink hair though, and launched an attack against Grail as well.

"What the..." Grail announced in shock, but Ajax was quick to defend his new master. Still, the being in front of them had gotten close to dealing critical damage. And they seemed to have the strength of a Servant.

"Wait...that weird getup...vice principle?!"

"That is your freaking vice principle?! Why are they riding a Griffon?!" Terry Blood exclaimed.

"Hey! He is a Hippogriff, not a Griffon!"

"Whatever!"

"The hell...who are you girl?!" Grail shouted in rage.

"I am the hero here to defeat you!" the mysterious figure said, which in that exact moment caused Joan to realize who she...or rather, he, was.

Astolfo?! You are...why didn't you let me know you were here?!

As her inner thoughts went like that, Astolfo turned back...and gave a thumbs up.

"Don't worry! I have my reasons!"

Dont spout such reasonless things! We both know the moon is out so you dont have reason! Why else appear in such a manner!?

"To think there was a sixteenth Servant..."

"Hahahaha! Oh no, it would be against the rules for me to participate, unless something weird happens. AKA you. Sherlocky would hate it if I joined in normally, but...you are interefering, breaking rules, causing issues ya know? So, its only natural he would let me appear to deal with you".

Yes, Astolfo had no plans to assist. Even if the rest of the student body was allowed to, it would be a major violation of all the rules of Astolfo did so. As such, Astolfo had been sitting on the sidelines up until now, but since now someone had gone and broken the rules, he was able to get some punches in finally.

"Anyways, you crazy kids feel free to go all out on this guy. So long as I am here, using my Noble Phantasm, we are good".

"Thats fine, but...I thought you couldn't remember it under a full moon?"

"Oh, yeah I had issues, so I wrote it down!" Astolfo announced.

"...thats...actually pretty good..."

"Well then, if Grail's unreasonable ability to call upon such powerful Noble Phantasms is being countered, then lets finish this!"

"Command Steal!"

At thsi time, Grail tied to take Astolfo, but...

"Sorry! As a winner, and thanks to my wish, you can't get me with that little trick! Hehehe!"

"Fine then...in that case...Activate Noble Phantasm: Gate of Babylon!"

"Oh son of a..." was all Terry could get out as multiple portals appeared behind Grail and multiple weapons open fired on them. Zeus began shooting them down while Joan blocked with Excalibur, but now things were just getting unreasonable.

"Very well then...I guess we have no choice..." Suzuki and Terry agreed, as they looked at each other.

"By this Command Seal, we order you...to release your full power and take out Grail!"

And then, mana surged from Zeus and Joan, who brought forth even greater power.

"Stop messing up and interrupting our damn Greater Grail War!"

"Yeah, show em Joan!"

"Damnit!" Grail shouted, as he was overwhelmed by the sudden attacks by the Sabre Class Servants. "By my remaining Command Seals...take my power, and make sure you stick around and cause them all problems Ajax!"

And so, as Grail was overcome by the attacks...Ajax disappeared in taht moment, leaving no trace.

"That...was a pretty good field test" Rune said, looking at his fist as the glowing subsided.

"I suppose you are happy about this, given the outcome" Toko remarked semi jokingly. Meanwhile, they looked at the fading Rider of Black, and the unconscious Malcolm Lee. The glow around him also faded.

"We cant tell anyone about what happened here though. Not the truth anyways. Who should we say he attacked, me or you? It cant be both of us".

"Well..." Toko started, when he sensed something. "Hey, that thing you mentioned?"

"Yeah, I felt it. Come on, lets hurry".

And so, the two left the unconscious Malcolm and the fading Rider Class Servant there, who chuckled a little.

"...just how many sides are there to this fight..." he muttered. "Still...to think they had something like that...very clever indeed..."

"What the..." Malcolm said, waking up. And then, he saw Rider of Black. "What happened?! Rider?! Do you need more mana?"

"Unfortunately, I was dealt a critical blow. You have to...beware...Toko Kiragime".

"Wait, did he..."

"No, we were ambushed by Grail, and taken control of. Then we ambushed them, and they defended themselves...but, be warned...Toko is indeed not normal...beware his ultimate technique..."

And then, before he could finish, Rider faded away. Malcolm seemed a bit shocked at all this, and then noticed the footprints of two hurried kids off in a direction, and decided to follow. It was unfortunate he lost his servant, but...he was not out of this yet. After all, although it would be terrible, if a Master was lost, he could get their Servant. Or maybe convince a servant with a living master to switch sides. He didn't really have a wish, but...he didn't want to be completely excluded before the final battle.

So, he decided to follow them, as the footsteps seemed to be headed towards the woods.

"So now, what do we plan to do with...huh?"

As Astolfo approached to where the remains of Grail, or to be specific the Lesser Grail should be...there was nothing there. No Lesser Grail, no nothing. It too had disappeared...

"When did...where did it go?"

And meanwhile, in a shed off campus...Toko and Rune stood across from each other, with a magic circle in the center. At first, nothing appeared, but then...something emerged from a portal made above it, and the Lesser Grail fell down.

"I can't believe you managed to do this without anyone noticing, including Grail. Nice one, Rune".

"Thanks. It was pretty close, but with Set's help, it worked" Rune said as he thought back.

Flashbacking onto the train, there was a moment when Set got really close and behind Grail during the fight. In that moment, when no one could see him and notice any odd movements with all the intense fighting, Set had planted one of Rune's Runes onto Grail...or to be specific, the Lesser Grail.

"And with this, no matter what happens, we can secure our victory".

"Three wishes in total. One from the Lesser Grail, which should be safe to use if we have it next to the Greater Grail, and two wishes from the Greater Grail itself".

"Which means...we can grant our wish, and the wishes of our servants".

"And it means...we are in the lead!"

"And we have outmanuevered whatever people are working in the background".

The two fistbumped each other, and smiled.

"And even if one or both of us lose, so long as we have the Lesser Grail we can still win. But still, lets do our best tomorrow, alright?"

"Yeah! No holding back!"

Sherlock watched over the whole campus, from the highest point.

"So, it seems that the final battle...is quickly approaching. Toko and Rune have their secret trump cards, Ren Nakamura has decieved everyone and plans to take the spoils for herself, a mysterious third group is working in secret, and the Castors have finished their own preparations. Then, I guess...it is reaching the final moments of the apex..."

And as that was going on, and Horus was walking down the street exhausted of competing with his twin brother all day...his Eye of Horus activated again, and showed him another vision...one where Toko was on the ground, not moving and bloody...as if he was dead.

"...no...not this time...I wont let it happen" Horus muttered to himself, a personal declaration.

And so, the climax to this Greater Holy Grail War approached rapidly.

AN: And there you have it! Grail was defeated, the Lesser Grail was stolen, and lines are becoming blurry! Who will win? Who will lose? Who will die? Stay tuned to find out!