Author Note: This chapter has some not extremely explicit but still gross gore in it and a character is threatened with somewhat graphic violence, so fair warning.

Chapter Eight: Castle Under Siege

Kariya was still shaking nearly ten minutes later as he sipped on a cup of tea. Marrok was seated beside him on the sofa, lamenting that he could not recount the the story of his past himself. He felt that way even though Kariya was a better witness to the events, having just seen them and having noticed things in the area from a magus' perspective.

"He didn't know it at the time, but he farmer seemed like a nobleman. His wife and him were arguing that morning. Marrok didn't care about or understand the angry voices at the time and barely noted them. She was angry that he wasn't trying to leverage his status into earning more money and status. He just wanted to be good to his land and raise crops his people could use."

Artoria though a moment, "This was on the outskirts of my kingdom near France, correct? On the lands that would become Sir Marrok's?"

"Yeah?"

"I vaguely remember an animal attack in that area, though I may be recalling a later time. That farm was a small but well respected one. I remember the lord of that area being very industrious and charitable from his start there."

"Marrok doesn't remember the human opinion of the area from then, but his den was closest to that farm because the farmer respected the pack. He tended to hunt light and didn't hunt them just for being wolves."

Saber frowned, "So Marrok wasn't the only good person to fall victim to that woman's treachery. She summoned a demon that could take human form."

Irisviel was mortified, "Mages can be ruthless, but to make a pact with a demon to replace your husband and gain standing... I wish I was more surprised a magus would do that; but that's still extreme."

Kariya looked at the pair of women, "Do you think she could be Caster?"

Saber shook her head, "Not only does that sound very much like an outright villain; but I do not even remember her name and I lived in that era. She amounted to nothing unless she grew to fame elsewhere under an alias. Why would she be recorded in the Throne of Heroes?"

Iri shrugged, "I don't know about any noteworthy demon summoners from that point in history other than Morgan."

"And she certainly does not seem to be Morgan. There would be no reason for her to be there."

Kariya took another drink of tea and that seemed to get him the rest of the way calm, "Her name, at least at the time, was Amelie. I've never heard of her either, though I'd never heard of King Arthur's werewolf bodyguard so what do I know?"

Iri looked at Saber on that note, "Why haven't I heard much about Marrok in your legend? That sort of thing seems like it would stick out."

"Doesn't it? The grail provided me with knowledge of what was written, and he's only in one recounting. Many things other than my true gender are slightly wrong in tales of me. Not only that, but he rarely ever boasted of his deeds like the other knights did. Another knight would go to a town troubled by a drake and drag its corpse in, declaring the town should celebrate freedom from it. Marrok would just head out, kill it and leave. Sometimes people would not even know their troubles were gone until they never showed up again. Even I probably do not know everything he did for Britain. All the legends say of it is that he went on to perform great deeds."

Kariya noted, "So in movie terms, nearly every act that could have earned him fame was off screen."

Saber nodded, surmising from what little she knew of these 'movies' that it was apt enough. With a smile, she patted Marrok on the head.

Iri suddenly thought of something, "Saber, you've been smiling at lot more recently. Ever since Marrok first turned into a wolf."

"Have I? I did not notice."

Iri was fairly certain she'd cracked the case. It had been right in front of them the entire time. Due to his origin Marrok just naturally followed his king's orders unless they were dishonorable. The thing is: what if Marrok (even subconsciously) believed that Arthur had an unspoken desire for him to stay a wolf? If he believed that being a wolf would serve his king truer than obeying what she only said she wanted; would that force him to stay in that form?

She started to bring this up, but there was suddenly a crash in the other room and yelling, followed by gunfire. The servants readied themselves for battle, Saber darting to the door with Marrok at her side. The pair spotted slowly spreading flames and broken glass, and a crazed man full of holes among them both. Across the way...

"Kiritsugu!'

He was standing there putting more holes in the man that seemed to do nothing. However when Saber yelled out, the wild man turned from her master and trotted unnaturally at her, "ARTHUR!"

"Master go around he corner!"

Kiri did so immediately and fired at something else down that hall. Saber pointed her sword forward and blasted a shot of Invisible Air with great force at her aggressor, driving out the flames through sheer force and driving the wild man flat against the far wall. Literally flat against the wall.

Kiri shouted, "Whoever killed these people made their skins into attack familiars! They don't go down even to being cut!"

Saber lunged forward, as she darted fast the window another of the puppet skins leaped in through the widow at her, only to get snatched from the air by the snapping jaws of Marrok, who tore it apart like a dog wrecking a rug. The parts simply animated separately and lit on fire, catching the wolf in the conflagration. However... the fire didn't burn him. He didn't even catch on fire. There was only one explanation. The pieces were still moving though, so Marrok simply shredded them more.

Saber, in almost the same moment, released her sword from the sheathe of wind mana and bisected the first one, the fire simply poofed out, "These things are nothing to a holy sword, but are demonic magic nonetheless. Get behind me master!"

Kiritsugu did so, noting the one Marrok had intercepted. Artoria finished it off with a hack of her sword to the flames. He then noticed the door was open back into that room, "What about the siting room?"

The sound of a wolf growling and a wet slamming explained where Marrok had rushed to. Back into the sitting room in anticipation of the attack. When Saber and her master entered once again, they saw three of the things in the room already, Marrok having slammed one into another and into a wall, pinning them there. Iri had diced the third with magic, but that had only set the room on fire.

Saber yelled as she swiftly dispatched the nearby pinned pair and leaped over the sofa to permanently put down the last, "Don't let the flames touch you! This kind of fire burns away life force, even the lifespan of objects. Rather than heat it is like a curse."

She dispelled the flames with a forceful gust of wind mana.

Kiri had barred the door on their side already and motioned to the other, "Maiya was patrolling that side, and there's an escape route that way. Saber, make sure Irisviel gets out of here."

"What about you, Master?"

"I'm trusting you with my wife so that I can go get Maiya. This has to be Caster and if that's the case the master has to be close by."

Iri pleaded, "Don't be reckless Kiri! Come with us!"

Saber reiterated, "I must insist, Master."

Kariya knocked a newly arriving one back out of the broken window with an impact spell. Sort of a crude version of Gandyr he'd learned from Irisviel in a day or two, "We need to move either way! Marrok can go with Emiya. I'll stick with the two of you."

Kiritsugu saw the logic, "Marrok can track both Maiya and the master by scent. Good call."

Marrok let out a grumbly bark with an imploring tone.

Saber somehow understood that, "That's right! What about Sakura? She's in the other direction!"

Kiritsugu glanced a Kariya and then to Marrok, "We could probably kill the master faster if Marrok came with me, but...'

Kariya sneered, "That doesn't matter! He can catch up to you!"

Saber moved to the window as a few more tried to storm in.

"Right." He looked to Marrok seriously, "I don't care about the building, do whatever you have to in order to save her."

"Arf." Marrok then motioned for Kariya to still go with Saber.

"I should go with you!'

Marrok barked back an obvious no, and then headed for the door they just came through. Kiritsugu shoved Kariya towards the other, "He'll be faster without a rookie mage with him that he has to protect. Let's move!"

Kariya sighed, looking at his hand, "He can't permanently kill these without a holy weapon, so just in case. Marrok, I command you to use the full spectrum of your abilities to save Sakura."

The command seal pulsed and surrounded Marrok briefly in red energy.

Saber, free from handling the most recent attack, approved, "Excellent, a boost to the task phrased so it might lift his limitation. A fine use."

Marrok yipped at them to go and started growing, not stopping at the size of a horse, instead his back nearly touched the ceiling. Kariya felt a large drain on his mana, not debilitating, but the pull was enough to make it clear the without a command seal that much of an increase would have been impractically costly. He followed the plan and moved with the group as Saber took point. As they left the room he looked back to see Marrok taking a shortcut by pulling a wall down instead of taking the hall. It was then that Kariya felt better about the power of his servant. He understood how much the match-up with Archer had limited the wolf. Against a close range fighter, the wolf form of Marrok might actually stand a good chance of winning.

Progress towards the point that Kiritsugu was to split from them to search for Maiya was quick, as Iri was actually quite powerful in hallways. Her magic of choice seemed to put out strands of magic that sliced at targets or bound them, so any charge was simply automatically fated to fail. These things might have been on the level of lesser demons, but such a thing was barely as threatening as a magus fresh out of training. Even without Saber, Iri and Kiri were well beyond most common mages. Kariya didn't even need to use any magic himself, which was nice as it freed more of his mana for Marrok.

Fortunately, Maiya just happened to have made it to the split point, shielding her face from smoke with a handkerchief tied about her face, "Kiritsugu, I have cleared the escape route the best I could, the fire extinguishers don't seem to work on these flames, but they do disrupt the familiars."

"Demon magic."

"Ah."

"Your assessment?"

"I saw the angle of attack from the aviary. The source is likely to the direction opposite the escape route."

Irisviel looked to Saber, "Do you sense a servant?"

The king of knights shook her head, "No. It is either too far away or using something to hide itself. Perhaps staying in spirit form."

Kiritsugu had Saber clear the path of flames and pieces of demon, "Maiya, go with the two of them. There's a chance they might be trying to flank us. I'll stick to the shadows and play it safe until Marrok comes to me and we can get the master."

Irisviel got a pained expression on her face, "Kiri, if these are made from casters victims, how many are there?"

Kiri didn't want to say, but, "If they are all here... one hundred and thirteen."

"That many?"

"The arbitrator just an hour ago put a bounty on the head of the team responsible. Forget that and get going."

Kiri darted off, leaving his wife and his Saber with a worried expression, but at Maiya's urging they quickly ran towards the escape route. It didn't take more than a minute to get there, as Maiya had disabled, but not killed the demons that had filled the halls they needed to take. Saber simply brushed the obstacles they made aside and lead the way into the library containing the escape door.

And a red head with a crazed look, a butcher knife, and command seals.

Saber was stunned, "Caster's master?"

"Arthur..."

Maiya moved Iri further away and shielded her, "Something's not right."

One eye of the boy followed Maiya's act as the other remained trained on Saber, "Pretty faces... pretty faces with strong bodies. 'Cept the pale one. The pale one's dying."

Saber glanced back at Iri, "Irisviel?"

Kariya interrupted, "Nevermind that! That's not a master! I can barely make it out but it has a profile with 'Presence Concealment' on it."

The boy laughed in an inhuman way, almost cartoonishly, "Nobody care if I take the dying lady's body, right? She very pretty! I can get good prey with that!" The boy licked his lips and then teeth at Arthur, "You marry chicks right? Would you fuck her? I'd fuck her."

"Shut your mouth, Demon!" Saber darted forward with blinding speed, but the creature charged immediately right back at even higher speed, grabbing Saber by her face and dragging her back into the hallway with the lunge, putting her halfway into a wall.

It turned, "Those pretty faces easier. Get those first."

Saber recovered faster than it expected though, and grabbed it in a full nelson, "You dare turn your back on a king and call him defeated with just that? You three run, I'll handle this foul thing!"

Iri instead moved to support Saber, but Maiya grabbed her, dropping some sort of explosive and forcibly carrying her to the exit despite her protests. Once the three of them were inside the passage, Maiya hit the button on the detonator and collapsed the way in behind them.

"We have to help Saber!"

"We have to get out of here. Whatever that servant's nature is, it's clearly the type of being that would use us against her in a fight. It already tried to come after us once. We were just lucky it was in our favor this time."

"But..."

"I will knock you out if I have to, Mrs. Irisviel. I like you, so I will hurt you to keep you safe."

"You like me?"

Kariya rolled his eyes, "Don't latch onto those kinds of things in this kind of situation."

Iri gave in and stopped struggling, "Very well. I've calmed down. You're right. We have to escape so they can concentrate on fighting. I just wish I wasn't so useless here."

"Understandable." Maiya advanced as fast as she could while carrying Iri.

"You feel the same. I can tell. You act like a machine, but you care about Kiri, and apparently you like me. When this is all over, I'm forcing you and Saber into some girl talk. I'd invite Sakura, but she's too young for talking about boys."

"I would rather you talk about what that thing said back there. If you are ill..."

"It's fine. And you can put me down. I can run."

Maiya did so, but looked at Iri frankly, "I won't let a hidden illness keep Kiritsugu from his dream. If you are dying-"

"I'm not. Not technically. Kiri knows what's going on, but he doesn't know it's progressing. Keep it from him. I don't want him distracted either and I won't be in the way."

"Very well. Either way, let us focus on the now."

Kariya nodded as they started moving again, "Speaking of which, we have to be sharp. That thing had Presence Concealment. I could barely make it out for some reason, but it was those words followed by two English letters. From what little I know, there is only one rank with two letters and that's the highest one."

Maiya mused, "Is that how it and those things got past the bounded field undetected?"

Iri stopped, a scared look on her face, "No that's not possible. It should still have detected the demon minions, even if summoned inside it. I just checked the sensors directly. It was taken down without me even noticing."

"How is that possible? Wouldn't you notice even if you were casting something else?"

"Yes."

Maiya glanced at Kariya, who raised his hands defensively, "I don't even know how to bring those down!"

Iri shook her head at the idea of treason, "Almost no modern mage could do that without me knowing. I put so many safeguards in that barrier it would take a magus on the scale of the Age of Gods to do that level of dispelling."

"That thing didn't seem like a Caster though. It was giving Saber trouble in a direct fight."

Maiya pulled at Iri's arm gently, "Lets talk about this later, we're too close to that creature, whatever it is."

That was something they all agreed on and the trio ran accordingly, making good progress out of the building. They didn't know that the creature fighting Saber had broken free off her grasp, or that it had called in the bulk of its minions into the room in the next moment, trapping Saber in a sea of demon puppets. When Artoria had freed herself a mere couple of moments later, the alleged Caster had escaped down the hall and out a window. It had no intentions of a direct fight right now.

They also didn't know that the strange servant wasn't the only attacker. Thanks to the bounded field being brought down, one of the three sides attacking the castle that night walked straight at the place unopposed, straight toward the escape passage he had deduced would be where it was. Kirei Kotomine simply strolled straight up the path they were on as they ran through the woods, unnoticed until the group was face to face with him, barely a hundred feet from each other. He said nothing, and simply advanced on them, lunging straight at Kariya.

Who tried to shoot him with his modified gandyr, but it did absolutely nothing. Thankfully Maiya was quick and yanked him back out of the range of Kirei's strike. The woman proceeded to fire her carbine into the man at what was practically point blank range but it was like the spell. No effect. The man kicked her in the chest so hard that she flew backwards, tumbling a good thirty feet.

He was inhumanly strong and tough. Even Iri's far better magic did nothing to him. Maiya observed this as she recovered. She remembered the the priest was a former hunter for the church, meaning he had body armor with anti-magic properties and ungodly physical training. Guns and magic would be useless. She went for her knife. Kevlar was vulnerable to stabbing weapons after all. However it occurred to her that even if the knife would work, she was still physically outclassed. So instead.

She tackled Kariya out of the way again and tossed him aside with her momentum, taking out the bundle she had received from Emiya days before. The relic that Kariya had been carrying. She quickly threw aside the cloth it was in, revealing a sheathed short sword. The things was fairly plain aside from having an oddly short handle and the pommel being a ring resembling the pommel of a kunai but big enough to put a thumb in it without it being tight. Doing so would make you hold the flat of the blde toward your opponent though, so it was strange.

Kirei stopped, "That weapon. You intend to use a priceless relic for combat?"

Kariya started to complain but instead followed Maiya's gestures to back away and give her some space.

She grabbed the handle of the sword, "Secace, the Sword of Burning Victory. It is said that it may only be drawn in mortal conflicts."

Kirei watched in disbelief as the woman drew the sword and mana surged from it in massive quantities, "A noble phantasm?"

"Both of you stay back. I'll handle him." the mana surged in blue flames around Maiya, "Kirei Kotomine, if you get to either of them it will be through me."

Kariya was stunned. That relic was functional? How terrible of a magus was he to not know? He'd just assumed it was a sword used by... Wait... Marrok had mentioned one of his swords in life was wrongly attributed to Lancelot, who had only used it once. That sword was the focus used to try for a knight of the Round Table. Had Zouken been aiming for Lancelot? The old man had even thought so little of him that he risked Kariya noticing the focus was a working Noble Phantasm before taking it back from him. If Marrok hadn't attacked Zouken and Kariya stolen it back on the way out off the grounds... A lot of thoughts ran through Kariya's head in that moment.

"I see." noted Kirei, "The legend of that sword is that it was flaming, but it actually isn't. That is an enchantment on the wielder. I wonder what the abilities are of the sword one man used to slay an army of Saxons nearly alone."

Kirei lunged with impossible speed, beyond anything he'd used up to that point, and Maiya stepped nimbly to the side and kicked him in the stomach so hard that he lifted into the air and flew back, landing on his feet. He clutched his stomach, but recovered in time to block the equally fast charge from Maiya before she could slash him with Secace.

"It clearly boosts your physical abilities." he tried to push her back as she tried to push the sword into him and her traction gave before her arms, "Interesting... you seem to have exactly the same strength and speed as me. What about being equal to his foe let Lancelot kill thousands of men?"

Maiya went to sweep his legs, but Kirei leaped back and away, throwing a trio of black key knives at her, which she deflected narrowly.

He smirked, "I see. You have all the same physical abilities as I do... but your reflexes are slightly lower."

Kirei rushed in with a series of knife slashes and kicks and Maiya parried them all.

"I understand. You aren't used to the difference in physical ability, so if I can end the fight quickly, I will win."

the pair exchanged a series of strikes, Kirei only landing a punch to her stomach and then using a throw to create distance. The rest had been a near stalemate. Maiya hadn't landed anything.

He quickly backed away, "Easier said than done however. I will withdraw for the time being and let you deal with the matter at hand."

"What makes you think I'll let a master in this war leave?"

"Because there's a third attacker fleeing the scene to the west this very moment and I could simply have Assassin kill his hostage rather than just observe."

"Hostage?"

Kirei backed into the shadows, "Give Kayneth my regards if you catch him before he gets away with the girl."

Iri gasped, "Sakura!"

Kirei was promptly scooped up and spirited away by Assassin, leaving Iri sprinting to the west, We've got to stop him!"

Kariya grumbled, "What the hell, Marrok! You were supposed to save her!'

The two of them got about ten feet before noticing there were only two of them and turning back to see Maiya still where she had been, totally quiet.

Iri started back, "Maiya? What is it?"

Maiya had been very frustrated to let the man go, but knew that Sakura was more important. She was just a child and even if Kiritsugu would have gone after Kirei, he would have never forgiven himself for not saving the girl. It was fine. She could go save Sakura and bring the child back to him then take his secretly thankful scolding. She could also kill Irisviel when she wasn't expecting it, Kariya too so there wouldn't be a witness and one less master in Kiritsugu's way. Then she could save Sakura and they could-

"Maiya?"

"Don't come any closer!"

"What's wrong?"

Iri was so nice, a good mother. Something Maiya could never be again thanks to all those soldiers in her hell of a wartorn homeland. Iri deserved to be a mother more than Maiya, she thought so herself. But she was dying anyway so what did it matter if Maiya helped it along, got a new child, and started a family?

"Get away from me... something's wrong. Something's in my head."

"I'll help you!"

No... that's not right. Maiya could tell. She was lying to Iri and herself.

"The sword..."

The sword was only nudging along what was already in there. The wheels turned through all the dark thoughts that had entered her mind before but been brushed easily aside until now. The sword could only be drawn in mortal conflicts. She could feel why in her bones, in her very soul. The enchantment in the sword drove the wielder compulsively to victory in battle. There was no opponent to fight nearby except in a different kind of battle.

Every single thing Irisviel was was something Maiya wanted deep down. A child like the one Maiya had given up, married to Kiritsugu, a tool that had become more than a tool. Part of Maiya hated her. Hated her with a deep, primal jealously that had always just slightly nagged at the periphery of Maiya's mind. Every single bit of kindness made it hurt a little more, but it was fine.

She could just stop being a tool herself. She could just embrace every emotion she wanted to have if she just gave into this one emotion. It was so easy to kill people.

"No, Iri." Maiya spasmed as part of her held herself back.

Why couldn't she hold this back? The sensation wasn't even pulling that hard... did she have so little character of her own? Had she spent so long being a tool that she lacked what seemed like a common amount of willpower against this impulse? Well, easy enough to fix.

Maiya clenched the sword hard, "Kariya, get Iri as far away from me as you can."

Iri wasn't sure what was going on, "What? Why?"

Maiya turned to face them for the first time since the sword began calling her to fight her foe on the battlefield of love. Her face was wide-eyed and her mouth contorted into an unnatural smile. The internet would have called it the classic look of a yandere.

Maiya began to walk towards her, "Because I'll be next to Kiri and Sakura and Illya and if you come near us I'll have to cut out your insides and put them in me so I can have his children! I'll have his kids until I break, Iri!"

"Shit!" Kariya grabbed Irisviel and pulled hard, getting the pale lady out of the way of a very sluggish slash, "That sword is cursed! We have to get away from her!"

Iri distanced herself from Maiya but wouldn't leave her friend, "Maiya you can fight this!"

The woman simply walked forward, "I have to take cooking lessons so I can make them meals and I'll make a savings account to save for their college and Kiri can train them all and I can help and we can make sure they don't turn out like us. I can make them real people, Iri! They're going to Harvard, Iri! GIVE ME YOUR LIFE, IRI! I WANT IT! I WANT IT! I'LL SEND A FEW OF OUR KIDS TO YALE TOO I PROMISE! I PROOOOOMISE!"

Kariya dragged Iri as he started to flee, "We can't do anything! We have to find Marrok and get him back in human form or maybe Saber. One of them has to know how to stop that sword!"

Across the estate, Kiritsugu Emiya spotted a red head laughing in the courtyard as it's minions flooded the estate. The mage hunter could see the boy and could see his command seals; but lacked a certain something Kariya had had. He could not see the servant display providing him with information on a servant. So the magus killer did what he did best. He aimed his submachine gun at the seemingly unsuspecting master and opened fire, emptying a full clip into him.

It turned and smiled.

Next Chapter: To Lose a Life

Author's Note: Well hello, sword attributed to Lancelot in legends and occasionally to Artoria in Fate: Grand Order. I just have had this cool idea for an ability for use in a story for ages and it fits Secace (which Lancelot used only once in legend and that was to battle an army) so I threw it in here. Plus a shared sword makes a fine catalyst for a summoning that could produce either so I think it works well here. Enjoy your many-tiered cliffhanger of Kiri, Kariya, and Iri in mortal peril, Sakura kidnapped, and Marrok MIA. Next update will be within three days unless something happens.