Not much changes to this chapter overall, so for all you thrill-seekers out there, this chapter focuses more on Lelouch being the Magnificent Bastard he is whilst masquerading as Archer.
As such, to avoid confusion, any conversation not told directly from Lelouch's perspective will refer to him as Archer, while conversations told from his perspective will refer to him as Lelouch.
Fate/Zero Requiem: An Alternate Tale of the Fourth Holy Grail War
Sixth Night: Clash of Commands.
'Damn…!' Kiritsugu cursed, watching as Lancer made a bee-line for his Master, who had apparently not been as ill prepared for a sneak attack as the Magus Killer had initially thought "It would seem your assassination attempt failed."
"You are mistaken, Emiya Kiritsugu." The woman countered, her tone filled with professional calm "Our objective was not to kill Lord El-Melloi, but to drive him from the battlefield, thus ensuring Lancer's survival."
'And by proxy, the curse of Gae Buidhe…' Kiritsugu realized, his eyes narrowing as he instantly made the connection 'They want to keep Saber from fighting at full strength…'
"It seems you've realized our intention." The woman noted with an underlying hint of approval, though it did little to diminish the threat of the blade she held to his throat "Your reputation is well deserved, Emiya-san. However, I wouldn't go making any plans to finish the job anytime soon…at least until the Einzbern Master complies with our demands."
Kiritsugu swore, his teeth clenching behind his lips as he glanced back at the gathered Servants below, more accurately, at the Masked Servant that was standing right next to his wife, wanting nothing more than to put a bullet between his eyes.
It wouldn't do much, admittedly, since he wasn't armed with anything that could permanently inconvenience a Servant, but at the very least it'd give Irisviel the opening she needed to get to Saber.
'At the very least they still believe she's Saber's true master.' He reasoned with himself, keeping his emotions under control even as he glanced towards his gloved left hand 'That will give me the opening I need…'
With the Servants...
"My thanks to you, King of Conquerors." Saber offered, the King of Knights inclining her head in gratitude towards the her fellow King, who grinned jovially in response even as she turned her gaze towards her fellow Knight "And to you, Archer, for shielding my Master in my stead."
"It was a pleasure, King of Knights." Archer assured her, his hand coming out from beneath his cloak once more to cover his heart in a stage bow "After all, what kind of Knight would I be if I allowed any harm to come to a lady?"
"Not a very good one, certainly." Rider opined, his expression approving as he regarded the Masked Servant with an appraising eye, as if he were a horse the King wished to purchase "Nice of you to join us at last, Archer. I have to admit, it was rather shrewd of you to target Lancer's Master like that."
"I simply made use of an available resource." Archer opined, his tone dismissive, almost humble, were it not for the undertone of amusement in his words "And how could I, how could any hero really, refuse such a bold invitation from the King of Conquerors himself?"
"That's true!" Rider agreed, letting loose a loud, barking laugh that seemed as much a roar as anything else. Saber, however, did not share in her fellow King's amusement, her eyes narrowing as she regarded the Masked Servant.
There was something inherently deceptive about the Knight of the Bow, something that made her instinctively wary. It wasn't just his manner or way of speech either; his very appearance was hardly what one would expect of a Knight-Class, consisting of a strange purple suit with gold trim beneath a black and red mantle.
The only part of his ensemble which could remotely be defined as 'Knightly' was the helmet that adorned his head, a black, ominous mask that reflected the King of Knights' own suspicious glare right back at her in a manner that reminded far-to-much of Mordred's own helm.
'Is he truly an Archer?' she found herself wondering, taking in the Masked Servant's physique with a frown 'His build and apparel would make him more suited for the Caster Class…and then there was that shield of light.'
Saber had never seen anything like that shield, save perhaps the defensive spells of a Magus. But if that were the case, how could it have blocked Gae Dearg, with its ability to nullify any structure composed by magic?
'It must be his Noble Phantasm.' she deduced, eyeing the Masked Servant warily 'A shield that repels all attacks that can be deployed at will…yet isn't composed of magic?'
"So! What say you, Archer?" Rider demanded, snapping Saber out of her thoughts to see the King of Conquerors beaming at the Masked Servant eagerly with his fists on his hops "Saber and Lancer have turned me down, and Berserker doesn't seem the type to listen to reason to begin with. That said, what are your thoughts on joining with me?"
"Again with your jokes, King of Conquerors?" Saber sighed, shaking her head in exasperation, and just when she'd begun to regain her respect for her fellow King "I highly doubt Archer's answer will be any different from my own."
"Join forces with the greatest conqueror to ever walk the Earth?" the Masked Servant pondered, one gloved hand coming up to cup his chin as he tilted his head to the side in contemplation "I must admit, the idea has merit."
"Doesn't it?" Rider agreed, grinning at the Servant in approval even as Saber and Irisviel gaped at the Knight of the Bow in shock. It was only understandable really; while an alliance between Masters wasn't unheard off, more often than not they were made before the war had even begun.
Not only that, but Servants could only be summoned because they possessed an inherent desire that could only be granted by the Grail, be it a second chance at life or to right a wrong, no Servant would willingly cast aside their wish, even if their Masters teamed up for the same goal.
From what little the two women could see, Rider's Master clearly had no say in the matter, indeed, the poor boy seemed to be no more than a tag-along, completely caught out of his depth in this exchange between heroes.
That just left Archer's Master, and from what they could recall from Kiritsugu's report, Tohsaka Tokiomi wasn't likely to make alliances with anyone unless he were the one to dictate the terms.
"So what do you say, Archer?" Rider continued, holding out a hand to Archer "From what I can tell that shield of light that protected Saber must be your Noble Phantasm, right? It must be pretty powerful if it can block Lancer's Gae Dearg."
"I won't deny that the shield was my doing." The Masked Servant conceded, nodding his head towards the King of Conquerors "However, it is not my place to make decisions such as these. I must first confer with my Master." He turned to glance at Saber "Though given our recent circumstances, I doubt he'd be adverse to an alliance."
"Ah yes, your base of operations was blown up, wasn't it?" Rider muttered bluntly, stroking his beard in thought even as Saber's eyes widened, Irisviel blinking in surprise "At least you managed to get rid of Assassin in the process."
"Yes, and with any luck his treacherous Master will follow soon enough." The Masked Servant agreed, Irisviel and Waver shivering at his tone "However, that is not our primary concern. No, our true concern regards an unexpected factor in the war." He turned to Irisviel, who blinked at the sudden change in his attention "I trust acquiring the services of the 'Magus Killer' didn't dip too deeply into the Einzbern coffers, Lady Irisviel."
"The M-M-M-Magus Killer?!" Waver stammered, his eyes widening in horror even as Irisviel blanched at the mention of her husband's title while Saber blinked in confusion "Y-you don't mean that crazed mass-murdering heretic?!"
"Kiritsugu isn't like that!" Irisviel countered, rounding on the boy sharply, only to clap a hand over her mouth as the group's attention returned to her once more, Saber in particular looking at her in confusion.
"So you did hire him." Archer sighed, his tone torn between exasperation and quite possibly disappointment "I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised, given the Einzbern's losing streak. Still, to think you'd sink so low as to involve someone like that."
"What are you talking about, Archer?" Saber demanded, her emerald eyes narrowing as she stepped between Irisviel and the Masked Knight "Do you think to insult my Master?"
"Not at all, Saber." Archer countered, holding up a hand placatingly a he continued to regard Irisviel solemnly "After all, there is certainly no law forbidding a Master from using resources other than their Servant to win the war. Though given the secret nature of this war, I have to wonder if bringing a man for whom the term 'Civilian Casualties' translates to 'acceptable loses' is the wisest decision, Lady Irisviel."
"Kiritsugu isn't like that…" Irisviel insisted, though even Saber noted that the homunculus didn't sound all that convinced herself, one pale hand gripping the collar of her cashmere jacket in concern "Not anymore.'
"The amount of corpses he's left in his wake would suggest otherwise." Archer countered, earning a distraught flinch from the Homunculus "I see," he continued, his tone softening somewhat "I had assumed you were aware of his activities, but it seems he as neglected to inform you of the less glamorous details of his craft." he shrugged offhandedly "Unsurprising really, Assassins tend not to trust easily."
"That is ENOUGH!" Saber snapped, her emerald eyes hard as she aimed her sword at the Masked Servant's head, the Sword of Promised Victory all-too-capable of cleaving it from his shoulders despite still being sheathed in wind "I don't know what your game is, Archer, but I will not stand back and allow you to insult my Master any further!"
"I was insulting Emiya Kiritsugu, not your Master." Archer countered, turning to regard Saber, who couldn't help but flinch at the sight of her own reflection in that ominous mask "Unless…ah, so that's how it is." He chuckled, and Saber couldn't help but shiver at the underlying amusement in the Knight's tone "I must admit, even I never anticipated the Einzberns would bequeath their right as Master to an outsider. Desperate times I suppose."
"So the little lady isn't Saber's Master?" Rider noted, the King of Conquerors regarding the pair with a critical stare, his expression unreadable, for the first time giving the impression of the tactical mind behind that bearded face "I see, the old Divide and Conquer gambit. Not too bad as strategies go, though I'm shocked the King of Knights would consent to such a thing."
"I suppose both she and the Magus Killer found it preferable this way." Archer opined with a shrug "From what little my Master has gathered on the man's tactics, he would have been better suited summoning Assassin or Caster."
"I wouldn't exchange Saber for anyone." Irisviel countered, though she couldn't help but flinch guiltily, as Kiritsugu had confessed his preference for said classes in private, only deigning to wait until the choices were limited due to Grandfather Jubstacheits' insistence that they summon Saber, otherwise she was certain he would've aimed for Assassin.
"Be that as it may…" Archer opined, his tone civil as always, though Saber and Irisviel swore they detected a sudden, almost imperceptible change in his demeanor as he turned to face them "The fact remains that you, Irisviel von Einzbern, are not Saber's master." he raised a hand in the air, Saber moving to follow it warily with her eyes "A moot point, really, for from now on, the two of you will obey ME."
Saber cursed, her eyes snapping back to the masked Servant's face just as Irisviel gasped, the King of Knights blinking at the sight of the narrow slot that had appeared in the formerly smooth surface of the black mask even as a winged Glyph filled her vision, her mind going blank for a second, before she knelt before the Masked Knight, Irisviel curtsying behind her.
"As you command…" they spoke in tandem, Saber's voice reverent while Irisviel seemed almost dazed, the King of Knights lowering her head in submission "What would you have me do, My Lord?"
With Kiritsugu...
"Iri!" Kiritsugu exclaimed, the Magus Killer looking on in alarm as Saber and his wife kneeled before Archer, his reinforced hearing having allowed him to hear what was being said 'Dammit, he's got Mystic Eyes!'
An anomaly that generally came into existence through a mutation of Magic Circuits in the area surrounding the eyes, Mystic Eyes typically granted their users the power to interfere with the Outer World whilst being easily concealed. A sign of a First-Class Magus, many were quite willing to artificially induce such mutations simply for the prestige possessing them would grant, regardless of whether doing so would further their research.
'Judging by the effect, he most likely has 'Mystic Eyes of Command or Enchantment' Kiritsugu deduced, his analytical mind working a mile a minute despite the hammering of his heart at the sight of his wife kneeling before the Masked Servant, only the woman's knife at his throat keeping him from leaping to his feet 'And given how he was able to overpower Saber's Magic Resistance, they have to be higher than A-Rank.'
"No sudden movements." his unseen guard reminded him, her tone brooking no argument as she tilted the dagger beneath his throat to the point it drew a trickle of blood "We still have a use for Saber's Master, you, on the other hand, are expendable."
'I didn't think I'd have to use one of these so soon…' Kiritsugu swore, his eyes narrowing as he clenched his fist, the command seals hidden beneath the sleeve of his coat lighting up faintly 'By the authority of my first command seal-!'
With Lelouch...
"Mystic Eyes…" Rider mused, the King of Conquerors eyeing the scene before him with an unreadable expression "You certainly are a man of many talents…Archer."
"Do I detect disapproval, King of Conquerors?" Lelouch queried, the slot in his helmet closing as he stood before the kneeling King of Knights and the curtsying Irisviel, the latter of whom was smiling vapidly at him "Surely you would not fault me for using them any more than Saber could fault Lancer for his Mystic Face?"
"Indeed, it would be hypocritical of me to deem them unfair." Rider conceded, though he made a point of looking anywhere but directly at the Masked Servant, one massive hand keeping his own Master's head down "Still, I can't say I like the idea of you forcing a King to kneel."
"To be fair, I didn't actually order her to do so." Lelouch countered, his embarrassment obvious as he glanced at the kneeling Saber earning a quirked brow from the larger Servant "That's actually the first time someone's done that without me expressly ordering it-!"
He trailed off, eyes widening beneath his helmet as Saber lunged forwards, the Servant's features blank, her eyes devoid of emotion as she lashed out with her sword, only his quick deployment of his shield keeping his head where it belonged on his shoulders.
"What are you doing Saber?!" he demanded, completely caught off guard by this turn of events "Cease your attack at once!" he commanded, only to grimace as the strength of the deceptively small woman's blows only increased, forcing him back a step despite his confidence in his shields 'Damn! Emiya must have used a Command Seal!'
A control system devised by the now defunct Makiri line, the Command Seals symbolized the absolute authority of a Master over a Servant, capable of issuing three Absolute Orders capable of either restraining or reinforcing the actions of a Servant.
When he'd first learned of them, Lelouch had been intrigued by their similarity to his Mystic Eyes, differing only in that they could be issued more than once, and that, depending on the situation, could be used to enable a Servant to carry out an action beyond their capabilities.
Naturally, the effectiveness of the Command Seals depended on a number of factors, namely the strength and will of the Master and the willingness of the Servant to carry out said order. Lancer, being a proud Knight, had resisted Lord El-Melloi's commands to assist Berserker, as it trampled on his code of honor, and had clearly been forced to endure tremendous agony for his trouble despite the Magic Resistance of his class.
Her own personality aside, the inherent Magic Resistance of the Saber Class should have been more than enough for the King of Knights to resist anything that went against her ethics. The only reason his Geass had managed to bypass her resistance was because, despite being labeled as a 'Mystic Eye', they were not, in fact, powered by Magic.
With that in mind, the only explanation Lelouch could deduce that could possibly explain this scenario was that Emiya Kiritsugu had seized the moment when Saber's own will had been suppressed to use one of his own Absolute Orders to completely suppress the King of Knight's personality and turn her into a mindless Killing Machine, bent on his destruction.
'I never anticipated that the Command Seals would be able to overwrite my Geass Commands…' he cursed, grimacing as he was forced to back away from the assault 'Looks like I won't be keeping Saber after all.'
"Hoh?" Rider mused, the King of Conquerors stroking his beard with a hint of approval as he watched the King of Knights wail away at the Masked Servant's shields with an intensity that almost matched Berserker's own attempts on her life "It would seem this Lioness won't be tamed so easily, Archer!"
"I'm glad you find this so amusing-!" Lelouch snapped, backing up against one of the crates, grimacing as he felt his shields reverberate under the force of Saber's blows "Sayoko!" he called out desperately over the noise of Excalibur clashing against his shields "Take Emiya out! Kill hi-!"
"STOP!" Kirei's voice cut him off, Lelouch's eyes widening as he felt his throat constrict, as if the hand of God itself was choking him at the man's command "Do not kill Emiya Kiritsugu!"
'Damn it all!' he swore, having forgotten about Kirei listening in, cursing as Saber once again assume the stance she'd used just prior to her all-or-nothing charge against Lancer "Emiya Kiritsugu!" he called out sharply "Order Saber to stop or I'll order Irisviel to kill herself!"
For a moment there was no response, and in all honesty Assassin didn't expect one, given what he'd gathered on the man's personality from the Report Tokiomi's spy had compiled on the man.
Put simply, much like Lelouch himself, Emiya Kiritsugu was a man who walked the path of blood, as Kirihara had once so eloquently put it. But unlike Lelouch, who had done his best to avoid needlessly involving innocents, Emiya was more than willing to kill civilians if it meant taking down his target.
Originally, Lelouch had been operating under the assumption that the man had merely been hired to protect the true Einzbern Master, due to their Magecraft being unsuited to battle. However, Irisviel's revelation had tossed such plans out the window.
As Saber's True Master, Kiritsugu truly had no need to protect the Homunculus. Indeed, given how the ruse had been revealed to all the other Masters, there was really no need for him to continue babysitting the doll any further.
Therefore it came as a surprise, though not an unwelcome one, when Saber blinked, the light of reason returning to her emerald eyes as she dropped out of her stance, the wind surrounding her blade calming as she flinched from the pain in her thumb "What…was I…?"
"Welcome back, Saber." Lelouch quipped, putting on an air of detached amusement even as he struggled to catch his breath and calm the beating of his heart after his near-brush with death "It would seem your Master is the jealous type, and something of a control freak for that matter."
"Kiritsugu…?" Saber wondered, blinking as she eyed the destruction around her with dawning comprehension "He used a command seal on me?" she seethed, anger entering her tone as her eyes flashed dangerously.
"To be fair, I didn't leave him much choice." Lelouch confessed, smirking to himself as the King of Knights blinked at him in confusion "Still, the night grows short, I think it best we go our separate ways, wouldn't you agree, King of Conquerors?"
"Indeed." Rider concurred, his eyes retaining their calculating expression despite the broad smile that adorned his features as he turned to face the King of Knights "Saber, settle things with Lancer first. I shall gladly face the victor afterwards." he commanded, before smiling at a wary Lelouch, careful to avoid looking directly at his mask.
"And Archer, my offer from before still stands." he declared, chuckling at the Masked Servant's jolt of surprise "After that little display you and Saber just put on, I'd be a fool not to want you and your shield on my side."
"Praises from Caesar…or close enough I suppose." Lelouch mused with a chuckle, his opinion of the other Servant improving all the more, offering a courtly bow to the larger Servant as he laughed uproariously at the compliment.
"I will see you soon, King of Conquerors." He promised, before turning around and, quite to Saber's surprise, taking her armored hand and pressing it to his mask in a semblance of a kiss "And you, Oh Fiery King of Knights." he offered, chuckling as he reverted to Astral Form, leaving a sputtering Saber and a blushing Irisviel to face the amusement of Iskander as he rode off into the night sky.
Fuyuki Underground Waterways...
Uryuu Ryuunosuke was a seriously disturbed human being, to the point it was even questionable if he qualified as a human being to begin with. From the moment he was born there was something off about the young man, something not quite right in that seemingly empty head of red hair.
It manifested itself in strange ways, like how he one day took it upon himself to count the gravel in the park as a child, only getting discouraged after reaching ten-thousand, and even then his mother had to drag him away.
However, other than the odd moment, which his parents would quickly hush up, there was little about him that implied he was anything other than a slightly odd boy with unusual tastes. For example, unlike most boys his age, Ryuunosuke absolutely detested Movies, more accurately he detested any from the Horror, Thriller, Splatter or War genres.
When asked to explain himself, a rarity in and of itself, he admitted that while he could understand the necessity for them, he failed to see the appeal in trying to minimize one's fear of death. Death, according to Ryuunosuke, was something that couldn't be experienced while alive, and thus impossible to understand. In other words, it was something one cannot experience on any sort of entertainment medium.
As a result, Ryuunosuke had become highly desensitized to 'Death' as a subject, and could sit through hours of gruesome practical effects, bloody make-up & corn-syrup stained bodies, without batting an eye. While this might have been deemed impressive by anyone else, an unfortunate side-effect of this desensitization was that, in order to answer his earnest curiosity behind the 'Nature' of 'Death', he'd become a homicidal maniac.
Now with all that said and done, it should be stated for the record that Ryuunosuke was not, clinically speaking, insane. He didn't name his favorite knife, and indeed considered the concept highly silly. He didn't favour any one way of killing his victims, instead choosing to experiment with different methods from time to time.
No, despite any claims to the contrary his victims might have had, Ryuunosuke retained full possession of all his mental faculties. Indeed, many of his female victims had admitted they'd been attracted by his dignified, enigmatic posture.
The problem, which even he acknowledged as such, was that his aforementioned Mental Faculties were inherently simpler than normal, to the point he truly believed he was doing the world a solid with his murderous activities.
His first victim had been his own sister. It was nothing so juvenile as jealousy or hatred that had driven him to extinguish her life, such things would require he feel something, anything for her at all. She had simply been there and he had wanted to know how she'd look when she died compared to when she lived, burning the image into his mind once the deed was done.
Such was the case of all his other victims, typically women & children; he'd never once felt anything for or against them in particular, they'd simply been in the right place at the right time. However, as with most 'Artists', after a period of success & emotional highs, and at least thirty corpses, Ryuunosuke began to experience a serious loss in motivation.
No matter what he attempted, he just couldn't get the same level of satisfaction, the same 'fresh' feeling, not even when he dragged his victims' deaths out for at least half a day.
Thus it was with a morose heart that Ryuunosuke returned home after five years, though perhaps it would be better to say he returned to the place of his rebirth, for rather than greeting his parents at the front door like a normal person, he'd waited for them to fall asleep before breaking into the crumbling, abandoned storehouse in the backyard where he'd stashed his sister's corpse.
It did his heart some good to find her waiting for him after five long years, though sadly it hadn't done anything to reignite his creativity. Just as he was considering leaving, however, his eyes landed on a rotten old book atop the mountain of junk he'd buried her in.
Now while Ryuunosuke had occasionally tapped into old Chinese tomes during his time as a University Student, he wasn't what you'd call an expert. Still, even he could tell at a glance that the book, more of a collection of notes rather, was pretty damn old, evidenced in part by its worm-eaten pages and the postscript that dated it back to the 9th year of the Keio area, some hundred years prior, during the Bakumatsu.
Intrigued, as he never thought his family would possess something so rare, he'd decided to flip through it and was instantly blown away by the preposterous nonsense contained within, detailing western dark magic, ranging from human sacrifices to the summoning of otherworldly demons.
Naturally, Ryuunosuke didn't put much truck behind such things, indeed, he was prepared to brush the whole thing off as a joke one of his ancestors had come up with to show off his balls, for if memory served, possessing such western literature would bring naught but shame.
Still, while he doubted its authenticity, he couldn't deny he admired the cojones of his ancestor for keeping such a text, so much so that he felt a bout of inspiration coming on.
Following the instructions detailed in the book as faithfully as possible, Ryuunosuke set about attempting to summon a demon, using his next victim's blood to draw out the Magic Circle, only to fail three times due to mistakes that lead him to wasting the blood before the ritual could be completed.
Realizing that his reason for failure lay in his lack of resources, he decided to forgo his usual methods of targeting people on the street and instead broke into the home of a family of four, casually butchering the three oldest members, leaving only the youngest son alive to serve as a sacrifice to the Demon in the event the ritual succeeded.
And succeed he had, though he had to admit that, bulging eyes aside, Mr. Bluebeard seemed oddly human insofar as Demons went, though for all he knew that was merely a guise he assumed so that Ryunosuke's mind didn't shatter from gazing upon his true form.
Well, whatever. In all honesty Ryunosuke did't care about such matters, all that mattered to him was that there hadn't been a dull moment in the entire time since he'd summoned Mr. Bluebeard, the bug-eyed Devil in human form coaching him in matters that defied mere mortal comprehension.
Take tonight for example, what had started off with Bluebeard peering into a crystal ball, mentioning something about a 'War' that went entirely over Ryunosuke's head, had quickly devolved into an epic clash that put everything he'd seen in the movies to shame.
"That was so Freaking COOL!" he cheered, a look of childish joy adorning his features as he danced around the darkened chamber where he and Mr. Bluebeard had set up shop, heedless of the smell of decaying matter and blood and the feeble cries for help that lurked just outside the light emitting from the Demon's crystal ball "Hey, Master Bluebeard, That was all real right? It wasn't just some special effect flick, right?"
Bluebeard, or rather, Servant Caster did not answer, the Heroic Spirit's bulbous eyes remaining locked onto the crystal, heedless of his Master's cries of adulation.
Normally, the madman who had been Baron Gilles de Rais would've been pleased to see his Master in such high spirits, and indeed, would've found tonight's viewing especially fortuitous, as he had not only managed to witness the capabilities of the other servants, but had managed to ascertain the True Names of three them.
True, the prospect of having to face off against the King of Conquerors was daunting, and the Gae Dearg wielded by the First Spear of Fianna was without a doubt his natural enemy, but such things didn't matter to Caster, indeed, nothing in this world mattered any more, for there was no longer any need for him to battle the other Servants.
Why should he? After all, had the Grail not already granted his wish?
Ignoring Ryunosuke as he cavorted excitedly from the shadows, Caster continued to gaze obsessively into his crystal ball, his large, bulbous eyes taking in every feature of the armored warrior maiden that had been summoned into the Saber Class, the moonlight shining on the sterling silver armor that adorned her dress, her beautiful blonde hair framing a face set with two emerald eyes.
But it was not Saber that drew Caster's attention, or perhaps it would be better to say it was not solely the Knight of the Sword's majestic presence that held it. No, what held his attention was a single scene, a scene in which the warrior maiden was made to kneel before the masked form of Archer.
"How dare he…!" he hissed, teeth clenched so tightly that, were he not a Servant, they would've surely cracked, his fingers bent into hideous claws as he glared at the scene in anger "How dare he force La Pucelle to kneel before him!"
"La Pucelle?" Ryunosuke wondered, quirking a brow at the foreign term, turning his gaze towards the crystal which depicted Saber's kneeling form "Do you know her, Master Bluebeard?"
"How could I not!" Caster simpered, his rage giving away to almost crazed worship "That august expression, that divine figure, verily, she is my very guiding light." He placed his face in his palms as tears streamed from his eyes "Despite her faith she was abandoned by God and perished in shame," he spread his arms wide in joy "But now, she has been reborn! What could a miracle of this scale be other than the fulfillment of my wishes!"
"Uh, not too sure what you mean, but good for you, Master!" Ryunosuke offered, happy to see his benefactor so happy after everything they'd done together "But if it's such a great occasion, why're you so pissed?"
"BECAUSE!" Caster snarled, his rage returning ten-fold as he pointed at the sphere, where Archer's masked form stood on display "This masked knave dares to make her before him! As if she were some common wench to be tread underfoot, rather than the Holy Maiden chosen by God himself!"
"Wow…what a dick…" Ryunosuke muttered, not completely understanding, only to quirk a brow as Saber lunged for Archer with a sword "Ah, looks like she was faking it."
"Yes!" Caster cheered, clasping the crystal with both hands as he pressed his forehead against its icy surface, his frenzied eyes watching as Saber drove Archer off, only for his eyes to bulge out of their sockets as he witnessed the climax of their confrontation.
"Such IMPUDENCE!" he swore, spittle decorating the crystal, obscuring Saber's look of embarrassment as Archer, having escaped her wrath, dared to kiss her hand before taking his leave "How dare he take such liberties!" he swore, turning on his heel and marching into the darkness "Worry not, Jeanne! Your ever loyal Gilles de Rais shall be with you soon!"
Welp, things are heating up for our heroes.
As far as changes to this chapter are concerned, aside from tidying things up a bit, I also moved the section with Kariya to the next chapter to improve the flow of this one.
For those of you who got a sense of deja-vu from my description of Ryunosuke, it's essentially a slightly edited version of his introduction in Hunters' dream, which is in itself based off his intro in the Fate/Zero novels.
As for why I've done so, I felt I needed to add a little more context for his character as opposed to what I originally wrote, since I felt it didn't really capture just how bat-shit insane Caster's Master really was in my original draft.
Likewise, I hope my explanation as to why Lelouch's Geass affected Saber despite her Magic Resistance makes sense to any nay-Sayers out there. Setting aside their Rank (EX), despite being categorized as a 'Mystic Eye' The Power of the King that Commands Absolute Authority isn't powered by Magic and as such could easily bypass Saber's Resistance, since it isn't designed to block anything else.
Think of it like a Virus bypassing a firewall that wasn't designed to block such an attack. However, that isn't to say she couldn't have resisted. Euphie was able to resist for a few seconds before succumbing to the Geass, Lelouch simply used sleight of hand and his attack on Kiritsugu's character to make her drop her guard.
Hope that clears some things up.
SLAINTE!