Chapter 35

Assassin tugged at her sword, trapped between the vice of his left elbow and upper left thigh, but it refused to budge.

Kuzuki, now bereft of his glasses, glared at her face full of shock.

"You underestimate me, Assassin!"

He twisted his whole body and spun while releasing the trapped sword at the same time, the rotation sending Assassin's sword flying in a direction she didn't anticipate it going as she lost her balance and spun with the momentum of the sword.

Without wasting his chance, he circled around to her back as a blue aura sprang up around his feet, allowing him to reach her blind spot in a flash. One fist hammered down from the back, aimed straight for the spine where it connected to the head. Blue trails of mana leaked from his fist as it traveled through the air.

*click*

*zzzuumm*

Kuzuki stopped his fist midway, and threw himself to the right.

*PYONG!*

Several blue portals opened up in the air, discharging huge bolts of energy a second later. Kuzuki barely managed to dodge them as he jumped up the stairs, the laser bolts targeting where he was if he'd continued punching Assassin.

"Fire Support EX", the ability unique to MHX. Due to a mysterious communication device that she possessed, she was capable of contacting the Dun Stallion to provide supporting bombardment, and this anecdote was sublimated into her Saint Graph as an ability. Bolts of energy would fire from portals supposedly connected to the turbolasers on the Dun Stallion on her command, striking her enemies and turning them to ash. In a one-on-one duel between Sabers, there were no unfair tactics that went unexplored.

The stairs were severely mauled as craters were blasted into the stone, the trip to the top suddenly becoming much more hazardous. Below the two combatants, Flat looked on in awe as Gray struggled to control Add again, reinstating the various restrictions in place as they threatened to come apart.

"Hm, you have some interesting abilities."

Kuzuki stared at her, remarking calmly as he examined his fists, inwardly slightly surprised at how effective the enchantments were.

"I could say the same for you. While you don't have the look or smell of a Saber, nevertheless you would make a splendid Servant with combat prowess alone."

MHX had seen his fluid movements and lack of hesitation, the movements directly aimed at the weak spots of the body. Plus, it took an insane amount of skill and confidence to catch a sword like that, especially a sword wielded by a Servant.

"I assumed all Masters were relegated to a support role, but it seems like there's an exception to every rule. There are also Master's like him, who can fight on the front lines. This War is getting more and more interesting!" Flat exclaimed as he watched the fight. Then Gray pinched his leg, and he went back to helping her fix Add, though their combined efforts still weren't very successful.

"Pseudo Personality suspending, first seal releasing."

The birdcage dissolved into mana as Add left, the cube entering a constant state of flux as its shape continually morphed, Rhongomyniad struggling to be released.

"Ah, Gray-chan, why don't you try bringing it out of Mount Enzou? The increased range might help reduce the effect of whatever Caster is doing."

Gray got up and ran down the stairs carrying the unstable cube in her hands, but she had only taken a few steps downwards when it shook even more violently as brilliant escaped from cracks appearing in the cube. Hurriedly, she ran back up the stairs, and the glow slightly abated.

"Looks like that isn't going to work. Caster, can you tell me what kind of spell you cast on Add? We'd like to have him back!"

Once again, Caster was dumbfounded that he'd ask an enemy a question like that. Still, she quickly regained her wits and answered. Kuzuki listened, then relayed the message to them.

"She says she's not actively interfering with the device, but that she's also sensed a familiar mana signature ever since the cube started cracking."

He paused, then added.

"She also says that if you could tell her what the device is, she might be able to help."

Assassin spoke while keeping her focus on Kuzuki, wary of any sudden moves from him.

"Be careful Master, she could be-"

"I think we should tell her, what do you think?" Flat smiled at Gray, his eyes calm even in the face of imminent danger, even sparkling with signs of mischief.

"Gray-chan?"

"Miss Caster! The cube is a Mystic Code designed to seal Rhongomyniad and preserve it's mystery."

Caster took a moment to digest the information.

Rhongomyniad? It still existed in this modern age? How was that even possible?

Then she checked the energy signature being released, just to be sure. It had felt similar earlier, and with Gray's explanation, she confirmed that it was indeed like what she had felt from Rhongomyniad when she was alive.

"Alright, Master of Assassin. I'll see what I can do. Release the restraints and let me deal with it."

"R-release the restraints?"

"Yes, do it quickly, or else we'll get blown up by the holy spear."

Kuzuki relayed her words as Gray internally struggled whether to do it for a moment. After all, releasing the restraints meant at least partially manifesting Rhongomyniad, and with its energy running wild like that, who knew what would happen.

But she hadn't really attacked them so far, and even her Master had only defended himself from being attacked as well. Also, her gut told her to trust her.

Lifting the cube, she spoke the incantation.

"Gray...Rave...Crave...Deprave."

The cube stopped shaking so much as the parts composing the cube loosened, floating and expanding from its former cube shape to allow more light to pour through. It flew into the air just above Gray's head, her hand guiding it as rose up.

"Grave me."

The cube fully released, disappearing into thin air as the winds whipped around the newly formed golden tower of light that stretched into a cone reaching far above the trees of the surrounding forest around the stairs. Motes of golden light scattered as two bands of light swirled around the center like a double helix, a constant deep humming permeating the ground. Like moths to a flame, everyone had their eyes riveted by the sight of a mystery that should not exist on the Earth. Despite having seen it before, Flat was entranced by it all the same, looking at it with a small grin as he admired a relic of the past that still protected the world to this day. Kuzuki stared at it as well, but his heart remained unmoved, simply staring at it like he would the sun or the ocean.

Gray refrained from saying the final phrase, keeping the holy spear locked in this state, something she'd never done before. Caster immediately began analysing the area with her senses, her staff planted in the ground as the sapphire crystal at the top glowed, checking what was reacting with the spear.

Accessing her Noble Phantasm that was covering the entire area, she immediately discovered the problem. The holy spear was resonating with it, her Noble Phantasm drawing out the power of the holy spear as it called upon its duty to keep the Fabric of the World fastened in place, something that it had failed to do in her timeline. Hence, she required her Noble Phantasm, something to defend against the apocalypse that had fallen on her world after the tower had fallen, when Avalon invaded Britain.

In this case, her Noble Phantasm in order to fulfill its role of protecting the humans as it was supposed to, was boosting the power of Rhongomyniad so it could fulfill its purpose. However, Rhongomyniad in this world was functioning normally, so its power was running wild with the boost it was receiving. In particular, her Noble Phantasm was currently connected to a ley line, so it wasn't stopping anytime soon. The only way to stop it would be to investigate her own Noble Phantasm while also scanning Rhongomyniad and manually cut the energy flows connected to it. As earlier she had imprinted her Noble Phantasm on the ley line, even though she completely deactivated it, the ley line would still continue shoving energy into the spear. If Gray tried to physically leave, the Noble Phantasm would direct more energy the further away she tried to get, speeding up the instability of the spear as it threatened to release all the energy once it was saturated.

"Gray, keep it in this state. I'll synchronize with it until I can cut off the flow of mana."

With that, she began concentrating as she sunk into a deep trance, following the mana pathways that flowed through the ley lines, and the shining object that was tied to many of these glowing threads.

Meanwhile, Gray was sweating constantly, her face flushing red as she struggled to maintain it in it's released state. The raw mystery contained in the spear was starting to eat into her body, the strain of keeping it released taxing her body greatly. Even if she was the flesh of King Arthur, there were still limits to how far she could go, and keeping one of the most powerful mystics in the world constantly released was making her rapidly approach that limit.

Suddenly, she felt two hands on her back supporting her as mana flowed through them, pumping into her body to reinforce her and warding off the mystery seeping into her from the spear.

"Flat!"

"Don't worry Gray-chan. You have a reliable Senpai to support here!"

Flat winked at her from behind as he supported her by strengthening her body and shielding her as much as he could from the power released by the spear.

At the top of the stairs, Assassin bit her lip, frustrated that she couldn't do anything, while Kuzuki watched everything without a single change in his expression.

*Vuon...Vuon*

A new sound appeared from the bottom of the stairs, a strange humming sound echoing up to the top of the stairs. Striding into the pool of light shining from the lamplight at the foot of the stairs, a dark marauder walked into view.

Holding a red double-bladed lightsaber, dressed in a black bodysuit with red and silver armor, molten yellow eyes gleaming under the light, was Berserker. Standing slightly behind her, mouth still stained with flecks of melted ice cream, was Illya.

Flat craned his head to look behind him, while Gray remained still, unable to split her attention away from sustaining Rhongomyniad's current form. Kuzuki also turned his attention to the newcomers, his body loose and limber as he prepared for any sudden attacks.

Then Berserker spotted Assassin at the top of the stairs, and Assassin turned around at the same time to see her face.

"Ecchan…?"

"MHX…"

Berserker had felt a familiar mana signature, but she hadn't expected it to really be her.

"Ecchan, you're here as well! It's sooo good to see you again!"

Assassin rushed down the stairs at Berserker, Kuzuki completely forgotten as she dashed past Gray and Flat, arms wide open to hug her best friend.

*whump*

Berserker managed to not topple over and crush Illya under the combined weight of Berserker and Assassin as the girl dove at Berserker, arms wrapped tightly around her.

"It's been so long since the last time we met! Ever since the Dun Stallion got wrecked, I traveled the galaxy, and then I went on a journey with that guy from Chaldea to save the universe from the Goddess of Origin, went on a trip to the depths of a dead planet, took part in the race across the stars and-"

"X-chan, we're still in a Holy Grail War you know."

Berserker was blushing slightly at her open affection, but she pushed her away with some effort, her lightsaber deactivated to avoid accidentally spearing her.

"Oh, you're right. But still, why don't we catch up some time? We can go kill Sabers together!" The prospect of doing that was quite attractive to Berserker, and she turned around to ask Illya.

"Master, why don't we form an alliance with them?"

"Good idea, then we can fight together Ecchan!"

Illya stared at her Servant, surprised they'd somehow managed to find a Servant who actually came from the same universe as her. What were the odds? Still, it seemed like they had a chance for an alliance, but she didn't really feel like making one though. Berserker was already quite strong by herself, and she enjoyed crushing enemies with only her own Servant.

Then she refocused on the glowing pillar of light shining on the stairs above them.

"Wait, what's that?"

Her eyes narrowed as she sensed the absurd amount of mana pouring off the tower, something that should not exist in the Age of Man.

"It's Rhongomyniad!"

Despite his efforts with helping Gray, he still managed to find the energy to hear and reply to Illya's question.

Illya stared at him, wondering whether to believe him or not. Rhongomyniad? The spear of King Arthur? Then she looked at her own Servant. If Servants wielding lightsabers could exist, she supposed the spear being able to survive to the present day wasn't too far fetched.

Still, if that really was Rhonogmyniad, and it was in the hands of the enemy Master, then it posed a huge threat to her. A Mystical relic of the highest degree that could wipe out even Servants easily. It would be convenient for her to take care of it right here and now.

"Berserker, get ready. We're going to take out the girl over there carrying Rhongomyniad."

Flat panicked, yelling at her.

"Wait, if you kill her right now, it'll go out of control and blow up the whole place!"

Illya shook her head.

"I have Berserker to protect me in case something like that happens. You should worry about yourself instead."

Berserker stopped chatting with Assassin and pressed the activation button on her Necrocalibur, the red beam of light spitting out of the emitter as the blade extended to it's full length.

Assassin also rematerialized her sword, sensing that combat was going to be inevitable.

"Sorry Ecchan, but I can't let you harm my Master."

She stepped in front of Flat and Gray, ready to defend them at a moment's notice.

"Don't worry X-chan, I'll go easy on you and leave you alive so you can form a contract with my Master later after I kill that girl." Her face remained emotionless, but her words carried a hard edge.

"Getting cocky are we? I seem to remember in the last fight we had, I won."

"No, I did."

"You didn't! I managed to shave off your bun at the end, so it was clearly me."

"You slid on the empty bags of chips and accidentally cut it."

"It was all planned, all planned!"

"Enough talk. Let me measure your skill with my sword. May the Saber Star be with me."

In a flash, she burst up the stairs, skimming past the steps without even touching a single one of them as her momentum carried her all the way past several flights to Assassin.

Three meters.

Her lightsaber crackled with electricity as she prepared to strike, her right arm pulling back.

Two meters.

Assassin braced her legs on the ground, sword held in front of her to block the blow.

One meter.

Berserker already started to swing, planning to hit her with the added rotation of her body to strike again as she spun.

*SWISH*

A palm cut through the air at superhuman speeds, blue light trailing behind it as it homed in straight on Berserker's hand, aiming for her wrist to disarm her. In a flash, she increased the amount of electricity around her arm to ward off the attack, threatening to shock the hand that was descending on it. Yet, a translucent barrier coated the hand and blocked the energy, allowing him to hammer all five fingers straight into her wrist and forcing her blow to go wide, providing Assassin with the perfect opening.

"Oy!"

She was slightly annoyed that someone had landed the first blow on her friend ahead of her, but she was willing to utilize any and all tactics to achieve victory, so her body automatically followed through by stabbing at Berserker's head.

Without delay, she twisted her head, letting the blade pass her face as it drew a shallow line across her right cheek, then twisted an arm behind and grabbed the palm that was about to strike her spine and paralyze her for good. Despite the fact that it possessed a barrier, the palm could still be slowed with her telekinesis, giving her enough time to react and grab it.

Swiftly, she utilized the momentum of her charge to spin, flipping the owner of the body and slamming him into the ground.

*BOOM*

"Kuh."

Kuzuki smashed into the ground, Caster's barrier around him protecting his body from the worst of it, but he still felt the impact rattle his body.

Berserker released him and dashed backwards to avoid Assassin's blade that swung towards her, then deflected several laser bolts shot from behind her and retreated back to the bottom in one leap.

Pushing himself back to his feet, he brushed off the dust and debris off his suit as he stood next to Assassin.

"Caster instructed me to provide assistance to you to prevent the ritual from being disturbed."

Assassin shrugged.

"Sure, let's fight together. You're not a Saber anyways, so it's fine."

She paused.

"Don't blame if you accidentally get in the way of my swings though."

Kuzuki replied calmly.

"Be careful not to get too close to me either. I might accidentally strike you on instinct."

Below, Berserker gathered mana, crimson electricity now crackling all over her as red mana blazed from her body in visible waves. She crouched down, her left hand reaching down to brace against the ground as her saberstaff in her right hand moved back, the leaves around her body scattering from the wind blowing off her caused by the release of mana.

"Get ready."

Assassin lifted her sword again as her muffler fluttered with the artificial wind, her ahoge somehow remaining dead still. Her blade started glowing golden, it's true nature peeking through. Beside her, Kuzuki raised his hands as his feet shifted apart, blue mana coating his entire body as the air rippled around him. His legs tensed as the muscles bulged, prepared to charge forward.

A moment of silence passed, the leaves brushing against each other in the wind as clouds passed in front of the moon, leaving only a single shaft of moonlight to shine between the three. The golden glow of Rhongomyniad bathed the darkness with light, Kuzuki's hair and the gold lining of Assassins jacket sparked as golden motes of light drifted through the sky, with only Berserker's molten eyes clearly visible below them, her armor slightly reflecting a paltry amount of light.

Then the cloud passed, and the moon lit up the stairs once more.

"ORRAAAH!"

*KABO-BBOOOM*

Three simultaneous explosions resounded in the air as shockwaves clashed against each other, the trees next to the stairs bending and creaking. The steps and landings were nigh obliterated, as all three used the ground to provide maximum leverage for their charge. Assassin leapt high into the sky, while Kuzuki ran across the steps to meet Berserker who was similarly charging forward to meet him. All three met in a tumultuous clash that shook the earth, rattling the teeth of Illya, Flat and Gray.

Inside the guest room, Caster knelt on the ground, holding the staff with both hands as her head bowed forward, severing the connections between her Noble Phantasm and Rhongomyniad one by one. She could hear the explosions occurring outside, but she couldn't lift a finger to help them. All she could do was pray that the blessings laid on Kuzuki and the passively running effect of her Noble Phantasm on him worked. Until she finished solving the problem of Rhongomyniad exploding on them, she wouldn't be able to do anything more.

"Master, please, don't die!"