Chapter 99
It was a general rule that humans couldn't face Servants. Even the weakest of Servants possessed strength and speed that could rival Olympic-level athletes, like a writer who had never trained in his life gaining enough strength to dent steel doors with a punch, or a dancer able to run a marathon without breaking a sweat.
However, it wasn't completely out of the question that certain humans, under the right conditions of course, could theoretically face a Servant on equal ground and at least hold their own, if not outright winning in some cases.
Sayjou Ayaka was not one of those individuals that surpassed the norm of humans to reach the realm of combating Servants, even as a magus. Even if she were to possess a greater Magic Crest, or live for another century and refine her magecraft, she still wouldn't be able to fight a Servant head on, though the time it took for her to be defeated would undoubtedly be longer.
But…
Ruler was now a shell of her former self, her mind slipping away with each passing moment as the worm in her spine asserted control over her brain, issuing orders and directing her body to act in accordance to Zouken's will. As a result, her parameters were lowered, the Servant no longer recognized as 'Artoria Pendragon'. The flow of mana from the Holy Grail that originally was meant for supporting the Ruler-class Servant stagnated, the system failing to register the presence of Ruler, though the minimal amount needed to sustain her still existed. Still, it was but a mere trickle, degrading her abilities in a way similar to what Saber experienced with Shirou.
Zouken was also feeding her mana, but after what happened with Rider, he only had so much he could give her. In the end, she was a shadow of a Servant.
Right now, Ayaka was also strengthened in the presence of the Workshop, the place where a magus was supposed to be strongest.
Traditionally, a magus was dedicated to reaching the Root, and to do so each pursued their own path of research. To conduct that research, one needed a laboratory, a place to conduct their studies, much like how a scientist would. Hence, they would construct a Workshop.
Just like a normal laboratory that would supply scientists with the necessary apparatuses and equipment for their research to advance, be it simple items such as beakers, thermometers and test tubes, to state of the art particle colliders and supercomputers, a Workshop also housed the tools that a magus needed to make headway in their research. In some cases, the entire physical structure of the Workshop itself also became a crucial tool for the magus, depending on what they researched.
In Waver Velvet's case, he only needed a simple study, since his forte and path of research was more of a theoretical side that required him to do more thought experiments than actual practical ones, with mountains of paper for him to record his thoughts. He did possess magical tools as well, but they were mostly basic ones that assisted him in basic ways, such as recording devices, measuring stones and such.
It was also possible for a Workshop to be built specialized towards becoming an offensive tool, used for battles between magi. Even a regular Workshop could become a weapon, so it wasn't hard to imagine what a Workshop designed with the specific purpose of being used as such would achieve. Gurdoa Davenant crafted a Workshop within the sewers of London, setting up a Bounded Field in conjunction with an altar of Zeus, then summoning Phantasmal Beasts to collect human lives for the purpose of fueling his efforts in reaching the Swirl of the Root. That same energy could be easily channeled within the Workshop into devastating lightning strikes that could easily warp metal and blast through concrete.
It just so happened that when Luviagelita Edelfelt commissioned the mansion to be built, she specified the Workshop to be installed according to her requirements, like all her other mansions. Which in this case, included magecraft amplification through gems planted in magic circles arranged throughout the walls, floors and ceilings of the mansion, underground complex included.
The Earth. The Moon. The stars. The Sun.
All of them had a place in the system of solar bodies that were known to humans since the dawn of mankind. Accordingly, the nine planets also were given different positions, the linking of the human body and the distant astral bodies formed by humans who required a system to affect the world.
Positions of power at places of great significance derived their strength from symbolism, calling upon the assistance of a greater power through formless communication crystallized as symbols and rituals, each a signal that resonated with intent. If humans were weak, then all they could do was amass power, seeking assistance from others and construct tools to assist themselves, all while honing their bodies and minds to surpass their weakness. In particular, for magi, limits were made to be broken, if they ever wanted to reach the Root.
"Here!"
Ducking under the card flung above her head, she narrowly dodged the ensuing explosion when it impacted on the ceiling, flecks of concrete spraying on her body and hair. Placing a palm against the wall to stop her fall, she pushed off against it and ran again, another crow flying towards Ruler only to get sliced in half by the razor sharp cards that she seemed to have an endless supply of. If it could slow her down, even by half a second, it was worth doing.
The flock she had summoned earlier to deal with Zouken was almost completely gone at this point, having sent three quarters of the flock to hamper Ruler's advance when she caught up with Ayaka. The swarm of crows barely lasted a minute, with flashes of red and green within the constantly shifting cloud of black feathers. Fangs of light tore through the flesh of her familiars, feathers crunched beneath the jaws of majestic lions, as they leaped and arobiting crows out of the air, their paws batting them as their entire body became a weapon to crush the crows against the walls.
At least she didn't have to worry about her magic energy being siphoned to maintain her command over the crows, but the lions had chased her down faster than Ruler, displaying agility beyond the Servant, and she had been forced to deal with them, slowing her enough for Ruler to catch up with her. Seriously, being able to brute force her way through collapsed rubble and like that shouldn't even be possible for a Servant, but it happened.
After Ayaka had collapsed the corridor on top of the summoned lions and crushed them, breathing a sigh of relief, Ruler had come crashing through the concrete and steel rebar.
At this point, Ayaka knew she couldn't outrun Ruler or hide from her, with the no hiding spots remaining, and no more places to run to except for the secondary emergency exit, which she wouldn't be able to open if Ruler was right behind her.
There was only one more option left.
Fight Ruler, and win.
Damn it!
Cursing in her mind, she desperately ignored the pain from the bite marks in her leg, a souvenir left behind by the lions she had crushed. Dragging her bloody legs through the doorway, she pulled out the doll she always carried wherever she went.
"似̴̧͖͖̮̘̰̘͙͇̞̝̖̠̠̼̘̟̙͙͔̝͙̪̣̀͑́̆͂̅̏̆̿̑̈͊͐̎̈́̾͗̋͆͒̾̒͑̕̕͘͜͠ͅせ る̷̢͕̜͖̟̣̞̲͎̌̾̈́̍̌̂̇̒̈̌̌̔̏̈̓̀͆̅̂͐̉̂̚͠"
Wisps of black smoke seemed to enter the plain white cloth doll, then it changed. The threads shifted, forming shapes it previously didn't possess, colors appearing on the chest and legs, gold lines and blue with black criss crossing it on the legs. Hair grew out of the head, eyes and mouth appearing, even the body shape changing as the cotton stuffing shifted the ratio to match Ayaka's desire.
In seconds, it was the spitting image of Ruler, as close as a cloth doll could ever imitate her. At the same time, Ayaka arrived at the center of the room, the branches creating a circle which she entered.
The room was her Workshop, linked to the rest of the magic circles in the base to achieve maximum effect. Leaves and vines covered the walls, grass brushing against her bare feet as she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the floor. A tree sprouted from the ground to the ceiling, amulets, talismans and discs with various designs hung from the branches, each and every one of them made with natural materials, wood, stone, bones, twine, feathers. Their positions, when viewed from above, formed a pentacle, the placement precise and purposeful. Breathing in the scent of the dirt beneath her feet, Ayaka started the incantation as Ruler arrived behind her at the door.
Crows appeared, resting on the boughs of the elder. White flowers bloomed, thorny vines and ivy creeping across the ground like snakes, slithering towards Ruler in the grass. The luminescent moss lighting up the room dimmed, and then the light disappeared entirely, leaving only the electric lights from the corridor outside as the only illumination into the pitch black room.
Without hesitation, Ruler charged into the room.