Chapter 136

Stepping through a hole in the wall, Kirei kept his hands behind his back as his feet connected solidly with the ground, looking left and right to make certain there was nobody there.

Punching a hole in reinforced concrete and steel beams with one's bare fists would most assuredly attract attention from anyone in the vicinity.

Thankfully, the spot he had chosen was far from the remaining occupants of the fallen base. When he had felt his heart suddenly constrict, he knew the mud was trying to tell him something, so he followed his gut feeling and allowed the substance flowing in his body to naturally guide him to where it wanted him to go. Like attracts like, and so did Avenger and the Grail mud in Kirei's body.

It had led him here, into the drainage system below the city, with foul smells and no small amount of petty vermin, though it could be said that it wasn't as bad as some other sewers in other more crowded or less advanced cities. For Kirei, it was just a walk in the park. He had lifted a drainage cover in plain sight without hesitation, jumped in, and dragged the cover back in place within seconds, with the next person who turned the corner seconds later where he had disappeared not noticing anything amiss at all.

He had eventually come up to a wall, and after determining there were no physical or magical secret entrances of any sort nearby, he just punched through the wall to check if there was anything behind it. When his fists hit empty air after passing through the wall, he simply broke down the wall with his body.

Just in case, he ordered his Servant over, asking her to infiltrate the complex in spiritual form and search for Avenger. There was no other reason that the Grail would compel him to move directly, and he could already sense the Servant's presence with it so close by anyways, the nature of the class container differing from that of the usual seven classes.

It didn't take long for Lancer to arrive at the destination.

Within the complex and it's winding passages, he could sense his Servant, as well as a few others fighting it out, though two seemed to be further away, while his Servant seemed to be with another Servant closer by.

Master, I will deliver Avenger to you. Be close.

With that, Lancer's communication cut off as she concentrated on the problem at hand, namely how to recover Avenger's body from Berserker, arguably one of the strongest Servants in the entire War.

As for Kirei, he simply followed Lancer's instructions, picking a spot close by and simply waiting there. He was used to going off vague instructions, and he trusted his Servant to deliver on her promise. She was nothing if not driven. Like a statue carved from marble, he stood in the hallway, his mind clear of any distractions. He kept his breathing steady, his muscles that were fit enough to compete with a bodybuilder loose and warm to actively react to whatever happened.

In a few minutes, Lancer's mount came charging at him, the mutilated Avenger in its mouth as it deposited the body gripped between its teeth into Kirei's waiting arms. Immediately after dropping the Servant, Llamrei vanished into thin air with its master's disappearance.

Kirei took off like a cannonball the moment he received Avenger, cradling the injured, unconscious Servant in his arms as he bolted straight back to the self-made entrance he had created earlier. His feet whispered over the ground at the speed they moed at, the wind making his brown, shaggy hair stream backwards as he liberally applied reinforcement to his entire body to make sure nothing caught up to him. Indeed, his speed and strength was something that allowed him to rival even Servant, though simply relying on that alone wasn't enough to fight on par with them. However, his years of experience, coupled with his physical ability and skills polished over those very same years, as well as a plethora of knowledge regarding many diverse topics, did provide him with the strength to combat against the weaker ones.

Which was why when Avenger abruptly tried to slam a fist through his chest, he was able to react in time and just barely, letting it take a chunk of flesh from his shoulder, instead of making a new hole that would make his lungs, spine and heart much more breezier. With a slight push from his hand that was in reality packing all his muscles tension into one point at his palm, he twisted his waist slightly and put his right leg a step behind, pushing Avenger on the small of her back.

Avenger went flying, but she easily twisted midair and braced her feet on the sewer walls upon landing, her feet easily absorbing the shock that would shatter a normal person's kneecaps into dust.

In hindsight, it was amazing that she had lasted so long. With her armor so damaged, it was only a matter of time when Angra Mainyu would lose control over her, and her true self surfaced. As it were, she still wasn't completely freed yet, though her eyes were narrowed to thin slits that were lit with a small speck of red which glowed in the middle of the whites of her eyes. The armor remaining on her was still somewhat restricting her, the mud in her body actively inhibiting her muscles from tensing, blocking nerve receptors as they surged forth in what limited amounts remained so they could counter her commands.

For Kirei, he watched as she fell to her knees, growls and snarls issuing from her throat as her entire body shook, her arms lifting and then locking in place in a gesture of supplication, palms raised upwards, as she fought against the mud's influence.

A roar shook the tunnel, waves spreading outwards in the sewer water from Avenger as she released a burst of energy, red lightning crackling all over her body, burning the skin and turning it black as she tried to break the armor from the inside, instead of ripping it off with her hands which was prevented by the mud. The exposed parts of her body uncovered by the black armor rippled, electricity coursing off them into the air as she summoned more and more energy into herself, Angra Mainyu trying his best to limit her drawing energy and failing due to his lack of influence in that section of the system, due it being the one part that actually sustained the evil god's fragments existence. Messing with it would be like a computer messing with its own battery.

Still, Avenger wasn't able to break free just yet, her energy from her Master and the Grail itself limited with what little Angra could do, cutting off her supply as much as possible.

This was enough of a window for Kirei to act.