Act 1- "Death Of Beginning"
Chapter IV: "Dance Of Spear; Rondo Of Arrows"
It had been a night after she had summoned her Servant, Lancer.
Although she is still surprise to have not been able to summon her aim, the prospect of fighting alongside someone with equal prowess is also acceptable. Of course, that should be the case if not for a certain problem.
"Can you stop doing that?"
Elizabeth Strauss, the magus from the Strauss family working for the Magus Association, questions her partner who is very much occupied with playing her telescope.
"Master, Lancer asks the purpose of this weapon?"
"That is not a weapon that is an equipment. It is used for observing things far away from the naked eye."
She decided to bring that equipment of her to view the peak of Mt. Okutama but because of Lancer's curiosity, she was unable to do so with that telescope. Luckily for her, she brought an extra.
"Anyway, can you sit still? Your large size is very conspicuous!"
She complains with an annoyed face. Her Lancer may look strong and bulky but his brain is quite the opposite. His size is also a big problem. She already argued to him to always enter spirit form when not in combat but he's stubborn to his desire to observe the modern world. He was like a little kid with a very big body.
"Whoa!"
Lancer exclaims upon peeking at the telescope's eyepiece. Rotating the objective's point towards Elizabeth with Lancer's large eyes appearing from the lens, he asks, "Why is a magus like yourself using such an equipment?"
"Because its convenient? After all, I'm no ordinary magus. Adhering to traditions and rules is a must but there are things I need to use in order to fulfill my role."
"And what is it, Master with a role to fulfill?"
"Exterminating magi."
Lancer, confused, punches his skull with his knuckle and asks, "Why do you exterminate people of the same kind?"
Elizabeth answered her Servant's question while still observing each corner of the mountain, "Because I am an Enforcer and that is my job. The same as you were as a King and hero."
Lancer nodded to his Master's explanation.
"So, what are we to do here? Lancer is bored! Lancer wants to kick some bastard asses"
History can be both sometimes accurate and not. In her Lancer's case, it is both. Lancer or Ajax, is said to possess great strength, high combat ability but often shows little patience especially when fighting. Evident of this is his lack of interest in preparing strategy and observing their enemies.
"Lancer, can you please shut up?! Now I know why Odysseus dislikes you. One can't devise a strategy with you sulking there!"
"Master, Lancer had said before to never mention that name!"
Elizabeth sighs after hearing Lancer's reply. She might be force to cut the prana supply she gives to force his Servant to enter spirit mode. But that is something she does not wish to do. After all, the key to winning this Holy Grail War is cooperation.
"You might get your wish sooner than later, Lancer. After all, we did come here to fight."
Lancer's full attention was caught by those words.
Amuse, Lancer stops his annoying complains and curiously asks his Master after glancing at the mountain, "What are you scheming, Master?"
As she retracts her eyes from the eyepiece, she answers Lancer's inquiry, "This mountain was used by a former Master in the 1st War. It was abandoned but suddenly, presence of human life form is seen running around the area. I conclude a magus participating in this war operates somewhere inside or on top of it."
Elizabeth rubs her chin with her fingers while thinking of something. According to the information she received from her spies, only three people were recorded to the Holy Church as participants for this war. Meaning, only four have taken the stage, which included her. "Only three left. . ."
"Master, should Lancer strike now while the enemy is unaware?"
"Ssshhh! Lancer, do you know the saying look before you leap" Lancer nods in agreement to his Master's question. Elizabeth sighs to her Servant's rashness and continues, "Listen, right now I'm trying to identify which Master occupies the mountain. Knowing who our enemy is means we know what they can do, right?"
"What of it, Master?"
Upon hearing that response, Elizabeth is speechless. She can't believe her Servant cannot understand simple tactics in combat let alone warfare. History did label him as someone with high combat intelligence but why is he this dumb when not fighting. "Hey Lancer," she addresses him, "Did you knock off your brain or something when you were summoned?"
Lancer shakes his head as a response. "Why do you ask Lancer such a silly question?"
"Because Lancer, you're being way too silly-no, you are being way too stupid right now."
"Master, please be clear as bell for Lancer to understand."
"But what I'm telling you is as blunt as a stop sign!"
"What is a stop sign?"
Elizabeth stops the exchange with a face palm. Exhausted by it, she sighs and shrugs and then turns around facing the mountain. Ignoring her Servant's beef twittedness, she checks up the wards she had placed earlier.
The wards, which are fundamentally function as mystic codes, are unique only to her. They are 'heat sensors' made of ice which is quite transparent similar to an actual crystal which can only be sensed by skilled magi through thorough inspection. Due to this very fact, she is confident that it will come undetected.
She placed them earlier around the mountain with an approximate distance of 200 meters. As each crystal melts away, it tells her the number of 'individual with prana' inside.
As if preparing something, she closes her eyes while taking out a diamond ice from her pocket.
"Eis Sagen"
She clutches her hand to the diamond ice and continues,
"Was Sie Sehen"
Applying prana on the object, she releases it with a final line, "Liefern Sie Mir!"
The diamond ice explodes into tiny particles that flies straight to Elizabeth's face. After touching her skin, the crystals mysteriously disappears. It seems they were absorbed by her body.
Lancer, who is watching the scene, raises his eyebrow. Amaze by his Master's magecraft, he curls his lips to a smile.
"Around 327 homunculi and a magus. . ."
"Is that the number of Lancer's opponent?"
"Yes. Although my sensors could not determine their exact locations, it seems the readings focused mostly at the base of the mountain."
A bright silver light forms on Lancer's right hand forming into a large and long spear. As he gives out a powerful hum after knowing the location of his target, he taps Elizabeth's back.
"Master, sit tight here while Lancer takes out the trash."
"Don't misunderstood. Although I am your Master, I am also a fighter. I'll wait for you to garner their attention and strike the enemy magus in his workshop."
"Hearing that from you, have you discerned the enemy?"
Elizabeth nods and brings out a sheet of paper folded from her pocket.
"One of the master in this war that specializes in Alchemy. A first class instructor in Atlas and the heir to the illustrious Indian Magi Clan, Jayendra."
Elizabeth Straus, an Enforcer of the Magus Association, now awaits outside to strike her foe. However, as the hunter prepares, will the prey enter the hunt unprepared? Or are they the ones being hunted?
"Lord Jayendra," a man dressed in crimson robe and dark leggings bows before a pompous fat man sitting on a throne elevated from the ground.
"What is it, Devadas?"
"I have detected a rat snooping around our domain."
"Who might that be?" The proud man asks curiously.
"We have no information but-"
"Is it an enemy Master?" He cuts it off with a short chuckle in the end, "Fofofo~"
The man in red nodded in agreement. As he unsheathes a sword from the scabbard on his waist and stabs it on the floor, he kneels down to the man before him.
"Let us see what our opponents are capable of, Fofofo!~ Archer~"
He affectionately calls the class of the sword he had summoned to fight for him in this battle royale.
Appearing from dusts of scarlet light, he materializes leaning on the glass window of the room they were in while being illuminated by the moonlight.
"I want you to show me what you are capable of. However, refrain from using your Noble Phantasms."
Devadas, who is kneeling on the ground, glances at Archer who receives the command with no reaction or emotion. With a slow nod, he has accepted the command given to him.
"I shall intercept the enemy Master if ever the soldiers are unable to restrain him."
"I trust the battle to you, my right-hand."
After that gesture from his lord, Devadas stands giving a glance to Archer. The latter, who reverts a glance as well, smiles at the former. Devadas, after smiling back, immediately leaves the room giving the area only to his lord and ally.
"He is quite a loyal servant you have," Archer emotionlessly says so as he describes Devadas who just left the room.
"I advise you to work well with him, Archer. Even if you are a great person, you are still my Servant and I hope you will get along with my brother."
Archer nods with a surprise expression. The response, the interaction and the relationship is so familiar to him. It is too familiar that it makes him nostalgic of his past.
"You. . .even if you are unfathomably proud, remind me of someone in the past."
Lord Jayendra lets out a chuckle as if amuse by his Servant's words.
"Is that a compliment, Archer? Fofofo~"
"Depends on how you see that man I am referring to. To many he was a fool of a tyrant, a personification of greed and wrath. However, for us, he was a righteous king. To me, he was like the Sun."
After stating those words, Archer returns to his spirit form and leaves the room quietly.
"Fofofo~," Jayendra laughs joyfully from his Servant's statement, "Indeed, I too, wish to be like him."
After a near hopeless discussion, Elizabeth and Lancer finally come to an understanding.
"Okay Lancer, just like what we had discussed. You will go in up front, divert all the enemies, and I will head straight inside."
Lancer nods as her Master glares at him with eyes full of doubt.
"Don't worry Master! When it comes to holding the fort, or being a diversion, Lancer is one of the best in the world! I do have A Rank in Battle Continuation to back that up."
Elizabeth agrees to her Servant's boastful reply. He may look hopeless in terms of common sense but he does have the strength to overcome brains with brawn. After all, he was the Servant who held the Trojan army's advance numerous times in spite of being outnumbered. On top of that, he fended them off with no support!
"I will trust you strength not your words, Lancer."
"Attacking an enemy even though the war has yet to start, Master, you have guts!"
"I'd rather take out my enemies one-by-one than milk the game, Lancer."
Elizabeth fixes her clothing and stretches her body. This will be her first fight that does not involve taking out magi with sealing designations or dead apostles hunted by the association.
"Anyway, time is gold. Let us begin!"
"Lancer agrees!"
And with a fierce war cry, Lancer charges towards the base of the mountain while his Master runs swiftly to the side while trying to keep out of sight.
Trees block his way to the base but Lancer, gifted with an unparalleled body unrivaled in his generation, ignores them like how a bulldozer would when it runs into concrete walls. He swings his forehands from left to right occasionally but often he just meets them with his body. Smiling as the sound of wood breaking, the thought of objects being destroyed before him has always been music to his ears. With his entire body covered with armor, one who sees him running will think that it is a mass of steel given feet.
Although his Agility is a disappointment to the class of Lancer who is thought to boast incredible swiftness, his large feet that covers large distances when dashing makes up for his lack of mobility. Add that to his unfathomable strength and body covered with incredible protection, what on Earth can bring this live monster down?
A group of homunculus appears before his path. Armed with spears, halberds and axes made of metal considered to be one of the strongest in existence, believes to themselves they can slow this running bulldozer down.
Lancer objects to their beliefs with a smile mocking their attempt.
"So you dare hinder Lancer's path, lowly Pezoi?"
He raises his long and large spear, which is probably a 100 centimeters greater than his height with a blade as thick as an ax's, towards the homunculi in front of him without bothering to slow down his advance.
The emotionless beings tries to receive the weapon of the proud Servant with their own sturdy weapons. Unfortunately, a Servant's strength truly seats a top above other familiars. Their very existence is even considered a miracle. So how can this creations made of ether, despite being made with bodies greater than a human, surpass beings set aside from the world of logic?
Impossible.
The group of homunculus is cut apart in just a single cleave. With a short laughter of ecstasy, he twirls his large spear and increases the speed of his advance.
As if trying to build a continuous wall of barricades, another group of homunculus stands before him. This time they increase their numbers to 20. With the thought of fighting more, Lancer's blood boils hotter.
"Come and prove your worthlessness a lie!"
He roars as he jumps in the air. With that velocity and add that to his already humongous size, what can possibly happen if he descends to the ground?
A large magnitude shocks the ground near the base of the mountain. Blowing away trees and scattering chunks of land creating a cloud of dust.
It is a shockwave which he created through force alone.
The power is able to push the homunculi away with some receiving bruises from it.
"Not yet done!"
He roars as if his speech pattern slowly changing. Lancer, who believes that speaking in combat is necessary, converses through the blade. And thus, his speech habits appear when he sets himself in a position to fight with swords and spears.
"RAAAAA!"
Growling fiercely, Lancer launches an array of spear strikes and swings.
The force of the weapon blows away the dust cloud while dismembering all homunculi that dare approach him.
As some tries to flee away, he leaps once again, recreating a similar shockwave as it blows the retreating enemies.
Content to the damage he has done, he lets out a proud smile and proceeds with his march.
As he charges, he roars towards the mountain top as if addressing the enemies he has, "COME OUT AND FACE LANCER, SERVANT!"
It is a roar of challenge. An invitation to the enemy Servant his Master's foe has.
Although he has no idea that the opposing Master has already summoned his Servant, his instinct tells him that something powerful has been observing him for quite some time now.
His Instinct, in which he boasts to be able to predict events close to precognition, cease to amaze him in its accuracy.
Just after declaring his invitation for combat, an arrow pierces the air as it travels towards him.
He did not sensed the arrow. He did not heard it. But, his incredible instinct told him.
Smirking from the incoming weapon, he ignores it like how one turns their head away from a harmless fly.
The arrow hits his shoulder. However, his body which is protected by a mass of steel, rejects the arrow.
Lancer breaks his course and halts his charge. Smiling with a heart full of joy, he shifts his head and eyes from left to right looking for the opponent that shot the arrow.
The arrow the was fired was indeed powerful. It was, after all, not released by an ordinary opponent. Lancer knows this as he felt the power within the weapon. Unfortunately, it was his body which was superior.
"Incredible."
That was all what Archer was able to utter when he witnessed his lone projectile blocked by the steel armor of his opponent.
"It may be the armor but it can also be the body. Regardless, there is bound to be a point of weakness."
He calmly whispers this to himself as he loads and nocks another arrow to his dark bow.
Pulling the string of his bow with more force added to it, he releases it while aiming to his enemy's chest.
The arrows flies with extreme speed. As it pierces through the air, the power behind it is far from that of a bullet fired by a very high caliber sniper rifle. It can be said that the arrow possess the destructive power of a missile in a smaller vessel.
But-
"HAHAHA!"
Lancer's armor. . .or body ignores the attack of his opponent.
"Those feeble attacks useless!"
Shifting his gaze towards the direction of the arrow, he charges towards the direction.
"You gave position, ARCHER!"
The servant of the bow accepts the situation that he cannot pierce the body of his opponent. No, it is more proper that he can't pierce it yet.
As he notices Lancer's charge towards his direction, he leaps from branches to branches while still facing his dashing opponent. Regardless if Lancer had finally discerned his location, if Archer could change it with his superior agility, he could avoid a close confrontation.
"A giant body with a large voice. Why does he seem so familiar to someone?"
He asks himself while he nocks three arrows from his pitch-black bow.
Lancer, like the previous attacks, receive the arrows aimed at his chest like nothing.
Realizing his opponent had changed his camp, he shifts towards the arrows origin, rotating his body and charging forth with his brute muscles.
"Although powerful, you seem to lack strategic abilities."
He mumbles as he nocks another arrow to his bow. This time, he pulls the string even farther from usual. While doing so, the power and speed of the arrow increases. But-
Lancer's armor. . .or body clearly ignores these kinds of attacks.
What can another simple arrow do to such nearly invincible defense?
He releases the arrow aiming at Lancer's chest. After a second, he nocks another one aiming at the same location which he repeats multiple times.
"Useless attempt bowman!"
Lancer roars which echoes across the forest beside the base of the mountain. All the arrows that struck his armored chest were all negated by its powerful defense.
"How about this one. . ."
Archer, while continuously moving, nocks an arrow pulled farthest compared to the previous projectiles.
As it flies towards Lancer in godspeed, the latter ignores the projectile still having the belief that his mighty armor is impenetrable.
"...Foolish thought."
Archer whispers as he hears steel cracking from his opponent's location.
"BASTARD!"
Lancer roars angrily as the latest arrow that struck him created a large crack on his armor after it broke to pieces. To him it was a shocking surprise. Never in his life but one encounter his armor had been "shattered". This armor is one of his greatest achievement in his life as a Heroic Spirit. No, to be more exact, it is the "result" that made it a Noble Phantasm.
A Noble Phantasm is a weapon which embodies a Heroic Spirit's identity. A crystallization of a miracle which can appear as a sword, spear or any weapon told in the countless of myths in history. Lancer's armor, however, differs in a sense. Although most Noble Phantasmz became such because they are miracles told in legends like the holy sword of the king of knights, or the invulnerable body of the dragon-slayer or the unrivaled speed of one of the world's greatest heroes, this protection do not possess such fame or name. The original incarnation of the 'miracle' had no special traits that echoed across the globe, but it became legendary after the 'achievement' it attained.
So if Noble Phantasms are miracles that made results, this is something results had made.
This was one of his pride. The miracle that made him impervious to wounds-to be exact, "did not receive any wounds" even a scratch during the entire Trojan War. He was the only hero, who was always at the front fighting against the mighty nation's greatest hero that rivals theirs, that always at the end of the day retreats unscathed.
His armor was already a 'powerful entity' but then add a Noble Phantasms that rejects attacks inferior to it, he would be near invincible.
And that one situation that his powerful armor was defeated was when he was fighting against the greatest of the centaurs, the world's most famous archer, Chiron. At that time, his body may not have yet reached his peak but his armor had always been. Judging by his movements a while ago, he was foolish to forget how similar his tactic was with his mentor's when he was fighting against him when he was young.
"IMPRESSIVE!"
He declares to Archer as he composes himself as he pauses.
"UNFORTUNATELY, LANCER UNWOUND!"
Lancer bumps his chest with his free hand proudly. Afterwards, the cracked part of his armor fixes itself back to normal.
His arrow may have pierced a dent to his armor, but if it can't wound him, it is still useless.
Archer who is standing on top of a branch assesses the situation while ignoring Lancer's taunts.
"I calculated my arrows power to D, C and B . .and it was an A rank worth of attack that dealt that crack. What a thick armor and body. It may probably be similar to me."
He closes his eyes for a second and slowly raises his right hand.
Bright scarlet light forms from his hand that materializes into a shining blazing arrow.
The light that radiates is clearly 'prana' and the arrow, which is a creation of the light, is nothing less than a 'projectile of prana'. It is an innate skill that is rare for a Servant to possess. An ability to coat you body or weapon with Prana Burst is a a fearsome personal skill only available to few. However, in Archer's case, it is Prana endowed with the sweltering heat of the Sun, Flames.
He releases the prana of flame made arrow towards Lancer.
The latter, at the same time, feels a shiver through his spine.
His instincts tell him to dodge.
His instincts tell him to destroy that thing.
He cannot receive something like that.
Should he it would definitely be dangerous.
The flying arrow is coursing towards him at incredible speed. The prana that coats it not only serves as a boost in firepower but also a propeller. It is literally a missile of prana.
Lancer understands his speed is not sufficient to evade that thing.
Therefore, the only option is to destroy it.
He swings his mighty spear towards the projectile. As the two weapons collide, a large explosion blooms in the battlefield. The echoing roar spreads throughout the mountain.
"AAAH!"
Lancer exclaims as the explosion envelops him.
Although unscathed, his armor shows to have been damage quite a bit.
He can fairly deduce that that attack surpasses an A attack.
"What a terrifying opponent," is what Lancer is thinking.
This is the first time since his last engagement against Achilles, the invulnerable hero of the Trojan War, when they were young, that made him believe the prospect of dying.
However, Lancer is not afraid. As a matter of fact, he is now thrilling in greater excitement.
"If armor is useless against him, there is no need to wear it!"
That is what his instincts tells him and he agrees.
He already understands that his armor is useless against his opponent and it will only be a hindrance to his already slow mobility.
To be able to keep up or even face Archer in close combat, he must increase his speed or mobility artificially. If he can't do so, he knows that he will die in this battle.
"He removed his armor?"
Archer asks himself after noticing Lancer's activity a kilometer away from him.
"I thought he was foolish and stupid but it does seem he possess combat intelligence. This will be interesting."
Archer amusingly mumbles as he nocks another prana made arrow.
" COME ARCHER!"
Lancer with his eyes igniting in fire, charges onwards.
"Come. . ."
Archer whispers as he releases another missile of destruction from the bow of Indra.
~Chapter End