King of Fakers Chapter 8: Two Little Words and the castle of blood.
A single drop of sweat fell from Rider, he couldn't help but grin, a pinch of madness seemed to be upon his face. This was the first real fight he had since he was summoned, he wanted to enjoy it to the utmost. Logic told him to end it now, but his soul wanted to see it through.
He wanted to see just how far the boy could go, how much he could do, how long he could fight.
To do so would ignore everything his master told him.
Furthermore he knew that tempting fate against him could be disastrous, that last clash was proof of that...
"Aw, to hell with it! C'mon lad! Let's settle this like men! Hit me with all ya got, I'll break through it and take you down! Sorry, boys but I wanna do this alone."
Rider lifted his shield and spear, bracing his feet against the concrete.
Shirou lifted his right arm and focused all of his forced into the bronze blade, slowly lifting it towards the heavens. Rider waited patiently, a rare thing for a man like him.
A light breeze fell against Rider's face, then a blade of glass swept through his hair.
Somehow he shivered. Somehow he began to sweat. Somehow... he couldn't shake of this uneasy feeling...
"Oh, damn, you're out. That's why I feel so annoyed." Shirou smirked at the remark.
"Far from it, can't the dog wait for a treat?" Rider sighed and grit his teeth.
Something was wrong. The sensation felt akin to forgetting something severely important.
The wind once again brought torn grass towards Rider, it feel upon his feet and began to form a small pile, the storm began to pick up a bit. Flashes of lightning in the distance fell, almost seeming to get quicker.
Another minute passed. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, just wait a minute. I'm sure your blood will burn."
Rider began to feel the nagging feeling grow larger and larger... Shirou threw the blade at Rider's feet, whose eyes turned to look below.
The concrete was covered in torn grass, the area around him now resembled a small field.
The blades came alive and wrapped around his legs, forming makeshift vines!
He kicked them away ripping his feet from them with almost no effort, "Lad, that was really disappoint-!" Shirou then burst out in laughter. His crooked left arm seemed to have healed, and it threw another identical bronze blade up into the sky.
"Ame-No-Murakumo, Kusunagi-No-Tsurugi. Bring in the storm!" Shirou snapped his fingers, and the wind roared. A blitzkrieg of thunder and lightning bombarded the earth around the two, seeming to form a enormous cage constructed of light.
Shirou snapped his fingers again, the air died, replaced by an eternal flame.
Shirou had trapped himself in a cage created from the full force of nature. "This sword is made of bronze. Of course it can't compete with that spear head on, this blade unlocks the full potential of the user and channels their magic to the point where they can warp nature to their will. Even you can't escape from this cage without taking tons of damage."
"So what lad! It's just you and me, you've made it worse than when we started!"
Shirou smiled, "wrong, I've won. Your master is outside. Here is a prediction, Rider. I will defeat you with only sabres, they won't even be all that special, just enough to hurt you."
And with that sentence, what seemed like hundreds of swords emerged from thin air, flying forth, they met Rider's shield and shattered upon impact!
A mere distraction.
Two sabres were in his hands, he had closed the gap almost instantly. In reality the movement, while looking fluid and effortless... Shirou felt as if his body was ready to be torn apart at the slightest error. He couldn't fail or make a single mistake.
Rider lunged forward, the head of the spear aimed at Shirou's right eye...
With a swish and flick of his hand Shirou turned one of the sabres around, the hilt hooked the lance and with a dive towards the earth did just enough to redirect the thrust.
But if Rider's skills with the spear could have been stopped by such a simple thing, he would not be the hero he was, instead of a thrust he redirected the attack into a powerful swing... since the sword was still hooked to the lance, and Rider had more raw strength...!
The only result was to throw the sword off the spear and send Shirou hurtling up into the air, the cage of flame, now opened a tiny bit. "What!? He did that on purpose so he can trap me here!? Ah, dammit I'm getting too carried away over some little kid... but!"
It was an opening for Rider to escape too.
"Kings." A single word left the boys lips and it shook the very air.
"Kings, do not run! They are never defeated! You're a coward to try to run, Rider!"
The cage closed and a next of swords formed a surface for Shirou's feet, he kicked against it, sending him towards Rider, two more sabres emerged in the boys hands.
"Take this!" Rider smiled, he had won, he would simply raise his shield and it would take the next impact, he'd finish the lad with a perfect attack and this would be over.
"It was fun while it lasted lad, but-!" The shield was raised ready for the strike of the swords!
Yet they never came.
Something fell against the shield but it was not cold steel, but the king himself!
"Tch! Damn, this kid! Geez, I have to take this seriously! Otherwise he'll really kick my ass! And then Bazette'll probably kick it again after that."
The dive upon the shield had given Shirou another advantage, Rider could not see him or strike accurately at him, unless he moved it... his field of vision was obscured, so Rider simply did what he had done with his horses, he ordered it to disappear, the spear was just under the shield, so Shirou would instantly be impaled upon it ending the fight.
"I won't fall for the same trick twice! I am no fool unlike you!" The moment the shield dispersed, Shirou had performed a back-flip, he was now below Rider, free falling back to the ground
Shirou's eyes sparkled like daggers as Rider turned to face him. Rider had seen that look before countless times... the look that meant... he'd already won.
"So what!? How can you kill me from there lad!?"
"I told you already didn't I? Your master is out there, and can't come in here. However..."
A strong right punch to close the gap between them... at the last second it opened up into a palm.
"I promised, I would kill you with only sabres, and so I shall. This is your punishment for defying the king, to dare bite these arms of mine, mongrels cannot begin to fight us... I've won Rider. It was easy, now... COME SABER!" An absolute command, the blood coloured command seal glowed with a fiery light, a demand had been made and it could not be refused.
The embers on the kings fist bloomed forth a even darker and more powerful dress of red.
The "rose" needed to only swing her "thorn" once, Rider felt his entire torso being pushed apart, in a single instant a crimson blade had dug through his body and the hero fell to his knees.
A whistle and a curse left the lips of Caster and Rin, respectively. They were both very afraid as well as frustrated. The Tohsaka household was oozing in a dark energy, they could feel it... someone was in there and they had set up shop, quite nicely too.
The leylines of the structure were now dominated, someone had ripped total control and created a fort, what Rin had thought as home ground was now quite possibly one of the worst places to fight in the city... for her at least. It was now likely the best place for the Servant who waited within.
The doors to the mansion opened wide, as if they were the jaws of a beast. Obscured in shadow sat a figure at the foot of the stairs on a comfortable red chair, he was covered in head to toe with a black outfit and hat. What little else that could be seen was his pale white skin and flowing ivory hair as well as a glinting pole like weapon resting in his lap.
Two more chairs then appeared at the entrance. "Please, come in. I have much to discuss with you ladies. It concerns you deeply, depending on how you act I may even vacate these premises and return to you what I have conquered." He spoke gently, his hands gestured to the other chairs.
Of course Rin would never accept such an odd proposal, especially when she knew the horrible disadvantages she had. "I can see you're wary, totally understandable. Then let me show you a symbol of my trust. I am without a doubt of the Lancer class. I swear by the Lord it is true, I hope as a fellow Christian you would need only this. If you need more than, well I shall give you my identity young magus, in return you must promise to aid me. Do we have a deal?"
Lancer removed his hat, placed it aside gently and smiled. "So please, sit... I do insist."
The land behind Rin and Caster crumbled and thousands of spears erupted from the floor, forming a gate of of bloody pikes that blocked the entrance and exit of the estate...
Rin turned to see it and ran towards the seat adjacent to Lancer in a heartbeat.
"A cheap trick... though effective, those pikes force a reaction on those who see it, making them instinctively desire to run away from them... and in this case Rin ended up doing as you asked without even realising it." Caster sighed and walked to the second seat, trying to attack from a range now would endanger Rin, they were already in his trap anyway, the fact the spears could be conjured so easily was proof of that.
Rin couldn't say a thing, her mind was shocked and ashamed at what just happened. She had ran to Lancer without even thinking and the whole incident was like a blur... trying to recall exactly what happened made her head ache. "Now, dear Rin. Please swear that you'll aid me when I ask something of you in the future. In exchange I shall not slay you ever within the course of this war and I will leave your home intact, everything will be as you left it, oh except a single bible if that is okay with you, I wouldn't feel right stealing one from a shop or you so I wish to ask your permission to keep it."
Oddly enough his vice was soothing, attractive yet frightening. He waited patiently for a response, keeping his eyes fixed on Rin and Caster, but not maliciously or even with a degree of seriousness, just plain eye contact. "My identity, a pledge of peace in exchange for you saving my master. How about it Rin?" The word "save" finally grabbed Rin's attention. "What do you mean save?"
"Exactly that dear. My master must be saved. You must save her, it's your obligation. She's your sister after all... I am Vladimir Tepes or Vladimir Dracula III the child of the dragon the impaler, the devil. My master is Matou Sakura... and I earnestly desire your help in the foreseeable future."
Authors Note:
Yeah this isn't proofread so... yeah I really need a beta reader man... also yeah sorry for the short length yet again... but at least it's here, right? Haha think of it as a late Christmas present...
Enjoy and review please.