Here we go. The climactic battle between two powerful dragons! Who will win? The speedy dragon of metal? Or the unstoppable dragon of bone? Tune in to find out.

Chapter 6: Dragonfight, Dragonflight

(11:00 am, High above Fuyuki City)

Kayneth was not a cowardly man. He may not always charged head-on into battle like a Neanderthal, but he didn't cower, he didn't wet himself in fear, and he never screamed like a little girl.

Right now he was doing all three.

In his defence, he was over 2 miles above the city, on the back of a dragon that twisted and turned like some demented roller-coaster, he didn't have seat-belts or any kind of safety harness and did he mention the massive Dracolich THAT WAS TRYING TO KILL HIM!?

Despite Lancer's confidence they would win, they were making remarkably little headway. Though Bahamut was definitely fast enough to run rings around the Dracolich, it was simply too large and too strong for their attacks to affect it. If anything, they were just making it angrier. And meanwhile its own attacks were freezing everything near them as they passed, so that Bahamut had to always shake the ice off. Kayneth had lost his grip and was flung off a few times, and everytime Lancer just managed to grab him before the Dracolich swallowed him whole.

Kayneth swore that if he ever survived this he was never going to fly with Lancer ever again. And that he would stay far away from anything with lots of sharp pointy teeth.

To make matters worse, the Saber's presence was causing it to hail. Everytime the hail hit him it was like being beaten with a baseball bat.

"We need to pull out." Lancer shouted into his ear, brushing frost from her eyebrows. Kayneth heartily agreed with her. In fact, if it was up to him in the first place, they would never had fought the thing in the first place. If only he had enough wits to use a command seal at the time.

Bahamut angled downwards, moving at an insane pace, dodging all the ice blasts as they passed them. Soon they would be below the clouds and Saber wouldn't be able to follow them without breaking the rule of secrecy. Clouds stopped buffeting them as they left them behind. Lancer seemed to relax at this, though she looked annoyed that she had to run. A roar made her look back, probably to gloat, when he face grew pale. She turned to scream into Bahamut's ear.

"Get us outta here!" Kayneth looked back at Saber, wondering what could frighten Lancer, when his blood ran cold.

Though Saber wasn't following them, his dragon was charging a powerful breath attack, the ice billowing out of its mouth and hail the size of boulders falling around it. It let off a comet of ice and wailing souls that moved faster than he could believe possible. Soon it was creating frost on Bahamut's tail, and his teeth started chattering. Looked down to see that Bahamut was heading down for a forest, not too far from their next base. Bahamut pulled up at the last moment, flying over the treetops as the blast struck the ground. An explosion of ice and magic followed them, causing more and more ice to form on Bahamut. Eventually, his wings couldn't take the strain, and they started falling. The last thing Kayneth remembered was how strange it was that the ground ahead of them was frozen over too, before everything went black.

(11:45am, Fuyuki Highway)

"…Meteorologists are still baffled at the strange weather patterns and hail that pelted the city barely an hour ago." The radio was saying as Maiya and Emiya drove back in silence. "According to their readings, it was almost as if the weather formed right over Fuyuki City from a tornado that apparently formed from the ground up. At what they're calling 'ground zero', a massive crater of ice had formed there. They are still puzzling over how that happened. Because of the strange weather however, there have been reports of 25 deaths from either hailstones of unnatural size, heavy wind, or even freezing blasts of cold falling from the sky. An addition 158 have been injured as well, with the most common injury being frostbite, followed by head trauma. And Finally over 1.78 million Yen of damage has occurred, with the largest being the terrorist attack on the Fuyuki Hyatt Hotel. Police are investigating the attack, reasoning that a target was staying in the hotel at the time. They said that if it wasn't for the fire earlier, everyone in the hotel would have died in the collapse. The people's thanks go to this mysterious arson. In other news…"

Emiya turned off the radio. He and Saber were going to need to talk about this event. No doubt the servant would be less willing to follow his instructions next time after this. He could tell Maiya was fuming over the mistake.

Stupid really. They should've known the servant wouldn't act like El-Melloi. His bleeding heart would doom them. But he just couldn't kill all those people. To him, there was no need for it.

He just hoped Saber was able to finish the job.

(12:30pm, Fuyuki Castle)

When Emiya and Maiya pulled up to the front door, Iri felt relieved. She had been told of their plan and heard of the bombing, but the storm was definitely unnatural. And after reports of deaths, she worried for Kiri's safety. She rushed out the door and gave Kiri a back-breaking hug. As he hugged her back, a horse's neigh sounded. Maiya tensed as Arthas rode in on an undead horse. Its ribs were showing, literally, and its skull was adorned with a golden headdress. Ghostly-blue eyes stared at them, both Arthas and the horse.

"Did you succeed?" Kiri asked Saber. Iri wondered what he meant, then realised the storm was from Arthas. Stupid of her, really. Arthas has shown Caster levels of magic with cold.

Arthas took his time answering. He got off his horse, stroking his mane and feeding him magic. Kiri was going to ask again when he answered. "Lancer's dragon was faster than mine. I'd like to think that I got her or her master, but prior experience has taught me it's better to act as though they survived. Such a shame you lost your nerve, Master." His voice was dripping with disdain at that last word. Something must've happened during the assassination attempt. While they weren't really friends, they were at least cordial. "Clearly, I underestimated you. I thought you were truly willing to do whatever it takes to reach your goal. Irisviel told me what you want. To achieve world peace. Surely you aren't so blinded by petty morality to put mere dozens before the world." Arthas shook his head. "But you're just like the rest. Too blind to do what's necessary." Arthas walked away, his cape swishing dramatically. "And until you realise the truth, I'm afraid we cannot work together anymore."

(1:30pm, Matou Manor)

Kariya thought that having his broken body healed was the best feeling he could have.

He was mistaken. Seeing Sakura looking better than ever was the best thing he could have.

Her smile warmed his heart. They had been enjoying their new-found strength with a game in the park, before the storm – clearly a servant battle – and they had rushed back into the Matou Manor. Though they both didn't like their time there, it was enchanted enough that a stray spell couldn't just crush them. They were playing with dolls when a rat squeaked out 'a shave and a haircut'. They heard Byakuya scream a high, shrilly scream and as they looked out the room they saw him running down the hall. Behind him was a flood of rats and racoons and other pests. The pests started melting, running into a pool of blood so thick it was black. Berserker rose up from the puddle like some sort of fae. Which, given what he told Kariya, would certainly be appropriate.

"Must you absolutely terrify my brother like that?" He asked Berserker with a sigh. While he didn't like his brother's 'better-than-you' attitude, being chased by a powerful servant wasn't really something he'd go for.

Berserker smirked. "It gives me a few laughs. And I need them after what I've seen today."

"What do you mean?" Kariya wondered. Sakura was hugging Berserker's leg, still grateful for healing her.

"Saw plenty today." He said, sitting down on a chair in the hall. The chair snapped instantly, causing Berserker to curse. He flowed his biomass into another chair, and sat down again. "Caster's master is some red-haired woman named Sola. Since she ran off when Lancer was attacked, she must be with El-Melloi. Caster can use those 'djinn' of his to enhance himself or attack, and can use them to create a mini Reality Marble with a creature in them. And he can apparently use them again. Not sure on their max usage."

"Archer's definitely more dangerous than we first thought. During his battle with Caster, he pulled out more weapons than an entire Blackwatch squadron. And they've got plenty of effects I've only seen in fiction. He's got a little robot helper and a powerful shield, along with some healing effect. There's no doubt that in a ranged battle Archer would kill me before I could deal with him. We'll have to get in close and rip him apart before he can react."

"And the battle in the park?"

Berserker snorted. "Over the park, you mean. About 2 miles over. The scouts that survived showed me that it was Saber and Lancer having a fight on dragons. Saber's dragon was a Dracolich too big for Lancer to hurt. Lancer ran, and it looked like Saber landed a pretty solid hit. Won't know more until the church confirms it."

Byakuya screamed again, though it was distant this time. And from the basement. They headed over to find it looking unrecognisable.

Flesh covered the walls, with large pulsating over the place. Things were twitching inside, and only some looked human. In the centre was a massive one that was impossible to see in. Byakuya was shaking, his pants soiled as he gasped in fear. Kariya made sure that Sakura couldn't see past him.

"Berserker." He asked. "What is all this?"

"My work." Berserker said bluntly. "We'll need soldiers to help us win, and these guys fit the bill. Then I can convert them into my cure, and we'll all live happily ever after."

Kariya was shaking slightly. These creatures reminded him too much of his time with the worms. God knows what Sakura will react when she see this. He pulled his brother through the doorway before closing it. "Once these ones are… birthed, I want you to pack this up and find somewhere far away from here. Understood?"

Berserker frowned before nodding. "Crystal." He walked off. Going wherever he went during the day. Kariya knew he should have a better idea where his servant was going and doing, but as long as he won he didn't care. He turned to smile at Sakura. "Now, wasn't Miss Yamato inviting Kokoro over for tea?"

(8:00pm, Unknown)

Kayneth opened his eyes and knew he wasn't in Fuyuki.

Though the place was filled with skyscrapers, but it was in the middle of a wilderness, like something had picked up the city and dropped in the middle of nowhere. High in the sky, monsters flew like birds, while a stone giant wandered the plains and occasionally grabbing a monster and eating it. The people wondered around, wearing strange Indian garbs and carrying weapons. Evidently, monster attacks were common around here

And Lancer was walking around with another girl.

This girl was in her teens, possibly 18 at the oldest. She had vibrant orange hair in pigtails. Her clothing looked indecent, with a midriff-bearing pink top and a fur skirt, and decorated with beads everywhere. She seemed bubbly and cheerful, skipping around Lancer. Lancer, for her part, seemed to enjoy her company, laughing every now and there.

Then, the memory cut to the people waving their weapons at the moon, the Grail telling him it was an artificial moon called Cocoon. Those who lived in Cocoon thought themselves better than the people who stayed on Gran Pulse. A Fal'Cie, a machine god, had made Lancer and her friend, Vanille, into L'Cie. L'Cie act as agents of the Fal'Cie, becoming crystals when they succeed and Cieth when they failed. Lancer and Vanille's focus was simple.

Fuse into Ragnarok, and destroy Cocoon.

Lancer became a massive monster, with multiple arms and dragon parts. Ragnarok flew at Cocoon, leading a fleet of planes. Despite the Cocoon L'Cie best efforts, Ragnarok broke through their defences and smashed a hole in the surface. But a strange magic enveloped him, turning him back into her and turning the two girls into crystal. Without Ragnarok, the Pulsian assault failed. And the girls vanished.

Centuries later, they appeared on Cocoon. Lancer had lost her memory, but she could tell Vanille remembered. All she could tell was that their focus was killing Cocoon Fal'Cie. Their attempt to kill Kujata, who acted as a living power plant, failed and resulted in a little boy becoming a L'Cie. Lancer had Vanille escape, while she fought off their pursuers. But the Cocoon defenders, the Cavalry, captured her. But instead of arresting her, they offer to help her find Vanille again.

Days later, the Pulse Fal'Cie, Anima, made more L'Cie to complete Cocoon destructions. Fang and the Cavalry found Snow trying to free the crystal of his fiancée from frozen lake. They then reunited with his friends Lightning and Hope, from a trap in Palumpolem. After hiding out in Hope's home, they found out that Vanille was captured by PSICOM, along with the final L'Cie Sazh.

Using a 'borrowed' plane, they infiltrated the mothership Palamecia that Vanille and Sazh were being kept on. They met up hallway through, the two using their attack as a plan to escape. They went to attack the Cocoon Primarch, Galenth Dysley, who was on-board at the time. And discovered a chilling truth.

Dysley was actually a Fal'Cie, Barthandelus, who had created Cocoon to kill everyone on-board, and open a path to their creator. He had organised Lancer's focus to achieve this goal, and now it was the whole group's focus. They fought him, but he merely vanished and gave them a vessel off the ship. After ending up in a secret ark filled with Pulsian monsters, they finally reached Gran Pulse itself. Lancer's people had died out ages ago, the survivors either becoming Cieth or being killed by the monsters.

After pondering their focus, the group decided that they will stop Barthandelus and his plot. If they didn't, he would force others to do it instead. Travelling to Cocoon's capital, Eden, they launched a charge straight to the heart of Eden. Inside they found the Fal'Cie Orphan, who powered all Cocoon Fal'Cie. His death would lead to the death of Cocoon itself. When they reached him, he tortured Vanille. Lancer agreed to become Ragnarok to stop her suffering. Trying to stop her, the other became Cieth, attacking her over and over again. After Orphan tries to force her again, the others remember their struggles, and start attacking him to save Cocoon.

But unfortunately, beating him still follows Barthandelus' plan. As Cocoon falls, Lancer and Vanille fuse into Ragnarok once more. But this time to save it. Using lava and crystal dust, Ragnarok catches Cocoon in a pillar of crystal, at the cost of becoming crystal themselves. But Lancer didn't care, as she would always be with Vanille, no matter what.

Kayneth gasped as he finally woke up. His body felt so cold, lying on a table. The ceiling was cracked and scarred, like a fight had happened here. And yet it still felt…

"Right. We're in the abandoned warehouse Sola and I found" Kayneth realised. Sola stepped into view, and she had clearly been crying.

"You were incredibly lucky to have survived that Kayneth." She said, with a teary smile on her face. Kayneth tried to get up, but his left hand felt… odd.

"But there was still some damage. Lancer used her magic to keep you alive until Caster and I could find you, but whatever magic that dragon used was too much for either of them." Kayneth looked down, and saw that he was actually missing his hand. Thankfully it wasn't the hand that held the seals.

"Necromancy and frost." He said as he remembered the energy fired at them. "With such a powerful combination I should be thankful I'm still alive."

"Mistress Sola?" They heard Caster ask. "Is Master Kayneth ok?"

"Yes, I am. And I understand I have you and Lancer to thank for it."

Caster rubbed the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. "Lancer's the one you should thank. Without her you would've died before we found you. I just healed as much as I could."

Kayneth nodded. "Where is my servant anyway?"

He found her staring at the moon, possibly thinking about Cocoon and her friends. He stood next to her for a while, his body still feeling shaky after its brush with death. After some time she finally spoke.

"So. You must be feeling pretty well to be up and about."

Kayneth just kept looking at the moon. "Sola and Caster said I have you to thank for my continued existence."

She shrugged. "Don't know about that. My magic kept you alive, sure. But I was never really that good as a healer like some of my friends. If Caster didn't show up then your body might've fallen apart. Had to hack what was left of your hand before it spread."

"Thank you" Lancer looked surprised when he said that. The servant probably didn't expect someone like him to know how to say thank you. They stared at the moon again before Kayneth talked again.

"Right now, the moon looks very much like Cocoon." Lancer tensed up, then relaxed as knowledge from the Grail filled her mind.

"You saw my memories." It was a statement, not a question.

"How did you two meet? The memories started at when you became L'Cie."

"What you saw was the ending to the War of Transgressions, a bloody conflict between Gran Pulse and Cocoon. To hear the elders talk, Cocoon was made by a goddess of evil, and all who abandoned the land for it must pay for their heresy. And Cocoon attacked us as proof of their inherent evil." She snorted. "Course, when I was with the Cavalry, their history called Gran Pulse hell-on-earth and say we launched the first blow, so I bet neither side knew what was going on."

"Me and Vanille lived in the same village, and we'd both lost our parents to the War. I knew we couldn't trust our 'guardian' Fal'Cie anymore, so I swore I'd do anything to keep her safe."

Kayneth smiled, moved by Lancer's protectiveness of her friend. He could easily see himself doing the same for Sola. Lancer stepped away from the pillar she'd been leaning on and walked away. "you might want to do a thorough check-up, Sir. Make sure nothing else fell off."

Kayneth threw a small fireball for her cheek, but they both knew she could avoid it. Her chuckle echoed through the building.

(8:30pm, Unknown)

Deep inside a dark foreboding basement, a strange man was concocting a dark ritual. Everything about him was hidden by his large black cloak as he dipped tarot cards in blood.

"Those fools think themselves so superior because they were chosen." He thought to himself as he arranged the cards. "Well I'll show them. Soon I will reign supreme against them all."

He chanted his spell, and the cards flashed and swirled around him, before settling on the ground again. Turning over the three before him, he smiled and cackled.

The cards spoke of him winning, of crushing all the opposition. The fate of the fools were sealed.

The Holy Grail will belong to him.

Interesting. Looks like we have another player in the games. Everyone else should watch out for this guy.

And we finally see the history of a Servant! This is great for anyone who hasn't figured out who the Servants are. And I know that in the anime Sola doesn't really care for Kayneth. But she was being affected by a curse, so she wasn't in her right mind. Here, she doesn't have that kind of problem, so everything is a bit healthier between them.

And finally, Since we've already had two fights between him and Lancer, I'm putting up Saber's stat sheet. Again, sorry if it seems over-powered.

Class: Saber

Name: Lich King

Series: Warcraft

Master: Kiritsugu Emiya

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Parameters

Strength: A++

Endurance: A

Agility: D

Magical Power: A

Good Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: A++

Class Skills:

Magic Resistance (EX)

The Servant is completely immune to magic, though specialised spells could affect them.

The Plate of the Damned grants The Lich King near-invulnerability to magic.

Riding Skill (A+)

Creatures on the level of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast can be used as mounts. However, unless he has control over them, this does not include Dragon kind.

The Lich King has ridden a horse and a Dracolich.

Personal Skills:

Bravery (A)

Bravery is the ability to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination. Not usable under the effects of Mad Enhancement.

The Lich King is immune to all mental interference.

Charisma (A+)

Charisma is the natural talent to command an army. Increases the ability of allies during group battles. A rare talent, and an ability inherent to Servants of the Saver class. It is said that a rank of B in this skill is sufficient to lead a nation as its King. At A+ it is no longer popularity, but rather a kind of spell (curse) in itself.

The Lich king was seen as a god by the Cult of the Damned, and the entire Scourge obeyed his every command.

Discernment of the Poor (A)

This is insight to see through the opponent's character and attribute. At this level he will not be deceived by excuses and deceptions from words.

The Lich King could not be swayed by words and excuses.

Divinity (A)

The measure of whether one has Divine Spirit aptitude or not. At high levels one is treated as a mixed race of a Divine Spirit, and the level declines when the Heroic Spirit's own rank as a Monster, Demonic Beast raises. It can also decrease due one's dislike for the gods. It also has an effect which reduces special defensive values called "purge defence" in proportion to the Divinity's Rank. It can break through Skills such as Protection of the Faith.

The Lich King fulfilled the attributes for one to be revered as a god in Azeroth.

Eye of the Mind (True) (B)

A heightened capacity for observation, refined through experience. At this level a Servant is capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 1% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

The Lich King has fought dozens of battles against enemies of all kinds.

High-Speed Divine Words (A)

High-Speed Divine Words is the power to activate Thaumaturgy without the use of Magic Circuits. The language of the Age of Gods, back when words played a heavy role in spellcasting. As such, it is power long lost by modern magi. At this level High-Thaumaturgy-level Magecraft can be cast at the speed of Single-Action spells.

High-Speed Incantation (A)

High-Speed Incantation is the capacity to recite spells at high speeds.

The Lich King learned how to cast powerful spells in a single action.

Instinct (A)

Instinct is the power to "feel" the most favourable developments for oneself during battle. At this level it is a refined sixth sense that is now close to true precognition. Bonus effect of reducing by half the penalties caused by obstructed vision and hearing.

Military Tactics (B)

Military Tactics is tactical knowledge used not for one-on-one combat situations, but for battles where many are mobilized. Bonus modifiers are provided during use of one's own Anti-Army Noble Phantasm or when dealing against an enemy Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.

The Lich King was a brilliant tactician in life and undeath.

Pioneer of the Stars (EX)

Pioneer of the Stars is the unique Skill given to heroes that became turning points in the human history. All difficult voyages and challenges which are considered "impossible" turn into "events that can be realized".

During his unlife, The Lich King irreversibly changed Azeroth and all its people.

Noble Phantasms:

Frostmourne Hungers (Anti-Unit)

Saber's sword generates extreme cold and drains mana with every strike.

With Blood and Frost (Anti-Unit/ Anti-City)

The Lich King stabs his sword into the ground, summoning his personal dragon, Sapphiron.

The Damned Stand Ready (Anti-Army – Anti-World)

The Lich King Summons a Reality Marble based on Ice Crown Citadel, calling upon the scourge to fight for him. Weak against holy power.

Wrath of the Lich King (Anti-Army)

Using all his mana, the Lich King unleashes a wave of necromantic and frost energy, killing all in its immediate area. Can be avoided by outrunning. Leaves Saber weaker until mana is replenished.