A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little short on top of already being delayed!
"Ei!" Coming in from the left after a missed swing, Chevalier launches a flurry of thrusts, her rapier tearing at the masked man's left knee. Despite his toughed hide, her repeated stabs manage to dig deep enough to strike a tendon, bringing him down on one knee. Backing away from his counterattack, the royal guard avoids the rebar smashing downwards. Stomping his weapon down into the ground, she runs forward on his outstretched left arm. "There!" Driving her rapier forward, she aims the blade at one of the helmet's eye slots. but her attack clashes with one of his horns instead.
"GUAAA!" Moving his head forward, the white maned bull meets the attack with one of his horns. Raising his right hand, the other piece of rebar readied to smash Chevalier down.
"Look out!" Ushiwakamaru leaps in from above, her katana slicing down into his right shoulder blade. Drawing his attention for the moment, the royal guard pulls back. "Kiyohime! Now!" Both creating a distance from him, a torrent of scorching flames blast forth, burying him like a wave hitting a surfer. "Did that...?-"
"Guurrr..." The masked man walks out from the blaze, unconcerned with his injuries or the parts of his own flesh still on fire.
"Of course not..." Seven attacks between the each of them, herself and the royal guard, and even with injuries that damaged tendons or arteries, the enemy still stood strong. Even Kiyohime's scorching heat, hot enough to melt most things into nothingness. Either they don't have enough firepower, or the enemy just has that much endurance. "If Emiya-dono doesn't get here soon..."
"Ushiwakamaru-san, Kiyohime-san, if I may. If the two of you could distract the enemy for but a few seconds, I believe I have a way of turning the tide of this battle."
Looking at each other for a moment, the two of them nodded in agreement. "Roger!"
Reading her weapon, Ushiwakamaru charges forward alongside Kiyohime. Swiping her fan, the dragon girl sends out a wall of flames, direct at the masked man's helmet. Blinding his vision with burning orange, Kiyohime avoids the wild swings directed her way. "Anjin-sama!" Leaping backwards, she takes a quick breath before sending out a blast of fire from her mouth.
"Roger!" Coming in from behind, Ushiwakamaru uses the cyan haired girls shoulder as a stepping stone, leaping upwards over the scorching heat. "HAAAPH!" Swinging with both hands, Usumidori cuts into the enemy's right shoulder. Landing on him for a moment, the tactician quickly jumps off the enemy. "Chevalier-dono, now!"
"Swords Dance of Falling Lillies..." Bringing her rapier before her, the royal guard steadies her breathing. Taking the first step, Chevalier begins a sequence of movements, vividly dancing with her blade. As lily petals scatter forth, the target is already bewitched under her illusion. "Now!" With the chance presenting itself, she rushes the opponent, rapier already mid-thrust.
"GUUURRRGH!" The man swings wildly to hit his target, but his attacks miss their mark, allowing the royal guard to draw closer and closer.
"You fight well; with strength like your's, you could easily equal a dozen men. But..." Running forward without pause, Chevalier sends her blade straight for one of the helmet's eye slots. As expected, his moves his head to meet the attack with his horn. "Fleur de Lys!"
"Gurrg?!" The enemy was gone, his horns had met no attack. His right arm slowly loses energy, falling to his side as the rebar in his hand drops into two pieces on the ground, sliced in half. He could feel the raipers blade, driven deep into his right shoulder as blood spilled forth alongside the pain. "GUAAARRRRGH!"
The surprise attack from earlier when they joined the battle, even though it barely did anything, the small wound it created was just enough for her attack. Pulling back her blade, Chevalier quickly retreats. "Now!"
"Everyone! Get Clear!" The voice came from the top of a stack of containers. Looking up, the white maned bull could see the figure of a man standing among the night sky. "Bite Through, Hrunting!" The instant he releases the bowstring, the jet-black coiled sword is already mere inches from impact, the four other floating projections behind him following after. Striking it's target, the red bullet slams into the masked man, flying off his feet and smashing into the wall behind him with an explosion.
"Sorry I'm late, is everyone okay?" Jumping down from his vantage point, Shirou regroups with the others.
"Not at all, Emiya-san. You have our thanks." The blonde french lady bows slightly. "Now then, we should-"
"GRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" Stomping out from the smoke, the white maned bull roars in agony. Reaching for the hole in right bicep, the pulls out the half destroyed sword-arrow buried deep in his flesh. Part of his helmet had been damaged, revealing a black eye with a glowing red iris.
"You have got to be kidding... how the hell is he still up after that?!" Shirou couldn't believe his eyes, almost everything that's ever been shot with the Hound of the Red Plains has outright died or at least lost a limb. "Trace-" Opening his palm, he was about to ready another shot when a voice echoes through the area.
"That's enough, Asterios. Pull back, now." It was Lev Lainur, his voice loud and clear even though he was nowhere to be seen, directing orders toward the masked man. Doing as he is told, the white maned bull drops his battle stance, turning away from the group as he walks.
"Emiya-dono, that voice..."
"Yea... It was that Lev person. Well, as much as I hate to admit it, looks like we got off lucky this time. Either way, even they should know that time's up." Looking towards the sky, lines of orange were beginning to emerge in the dark blue; sunrise had begun. Finally allowing themselves to relax, the red haired boy lets the bow in his hand fade away. "Asterios... That's what that Lev guy called him. What the heck is he? To take a shot from Hrunting like that and still remain standing..."
"It seems the boundary field has also been lifted, we should leave before someone sees us." Ushiwakamaru suggested, sliding her weapon back into her furred katana sheath.
"But, the Princess and the other's-" The royal guard wanted to enter the sewer hole after them, but someone lightly grabbed her shoulder.
"I could go after her if you'd like. You three deserve a break after a fight like that." Shirou offered
"If you could, then I would be very grateful. Thank you, Emiya-san." Sheathing her rapier, Chevalier bowed slightly towards him.
"Hummm... Fufu... Fufufu... Where oh where arrrre you, my dear crimson BITCH! Someone's been naughtyyy... they owe me a sooonnng... AND THEIR FACE!" The Phantom's voice echoes through the maze of tunnels, grating their ears like nails on a chalkboard. Along with his unnerving voice, the sound of metal grating against the wall could also be heard, like someone dragging a knife, or in this case, claws along the wall's surface.
"The Director was right, he really is a demented psychopath..." The lavender haired girl was a little disturbed at the way the she heard deranged singer speak.
"Mashu, here." Extending her hand, the Scathach held out a two small stones with runes etched on them.
"Runestones? Senpai, what are these for?"
"Concealment runes, they'll hide you from sight. With the sewer tunnels acting as an amplifier, if that man uses that sound magecraft of his, the effects will be devastating. With as high as your defensive barriers are, you can probably withstand the effects a little better." The crimson haired woman explained. "If it comes down to it, at least you'll be able to pull off a surprise attack. Just wait for my signal."
"Signal?"
"Just be prepared to shield your eyes from blinding flashes of light."
...
Turning the corner, Scathach finds herself at a sewer junction, the Phantom standing at it's center in the distance. Seeing his prey, his disfigured face cracks into a distorted smile. "Ahhh, they you are you little BITCH! You came to me so very quickly, like a moth drawn to the flame of my voice-"
"No, I was not. I found my own way here." Picking up the small stone on the ground, she held it up, showing the used Berkana tracking rune that was burned onto its surface. Looking past him, something resembling a pipe organ stood behind him, except nearly all of it looked to be made out of human bones. Arms, legs, ribs, even a human skull. "What the hell is that..."
"Hah ha ha... Do you like what you see? This took me a long long loooong time to complete." The Phantom carcasses the object, running his talons over the bones. "What do you think? This is the ultimate musical masterpiece, made from the various parts I've taken off my victims!"
"...Okay, I did not need to know that you sick bastard." As used as she is to hearing similarly inhumane things, the crimson haired woman was still a little disgusted.
"Ohhhhhh... hoho... Still defiant to the end... Oh how I look forward to tearing that off that pretty little face your's. Maybe you'll have a nice bone I could add to my masterpiece. But first... let us hear that voice of yours sing!" The deranged singer raises his hands, as if he were the conductor of a musical performance. "Come and sing along! Let's us sing your last song! Together! Christine, Christine!"
Like from the night at the office, a loud grotesque sound blares through the area. But this time, it was more than just a deafening sound grating her ears. The crimson haired woman was assaulted with pain, managing to reach her even through her reinforcement runes. The pipe organ behind the Phantom was doing something, she could vaguely spot a purple hue coming off it. "This!- Magical damage?"
"Sing... Sing My Angel!" Aligning his voice with the music coming off the pipe organ, the screeches and screams of the damned could be visibly seen emitting from the his creation. Echoing throughout the sewers, the sound starts cracking up the ground, ceiling lights exploding as pipes in the area started bending and bursting, spewing forth hot steam. "Song of my love, Resound! Welcome- TO HELL!" Whilst singing his tune, the Phantom begins skulking towards her, raising his claws. "Now then... Let's start with the face and two fingers you owe me."
"I hope you're ready, Mashu!" Quickly tossing a runestone into the air, Scathach shuts her eyes as the symbol on its surface activates. Multiple flashes of light burst forth consecutively, pure white being forced into the eyes of the Phantom. "Now! Mashu!"
"What the?!- GAAH, MY EYES!-"
"Yes!" Rushing in from his left, the lavender haired girl rams the deranged singer off his feat, cutting off the blaring noise. "YAAAAA!" Knocking him aside, she quickly leaps upwards, swinging her shield downwards at the grotesque instrument, Lord Camelot easily breaking into it before she jumps away. "Senpai!"
"On it!" Filling her open palm with magical energy, Scathach swings her hand horizontally before her. A long lineup of rune symbols in the air, the symbols blasting off a volley of fireball towards the damaged pipe organ, blasting the wretched creation into a fiery inferno.
"No No No NO!" The Phantom yells in horror as his creation is destroyed, broken bones scattering around the area. Running his talons over the pieces of his masterpiece, the deranged singer is consumed with rage. Immediately on his feet, he charging at them with his claws raised, talons demanding blood. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU GODDAMNED WHORES!-"
"Haunted Land... Wisdom of the Abyss." Raising her staff, the runes etched on the wooden surface light up. Flames emerge from both ends of the Matrix Wodan, cloaking the entire staff with blazing orange. Handling the staff as she would a spear, the crimson haired woman twirling the her weapon into a spearmans stance. "Too slow!" Pulling into an upward swing, the flaming weapon easily overwhelming the oncoming claw, breaking through all the talons on his hand. Spinning around again, Scathach quickly bring her staff into a downward slam. Aimed at his counterattacking arm, she completely crushes his previously injured hand and its remaining three talons.
"ARRGGHHH! MY HANDS! MY HANDS! DAMN YOU, YOU GODDAMNED WHORES!-"
"Okay, that's enough out of you!" Clenching her fist, she punches him in the neck. Sent into a state of force choking, the Phantom holds his neck in pain, destroyed finger-talons doing his throat no favors except further worsening the pain. Thrusting the top of her staff into his chest, the crimson haired woman sends the deranged singer crashing into a nearby wall. With the enemy defeated, Scathach lets out a sigh of relief. "Good job, Mashu. Are you okay, any injuries?"
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm fine, Scathach-senpai. That horrible sound though... Even with Lord Camelot, it felt like my ears were about to burst."
"Yea... Even with my reinforcement runes, had that lasted any longer, both my eardrums would be ruptured by now."
"Senpai, what's wrong with him?" Mashu asked, pointing at the man lying on the ground, barely struggling as he continued choking and gurgling with the blood pouring from his mouth.
"Well, with a shattered larynx, he's not going to be singing or even speaking anytime soon. Not that he'll still be alive to do so after having his rib cage caved in. Regardless, we should probably find-"
"Scathach-san! Mashu-chan!"
"Huh?... Antoinette-senpai?" Looking towards the direction of the voice, they spot Marie running up to them from one of the nearby tunnels. Upon reaching them, the french lady pulls them both into an embrace. "S-Senpai? What are you doing here?"
I followed after the two of you while the other held of the enemy back at the harbor. Oh thank goodness, you're both okay!-" Cutting herself off, she quickly let go when her nose twitched in disgust upon picking up really strong and putrid smell. "Umm, I hope you don't mind me saying but there is a really strong... stench... coming off the both you."
"Huh? Oh, we took a fall into sewer water so, that would be the smell of sewage." Nonchalantly replying, Scathach watched the expression on the french lady's face quickly sank from joy to horror.
...
After nearly two hours of wandering Fuyuki's maze of sewers, Eric the Bloodaxe finally found the person he was looking for. "Tch, there you are."
"...Urrrrr..." Unable to move at this point, the barely breathing Phantom let out a almost inaudible moan when his eyes spotted the brown haired barbarian.
"So you finally got your ass kicked, eh? Since we were work partners for at least a few weeks, I'd feel bad but..." Raising his weapon, Eric mercilessly drives the greataxe into body, the crude blade caving in the deranged singers skull with ease. "That Damned Voice Of Yours Is Bloody Annoying You Vermin!"
With the amount of blood coming from the Phantom's corpse, the red veins lining the bloodaxe were glowing bright enough to light the entire sewer junction in red as the weapon continued drinking off the body.
"Ho? I'd heard the rumors about that axe of yours, but this the first time I'm seeing it up close." Coming out of the shadows, Sanson emerged from one of the connecting tunnels. "Tell me, is that weapon actually alive?"
"Maybe, what's it to you?"
"Just curiosity, nothing more." Leaning against the wall, the executioner crossed his arms. "Anyway, try to finish up quickly. Caligula and Asterios are already back the base."
"Asterios? That the name of that giant? Alright fine, just give me a minute, this slab of meat is almost drained up."
"We're back." Boudica called out as she returned to the offices, Olga following behind her.
"Boudica, Director, welcome back." Even though it was almost noon, Scathach and Shirou were the only ones there to greet them. Nightingale was at the infirmary as per usual, Mashu was in her dorm room while everyone else was back home resting from their battle last night.
"Well, I'll be playing damage control for the next hour over the phone with the Association..." Olga sighed. "But you can leave that to me, more importantly: What happened last night? The Phantom's been taken care off but I heard there was something else?"
"Yea, this." After a few swipes and taps on his mobile phone, Shirou showed her a blurred and zoomed picture of the masked man from last night. "Sorry I couldn't get a clearer picture."
"What the..." Although the image wasn't the best, even Olga could tell she was looking at something very unusual.
"Physically, he had enough brute strength to negate Mashu's protection, not completely but enough to hurt her even though she had Lord Camelot. His resistance to magecraft was high enough to survive multiple rune blasts." Scathach explained. "Even a large scale rune inferno wasn't enough."
"Not to mention taking a direct shot from Hrunting and still getting up after without even losing a limb. That Lev person referred to him as a 'Asterios', but I have no idea who or even what he is." Shirou added.
"Great..." The silver haired lady face-palmed, yet another massive headache to deal with. "Okay, I get the gist of it. Let everyone know that just as a precaution, no one is to face this Asterios person alone. Well, if you'll excuse me."
Watching the Director leave back for her office, the crimson haired turned to Boudica. "Hey, where's Medusa?"
"Oh, she went back to her dorm room as soon as we got back. She's probably tired. Oh, if you're gonna check up on her, do you think you could also have a chat with her. She's been a little down and gloomy since this morning."
"Sure..."
...
*knock knock*
"Medusa, it's me, are you awake?"
"Oh, yes! Please, come in." Responding, the tall girl quickly closed her novel. "Is there- Scathach, what happened?!" Looking at the crimson haired woman, her forehead had a bandage wrapped around it, and a small gauze had been taped on over her lower right cheek.
"Hmm? Oh, this. Don't worry about it, it's nothing serious."
"But-... I'm sorry... If only I weren't so useless-" Looking down at her knees, the purple haired girl refused to make eye contact.
"Hey, don't say that!" Placing her hand over Medusa's, her other moved to pat her on the head. "None of this is your fault. You're the victim here, there is nothing you need to apologize for, okay?
...
"Haaaaa..." Back at her desk, Boudica let out another heavy sigh as she leaned back into her chair.
"Something wrong, Boudica-san?" Walking over with a tray, Shirou placed a cup of tea on her table.
"Thanks, Shirou-kun. It's nothing, just... We'll have to relocate Medusa somewhere else soon, but with all our safe-houses also known to that traitor, there really isn't anyway in Fuyuki that'd be safe for her. At this rate, it might be easier to relocate her out of the city to another part of Japan..."
"I see..." Just then, an idea popped into the boys head. "Umm, Boudica-san. There actually is one place in Fuyuki I know of that should be safe even from that Lev person, but... there's just one problem."
"Meaning?"
"Well, how do you feel about Chaldea actually cooperating with the Yakuza?" And as expected, as soon as he finished his sentence, the redhead chocked slightly on her tea.