"So the overseer's cracking down since those other Masters don't know how to keep their Servants on their leashes." Atrum Galliasta grunted as the woman on his crotch continued to bob her head. "If all the opposition is this incompetent, then we really have nothing to worry about. That said, we should be careful or I'll end up like Archibald." Atrum turned his head and began wrestling tongues with a woman wrapped around his arm.

Atrum Galliasta had just received a report from one of his assistants letting him know of the overseer's warning, all while he was in the middle of an orgy with his many concubines in his giant bedroom. It was the night of the second day of the Holy Grail War and originally Atrum was cautiously surveying the city with his familiars while he stayed in the bedroom of his penthouse in Shinto. As the hours passed and it became clear that everyone was going to be staying in that night after the madness of the previous day, Atrum got bored and decided to have some fun. His many sluts were women he had brainwashed with his curse magecraft which meant they were always raring to go when he was.

The bird made of mercury that served as the overseer's messenger familiar twitched and cheeped as it sat on the shoulder of the assistant who conveyed its warning. Kirei Kotomine had no history of using metal based magecraft from what Atrum's research had told him, but every magus has their secrets so he paid it no mind.

It was when Atrum jerked his head back as he climaxed that he also felt his Servant enter the room. The man had dark skin contrasted by long silver hair. He wore a bodysuit of black with a few bits of armor on certain places. On the Servant's chest was a glowing green tattoo that reached up to one of his cheeks. He had horns on his head, draconic wings on his back, and a black scaled tail. Anyone who saw this man would understand he was a legendary knight whether he wore his Servant attire or not. Such was the nobility and strength that he radiated with his mere presence. He was a living legend who slew the most famous dragon in all of western lore, Fafnir. He was a Rider who tamed that dragon for his mount, a hero Atrum went to great trouble to acquire the catalyst for. Siegfried. A powerful Servant and one who was loyal. His only attempt at rebellion was when he saw Atrum's workshop due to his objection to sacrificing human lives to produce magical energy. That forced Atrum to use a Command Spell so he'd behave, but he'd been docile since then. That was good since Atrum would have had to bribe the overseer to let him swap Servants with another Master if Rider stayed impudent.

"What is it, Rider?" Atrum said while basking in the afterglow.

"A Servant is coming."

Atrum sat up straight. "Right now? Right here?"

"Yes."

"Why would they be so stupid as to attack us so directly? And how did they find us?"

"I don't know. They will be here in less than a minute."

"That soon? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Atrum pushed multiple of his harem members out of the way as he got off the bed and went to a dresser to prepare.

"I didn't notice them earlier. They just started heading for us at top speed."

"You're useless!" Atrum managed to quickly put on some pants and a button up. "Someone get me my Primeval Batteries! And get the mana crystals from the workshop!" The harem of women filed out of the bedroom.

"How much longer until-" Atrum didn't get to finish that sentence as he saw Rider move between him and the window before there was a crashing sound. The noise was deafening and Atrum's vision became a blur, not from any kind of injury, but because two Servants began to duel at speeds beyond what Atrum could ever achieve.

In the fog of debris that was moving through the air like a whirlwind, Atrum managed to get glimpses of the assailant who was combating Rider. He was a giant with hair so dark it just barely looked red and his eyes were golden. Sheathed at his side was a kopis and in his hand he held a sarissa spear that was twenty feet long. His armor was black and composed of a series of metal plate segments, allowing for flexibility. Everything but his head was covered in the armor and he had a rather simply designed black cloak that came over it and fluttered with every motion. The massive Servant thrust his spear with enough force to bore a hole straight through a mountain and each twirl and swing of the pole sliced apart the room. Atrum couldn't stand anymore as the floor kept shifting, getting cut up into a series of islands that moved up and down. The giant was fierce as he held nothing back and went for the kill with every attack. This was not a warrior who enjoyed combat. If he enjoyed anything, it would only be victory, or perhaps seeing his enemy's defeat.

Rider dodged around the absurdly long spear using his superior speed and used a short sword to try and fight back. He zipped around the room and left nothing in his wake but shockwaves and crevices in the floor. His sword was a silver blur at its slowest and completely invisible at its swiftest with the only indications that the blade even existed at that point being the diced up surroundings it left in its wake. The knight's slashes would sadly get deflected by the pure might of the giant Servant, or would hit but not do enough damage to be significant. This enemy Servant's physical capabilities were high, excluding his speed. He was a humanoid tank while Rider was like an anti-tank rifle that was quick and precise, but lacked the piercing power necessary for damaging a modern armored weapons platform. This enemy Servant was likely a Berserker based on their fighting style and appearance. He would be an easy foe for Siegfried to slice to bits if he had Balmung, but he didn't have it while he was a Rider and the speed boost granted in compensation wasn't a good enough trade off.

Even getting in close was a trial due to the sarissa's absurd length. Rider grabbed the spear in an attempt to stop Berserker's thrusts and disarm him, but that was a poor decision as lightning trialed through the polearm and shocked Siegfried. He let go and got smacked away by a swipe of the sarissa that continued to conduct electricity from the giant's hand, or rather hands as Berserker began using both arms to thrust his weapon forward with even greater velocity and force. Rider quickly recovered and began evading again. The speed advantage that Seigfried had wasn't enough to keep a step ahead while the floor was such a mess that it made keeping his footing difficult. The giant spear in Berserker's hand began to actually hit Siegfried. Most of the shots only grazed Rider, though some hit dead on and would have killed the knight if it weren't his Armor of Fafnir making all the stabs only the equivalent of E rank attacks.

Blue-green flames swirled around in Siegfried's mouth as he called upon the power of Fafnir. The power of his dragon blood was more potent while Siegfried was a Rider as compared to other classes. A wave of dragon fire was released from between Rider's lips and raced towards Berserker. This could have been the technique that overcame the range advantage the giant held, but it wasn't. Berserker held his sarissa above himself and twirled it like a propeller which sent out waves of lighting in all directions that acted as a shield against the Rider's dragon breath. The temperature in the room was rising from the fire and lightning to the point that it caused Atrum vertigo and made various objects in the room spontaneously combust. Even Atrum's clothes began to catch fire which forced him to pat them down with mana cloaked hands to put them out. Meanwhile, Rider and Berserker went back to their original game of the giant attacking relentlessly while the knight looked for an opening.

This fight could go on like this for hours since neither Servant was able to do any severe damage to the other. There was no choice but to start using Noble Phantasms. Atrum would have preferred to avoid doing so since Siegfried's mount was far from discreet and they just received a warning from the overseer, but there was nothing to be done in this case.

"Siegfried, summon Fafnir!"

Right when those words reverberated throughout the air, a trap was sprung. The metal bird from before was still in the room and it began to melt and morph into a big blob of silvery liquid. Mercury. This was the Supreme Mystic Code of the El-Melloi family. Volumen Hydrargyrum. That bird wasn't the real messenger from the overseer, it was an imposter sent to infiltrate Atrum's base. Atrium agreed with the overseer on a signal they would use to prove their familiars were legitimate so the real familiar must have been intercepted by the fake and had its memory probed to learn the signal and the message that the overseer wanted to send. It was all so Atrum would accidentally let his enemy right into his base.

The mass of mercury spread out across the ground and coated it like a carpet before walls of more liquid metal rose upward. A roof of silver finished off the construction of a small room, a cage with no gaps that had sealed Atrum, Rider, and Berserker within. Rider's Noble Phantasm, Akafiloga All-Grið, summoned Fafnir from Siegfried's blood to act as his mount. It was an unrivaled weapon that could overcome almost any foe, but summoning the dragon in such a small place wouldn't be possible without accidentally crushing Atrum between the beast and the metal room.

Was this also part of the plan? Did whoever was attacking know about Rider's capabilities? How? Perhaps they heard about Atrum acquiring the blood soaked linden leaf that could be used as a catalyst to summon Siegfried, but they shouldn't have known which class Siegfried would be summoned into or the abilities he would have. That was unless Berserker's Master had been spying on Atrum since before the war, listening in on every conversation. Volumen Hydrargyrum was supposedly capable of surveillance thanks to its sensitivity to sound, and it had apparently been upgraded since Archibald used it to have more complex functions. If this really was Volumen Hydrargyrum, then Berserker's Master had to be the current Lord El-Melloi. Atrum had heard rumors about him being a participant in the previous Holy Grail War. He has experience and he must have been cautiously gathering information on the other Master candidates put forth by the Clock Tower. That was how he knew Atrum was going to be a Master and that he should keep an eye on him. That was probably how El-Melloi found where Atrum was staying; he had been tracking him since before the war began.

This wasn't over. This mercury room likely couldn't morph to attack while being used to seal Atrum and the Servants inside, that would require too much magical energy. Also, this space was small enough that Berserker's giant spear had no room to be properly maneuvered. El-Melloi was a fool! He had hampered his own Servant due to his lack of foresight!

The sarissa vanished and Berserker unsheathed his kopis which was charged with lightning.

Oh.

"Conquer. I must conquer. Conquer it all." The gravelly voice of the Servant before resumed his offensive with a series of skillful swings of his fulgurant sword. He may not have been a Saber, but his skill with a blade was nearly on par with one. Siegfried was still more skilled as his blade almost felt as if it had transcended the physical to become the very concept of cutting, but his speed advantage was less useful than ever thanks to the small room leaving little space to evade. In fact, the metal room was shrinking to force the fight to become even closer quarters which made it impossible for Rider to dodge. The knight tried to deflect the attacks, but the force was too great to offset without more room or a tougher sword. The Armor of Fafnir was being put to the test as it was hit with hundreds of sword swings that carved tiny cuts into Rider's flesh while his short sword was getting chipped away at until it was brittle and chipped. Siegfried could use his dragon breath and it would definitely hit Berserker in such a confined space, but it would also fill up the area and incinerate Atrum. He might have been able to focus the fire into a beam that would just hit Berserker, but that would require a moment to concentrate and Berserker wasn't so generous as to provide that much leeway. While Rider's flames had been handily neutered, every attack the giant made unleashed deluges of lightning that Rider had to purposefully take head on so he could act as a shield that stopped the electricity from reaching his Master.

The room kept on shrinking which pushed Atrum towards the battling Servants. If he got too close, there was no way that Berserker wouldn't take Atrum's head off.

"Rider, what are you doing? Stop playing around and kill him!"

Rider stepped forward and evaded a kopis swing before grabbing at Berserker. He was going to turn this into a grappling match where he could take away Berserker's leverage and make his physical strength null. It looked like Rider was going to grapple from the front so Berserker slashed forward, but this was a trick as the draconic knight swerved behind the giant and hit the back of his knees to make him topple to the ground chest first. Rider stood on the backs of Berserker's knees as the giant was splayed out on the metal ground. Siegfried wrapped Berserker's legs around his own while still having his feet atop the backs of the giant's knees and then Rider grabbed both of Berserker's arms by the wrists and pulled them back. Flipping onto his own back and suspending Berserker in the air by all his limbs, Rider completed the technique. In the world of pro wrestling, this was called La Tapatia or the Mexican Surfboard. With all of the giant's limbs trapped and his body stuck in the air with nothing to push off of, he was helpless.

Lightning raced through Berserker's body and into Rider's to try and fry him or make him release his hold, but he refused and just began filling his mouth with an inferno. The blaze condensed into a small sphere that would soon turn into a focused jet that would burn a hole right through Berserker's Spirit Core while leaving Atrum unharmed. The desperate giant released an electrical storm from his body in a vain attempt to zap and kill Atrum. It was unfortunate for him that he wasn't able to project his electricity as far when not channeled through some kind of physical movement. Pathetic. This Servant was pathetic! They may have gotten Atrum a little anxious, but now he had won! He was about to take out Berserker and he knew the identity of Berserker's Master. Atrum was going to hunt down El-Melloi after this and make him pay!

The jet flame was fired from Siegfried's mouth and headed right for Berserker's heart. In that moment, the mercury room lost its shape as it all headed for Berserker. It wrapped around the giant and became armor like that of a medieval knight. The jet hit the enemy, but the blaze couldn't penetrate the silvery defense. How? Even a Supreme Mystic Code shouldn't be able to withstand a Servant's power. Wait, mercury was a poor conductor of heat and was noncombustible! All it did was release toxic fumes when heated! No wonder it could stop Rider's fire! This was magic mercury!

The Mercury shell around Berserker created a tendril that the giant's lighting channeled through. The new appendage whipped at Atrum. There was no way for the magus to react in time so there was no other choice other than for Rider to release Berserker and get in the way of the tentacle. The mercury tendril lashed across Rider's armored body but he endured. Mercury conducted the electricity well, arguably even better than Berserker's own weapons. This Mystic Code must have been altered to be the perfect 'partner' for this blasted Servant.

Oh well, at least that mercury room trick was done and there was no way that Atrum and his Servant would get caught in it again.

"Rider! Dragon! Now!"

Magical energy swallowed Rider's form as he was about to summon Fafnir. A Phantasmal of such legendary status would dispose of the giant as easily as an ant.

"Conquest!" Berserker charged at Siegfried as his own magical energy skyrocketed in preparation for a Noble Phantasm of his own. It mattered not what it was, there was no way it would be able to kill Rider fast enough to stop Fafnir's summoning. The Armor of Fafnir was infallible.

Rider's sword sliced across his own arm and blood spurted out of the wound at unnatural speed and formed a large pool around him. The blood bubbled and it glowed greenish blue.

Berserker reared his kopis back in preparation for a big slash. It didn't matter what it was, it wouldn't be enough to end this.

The building rumbled as Fafnir was about to rise from the blood and be reborn into the new era.

"Akafiloga All-Gri-"

"Gordian Cutter!"

It looked like just a big sword swing. Nothing special, not in its power nor its artfulness. It should have been no better than any of Berserker's previous attacks based on appearance alone.

But that name told it all. Gordian Cutter. Gordian, like the Gordian Knot, the tangled knot that couldn't be untied. And then came Alexander the Great, Iskandar. He simply sliced the knot in two with his sword. A famous case of solving a complex problem with a simple solution.

If this enemy Servant was Iskandar, then that Noble Phantasm was the embodiment of that legend of ignoring complexities by using a simple solution. A slash that ignored everything to solve Berserker's problems. In other words, a slash that ignored all defenses, all abilities for the sake of a thoughtless and facile victory. A slash that could cut through anything.

The Armor of Fafnir was useless.

Left shoulder to right hip. The blade went right across Rider's torso and split his Spirit Core clean in twain. The blade he tried to block with was in pieces, as was Rider himself. The kopis went clean through Siegfried and his weapon as if they weren't even there. The luminescent blood on the ground evaporated and was replaced by far more mundane blood that gushed from Rider's dismembered corpse.

Siegfried's body disintegrated into particles of magical energy so quickly that it was hard for Atrum to process. His Servant was gone and so was his dream of winning the Holy Grail War. It was only the second night of the war and Atrum had already lost his Servant. This was his first fight in the war and he lost his Servant before he could reveal his full capabilities. It wasn't due to a tactical faux pas on Atrum's part, but due to circumstances he couldn't control. It was pathetic. Lord El-Melloi had played Atrum so thoroughly and completely that he had won the battle long before it had begun. It was humiliating and enraging. Atrum wanted to scream at the spot where Rider's body once sat about how incompetent his Servant was and then run up to Berserker and punch his head off. Every muscle in Atrum's body tensed so much it hurt and his breathing had turned into a series of growls. This wasn't fair. Atrum was being cautious. He was doing everything right!

"Fuck you! This isn't fair! You cheated! I should have won! I would have won if it weren't for you fighting dirty! This is all bullshit! I would hav-" Atrum's rant towards Berserker abruptly halted when the Servant murmured 'Conquer' before crouching low as if about to sprint, blade at the ready. "Wait, hold on! Don't! Please! I'll drop out! Don't kill me!" The Servant dashed. "Please!"

"Berserker, stop."

The tip of the kopis was mere millimeters away from Atrum's eye. The magus' vision was filled with that sword which had nearly stripped away his life. Drool slipped out of Atrum's hanging jaw and his whole body shook, all except his head that stayed stone-still so as to not accidentally oscillate into the sword that hung so closely.

A new individual was now in the room. His hair was long and dark and his face was a constant grimace. He held a cigar in his hand which he put between his lips to breathe in the smoke as he stepped closer. This was Lord El-Melloi, Archibald's replacement.

"Hello, Mr. Galliasta." The lord removed the cigar from his mouth. "You've lost." Atrum wanted to spout out more vulgarities and denials of this turn of events, but it was only Lord El-Melloi's word that was keeping Berserker from killing Atrum, so he kept his mouth shut and teeth clenched. "I see you aren't very happy about this fact. I would suggest against trying to put up a fight and just go to the overseer for protection. You might think you could make a contract with the Servant of a deceased Master, but that is very unlikely to happen and wouldn't be worth the risk you would be putting yourself in. An associate of mine just finished destroying your workshop and has confiscated all of your tangible resources. As for your assistants, they've all been incapacitated while your captives, including the women you mind controlled, have been freed and will be in the care of the Clock Tower until we can return them to their homes or find homes for them. You will face punishment for your inhumane treatment of those innocents. To be honest, I don't even know why you bothered with such a method of magical energy production. It was too inefficient to be meaningfully worth it." The Lord lectured Atrum as if he were just a student of his who had misbehaved. This fledgling Lord wasn't even deserving of the title. He was from a weak family with no history. He had no accomplishments to his name beyond fostering some prodigies who probably would have become stars in their fields anyway.

"Just shut up." Atrum's indignation couldn't be withheld any longer. "You only won because you had experience from the last war. You didn't earn this." Atrum braced himself for the consequences of his outburst while the Lord just put his cigar back in his mouth and breathed more smoke in and out for a bit. After he had his fill, El-Melloi took the cigar out of his mouth once more.

"I certainly do have an unfair advantage in one sense. I know what it's like in a Grail War, all the little eccentricities you need to watch out for. That said, all I did to find out about you being a participant in this war and what you were capable of was simple research that you could have performed in advance as well. You knew there would be more than one representative from the Clock Tower, yes?"

"I did." Atrum admitted.

"Then you could have studied up on my entire history if you wished. I know Ms. McRemitz, the third Clock Tower mage in this war, did some research on us. She didn't do as much as I did, but that's because she's a more straightforward person with a direct style of combat and problem solving. That works for her, because she's strong. You and I are weak and thus need to rely on duplicity, and yet you were negligent in the preparations necessary for that kind of strategic approach. Your only methods of preparation were gathering funding to purchase relics like the Primeval Batteries and creating a workshop powered by human lives that barely produced any magical energy. Your loss was first and foremost due to your own arrogance and indolence."

The absolute disrespect that El-Melloi was spouting was intolerable. Atrum worked plenty hard! He wasn't lazy! He wasn't conceited! This bastard was! How dare he! He was a shitty teacher who was regularly surpassed by his own students! Atrum had amassed vast wealth and spent much of it creating his workshop and buying his sacrifices! Atrum earned a victory! He deserved to win the Holy Grail War! But this bastard stole that victory away! He was a dirty thief, just like how he stole the title of El-Melloi from Archibald! He was a dirty little worm who sneaked his way into success!

"You aren't the real El-Melloi."

"You're correct. I'm El-Melloi II."

"You're just an imposter. You're a-"

Atrum tried to stand, forgetting the situation he was in due to his anger. He was about to defy the one who had conquered him. Berserker took the liberty of swinging his blade and ending Atrum's life.

And that was it.