"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Mental link"

"Noble Phantasms"

POV

Chapter 11: A Knight, An executioner and a Vampire

"Keep going!" Ash shouted, he threw a surprised Ritsuka onto his shoulder as he continued to sprint with the group away from the city as fast as possible.

Siegfried was being carried by Siegward and Cu as they followed suite, the entire Servant group had been running for nearly five minutes after their escape from Fafnir and Jalter, however the fear of being attacked again had provoked the group into a full scale mad dash away from the city as fast as was possible.

"Mash!" Ash shouted at the shielder running along side him "Are those Servants still following us?"

"Yes, Ash-san!" She replied, still sprinting as she cast a glance over her shoulder "They are riding wyverns and gaining on us!"

"Up ahead!" Jeanne shouted, the group looked to where she was pointing "It's the French Army!"

Indeed it was, or what was left of it, the army was in the midst of a massive Wyvern raid with many of the soldiers being ripped apart or incinerated by the giant beasts.

"We need to help them!" Jeanne changed direction and ran straight at the group.

"Jeanne-san!?" Mash shouted in surprise "Master!?" she turned to Ritsuka, the boy still slung over Ash's shoulder.

"Those Servants will catch up with us, regardless." Rituska replied "We need to help the French. Follow Jeanne!"

"On it!" Ash replied, he set Ritsuka down next to Mash and ran after the ruler servant.

"Siegward! Guard Siegfried along with Astolfo! Lancer, aid Ash!"

"Yes, Master!" Siegward gestured for Cu to let go of the Saber servant and join the others in their offensive.

"HAAAA!" Ash shouted, slicing through the wyverns tail before spinning the blade round and cutting through the beasts chest, Jeanne lanced a lizard through its heart near him.

The pair had been cutting through Wyverns in an attempt to break through to the front line of the Army, Marie arrived shortly afterwards and began to let loose a small barrage of crystalline spikes towards the enemy forces, the wyverns being shot out of the sky.

"We've got zombies incoming!" Mash shouted over the chaos, the available Servants regrouping under Ristuka to intercept the horde before they made contact with the French troops.

"Ash! Intercept the Zombies!" Ritsuka shouted "Take Lancer with you, everyone else protect the French troops!"

"On it!" Ash shouted as he sprinted towards the horde of the undead, Lancer joining him as they ran straight into them.

Ash narrowed his eyes behind his helmet as he sliced a corpse in half 'Hollows are more talented than these...creatures.' the zombies had no skill and very few weapons on hand, the majority were undead villagers rather than the reanimated bodies of the French Army. The few armed corpses he did encounter did little more than wildly swing their swords around as if they were clubs.

Ash easily dealt with those, however he soon noticed that the zombies were beginning to use their numbers to flank around them. He scowled, this wasn't good. While he and Lancer were more than capable of dealing with them, there were too many to deal with at once.

"Cu!" He shouted over, the lancer Servant finished skewering another zombie before turning to Ash "Rally to me! I'm going to use a Pyromancy!" Cu nodded and instantly cleared the distance and joined Ash.

"Something flashy I take it?" Cu joked, an amused eyebrow raised as he looked at the zombies surrounding them "Because I'll take it."

Ash wordlessly nodded, then dismissed his sword. He raised both of his hands above his head and clasped them together, feeling the surge of a pyromancy flowing through them he smashed his hands into the ground.

For a few moments nothing happened, then from the ground half a dozen pillars of fire erupted into the sky, the undead caught up in them being instantly incinerated by the firestorm, those who had avoided the initial blast weren't spared either, where the pillars had erupted the ground turned molten, the burning liquid spreading rapidly and causing most of the remaining corpses to be burnt up in the expanding stream of lava.

Lancer blinked "What the hell…" he turned to Ash, eyes slightly wide "I said flashy, not insane."

Ash shrugged "It worked." he stepped away from the molten stream of lava which was now approaching them "Besides, that will harden in moments anyway." as if on cue, the lava began to darken and solidify, the attack turning into a disturbing amalgamation of solidified rock and burnt corpses.

Before the pair could turn away they both tensed up, they sensed an approaching Servant.

Ash spun around, his sword beginning to form in his hand ready to come face to face with his attacker.

Only for an armoured fist to grip his helmet, life him off his feet and into the air before slamming him down into the ground with enough force to knock whatever resistance Ash had out of his body.

The servant released a bloodied cough as the armoured hand tightened its grip around his helmet, Ash swung his sword at where he presumed the offending limb was, only to be lifted off the ground again to be slammed back down.

"Shit!" He vaguely heard Lancer cry out a curse, before he heard the tell tale sounds of metal striking metal before he became aware of being lifted off the ground for a third time.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!" He could make out a cry of rage which could barely be described as human before his body was launched through the air, his only glimpse as to who attacked him was a brief flash of red before he crashed face first into the ground and continued to roll, creating a long drag mark through the dirt.

Ash released a cough, he could taste a foul liquid escaping his mouth as he tried to push himself off the ground. He'd barely gotten his helmet out of the indentation before he felt something grip his ankle and hoist him into the air in a chopping motion before his back slammed into the ground again, the hand released his leg, however the force of the blow being great enough that Ash virtually bounced back into the air.

Outside perspective (Moments prior)

Mash bashed another wyvern away, she scanned the situation they were in. Most of the attacking wyverns had been dealt with and Ash and Lancer had charged off to deal with the oncoming zombies.

She heard a sound, equivalent to a roar, and turned just in time to see pillars of fire shoot into the sky, she blinked in surprise. She'd heard that Ash-san was capable in pyromancy but that wasn't what she was expecting.

"Whoa…" Marie breathed out next to her "That's pretty crazy, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Mash blinked, she turned to see that Jeanne and the others had succeeded in fending off the other wyverns nearby.

"Hey!" Ritsuka jumped next to her, the voice over the communication startling him "I don't know what you're doing over there, but you've got servant signatures incoming." Olga's voice sounded over the hub, Mash smiled. At least the Director was back and seemed to be carrying on wi- wait...what did she just say!?

"Master! Serv-"

"Shit!" The group rounded on where they heard Lancer curse, only to see a giant armoured figure glad in a red cape fling Ash like a ragdoll across the ground.

The giant knight swung a rusted and broken greatsword at nearly insane speeds as he batted Lancer away and off his feet. The figure didn't stay still long before he charged to where Ash was lying prone, the giant wasted no time in gripping his leg and swinging him into the ground.

"Ash-san!" Mash cried out in shock, the rushed to save him only to stop when a figure clad in a long black coated materialised in front of her.

"I'm afraid not, my lady." The man smiled a rather cruel smile at her "You are not the one I seek, but you shall make for good practice." he materialised a long black sword as he approached.

"Argh!" He winced as a pink mana projectile assaulted him, he sneered a turned to see Amadeus and Marie staring at him. His eyes narrowed and his smiled widened "Ah...there you are…"

"Oh my…" Marie gasped "To think I'd see you again, I've never forgotten your face…"

"I'm pleased you remember me…" His smile became more affectionate and his eyes glinted "I've never forgotten you...or your pale neck...Ah, this must be destiny...that we are both summoned at the same time…"

"You won't be going near her." Amadeus frowned and let loose another barrage which knocked the Servant onto his back.

"Amadeus, Marie, Assassin!" Ritsuka called out "You and Mash deal with him. Jeanne!" she turned to him and he pointed at the Red caped giant currently fighting Lancer while Ash lay motionless on the ground "Help them!"

"Right!" Jeanne nodded and run off to fight the giant.

With Ash, Cu and Jeanne POV

Ash blinked awake, what few nerves that could still alert him to pain were crying out in agony. The giant had absolutely destroyed him in only a few moves.

Its strength was outlandish.

Cu was doing his best to fend off the presumed Berserker, the giant was swinging that rusted sword at him with speed to match his own and strength that exceeded him.

Cu thrust the lance forwards, the giant gripped it before it hit his chest and swung the greatsword at Cu's neck, the Servant widened his eyes and ducked downwards, the sword gliding over his head.

Still holding the Spear, Cu spun his body and struck Berserker under his chin with a roundhouse kick, the giant releasing the spear as his head snapped to the side. However, he couldn't take advantage of the attack as instantly the giant released a roar and began to swing wildly at him, smashing up the ground and forcing lancer to run back as fast as he could as the giant pursued him.

Eventually the giant leapt into the air and plunged the sword downwards, Lancer rolled to the side as the giant made impact and formed a small crater with his descent, Berserker ripped his sword out of the ground and towards Lancer only to have it blocked by Jeanne's standard, the woman grunting as Berserker applied more force to it.

The Servant then did something that they hadn't expected, he raised one of his hands and a crossbow formed in it. He aimed at the pair of Servants, Jeanne widened her eyes and immediately ducked to the side as the Berserkers automatic crossbow let loose a stream of bolts at her and Lancer.

Cu smirked, the bolts that went near him being blown away by an invisible force, the giant froze and stared at him. Lancer smirked "Don't feel too bad, protection against Arrows makes your little toy useless against me." he spun the spear in his hands and pointed it at Berserker "Still...don't let that stop you from fighting as hard at you can!"

Berserker released another roar as he charged, kicking off the ground and swinging the blade in a massive overhead strike, it was completely obvious to anyone with a brain that it was the most amateur move a person could do.

Lancer raised an eyebrow momentarily, but charged in close to skewer berserker before the blade landed. Only for the servant to spin on his heels and the cape to seemingly come alive and burst into flames before smashing into Lancers chest.

He released a startled gasp as the cape seemed to back a punch to match the Berserker and blew Cu off his feet and sent him flying off to the side.

Jeanne gasped in shock before the giant turned on her, the crossbow spinning up and launching another barrage at her, she spun the standard and deflected a number of them however she winced when a single bolt struck her in the shoulder. She instantly reached up to pull the bolt out, only for the Berserker to jump at her.

Jeanne kicked back, the rusted sword coming down where she had stood naught moments ago, the Berserker simply pulled the blade upwards and blew out a massive chunk of debris into the air.

However, before he could advance a shout cut through the air.

"GAEL!" The Giant paused, slowly he turned to where it had originated. Ash standing on his feet. Greatsword gripped in one hand while the other cradled his side.

"Ah…" The giant bearded red hooded knight released a breathless gasp "You have it...the dark soul…" he gripped his sword tighter and reached towards him "Hand it over…"

"You have been done a great wrong...being summoned like this…" The frown in Ash's voice was clear, his sword bursting into life with black flames "However, as I have done before...I shall release you…"

The giant made no noise, save standing up. Which was oddly the most intimidating thing he could have done.

Throughout most of the fight he had been hunched over, crawling along the ground like a beast and fighting like a mad man. Now he stood as if he were a true warrior, his cape beginning to flash into life, trails of fire began to leak out from it.

Ash craned his neck upwards, the full nine foot tall Berserker staring him down.

Gael kicked off the ground to the side and into the air and then rocketed towards Ash, his cape trailing behind him in a display of bright red fire.

Against Berserker Assassin POV

Sanson was furiously parrying blows as fast as he could, sweat beginning to form on his brow as he back pedalled away from his attacker as fast as he could.

Kojiro's face remained impassive as he continued to launch a flurry of strikes at the Berserk assassin, in terms of strength it was clear that the mad enhancement granted to Sanson provided him with a boost to slightly exceed the wraith, however in terms of skill.

One was a mere executioner.

And the other had devoted his (False) life to the sword.

There was very little in the way of contest.

Sanson grimaced as the nodachi blew through his guard as sliced along his cheek, he batted it away and jumped back. Only to receive a blast to the chest from Amadeus, Sanson snarled at him but had little time to change targets before Mash sprinted in delivered a solid strike to his chest with the side of her shield.

Sanson coughed up a lungful of air as he was flung back, skidding along the ground before he came to a stop. The man pushed himself back to his feet, a snarl present on his face.

"All these obstacles…" He breathed out, his voice quivering with anger "They all get in my way…" his eyes darted up and he locked gazes with Marie "In the way of our reunion…" he gripped his blade tighter as he rose to his feet "It doesn't matter how many stand in my way Marie!" he declared with a fanatic grin "I will take that head from your shoulders!"

"Oh my." Kojiro chuckled "Quite the driven executioner aren't you?"

"Silence." Sanson turned to him with a sneer "It is my destiny to take her head. That is why we were summoned together. I don't expect any of you to understand that connection."

"I understand you're insane." Amadeus scoffed "You always were nothing but some muscle headed killer."

"Amadeus, I always hated you." Sanson spat "Turning death into mere music. You never could understand its beauty in any meaningful way. A man who views humans as filthy beasts could never understand life and death." he ripped his blade out of the ground and levelled it at the musician "Taking Marie's head is my destiny. Taking yours is a service."

Mash rushed forwards, however she barely got a few steps before she had to raise her shield to block spikes of blood from impaling her.

"For a man who was famous for executing humans." A voice spoke out, the group turned to see another woman arrive via wyvern. Her outfit a bizarre mixture of a dress and metal "You seem to be taking far to long in dealing with children."

"Do not mock me, Assassin." Sanson spat "Marie's head is mine to collect. I will not allow any others to interfere."

Assassin rolled her eyes and scoffed "Indeed. Your fixation on the girl aside, you appear to have 'bitten off more than you can chew' I believe is the saying." she raised her sceptre "To me, Wyverns!" another flock of reptiles arrived, the woman grinned and looked past the Servants "Kill the French soldiers! Devour them!"

Ritsuka widened his eyes in surprise as the Wyverns flew over them and immediately began attacking the French soldiers.

With Ash, Cu and Jeanne POV

Ash was send skidding backwards by the two handed blow from Gael, the slave knight immediately spun of his heel to block a thrust from Lancer while his cape shot out and struck at Jeanne.

The Ruler servant winced as the flames licked at her face and forced her to dart backwards, the Berserker immediately focused his attention on Lancer.

The giant swung his sword at Lancers head, the crimson spear came up to block the strike and redirect it over him, Gael leapt to the side to avoid a thrust to his back from Ash and then flipped over the Servants head, firing off his crossbow as he passed over the pair.

Ash rolled away from the bolts while Lancers protection from arrows prevented him from being struck, the second Berserker hit the ground his hand lit up, he twirled and hurled several disks of light at Ruler, she widened her eyes and ducked under the disks which sailed over her head.

She quickly leapt to her feet and charged forwards at the Berserker who had refocused on Ash and Lancer, however her instincts were screaming at her seconds later, she whirled around to see the disks of light flying back towards her, she narrowly dodged to the side to avoid being cut in half but not fast enough to dodge it entirely. She bit back a scream of pain as one of the light disks burned itself across her side.

She dropped to one knee and gripped the now cauterized wound, shakily she returned to her feet and ignored the burning pain in her left side as she continued to charge towards the Berserker.

"Kill the French Soldiers! Devour them!" The widened her eyes and spun around in horror to see a flock of wyverns descend on the French troops and begin to tear them apart.

Her eyes darted between her comrades fighting the Berserker and her countrymen falling victim to the beasts. She eventually locked eyes with Ritsuka in a silent plea, he stared her down for a few moments before he nodded at her.

She allowed herself a relieved smile as she nodded back and sprinted off in the direction of the French soldiers.

Ash winced as Gael chopped down onto his guard, his legs buckling under the force of the blow. He released a shout as he pushed the sword to the left then struck out at the Berserk servant, his blade cutting into the side of the Giant.

Gael released a howl of pain the smashed the Saber servant in the head with the back of an armoured fist, sending him careening through the air and head first into the ground.

Lancer rushed in and thrust towards Berserkers head, the Servant turned so the tip of his spear just sailed past his head, cutting off a few strands of his long beard. He lashed out with a horizontal cut, slashing across Lancers chest and leaving a deep gash in the Servant.

Cu coughed out blood as he was thrown away, he flipped several timed in the air before landing on his feet "S-shit…" he coughed out another mouthful of blood "What kind of Berserker fights like you?" he sarcastically asked as he got to his feet and wiped the blood away from his mouth.

Gael gave no answer as he turned to face the Servant fully, the broken greatsword in his hand creaking as the Servant tightened his grip on it.

With Jeanne POV

"Hah!" Jeanne released a shout as she thrust her flag pole into the chest of a Wyvern, she ripped it free and then struck another of the lizards in the head, shattering its skull, as it tried to sneak up on her.

The French soldiers blinked in confusion as they watched her tear apart the Wyverns in front of them.

"Wh-why is she fighting the Wyverns?" One of the soldiers asked their commander, the man turned to him and scoffed

"Who cares!? Let them kill eachother!" The man spat "That bitch killed everyone in my village!"

Jeanne winced at the Solders cruel words, her brows creasing as she continued to slay wyverns before they reached the troops.

"My, my?" She turned to see the Second Berserk Assassin stalking towards her "The people you protect are saying such cruel things about you, my Saint." she gave a cruel smile "Rather ironic that they are in a position to say such things only because you are here to defend them."

"Leave me be." Jeanne narrowed her eyes at the Servant and levelled the point of her standard in their direction.

"Still going to protect them? How stubborn." Assassin smirked "If your problem is simply a lack of manpower, why not ask the French army to aid you?" she released a false chuckle "How silly of me. You're the Dragon Witch now. A Saint cruelly burned to death and resurrected to enact revenge. A beautiful, ephemeral, and ultimately ridiculous tale. And yet you still continue to struggle...because this time, rather than their saviour you are their foe." Assassin stopped a few feet from her "How does that make you feel Jeanne d'Arc? Do you wish to die or is it a desire to kill? Will you turn around and use your standard to strike down those soldiers who spurn your aid?"

Jeanne remained silent for a few moments before replying "Normally, I'd fall into distress, I'd despair…" she cracked a small smile "But unfortunately I'm an optimist in life. Their hatred of me gives me the strength to rise and that is a good thing."

Assassin remained stationary for a few moments before she tilted her head and raised a lone eyebrow "...Are you sane?"

Jeanne shrugged "Good Question. People questioned my sanity when I decided to bring Salvation to France."

Assassin released a mirthless chuckle "I suppose it means whether light or dark we are both insane." she raised her scepter "Wyve-"

"Artillery, FIRE!" A shout interrupted her and echoed across the field, it was quickly followed by the crack of cannon fire and the screams of Wyverns being obliterated by the projectiles.

"What!?" Assassin cried in alarm, Jeanne spun on her heels and stared into the centre of the French lines, she widened her eyes upon recognising the person leading the offensive.

"Gilles!"

Jeanne turned back to Assassin and charged her, the Servant saw Jeanne rushing her and had just enough time to raise her sceptre to defend herself before a blow from Jeanne sent her skidding backwards.

"Heh…" Assassin released a mirthless laugh "As expected of a Ruler, even with your power stolen. Your physical strength…" she jumped away from Jeanne and towards Sanson "We're retreating!"

"Wait!" Jeanne sprinted after her.

Sanson sighed as he turned away from Marie "It appears our reunion will have to wait." he sprinted away from the group and towards Gael "We're retreating Gael."

The Servant of madness turned to Sanson and nodded once, he batted away a pyromancy aimed at his head before breaking into a retreat alongside Sanson and the other Berserk assassin.

Jeanne came to a stop next to Ritsuka and Mash. The latter turned to her with a small frown "Jeanne, we have to go."

"Sage advice." They turned to see Ash walking over, Lancer limping alongside him with a large gash through his chest and using his spear as a crutch "We'll need to make camp and try to treat his wounds."

"Don't…" Lancer coughed out more blood "Don't think you'll have much luck there...I think his blade was cursed."

"How can you tell?"

"My spear has a similar effect when it comes to injuries…" Lancer coughed again "It ain't gonna heal on its own or without some serious magecraft…"

Ash nodded his head and turned to the group "Let us rejoin with Astolfo and Siegward."

"Right." Ritsuka nodded and rubbed his forehead "This has been one disaster after another."

"Such is the way of life kid." Cu attempted a shrug as best he could "We all get shitty luck when it counts."

"Jeanne!" They turned to see a man with long dark hair and steel armour break off from the French lines and run towards them "Jeanne! Please wait! You are indeed Jeanne d'Arc!" his face broke into an unrestrained smile "Not the Dragon Witch but a bona fide saint!"

The group stared at him in silence before Jeanne turned away and continued walking, Marie jogged up next to her "Shouldn't you answer him?"

Jeanne shook her head "If I do that, I will endanger Gilles position. For now, we can't depend on them." she let out a sigh "At the very least we must endure the scorn of those who once fought by our side."

"But...do they really hate you?"

Jeanne gave her a small smile "Lets go."

AN: Well, we're back.

Berserker wasn't killed. Lancer is injured. About as well as you would expect.

Someone in the comments asked why I thought the Gods of Lordran would be arrogant.

Except Nito. Who I envisioned didn't really care about of lot of things aside from death.

It all comes down to the Age of Fire. Which is basically Lordrans Golden age of Gods under Gwyn. For those who hold the Lord souls this is pretty much ideal for them to thrive, however the pygmies with their dark souls are patiently waiting for their turn as the flame begins to fade.

However what Gwyn does is basically seal them away in the ringed city, completely out of the way, and place Midir to guard it and ensure they never leave. The guy never wants the age of fire to end.

His sacrifice as well is basically him rejecting the possibility of he age of dark coming about and mans rise into equal positions which the gods of Lordran once held. Less of a case of him sacrificing out of the goodness of his heart and more of him being desperate to prevent Man from succeeding him.

Thats how I viewed it anyway. The witches of Izalith? They would be a little different. Quelana, when you meet her, is actually a pretty chill person. However with the fall of Izalith I would expect the witch to be slightly arrogant in thinking they could properly manipulate a lord soul.