"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Mental link"

"Noble Phantasms"

POV

Chapter 14: The Kings Justice

Jeanne let out a grunt as she batted away another Wyvern, to her left Sasaki was also in the midst of finishing off another of the beasts as they aided the latest Caravan in escaping the onslaught.

"Their numbers are dwindling." Jeanne pointed out, a contemplative look on her face "Do you believe that Sir Arkon was successful?"

"Perhaps." Sasaki released a small grunt as he split open the skull of a Wyvern in a single fluid movement, then flicked the blood from his blade "However it is not these creatures which he is required to distract." Jeanne bit her lip in worry.

Whether or not the Wyverns were few in number would mean nothing if the Enemy Rider attacked them, without the others their chance of victory against him was likely to be slim.

"Sir Georgios!" She shouted at the armoured knight, he turned to her after cutting down another Wyvern "How many caravans remain?"

"A dozen at most!" He shouted back at her "We must persevere and trust in Sir Ar-" he was cut off by a thunderous boom in the distance. The group turned and stared into the sky, Jeanne's eyes visibly widened as the clouds began to darken and converge on the far end of the city, lightning dancing in-between them..

"He has made contact." Georgios pointed out "We must ensure his sacrifice is not in vain!" with another rally cry, he charged the Wyverns again.

Siegward and Marie atop the wall continued with their barrage of lightning and mana blasts, shooting the wyverns out of the sky or sending them off target and away from the fleeing citizens.

"Roman!" Jeanne called out to her disk, Sasaki moving to cover her "What of the Rider? Is he with Sir Arkon?"

"Y-yeah!" Roman shouted back at her "These readings are...Whoa…" he visibly gaped at the screen to his left, Olga behind him was staring at equal levels of shock "T-That Saber was right...these readings themselves are way beyond any of you...Good news for you is that he still appears to be engaged with Saber. How long he lasts against this though…" he became a lot more tense "You need to hurry. Fujimaru-kun is still a few miles away from you."

Jeanne nodded and shut off the communication disk before gripping her standard tightly in her hands. Their hopes now lay solely with the Silver Knight.

Arkon POV

The furious clashes between the two figures echoed through the streets.

Faraam swung his swear horizontally towards Arkon, the Silver Knight raised the flat end of his blade to block the strike, the blow still being powerful enough to blast him off his feet and tumbling through the air and into a nearby house.

The building was blasted inwards as the knight burst through one and out of the other, taking advantage of the stun, Faraam kicked off the ground and blew through what remained of the building and swung his spear downwards when he caught sight of the blackened armour of his opponent.

Arkon, now firmly back on his feet, sidestepped the strike as the spear tip buried itself into the ground and launched debris in all directions, seizing advantage of the miss, the knight lunged forwards in a thrusting movement.

Faraam leaned his body to the side so the edge of the blade left only a shallow cut along his side before releasing the spear and launching a vicious punch into the side of the Knights body.

Arkon released a choked gasp of pain as the fist visibly dented his armour inwards and sent the knight sprawling across the ground. The knight rolled himself back onto his feet before he was forced to duck underneath a slash aimed to cut off his head. This, however, left him unable to defend himself when Faraam swung his leg upwards and kicked Arkon in the chest, the knight was launched into the sky by the blow before he crashed down through another roof.

Arkon lay on his back in the living room of a small cottage before he climbed back to his feet, his eyes burning brighter than before as he smashed through the front of the building and swung his blade downwards, sword met spear as the two locked weapons.

Faraam staring down into the furious red eyes of the darkened knight before his own widened in surprise as Arkon began pushing him back. Taken by surprise by the sudden burst of strength displayed by the knight, Faraam was unable to see the kick Arkon aimed at the back of his knee before the armoured boot made impact.

Faraam grunted as he lost his balance and dropped to one knee, however as he went down he lashed out with an overhead punch which caught Arkon in the side of his helmet, causing one of the horns to bend and sent the knight stumbling slightly. Faraam then spun his spear around and struck the knight in the chest with the end of his spear, launching him away.

Arkon released a growl as he jumped back to his feet and charged Faraam again, the Rider Servant, now unsurprised by his opponents strength, focused on redirecting the blows rather than taking them head on.

He shifted the slash to the left and lashed out with a punch, Arkon raised his forearm and caught the blow in a makeshift guard, grunting slightly the two became locked in a stalemate, Arkon could already feel the power his Noble Phantasm granted him beginning to weaken.

He growled in frustration and kicked away from Faraam, the Rider servant blasted himself into the air and gripped a non-existent javelin as he narrowed his eyes at the black knight.

"HA!" Faraam released a cry as he threw a spear of sunlight at Arkon, red eyes widened in shock before he swung his blade upwards to intercept the blow.

The spear made impact and created an explosion which destroyed the nearby buildings and kicked up a veritable cloud of dust and debris into the air, obscuring Arkon from Faraams view. The Rider landed onto the ground in front of the cloud, eyes narrowed as he searched for any sign of movement.

His gaze snapped upwards when he saw a dark shadow leap from the cloud and into the air, he saw the battered form of the knight racing towards him, his sword raised and ready to split him down the middle.

Faraam raised an eyebrow at the rather obvious attack and merely took a step back, Arkon crashing into the ground in front of him. What he wasn't prepared for, was the knight suddenly charging him like a bull. He released a grunt of pain as Arkon buried one of the horns of his helmet into his waist, in-between the plates of his armour. Faraam released a snarl and kicked the knight away, the horn breaking off and leaving itself in his body.

Faraam looked at the small horn, still gored into his side, then looked at the battered knight rising back to his feet. His armour was charred, dented and parts of it had begun fusing together due to repeated impacts. Faraam gripped the small horn and ripped it from his body before throwing it away. The offending piece of scrap dissipating into motes of light.

"You…" Faraam began, then released a small chuckle and shook his head "I underestimated you...yet again." he made no move as the Knight returned to his feet, his red eyes intensifying with hatred "I hope you realise your hatred of me is entirely one sided."

Arkon spat out a glob of blood onto the floor as he gripped his sword again. Faraam stared at him as he readied himself into a stance.

"It seems that I have not afforded you the respect you truly deserve." Faraam narrowed his eyes, instantly the air pressure changed. Converging on the Rider as the storm clouds above began to crackle with lightning, striking down and obliterating the nearby buildings in showers of woods and sparks. Faraam's spear head began to glow a bright yellow and pulse with power, he lowered it so it was pointed at Arkon "From now on...you face Faraam. Former Heir of Sunlight...And God of War."

"You may attach as many titles as you need to yourself." Arkon scoffed, his breath heavy as he struggled to stay on his feet "It will not change what you truly are…"

"I suppose not." Faraam muttered. Then advanced.

Master Group POV

"These must be the refugees!" Ash shouted as he blasted away a Wyvern attacking a caravan, the group had happened upon a contingent of carriages carrying away the citizens of Montluçon when they had arrived at the outskirts of the city.

"Focus on protecting them!" Ritsuka shouted back, he then looked up at the walls to see Marie and Siegward launching projectiles at the Wyverns still in the air, doing their best to either kill them or focus their attention on anything that wasn't the fleeing residents.

Ritsuka bit his lip, he wanted to regroup with Jeanne to ensure the safety of the other Saint, however they had to make sure that the evacuation was successful. Steeling himself, he decided to place his trust in his servants that they would keep Saint George safe.

"Mash." The pink haired girl turned to him "We're going to trust in Jeanne and the others." she nodded at him "Make sure that the people are protected from the Wyverns."

"Yes, Senpai!" She abruptly turned away and resumed her offensive against the lizards. Ritsuka turned to Astolfo, who landed the hippogriff next to him.

"Rider, I'm trusting you to keep these two safe." The boy responded with a small nod and wide grin.

"What about us then?" Ritsuka turned to his new companions, Elizabeth Bathory and Kiyohime.

"I want you two to help with protecting the caravans alongside Ash-san, Mozart and Mash." He steeled his expression at them "I don't want a single person killed while they are fleeing."

Kiyohime giggled "I suppose I could be so inclined to help you...Master-sama." her expression turned deadly as she marched forwards and released balls of fire at the Wyverns in the sky, sending them shooting off in different directions in an effort to avoid being hit.

"I'm not gonna let some snake show me up!" Elizabeth growled and sprinted off "You might not have the qualifications to be a manager!" she shouted at Ritsuka "but that shouldn't stop you from seeing an idol at work!"

Ritsuka blinked in confusion at her and looked over at the Three servants to his left.

"I don't understand either…" Siegfried mumbled at him, then gave an apologetic look "Sorry…"

"Don't sweat it pal…" Cu coughed out next to him "Girls like that...there ain't no understanding them…" he nudged his head upwards "They're like our resident rider. Absolutely crazy."

"Oi!" Rider shot back "Its my evaporation of reason skill!"

"And why do you have that?"

"...Because the moon stole my sanity…"

Ritsuka shook his head and pulled out his disk, activating it he swiftly received an answer from Jeanne, the woman crouched down and the sounds of wyverns echoing in the background "How close are you to evacuting the city?" he asked her, the woman grunted as she seemed to fend something away off screen before turning her attention back to him.

"We're nearly done!" She growled in frustration as she smacked away a Wyvern diving at her "Saint Georgios believes we have only a couple more wagons remaining!"

"What of the enemy Rider?" Ritsuka asked in a slight panic, Roman had relayed the readings he was receiving from the enemy Servant to them, and the reactions were less than ideal.

"He is still being occupied by Sir Arkon…" Jeanne's face became more sombre "However…"

"He won't be able to last long against him…"

"I fear so…"

"Keep fighting, we're outside the city now." Ritsuka relayed to her "We're protecting the caravans as they flee, once your finished in there, join us outside for a retreat."

"Of course." Jeanne shut off the communication disk, leaving Ritsuka alone with the other Servants. He looked around, the number of Wyverns still alive was dwindling rapidly, he allowed a small smile to grace his features before he schooled himself.

The Wyverns were only part of the problem...if the enemy Rider were to catch them now...with that Dragon of his and his divine nature...they wouldn't be able to stand a chance with two of their heavy hitters out of commission and Rider had already given them their chance to try and even the playing field.

He would kill them this time if he caught them out in the open.

Their only chance now lay in a Servant he had never met but who was willing to sacrifice his own life to allow them to escape.

If Ritsuka got out of this and ever summoned them. He really would need to them them whole heartedly.

Arkon POV

Red eyes widened in surprise as Faraam vanished his spear and merely grabbed Arkon's forearm as he went for a slash against Rider.

Faraam tightened his grip on Arkon's arm and twisted it to the side, the black sword falling out of the Saber's grasp. He had little time to ponder what to do with the loss of his weapon before Faraam gripped the collar of his armour and then hoisted him into the air before bodily slamming him into the ground.

Arkon released a bloodied cough before he was silenced when Faraam's boot crashed into his head, forcing it further into the ground and leaving a man shaped crater in the stone pavement.

Faraam lifted his foot up before leaning down and gripping the silver knights ankle, dragging him into the air and holding him upside down. Arkon remained motionless, still reeling from the brutal impacts, he was given no opportunity to react when the Rider flung him away and sent his body crashing through several houses and into a clearing in town, which at one point had been a market.

Arkon coughed up a small puddle of blood as he climbed onto his hands and knee's, his mind still a mix of reorientating itself. He slowly lifted his head up, only to take a shin to the face as Faraam kicked him away and onto his back.

Arkon wheezed before rolling himself onto his side.

Faraam remained silent as Arkon stumbled back to his feet, clearly on his last legs and unable to offer any meaningful resistance as a result of his injuries.

Arkon clenched his right arm, his sword forming again as he lamely raised it up to point it at Faraam, he stumbled slightly when he tried to assume another stance and eventually settled for holding the sword up as best he could.

"This…" Faraam scowled "Why? Why do you keep getting back up?" he stormed forwards, manifesting his spear in his hands and bringing it up to slash downwards. Arkon awkwardly raised his sword to block the blow.

The impact sent him stumbling backwards and almost back onto the floor, he saved himself before he fell, raising his sword again as Faraam continued his somewhat lazy offensive against the black knight.

"You've lost." Faraam continued as he battered away at Arkon "You must realise this. You cannot beat me...so why do you continue to persevere?" his voice betrayed his intrigue, there was no malice or contempt in his line of questioning, simple curiosity.

Arkon didn't reply as he was sent sprawling onto his back for a second time, he released a grunt as he made impact with the ground. Faraam stopping his assault as Arkon lay on the floor.

"The other Silver Knights were driven out of loyalty to my Father…" The Rider went on "If he were still alive, and had ordered it, I would understand your reasoning behind your fervent desire to protect the people…"

He watched as yet again, Arkon climbed to his feet.

"Yet those days are long gone...you would persevere to protect those you have never met? And without any higher order being given. Why? What have they done to inspire such loyalty in you?"

Arkon released a wheezing cough as he stood up as straight as he could, parts of his armour already chipped away and his left arm hanging limply at his side. He then did something Faraam didn't expect.

He laughed.

A bloodied laugh ripped itself free of Arkon's throat, it was a pained thing yet the knight continued his chuckle until it devolved into a coughing fit. Arkon continued to sputter as spats of blood were flung from his mouth and to the floor.

"My question amuses you?" Faraam tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Arkon. The Black knights coughing eventually stopped and red eyes focused themselves on their opponent.

"They…" Arkon released another cough "They didn't…didn't need to do anything to inspire my loyalty…"

Faraam blinked and frowned at Arkon, the knight however, continued "You...we never needed anything in return...our lives...our happiness...our purpose...they all came from serving Lord Gwyn…" he let out a pained wheeze "We never needed anything else...perhaps Lord Gwyn is gone...and Anor Londo shrouded in dark...but that doesn't matter...Our vow lives on…" the knight looked to the sky, Faraam forgotten.

"Protect...protect those we deem worthy of it…" Arkon looked back down to Faraam "They didn't need to do...do anything...I judged them worthy of my aid...just as we all judged Lord Gwyn and his children worthy of serving…" Arkon slumped his shoulders "That is why...why perhaps I can never hate you fully…" the blackness of his armour began to fade away, leaving the battered darkened steel knight holding a chipped sword. "Because...even after all you have done...your grand betrayal of your father...there were still so many who were loyal to you regardless...Ser Ornstein hid it well...but we knew...we always knew that he was more loyal to you than Gwyn…"

Arkon released a sigh "I protect these people...I sacrifice my life for them...because I want to...because…" Faraam imagined that the Silver Knight was smiling behind his helm "Because...it is a task befitting a Silver knight...because we were to shepherd them…" Arkon slumped his shoulders "Perhaps...that was why you sided with the Dragons...because you judged them worthy enough to protect…" he sniffed and raised his sword "I suppose it matters little now…"

"I suppose not…" Faraam nodded his head "Goodbye...Sir Arkon." he lowered his spear and began to charge it "You...you are a true knight of Anor Londo."

"If I were a true Knight…" Arkon scoffed "Gwyn would still be alive…"

"...Perhaps." Faraam nodded "Perhaps if I were a better son…"

"Perha-" Arkon was cut off and stumbled forwards. He released a choked gasp as he struggled to stay on his feet.

Both Faraam and Arkon stared dumbly at the situation, it was impossible to tell which of them was more surprised at the gaping hold in Arkon's chest and the malignant darkened spear which had blasted through him and impaled itself in the pavement.

Both combatants stared at the hatred made manifest before it fizzled out of existence.

"Jeez…" Faraam slowly turned his head to see Jalter meander her way into the clearing, a bored look on her face and she came to a stop inbetween the two servants "What the hell was taking you so long?" she gestured to Arkon, still not looking at him "This guy was below trash and you were wasting so much time killing him…"

"Y-yo-" Arkon raised his sword and stumbled towards the Servant, Jalter turned and gave him a lazily look as he approached her, only to collapse to his knees a few feet from her and his sword dropping to his side.

Jalter gave him a disgusted look before she gripped the hilt of her sword and withdrew it from its scabbard "Get lost, filth." she swung the sword and Arkon's head fell from his body and clattered to the ground. The knight slumped onto the ground and began to disappear into motes of light.

Faraam remained silent as he continued to stare at the spot Arkon had just been before slowly turning his head to stare down at Jalter. The woman stared at the bloodstains on her sword as if she were staring at something filthy before she flicked it clean and slid it back into her scabbard and giving Faraam a glare.

"Good job, halfwit." She spat "Because of you and your 'honourable' combat shit, you've just allowed the enemy servants to escape and all of the residents of this miserable little hovel."

Faraam said nothing as he continued to stare into her eyes, the woman scoffed "What? Are you mad because I killed this little knight?" she sneered "I'm beyond pissed that you keep failing to do anything right!"

"What. Was. That." Faraam eventually spoke, the final word promising retribution.

"You were taking too long." Jalter waved him off "A nuisance like this guy should have taken a few seconds for you to kill. When you find an annoying little cockroach, you don't spend ages staring at it. You just stomp on it."

Faraam stalked towards Jalter until he was towering over her, the woman gave no indication that she was intimidated "He was mine to kill."

"You haven't actually killed anyone who could swing a sword yet though." Jalter scoffed "Everytime I send you to do something important you either fail or take too long to do it right." she gestured to the abandoned town around them "If you actually did what I asked you, this place would be a pyre!"

"You test me too often." Faraam lowered his spear towards her "I am tempted to take your head, here and no-"

"By the power of my command seal." Jalter lazily intoned "Rider. You will fight and kill the enemy servants even if it means your death."

Faraam flinched as the seal took effect "By the power of my second command seal, you will put everything you have into fighting the enemy servants."

"Yo-you!"

"By the power of my third command seal." Her arm glowed brighter "You will kill yourself if you do anything to jeopardize my safety."

Faraam stumbled before fixing Jalter with a glare that would have incinerated anyone else "This...Is not over. Wench."

"Seems pretty over to me." Jalter snarled before walking off, leaving Faraam alone to stare at her back as she retreated off. He looked down at the spot where Arkon had been before he turned away.

Master Group POV

"That was a close one…" Ritsuka let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding in as they watched the caravans disappear into the distance, he turned to Saint Georgios as he approached him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Georgios nodded to Ritsuka and gave him a warm smile "It is my understanding that it was you who sent the group of Servants to aid us and provided cover for the evacuees?"

"Y-yeah." Ritsuka stammered slightly then gave Georgios a smile back "I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. Its a real honour to meet you, Saint Georgios." Gerogios nodded back to him, then turned to Jeanne.

"I believe you said you needed my aid with something?"

"Yes." Jeanne nodded "Follow me, Sir Siegfried and Lancer are both in need of our combined aid."

"Perhaps we should return to camp first." Ash interjected "As important as healing is, I would rather we attempt it far from this place."

"Saber is correct." Olga spoke up, a screen flashing into existence "Your much too in the open here, there is a forest a few miles from you, head there and set up a circle for us to send you fresh supplies and prepare a plan of attack."

Ash walked off and joined up with Siegward "A silver Knight?" he asked as he approached the onion knight.

Siegward nodded "Quite so...He seemed a good fellow too…" he turned and stared into Ash's helmet "He also revealed the identity of the enemy Rider…"

Ash nodded "Perhaps we have some good news then…" he frowned behind his helm when Siegward shook his head.

"I'm afraid not...Sir Arkon said that the Rider was Gwyn's firstborn son…" Ash froze "Yes...As a Warrior of Sunlight...I suspect you realise what this means…"

"I-I…" Ash stumbled back "I...I killed him…"

"Sir Ash…" Siegward reached out, Ash remained motionless before he turned away.

"We...we should...we should make ready to move out…" he walked off. Siegward frowned behind his helmet and shook his head.

"Sir Siegward?" Jeanne walked up next to him, the onion knight giving her a look over his shoulder "Is something troubling Sir Ash?"

"You could say that…" He sighed "The identity of the enemy Rider...it troubles him greatly…"

"Did they know eachother?"

"No, no...not really…" He sighed "However, Sir Ash is a member of the Warriors of Sunlight...A covenant which was watched over by Lord Gwyn's firstborn before his fall."

Jeanne's eyes widened in shock before darting over to the retreating form of the Saber servant "Then…"

"He killed his own patron deity in life...and must now do so again…"

AN: Yes, I realise I probably did Arkon dirty at the end there.

Anyway, lets face it. Arkon stood no real chance against the nameless king, so him getting tossed about like an empty tracksuit is pretty par for the course.

Also…

While he probably won't appear for quite a long time. I've decided to include my concept for Yhorms stats here.

These are only the first draft stats, and may or may not change depending on whether or not I think its necessary for them to.

Yhorm the Giant

Servant: Avenger

Strength: A++

Endurance: A++

Agility: C

Mana: B

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: A

Profaned Flame: A (Anti-'City) Max 900-1000 Range 0-99

Massive wave of profaned fire expands outwards. An indiscriminate explosion, reminiscent of that which incinerated his own people.

Class Skills

Avenger: EX

'It doesn't matter if they hate me or scorn me. I never wanted the Crown, but I shall take it and their burdens onto myself.

It is the least I can do.'

Oblivion Correction: A

'I'll remember every deed, every crime, everything. For as long as I live, so shall they.'

Self-replenishment Mana: B

Lord of Cinder: A

Lit the First flame and continued the Age of Fire as a Lord of Cinder he has protection against attacks of a spiritual kind. Provides similar effect to divinity of an equal rank.

Personal Skills:

Charisma: E-

Giant: A++

Nobles Phantasms and Magecraft of Rank D or lower cannot physically harm him, immune to attacks designed to kill humans.

Natural Rank A++ strength.

Ember: A++ (Becomes charged with the powers of the First Flame, triples endurance)

Protection from Flame: A

Does not extend to black flames