"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Mental link"
"Noble Phantasms"
POV
Chapter 40: Itsy bitsy spider.
Servants POV
Ash leapt through the air, the giant sharpened spear of a leg slammed down into the ground where he had been moments ago, spinning around, he swung his greatsword into the offending limb.
The blade struck the armoured carapace with a dull clang, leaving no evidence of any damage. Ash was momentarily dumbfounded before the leg swung out towards him, catching him in the shoulder as he attempted to dodge and sending his body helicoptering through the air before crashing through the roof of a nearby house.
Quelaag barely paid any attention to her ally being batted away like trash as she kept her gaze firmly locked onto the large spider, the giant arachnid now spinning around to face her, the glowing red eyes locked onto her before it let out a hiss and charged forwards.
The spider bulldozed its way through the entire housing section, sending debris flying in all directions as it chased down the Chaos witch, Quelaag spun around and threw an orb of fire towards the spider's head. She narrowed her eyes when she noticed that the spider slid to a halt and tilted its body to the side so the flames avoided its face. She cracked a smile.
"Weakness is the head!" She cried out "Go for the head!"
"Understood." A gruff voice called out behind her, she caught a glimpse of the form of the new servant, some hunter or something, leap through the air and throw out a whip, lashing it around the highest joint of the spiders leg and swinging himself forwards.
He released himself at the peak height and soared into the air, his left hand manifesting a large dark metal tube before he took aim towards the spiders head. The end of the tube exploded and sent forth a large steel ball as a projectile. Freja let out a pained roar as the ball slammed into the side of its head, ripping off several of its smaller mandibles on the right side of its face.
The recoil of the Cannon blasted the hunter back through the air, although the man maintained a calm pose as he landed onto the street and rolled back to his feet, spinning around to see Freja letting loose a pained scream before it fixed its eyes on him with murderous intent.
Lucien regarded the spider blankly before he span on his heel and sprinted into a nearby alleyway. The white beam followed suit, the extreme heat produced cut through the entire neighbourhood as he sliced through the air. Lucien ducked low, throwing his body down flat as the beam passed overhead, the building next to him exploded outwards in a shower of burning debris, covering his body.
Verndari lowered his shield, poking his head out from the side, his face set in a disturbed expression as he stared at the damage in front of him. Having not been entirely away of the events of the last few moments, from his perspective all he had heard were heavy rumbles, the sound of an explosion and then a beam of magic started cutting through buildings.
He was thankful that his barrier had held up, protecting the people behind him.
"What in the bloody pit was that?" The man exclaimed in shock, looking behind himself to the Romans behind him "How injured are you all?"
"We're all fine, Sir." A voice called out from behind him, one of the soldiers with an expression of fear mixed with relief nodded to him "Thank you for the protection, sir."
"We've still got a town to clear." Verndari grunted, turning back around "I shall assume the others are seeing to whatever it was that caused that last attack, stay behind me in case of any further sorceries."
"Yes, Sir!"
The armoured man continued to stomp forward, then raised his shield again as a shadow passed in front of him, only to relax slightly when he caught sight of what it was. "Fire Keeper Cecilia." he nodded in greeting to her.
The woman being carried bridal style by the phantom copy of Ash turned her head to look towards him "Ser Verndari. It pleases me to see thou art safe."
"What's going on out there? All I can tell is that my Liege is engaged in a servant and that some form of situation has occurred in the centre of the town."
"Tis a monster of some kind." Cecilia explained "Truly a frightening thing, a large spider who spews forth magic. Milord, the good Hunter and Lady Quelaag are engaged with it."
Verndari frowned behind his helm "What of the Witch Beatrice and the betrayer Sulyvahn?"
"To mine knowledge, they engaged the summoner before the beast arrived. To where they are now, I cannot answer."
"Unfortunate, but not detrimental." Verndari replied "I will continue with the original objective and clear out the remaining spiders from this location, and yourself?"
"Sir Solaire bid me to avoid direct confrontation with the beast."
"As well he should, not to insult your current efforts, but you would be a liability on the front lines." The Shielder stated "Travel with me as I clear through the town, your phantom and miracles would be better served that way."
"As thou wishes." Cecilia nodded "I know Milord would be more comforted in that anyway."
"Most likely." He waved his men to follow him "Come, I am aware that you have some small number of healing miracles, I would ask you put those to use should we become injured."
"Of course."
Rock exploded outwards as Gough pushed himself out from underneath the mound of hillside he had been buried under. Cracking his neck, the giant looked around at his location.
"Well...That was a new one, I suppose." He grumbled to himself, placing his hands on the ground and pushing himself back up onto his feet, rising back to his full height and looking around "Now...Where is my bow?"
The giant frowned behind his helmet as he couldn't immediately spot it near him, he knew he had lost his grip on it when the hill fell on them, but he didn't think it could have gotten that far. Another explosion sounded off in the distance, Gough turned his head to stare down at the city, making out the large spider still wreaking havoc on the location.
He squinted his eyes, the other servants were too close to it for him to reliably hit the spider and do no damage to them, not to mention the problem of its body being composed of Dragon Scales. He could get through them eventually, but it was always easier to have someone with lightning miracles on hand.
He willed his bow away, it would take some time for it to return to him, thus he made up his mind. He was still a giant, first and foremost. Which meant he had the benefit of ridiculous strength on his side.
Thus, anyone who had been paying attention at the time would have been treated to the very odd, and very intimidating, sight of a Giant sprinting full pelt down the side of a mountain as he raced towards the spider.
A ringing bell echoed out, Freja looked to the source only to take a bolt of lightning to the eye, reeling back with a hiss and stomping her legs on the ground where the sunlight bolt had come from.
Solaire jumped off the roof he had been on before the giant spider smashed its limb into it, rolling to a halt and spinning around, only to get tackled by a smaller spider. The Saber servant grunted as it continued to bash and claw at him with its mandibles. Pulling out his straight sword, Solaire used his free hand to grip the spider just underneath the fangs and hoist it up so it could not bite him before he thrust downwards and through its head.
Quickly pulling the sword away and swinging it behind him, cutting off the limb of another spider which had tried to sneak up on him. Before he could finish it, a beam of purple light slammed into the spider, blasting through its body and sending the remains shooting off in several directions. Solaire blinked behind his helm, lowering his sword and staring into the direction the projectile had come from.
Sulyvahn lowered his glowing blade and looked down at the Knight "Do not read too deeply into this. It is simply better to have more aid in situations like these."
"I concur." Solaire nodded his head, spinning around and running off and back towards Freja. Sulyvahn watched him depart before his head trailed over to the direction of the hole where the spider had emerged. He would have scowled if he had a face, the Caster who had summoned the beast had fled into that hole and was, at this moment, the only true lead they had on Aldrich.
However, they first had to deal with whatever manner of creature this thing was. He could feel the sheer power it held, not to mention the beam of pure magic it had used to shoot them with. It was, by all accounts, an abomination. It also prickled his curiosity, because what manner of spider possessed the scales of an everlasting dragon?
Not that he could do much to satisfy it right now.
Lucien threw the rubble off his body, dusting away the soot from his clothes before looking back over to the spider with a scowl. Something landed next to him with a thud, he turned his head to see another of the knights staring at him, if he recalled correctly "You're that Ash, right?"
"Yes." Ash nodded back, turning his head to look at Freja as she continued to try and stamp down on Quelaag and Solaire "The head is the weakness, but it does well in protecting it."
"Then there's whatever that breath attack it has is." Lucien nodded his head in affirmation "Need to try and get its attention away...think it needs both heads to live?"
"I do not know." Ash replied "Perhaps one is merely a spare?"
"...Sounds about right." Lucien shrugged his shoulders, leaning down to pull his saw blade out of the rubble and shake the dust away before flicking it out "Don't know about its skin."
"Dragon scales." Ash supplied "Although they are stronger than the last dragon I fought...Except around the head."
"...Think we could go for the joints?"
"Perhaps." Ash nodded his head "But its whether we could remain on the legs long enough to hamper its movement before it shook us off."
Lucien shrugged his shoulders "Let me worry about that. If nothin' else. Will keep it distracted so you can go for the heads."
"Very well." Ash nodded in response, flicking his sword so it became coated in black fire "I wish you luck then."
"You too." The pair shot off in different directions, Ash made a run straight for the head of Freja while Lucien made a dash for the leg.
Master Group POV
Mash skated backwards as the sole of Gundyr's armoured foot slammed into the shield, the Lancer wasted little time in transitioning the movement as he turned around to face Nero, the Emperor slashed towards his torso.
Gundyr blocked the burning sword with the pole of his halberd, parrying the blow away before he stabbed the axe blade into the ground, he swung his body forwards in the direction of Nero, slamming his fist into her gut with enough force to blast her away like a cannon. In the same movement, he ripped his halberd from the ground with a portion of the dirt still embedded on the end of the axehead.
Spinning around, he swung the halberd like a club, sending the lump of ground shooting off towards the surrounding Servants like a wild buckshot. Mash dove in front of the Masters as the pseudo projectiles crashed into her shield.
Raising his leg, he stomped into the ground, releasing a blast wave which threw up a cloud of dust, obscuring his form as Sif and Gareth rushed towards him. Sif ran towards the cloud, shifting the greatsword in his mouth as he made to slash at the cloud of dust.
Gundyr's fist rocketed outwards and slammed into the nose of the wolf, the animal recoiled violently with a whine of pain at the injury. The blow dissipated the cloud as Gareth rushed in from the opposite site. Cocking back her jousting lance as she made for Gundyr's back.
The Lancer spun around to face her while simultaneously swinging the butt of his halberd towards Sif, the weapon smacked the side of the wolfs head before he thrust it towards Gareth.
Gareth ducked low, angling her shield so that the blade of the halberd was deflected away from her body and to the side as she thrust the lance into his chest. Gundyr held up his free arm in a blocking motion, the lance connected with his forearm before exploding in blue light. Gundyr stumbled backwards, his left arm recoiled away from the blow as several patches of burnt metal were flung away from his limb.
Gundyr let out a grunt as he kicked out with his right leg, Gareth held up her shield. The blow slammed into her defence, rattling her body as the force knocked her into the air. However, the Lancer had no time to pressure his advantage as Sif pounced on him from behind, he tilted his head to the side just enough that the edge of the greatsword just barely scratched his armoured cheek.
He growled, rolling himself to the side and slamming his elbow into the side of Sif's body. The wolf let out a whine as it was flung away from him. Gundyr turned to pursue before a painful jolt of heat spread throughout his left leg. Kicking out with the limb, Nero ducked under the blow as she pulled her red blade away from the leg.
Turning his head to face the Emperor, Gundyr let out a groan as he felt his leg weaken slightly, the large cut running just behind his knee hampering his movements somewhat. "I was curious as to what manner of fiend would dare to strike as my Rome, but you are but a mere slave, are you not?" Nero proclaimed with a frown "Tis almost pitiful to behold."
Gundyr offered no retort as he span his halberd in his hand, levelling the blade towards the Emperor and hunching his body forwards, ignoring the wound in his leg as he stared down at the smaller blonde girl.
He shot forwards, Nero ducked back as his Halberd swung through the air where her neck had been previously, an arrow of blue light slammed into his side, he barely reacted to it as he punched his free hand into the ground, ripping out a large section of the earth and throwing it towards Beatrice as he continued his charge of the Emperor.
Nero ran backwards as Gundyr slammed the halberd into the ground near her feet, ripping it upwards in a shower of debris as he blasted through, clearing the distance between the two of them in a single step.
His armoured fist slammed into the flat of her blade as she raised it in a guard, the impact caused her to wince in pain as she was knocked away, Gundyr continued the charge as the Emperor hurtled through the air, reaching out towards her, only to stumble to the side when Gareth slammed her shield into him.
"Not so fast!" She shouted out, Gundyr moved with the blow swinging his halberd towards her. Not fast enough before the side of Mash's shield struck the back of his elbow. His arm flinched as the halberd fell from his grip.
Then he slammed his elbow into Mash's face, the girl let out a cry of pain as she stumbled backwards. Gundyr let out a roar, the darkened eye ports of his helmet now glowed bright red as he span towards Gareth, rearing his right fist back.
The girl shot backwards as the arm slammed into the ground, the impact alone causing an explosion air, the shockwave blasted the entire group away from him. Gareth let out a gasp as she found herself in the air.
Gundyr clasped his hand around her ankle, violently wrenching her back down towards him, she thrust the lance towards him, he bat it away with his left hand as he released her leg, then lashed out with the hand that had gripped her ankle and latched onto her face.
Her eyes widened in alarm as he slammed her into the ground, her body leaving an imprint with enough force to cause her vision to blur. Then he sprinted, dragging her body through the ground with enough force to leave a trail along the dirt.
Within the span of a few seconds, he had dragged her around a hundred metres before throwing her up into the air. Gareth coughed out blood when he reared back his left arm then slammed it into her chest with his enhanced strength which could have matched Gawain under the sun. She felt her ribs break from the impact as she shot away from him, crashing into the ground in an explosion of dirt.
"Gareth!" Mash cried out in horror as she raced towards Lancer. Gundyr turned his head towards her, spinning his body and charging her down in a burst of speed, clearing the distance between the two of them in but a moment. Mash had just enough time to raise her shield before Gundyr's shin collided with her guard, the clang of metal echoed out loud enough to dull all other sounds in the general vicinity.
A dozen arrows slammed into his side as he released a howl. Ritsuka blinked in surprise before he heard a voice call through his head "I'm supporting you now, Master. I can try and keep him off balance."
"Thank you, Arash!" Ritsuka jubilantly replied back as he faced Olga "That was Archer, he's going to support us against Lancer. How is your Berserker doing?"
Vordt vs Smelter Demon and Dragon Slayer Armour POV
Mace struck shield with an almighty clang, the Dragon Slayer Armour swung its shield arm up, deflecting the mace away from its body before it swung its own axe downwards. Vordt let out a cry as the giant weapon buried itself in the berserker's shoulder with, the scream of pain became intertwined with the sound of metal being ripped asunder as the axe tore through the armoured plating before becoming stuck.
Vordt charged forwards, slamming itself into the Dragon Slayer Armours chest and bawling it over, rolling around as the axe in its shoulder was wretched free from its body. In a fit of rage induced aggression, Vordt repeatedly slammed the mace down into the head of the opposing Berserker, the Dragon slayer armour let out a groan as one of the protruding wings along the side of its helm bent inwards as the metal began to scuff.
The frozen Berserker did not get the chance to press its advantage as the Smelter Demon tackled it off, grappling with the outrider knight in a tangled mass of limbs as they engaged in a shoving match to prove who was superior. The wound Vordt had suffered placed him at a considerable disadvantage in that regard.
Something the Smelter demon took full advantage of, the flaming Berserker let out a loud roar as it slammed its head into Vordt's armoured face, the outrider knight recoiled violently as the metal caved inwards from the blow, the Smelter demon then gripped the wounded arm with both hands, and twisted. Metal shrieked as it was violently wrenched out of place, the outrider knight let out a wail of pain as the already wounded arm was crippled to such an extent that it was bent in two places, the torn metal making locked in place like a freakish jigsaw, ensuring the arm could not move.
Attempting to launch some manner of counter attack, Vordt made an effort to swing their mace towards the Berserker's head. The gauntlet of the Dragon Slayer Armour clenched around his wrist barely halfway to the target. The smelter demon raised its greatsword pointed downwards, stabbing it through Vordts trapped wrist and pinning it to the ground.
Vordt thrashed like a dog, frantically batting away at the two with is broken arm as it attempted to free its nailed wrist. The Dragon Slayer armour gripped its axe with two hands, bringing it high above its head before it exploded with lightning, visibly glowing as it crackled, bolts shooting off and scorching along the ground.
The Smelter demon leapt away as it ripped its sword free of the Outrider knights wrist, Vordt made an attempt to flee.
Far too late, as the Armour slammed the Axe down on Vordts head in an explosion of lightning, blasting away the nearby houses, and cratering the ground, sending a bolt of bright yellow electricity shoot up into the sky for a few moments before dissipating. The remains of Vordt slowly flaking away into golden motes of light as the Armour wretched his axe free of the opposing Berserker.
The Dragon Slayer Armour and the Smelter Demon turned to each other, engaging in a small staring contest before glancing off in opposing directions. The Dragon Slayer Armour stared off in the direction of his Master while the Smelter Demon glared down the street towards the group still battling Freja.
Their new objectives in sight, the two sprinted off towards their quarry.
Master Group POV
"Berserker is on his way here." Olga informed Ritsuka, the boy would have let out a minor sigh of relief if he wasn't so tense right now, and he couldn't be blamed for his emotion either. Lancer moved with grace that someone of his stature and apparel had no right possessing, that was his general consensus as he watched the enemy servant move.
Gundyr reared back his right elbow, then slammed it into Mash's shield, the girl let out a gasp as she staggered backwards, right before Gundyr twisted his body, flowing with the motion of the strike and sending his left hand rocketing upwards in a vicious uppercut into the right cross of the shield, his continued attempts to break her guard had left her with no opportunity to attempt a counter attack.
Not that she could, his strength had seemingly tripled once his eyes turned red, something she could only attribute to a high class skill or a noble phantasm. How long it would last however, was something she didn't know.
"Use your Mystic code uniform!" Olga hissed at him "Help her!"
"How!? You haven't showed me yet!" Ritsuka shot back, his nervousness overriding his sense of concern as it hadn't factored in to him who he was speaking to. Olga didn't comment on it as she was feeling a similar degree of concern at watching Mash get manhandled by the Servant.
"Mash!" Beatrice cried out as she sprinted towards the pair "Activate your shield!"
Not wasting time for a second, she nodded her head "Lord Chaldeas!" the blue light expanded out in front of her, Gundyr's fist was violently recoiled as he attempted to punch through again. Growling in annoyance only to realise that someone was behind him.
"Elements Coalesce!" Beatrice cried out as she held her Catalyst aloft "The Spirit cries and rages! My magic burns all!" blue rays of light began to form around the head of her staff as she pulled it back, Gundyr swung around and made to charge at her before she thrust the staff forwards "Soul Storm!"
The staff was silent for a second.
Then it screamed. A titanic beam of bright blue energy shot forth from the tip of the Catalyst, engulfing Gundyr as he sprinted at the Caster, the power behind the attack blasting him backwards before he slammed into Mash's shield, the force of being crushed between two Noble Phantasms began to get to him as he attempted to drag himself up. Still holding on, Beatrice continued to force magical energy into the beam.
Then Gundyr took a single step forwards. Then another. Then another.
In any other situation, Ritsuka would have admitted it to be awe inspiring, in this one however, it was a nightmare. Watching as the Lancer seemingly powered through the Noble Phantasm, even as parts of his armour began to glow due to the extreme heat, however he paid it no mind as he continued to advance on Beatrice with steady progress.
Beatrice's face slowly morphed into one of horror as the beam gradually died down, Gundyr dropped to one knee, the armour along his chest glowing bright red as the hiss of steam escaped him, the air around his body visibly shifting due to the heat. Then his helmet slowly trailed up to stare at the Caster, his eyes glowed bright red as he shot forth.
Only for three arrows to bury themselves in the back of his right knee, in-between the plates of armour. Gundyr staggered forwards, turning his head to look over in the direction the arrows came from, holding up his forearm to block his eye ports as several more collided with his body, chipping away at the plates of armour.
Beatrice took that as her cue to back away as fast as she could. Gundyr made to stand up before Sif pounced on him from the front, the Lancer lashed out as he gripped the hilt of the greatsword aimed at his throat with his left hand as his right grabbed the scruff of the wolfs neck, trying to hold him back from severing his head, the blade digging into the dirt next to his neck as the wolf attempted to drag it further.
Gundyr slammed his knee into Sif's ribs, throwing the wolf off his body, rising to his feet once again, Sif rolled to their feet, facing the lancer while growling, teeth snarled back as they shifted the blade in their mouth.
Gundyr prepared his stance to battled the wo-
"Haaaaa!" Came the cry directly to his left before Gareth barrelled into him, sending the lancer reeling as he was rag dolled across the ground, rolling up only to be struck in the torso with the lance again, the explosion blasting him away as Gareth continued to chase him down, repeatedly striking him with the lance and tearing away more and more chunks of his armour before she thrust her Lance forwards a final time "Ira Lupus!" the lance gored the Lancer through, tearing a hole through the centre of his chest and out the back of his body before it exploded outwards, blasting him away from her and rolling into a heap on the ground.
Gareth slumped her shoulders, her face bruised and bloodied as a trail of the red liquid dribbled out of her nose and mouth. The enemy lancer lay on the ground, a hole in his chest the size of a melon. She felt her eyes widen as she heard the hiss of his breath as he slowly sat back up, metal plates shifting as he, quite literally, pushed himself back to his feet.
"What the hell…" Olga breathed out, her own eyes widening at the sigh "Is it battle continuation?"
"That's a thing!?" Ritsuka parroted, stepping back. Romani's face flashed up, looking unusually serious.
"That servants spirit origin is fading, but their strength is still there, the wound is definitely fatal, but he probably won't go down for a little while longer." He sighed "Talk about determined…"
"Not now, Doctor!" Olga hissed at the man.
"Are you truly so stubborn!?" Nero cried out as she rushed towards the Lancer, sliding to a halt next to Gareth "You are beaten! Do not cause yourself more pain!"
"I...have...been commanded...to kill you…" The enemy Lancer growled out, his voice pained yet still emotionless "I...shall do that...or die...trying." he took a single step forwards, soon followed by another as he marched towards them, stopping as he caught sight of his halberd, moving over to it before ripping it from the ground and facing the group again.
Hunching his body over, he shot off towards them, the hole in his chest seemingly doing nothing to cut down on his speed as he appeared before Gareth and Nero within scarce few moments, raising the halberd above his head and swinging downwards.
It collided with the round shield of the Dragon Slayer Armour, the Berserker bat the weapon aside before it reared back the shield arm and struck the Lancer in the head with the edge of the metal shield. Lancer stumbled backwards, disorientated from the blow but not distracted enough to avoid the swipe from the axe that would have bifurcated him.
Gundyr skated backwards, stabbing his halberd into the ground to halt his acceleration as he stared at the servants before him, the red in his eyes intensified as his body turned transparent at the edges.
"He's burning through his magical energy!?" Olga exclaimed in shock "Is he pushing himself that far!?"
"That's some crazy determination!" Romani widened his eyes "Talk about giving 110%!"
Gundyr didn't respond as he wretched the halberd free from the ground, glaring at the servants before he advanced towards them.
Servants vs Freja POV
Beams of bright purple light slammed into the side the armoured spider, Freja paid them no heed as she continued to thrash around, reeling her head back before spitting out a wave of pale green liquid towards the Servants in front of her.
Ash and Solaire shot off in opposing directions as the fluid washed against the ground, releasing an ominous sizzle as the tiles and rubble began to melt upon contact.
"Acid!" Ash called out as he slid to a halt, cocking back his arm and throwing another fireball towards the Spider, the ball harmlessly dissipated off the plating "It spits acid!"
"Fleeth from the plaza, lest thou be caught in mine attack!" Gwyndolins voice echoed out around the plaza square, a light came into existence as the God manifested himself a taller building, a glowing arrow manifested itself in his bow before he took aim towards the sky, the group got the idea of what he was attempting and quickly sprinted off, Freja made to follow before Gwyndolin continued on "O' Heretic's swathed in Dark. Thy sins be brought into the light. Repent in thy final moments. An Eternal Curse upon thee!" He loosened the glowing arrow into the sky, darkened clouds manifested above Freja's body, the spider looked up just as the gods voice echoed out again "Darkmoon Light!"
The cloud exploded with energy as hundred of glowing arrows rained down atop the spider, exploding upon contact with the armoured plates. Freja let out a wail of pain as the stone skin began to chip and burn away as the Divine nature of the arrows scorched at the plates. The arrows of light intensified and soon consumed the spiders form in a cloud of smoke.
The group slowly came to a stop, turning around to see the cloud of ash blast apart from Freja's scream as she shot a beam of light towards Gwyndolin. The Lord scowled, waving his hand and forming a golden shield in front of him. The beam crashed into the construct, reflecting along the surface at an angle as it lanced away up the street.
Sulyvahn would have widened his eyes if he had them as he threw his body to the side not moments before the beam of energy split the path he had been standing on in half, line of impact glowed before exploding outwards, blasting the Pontiff into the air, he grunted as he glided back to ground.
Gwyndolin's expression became strained as his construct began to crack under the continued barrage of the spider. Part of the golden shield splintered away and vanished into a cloud of dust.
Lucien leapt into the air, slinging forth a whip as he latched around the spiders leg, Freja's eyes instantly locked onto him as she cut off power to the breath attack and raised her leg into the air to shake the hunter off. Only to freeze when something gripped it, eyes trailing down to see the black armour of the smelter demon grappling with the limb.
Gwyndolin waved his arm, large golden chains erupted from the ground, wrapping themselves around the spiders limbs and halting their movement. His hand outstretched in a grabbing motion, Gwyndolin grit his teeth as the spider began to strain against his illusions, the sound of metal groaning filled the air as it thrashed around.
Ash sprinted out of cover, closing the distance to the Freja's head, she noticed him, raised her head slightly and opening up her mouth. Ash widened his eyes as more of the acidic spit came spilling forth from its mouth, kicking off the ground, the Saber leapt into the air above the spider as Lucien flipped himself up onto the leg, retracting his whip back into a cane before he sprinted along the leg and towards the joint.
Ash landed atop the Spiders head as it continued to thrash around, raising the black sword above his head, he stabbed it downwards through the armoured skull. Freja let loose a roar of pain and struggled harder against the restraints, several of the golden links snapped and vanished into dust, freeing several of her legs as she attempted to push herself back up to her feet.
Lucien manifested a cannon in his left arm, jamming the barrel into an exposed section of the joint in the leg and then fired. The quicksilver ball of lead obliterated the already damaged joint and split the limb off the body. Freja cried out in pain as the hunter jumped away.
"Watch out!" The booming voice of Gough was soon accompanied by the giant steam rolling towards them, smashing through the outer wall and bulldozing through the remains of several houses as he made for the spider. Ash recognised his intent, ripping the sword free from Freja's head, he turned away and jumped off, making sure to kick off the spider as hard as he could, denting the exoskeleton inwards.
Freja attempted to rise again. Only for Gough to jump onto her elbow first. The combined weight and strength of the giant travelling full speed landed on the mid point of the two headed spider, the magnified sound of shattering ceramic signified the armour of the beast being unable to withstand the sudden blow as it collapsed onto the street again.
Gough lifted himself up, cocking back his fist before rocketing it downwards towards Freja's first head, the giant fist slammed into the skull and instantly turned it into a sticky green mess on the ground, although the spider seemed more insulted than injured as the spider attempted to shift its body so as to face the giant with its other head.
The remaining chains snapped as Freja hefted her body into the air, turning herself so her remaining head face the giant, Gough lashed out with his hands, wrapping themselves around the spiders under-plates and neck at it grappled with him, the two titans stumbled around as Freja raised her forward legs into the air, slashing them down through Gough's back. The Archer grunted in pain but continued to grip the spider, even as one the legs buried itself in his side under his ribs.
"The...remaining...head!" Gough coughed out, shifting his arm to point the spiders head into the air as it attempted to stab him again. The servants took that as their cue and rushed the Spider, Quelaag leapt upon its back, crawling upwards towards its face as she raised her burning sword above her head, a scowl on her face as she stared down at the spider's wide red eyes.
"Disgusting." She scoffed, thrusting the sword downwards through the spiders eyes, Freja let loose a shriek of pain before Quelaag ignited her sword in a pyromancy, sending a jet of fire through the sword and into the skull, pillars of fire shooting out the gaps in the plating from the inside as the spider continued to scream in pain. It slowly went limp, legs losing their power as they slumped over.
The Rider leapt off the spider and back to the ground, turning around and watching as Gough threw the corpse off him. The fell onto his back, groaning in pain from the wounds.
"That was a stupid thing for you to do!" Quelaag was instantly by his side, berating him "You're an Archer! You think just because you're a giant you can suddenly grapple with every large beast? Huh!?"
Gough released a chuckle in response "Careful...Lady Quelaag, I might think thee worried for my health should thy sharp words continue to spill forth."
Quelaag scoffed and crossed her arms "If you're well enough to joke then you're not too badly hurt. Careless idiot, did you want to live up to those claims of Giants being mindless brutes!? Because your display certainly made you look the part. What happened to your bow!?"
"I...misplaced it."
"You what?"
"Well the hill fell...it...slipped from my hands."
"Are you clumsy then!?"
"...Thats something new to me." Lucien muttered to Ash as the two watched the display with morbid curiosity.
"To me as well." Ash nodded back to him, rubbing the back of his neck "I...did not think I would ever see a giant being spoken to in such a manner."
"Nor did I." Came Solaires voice as he joined the others "I suppose that is one for the stories."
"Quite."
"Tis no surprise." The group turned their heads to see Gwyndolin materialise near them "Lady Quelaag was one of the few to regard Ser Gough with kindness, although it has always taken the form of a sharpened tongue."
"Well…" Lucien coughed "...You one of them Gods?"
"...I am unsure whether to be offended by thy crass manner of speech." Gwyndolin replied, not deigning to look at the man "So I shall ignore it for now under these circumstances. Correct thy speech if thou wishes to continue this discussion."
"...Fuck you too then." Lucien grumbled under his breath, crossing his arms and looking away "Definitely a God."
Ash looked around as he seemingly noticed something "Where is Sulyvahn?"
Something went flying from the hole where Freja had emerged, the green object slumped into the ground with a moan of pain, soon identifying itself as a person. The form of Sulyvahn soon joined it, landing next to the person on the floor, flicking his blade clean of the blood staining it.
"...Who is that?" Ash asked, Sulyvahn looked towards them, pointing down at the man.
"The Caster who summoned this thing." The Pontiff replied, kicking the man "I suspected we could extract information from him in regards to Aldrich's whereabouts."
"I...Will tell you nothing…" The Caster spat out "Heathen...degenerates…"
"...Charming." Sulyvahn replied back "And it is only a means of prolonging your life, the alternative is I simply kill you now."
"Do...it...then…"
"Well, that would be pointless while you still represent a means of information." Sulyvahn dismissed "Really, while your attempts at bravery would normally be amusing, I have naught the time to enjoy this display of yours." reaching into his robe and withdrawing a small black gem "I suppose it would be best to see if this works." he mumbled, then shoved it into the Caster chest, eliciting a cry of pain from the man as he writhed around.
Withdrawing his hand, Sulyvahn stared at him for several moments before nodding his head "Hmph. It worked."
"What did you just do?" Solaire asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion, Sulyvahn turned to him.
"I crafted a replica of a separation crystal. It should have broken his link to Aldrich, the saint can no longer summon him back."
"Won't he disappear without magical energy?"
"...I suppose he will." Sulyvahn mused, looking back down at Caster "Although I suspect he can last perhaps an hour, more than enough time to retrieve the information we need."
"...What in the pits name happened here!?" A voice cried out, the plaza turned to see Verndari and the remnants of the Roman legion behind him, Cecilia held bridal style in the copy of Ash and overlooking the carnage.
"...Pest control." Quelaag snorted back "Where's the knight girl and that anyway?"
"Fighting a Lancer still." Ash responded, casting his eyes over to the Smelter demon as it stood near the corpse "Is Vordt dead?" he called out to it, the Berserker turned to him, nodding once. "Well...that's one less problem."
Master Group POV
Gundyr stumbled back from another blow, the Dragon Slayer armour charged him, slamming its shield into his torso and sending him skating away, he looked up, only yo block a strike from the burning sword of Nero, grunting, he flicked her away from him, the red dressed woman flipped through the air before landing with a disturbing degree of grace.
Sif rushed towards the side of the Lancer, Gundyr spun his Halberd towards the wolf head-
Mash parried the blow upwards as the greatsword of Artorias cut through his left limb, the Lancer dropped down to the ground with a thud and minute cry of pain. Making to swing his halberd again, only for the Berserker servant to slam a kick into his chest and blast him away, the halberd flying from his hands and burying itself in the ground far from him.
Panting heavily, Gundyr attempted to rise up before Gareth stabbed her lance through his shoulder, pinning him to the ground. The Lancer released a cry of pain as he reached towards the young girl, only for the burning blade of Nero to sever his arm at the elbow.
He released a cry of pain as he fell back, the Dragon Slayer armour stamping down on his chest and denting the armour inwards. Gundyr panted, too weak to move or do much of anything, he merely remained on the ground releasing pained breaths every few moments.
"We...We got him?" Ritsuka asked the group, Nero span around to face him with a wide smile.
"Indeed, Tribunii...no, indeed Prefect!" She announced, beaming at him before turning to Olga "And you, pale rose, you have risen to the rank of Tribune! Well done!"
"Congratulations, Director." Romani snickered "You're going far in Roman society."
"Quiet." Olga scowled at him "Lancer." she called to the downed servant "Where is your Master?"
Gundyr remained silent, Gareth shook her head and looked over to her "He won't say anything. He's one of those 'obey every command' types but to the extreme. Even Big Brother Gawain wasn't this bad." she cringed, staring down at him "Best if we kill him now."
"...Very well." Olga nodded her head, turning to her servant "Berserker."
That was all the command she needed, the Berserker servant exerted more pressure on the chest piece, pushing down with enough force to crush the chest cavity entirely with a creak of metal and a sputtering from the Lancer. That being the final noise he made before his breathing ceased and he began to float away into motes of light.
"Confirming Lancer spirit origin disappearance." Romani called through the communicator "Whatever was happening in city is over too."
"Good." Ritsuka let out a sigh of relief "I...didn't really want to fight a giant spider."
"Umu." Nero nodded "I understand, they are quickly becoming horrifying to stare at."
Chaldean Group POV
"We lost half of our strength in this." Vespasian announced as the physician finished tying a bandage around his head, covering up the wound on the left side of his face "At least, so far anyway...No more than two thousand men left, my Emperor."
Nero gave a grim nod "Was a fearsome battle indeed…"
"City will take years to repair the damage." The man grunted, narrowing his one eye "Heard we caught a prisoner though."
"Yeah…" Ritsuka nodded "The Caster behind the whole spider thing...I think Verndari recognised him and has been conducting the 'interrogation'. Although he doesn't have long."
Romani winced through the screen "Is it that bad?"
"I haven't been near them." Ritsuka shook his head "Verndari is...probably torturing him."
"Are you alright with that?"
"Pfft." Ritsuka released a mirthless scoff "No. I'm away from them right now because I know if I was there, I'd probably put a stop to it...I don't like it, I really don't like it…"
Romani nodded his head, a non-judgemental expression on his face "If you don't like the idea of torture, Fujimaru-kun, it means you're still a good person. I admit, I'm not too big a fan of the idea either."
"I think its because...well...Verndari said that the spiders were all his and given what has been happening to everyone living here…" He cringed "I…"
"Its fine, Fujimaru-kun. But I'm surprised that the enemy Master hasn't recalled him yet."
"Apparently Sulyvahn used some kind of crystal to damage his summoning and connection to his Master." Ritsuka rubbed the back of his neck "That was all I could understand from what Ash told me."
"He had something like that?"
"Said he had been working on it since he got here." Ritsuka shrugged "And there was no guarantee it would work so he said not to rely on it."
Olga sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose "I suppose it is to be expected, something that can disrupt the summoning of a servant isn't exactly an item that can be crafted spontaneously. How long does the Caster have left?"
"Ten...twenty minutes maybe?"
"Tell your Servant to keep working on him." Olga ordered "If it fails, we'll have Da Vinci run her tests on the Leylines here to see where they are being drained too."
The armoured fist cracked against Casters cheek, Tseldora's head snapped to the side.
"All those lives in the cove? All those miners? And for what?" Verndari scoffed "So you could betray the King for vermin!"
Tesldora coughed "You...may as well kill me already...I will tell you nothing…"
"Why? Your 'Master' has abandoned you." Verndari scoffed "Even if he had not, you would have been killed for this failure. You have lost, Duke Tseldora. At least die with some small token of dignity."
"Tch...you could never understand my work…" Tseldora gave a chuckle "The beauty of it...the sheer...depth."
"You're insane." Verndari sneered "A madman led by a monster. What loyalty has inspired this? What have you to gain from denying my question!"
"...Simply...because...I lost." Tseldora coughed out "I lost against you...so I will be as petty as I wish…"
"Pathetic." Verndari shook his head, hand reaching for his sword "But if that is how you wish it."
"Ha…" Tseldora scoffed at him, his body breaking down into golden motes of light "As if...I'd...let you…" he sneered at the shielder as he faded away, returning to the throne. Verndari scowled behind his helmet.
Saint Aldrich POV
"Wonderful." Lev clapped his hands sarcastically "Truly, wonderful. All but one of your servants dead, and they'll probably discover where you are within the next day. Brilliant. I don't believe I've seen failure this spectacular since that halfwit in France."
Aldrich growled, turning his body to glare at the man in green "Have care. The plan still had the chance for success. I need only enough power to break through the barrier."
"And they've just grabbed that 'extra power' you need." Lev pointed out with a frown "This is what I get for listening though...I knew I should have picked a different Servant, one who had at least a sliver of intellect and much less ego."
"You dare!?" Aldrich raged "I brought this Empire to its knees in a matter of weeks! I shaped the Deep according to my will! I will breach the barrier, gaining access to the deep and I-"
"Am about to bungle everything in half that time." Lev replied dryly "I had not believed it possible, but you are more useless than I could have ever imagined. I will be having words with that one about this entire fiasco."
Aldrich remained silent as he glared down at Lev for a few moments "...I lack the power to open up the door to the abyss."
"Yes. We have covered this."
"I know." Aldrich agreed easily "Which is why I am going to rectify this issue."
"Oh? And how are you planning on doing that?"
"By consuming a new source of power."
"And where are you going to find that in your infinite wisdom?"
"Not to worry." Aldrich reassured him "...It's very close at hand…"
AN: Took a while...but my next chapter is done!
Yep, these chapters are all going to generally be longer than they used to be. Between 6-10k words from now on. Excluding servant dialogue. Because this Singularity really has gone on for a while, hasn't it?
Christ...Babylonia and Camelot are going to be long as all hell if I don't get that sorted out. Anyway, I've decided that the next singularity, we're going to have a pretty even mix of souls and fate servants because this one was heavily souls centric.
Which is a shame because Boudica got shooed out. So we'll make it up to everyone's favourite red head big sister.
In other news!
40 chapters in...Yay!