Chapter 74: Battle Continuation
"Here he comes…" Ritsuka muttered under his breath as he watched the darkened form of Heracles shoot across the sky towards the beach, he could feel his heart-rate already beginning to speed up as the Berserker approached. Euryale looked up at him as he held her bridal style, the Goddess raised an eyebrow at his demeanour before she leaned in closer to him and whispered.
"You should stop shivering so much." She informed him, earning a quick glance from the Master "It's not very Heroic of you to say you'll protect me and then start panicking."
Ritsuka couldn't help the slight smile at the remark "Yeah...but this is Heracles...I think I'm allowed to be a little panicky." he whispered back to her, earning a melodious giggle from the Goddess before the pair turned their attention back towards the falling comet that was the Greek Demi-God.
Heracles slammed into the beach with a thunderous crash, instantly blasting out a shockwave from his landing site and kicking up a mushroom cloud of sand. Ritsuka closed his eyes as the storm of debris washed over him and coated his uniform and hair in a thin layer of sand. Euryale scowled as she was similarly coated in it, the Goddess sent him a disappointed expression, obviously expecting him to have shielded her body.
As he opened his eyes again, Ritsuka watched as the cloud began to disperse, revealing the full form of Heracles as he rose up from the crater on the seashore. The Berserker stomped out of his landing sight and swept his glowing eyes across the beach before they landed on him. A deep reverberating growl emanated from the Berserker as they shifted their entire body to face him fully.
"Fujimaru-kun!" Romani broke him out of his terrified state with a frantic shout of his own "Run!"
Ritsuka didn't need to be told twice, instantly turning on his heel and sprinting as fast as he could towards the thick brush of the forest, Heracles let out a roar behind him which only served to motivate him into sprinting faster than he thought possible. The low boom of the Berserker breaking into a run and the crashing steps did nothing to ease his nerves in the least.
The moment he passed through the greenery into the treeline, he locked eyes with the half-dozen Servants already waiting for him, the group nodded their heads as he sprinted past them and shifted their attention back towards the direction they knew Heracles would be charging from.
Sure enough, moments later, Heracles came tearing through the forest, ripping up tree's by their roots and sending them skywards as he rushed after the Master and the Goddess.
"Get him!" It was difficult to discern who had shouted out the command, but it didn't matter as the Servants instantly complied with the remark. Archer loosened dozens of arrows at Heracles and instantly obscured his vision with their subsequent explosions. The Berserker growled and swept his hand through the air to disperse the smoke cloud.
Just in time to see Havel's fist rocketing towards his face, the heavy gauntlet collided with Heracles' cheek and snapped his entire body to the side. The force of the impact released an explosion of air which shattered the ground beneath the pair of Berserker's feet and blasted the leaves off of the nearby tree's. Havel followed the haymaker with an uppercut into Heracles gut, briefly lifting the Berserker off his feet and into a slight stumble backwards.
The moment Heracles' feet touched the ground he shifted his body forwards and launched himself at the stone Bishop like a bullet. Clearing the distance between the two instantly and shoulder barging him into the ground, Havel rolled with the impact only for Heracles free hand to roughly grip his leg and lift him into the air. The Demi-God released an ear-splitting roar as he swung Havel above his head like a rag-doll before hurling him through the woods, whatever tree's got in his way were disintegrated when he impacted them and continued to fly through them, the distant explosion when he finally landed snapped the Servants out of their shocked states and shifted their attention back towards Heracles.
The servant threw his head back and released another roar as the battle started up again.
Making to charge forwards, he was halted as a heavy shield was slammed directly into his path, glowing eyes locked onto the wielder as Mash shifted herself to prepare for any impact or to make ready an attack, the girl's eyes fixed themselves onto Heracles with steeled determination.
Growling, Heracles gripped his slab with two hands and raised it above his head before throwing himself forwards at the shielder. Mash released a cry of her own as she pulled the shield out of the ground and pivoted towards the Berserker like a spear and threw it towards his weapon.
The two attacks collided with each other and released a reverberating thud, Mash's feet dug into the ground to support herself, her expression straining as Heracles forced more strength into his shoving match.
"Haaaaaa!" Mash's cry emanated from deep within her as her body glowed a subtle hue, power exploded forth as she shifted the slab to the side, throwing Heracles off-balance and causing his attack to slam into the ground at the same time she coiled her arm back. Heracles' eyes locked onto her as she thrust her arm forwards like a lance and struck him in the chest with the bottom of the shield.
The attack blasted the Servant backwards, his legs digging into the ground to halt his retreat and leaving deep indentations in the ground. Heracles righted his body and glared at the Shielder as she matched his glare with a cool expression.
"With the power granted to me by Sir Oscar of Astora-!" She shifted her body to ready herself, lips pulled into a tight frown "-I won't allow you to threaten my Master!"
Heracles growled, eyes shifting to either side as Sanura and Boudica dropped down on each respective flank, levelling their weapons at him. From behind Mash, he could see David step out from behind a tree with a calm look on his face, soon followed by Francis Drake and while he couldn't see them, Heracles could sense the presence of more Servants in the bushes.
However, what was at the forefront of his mind was the knowledge that as long as the Goddess lived, Jason would be in danger. Even through the shroud of madness, that singular thought resonated with his entire being. His friend was in danger, and unless he killed that Goddess, that was how he would remain.
That thought pushed him forwards, his body shifted and he assumed a stance. The flat of his palm extended towards the Servants in front of him while he held his sword at his side, eyes shifting left and right to check for attacks on either side. He loosened a rumbling growl as he moved.
Spinning on his heel and swinging his sword towards Boudica, the Rider widened her eyes as Heracles blurred through the air. It was only the sound of wood being vaporized into saw-dust as his weapon blitzed through the tree's close enough to be in his range which informed her to duck. The slab passed a hair's breadth above her as it cleaved through the shrubbery around her being and threw up a whirlwind of leaves and dirt.
The Servants charged in.
Caeneus broke through the surface of the water, trudging her way up the beach as the shook herself free of the droplets of water still clinging to her. The Lancer could already hear the sounds of fighting – and see them if the flying tree's were any indication – as Heracles fought the enemy Servants.
The Lancer's lip curled into a savage smile as she turned her attention towards the sounds of fighting. Already tensing herself to charge straight into the thick of the fighting.
Her instincts flared as she halted whatever plans she made, instead opting to swing her entire body to the side and raise her forearm in a blocking motion. The arrow of light shattered against her skin without leaving so much as a mark. Her eyes shifted away from her forearm and towards the attacker. The smile she had on her face intensified as she caught sight of the distinct figure of Artemis, the woman already preparing to fire another arrow.
"That won't do shit!" Caeneus roared, throwing herself forwards into a frantic dash towards the Goddess, kicking up a trail of sand behind her as she crossed the beach "At least you left yourself all to me, bitch!"
Artemis remained silent as she loosened another arrow, the attack struck Caeneus on the shoulder and did nothing, leaving not so much as a blemish on her outfit. The Goddess shifted her expression into a frown and turned away, flying through the air and disappearing into the woods.
"Like Hell you're getting away from me!" The Lancer's roar echoed across the beach as she tore after the Goddess, breaking through the treeline and barging through the forest with reckless abandon as she maintained a line of sight on the Goddess.
Artemis navigation of the tree's was nothing short of stellar, even while flying she moved with a certain amount of grace as befitted her station, effortlessly gliding around the tree's so as to avoid striking them while maintaining her speed.
Caeneus had no such compunctions about style.
Orion cringed as he looked over his shoulder, it took him all of a second to spot Caeneus, the Lancer not even bothering to avoid the tree's and instead just running through them, wood splintered into fragments and bushes was ripped up from the ground as the Lancer continued her mad dash after them.
"H-hey...when did that guy say he was going to meet us?" Orion questioned aloud, feeling slightly nervous as Caeneus easily began to close the distance between the two of them.
Artemis remained silent, floating over a patch of leaves which appeared to be slightly different from their surroundings.
Caeneus' grin turned savage as she closed the distance, shifting herself to be ready to thrust into the Goddesses back.
Her foot slammed against the patch of leaves and fell through. Her eyes widened in shock as she abruptly fell into a hole in the ground "What the shi-" her cry was cut off by a deep thud as she smacked against the bottom of the pit, the spears which had been buried in the hole pointed upwards bent and broke against her skin.
Not without leaving marks however. Caeneus growled as droplets of blood fell free of her. She clicked her tongue, she was far enough away from the water that Poseidon's blessings were beginning to lose their effectiveness. The Lancer got back to her feet, her lips curled into a savage snarl as she looked around the pit, swinging her spear around and destroying the remaining trap weapons.
The woman turned her head upwards and tensed her legs, leaping out of the pit and landing back onto the ground with a heavy thud. Her head scanned her surroundings as they attempted to find the Goddess again "You think some fucking pit trap will stop me!?" she sneered out loud, her head darting around "Huh!? Where the fuck did you scurry off to, you fucking rat!?"
She failed to take notice of the silent figure metres behind her. Their form moved through the forest with a disturbing degree of silence, even moving through the bushes produced no sound. The Lancer remained ignorant to the presence as she glared at the forest.
Several arrows of light emerged from the forest, striking the Lancer in the back and causing her to stumble forwards slightly from the impact. She spun her body around to face the direction the arrows had come from before she released a deep growl of annoyance. "There you are!" she took off like a bullet, charging through the woods once again.
The figure emerged from the bushes as she departed, the face of Ash stared at her form as she vanished through into the bushes. He looked down at the ring upon his hand. The Slumbering Dragon crest ring hadn't been all that useful before, but in this instance it proved its use. If all went well, Artemis would lure her to the ambush site and he could dispatch her quickly.
Caeneus continued through the bushes, a fleeting image of white moving through the treeline instantly attracted her attention towards it. Her eyes narrowed and her lips curled. "Found you!" she roared, adjusting her direction and breaking into as fast a sprint as she could through the woods.
Heracles flipped through the air as he avoided the next barrage of arrows – not that he even needed to – as he landed back onto the ground, his head snapped in the direction where Ritsuka had vanished off to with Euryale. Heracles growled as he shifted his body to take off after them.
A flash of deep blue lightning came in from his left side as the form of Sanura manifested itself in front of him, the Lancer twirled her cross-spear and levelled it towards the Berserker. Heracles wasted no time in rushing towards her, swinging his axe sword through the air towards her chest. The woman kicked off the ground and spun her body above the weapon, spinning her body and kicking down into the flat of the weapon with as much force as she could manage.
The axe-sword was mildly forced downwards so it slammed into the ground, Heracles threw his body forwards and shoulder-barged Sanura as she was still in the air and blasted her away from him.
Dozens of arrows emerged from the woods on either side of him aimed at his face, the attacks struck against his skin without so much as leaving a mark, however the explosions they released caused the Berserker to growl in annoyance at the attacks. A rumbling thud of something approaching already informed him of what was going to happen again.
He swung his sword back across himself towards the incoming sound, a heavy crash echoed across the woods as Heracles slammed his axe-sword into Havel's shield. The Bishop raised the stone aegis with both hands and stopped the attack dead in its tracks, then released a deep grunt as he pushed it back.
Heracles allowed the momentum of the push to carry him back as he rotated his body back around and raised his leg. His heel slammed into Havel's free side and barrelled him over and onto the ground. Heracles' foot impacted the ground with a heavy thud as he swung his weapon back into the sky, poised to strike down against the back of the Berserker.
A dozen beams of light slammed into his chest, forcing him backwards and causing his head to snap in the direction of Drake. The cannons behind the woman's shoulders were already glowing as they primed themselves to fire again. Heracles threw his head forwards and released a roar as he charged down the pirate.
Drake widened her eyes and back-pedalled as Heracles closed the distance in an instant, swinging his sword to bisect the woman. The axe-sword rebounded off Mash's shield with a heavy clang, the Shielder thrust her snowflake armament into the ground and pushed it forwards. Heracles stumbled backwards slightly as she pushed with all her might before the two slid to a halt as Heracles found his footing again.
He pushed forwards before something struck him in the back of the head, the Berserker's face jerked into Mash's shield with a thud. His head snapped backwards to push whatever had attacked him off, Boudica flipped through the air and landed on her feet before charging back towards the Berserker again. Heracles swung his sword behind him as the Rider dropped to the ground and slid just underneath the sweeping attack.
The Rider spun around so she faced the Berserker again, not bothering to try and strike him for all the good she knew it would do. Heracles' head spun back towards her.
Two arms wrapped themselves around his waist and lifted him skywards. Heracles' eyes widened as he was abruptly sent crashing into the floor as Havel bodily slammed him into the ground with a heavy shockwave. Heracles rolled back to his feet as Havel wound his arm back and swung it directly into his nose, crunching it inwards and slamming the back of his head back into the dirt.
Heracles' foot lashed out and caught Havel in the chin, forcing him backwards with the impact.
Rocketing back to his feet, Heracles glared at the Bishop before another barrage from Drake struck him in the chest and forced him backwards in an explosion of smoke. Heracles growled and swept his arm through the cloud to disperse it, only to reveal Mash charging through it with her shield cocked backwards. The girl released a cry as she thrust it into Heracles' collarbone and forced him into a stagger.
David slid out and struck the Berserker in the back of his left knee with his staff and caused him to flinch and turn his eyes downwards. He raised his left arm upwards – palm still tightly gripping his axe-sword – as he glared down at the Archer. David retreated instantly, barely managing to avoid being crushed underneath the blow.
With his other hand, Heracles swung it forwards in a fist directly into Mash's shield, pushing the girl backwards and causing her feet to scrape along the ground leaving behind indentations in the dirt.
Sanura flipped over his head, thrusting her lance into his eye. Heracles stared at her unblinkingly as the tip bounced off his pupil as she drew the spear back and landed onto her feet. Her head snapped towards him as he released a menacing growl and shifted his body forwards.
The Lancer dove to the side as he charged her, tearing through the dirt and stopping directly in front of the nearest tree. His free hand stabbed itself into the trunk and ripped it out of the ground with minimal effort. Heracles spun around and shifted the tree into a spear before he hurled it through the woods. The projectile rocketed through their enclosed space, destroying everything in its path as it continued towards its target.
Archer widened his eyes in alarm as he leapt into the air, the tree spear smashed straight through the area he had been perched on before disappearing off into the distance. The moment Archer turned his eyes back towards Heracles, they widened as the Berserker tore off away from the group and in the direction where Ritsuka had vanished off in.
The other Servants were quick to realise the issue, all similarly shooting to their ready positions and charging after the rampaging Berserker. Archer bit his lip as he moved through the forest. They were in a terrible situation and with how desperate Heracles was, it was unlikely they were going to have long before he caught up with the Master at the rate they were managing to hold him off.
"Master, Heracles broke away from us and he's after you again." Archer warned him through the link as he jumped from tree to tree, following after Heracles was nothing difficult. The level of destruction he left in his wake produced a very easy trail to follow.
"...Oh." Ritsuka's voice came back through the link – sounding understandably panicked at the thought of Heracles chasing him down – the Master continued on "How...um...How far away is he?"
"We can still see him." Archer informed him. He pursed his lips. He had wanted to keep certain aspects of his abilities close to his chest until the time was right. Showing off all your ace's so early on was often a terrible idea. Although this wasn't his usual type of summoning, so it would make sense for him to shift some of his approaches. However, the problem was the magical energy his Master could provide him.
It wasn't enough to last long.
Archer internally exhaled, it was going to have to be enough.
"Master, I'm going to try and buy you some time. So I will have to take some magical energy." Archer reported through the link.
"...Alright, do what you have to do. I'm going to head through the trap locations, hopefully he'll fall into one of those…"
He could feel the disbelief of the Masters words through the link, Archer could share them.
Caeneus broke through into the clearing, sliding to a halt as she scanned her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed as she stalked forwards, her grip on her spear tightened as she continued to pace around.
"Come out and I'll make it painful!" She called out, moving towards the centre of the clearing "Didn't peg you for cowards, but I ain't all that surprised!"
Dead silence greeted her in response, the Lancer growled under her breath as she came to a halt. Her eyes continued to move around the clearing before she huffed, raising her spear upwards and resting it upon her shoulder. Her eyes darted off at the sound of rustling, then narrowed as she caught sight of someone emerging from the woods.
Her lips spread into a sneer as Artemis emerged from the woods, Orion clinging to the top of her head as the two came into the open.
"There you are…" She moved her spear off her shoulder "Surprised you came out to die."
"I feel as though you're unjustly blaming me!" Orion called out "I don't like Gods either!"
Artemis nodded her head, then paused and shot her eyes upwards at the bear on her head. Her expression faltered slightly "E-eh?"
"Not you!" Orion chided "Obviously not you!"
"Oh...okay!" Artemis' expression did a complete one-eighty from despairing to pleased. Caeneus watched the two with an expression of pure disgust, grunting as she took a single step forwards.
Her instincts flared to life, her eyes darted behind her as she spun around.
Cerulean eyes instantly locked onto the form of Ash rushing towards her, the dark platinum sword in his hand thrusting towards her head. The Lancer jerked backwards and swung her spear upwards, deflecting the blow upwards and above her shoulder before pivoting her body and slamming her shoulder into his chest. He stumbled backwards with the strike as she charged forwards.
"Sneaky little shit!" Caeneus roared as she charged towards the Saber, swinging her spear towards his head while his left hand dipped to his side and whipped out a small knife. He parried the spear away from himself while swinging the knife towards her wrist. Caeneus clasped her free hand around his arm and stopped the attack dead in its tracks.
The two struggled against each other before several arrows slammed into her back, she winced from the attack and briefly loosened her hold on Ash. He wrenched his hand free of her grip and swung his head forwards. Caeneus saw the attack coming and did the same thing, their two foreheads collided with each other and forced the two backwards.
Ash flipped the small knife in his grip so as to reverse it, while levelling his greatsword at the Lancer.
"Was going to go for you next." Caeneus growled as she paced around in front of him, then looked over her shoulder quickly to ascertain that Artemis hadn't left yet. She hadn't, the Goddess was still staring at her with her bow raised in preparation. "Saves me some time. Kill both of you without hav-"
Ash rushed her, throwing the knife towards her face. Caeneus swung her spear upwards and bat the knife away from her face before twirling the spear and raising it up to block the downwards strike from the Saber, the Lancer scowled and pushed the attack to the side and grabbed his shoulder, throwing him out to the side and in the direct path of Artemis barrage.
The duo widened their eyes as Artemis arrows of light slammed into his chest and sent him hurtling backwards through the air.
Caeneus let out a bark of laughter as she turned on her heel to face Artemis and threw herself forwards, the second barrage of light arrows struck her a lot harder than they had previously, but didn't slow her run in the least as she closed the distance. She got to within a few feet of the Goddess before her instincts flared to life once again. Artemis widened her eyes and shot skywards as she spun around.
A trail of black fire snaked itself along the ground towards her, the Lancer snarled and threw her body to the side to avoid it. She frowned at the feeling the fire produced.
It was just plain wrong. Her eyes darted back to the Saber as he climbed to his feet, looking up at Artemis and then back to her as he shifted his grip on Galvatyne and paced towards her, the sword sparked as bright orange flames formed along the blade. She frowned at those too, they were less difficult to discern. Demonic swords had a particular feel to them and while she couldn't recall ever encountering one in life, the Throne provided her with enough info of them.
Dismissing the thoughts, she flickered her eyes back to the Saber again before the pair rushed towards each other, Ash's left hand freed itself from his sword as he pulled his arm back and slung it forwards, hurtling another black fireball towards the Lancer. Caeneus rolled under the attack and back to her feet as they closed the distance.
Ash thrust his sword towards her at the same time she swung her spear upwards. The two blows clashed against each other before the pair fell into a brutal fight. Ash's fighting style was the same as it had always been. Heavy slashes intermittent with the occasional blast of fire to keep his opponent off-balance. Caeneus grunted as she avoided another explosion near the side of her face.
The Lancer ducked low and struck him in the knee with a full powered kick, Ash hobbled with the blow and provided the Lancer with the opening to swing her spear around and strike him in the side of the head with the pole. Ash grunted and swung his left arm out while releasing a burst of continuous fire towards the Lancer. Caeneus took the heat head-on and winced as her skin started to redden from the attack before she released a roar, twirling the spear around, she thrust it towards the Unkindled's guts.
Ash instantly cut off the fire and lowered his hand to clasp around the shaft of the spear to stop himself being run through. Growling, he swung his sword towards the Lancer's head. Ducking her head low, Caeneus released a grunt of pain as the edge of the sword clipped the top of her head as Ash swung over it, cutting away a small portion of her hair but otherwise leaving her unharmed.
Then his sword burst into flames like a jet engine. She widened her eyes and ducked back as the sword swung back through the air the way it had come via rocket propulsion from the burst of fire. She slammed her palm into his nose and forced him to step backwards. She pointedly ignored the arrows shattering off her back – even if they did not start to feel like pinpricks – as she continued her advance.
The Unkindled Saber watched her advance and prepared himself for her next attack, sweeping Galvatyne back through the air and unleashing a wave of Chaos flames at the Lancer, Caeneus threw herself in close – hissing through her teeth as the flames washed over her – and tackled the Saber to the ground. Ash was quick to hook his arm around her waist and unleash a blast of abyssal fire directly onto her.
That prompted a more volatile reaction than he expected, the explosion threw her off as she released a more pained cry, her hand flying to the burn mark before she glared at him. The two quickly shot to their feet before another arrow of light flew in and struck the Lancer again. Caeneus glared up in annoyance before shifting her eyes back to Ash as the Saber swung towards her.
Raising her spear, she blocked the attack with the pole-arm and thrust her fist in a quick jab into his throat. Ash recoiled from her but didn't do the usual reaction of coughing heavily, instead levelling the point of his sword towards her feet.
She got the idea when the blade suddenly glowed with brilliant white light, the aura shifted from Demonic to Holy in an instant and released a jet of pure light at her feet. The explosion of Holy power threw her off balance and allowed Ash to take advantage, moving in close he swung his left hand upwards and slammed his knuckled into her chin, snapping her head back before his hand opened up and he thrust the flat of his palm against her chest. Another explosion of black-fire launched Caeneus away from him and into a rolling retreat.
Ash climbed back to his feet as Caeneus rose to hers. The Lancer glared at him her eyes darted towards the Goddess and then back to him before a snarl broke free of her throat. The Lancer charged towards Ash faster than she had previously – even with the hefty burn mark in the shape of a palm over the top of her ribs – and closed the distance rapidly. Ash swung downwards as she gripped her spear in two hands.
Then jumped into the air, completely passing over the top of Ash's slice as she flipped over him, Ash's eyes turned upwards as he tracked her movements and already made to turn himself towards her. Caeneus thrust the butt of her spear downwards as she pass over the top of the Saber, the weapon slammed into the top of his right eye and forced him to clench the optical nerve closed and wince. The moment her feet touched the ground she spun around and buried the edge of the spear into his side, the Mirrah chain splitting as the spear met flesh.
Caeneus made to rip the spear out before she got struck in the back, a burst of power washed over her as she was thrown into a roll as Ash staggered away from her. The woman spun around to see Artemis floating next to Ash, the Goddess having rammed her bow into the Lancer's back, already releasing arrows towards her and forcing her backwards. The Lancer growled at every hit – while nothing detrimental – which met its mark proving an annoyance.
The real threat to her was the Saber, who was already turning to face her with his right eye still clenched shut with his left having locked onto her.
She snarled as he broke into another run towards her, his left hand moving towards the box at his waist as he closed the distance, Caeneus snarled and rushed towards him and thrust the spear towards him as the hand came back out while holding something in its grasp. Ash shifted his body, allowing the spear to penetrate through his right shoulder and growling as it passed through his body. Caeneus blinked in surprise at the obvious tanking of her attack for barely half a second.
It was more than enough time for Ash to act.
Raising his left hand, he threw whatever he had in his hand directly into her face and kicked her in the gut at the same time. The substance splattered across her eyes and blocked her vision as she stumbled backwards. For a few moments she assumed he had thrown mud or something along the like in her face.
Then the smell hit her.
And she understood – on some primal level – that he had not thrown mud at her. He had thrown something much worse into her eyes.
Rage exploded forth in the form of a roar as she wiped her eyes clean, then a flash of pain flickered through her side as she snapped her eyes downwards. Ash had the small curved knife in his hand buried down to its grip in her left side in a reverse grip. The woman screamed at him, backhanding him away and loosening his grip around the dagger and forcing him into a roll as he cleared the distance.
Her hand clasped around the handle of the small dagger – oddly looking exactly the same as the one he had thrown at her – and tossed it away without a second thought. The only thing she could think of was how much she was going to kill him.
"I'm gonna tear out your fucking spine!" She screamed to the heavens while glaring at Ash, her eyes flashing from blue to red. She took single step forwards and staggered, her eyes flickered as nausea assaulted her body. Her head turned down to the area where she had been stabbed.
Deep purple liquid seeped from the wound.
"You f-fuckin-" She grunted as her eyes turned back to the Saber, a fresh wave of anger coursed through her body, soon followed by another wave of sickness.
Ash rose to his feet without showing a hint of emotion on his face as he closed the distance towards the Lancer, his eye still forced shut as he approached, shifting his arm to accommodate for the hole in his shoulder while being completely uncaring as to its existence. He raised Galvatyne above his head as he approached.
Caeneus planted her spear into the ground and heaved, blinking rapidly from the poison taking effect on her being.
The moment Ash got close enough, she moved. The Saber widened his eyes at the sudden burst of speed as she shot towards him, swinging his sword through the air and slamming it through her collarbone and into her body at the same time she thrust her spear forwards and ran him through directly into his gut and out the back of his body. The two stared at each other, Caeneus with Ash's greatsword lodged in her torso and Ash with her spear skewered through his guts.
Caeneus spat out a glob of blood onto the ground between them.
Then slammed her forehead into his face, Ash recoiled from the blow as her hand left the shaft of her spear and clasped around his shoulder, flipping him over her body and roughly onto the ground before twisting his arm. Ash hissed in pain as something jarred before she raised her boot and stomped down on his wounded arm, bone crunched under the impact and managed to earn a deep groan from Ash in response.
She managed to punch him again before another barrage of arrows caused her to almost topple forwards, the greatsword still lodged in her chest made balance a pressing issue for her. It got worse when Ash swept his left out and slammed his boot into the back of her knee, she reacted on instinct and jerked her leg forwards.
Ash rolled away from her, only succeeding in forcing the spear deeper through his body before he climbed back to his feet. Even with poison flowing through her body, Caeneus still had enough wits about her to turn around and face the Saber as he threw a punch towards her head. Caeneus scowled and caught the fist in her hand before swinging her other elbow up and smashing it against his chin.
The unkindled staggered backwards only for Caeneus to pull him forwards with the hand she still held tightly and slam her knee into his left side where she had been able to slash with her spear. Ash's body jolted with the impact as she wound her knee back to kick him again.
Artemis using her bow like a club and slamming it over the back of her head put an end to that particular plan, even with her skin still protecting her against the Goddess, it could do nothing to adjust to the impact, which the poison made worse. She turned around and levelled a hefty glare at the Goddess and swung her fist towards her. Artemis widened her eyes and raised her bow in a blocking measure.
Her fist stopped barely an inch from the Goddess defence, her eyes darted towards it to see Ash's left handed gauntlet firmly clasped around her arm. The Saber pulled her back, swinging her around to face him. Caeneus was prepared for many things – considering he only had one working arm at present – although what she wasn't expecting was for him to use his broken right arm like a club and strike her in the side of the face with it. The limb whipping her across the head as it flopped around uselessly at his side.
Ash winced in pain from the impact before he raised his left hand and gripped his wounded forearm.
Bone clicked and snapped as he shunted the limb back into place. Barely giving a second thought before he drew the arm across himself and swung it in a backhanded motion across the other side of Caeneus face. The Lancer's eyes burned before she swung her fist low and struck Ash in his gut, just underneath the entry point of the spear. Ash heaved with the blow before her hand lashed out and she thrust her thumb into the spear-wound in his right shoulder.
Ash growled in response, raising his left hand and clasping it over the side of her face. Caeneus' response to the growing heat of flames and deep sizzling was to spear her hand through the wound in Ash's gut. The Pyromancy glove released a jet of black fire which waved over the right side of Caeneus face and caused the Lancer to scream in both pain and rage as she continued to stab the Saber with her hands. Her hand shifted in his gut until it clasped the spear and twisted it, Ash hissed with the pain and tightly gripped his greatsword with his right hand and began to pull downwards while channelling magical energy through the blade.
Chaos flames poured out of the sword and burned away at the Lancer before he raised his leg and kicked her in the gut, wrenching his greatsword from her body – and her hands from his – with a sickening pop as they both fell backwards. Ash vomited out a small puddle of blood as he raised his head to glare at the Lancer as she glared back, her left hand dangling limply as he had parted her shoulder from the rest of her body.
Caeneus' eyes flickered slightly before she vomited up another wave of blood, this time the liquid having a purple dye to it as she stumbled on her feet. Then fell backwards and flat onto her back with a wet splatter.
The Saber staggered backwards and clasped his hand around the spear, slowly pulling it free. With a final grunt of exertion, he ripped the spear from his chest and tossed it away from himself.
His eyes turned back towards the Lancer as she lay on the ground glaring up at him, her face still caked in the dung pie and the poison from the throwing dagger having clearly affected her more than it would him. He supposed that might have related to the fact she was human – or there about – and he wasn't.
Coughing out another glob of blood, her eyes locked onto his as her body already began to fade into motes of light. Her eyes flashing red a final time "I'll...fuckin...get...you…" she sputtered out as her head fell backwards, Ash remained silent as she vanished before letting out a sigh as the final remnants of her body disappeared.
He shifted Galvatyne and stabbed it into the ground, using the hilt of the sword as a stand for himself to rest upon as he turned his head to stare at Artemis and Orion. Both of whom were staring at him with no small amount of concern.
"Hey…" Orion coughed out "So...you're not about to-"
"Die?" Ash tilted his head, then shook it "No...It will take more than that to kill me." he replied forcing himself straight "Although...I admit she came close."
"Yeah...what did you stab her with?"
"Poison dagger." Ash replied instantly "Well...a throwing dagger but the effect remains the same." he grunted.
"And the…" Orion gestured to the area around his eyes.
"Dung pie."
"Dung-!?" Orion sputtered "You threw actual shit in her face!?"
"...Yes." Ash nodded his head, then titled it "What?"
"Why did you even have that on you!?"
"...To throw?"
"Fucking hell…" Orion shook his head "Remind me never to shake hands with you."
"Alright." Ash nodded his head "You should rejoin with the others, I will call upon Ritsuka to return me."
"Looking like that?" Orion blinked at him "You look like you're about to fall over."
Ash shrugged "It matters not." he simply replied "Master, Caenis is dead, I request transport over to you."
"Alright." Ritsuka replied back.
"Hey, wait a-" Orion barely got a word out before the Saber vanished into thin air, the command seal transporting him away. His bear hand lowered "...Talk about stubborn. Stubborn kid as well."
"...I think it's a little funny." Artemis admitted "It's a little bit like you, but he doesn't have your charm, darling." she shrugged, then floated into the air "Let's go!"
The flash of red was soon followed by the form of Ash appearing as the command seal did its work.
"Hey, As-Oh my God!" Were the first words out of Ritsuka's mouth as he gaped at the side the Saber was in. His right eye was now bruised heavily with trace amounts of blood leaking from underneath it, there was a hole running directly through his gut from where he had clearly been stabbed with a similar wound on his shoulder, his left side had a slash through it which looked no better.
The Saber – for lack of a better word – looked like he was moments from falling over.
"Fujimaru-kun, I assume Ash has-Oh my word!" Romani's voice soon followed "Ash! What's with these wounds!?"
"Caenis was more challenging than I anticipated." Ash replied back, then looked over to Ritsuka again and down "I see the Goddess remains unharmed. That is fortunate."
Euryale stared at him "...Off to die are you?"
"I should hope not." Ash replied back with a frown, then looked over Ritsuka's shoulder "Heracles is that way then?" he didn't wait for an answer before he grunted and pulled his sword free of the ground and rested it against his shoulder, making to move past the Master before Ritsuka stood in front of him.
"What the heck, Ash!" Ritsuka stared at him in surprise "If you go out to fight anyone like that, you're gonna end up dead!"
"I am more than confident in my ability to absorb damage." Ash replied, making to step around the Master before Ritsuka moved again. Ash's face pulled into a frown "...I was under the impression I was required to kill Heracles."
"You are, you fool!" Olga took over from Romani "But going out to fight looking as dead as you claim to be is a sure-fire way for everyone else to follow after you! The Servants can delay Heracles long enough for you to try and heal yourself to a moderate degree or for Fujimaru to use his healing spells attached to the mystic code on you."
Ash stared at her, opening his mouth to reply before a roar from Heracles shook the forest around them, the trio turned their heads in the direction of the battle roar as the thumping increased in volume. Ash turned his attention back towards Olga "We have not the time for it. I will simply have to make do with what I have available to me. Besides, I have been in worse situations than this-"
"But not fighting the likes of Heracles!" Olga shouted back "You need to get it through that dull head of yours that you could very easily wind up dead and take the rest of us with you if you rush off in there like some buffoon!" Ash remained silent as she panted "Now sit down, shut up, and let Fujimaru heal you!"
"...While I wouldn't phrase it quite like that." Romani muttered out, then stared at Ash with a troubled expression "The Director is correct, you should at least allow Fujimaru-kun to heal the worst of your injuries before trying to face Heracles."
Ash remained silent for a few moments before he nodded his head once "Do what you can but I advise you to be quick, I do not know how long the others can hold out."
Boudica's chariot tore through the tree's as it chased down Heracles, his form long since becoming clear as the three Servants – and one grail powered human – in the back of the Chariot stared out in front of them.
Sanura sprinted behind the Chariot as fast as she could while Havel ran behind her at a much slower pace. The unfortunate problem was that he was simply far too heavy to fit in the chariot itself.
Archer projected his sleek black bow and planted it in the base of the Chariot as he stared at Heracles back, he exhaled as he held up his other hand. Boudica stared at him out of the corner of her eye while whipping the reins and spurring the two horses on faster.
Archer muttered something under his breath as the air around him shifted, holding out his right hand, a jagged black blade formed in his palm which he then proceeded to nock into the bow. He tensed as he pulled the string as far back as it would go until it began to groan. Archer exhaled as he locked onto Heracles' back, even with the Chariot ride being as rough as it was it didn't matter for this particular 'arrow' of his.
"Soar, Hound of the Red Plains." Archer muttered under his breath as cracks spread across the weapon as it overflowed with power "Hrunting!" he released the 'arrow' towards Heracles, the projectile disappeared into a red beam of light as it instantly shattered the sound-barrier with a thunderous boom, buffeting at the surrounding Servants hair.
Heracles slid to halt – clearly having already sensed the power behind the attack – and spun his body around as the beam closed it. The Berserker swung his axe-sword up at near impossible speeds and parried the arrow into the air in a spiral of light. Archer remained stone faced as the arrow continued into the sky before halting itself and shooting back down towards Heracles. The Berserker opened his mouth to release a roar before the arrow slammed down into him.
Piercing through his collar and directly into his body with enough force to stagger him before it exploded, shredding the left side of his torso and consuming his body in an explosion of flames. Archer didn't bother looking to his left where the other Servants on the Chariot were staring at him.
Right on cue, the shock wave from the explosion hit them.
Boudica cracked the reins again as the Servants rode in and slid to a halt, all jumping off the Chariot and circling around the cloud of smoke. A rustling off the tree's had Archer's eyes dart behind them just in time to see Atalanta emerge once again, he had wondered where she had vanished off too.
The cloud dispersed as Heracles' form released a wave of steam, his body righted itself as it shifted back into its pristine condition. The Servant's eyes formed and then swept across the ground in front of him before they landed on Atalanta for a brief moment. The Archer stared back at him with a tense from.
"This is stupid, Heracles. Jason is always leading you on these harebrained schemes of his." She pointed out, drawing her bow and preparing an arrow. Heracles stared at her in silence, his eyes briefly flickering away from her before they returned. The Berserker released a deep growl, earning a sigh from the feline Archer. "I suppose I should have expected as much. Really...what did that bumbling fool ever do to earn a friend like you?"
Sanura erupted from between the tree's and into the open, sliding to a halt next to Archer. The Lion headed knight then whispered to him "Our pitfall is a few metres away."
Archer grunted in response, eyes flickering just past Heracles and towards the ground behind him. The slight shift in the colouration of leaves indicated where they had built their trap before his eyes flickered back to Heracles as the Servant tensed himself, shifting his body and then snapping his eyes onto Archer. He grimaced at being singled out.
This was why he liked to keep things close to his chest.
Heracles released a roar and charged towards them, Mash rushed in and raised her shield high. Once again blocking the attack from the Berserker with only a strained grunt escaping from her lips being any indication of what she was attempting. Heracles growled as he forced her back as the Servants rushed in on either side of him. Atalanta jumped through the air, loosening dozens of arrows at the Berserker – all of which shattered against his skin – while Sanura charged towards him on his right while Boudica charged in on his left. David rushed in behind Mash and Drake was already bringing out her next salvo of cannons.
She fired the beams of light towards Heracles, slamming into his body and staggering him away from Mash while Boudica rushed in from the side, attempting to keep him off balance and force him backwards, she not doubt having recognised the pitfall trap as well, and while it wouldn't stop him for very long. It would at least delay him for precious seconds which were almost an eternity in these situations.
Heracles stamped his foot into the ground, shaking the very earth beneath his feet before swinging his entire body towards the Rider, Boudica raised her shield and tanked the hit head on, the force blowing her off her feet and sending her spiralling through the air. Heracles made to follow after her before a cry from his right side snapped his head around just in time for Sanura to land a two footed kick against his cheek. Heracles grunted with the impact as the Lancer this time used her feet to kick off his head to avoid being grabbed again.
Heavy crashing thumps emerged from the forest as Havel caught up with the group, the Berserker having forgone his weapon entirely and instead rushed straight towards Heracles with his bare hands. The Demi-God flashed his eyes towards Havel and charged towards him, barrelling past Mash and sending her skating away as he swung down at Havel. The Stone Bishop raised his forearms in a blocking motion as the axe-sword slammed into him and very nearly toppled him over. Havel grunted as he stepped forwards and pushed the weapon away from his body and swung his fist low into Heracles kidney.
The Berserker grunted before his left hand lashed out and struck Havel over the side of the head, who retaliated with a series of brutal jabs into his body. The three punches collided with his side and ribs before Havel punched down against his wrist holding the slab sword and jerked it from his hand. Heracles grunted – now unarmed as well – before he went on the offensive.
The Demi-God's movements blurred as he unleashed a rapid series of punches against Havel, chipping away at his stone armour and releasing shockwaves with every hit as he continued to force the Bishop back. Havel raised his arms in a block to hide away his face as Heracles continued to throw punch after punch. When he pulled his arm back and threw it forwards towards his head, Havel ducked low – the punch whiffing over his helmet – and twisted his body around the missed arm and latched onto it. Heracles widened his eyes as Havel threw the Berserker over his shoulder and slammed his body into the ground with an earth shattering thud.
Raising his boot up, Havel stomped down onto Heracles face as hard as he could, the Berserkers head dented the ground with the force of the stomp before Havel lashed out and roughly grabbed him by the hair, yanking him upwards and slamming his face into the waiting knee. Cocking his right arm back, Havel wound up a haymaker and threw it towards the already dazed Berserker.
Heracles' eyes flashed red before he released a roar, his hand rose up and clamped down around the flying fist and halted it. His other hand swung upwards and smashed into Havel's far leg, jerking the Bishop backwards and allowing the Berserker to shoot to his feet. Heracles roared as the hand which had punched the knee swung upwards and clasped itself around Havel's head, pulling the Berserker off his feet and slamming him into the ground with an earth-shattering explosion.
Heracles stepped away from the Berserker lying in the bottom of the crater, turning his head to the side as his instincts flared. He leaned back to avoid Mash's shield striking him in the head, swinging his arm upwards he caught the shielder in the gut with an uppercut, her eyes bulged as oxygen was violently forced out of her body as she flew skywards.
"How much longer?" Ash asked as Ritsuka held his hand over the wound in his gut, the Master had sweat running down his face from repeated use of the first-aid spell.
"I...don't…" He exhaled, breathing heavily as his arm fell back to his side. Ash frowned at the movement and turned his eyes back in the direction of the sounds of conflict, then looked back at Ritsuka, already standing back up again. "Wait a-"
"We cannot." Ash shook his head "You are exhausted as is." his eyes narrowed "What is happening?"
Ritsuka winced "Archer is using something to delay Heracles, that's all he said." the Master replied "But that doesn't mean-"
"They need help and I will provide it." He grunted, ignoring the brief flash of discomfort which flooded through his body as he gripped his greatsword and pulled it out of the ground. "We can delay no longer."
"And with how he is?" Olga pointed at Ritsuka through the screen "With how exhausted he is, do you think it even possible to start blasting off Noble Phantasms without killing him?"
Ash frowned, his eyes turned downwards before they narrowed "...The issue is magical energy?" he inquired, looking back at Olga. The woman blinked in surprise at the question before she nodded her head.
"If he were a stronger mage, then you might be able to deploy your Noble Phantasms, but with how he is now you'll more than likely get maybe two or three before he passes out from exhaustion." She informed him "Which means we might have to think of a new plan or-"
"You said the Basin Oscar held was akin to a Holy Grail?"
"Yes?" Olga tilted her head "It is, what does that have to-"
Ash wasted no time in flipping the Bottomless Box open and pulling the large golden basin out, he stared at it for a few moments before he moved it towards his body.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Olga shrieked "Are you trying to force it into you!?"
"You said it was a holder of magical energy, I am simply going to use it in a fashion similar to Drake." Ash replied as the dish began to glow "That will solve the issue of magical energy."
"You can't just put a Holy Grail into yourself!" Romani sputtered in shock "Francis Drake was chosen by the Grail of this era to wield its power. The other Servants we encountered all received their Holy Grails from Lev or whoever else is behind this!" the Doctor went on, Ash briefly flickered his gaze to him "If you try and force a Grail into your body without first understanding what it can do, the chances are it will rip your container to pieces! We don't know enough about the Grails we recovered to start trying to infuse them into-"
Ash pressed the basin into his body, hunching over as magical energy instantly burned its way through his body. The people in front of him gaped at the sudden display as Ash hobbled around on his feet.
"Are you insane!?" Came the frantic cries across the communicator "Take it out of you before-"
Rising back to his feet, Ash exhaled heavily and turned his eyes to Ritsuka. "I will be back soon." he nodded to the Master – who was still dumbfounded by the display – before he turned away and took off in a sprint in the direction of the conflict. Ritsuka watched him run before his mouth eventually caught up with what he had witnessed.
"What the Hell!?" He shouted out after the Saber "Ash!" his eyes turned to the screen "Wha-he-!?"
"Romani, get on those readings!" Olga directed the man "And monitor Fujimaru!" she turned to him "How are you feeling!?"
"N-no different!" He reported, still looking between the Director and Ash "Did he-Is that safe!?"
"I don't know!" Romani called through the screen "His readings are all jumbled up at the moment! His Container hasn't been expanded enough to handle this sudden influx of power so it's trying to accommodate for-" he paused, eyes flickering as they searched for something "Wait...that's…"
"Romani? What is it?"
The Doctor looked back at Ritsuka and then the Director before he shook his head "It's nothing, just another weird reading." he dismissed, going back to the monitor "His vitals are looking more impressive and the magical energy cost has been cut down due to the power he's receiving from the Grail. The fortunate news is that his mana stat means he's not going to blow up, he can only channel so much magical energy at a time but if he holds onto it for any considerable length of time…"
"What will happen?"
"I don't know!" The Doctor threw his hands up "That's the problem! The only servants we've encountered with Grails are ones who have been the rightful owners of them or had them specially gifted to them. I've never seen someone just shove it into their chest and run off!"
"Keep monitoring him!" Olga directed, then looked back at Ritsuka "You, keep moving to the rendezvous site and don't stop for anything else!"
Ritsuka nodded his head, hooking his arms under Euryale and breaking into another jog. The Goddess stared at him with an indiscernible expression. "You know you can just summon him again if he dies, right?"
"I'm not going to entertain that idea right now." Ritsuka replied back as he ran, his expression steeled "That just means I'd see him as little more than a disposable tool. I don't want him dying anymore than I wanted Asterios or Oscar to die."
Euryale stared at him before she released a soft huff of amusement, looking away from him "How noble of you."
Ash felt as though his whole body was burning, the wounds he had received were already starting to sport cracks across his body. Right now though, that was something that didn't concern him in the least. He needed to get to them and aid in killing Heracles.
That was the greatest threat they faced and if that meant he would have to suffer harm to do so, it was nothing out of the ordinary. He wasn't in any particular rush to die, that would mean he would fail in his duty of serving Ritsuka but this was one of those times where it was more important to value the duty than himself.
If they dealt with Heracles, then the issue of Jason and the others could be easily dealt with, therefore it was necessary to deal with Heracles quickly.
He continued to sprint as fast as he could as he approached the sounds of fighting, the roars of Heracles already growing in volume were soon followed by the crashing of tree's and earth. Galvatyne burst into life with Chaos Flames until it glowed a brilliant orange as he charged.
The unfortunate truth was that even with all the reserve magical energy he could feel coursing through his body. He was still injured following his fight with Caenis. His right eye was still forced shut and right arm from the shoulder down was numb because of all the damage he had taken to it.
He could only hope that it wouldn't pose too great an issue.
AN: Grail Jacked Ash running around like a madman.
Also this is going to be a one-time thing. Because funnily enough, shoving a Grail into an ill-fitting container is a terrible idea. This is why you level people to max. So at the moment it's basically a super version of power within.
Where it is damaging him to actually use all that magical energy.
But hey…
He gets to throw around stuff willy nilly so, progress.