Halloween - The Singing Pumpkin Castle: V
Tseldora jumped back as the twinbladed axe blurred past his head and buried itself into the wall, the Caster stared wide eyed at the weapon before it was torn out and took a large section of brickwork with it, flinging the debris down the hallway like a shotgun blast of clay. Ash followed through the impromptu attack by charging and swinging his body forwards in a move eerily similar to one Gundyr had used on him.
The Caster was left wholly unprepared when the full force of Ash body checked him into the ground, the Saber would have carried on the attack before a river of blood rushed towards him from the right hand side, the Saber kicked off the ground as the blood rushed past him and solidified into spikes before embedding themselves into the wall.
Carmilla merely clicked her tongue in annoyance before swinging her sceptre downwards and redirecting the spider blood towards him again only to pause and let out a grunt of exertion as Mash charged her. The woman merely smirked and thrust her hand just above the Shielders head.
Mash paused at the sudden warning in her mind, directing her attention upwards just in time to see the underside of an Iron Maiden trap descend towards her head, the girl raised her shield upwards and swung it to the side, clipping the summon and sending it spinning through the air before dissipating into motes of light.
"Ha!" A cry from Siegward was soon punctuated by a meaty thud and a sound like shattering plates before the remains of a dead spider - with the head left with the distinct impression of a boot - went catapulting past her and further up the hallway, ricocheting off the first wall it impacted and leaving a rather disturbing green smear. "This is rather bloody work!" Siegward exclaimed as he rushed forwards, virtually barrelling through the spiders in his path with little care for them as he closed in on Carmilla.
The Vampire scowled at him and worked up an Iron maiden directly in front of her before launching it towards the Catarinan, Siegward widened his eyes behind his helmet as the front of the trap opened up to reveal rows upon rows of sharp spikes pointed inwards and poised to ensnare him.
"Good heavens!" Siegward slid to a halt, kicking off the ground backwards as the trap showed no sign of slowing down. The Knight came to a halt and swung his sword upwards like a bat, striking the centre of the trap with a reverberating crunch of metal and sending it crashing through the ceiling and into the floor above.
"Do you know how long that's going to take to fix!?" Tseldora shouted out in irritation "You clumsy-" he widened his eyes and stepped back to avoid a ball of blue flame rocketing past his head, his eyes instantly locked onto the rather intimidating sight of Kiyohime with her fan pointed towards him.
"Your bugs scared my husband, prepare to burn."
"Wah!" Tseldora scrambled backwards, bringing up his Catalyst and hurling forth flashes of blue light in the form of pebble sized orbs towards the group. Ash stood in front of the Berserker and tanked the blows, his Magic Resistance cutting them out before they even had the chance to strike them before he moved forwards once again.
Momentarily stopping to raise the Black Knight axe above his head and swing it downwards into a charging spider, the blow splitting the arachnid in half down the middle and shattering the tiles beneath it before getting stuck in the ground. Ash raised his head to stare at the Caster as the man looked between him and the Berserker behind them, then looked out of the corner of his eye to see Carmilla still fighting with Mash and Siegward.
Tseldora pursed his lips before standing tall and composing his expression "You face Duke Tseldora of the Cove-"
Ash hurled the greataxe towards the man like a boomerang. Tseldora let out a panicked scream and dropped to the ground as the weapon sailed just over the top of his head.
"Ash!" Ritsuka called out in a slightly chiding tone "I said not to kill them!"
Ash paused "Ah…sorry." he called back "Force of habit."
"You bloody craven!" Tseldora cried out in indignation and shock as he got back to his feet and looked between the spot where the axe had landed and back at the Saber "You almost killed me!" he cried out as he glared at the Servant.
Ash furrowed his brows "Yes…I am unused to capturing as opposed to killing. I will ensure your injuries are not fatal."
"Wha-You-" Tseldora thrust his staff forwards and launched a spear of light towards Ash, the Servant merely manifested their Bottomless Box and withdrew a large circular shield and parried the attack to the side. The greatshield with two semi-circle cut outs on the left and right side weighed heavily in the Saber's hands before he raised it up again in front of him and braced it with his right hand before charging forwards like a battering ram.
Carmilla swung her staff like a club, narrowly avoiding striking Mash in the side of the head with the attack. The domineering woman didn't wait for a counter offensive before lashing out with a kick to follow through, her spiked heel colliding with Mash's side and earning a sharp gasp from the Shielder and sending her stumbling to the left but with no visible injury.
"Sturdy girl." Carmilla tsk'd to herself in annoyance as she lowered the leg again and thrust the staff forwards and sent the river of green blood shooting towards Siegward as he moved in again while manifesting a Iron maiden directly to the left of the attack. Predictably, Siegward dodged to the right and then found himself directly underneath the trap which she dropped down onto his head.
Siegward let out a yelp as the attack struck him in the top of the head and caused him to go slightly dazed for a few moments as the iron maiden vanished into motes of light. She rushed forward, moving like a blur past Mash and spearing her fingernails into a point and then thrusting them towards the chainmail just underneath the right shoulder of Siegward.
The Knight managed to reorient himself just in time to swing his sword upwards at the Assassin, the woman backed off with a faint scowl on her face before swinging her staff to the side and throwing a maiden at the knight like a wrecking ball. The man looked to the side just in time for the attack to strike him dead centre and launch his body through the air and crashing through a nearby door into one of the guest rooms.
Carmilla paused and then let out an annoyed groan "I just finished that room…" she growled to herself before she turned around.
And got punched in the face by Mash. The Shielder managing to land a solid blow against her chin and snapping her head back in surprise, she was hardly idle as Carmilla stumbled back before grabbing her shield with both hands and swinging it into the Vampires side like a hammer, striking the woman and denting the metal skeleton lining the outside of her dress. Carmilla released a deep gasp in response as the blow knocked the wind from her lungs.
Her eyes glowed with anger as she lashed out with her clawed fingers, managing to cup Mash's cheek with her attack as she was thrown away from the girl. Mash hissed in response and backed away, pressing a hand against the two shallow cuts and hissing under her breath.
"Mash-!"
"Just a scratch, Senpai!" Mash swiftly replied to reassure the Master, who sagged in relief "Mash Kyrielight still fit to fight!"
Carmilla released an annoyed - and rather undignified - growl as she climbed back to her feet and rushed towards the Shielder. Mash cocked her shield arm back and proceeded to spin on her heel, as she came upon the apex of her turn she hurled the shield forwards, the weapon spinning through the air directly for the vampire's head.
Carmilla widened her eyes and ducked down as the shield just barely missed striking her - stabbing into the wall and becoming embedded in it - before her head snapped up and she resumed her charge towards the young girl, thrusting her claws forward like spears as she came in close to Mash. The young servant however rolled forwards, ducking just underneath the claws and moving directly underneath the Assassin.
Their eyes met as Mash reached the mid-point of her roll, staring directly up at the Assassin with her legs cocked back and her hands pressed flat against the ground behind her head. Carmilla's eyes widened at the girl's intent far too late to act before Mash pushed off the ground and extended her legs forwards at rapid speeds while pushing into the air.
Her armoured heels connected with Carmilla's chin and launched the servant backwards through the air away from the girl, leaving her head spinning from the sudden impact. As she flew through the air towards the direction she had come from, the back of her head crashed against the cross-shield still stuck in the wall and snapped her head forwards while the momentum of her body continued on.
The result was the Assassin virtually flipping in mid air and roughly landing on her face with a pained groan.
"This is getting unreasonable!" Ritsuka returned his attention to the battling servants "We're probably going to end up winning!"
"Awfully confident for a commoner aren't you-" Tseldora tried to counter before he ducked down and narrowly avoided a punch from Ash, the fist flying just over the Casters head and burying itself in the stone wall. The two men stared at the fist before they looked at each other in silence. Ash wasted no time in ripping the arm free in a wide sweeping motion with the intention of catching the Caster in the cheek.
The man scrambled backwards as he was showered in a rain of dust and debris from the now missing chunk of wall in the side of the room. Ash rocketed forwards and swung his left hand in an overhead punch towards the prone Caster, the man rolled to the right to avoid the attack as it slammed into the flooring tiles and shattered them in an instant. As Tseldora tried to move away again, Ash's right hand lashed out and clasped around the collar of his clothes before hurling him across the room and into the nearby wall.
As the man dropped down, Ash cleared the distance in a second and cocked his arm back for a haymaker which landed in Tseldora's gut, bending his body forwards and burying him sideways in the wall like a tent peg. As Ash pulled his arm back, his left hand reached up and roughly grabbed Tseldora's face and pulled him free of the wall before hurling him across the corridor and into the opposing wall head first. The force of the impact drove him like a nail until the point he was halfway buried with only his legs sticking out.
When the man made no further attempts to move, Ash relaxed his body and turned towards the others "The Caster has been dealt with."
Ritsuka stared at the unconscious form of Carmilla face first on the ground and then towards the legs of Tseldora unceremoniously dangling out of the wall before he raised his hands and rubbed his face "...Well, at least they aren't dead."
"Might I ask why?"
"Because I'd rather not kill everyone I meet?" Ritsuka responded back somewhat sharply before he caught himself and exhaled "Sorry…spiders have me on edge and I really don't like passing out when I know they are around here."
The sounds of clumsy movement had the group turn towards the hole Siegward had been blasted through as the man stumbled out of the hole "Goodness me." the knight exhaled in surprise "I appear to be having a rather slow day." he looked upwards towards the ceiling "I didn't think those things could drop from the sky…"
"They looked like Iron Maidens." Romani informed the group as his face flashed up again "I suppose that makes sense with her identity being…erm…we did find out who that was, right?"
Ritsuka blinked "Erm…that guy-" he pointed towards Tseldora "Called her Carmilla."
"...Well, I guess we met the adult version of Elizabeth."
"Huh!?" Mash and Ritsuka stared at him in shock before the former's eyes widened in understanding.
"Ah, of course! There are rumors that the Vampress Carmilla was based upon Elizabeth Bathory!" Mash exclaimed, turning to Ritsuka "I don't know why she would use the name Carmilla but she showed the clear signs of being a bloodsucker and the creation of Iron Maidens as torture devices."
Ritsuka looked past Mash towards Carmilla - still face down on the ground - before looking towards Mash. "Talk about a tonal shift." he simply replied, still trying to wrap his head around it "How does Elizabeth go from idol performance to dominatrix? For that matter where did the tail and dragon horns go?"
Mash paused before composing herself "The legends about servants can alter their appearances and aspects. Given that the adult version of Elizabeth Bathory is believed by some to be a vampire, it would change her physical appearance." she paused "In the same way that Vlad Tepes could also be summoned as a Vampire."
"Right, right…Count Dracula and all that."
"And Senpai?"
"Yes?"
"What's a dominatrix?"
"...Uuuuuh." Ritsuka stared at the shielder with wide - slightly panicked eyes - before they drifted away from her and towards Romani on the screen. The man's expression was utterly blank as he stared at the Master. For Ritsuka, that made the situation all the more awkward as Romani continued to stare at him. "Nothing important." he quickly replied to the Demi-Servant, Romani's expression turning more tranquil.
"Bizarre words aside, shall I assume we are free to advance?" Ash inquired as he pulled his greataxe out of the floor, hefting the large black weapon up before resting it on his shoulders. He paused as he watched Kiyohime approach the prone form of Carmilla on the floor, raising an eyebrow behind his helmet. "Is there some issue?"
Kiyohime didn't reply, instead coming to a halt around a foot from the Assassin on the ground. The young girl stared at the Servant with a flat expression before she looked left and right then leaned down, spotting a suitably sized stone and picking it up. The Berserker seemingly examined the rock with a raised eyebrow before she gave a pleased nod to herself and looked back down at the Servant.
The girl threw the rock at the head of the white haired woman, earning a sharp gasp from the Servant as it made impact. "Ouch!" Carmilla hissed, raising her hand up and clasping at her head "What on earth-?"
"Don't try to play dead to shirk from your duties." Kiyohime spoke with clear disapproval aimed at the Assassin, she then gestured around the ruins of the hallway and the multiple dead spider bodies littering the location. "Especially not when you and the other one have so much work left to do. Besides, you can use this as an opportunity to improve your cleaning skills as they looked rather pitiful." she turned towards the others and smiled, "Now we can continue."
Carmilla merely sobbed quietly, clutching her hands into fists and scraping at the duty and debris on the floors.
Ritsuka stared at the woman with a raised eyebrow, pointing to her and then looking at the others "Are we just gonna go then?"
"They do not seem to be in a position to stop us." Ash shrugged to himself, before looking to Kiyohime and noticing her expression was suddenly filled with interest. "Is there something you have learned-"
"I suppose we confirmed that the dragon girl has the Grail." She replied instead, looking past the Saber and down the hallway with an intrigued hum "I wonder what else it might do beyond this…" she gestured around them "...curious circus." her smile grew as she started to walk in the direction of the doors at the end of the hallway with a sudden enthusiastic pep in her step, moving past the Saber and singing to herself in an upbeat tone.
Ash watched her with furrowed brows as she ventured past him, then turned his attention back towards the others in the hallway, all of whom were watching the Berserker with equal amounts of bewilderment and curiosity. "Did I miss something?"
"I…am not entirely sure." Siegward replied slowly "If you have I believe I might have to join you in that regard." he confessed with a confused tone of his own "For I too have no idea what has just occurred."
"Me neither." Ritsuka replied, scratching his cheek with uncertainty before he shivered ever so slightly "And yet I feel an odd sense of forbidding."
"Halloween is a time for scary stories, Senpai." Mash dutifully informed him with a hopeful smile "Maybe it is the spirit of Halloween that is finally getting to you."
"I don't think this has anything to do with Halloween." Romani remarked with a wry smile, leaning back into his chair and then looking around to see the Director glaring down at him. The man's smile vanished and his lips thinned once again. Olga continued to stare at him blankly for a few moments before she turned back towards the screen.
"Keep going. The presence of potentially hostile Servants has already been confirmed, therefore you should expect further resistance as you move in until you encounter the owner of the Singularity." She paused "And expect her to be in possession of the Holy Grail and thus more powerful as a result, however as she is a Chaldean Servant you would likely be able to to use a Command Seal to order her to-"
"Um…actually, Elizabeth Bathory has A rank Magic Resistance." Romani commented from the side, earning a surprised look from the Director.
"She what?"
"Yeah." Romani pointed to a screen on the left, pressing several buttons before a series of parameters showed up "A rank in magic resistance and B rank in territory creation." he winced "A command spell would probably have to be really specific to effect her and even then, she might be able to withstand the effect of one for at least a little while. Long enough to use the Grail to override it."
"Is that why I can't just summon her now?" Ritsuka raised up his right hand and waved the red marks "Because of the Grail?"
"Pretty much." Romani replied with a sigh "It's an unfortunate situation to be sure. The Grail interferes with the Command Spell system by providing the Servants with their own source of magical energy. A temporary battery by which they become independent." the man paused again "Basically they become their own Masters."
"...That's just cheating." Ritsuka complained with a groan, rubbing the bridge of his nose and shaking his head "Alright then…we've still got a concert to attend guys."
The group wandered off back down the hallway, leaving Carmilla alone with an unconscious Tseldora, the woman banefully glaring at the mess that surrounded her.
"...This is unfair." The woman whimpered "I'm a noble, dammit. I shouldn't be the one on my hands and knee's cleaning up." she turned towards the dangling legs of her compatriot "This is all your fault you know?" she pointed accusingly at the man "If your insects were actually any good we'd have a proper slaves to do this nonsense for us."
The man only responded with a muffled reply through the walls.
"Arachnids."
"What cares!?"
Ash closed the door behind them, turning back to face the others "I have yet to sense any further disturbance." he stated as he looked around, advancing forwards with a pensive expression "However, I did not sense the spiders before they attacked, so I would suggest being careful."
"Ash is right." Romani corroborated "Looking at the readings on this end, it looks like this castle is a territory. A better than average looking one too, so it would seem that she put her territory creation skill to use." scratching his chin, Romani blew air out of his mouth "Looks like it might be messing with your senses a bit, even we're struggling to get accurate readings on this end."
"What we can tell you is that there are still signs there are more familiars in your location. Either skeletons, ghosts, spiders or whatever other bizarre freak show is down there." The woman rubbed her forehead with a low groan "This is stupidly aggravating for such an unimportant event." she looked around "Where is this level of competence within the Singularities?"
"We didn't have those Servants in the earlier Singularities." Romani obliviously replied to the rhetorical question "Although this is useful to learn now. We already knew about the Casters ability to summon spider familiars so-"
"Romani." Olga cut him off with a sigh "Not right now."
"Ah…right…sorry."
"So what is the plan for when we confront Elizabeth?" Ash asked as they walked through the hallways, routinely checking the rooms with a greater degree of caution "As she has already made it clear her intentions are hostile."
"Not so much hostile as baffling." Ritsuka replied with a frown of his own "I think Elizabeth is just living up to what a traditional haunted house is all about, namely the monsters and the like. Although I think she needs some work on her delivery."
"Miss Hari was a monster?" Siegward asked with surprise, "What sort?"
"The most vile sort of-" Kiyohime began, only to be interrupted by Ritsuka.
"She wasn't one." Ritsuka replied, pausing and blinking in confusion "I'm not entirely sure what she was doing in a haunted house. She wasn't all that scary and seems really out of place now, doesn't she?"
Mash paused, understanding the words and nodding her head "I am a little confused as well Senpai…" she admitted, scrunching up her face in thought "Maybe…didn't the invitation say it was a concert?" she pointed out, pausing and cupping her chin "If so, that might mean that Mata Hari was summoned as a sort of opening act?"
Releasing a hum, Ritsuka considered the words before nodding his head. "That's certainly possible." he admitted, then grunted "Actually, that makes a lot of sense now that you mention it. She did say she was supposed to greet her with her dancing and then lead us inside."
"I believe her words were that she intended to seduce us." Siegward remarked with a helpful tone "Although I am not sure how she would do that-"
"By swinging her adulterous-"
"Moving on." Ritsuka coughed into his hand, once again cutting off Kiyohime before she could say anything too insulting "Did anyone get anything from the spiders?"
Ash wordlessly raised up a plastic bat "...I have several dozen more." he remarked, slowly lowering the item out of sight "They seemed to appear the moment the spiders were slain. I was also able to procure several candles."
"So those are still showing up are they?" Ritsuka murmured to himself "And not just from the skeletons. Is it everything in this Singularity that is magic has the ability to drop decorations when they are defeated?" he posed the latter part of the question towards Romani, the man looked caught off-guard for a moment before he pursed his lips.
"I don't know. It's possible but that's a little beyond my area of expertise." He nervously admitted with a slightly shifty expression before shaking his head "Anyway, from the looks of things you might find yourself meeting some more obstacles. The readings directly surrounding you are-"
The doors ahead of them on either side of the hallway swung open, pumpkin headed skeletons stepping out of the now vacant rooms and turning to stare at them. Each of the rag wearing creatures brandished some manner of weapon either bows, spears, axes, swords and Ritsuka was sure he even spotted one with a kitchen knife.
"This is eerily familiar to Carthus." Ash remarked with an even tone as he brought the axe to bear once again. "Although these ones do not seem to rise once they have been destroyed, so that is fortunate for us."
"They don't appear to be as strong either." Siegward commented with an equally light tone "Still, mustn't get overconfident now!" he chuckled to himself as he strode forwards "You never know when the-"
The twin doors at the far end of the hallway swung open as a large jack-o-lantern rolled through them before coming to a halt. The group paused, staring at the large vegetable in utter bafflement as the carved face stared at them.
Then watched in disturbed curiosity as the carving of the face gradually started to shift and the haunting smile curve itself into a frown as their eyes sharpened.
"...The pumpkin is scowling at me." Ritsuka stated as he slowly backed away "Why is the pumpkin scowling at me?"
The sides of the pumpkin split open as long thin dark limbs ripped themselves free of the side, the pumpkin then raised itself up into the air upon an equally thin and skeletal body covered in a thin layer of rubbery looking skin. The creature growled at them before recognition set in.
"H-hey, Ash?"
"Yes?"
"Doesn't that sort of erm…look like a-"
"Mimic?" Ash gave a single nod "Yes…yes it does. They typically mimic what will attract prey to them…where myself and Siegward are from it is treasure chests but evidently here-"
"It's pumpkins." Ritsuka realised grimly as the giant spindly creature started to walk forwards, carved mouth splitting open and revealing rows upon rows of very real teeth lining black gums, each one of the sharp fangs glistened under the lights above.
The pair remained silent as the sounds of battle raged just outside the twin doors at the far end of the room. Vlad looked up from his knitting and raised a lone eyebrow at the muffled cries and heavy thudding sounds before humming and looking back down at his work "It seems they are encountering resistance."
"So it seems." The Rat King idly commented with a curious tilt of the head "Mayhaps they be delayed further by the other creatures lurking in this household?"
"Possibly." Vlad shrugged "Although I'm sure they will make it through soon enough." he looked up towards the Rat King "It occurs to me I have nothing to call you." he shook his head "That is most rude of me, especially as I myself am a King. Not showing due diligence when interacting with another monarch, I offer my sincere apologies."
"None are needed." The Rat King replied, shaking his head "My name would be unpronounceable in thy human tongue. However, thou might call me Basile." he paused "If it should provide some small comfort to thee."
Vlad gave a quiet chuckle and a nod of the head "A name suitable for a King, I suppose. I greet you formally, King Basile of the burrows."
Basile seemingly preened at the respect shown to him as he offered a nod in response, turning his head back towards the door "I dare say they might have encountered the false plant."
"Ah yes." Vlad nodded his head "The strange creature that disguised itself as a pumpkin."
"The humans called them mimics." Basile informed him "Treacherous creatures, but they prey on the inevitable greed of man…and they were well fed indeed."
"Hmmm." Vlad gave a hum of acknowledgment as he looked away from the knitting work and towards the fireplace "I suppose we should prepare ourselves for a confrontation. It would be rude of me as a warrior to insult those who venture so far by appearing disinterested in their struggles." he remarked as he folded up his knitting and placed the woollen construct to one side. "I would have liked to complete that but I suppose I will have time after this battle, win or lose."
"I never did ask thee what thou w're crafting." Basile realised with a grunt to himself as he sat up in the chair "Some manner of cloth, I assume?"
"Yes." Vlad admitted easily without anything in the way of shame "I always wanted to try my hand at it in life and never found the opportunity." he raised his arm and gestured at his sleeves "I found the skill put into making these clothes rather fascinating and when presented with the opportunity to make my own attempts, I dared not let it slip through my hands."
"An impressive effort for one who is untested in the art."
"I find it is helpful to think of them as stakes." Vlad replied before his lips thinned "Although I suppose that might be a rather grizzly comparison when my history is concerned but the comparison remains." Lowering his arms and resting them against the armrests of his chair, he pushed himself to his feet and adjusted his attire. Waving his hand and manifesting a long spear in the right palm and clutching it tightly "And your own defences?"
"The court of the Burrows is never far from their King." Basile replied in a vague tone as he closed his eyes. Vlad slowly turned his head to the far wall as a small stone archway manifested itself against the surface, the single stone door gradually raised itself up and revealed a thick darkness behind it.
One by one, large rats - around the size of small dogs - scurried out of the darkness and into the room, soon followed by a slightly larger rat with what looked like a mohawk running down the back of its head, which earned a slightly raised eyebrow from Vlad but no comment from him.
Basile opened his eyes up again "That Vanguard of the Royal Rat court." he explained away the unasked question as he turned his head towards Vlad "As I said, a King is never far from his people…" his tone turned slightly forlorn "However…they are not the same."
Vlad gave an understanding nod "Mere summons...I see." he then paused "I can see why you did not summon them with the Caster about."
Basile gave a disgusted hiss "I would never dirty my sight with such a creature, humans who slew their own kind in the pursuit of greed. Despicable and one who set loose the scourge of the armoured ones upon our underground haven."
"I suppose he did seem somewhat fanatical." Vlad admitted to himself with a curious hum before he gestured to himself "However, I am a Berserker and my Class is famed for its insanity so perhaps I am in a poor position to judge."
"Thou art not the only one whose reputation was besmirched." Basile replied with an exhale "My class is famed and I have no desire for a golden chalice…for my wish could never be granted with it."
Vlad remained silent at the confession, lowering his spear and staring at the door where the sounds of battle grew louder and louder. All around him the rats gathered themselves into pockets of five or six, all facing the door with clear readiness for whoever would come breaking down into their room.
"I've got him!" Siegward cried out as he charged forwards, crashing into the knee's of the mimic in a clumsy tackle and wrapping his arms around both their legs and pulling them together. "I have him!" he cried out, letting the others know.
The Mimic released an angered growl as it tried to shake the knight off its body, wobbling around before eventually reaching down towards him with its clawed hands with the intention of throwing him away. The plan was quickly put on hold as a cry came from its left side, the head turned towards the flat side of the cross-shield falling through the air towards it as Mash rocketed towards the head like a meteor.
The attack slammed into the mimic with a weighty thud and launched it to the ground, with Siegward's grip still around its knees it tripped up and fell flat on its back while Mash still sat atop it with her shield in its face. The girl blinked at the sudden development before she found herself wrestling with a pair of arms which snaked around either side of the shield in an effort to throw her off.
Ash rushed towards the struggling trio, raising the axe above his head like an executioner and swinging it downwards towards the middle of the mimic, the greataxe slammed into the gut of the creature with a wet thud as it buried itself in the chest and became lodged in the being. The mimic opened up its fanged mouth and released a bellowing cry of agony, slightly muffled by the presence of Mash's shield on its face, and redoubled its efforts to pull itself away from the girl and wildly swung its legs up and down, causing Siegward to thrash around along with them.
"Whoa!" Siegward released a cry of surprise as he was repeatedly bashed against the ground, Ash ripped the axe out of the torso and caused dark liquid to spray forth from the wound. The Saber frowned behind his helmet as he raised the axe above his head once again and swung it downwards into the torso, this time splitting the body in half and burying the weapon into the ground.
The wild flailing of the Mimic went still, the arms falling to the side and going limp. The servants released breaths of relief as they turned back around towards Ritsuka. Who was standing behind Kiyohime, the woman had her fan extended outwards with a pleased expression as the charred remains of bones surrounded her, parts of the wallpaper having caught fire and several small specks of flame along the ground.
"There we are, Anchin-sama." Speaking in a satisfied tone, she flipped the fan closed and turned towards the Master "Not a single one of them got close to you. As I promised."
"Yeah…Thanks." Ritsuka nodded to her as he looked around at the damages, sniffing to himself and grimacing ever so slightly "...Do burning bones always smell this bad?" he asked the others.
Ash and Siegward stared at him blankly before the former spoke up "I…do not have a good sense of smell."
"I am afraid I am much the same." Siegward replied with a wince "I never smelled burning bodies all that much before I became undead." he released the lower half of the mimic and rose to his feet, dusting off his hands "I believe they would not smell nice though."
"Right, right…" Ritsuka waved his hand in response, accepting the answer easily - as he was currently smelling the results - and looking around the floor at the droppings of loot from the skeletons.
Ash scooted Mash to the side and stared down at the mimic head before he grabbed the jaws and wrenched them open with a crunching sound before staring down into the maw. He released a grunt as he cocked his arm back and then thrust it into the mouth of the deceased mimic before seemingly taking hold of something and ripping it out of the corpse. Shaking his hand free of the viscera clinging to it before he paused "...Are those seeds?"
"...Yes, Ash-san." Mash nodded with a baffled expression as she stared at the wet substance clinging to his arm along with the seeds and that looks like the inside of a pumpkin…"
"Then this mimic truly did have the head of a pumpkin?" Ash asked with a puzzled tone of voice before he looked at Siegward "Did you know-?"
"Not at all!" Siegward replied with a half chuckle before he pointed at himself "I do hope that I will not turn into a vegetable if I wear this armour often enough!"
"You have yet to turn into an onion." Ash remarked in a dry tone of voice as he opened up his hand and stared at his palm while the others looked at him in surprise.
"Was that a joke?"
"It was an observation." Ash remarked, shifting aside the pumpkin innards and staring at the trophy "I believe this to be some form of talisman." he remarked as he wiped it clean "I am not familiar with the make however."
"Hmmmm. Let me have a look." Siegward asked, reaching out his hand and allowing Ash to drop the circular stone monument into his hand, around ten centimetres in diameter with the main colour scheme being a dirt gold while a mid ring went around the inside with a blue colouration to it marked with symbols. "No…I don't believe I have seen this before." he hummed as he handed it back to Ash.
"Curious. Some unheard of Covenant perhaps?" Ash remarked as he stared at them, then turned to Ritsuka and raised the stone mark "Have you seen these before?"
"Not that I can recall." Ritsuka replied, furrowing his brows as he stepped closer before he raised up his communicator "Roman?"
"Well…the markings around the inner ring look like they're from the Greek alphabet." The doctor remarked in a tone a mixture of puzzlement and intrigue. "I mean…I'm not fluent in Greek so I can't tell you what they say though."
Ritsuka snorted "I thought Chaldea had a translation thing?"
"It does." Romani nodded his head "Just takes a little longer with written language." he replied with a shrug "There's a difference between altering your ears and altering your eyes. With luck it will start to make sense any moment-"
"Aha!" Ritsuka beamed "Got it!" he leaned forwards and squinted at the symbols, tilting his head to get a better look at them "Let's see here…It reads Proof of Hero." he blinked and then looked up at Ash and then to the others "Huh, how about that?"
"Perhaps it is akin to the medallions used by the Sunlight Covenant?" Ash questioned as he stared at them "I doubt slaying a single Mimic is proof of heroism…"
"Take it for now." Olga spoke through the communicator "We shall see what it might offer when we return to Chaldea."
Siegward chuckled "Perhaps we are being told to fashion our own Covenant?"
Ash however, paused and slowly turned to the pumpkin knight before staring back at the medallion "...Hmmm." he lowered his arm and then placed the stone item within his Bottomless box, still clearly distracted by something as he raised his hands to the helmet and pulled it from his head, exposing his face once again, scrunched up in thought. "A Covenant of Chaldea…"
"A Chaldean Covenant…" Siegward murmured to himself, now sounding less amused and more serious about the idea "...I daresay that might be a good idea."
"Worth consideration." Ash nodded his head as he placed the helm within the bottomless box and yanked the large axe out of the ground before facing Ritsuka once again "We can discuss it later though, for now we should advance, yes?"
"Yeah." Giving a single nod of affirmation, Ritsuka gestured down the hallway towards the twin doors at the far end and started to walk forwards. The others walked alongside him in the case of Mash and Kiyohime while Siegward and Ash walked behind them.
"We could be a Covenant." Siegward whispered to Ash "We already partake in the act of summoning for assistance."
"We lack a patron God though." Ash whispered back "Unless…Ritsuka is our Patron?"
Siegward paused "Would it not be the Director?"
"Possibly, but we are not subservient to her." He replied back as he scratched his chin in thought "And is Roman not akin to a Firekeeper? And Chaldea not akin to a Shrine?"
"We gather enough people there." Siegward blinked in sudden understanding "And we often travel away only to return and on the matter of Roman being a Firekeeper…he is there to mind the wellbeing, is he not?"
"Yes…" Ash nodded his head slowly, pursing his lips "...Should we think more on this idea?"
"I would." Siegward hummed in response "We should wait for more to join us before we try to expand this idea further…It would be a Covenant I would gladly join."
"As would I." Ash whispered back, cupping his chin "A human covenant?"
"I cannot recall another." Siegward shrugged his shoulders "But there were many cycles before us so perhaps they were simply lost to time."
"Regardless, we'll speak of the matter later." Ash stated, looking back ahead of them "There is still the issue of the Grail and the concert."
"Indeed." Siegward nodded "Let us table that motion for now."
The doors swung open with the four immediately pausing at the sight that lay before them.
"...What the heck is this!?" Romani blurted out in shock over the radio as he stared at the display "I mean seriously?!"
"There is no need to shout when all can hear you quite well." The pale blonde man in a decorative long suit spoke in a refined - if slightly chiding - tone of voice as he stared at them. His eyes sweeping across them before landing on Ash and his eyes narrowing ever so slightly "How curious…when I look upon you I feel a sense of gratitude, as if you have done me a good turn."
"We have met before." Ash replied back in a blank tone of voice as he narrowed his eyes at the man.
"Ah, I see." The man nodded his head in response "As you are still standing, I can assume you bested me then." he paused then sighed "I shall assume I had been summoned as a Berserker?"
"Lancer turned Berserker."
The man's face scrunched up with clear disgust "I see…how unfortunate." he closed his eyes and exhaled "I shall not lament events I have no recollection of, although I am curious why you gaze upon me with such disdain."
"...You have a similar feel to those who consume the lives of others as food."
"Ah…yes…through no fault of my own, I assure you." He replied in an irritated tone of voice before composing himself "However, I digress. If you have made it this far then it means you have bested Carmilla, perhaps she went easy on you…" he looked between Ash, Siegward, Mash and Kiyohime with a curious gaze "Or perhaps she did not, if I might ask, why are you dressed like a pumpkin?"
"I was told it was festive." Siegward replied in a jolly tone "All in the spirit of good fun!"
"...I see." The man nodded his head in response, pursing his lips "I suppose the manner in which one relieves oneself of boredom is not for me to judge as you are not my people and we are not on the soil of my land." he shook his head slowly "Still, you are here now and I shall grant you the honour of facing me in battle."
Spinning the spear in his hands, he rested the base of the weapon against the ground "I am Vlad Tepes, the Dracul."
"Count Dracula!?" Romani blurted out in shock, earning a twitch of irritation from the man.
"Do not call me that." He sharply responded "Vlad Tepes…not dracula. That ridiculous story has already cost me enough of my pride as it is without altering my name as well." he paused, composing himself once again "And I shall allow my associate to introduce himself as well."
The eyes of the others fell away from the man and towards the rat sitting in the chair near a fireplace.
"Humans…undead and…" The Rat spoke in an elegant tone before it paused, taking a sniff of the air once again and staring at Kiyohime "One who bears the blood of the sky serpents." he remarked with intrigue before his eyes fell onto the small white creature that was Fou. "...I see." the Rat exhaled "I am the King of the Burrows, monarch of all sludge in the depths of the world. However, thou might call me Basile."
"Basile." Ritsuka replied slowly before he nodded at the rat rather uncaringly "I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka or Ritsuka Fujimaru."
Basile tilted his head slightly "Yes…I read thee well, human. A simple folk with a simple desire and without judgment. A boon as much as it is a burden." his eyes swept across the others with a lazy gaze before he leaned back into the leather chair.
Kiyohime looked at the rats and curled her lips slightly "How does one expect to keep a mansion like this clean when it could be seen as infested?"
Ritsuka pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed "Sorry…but erm…why are you here? No offense."
Basile gave a scoff "Think not of my presence, human. I am merely here to extend greetings as a sovereign before I judge thee." he nodded towards Vlad "He is the one thou shalt be concerned with."
"Quite so." Vlad hummed in response "I suppose I should inform you that I am of the Berserker class."
"Oh my, a true warrior and one of the same class as myself." Kiyohime blinked in surprise before smiling smugly to herself "Although no Berserker could ever truly match me in elegance and breeding."
Vlad scoffed "You make me laugh man-eater. Your sin will scorch you from within." his eyes narrowed as he stared at the teal haired girl "Both you and I have trod a wicked path and neither of us shall ever step foot back within the light."
Kiyohime stared at him in silence before her smile vanished, replaced with an annoyed scowl. "That kind of ticked me off…You will pay dearly for that remark."
"Naturally, this is a banquet and even jesters must give it their all." Vlad remarked without much in the way of intimidation to her words "As the ruler of a nation myself, I understand the value of festivals. Man needs circuses as well as bread."
Ash frowned at his words.
"Wow…" Mash stared at the two of them "They seem really serious, Senpai!" she whispered to Ritsuka with a hint of shock "It's like they didn't bother to get in the mood for the event."
"In a sense he's a true Berserker." Romani's face popped up "The only sane man in the world of the insane."
Vlad gave him a single blink "I find that a touch rude. I consider myself a gentleman with a sense of humour." he exhaled "Still, we shall continue on with this, shall we not?"
"Wait a second…these spirit readings…" Olga muttered as she stared at the screen with confusion before her eyes widened "A Ruler? Fujimaru! That Rat is a Ruler Class Servant!"
Eyes instantly went wide and landed on the Rat with clear surprise.
"I did say I was sovereign." Basile replied with a blank tone as he raised a single paw "And as sovereign, I shall lend aid to a fellow ruler and perform this jest with the same dignity as my kingship demands."
Ritsuka and the others watched the way the rats tensed their bodies in preparation to charge.
"Mata Hari's dance was one of mirth." Vlad began "Carmilla's dance was one of suffering. I shall offer my own dance…a dance of blood." he then paused "Alas, I must beg your forgiveness. I am much better at embroidery."
The tense mood deflated in a moment.
"Eh? E-embroidery?" Mash repeated, unsure if she had heard him correctly the first time before she stared at his outfit "Does that mean you made that?"
"Hm? Hahaha, Oh no." He chuckled, shaking his head "You flatter me but I am not quite that adept. This was made by a more skilled tailor than I. My position got in the way of me trying my own hand at it, however that is less of a concern now." he remarked with a fond smile "If you would like, young girl, I would be willing to give you a lesson on the craft later. An appliqué of a praying man that would decorate your Masters clothes well."
"Vlad!" Mash exclaimed with a hint of surprise while Ritsuka furrowed his brows and looked at him in confusion at the surprisingly amicable attitude the man held.
"However, we must do battle first." Vlad's tone and body shifted in an instant, coiling itself and tightening his hold on his weapon, similarly the rats shifted their bodies back as well "I have been told to 'hype up this party' so to speak." he muttered with a hint of amusement And the best way to liven up this banquet…is with your screams." he raised the spear towards them "Now then…let the feast begin!"