Caster led the group towards a large opening. It was big, strangely big for something like this to exist.
"This looks incredible." Mash's mouth was agape in amazement of the large cavern. "Did this always exist in Fuyuki?"
"It's a semi-natural cave formation." Olga identified. "It must have existed and then cultivated by the local mages over the years."
"It's really big." Ritsuka mused.
"Oh, right, Caster, I forgot to ask you," Olga turned to the blue-haired Servant. "Do you know Saber's True Name? If you've fought before, then I would assume you gleaned that much."
Caster stopped walking and turned to them. "Of course. Anyone who fought against her and saw that Holy Sword of hers would make no mistake in her identity. It's such a powerful Noble Phantasm that it took out all the other Servants."
Mash listened intently.
"It may have been tainted in darkness but it's impossible to miss it. It's the sister sword to the Sword in the Stone. Likely the most famous sacred sword in your time. It's name is-"
A volley of arrows targeted their position. Mash raised her shield in time to protect Ritsuka and Olga while Caster answered the arrows with his fire balls. As the explosions died out, a deep voice came from the cave.
"The Sacred Sword of Promised Victory. Saber is the legendary King of Knights, King Arthur."
A dark skinned man stepped from the shadows of the cave and walked towards them slowly. Caster chuckled.
"If it isn't the loyal knight himself. Still the ever-faithful follower, Archer?" Caster smirked.
"Tch. I don't remember being anyone's follower. I'm just keeping unwanted visitors away. That means you."
Caster moves in front of the group. "Get ready." He whispered to Mash, who nodded. "So you're the gatekeeper now? What a joke."
Archer dispelled his bow and summoned two shortswords with complimenting designs. "Hmph. I don't care what you think. You're not getting past me."
"Don't you find it boring, though?"
"What do you mean?"
"A game that never ends? That sounds like hell." Caster prepared his runes. "I mean I like a good fight, but a fight that never ends… Sounds nothing short of boring. It's time to move the pieces forward, Archer."
Archer suddenly disappeared from Ritsuka's eye; he could only perceive him when he appeared in front of Caster, his swords slamming into Caster's staff.
"You know the circumstances and yet you cling to your own desires." Archer spat in his face. "Then I shall teach you a lesson, Caster!"
Caster ignited his staff, forcing Archer to take a step back, followed by a large amount of fire runs forcing him to retreat as far back as the mouth of the cave. "Then come, Archer!"
Archer dispelled his blades and retrieved his bow, launching arrows that broke the sound barrier the moment they left his bow. Each one was answered by a corresponding rune, the others that flew past without being intercepted were caught by the Demi-Servant, despite her being pushed back after each arrow.
"Are you alright, young lady?" Caster asked as she caught another volley of arrows.
She nodded. "Yes! I can keep going!"
The battle of projectiles continued for a while, their positions shifting to differently advantaged terrain. Ritsuka watched the battle unfold, moving only to keep himself and Olga behind Mash's shield. His mouth was agape as the battle progressed, amazed at the sheer power that was on display in the battle between Servants. It was something far beyond anything he could ever accomplish.
"Aren't you getting tired of this, Archer? Or do you actually enjoy this hellish landscape?" Caster taunted.
That seemed to get under Archer's skin. The frequency of the arrows increased, but in between each volley, he quickly closed the gap and went for Caster with his shortswords. "You have no idea what you're talking about, Caster!"
"Don't I?" The smirk on Caster's face was wide, almost breaking into a smug smile. "Well, probably not. I don't have that fetish, but different strokes for different folks, am I right?"
The once-long ranged combat became melee, Mash parrying Archer's strikes while Caster attacked with his burning staff. Archer had to be a skilled warrior to take both of them on without missing a beat.
Then something changed.
Archer retreated and drew his bow, and aimed not at Caster or at Mash.
But at Ritsuka.
"Tch!" Caster clicked his tongue. He was trying to keep Archer's attention on him by taunting him, but it seems that it had the opposite effect. "Young lady!" He pushed her to Archer's line of sight.
"Right!" Mash dug her heels into the ground.
"Caladbolg II!" Archer shot the sword he held in his hands as an arrow with so much force that the wind shear created displaced soil and concrete along its path.
"Lord Chaldeas!" Mash slammed her shield into the ground and invoked the same feeling she had when she defended against Caster's Noble Phantasm. A shield of light emanated from her, meeting the arrow head on.
Caster took the opportunity to launch more fire runes at Archer, who was readying more arrows of the same kind as the one he just launched, which promptly exploded. As the smoke cleared, Archer finally understood.
"Even so…" He whispered to himself. He switched his attack target to Mash Kyrielight.
Mash did her best to match Archer blow for blow but she was easily being pushed back. Ritsuka ran to her side.
"S-Senpai?! Please move-Ah!-Please get away!"
"I've got Olga enhancing me, I'll fight with y-"
Archer smirked, as if remembering a time long past. With a swift motion, he wedged his blades between the ground and Mash Kyrielight's shield, lifted it, and swung at Ritsuka, who only had a split second to react. Archer swung horizontally, so Ritsuka held the enhanced pole that he was holding vertically to meet it. Once Mash regained her footing, she used all her strength to slam her shield into Archer, sending him flying across the battlefield.
"Are you alright, Senpai?"
Ritsuka smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Caster stared down Archer. "Hey, leave them alone. It's me you want."
"You brought them into this, Caster. For all your talk about moving the pieces forward, you;re the one who introduced new pieces into the game."
He smirked. "Yeah, that's true." He waited for Mash to rejoin him in the battle. "I guess I did. But don't worry, you won't be in the game long enough to complain about it."
A magic circle appeared that enclosed the three Servants. Archer noticed what was happening and tried to escape but the bounded field was already in place. The three of them were locked inside.
"This is-"
Caster nodded. "It's a deathmatch ring, in modern terms. Either you kill us or we kill you, until then, we're locked in here."
Ritsuka's eyes widened. "What?!"
Olga held him back. "Calm down."
"But Mash is in there!"
"I know, and don't think I'm not worried for her wellbeing as well," She sighed, "But against Archer, this is our best bet. For now, we should trust in her and Caster's abilities."
Ritsuka grit his teeth.
"Focus on supporting her from the outside. You can use the Chaldea Mystic Code to give her a small boost in strength, speed, or even heal her."
"But I can't use magecraft, I'm just-"
Olga gripped his arm. "I know, but these are spells woven into the Mystic Code itself. You won't do anything but provide it with fuel, understand?"
He nodded. "Got it."
Inside the bounded field, Archer loses his advantage in range, forcing him into melee. Caster enchants his staff with flames and matches Archer blow for blow, while Mash supports him from time to time by parrying errant strikes and the fair amount when Archer throws his swords as boomerangs.
"Damn you! Even as a Caster, you fight like a Lancer!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Caster's smile widened into a grin as the adrenaline courses through his body.
Archer seems to have had enough and continuously summoned swords from thin air to keep the two of them at bay. With the room he has, he prepared to create a sword. It was a sword that he could only recreate from memory, and in doing so is slowly but surely destroying his magic circuits.
"Trace… On." The air crackled as the unnamed sword materialized in his hand. Od broke from his skin, his blood vessels popping with the strain, but the sword was now in his hand. His bow was in his left and the sword in his right, he knocked the sword that holds extreme power and put his strength into ending this fight in one shot. Instead of announcing the sword's name like he did before, he simply whispered it. Wind howled as the magical energy focused on one point.
Caster saw the sword and felt his chest tighten. He understood what it meant. Archer is willing to destroy himself along with them, as long as they don't get past him. He signaled to Mash, she understood immediately, but even so, Caster had some small doubt in him, if Mash could truly stop that arrow.
"Mash!" Ritsuka shouted from beyond the bounded field. "I'm right behind you!"
"Okay, Master! Pseudo-Deployment of Noble Phantasm…"
"Young lady, even if you block the arrow, the resulting burst of magical energy will still reach us."
Mash nodded. Somehow, she knows what to do.
Archer released the arrow of light with such incredible energy that if it was to be compared to a bomb enough to level an entire city. Mash dug her heels into the ground and slammed her shield onto the ground. She can feel it. Her shield does not only absorb power and animosity directed at it, but has the ability to reflect it. As the arrow hit her shield, it glowed, first absorbing the initial impact of the arrow, then the blast began to turn inward, the light reversing directions and heading towards Archer.
HIs mana spent, Archer stared at the light aimed at him. He smirked, the memory of a time long past, or perhaps a time that no longer exists but in his mind, flashed before his very eyes. Golden locks, bright eyes, a warm smile.
"Well done, Mage of Flowers… Who knew her shield could be used like this…" He smiled a genuine smile as the light consumed him. "Maybe… just maybe… They can do it… after all…"
As the light died down, Archer slowly began to disintegrate into particles of light.
"Archer." The blue mage walked over to him. "Take a hike. We'll take care of it."
The red bowman nodded, and disappeared.
Mash walked up to Caster. "Did you… know him, Caster?"
However, the tall man simply shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe I do, maybe I don't. It's neither here nor there. Either way, it's almost time for us to face the Holy Sword. Are-" He noticed that her hands and knees were trembling, but she was doing her best to hide it.
'So that's why she hurried over here. It was inconsequential whether or not she can get information from me. She just wanted to hide her fear from her Master, or he'll be discouraged too.'
"I'm glad you trust me, Caster, but I'm not sure I can do it." She spoke meekly.
He grinned and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're already a good Servant, young lady. But remember." He pointed to Olga and Ritsuka, who were currently discussing the battle and its consequences. "You're not alone."
Sorry for the long wait, everyone. College and life kinda sucks at the moment but I will be returning to a more balanced schedule after this week and that means constant updates. While I said I do not want to make much changes, that is only for Fuyuki. The Singularities will have a major overhaul so stay tuned.
Thank you for your patience.