Author Note
Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Avalon Bond. First, I want to appreciate all my readers and specially those who offered their insight. As such, I will be responding the reviews from last chapter.
tl34lt12 - Yes, only the main singularities, though in between each singulairty, there will be bits and pieces of Shirou and Arturia's life in Chaldea.
norozaki - Check Chapter 11 for the explanation of what happened to Excalibur. Also, Shirou merely replicated the runes, since he have a working knowledge on them. For sure, that creating Excalibur from scratch would be impossible, but he could replicate it to provide the reforged Excalibur the same skills as before. Also, to some who said that Excalibur could not be broken, well, it could be said that with Arturia Alter's core being turned dark, then Excalibur also got twisted into something else. It's just a theory, though, obviously. But for all intents and purposes, it was a nice scene with Shirou using his forging abilities.
Accelbreaker - kkk, yes it would huh. The only way to discern between them would be that one uses Excalibur and the Lion King uses Rhongomyniad.
DareusX - It is described in this chapter, so take a look and tell me what you think.
Spyro 101 - About the Shield, I have seen Chaldea Moonlight Lostroom episode and it shows Galahad fighting. He clearly summons the shield as he defends from Arturia Alter's Excalibur.
Well, then, with that out of the way, let us proceed with the chapter.
I intend to finish Fuyuki in maybe 2-3 chapters counting with this one.
Avalon Bond
Part II – Fate Grand Order
Chapter 13 – Singularity Fuyuki Part I
After Shirou and Arturia presented themselves as servants, Mash kneeled down to inspect the Director's health.
"Director Olga, are you hurt?" Mash was holding her shield sideways and Fujimura was behind the Director, still looking like a fish out of water. Shirou and Arturia kept them company, while listening in. Olga had a bunch on questions, and it was showing on her face. Shirou could vaguely see aspects of Rin in her.
"What's the meaning of this?" Olga questioned with a snarl as she was still clueless about was going on and quite frankly, so was everyone else, with the exception of Mash.
"This is Singularity F, Fuyuki in 2004. It maybe hard to believe but I…"
"You are a Demi-Servant are you not! Just by looking at you, I can tell. What I want to know is why it did not happen until now. Every test conducted before this failed, so why now…" Mash looked disheartened at that, looking down. Arturia was the one who frowned and crossed her arms, clearly not enjoying the fact that this Chaldea Organization had made experiments using one of her own knights. Galahad, Lancelot's son was a proud member of the Knights of the Round Table. He did not deserve such treatment. Shirou could tell that something was bothering his fiancée by the subtle click in her mouth.
"You should know that Chaldea has prepared a Servant beforehand to resolve the matter of this singularity. There was an explosion in Chaldea and before I was about to die, he appeared to me offering a contract. In exchange for the relic, he wanted me to resolve the cause of the Singularity. As such, I have offered him my body and has become a demi-servant." Arturia narrowed her eyes at that. If Galahad appeared before her, then he must have considered that this Mash girl was special. Being Lancelot's son, Galahad had inherited pretty much all of his father's qualities. For sure, he would have not helped Mash if he did not find her worthy in the end. Arturia then turned to Shirou who called to her through his link.
'Do you know who this Heroic Spirit is, Arturia?'
'The shield is unmistakable, it's one of my knights, Sir Galahad, Son of Lancelot.' Arturia could hear Shirou hum in their conversation.
'Oh, not a minute in this dimension and we already get to meet a legend and one of your own, on top of that. I would very much get to know all of your knights, if possible.'
Arturia turned to her fiancée and fondly smiled. It would be nice, indeed. Not only would she like to see them again, but she would also enjoy introducing Shirou to them.
Meanwhile, Olga was finished in interrogating Mash and turned to Fujimura. She needed answers and for sure, she was more interested in knowing about the other servants who appeared ouf of nowhere.
"So, this no-good replacement became your master, huh Mash?"
Shirou was now definitely seeing Rin in Olga and was even remembering a time at the beginning of his Grail War when Rin all but called him worthless. Arturia was finding it quite humorous, already knowing that Shirou was showing empathy for the clearly inexperienced master in front of them. Though his mannerisms reminded fondly of how Shirou was at the time they first met, Fujimura's eyes reminded her of Rin's.
Ritsuka looked startled at the title he was receiving from the Director. Certainly, the look of disdain she was sending him was making him uncomfortable.
"Master? But I…"
When Ritsuka had extended his arm, he was surprised to see the marks on his wrist.
Olga looked back, but still had that look on her face towards him, as if her life was in his hands and she was not fond of the idea.
"The command spells are proof of that…now, you two…how the hell did you show up here huh…"
Olga was now pointing her fingers in accusation at Shirou's chest and he looked down to see her angry expression.
Arturia at least was more relaxed as this woman no longer seemed content in drooling over her fiancé's toned abs. That sight was reserved for herself only.
"It is rather rude to demand us for introduction without first introducing yourself…" Arturia snorted at seeing the white woman's indignant face at Shirou's response.
"Brushing that aside, we have already introduced ourselves as…"
"Yes, servants Archer and Saber…though that's servant class from the Grail War that my father participated in Fuyuki. That was the only Grail War that happened, so why are you using class servants?" Shirou and Arturia exchanged glances at one another and nodded. There was no need to dance around the subject here. It's not like they had to keep their identities hidden. At least, Zelretch did not bother to specify any need for such. Also, since Mash called this woman Director, then she must be member of the Animusphere family that Rin and Zelretch mentioned. Before Shirou could properly introduce themselves, though, the parties were surprised to see Ritsuka's bracelet hum to life on his wrist.
Suddenly, a hologram manifested on the ground boring Chaldea's symbol, before it transmitted an image of a man sitting in a chair, wearing white clothes similar to Fujimura but with gray in the middle.
"Finally, I made it…hello, can you hear me?"
"Dr. Roman!"
Ritsuka was by Mash's side as he looked at the hologram. Shirou was quite astounded at the technology. In his era, the most advanced communication was a smartphone.
"Fujimura, Mash…so you two were caught by the Rayshift…without being in the coffins, you had to be conscient throughout."
This Dr. Roman looked relived upon seeing them but looked quite startled when Olga interrupted.
"Why are you sitting at the command chair, Romani!?"
"D…director, you are alive!" Olga was clearly offended by his outburst.
"What do you mean by that and why is the head of the medical ward is sitting at this chair?" Shirou and Arturia were no longer the woman's concern at the moment. "Where is Leff?"
One more person that the couple had yet to meet. Romani looked down at that as he remembered what happened.
"Professor Leff was right in the middle of the explosion. There is no chance that he had survived."
Olga looked downtrodden immediately at that.
"I took the command post because I'm the most senior officer here. The blast took everyone by surprise. The masters even are in dire critical condition right now. We have placed them into cryopreservation right now, but we do not know much about what to do." Romani then explained about Chaldea's situation and how the staff is gathering the necessary supplies for later on.
"Well done, Romani Archman. You can remain taking charge of Chaldea for now."
"Thank you, Director, it's amazing that Mash and the Heroic Spirit now managed to bond…and now of all times. Also, strangely so, I am receiving readings of two other servants next to you Director, but neither appears to be threatening."
Shirou and Arturia stood straight at the man mentioned them.
"Ah, yes, they have shown out of nowhere, introducing them as servants Saber and Archer. What can you tell me about them, Romani?"
Shirou and Arturia wondered what this Romani could know about them.
Romani was now looking at them and at his computer to present the findings.
"Well, the one with the redhead is a Pseudo-Servant…Emiya Shirou, a magus that fused with Spirit Senji Muramasa, a famous blacksmith who manufactured demon blades back in Japan. The readings of this servants are quite high as I can see here high readings in both long range and short-range combat, noble phantasm is a mystery however. The other one is even more surprising. Arturia Pendragon, more known throughout history as Artur Pendragon, King of Knights, and ruler of Camelot. Like the Pseudo-Servant, she has strong readings in combat, but hers are more suited for close-range combat. Her noble phantasm is the Divine Sword Excalibur. However, there seems to be some sort of anomaly here Director."
Olga was flabbergasted by these two's identities, even more so in seeing King Arthur in the flesh.
"What is the anomaly you're referring?" Meanwhile, Mash and Ritsuka were looking at the couple servant in front of them in awe.
"Well, for starters, according to our records provided by the UN, Emiya Shirou is a member of the United Nation's Peace Corp and he's on a mission right now in the Sahara. And though history showed that Artur Pendragon was male, the image we have in our history books are from someone shorter, though the looks do have resemblance." Shirou and Arturia hummed in acknowledgement. Shirou smiled at the inner conversation he was having with his soon to be wife about him from this world having the same ideals and goals.
"So, you two have some explanation to do…" Shirou only smiled at Olga, still caught up in seeing Rin in front of him pointing fingers.
"I was not lying about us being servants as your friend there already attested it. However, we are from another dimension. My name is indeed Emiya Shirou and I was first a master in the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki. Arturia Pendragon here, was my servant at the War and now we come before you as servants to aid you in this so-called Singularity." Olga, Romani, Mash and Ritsuka looked at the redhead and the king of Knights with a whole lot of questions still left unanswered. However, Olga was pressed for time and her position as Director of the Chaldea Organization called preference over bombarding the servants with questions. After all, her organization was responsible for handling these kinds of anomalies in the branch of time. She conjured up the fact that these two are here as anomalies.
Shirou and Arturia then marched towards Ritsuka and Mash while Olga finished talking with Dr. Romani.
Despite Shirou and Arturia posing as allies, Mash was still hesitant in openly lowering her guard and stood in front of Fujimaru with her shield. Still, Shirou merely stood with his arms crossed. His smile was throwing Mash off as she could not sense hostility from him, despite him being a servant, quite the opposite in fact. Fujimura placed his hand on Mash's shoulder and nodded to her as he took a step forward to meet Shirou and Arturia. He then extended his hand to greet both Shirou and Arturia, surprising them.
"Fujimura Ritsuka, a pleasure to meet the both of you…please aid us in this." Shirou nodded and extended his hands to shake Ritsuka and then Arturia did the same.
Arturia then approached Mash and made the homunculi hesitant.
"What is your name?" Arturia's fierce green eyes brought great unease in Mash. Now that she understood just who was in front of her, she was finding her strength leaving her voice. Such is the strength of her presence as king.
"Ah, it's Mash…Mash Kyrielight…" Arturia could see the girl's uneasiness and it spoke volumes of her suspicion. If Galahad truly bonded with her, then Mash would have recognized her presence, not only from a history book.
"A pleasure to meet you Mash…" The girl suddenly saw Arturia smile at her and she nodded in appreciation. They shook hands and that was enough for Arturia to be transported.
===xxx===
Arturia stood all high and mighty with her armor and Excalibur strapped on her waist.
Inside this realm, she was not alone as a figure stood in front of her, kneeling in respect and devotion. Galahad was not known for his height or body build, but rather his keen intellect and defense abilities. His hair was similar to Mash, though her was straight and his was wilder. He wore black armor from head to toe covered by an indigo outfit and had a sword strapped on his waist.
"You look different my king…" Arturia nodded, remembering the last time that she and Galahad was in the same room together. Before the Battle of Camlann, Galahad was responsible for the safety and protection of Camelot, as well as his side quests. Also, Arturia admitted to not interacting much with Lancelot's son.
"You may rise and be at ease, Sir Galahad for as I am king of Camelot no longer." Whereas once, both had the same height, now Arturia was one inch taller.
"Be that as it may, you will always be our king." Galahad showed a smile at Arturia and she could see Lancelot's visage in him.
Arturia wanted to have this moment that the vampire provided for them to catch up with one of her knights, but now was not the time for that.
"Fair enough…the girl Mash said that you offered her your powers in exchange for her to resolve this singularity." Galahad nodded at his king.
"I could not imagine why you would have a personal interest in this event. Do you know anything about this Grail War, Sir Galahad?"
"Yes, my king…though I find it most peculiar that you showed up here as well…"
Arturia frowned at that. Though, she was dreading her line of thinking. If this grail war was similar to the one that happened in her timeline, then chances are that she would be here as well.
"Why is that?"
"It appears that the culprit behind this singularity is none other than yourself, your highness." Arturia released a sigh at that, cursing the fact that they would have to face another version of Arturia Pendragon. She doubted that her fiancée would be able to abide by his feelings. "However, this version of yourself was tainted by the Grail, my king. Hence why I have offered my strength to the girl Mash. The only weapon powerful enough to stop the blackened Excalibur is none other than my shield, at least until you arrived, that is."
"I see…so that's why you helped her…" Galahad nodded.
"Actually, this Chaldea organization summoned me to merge with Mash a couple years ago. Mash was created for this very purpose and I was never a fan of their efforts. Mash was a victim in all this, but for some reason, she never backed down from it, even though it was highly painful procedures. In the end, as she was about to die, she had shown me that she wanted to live. It was the least that I could do to help her, in the end." Arturia nodded with a content smile, sure that Galahad was indeed a heroic spirit and pride of Camelot.
"Your rigid sense of justice speaks volumes, Sir Galahad."
"Indeed…"
Galahad was surprised when a male voice was heard before a redhead man appeared by his king's side. He could feel the man's strength and skills by looking and also the sword strapped on his waist just like his king. However, his king was not surprised by his appearance. Instead, he noted that this man's mere presence was enough to show a deep smile from the King. Something that to this day, no knight has ever seen her like this before.
"Shirou…"
"Sorry to intrude in your conversation, but I really wanted to meet another legend of the round table. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Galahad."
The man in question blinked a couple of times.
Arturia smiled at the question mark in her knight's face.
"Sir Galahad, this is Emiya Shirou, he is my consort."
Galahad's eyes widened to impossible proportions at the revelation. She knew his reaction to be quite valid as back in her time, such an occurrence would be impossible. For one, the king was male as far as the public knowledge was concerned, even if some of her knights knew the truth. Also, the whole display of emotion was something alien to those around her. Up to the Grail Wars, openly displaying emotion….any type of emotion for that manner simply did not happen.
"I'd gather you have many questions but suffice to say that I was his servant in a grail war that happened in another dimension. Many events happened and it allowed me the opportunity to be by his side after the war. After a couple years, we eventually got romantically involved up to the point that Shirou here asked for my hand in marriage and I accepted it."
Galahad kept on looking at Shirou for a while and Arturia knew what the righteous knight was doing. Sir Galahad had a fine judge of character and valor just like every member of the round table did, with the exception of Agravain. After a couple of seconds, a smile could be seen in his visage as he approached the redhead, offering a handshake salute.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Emiya Shirou." Arturia smiled deeply at the scene before her. Her past life and her new life merging into one.
"The pleasure is all mine, Sir Galahad." Galahad then turned to his king, now focused on the situation in hand.
"My king, for some reason, I fear that this event will not be the only one, but merely the first of many…" Arturia nodded.
"Indeed, we are here to offer our strength to face this time singularities." Galahad bowed in respect and was about to vanish, before he decided to ask.
"Oh, and please aid Mash…she is still due to know my identity and also the full extent of her skills. However, please do not tell her about me. She needs to learn on her own."
Both Shirou and Arturia nodded and Shirou was inspired at the presence of Sir Galahad.
If the other knights were the same as Galahad, then Shirou envisioned what would be like being under his fiancée's service as one of her knights.
"Farewell my king…Emiya Shirou. I wish that we had met under better circumstances, but suffice to say, that it fills my heart with joy knowing that our king has found someone worthy of her happiness."
===Back to the Singularity===
Inside their shared mindscape, the concept of time passed by much faster as Arturia was still shaking Mash's hand in a greeting.
With Galahad's request in mind, she decided to add in her wisdom of battle.
"The shield is a weapon that should be yielded with pride and conviction, Mash."
The girl looked at the king of knights and could feel the charisma directed at her as Arturia placed a comforting head on her shoulder.
"Even if briefly, I could see that you are still struggling with your weapon. Remember that when you use it. A shield is only as strong as your conviction to protect."
Mash keenly observed the king of knights and then at her shield, wondering about the wisdom she just heard from the powerful woman. Mash then looked at Ritsuka who was busy conversing the other servant Emiya Shirou. Ritsuka then turned to her and smiled, which in turn brought up a smile from the homunculi. She then looked up at Arturia. The King of Knights could see that the girl at least figured out a part of the answer, even if she was still unaware of her abilities. She would need his support as a master as well.
Olga then stopped talking to Romani and approached the group who were waiting for her. Like a certain Tohsaka, she began barking orders.
"Well, against my better judgement, Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight will investigate the Singularity F. Emiya Shirou and Arturia Pendragon will act as servants under Chaldea's employment."
Ritsuka then looked at Shirou who in turn nodded at him, showing encouragement for the young master. While Arturia focused on Mash, Shirou offered Ritsuka his own experience, saying that Ritsuka needed to not only trust his servant, but also be there for her as well, not exactly fighting her battles but offering her his full support. Ritsuka understood that Mash was likely just as inexperienced as him in this subject of the master servant relationship, hence he needed to be on the ready and face the adversity with courage and determination.
Everyone nodded just as Olga's watch hummed to life. Olga was about to complain when Romani appeared screaming for them to get away.
Shirou, Mash and Arturia flinched as they sensed the presence of servants nearby. Olga and Fujimura took some steps back and all five retreated to safer grounds until they reached the famous Fuyuki Bridge or what was left of it.
Shirou saw the image before him and frowned at what this city became…quite similar to the fire that changed his life.
The information that Arturia gave him that all of this was because of a tainted version of herself as a servant.
His mind just could not comprehend the servant Saber as being the enemy in any scenario.
He remembered the fights and moments they had together when master and servant and even when Saber became Rin's servant. How Saber treated him and how she protected him despite him risking his life needlessly. Even if his fiancée reminded him that this Saber may be a carbon copy from the throne of heroes or even a different person than herself, Shirou became conflicted all the same and Arturia realized that she would be asking too much out of him to simply discard his feelings for her. For a brief moment, Arturia wondered if they would be meeting other versions of herself in these singularities. It certainly would be a possibility, considering the size of her legend and her influence as a servant of the Grail Wars.
Also, it seemed strange that up in the dark sky there was a dark hole surrounded by a blue energy of sorts, spinning slowly.
===Fuyuki Bridge Park===
The group of five stopped running as soon as a multitude of chains stopped their path. Shirou and Arturia could practically see the mana of a servant in these chains as they looked around for the servant. Ritsuka approached the chains in order to inspect it. As soon as his hands were inches from the chains, Olga screamed for him not to touch it, just as the chains charged at him, hoping to capture him alive. Ritsuka clumsily fell on the ground as a hollow feminine voice echoed in the clearing.
"Oh...too bad, the fresh pray got away." Up from the ledge, a mana materialization happened before servant Lancer appeared. However, to Arturia and Shirou's eyes, it bore many resemblances to the servant Rider in their Grail War.
The main difference was that the hair was gray, and the eyes were now free for everyone to see. Also, the fact that behind her they could see statues of humans, it became clear that this was in fact Medusa but under a different class.
The aura around her, however, was dark and the look in her eyes did not betray her intentions towards the humans.
"Also, it appears that three new servants are here, how curious…seems that I'm at a disadvantage here…or am I."
As soon as she said those words, two more shadows materialized next to her. Arturia could easily remember the Assassin servant from the Fourth Grail War of their time, Hassan of the Cursed Arm. However, the other one she did not know. This servant appears to be using a guan dao spear and also carried many different weapons and sword on his back. Despite the shadow hiding most of the servant's physique, they could see that the man wore a turban to cover his head.
Mash took position in front of the group while Shirou and Arturia briefly conversed with one another.
They realized that splitting them up would be the best course of action as each had chosen a different opponent to face, leaving Mash with Medusa for the time being.
===Benkei x Shirou===
As soon as Shirou crossed blades with this servant, his eyes caught sight of the guan dao spear and recorded it in his reality marble.
Briefly closing his eyes while at the same time unsheathing his katana in case of an attack, Shirou quickly conversed with the weapon. He did not have much time to ponder about it, as the servant quickly attacked and swing the spear with enough strength that practically caused a ripple in the air. Shirou blocked it with his katana, but his knees bended at the strength behind it. He realized that in a show of strength, this servant topped him. The enemy kept on attacking while keeping a distance, forcing Shirou to defend the onslaught assault. Shirou was fighting with a single sword style and danced with the enemy's spear, however he could see how fluid the motion of this servant was. There was no wasted movement, which was surprising consider the amount of stregnth.
The redhead could see no anger but no passivity.
It was perfectly balanced…like one of the Buddhist monks Shirou saw fighting in one occasion.
Normally, the servant's weapon would be open to him to know all about it, however the information was blurry. His initial assumption about him being a monk was correct, though. The name Musashibo Benkei did not ring a bell to him. Still, he now knew how to battle this servant as he needed to keep the enemy guessing what would come next. A monk normally dedicated his entire life into mastering one craft. Shirou, as such, sent a silent apology to Arturia and sheathed his katana before tracing Kanshou and Bakuya. Against that spear, he needed agility and swift strikes.
Vanishing in a mana burst and appearing by Benkai's side, Shirou turned the game around using the married swords' main skills to its advantage.
Benkei became hard pressed to dodge all of Shirou's strikes but he managed to parry most of the ones that would prove deadly. Still, Shirou did not relent. He created distance and released the twin swords and projected a bow and arrow to take this fight to long-range. Benkei tried shortening the distance, but he received a couple arrows at the joints for his troubles. Once more summoning Kanshou and Bakuya, Shirou threw them in opposite directions as he surged forward, focusing mana on the soles of his feet and once more releasing the katana from its scabbard. The spinning swords made Benkei's life difficult as if they had a life of its own. Shirou then closed the distance and slammed his katana in a vertical slash, forcing Benkei to parry with his spear. They remained in a deadlock until Shirou managed to land a kick on his chest just as the spinning Kanshou and Bakuya attacked him once more, this time causing a slash to the man's shoulders.
Still, Shirou did not relent…
However, he severely undermined the enemy as Benkei used the spear to lift his body up in the air and use the momentum to spin his body and slam the spear towards the sill coming Shirou.
The redhead had to quickly abort his movement from fear of being sliced in half.
Once more taking his distance, Shirou released a fire spell at Benkei who simply stood there and with a buddha like prayer, focused on his noble phantasm Vengeful Spirit Exorcism, sealing Shirou's fire spell. The redhead looked at his mage craft being absorbed by the sigil that appeared in front of his enemy. It was similar to his runecraft, after all. Shirou was surprised when Benkei moved his hand and then extended both hands to send the sigil towards him. The sigil smashed onto Shirou's body, sending him flying. He tried using his magic circuits for another long-range fire spell but realized he could not as the sigil that appeared on his chest glowed red. Benkei charged with his spear in hand, following on the attack.
Shirou attempted to summon a different weapon, more like trying to ascertain his limitations.
He realized that the enemy managed to seal only the fire magecraft part that Rin implanted on him, leaving the redhead with only the tracing ability.
He needed something to match the enemy's strength, so Shirou opted to trace a different sword. This one was not his per se, but something that Archer acquired.
While this was the first time Shirou ever traced it, the redhead had enough experience with any sword in his repertoire.
Durandal
Similar to Caliburn, though the handle was jet black and the guard shown a simpler design than the Sword that Arturia pulled from the Stone. Using his agility, Shirou dodged Benkei's assault and attacked with Durandal with as much strength as possible. Benkei attempted to block with his spear but was surprised to see his weapon being sliced in half like a twig. Compared to a holy sword such as Durandal, it may as well have been as Shirou finalized the servant's life with another swing of the holy sword.
His body was carved in half and vanished.
===Hassan x Arturia===
Arturia wasted no time and released her sword on Hassan, knowing that she could not let the assassin servant loose.
Just one wrong move or a wrong blink and he would furtively attack her. One attack was enough to hinder her. As such, she had chosen to go strong from the beginning, not bothering to obscure her sword in wind. They began an intricate dance of sword fight with Hassan expertly using his dagger to block against Arturia's long sword and evade. Occasionally, he would use the advantage of his short weapon to dictate the fight, but Arturia was experienced enough not to fall for it, keeping her distance as soon as the Assassin tried to attack her. That proved almost fatal when Arturia dodged an incoming strike with a back sidestep, before charging with a diagonal strke from bottom right. Assassin saw the sleeve from his outfit fall on the ground as Arturia fell into defensive position, while observing her opponent.
Assassin looked at his opponent and turned his skeleton mask sideways.
"Strange…you fight like her, but unlike her, you lack aggression in your strikes. That alone would have killed me instantly."
Arturia narrowed her eyes at that. The description fitting it perfectly.
It was easy to picture herself fighting like an altered version of herself as the memories of the Arturia that she possessed became vivid once more. While her style was more finesse and controlled, Arturia Alter had more aggression and finality. Of course, the prospect of dealing a death blow so early in a fight did not suit her. It simply lacked strategy and it could let her open for attacks, especially against someone like Assassin who could easily take advantage of the miniscule opportunities.
Arturia turned into defensive as Assassin took the opportunity and charged.
She used her strength as a form of defense, putting enough force in a swing that Hassan blocked but was sent flying backwards.
The King of Knights then released a wind typhoon straight at Hassan, who smirked at the attempt and charged through the middle of Arturia's attack. Being from the desert, he had protection against the wind. Arturia was able to adapt quick enough and released her attack, before falling into position for a horizontal strike. Hassan was not stupid enough to face that. He used his agility and managed to scratch Arturia's shoulder slightly, earning a flinch in pain from her. However, the scratch soon healed as she turned briefly to her fiancée's fight only to show a smile at her multi-tasking lover.
"It was a lucky shot, Assassin, you will no longer have the same opportunity twice."
The Assassin was surprised when Arturia dashed at his position using Mana Burst and flinched in pain at the deep slash to his stomach, courtesy of Excalibur.
Even his skeleton mask broke from the impact, forcing him to create some distance. He had only one skill left to use as he released the sleeve that contained his red arm. Arturia watched as Assassin's red disfigured long arm glowed dark red. She could see the heavy usage of mana and figured this must be Assassin's noble phantasm. For sure, she would not be foolish enough to simply allow him to finish the movement. While she saw no reason to use her own noble phantasm, Arturia had other attacks, far faster to release and even more deadly to use for a more precise attack.
Her Excalibur glowed in yellow energy just as Assassin screamed the name of his noble phantasm Zabaniya when Arturia releaser the accumulated energy into a single energy beam directly towards Assassin. It was so fast that he did not have the means to dodge, as he was focusing all of his mana in his own attack. As such, Arturia's point black range shot hit straight at Assassin's chest, sending him flying and with a hole on his chest.
When he landed on the ground, the servant reverted back to pure mana, being released from the Singularity.
===Medusa x Mash===
Ritsuka and Olga were startled at the level of fights thus far.
However, Olga was more collected than Ritsuka, being the director of the organization and more experienced than him.
Still, fight between servants was something that no magus would ever be able to, no matter how skilled he or she was. The agility, the strength and even the noble phantasms being released left and right. Also, Olga was positively surprised upon seeing Emiya Shirou and Arturia Pendragon at work. Their level of skill plus their experience were astounding. Well, the King of Knights was less surprising, considering her legend. However, Emiya Shirou surprised her, considering that it was the magus that was in control of the movements, rather than the heroic spirit. As a member of the Animusphere Family, Olga was quite knowledgeable about the servant system. Usually, with Pseudo-Servants, the magus would only be the vessel used by the Heroic Spirit.
But in Shirou's case, it was clear that he was the one conducting the show.
Furthermore, considering that Muramasa was a blacksmith of renown, it would make sense to see the Pseudo-servant fighting with a sword.
However, Emiya Shirou was not restricted to usage of a katana, but also the bow and arrow, and other swords that clearly were not Japanese in design. Furthermore, she was surprised to see that the swords were noble phantasms as well. She could see hints of projection magic, but not quite. As such, it did not belong to Muramasa's legend. Seeing him fight and make quick work of his opponent only added to the enigma that was Emiya Shirou. Shirou presented himself as an Archer class servant, but he had displayed also Saber and even Caster-like characteristics.
A female grunt followed by Ritsuka's rather pathetic scream, alerted Olga from her analysis.
Mash may be adequate against the skeletons that attacked her before and was even holding her own against Lancer's onslaught.
However, the unrelating attacks proved too much for her. It became clear that Ritsuka's amateurism weighted her down. If Mash had a more suitable master with her, than she would have dealt with this servant by now. Just by looking at Ritsuka standing there doing nothing was getting on Olga's nerves. Mash was indeed giving her all, limited as it was, however Olga was biting her nails off, cursing the person responsible for the bomb inside Chaldea. This was not supposed to happen.
"Well, you have courage…girls will be girls, but you look quite tough…" The voice echoed through the clearing as everyone looked around, even Shirou and Arturia who were done with their fighting and were simply observing Mash.
They would intervene if necessary.
Rider was also looking around, wondering who was it that intervened with her hunting.
A servant suddenly materialized behind them, wearing sage-like blue cloak with his head covered by a white hood. Instead of a spear, he was holding what appeared to be a wooden candlestick with runes drawn along the weapon.
"…Caster". Lancer Medusa snarled at the man's presence, but as soon as he released the hood on his head, Shirou and Arturia recognized the man instantly, though both wondered why Cu Chullain was a Caster.
"Why are you on their side, huh?" The question itself was insulting to Caster and he merely smiled as his hand glowed red.
"Why...well, because it's better than staying on your side, obviously."
He immediately drawn fire runes in mid-air, surprising Shirou as each one sent a firebombs straight at Lancer, surprising her.
Caster then appeared in front of Mash, facing Lancer.
"I'm a caster class servant, so I'm her enemy. Missy, get into position." Mash looked startled at being addressed. "You may lack skill, but you have courage."
Mash looked ready to fight, while Lancer smirked at Caster.
"Well, we shall see...I can kill you much faster and then feed of your corpse. After that, I will entertain the other two..." Caster looked briefly at Shirou and Arturia, but maintained his focus on Lancer for the time being. Lancer quickly attacked Caster with a bombardment of swings from her lance, forcing Caster to only evade. Caster even passed by the stone humans, but Lancer merely sliced them through, until Caster stopped cornered in between buildings. As soon as Lancer stopped at Caster, she licked her lips in anticipation.
"What's the matter Caster, not enough space to cast your spells. What's all the talk from earlier?" Caster though merely stood there as he saw Medusa charge with her spear.
However, before she could hit Caster, Mash came in and positioned her shield right in front of Lancer, making her bounce back from the blow.
Caster, then, smirked as he turned to Caster.
"Idiot, I don't need space to cast my runes…" Lancer only had time to look down to see the Ansuz rune on her feet before a pillar of fire erupted from it, engulfing her. However, that alone was not enough to kill her as her body was burned all over the place. She looked furiously at Caster who merely smirked and used more Ansuz rune to finish the job, bombarding Lancer.
Like the other two, she vanished.
"Well, that's another down for the count…" Caster announced as he looked towards Mash. Caster observed as the other servant, a beautiful blonde woman at that, appeared before the girl, congratulating her on the job well done. Mash blushed at the praise and nodded in acknowledgment at her senior servant. Caster was busy leering at Arturia for her looks and figure, though a part of him could not help but remember some similarities to another servant that he had faced before in this war and also in another that he was previously summoned as a Lancer class servant. When Caster looked at the redhead that approached him, Cu Chullain looked closer, before opening a smile, now clearly remembering the other servant.
"Oi Bozo (boy), is that you?" Shirou looked startled upon being recognized by the Lancer now Caster.
Then again, everyone else was equally startled by it.
Author Note
Ok, that's about it for now.
Well, that was fun as hell. Many ideas are flowing as we speak…also, I am still intent on writing the seven singularities ending with Babylon, but if there is a side adventure that you believe that I should focus on, please let me know. Furthermore, next chapter it will be explained just how Cu Chullian knows Emiya Shirou, but I am certain that you guys will figure it out.
Please review and share me your thoughts.
Next update: Fate Shadow Spear
