Author Note
Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Avalon Bond.
So, Senji Muramasa became a playable servant in FGO. Also, he came with a good set of skills that are quite similar to the ones used by Emiya Shirou as well as a few other nice skills. Well, I plan to incorporate them into this Shirou in Avalon Bond, however now I am in doubt about whether or not to use Muramasa's Noble Phantasms. Before this, it was stated that Muramasa's noble phantasm would kill himself if he used it. What do you think? Emiya Shirou already has a NP in Unlimited Blade Works, but he could also use one from Muramasa. Should I make him use it or not?
Now on to the chapter.
Avalon Bond
Part II – Fate Grand Order
Chapter 17 – Orleans Part II
Beta: Axel Emiya
After making sure that the connection was fully established between Chaldea and this singularity, Shirou had quickly gone outside to procure lunch together with Arturia, while Mash and Ritsuka hungrily awaited inside the house.
The master was fully intent on going outside and with Mash, investigating the singularity. However, neither of them accounted for Arturia stopping them from such. Specially, when she heard three sets of stomach growling. Mash, Ritsuka's and her own, much to Shirou's humor. Food was the enemy, right Saber! So, the couple went outside in search for their lunch. Shirou had already found some herbs to be used, so the only thing left was hunting for protein. There was no lake nearby, so fish was out of the question. Luckily, there were other wildlife to choose from.
Shirou had projected his bow and arrow as the couple searched for their lunch.
It didn't take long for Shirou to spot a pack of wild boars in the region. A single arrow was released and it the creature was down instantly.
Back in the house, Ritsuka and Mash were busy discussing the specifics of the singularity through their communication with Da Vinci, Olga and Romani.
"Okay, Ritsuka, any findings so far you can report…"
Olga looked quite stern from the other side of the communication device, while both Ritsuka and Mash looked at each other, awkwardly.
"Well, Director, actually, we still had not left the house after summoning Shirou and Arturia here."
"What…but you've been there for an hour now, why are you still there?" Useless Ritsuka…Mash, what gives!"
The master couldn't help but sigh at the director. Mash was the one who answered it.
"Ah Director, actually it was Arturia-taichou's directive that we should only investigate after our hunger is satisfied. We wouldn't be able to fight properly otherwise. She and Shirou are out there providing lunch as we speak."
Da Vinci giggled at that and Romani sweat dropped while Olga was downright furious.
However, before one of them could speak once more, the door to the house opened as Shirou entered carrying a dead boar on his shoulders followed by the regal Arturia. The king of knights joined in the conversation and appeased Olga's fury questioning with such a stern face and narrowed eyes that made everyone take a couple steps back. This was the famous King Arthur after all. A figure of legend who united the old country of Britannia, fought against the roman empire and even ruled over the Knights of the Round Table, each of them figures of legend as well.
Meanwhile, Shirou went to the kitchen to perform the cleanup and then start cooking for them. He quickly removed the boar fur and separated the parts that they could eat, aside. As he did so, fond memories of his time with old man Raiga and even Taiga in their hunting trips appeared. Growing up, Shirou learned all that was about prepping and cooking to the point that what he did right now was quite masterful, not mattering that he lacked the usual utensils that modern age already provided.
The oven, for instance, required wood for fire, so he grabbed a couple rocks and smashed them together for the spark.
Picking up a large clay pan next to him, Shirou had sliced the herbs with a projected kitchen knife and then sprawled it around the now heated pan. He cursed the lack of salt and pepper around, so he would have to make do with the herbs he collected. When he then placed the already cleaned boar pieces of meat inside the pan, the noise of the meat being prepared reached everyone's ears. It would be better if he had some olive oil that would take much less time to prepare, so he used water instead to cook the meat from the inside.
Shirou was so engrossed in his workings that he wasn't aware that the communication device was angling towards him, meaning that not only Ritsuka, Mash and Arturia were seeing his skills, but the entire staff of Chaldea as well. Those who had the pleasure of tasting his cooking in Chaldea were already salivating at the preparation. Arturia was already accustomed to the feeling, but Ritsuka and Mash were simply drooling at the smell.
Needless to say, neither of them wished to go out anymore.
===Half an hour later===
After satisfying their respective hunger, the group then settled out for their quest in solving this singularity.
For sure, Ritsuka and Mash were looking forward to their next meal and even what Shirou is capable of doing with the utensils and technology available in Chaldea. They also came to know about the King of Knights' eating capacity, which could be better described as a bottomless pit. Certainly, Shirou would always indulge in his fiancée's urges, more specifically, in properly feeding her until she was full. It came as no surprise that Shirou managed to serve all of the boar's edible meat, leaving nothing behind.
Dealing with this specific dragon, now they group was now free to roam the lands and investigate the singularity.
Romani was active through the inner communication device as he explained the events that they were in right now.
"Ok, now that everyone's fed up, listen up. You all happen to be in the middle of the so called One Hundred Year War. France and England are at each other's throats right now, but it was never a grand scale war. There were times of truces in between and the period in which the conflicts occurred ranged from 1337 to 1453. As of right now, you are in a year where the holy maiden Jeanne D'Arc joined the French army against the English and turned the tides of the war…ah sorry there Arturia, just stating the history facts here."
Everyone sweat dropped at that, wondering how the King of Knights would fare knowing that her country ended up losing this war.
"There is no need do apologize, Romani Archman…the more we know about the events, the better we can prepare to face whoever it is that decided to mess with this timeline. Not to mention that this happened more than a century after my supposed death, so…" The word 'supposed' would be quite a shocking discovery to any normal human being, who didn't know about the moonlit world and the existence of heroic spirits.
"Yes, right…well, continuing…Jeanne D'Arc managed to lift the morale of the French troops into later reclaiming the city of Orleans. To the army, her divinity served as a boost to the French soldiers. That being said, it's quite possible that you will meet her in this singularity. Wait, heads up everyone, there is a group of soldiers heading your way and none of them look friendly. Remember that we still need to investigate, but please refrain from outright attacking the locals." Ritsuka and Mash looked at one another until they heard a noise in the distance. The area around them was nothing but tall trees, green plains, and dirt roads.
Then, the group tensed as a full scout brigade marched towards their encounter.
"Ah Mash, do you know how to speak French…perhaps, we don't need to fight them." Mash looked at Ritsuka and negated.
"Unfortunately, no, senpai…Ah Arturia-taichou, do you know how to speak French?" The King of Knights didn't know either.
"As King, it was required of me to speak many dialects, however all of them hailed from the same region as Britannia. I happen to be fluent in Italian as well, since Britannia was part of the Roman empire in my time."
"Well, I guess it's best that we face them using our scabbards, Arturia. Ritsuka, see if you can converse with them to at least obtain some information."
The master looked at Shirou and nodded as he stepped in front of the group.
No sooner had he done that; the scout brigade all released their respective swords from their scabbards. The brigade was composed of ten soldiers in total and their leader immediately assaulted Ritsuka without even bothering to ask questions. Mash quickly jumped in front of Ritsuka and parried the sword as the battle started. Shirou and Arturia all released their swords and the scabbard as well, before dueling with the troops. Ritsuka fell behind Mash as she took care of a couple of the French elites. She defended and followed up with an attack with her feet.
Mash was quite familiar with many fighting styles as per her training in Chaldea as well as the skills she acquired from the still unknown heroic spirit.
Meanwhile, Shirou and Arturia stood back-to-back as they danced against four combatants each. Shirou had quickly traced the army's swords and even their style. After this, Shirou would adapt his moves to exploit the weaknesses in the style. With his katana scabbard, he managed to quickly yank the French soldiers' weapon and attack them, focusing on their shoulder joints, which were better protected than most areas. Still, with the amount of damage, neither of them managed to lift the weapons afterward, forcing them to retreat. Arturia for her part was simply basking in her dance as she remembered how it was to face warriors in the past.
No magic, no noble phanstasm, just simple sword skill.
Though, she did not share her fiancée's concern and aimed for every possible weak point to exploit. Ritsuka and Mash winced as they saw Arturia land a powerful scabbard blow to one's side stomach. The man bends over in pain and spilled blood on the ground as the group of soldiers regrouped and retreated from these newfound enemies.
After regrouping, Ritsuka's group then decided to follow them to see if they could find something to work on.
===Fort Vaucoleurs===
The group then chased the wounded French soldiers back to their fort.
However, soon upon arriving, what once could be described as a fortified fort with tall thick walls was more like old ruins instead. The walls were destroyed and there were torrents of fire from the inside as well. Upon arriving to the scene, the group saw more of the French fighters there. Though, much to Shirou's mortification, many of them had seen better days. Their armor were broken and most were on the ground bleeding badly. Arturia was no stranger to this scenery as her troops had battled through unforeseen territory to be able to unify the country. Ritsuka and Mash were looking around and the master frowned, wondering what could have happened here.
Back from Chaldea, the scene was surprising to Romani as well, but for a different historian reason.
"Strange…in this precise year, 1431, Charles VII of France entered a peace treaty with Philip III, an ally of England. Sure, there were some skirmishes here and there, but nothing of this magnitude."
Mash, Shirou and Arturia all concluded the same, with Ritsuka taking a while, but reaching that as well. This was the precise reason for the singularity. Someone tampered with the events of this age and threw a loop to the War between France and England. Mash then looked at the soldier to whom Arturia defeated before and saw the man flinch upon seeing them once more. He immediately released his sword from the scabbard but flinched at the pain.
No doubt, Arturia's blow must have broken some ribs.
"Oh no, here they come!" The army were surprised at the sudden movement, but neither of them had any strength left to do more than at least maintain appearances.
"Ah bonjour monsieur…" Mash announced with both her hands upward, using the only words she knew in French, hoping that they would lower their guard.
"We are travelers, actually. Neither of us are here to harm you."
Mash's words managed to appease the wounded soldier and he kneeled on the ground in deep pain. He flinched when Shirou kneeled before him and used healing mage craft on his ribs, somewhat easing the pain. Normally, this would be considered witchcraft in their eyes, but neither had the strength to put much of a fight and Shirou's at ease attitude had simply disarmed everyone. Arturia looked at her fiancée, working to heal everyone and smiled.
Was it really so surprising to everyone that he would do such a thing?
"Ah…merci beaucoup…thank you." Shirou then attended the rest of the soldiers while Mash, Arturia and Ritsuka talked with the first one.
It was clear that they had a working knowledge in the English language as well. Mash, being the more knowledgeable in history, decide to pry on what Romani had explained just now. If this destruction was due to England attacking, then something different must have happened that changed the course.
"So, why didn't Charles VII sign the peace treaty?" The soldier looked at Mash in incredulity at the question.
"I thought that news had already reached everywhere that King Charles was killed…" Mash, Ritsuka and Romani all ushered surprised sounds at that, while Arturia simply narrowed her eyes. "He was burned by a witch's flames."
"Ah what do you mean witch's flames…"
"It's Jeanne D'Arc…somehow, she has risen from the dead as the dragon witch."
Romani had instantly recorded the event on Chaldea's computer as he assimilated the information.
"England retreated quite a while ago, but we were too wounded and here is our country…we don't have anywhere to run to." The news were troubling to everyone. They already knew that they would encounter the holy maiden in this singularity, based on the time period, but to know that somehow she was the enemy. Shirou, by this time, had joined the group and the Chaldea group could see the French army standing somewhat, all looking better, thanks to Shirou's efforts.
However, the news about Jeanne D'Arc being the enemy was quite troubling indeed.
"Ah monsieur, what more can you tell us about Jeanne D'Arc?"
Romani looked at the screen in front of him and spotted movement approaching from the right. The soldiers all rallied together, sensing the imminent threat as well.
"Everyone…get ready…skeleton warriors are approaching…"
Arturia had instantly taken charge in front of the army and urged everyone to stand up and fight. The army had all looked at the blonde knight dressed in strangely familiar armor. However, it didn't take long for them to feel the drive as per Arturia's natural leading charisma. Shirou nodded to Mash and the shield servant took steps to be by Arturia's side as Shirou remained next to Ritsuka with his bow and arrow already in place. The skeleton warriors were many, but the French army was as well. And while not many of them were one hundred percent, the servants more than made up for the lack of numbers. Arturia and Mash worked well together, both attacking the skeleton and protecting the troops from being attacked. Those skeletons that managed to pass from Mash's shield were swiftly dealt with by Shirou's arrows.
The soldiers were being led by Arturia as she remembered her time leading her own men.
Ironically so, she was leading the enemy of England, but right now that mattered little.
Well, if the army realized who she was, then perhaps they would have reservations about following her.
Pretty soon, the skeleton army were dealt with by the French army with Arturia's leadership. The victory lifted the army's spirits and Shirou could see how at ease his soon to be wife was in taking leadership. Ritsuka was looking on in worship at the level of fighting, while the redhead remembered fondly about the memories he saw of the King of Knights leading her own army. Back then when they were master and servant. Mash was also bathing in the army's praise as well as Arturia's. The lilac girl couldn't help but feel as if following her meant a lot more than simply seeing a fellow servant in action.
Somehow deep in her core, Mash could feel the elation in following the King of Knights into battle.
Little did she know, however, precisely why she was feeling like this.
The soldiers then gathered around the servants.
"It's thanks to you all that we managed to defeat the enemy. You all have France's appreciation, including you my lady. It's indeed an honor to be led by you, mademoiselle!"
The soldier bowed to Arturia who bowed in respect for the reverence.
"The honor is all mine to lead such brave warriors."
Mash and Ritsuka both looked at the King of Knights in awe at her charisma. Shirou had simply smiled and nodded at his wife to be, to which she nodded in return.
"You did ask me about Jeanne, right…" Mash saw the soldier that she was talking to beforehand and nodded. "Well, I took part in the siege of Orleans and the ceremony, so I remember it well. Her hair and skin color are different, but there is no question that she is the saint from the past. Hearing that she was captured by England and tortured, made our blood boil. She was burned alive! But, she was resurrected. And through a pact with the devil, no less." Romani in Chaldea had recorded it all as the group listened to the conversation. Afterward, the army gathered their wounded and marched ahead, leaving the group from Chaldea alone to ponder about the events of this singularity. Somehow, Jeanne D'Arc was resurrected, but not like she should have been.
The description reminded them of how the Grail corrupted Saber, Arturia Pendragon, in Fuyuki.
Ritsuka and Mash were about to leave together with the army when the group stiffened at the noise of several roars in the distance.
"Large creatures are shown to be near you! They're moving in fast."
The troops were scattered as they saw to their horror the presence of giant lizard with wings flying straight at them. Shirou, Arturia and Mash all stood as they observed the wyverns approaching. Before this, the troop's morale was high after dealing with the skeletons. Neither of them, though, began to think of the possibility of facing gigantic creatures that came from the sky. The dragons were three in total and all three immediately spit on fire at them, more specially the fleeing troops. Shirou wasted no time as he threw a couple of pebbles on the ground, lifting a bounded field and absorbing the fire.
Mash stood in front of Arturia and Ritsuka, placing her shield in front of them for protection.
Arturia looked back at her soldiers and ordered them to leave quickly. The soldiers looked uncertain, but neither of them favored facing such creatures.
The wyverns didn't look deterred about their fire attacks being stopped and charged straight at everyone with its claws, threatening to skewer everyone. Shirou quickly summoned his bow and arrow and sent a bombardment of arrows to stop the creatures' descent. Arturia had quickly released the full extent of her sword and used strike air to send a hurricane towards one of the creatures, but it managed to evade and come down once more to attack her. Mash stood in front of Arturia and focused prana on her shield. Ritsuka had quickly used a command seal to empower her. When the wyvern flew closely to her, her shield expanded in energy and blocked the dragon's path and its dangerous claws.
The power of the shield was enough to send the first wyvern flying backward and Arturia took the opening provided, charging with her sword drawn.
"Take this!" Arturia's slash managed to hit the wyvern's neck and the creature hissed in pain, before dropping on the ground, dead.
Arturia was surprised when another wyvern came flying straight at her and she cursed as she was still airborne from killing the first one. Placing Excalibur in front of her and bracing herself for the impact, the corner of her eye saw a slash of fire flying rapidly at the wyvern who was inches from attacking her. She could see the movement from Shirou's demonic katana as the second wyvern was cut in half. The king of knights crossed eyes with Shirou and appreciated the help, earning a nod from him. Mash, however, saw the last wyvern about to charge at the fleeing army and cursed, knowing that they wouldn't be able to stop the creature from killing the soldiers.
It came as a surprised when a new figure appeared, diverting the fire beam from the wyvern using what appeared to be a lance with a flag in its tip.
"Soldiers, stay strong…I'll handle this!" Jeanne D'Arc soon charged at the last wyvern and used the blade of her spear to pierce the last wyvern.
The sudden appearance of the holy maiden made everyone on edge, though to everyone this was not the one that they saw earlier. For one, the hair and skin color was like the French troops remembered. Also, the purple clothing and blue armor were different from the jet-black armor from the other one. By now, the wyverns' dead bodies were sprawled on the ground. Whoever summoned these creatures would no doubt have more at his or her disposal.
"Is it…" Mash looked at the sudden appearance, while they all heard Romani's voice through the intercom.
"Oh she's a servant…but her energy is weak."
Jeanne D'Arc frowned as she saw the French army left her hanging. Turning, she saw the group composed of a human and three servants.
The Holy Maiden smiled at them and everyone could see that this was the true Jeanne D'Arc.
"I appreciate you all for helping my camarade de regiment…I'm Ruler, my servant class. My true name is Jeanne D'Arc."
"Ritsuka, Mash, everyone, it's best that you retreat for now…I'm receiving signatures of multiple dragons and even servants approaching your location…"
Romani's voice alerted them, frightening the only human in the group.
Arturia and Shirou turned to Ritsuka as both understood that a retreat was their best course of action right now. Both of them could feel the powerful signatures that were approaching and while they could face the enemies, Mash and Ritsuka were a major concern. Also, they already had the real Jeanne with them, so their search for intel would have to be appeased by her. Ritsuka looked to Mash and nodded at her, knowing that his first servant concurred that a retreat was necessary for now.
A couple of minutes later, Jeanne Alter and her servants together with a gigantic black dragon arrived at the location where they sensed the presence of servants, only to find no one there. Jeanne Alter saw this and turned her anger to the fort behind her. With a move from her sword, she sent torrents of fire towards it, destroying the rest of the fort entirely.
"Cowards…all of them, cowards!" Jeanne then turned to her legion of servants.
"Rider, Saint Martha, search for them…sure you can catch them on your 'horse'…find them and after that, observe them. There is no need to fight them, just tell me where they are and I will crush them, personally!" The Saint merely nodded and summoned her own dragon Tarasque, a beast possessing a giant head, a shell that grows sharp spikes on it, six legs and a long tail with spikes containing a poison similar to a scorpions'.
The group of berserker servants watched Saint Martha leave with her dragon in pursuit of the enemy, before following their leader back to their castle for the time being. Jeanne Alter looked mortified at the prospect of having to face enemy servants, but it didn't matter. She would crush any and everyone who dared oppose her plans to destroy France once and for all. Jeanne Alter smirked as she planned to rally up more servants to her cause as soon as she returned to the Castle.
===Back at their Hideout===
Along the way back towards their chosen hideout, the holy maiden had exchanged words with Mash, Ritsuka and even Romani through some strange magic (in Jeanne's conclusion) about the singularity they were in, as well as some theories regarding the grail and the presence of two versions of the heroic spirit Jeanne D'Arc. She had explained to them about her presence here. Somehow arriving just hours ago, being a master-less servant and quite weak at that, she lacked the usual skills that came with her class, but she knew that the grail has brought her here to face her other self in the battle to save France once more.
Problem, though, was that she would be alone and Jeanne Alter had rallied other servants and even magical beasts to her aide, so Jeanne couldn't possibly face them alone.
There could be other servants in the area who could help them, but for now she was alone.
Ritsuka and Mash then offered their services to help Jeanne in her efforts to defeat her other self, earning nothing but gratitude from the real Jeanne D'Arc.
While the conversation progressed, Shirou and Arturia were busy working as the group's protection scouting for possible servants in the vicinity.
"What do you think, Shirou?"
The couple could sense the servants approaching back then and both could feel the excessive power in most of them, but both could feel the amount of power that one of the servants had. It felt similar to Saber's strength in Fuyuki. Back then, that singularity's king of knights was corrupted by the Grail, so it meant that the power they sensed belonged to the tainted version of Jeanne D'Arc. While it was not as powerful as the likes of Gilgamesh, this Jeanne Alter was not an enemy to be messed with. Not to mention the presence of other servants as well, working in tandem to defeat them.
"What Jeanne said about them all having berserker like attributes worries me, Arturia." Shirou replied, earning a nod from Arturia. "Both Heracles and Darius III were a pain to deal with, remember." Arturia could also count Lancelot in the Fourth Grail War.
"Yeah, though Darius did not have the grail supporting him at the time, but it was still a troublesome opponent. We are now four servants, but Mash is still in training and Jeanne herself said that she is weakened."
"Which means that they heavy load will be up to us, then." Arturia saw the smirk on her fiancée's face and shared the clear enthusiasm.
"Indeed…"
It was already nighttime when the group returned to their hideout and Shirou had quickly erected a bounded field around the property.
While he left to hunt for dinner, Mash and Ritsuka were busy using the shield to establish the connection to Chaldea and discussing their findings so far. Arturia and Jeanne was then on the table drinking tea. The utilized the herbs thar Shirou collected this morning and made some tea while Shirou went out to hunt for dinner. While Arturia was introduced to Jeanne's history just now, the holy maiden knew about her history. Well, aside from King Arthur being a woman, that is. However, that only made Jeanne that much excited to know that specific information.
"Mademoiselle, It's indeed quite an honor to meet you the great King Arthur." Arturia nodded in respect.
"The honor is mine, Jeanne. And please call me Arturia. It's been centuries since I was king. I've been meaning to ask, though, I have never heard of a Ruler class servant. In both wars I participated in, there was never a ruler servant."
Romani, through the intercom, was also interested to know.
"Oh, well…in a grail war, a ruler servant is called when someone messes with the holy grail system, such is the case here with my counterpart. However, a majority of information about the Holy Grail War that should be provided is missing. Also, my stats have ranked down as well. Not only have I lost the anti-servant command spells, I can't even reveal the servants' true name. Luckily, this is my homeland where I was born and raised, so I speak the language. Unfortunately, in terms of combat, my effectiveness is limited."
Arturia could see the flat somewhat downed look on the holy maiden's face and nodded.
"Don't worry…we shall face this threat together and deal with your counterpart. Though, it's imperative that you can share at least your skills to us. If your counterpart is the same as mine, then your skills should be similar." Jeanne came to understand from the group that this was not this Chaldea's first 'singularity' and that in some eastern city called Fuyuki, they had faced King Arthur's altered corrrupted version as well.
The two legends kept the conversation and Jeanne explained her noble phantasms as well as the weapons she favored in battle, which were quite similar to Arturia's.
Shirou then returned with a different catch this time, carrying a couple rabbits, a boar and some fishes that he found in a stream some distance away, all in a projected net.
In no time, he prepared dinner for everyone, making more food because of Jeanne's presence now. The Holy Maiden turned out to be similar to how Saber was in Shirou's Grail War, utilizing food to replenish her reserves. The look in her eyes when she sampled Shirou's cooking was enough to make the group laugh. It turned out that Jeanne's manners in the table wasn't so refined. Being a country girl and then thrown into war later on, she was not used to having banquets like this. When Shirou brought her seconds, Arturia could see the look of elation and appreciation in the holy maiden's face at her fiancée.
Though it made her quite unnerved at having to share Shirou's food with another.
"Jeanne is just another on the list of people entranced by Shirou's cooking, huh Senpai…" Ritsuka smiled and nodded at Mash.
Jeanne turned to the master and shield servant as Shirou returned to the kitchen to clean up.
"Yeah, no doubt, he will be elected as our head chef in Chaldea." Arturia smiled at the comment, no doubt seconding the motion.
Jeanne then looked at Shirou's back and smiled, sensing nothing but good from this man. She could also see the connection and bond between Shirou and the King of Knights. She could not help but giggle like a school girl at the prospect of hearing a love story between the two, well when they had the time, that is and certainly after dealing with this singularity.
She was surprised, though, when Shirou's posture became rigid as he turned abruptly towards the door.
"We have a visitor, a servant!" The group looked towards the door as Shirou walked outside followed by Arturia, who turned to the others.
"Mash, stay here and protect Ritsuka and Jeanne." The maiden in question frowned at that.
"Wait, I can fight as well, ah…" Jeanne took a step back as Arturia fixed a glare at the holy maiden.
"No, as you are right now, you are in no condition to face a Berserker Servant. And considering that your counterpart is our enemy, you may very well be a target."
Jeanne frowned but ended up complying.
Mash was also against not going, but her main concern was Ritsuka's safety, so she didn't offer much resistance.
Neither Shirou nor Arturia waited for her response, before leaving the house just as the land trembled. The couple could see the creature in front of them standing behind the now clear servant. Contrary to their beliefs, this servant didn't appear to have berserker like tendencies. She was quite beautiful with long purple hair and blue eyes. Though, they could see dark circles around her eyes. Arturia looked at this servant in the eye and could perceive something that intrigued her. For one, for a berserker, it didn't appear that she lacked the ability of self-control. Thinking of Heracles, the Greek hero lacked any sort of cohesion in his movements, fighting more akin to a mad man. Also, she could be mistaken, but Arturia could see sadness in those beautiful blue eyes.
Shirou, for his part, noticed the staff with a crucifix on top, but he could not trace the weapon.
Also, the monster behind her was quite menacing as well.
"Finally found you, heretics…I, Saint Martha, shall deliver your heads to the great Jeanne D'Arc."
Arturia released her Excalibur and got into position. The name was quite familiar, though it was more as a reference to the holy bible.
"Shirou, could you deal with the creature behind her…I wish to fight her alone."
Shirou looked at his fiancée and frowned, wondering what weapon he could use to defeat such a creature.
"You say it like it we're splitting it equally here…" Arturia did smile at the humor behind it. "Any tips…this may be a dragon and I know you're no strange to fighting them?"
"Oh…you did remember that huh…" Well, beating Vortigern was indeed one of her accomplishments as a dragon slayer, but she had Gawain's help at the time.
"Aim for the heart. At the time, I had my spear with me, so it was easier." The redhead nodded and replied.
"Well, I may not have Rhongomyniad with me, but I do have a substitute."
===Zelretch's Pocket Dimension===
"Oh, this certainly looks promising…come and take a look, my apprentice." The vampire was on his chair with his hands together as he observed the show.
Tohsaka Rin, in the meantime, was busy reading a parchment that was lying on his desk.
"Yeah, like I'm falling for that prank again…damn old pervert."
The dead apostle ancestor laughed out loud at that answer while Rin still blushed crimson at the memory.
At the time, Zelretch had told her that her friends were in trouble, facing a powerful opponent. When she used the technique that she learned from the vampire to look at their friends, Rin's face turned red at what she saw. Shirou was lying on a bed and her friend Arturia was on top of him, riding him with as much passion as possible. Rin had lost all cohesion in her mind at the time and actually took a while to realize that she was caught staring at her friends having sex. That alone made Zelretch laugh even more and this time Rin had turned her face away from the scene, but her eyes ventured back the moment that the couple reached climax together.
Of course, the Tohsaka heir teased Arturia constantly about their love life, but seeing it firsthand made her feel self-conscious about her own.
"No, my apprentice. It's not like that…they are facing another servant together, it's quite beautiful to watch such cohesion in battle."
Rin took some time debating whether or not the vampire was playing a prank once more or not. She did want to see her friends again, but not doing that.
This time, the vampire was right, and Rin got to look Shirou Muramasa and Arturia Pendragon fighting together.
===Back in Orleans Singularity===
With the madness enhancement qualities, the Saint initiated the attack with magic energy beam from her lance.
Shirou and Arturia immediately evaded and Arturia saw Tarasque coming for her. However, before the dragon could attack her, a bombardment of arrows hit his body. However, it only served to piss the creature off and it charged towards Shirou, who then released the bow and took his demonic katana. The creature howled in fury and charged blindly at Shirou, leaving Arturia alone to fend off against Saint Martha. Shirou could see that the arrows did little to no damage to the dragon's hardened skin, meaning he needed a little more punch.
Keeping his distance for obvious reasons, Shirou used a combination of attacks with his demonic sword while utilizing a fire spell on the sword.
It resulted in him sending waves of fire swing from the blade, keeping the dragon at bay.
His attacks, however, hit the creature right in the head, but like its hardened skin, the redhead saw that the beast's head was just as durable.
Closing his eyes, Shirou reached out for some of Muramasa's creations. A longsword, a nodachi in which Shirou could charge as much prana as necessary. Summoning the blade, Shirou charged straight at the beast, dodging its tail assault, and delivering powerful sequence of strikes with the glowing sword, making the creature howl in pain. He finished a long series of slashes with the nodachi and then focused enough prana on his fist. As soon as it started glowing blue, Shirou stomped hard on the ground and punched Tarasque's head with his glowed fist.
From his fist, a powerful beam of energy went straight to Tarasque's forehead, this time sending the creature flying a couple meters back.
Meanwhile, Martha was reduced to her staff and energy beams against Arturia. At first, she believed that her pet friend would deal quickly with the redhead servant, but a quick look at what was happening, made her blood boil. She had to stop looking and parry a sword with her staff as she looked straight at Arturia's eyes.
"You know that's discourteous to focus on another fight but your own…it shows a lack of respect to your opponent."
Martha cursed at the woman and managed to send her backwards with her staff, before sending a wave of energy towards Arturia who in turn simply sliced it with her sword.
"It's also discourteous not to introduce yourself, Knight. I do remember saying my name, but I didn't receive the same treatment."
Arturia was fixed in her battle posture but realized that indeed she did not.
"You're right Saint…please forgive this oversight on my part. I am Arturia Pendragon, formerly known as the King of Knights, King Arthur of Britannia."
No sooner had Arturia introduced herself, she dashed straight at Martha and attacked her once more while Martha parried her sword.
The madness enhancement provides her the extra strength necessary to deal with such a legend fighter.
Back to Shirou's fight, by this time he had already realized that it would be useless to attack the creature's back and head. Its skin was too hard to penetrate. The rest, however, was up for grabs as he used his agility, this time fighting with weapons that he used to be his favorites. Kanshou and Bakuya Overhedge were in his hands as he attacked the parts of Tarasque's that was most vulnerable, namely his limbs and its stomach region. Each one of his attacks now managed to draw blood from the creature, so Shirou became relentless in his assault.
By the end of his sequence, the amount of blood on the ground was enough to fill a small pool as Tarasque felt weakened to move.
Saint Martha tried everything she could against Arturia, but neither of her attacks managed to cause damage and with the other servant keeping her dragon occupied, she was unable to use her noble phantasm. As she saw the king of knights charge at her with extreme agility, Saint Martha cursed the blonde woman and attempted to send a beam of yellow energy, but Arturia swiftly dodged and pierced Saint Martha in the chest, just like she did against Lancelot in the Fourth Grail War.
At the same time, Shirou had projected the arrow version of the sword Hrunting, while Ritsuka, Mash and Jeanne left the house to check on the fight.
Shirou unleashed waves of prana from his standpoint as he transformed the sword into a gigantic and menacing arrow.
It travelled in high speeds straight at the creature's chest region, hitting it dead on.
As soon as it pierced the dragon's skin, the curse spread through its entire body and the creature howled in deep pain, before crashing on the ground, dead.
Saint Martha's eyes returned to its normal shade as she fell on the ground after Arturia's direct assault. The Saint turned to the side and saw her companion down on the ground as well as the other servant killed it. Releasing a long sigh in dismay, she could feel that her core had taken a direct hit from the blonde servant's sword. Now taking a direct look at the sword, Saint Martha could feel divine energy exuding from the weapon. Well, the Grail did send poweful servants to deter Jeanne Alter's group after all. It was Jeanne Alter's and Gilles's concern that someone would appear to deal with them, because of their tempering on the Grail.
"Ah…I do appreciate you for ridding me of the madness enhancement. I had lost all control over my actions and ended up committing many atrocities."
Arturia had released her sword and kneeled next to the Saint.
"I know...I could see in your eyes before our fight." Martha looked surprised at that, but smiled. "now I know you were fighting this curse that was placed in you, Saint."
"huh, you do overestimate me Knight…" Saint Martha then turned to the real Jeanne D'Arc and saw her kneeling next to Arturia and grabbing Saint Martha's hand.
The second their hands touched, Saint Martha could feel the blessing energy that also passed through her damaged core. She smiled at the true Jeanne, before being released from this land and back to the Throne of Heroes.
Author Note
Ok, that is about it for now.
Some facts of the story were altered, because I don't plan on using the same servants in the singularities. Some will show, but not all of them. At this point, it's evident that one particular servant won't appear. I'm still debating about the others, though in my fair opinion, neither matter much in the end. Also, about the scene with Rin and Zelretch, I'm still planning a suitable ending for the Tohsaka heir. For now, she will only be a spectator in this part. She will appear from time to time, though.
Next update: Fate Shadow Spear
