Chapter 159: A whisper in the mind.

The clash halted both their momentums so suddenly that the air they had been dragging behind them had little time to account for the sudden drop in velocity. A thunderous clap echoed through the streets as their shockwaves slammed into one another.

Black steel glared into wooden expression, neither Sulyvahn nor Vilhelm spared their opponent even a moment of breath. There was nothing more to be said between them and every second he delayed was more time for his allies to aid in killing Friede and her gang of insane cultist followers. For Sulyvahn, he would consider that more than ample victory.

That being said, he still had precious little intention of dying, if only because he could imagine the smug self-satisfied expression on Gwyndolin's face when he found out. He refused to be made into a joke any further by that serpent toed little worm. That and dying to Vilhelm, a man who devoted his entire existence to the madness and self-gratification that was Freide's life, would be something he would never allow.

With a grunt, he pushed forwards at the same time the black knight did, the pair of them crossing their blades and twisting them to the side, after a second Sulyvahn shot forwards and rammed his shoulder into Vilhelm, unfortunately the knight at the same idea and the end result was them crashing their bodies into one another, the grinding of steel between their ears intensified, the lashing heat of the swords flickered between the two with stray embers landing atop their apparel.

Ground shattered and cracked, their bodies dropped to steeper and steeper angles as they continued their shoving match with neither one of them proving the better. Sulyvahn noticed it the split second in which Vilhelm triggered it once again, the sudden rising of the heat and the brightening of the onyx blade were telltale signs of what his intentions were, so much so that screaming out his attack would have been more subtle.

Sulyvahn loosened his posture, taking one foot off the ground and allowing Vilhelm to continue pushing onwards. The knight let out a small gasp of surprise as he suddenly found himself stumbling forwards, his counterbalance gone. The Pontiff let the momentum push him, spinning on his grounded foot and allowing Vilhelm to move right past him while his sword went wide, unleashing a jet of black fire at nothing in particular save for the ground.

Twisting the sword in his hands, he continued the spin and held it horizontal to his body, the moment he caught sight of Vilhelm's back, his slammed his raised leg back onto the ground and locked his body down, swinging his arm forwards and slashing towards the back of the black knight. The edge of his blade just kissed the back of the knight, a grinding sound filled his ears as the burning sword slashed through the fabric top and scored a mark against the armour, nothing severe, but a screech of metal and a feeling of resistance informed Sulyvahn that he had breached the armour and landed a proper hit on Vilhelm.

The knight continued his forwards fall, though he made not a single sound of pain when the blow was landed, Sulyvahn saw the tightening of his posture and the slight jolt of his back when the attack landed, more so when his feet pushed him onwards and he very nearly stumbled, catching himself at the last moment.

Vilhelm brought the sword across himself and then blurred, using a sudden jet of fire shooting forth from the sword to accelerate his own retaliatory strike and moving at rather blinding speeds, trailing a wave of fire behind him as he flipped himself around and extended his arm in a wide swing.

Sulyvahn reversed the grip on his sword, turning his body to meet the strike and catching it with the flat of his blade. His legs buckled with the power of the weapon, if there had been any snow left by his feet it was long since blasted away when he stopped the attack, the rough cobblestone streets turned to dust and were swept away with the clash, the blast of wind accompanied by streaks of black flames rolling past him.

His sword arm trembled, the chattering of steel against steel felt more present than ever as Vilhelm tightened his grip on his own blade and took a single step forwards, his arm inched closer and closer to his body as he fought to keep the black sword away from him. His muscles straining and his body seeking distance from the burning cursed flames of his own greatsword. His brows knit themselves together, his muscles coiled back like springs and he angled his body forwards.

"Rrrhhhaaa!" The roar left his throat like that of an animal, swinging his arm wide and pushing the black sword of Vilhelm away from his body, the knight staggering backwards with the blow and-

Sulyvahn went on alert as he watched Vilhelm play into the sudden swing, using the power of the shove to reverse his posture and swap his sword arm, another jet of fire accompanied his reversal with the sword now coming in to strike him on the left side. The left side that was notably bereft of an arm or any such weapon to block the attack. To make matters worse he had thrown himself into the shove, which meant he was already moving forwards as well.

He grit his teeth, eyes darting towards Vilhelm as the knight was closing in on him with the swing. Sulyvahn had only just started to bring his arm back around but at the speed he was moving, it would not be fast enough to match the acceleration of Vilhelm. Which meant that he would be struck first and trying to power through such a blow would not work out very well for him. Which meant that there was only one thing he could do.

Mana channelled into the Profaned Greatsword, the flames of the sword screamed as the temperature skyrocketed. In the split second before the weapon erupted with fire, he caught sight of a shadow out of the corner of his eye. Then the sword burned like a second sun. The power of the explosion washed over his body, fire covering every inch of his front. Even then, the shockwave struck him next and he found himself lifted off the ground, his body ragdolled through the air and he did all he could to avoid screaming.

His side struck the snow with a hiss, a sign of the flames now clinging to his body if the awful feeling was any indication, then he felt the momentum continue his roll. The world blurred around him as he would go from moments of being face down against the ground and staring up towards the sky before finally sliding to a halt.

A pained groan left his body, his right hand slid across the floor in front of him and pressed down against the ground. With a heave, he pushed downwards and drew himself up, turning his head and staring across towards the direction he had flown from, soon spotting traces of fire littering the ground like bushes, the burning remains of the explosion.

He found his sword not far from him, tip planted in the ground and the weapon at a crooked angle. With a grunt, he pushed down against the ground, dragging his knees forwards until he was supporting himself with them rather than his arm. The entire front of his body felt numb from head to toe, a cursory glance revealed that his robes had been scorched and much of the fabric had now been welded to his body.

It was beyond an annoyance and would, more than likely, cause him no end of bother when feeling did eventually return to his body, though he was left with now illusions about whether or not Vilhelm was alive. The answer would have been a resounding yes, what he needed to do was get back to his feet and then get moving before the knight could rise up from where they had been blasted off to.

With another grunt, he pushed himself off the ground and out of his crawling position, straightening his back up while remaining on his knees, the pain had started to creep into his senses but he could afford to ignore it for now, it was nothing compared to the pain he had suffered when he lost his arm, and nothing compared to the pain he had felt when he first made the sword from the profaned fires of the old Capital at the bottom of the land. That had truly hurt, this was little more than a pinch compared to that.

Again, he was distracting himself. Taking in a deep breath, he turned his head and swept his gaze across the street once more in search of any sign of movement. Looking past the burning bushes and the shattered buildings, he caught sight of something moving through the gap in one of the blown out houses, a vague shadow that was gradually rising up from its position on the ground. He did not need to be told what it was to figure it out.

Growling to himself, he dragged his leg upwards and adjusted himself so he was on one knee. Breathing heavily, he could feel his body creak and crack in protest as he pushed himself onto his feet, a faint snapping sound reached his ears as a crack ran across his chest from pushing himself up, he ignored it as he continued onwards, by the time he reached his full height it had been a good few seconds, but to him it had been a very long eternity.

Staggering forwards, he dragged his feet along the ground as he approached his implanted sword, making sure to split his attention between his weapon and the shadow that was more or less approaching the same state that he was. He knew that Vilhelm would have been better off than he was, unlike the knight he was a tree spirit - or at least, the child of one - which meant he was naturally weak to the likes of fire. Vilhelm was not and Vilhelm was wearing titanite armour for protection, he had cloth robes.

All the same, he pressed onwards and was thoroughly undaunted by the potential threat that was now posed by the knight. It was nothing that he couldn't overcome if he put his mind to it and the fact remained that he had sense on his side while the knight had nothing but fantasy and delusion. The mere thought of losing against that was all the support he needed, though some assistance would not have been spurred away at this moment.

Extending his right hand forwards, he wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the sword and leaned forwards slightly. The weapon shifted as it took his weight onto itself, though it did not fall over and held firm as he leaned over the blade, breathing in and out before realising that they had gone back to the state they had been in before the battle began, though at least Vilhelm had made no progress. However, the loss of his arm had never felt more pressing, if he had his second limb then this fight would have been over in half the time.

He pulled, freeing the sword from the ground though keeping the point of the blade touching the ground as he breathed in and out, staring towards the hole in the building as Vilhelm emerged from the ruins, his left hand reaching up and pushing aside the fragmented remains of a door he had been blasted through, the entrance tipping over onto the floor. With an audible snarl, the knight moved out and into the light.

The left side of his armour had been scorched pure black, a deeper shade of onyx than the rest of his apparel, the grey cloth that had coated the top half of his armour was nowhere to be seen, in all likelihood it had been burnt away into embers. He dragged his sword behind him as he moved out, the blade no longer burning and his movements were more sluggish, which meant that he had really pushed himself to his limits in that fight, yet Sulyvahn could easily tell that Vilhelm was the better of the two when it came to physical appearance.

Taking a single step forwards, Vilhelm brought up his sword-

Mana flared behind Sulyvahn's head, the helmet of the black knight snapped upwards and he extended his left hand towards the sky behind him. The palm flashed crimson before the glass like shield manifested in front of him a split second before a solid beam of pure indigo light smashed into it, the shield holding for barely a second before it shattered into glass and the light continued unimpeded, striking the centre of Vilhelm's chest and sending him back into the house.

Sulyvahn took a step back and turned his head as the building was soon consumed in an explosion of brilliant purple flames, the light forcing him to close his eyes, feeling the heat wash over his body and the fragments of debris in the form of stone, wood and ceramic raining down around him. He privately wondered if there had been anyone in that house but he supposed if there had been, they would have most certainly died when Vilhelm went flying in the first time around.

It only had a single floor, after all.

He gradually turned his head towards the direction the light had come from, having already sensed the sudden arrival of a Servant and while he could not speak for the condition of Vilhelm, any attack that utterly annihilated his dark hand spell would certainly leave him unable to launch a counter attack for a good while, at the very least he would probably use this as a chance to escape but he would not be in much of a position to provide aid to Friede.

That was part of the reason he let him go…

The other part was that he could not actually chase him down any further.

His head came to a stop, he raised a wooden eyebrow at the purple cloak that was now spread wide like wings, the shrouded figure slowly lowered themselves to the ground with the catalyst still held in their hands, although the magical circles that had surrounded them dimmed ever so slightly as they lowered their body, eventually coming to within a metre or so of him but still keeping their height above his own.

"I see that you have managed to survive this long." Medea remarked in a barely interested tone of voice as she turned her hooded head towards him, making a clear show of looking him over "Though not for lack of trying, it seems."

"You do not survive the lands of Lothric by being of feeble body." He grunted back, shaking his head and looking back towards the burning remnants of his house as he sensed the spiritual presence of Vilhelm move, though it was now heading further away from him. He might not have been able to give chase, but he did not know why Medea still lingered around here, unless she was here to mock his current state of-

"Is this another of your allies?" A desperately concerned voice cut through the snow, Sulyvahn jolted and turned his head towards the direction of the call. Confusion flooded through him as he stared at the well dressed man plodding through the snow in their direction, keeping one arm raised just above his head to cover his face from the falling snow while he made a visible effort in walking. He looked as though he had just walked out of a court dinner.

The man came to a stop, his head now fixed in his direction and his eyes widening in horror before he grimaced, lowering the arm slightly. "I was told that Servants could take rather horrific injuries that go far beyond the endurance of the common man but this is…" he leaned back, moving his left hand to cover his mouth while his eyes crinkled at the sight that was his left side.

"I'm certain that concern would be wasted on this one." Medea bluntly remarked after a moment "I had not even expected to find you present at all, though it is fortunate that you happened by." there was a brief silence before a ghost of a smile came to her lips "If only because you would have certainly perished otherwise."

He fought back the rather unpleasant comment he actually wanted to make. "If you came here to mock me…though why are you here?"

"Master was discovered and I was travelling with the others to meet up with them, they are-"

"Embroiled in combat, the screams of a dragon echoing through the city were proof enough that something was happening." He scoffed at her, shaking his head from side to side before he could feel his own twinge of amusement. "Perhaps you stuck your head out of your lair just to be certain your instruments were not mistaken?"

The woman was silent for a moment, though the annoyance was apparent on her from the next comment she made. "Unlike others, I have complete confidence in my craft that such checks are unnecessary."

He would have commented back at her, and he did have several biting remarks in his arsenal that would have doubtless won him the argument, save for the sound of running footsteps directly to his left in the direction that he had known that Vilhelm had been rushing towards and the direction that he had retreated in, meaning that it was also the location that Friede had currently been engaged in a battle.

Though the presence of Medea here meant that she had been searching for someone else and she remarked that his appearance was more fortunate for himself. The implication being that it was purely coincidence that she had stumbled upon him in the first place while being accompanied by this…

He gave the blonde man another cursory glance and noticed that he had crossed the distance between the two of them - albeit rather clumsily - and was now standing fairly close to him with his expression severely troubled, looking like he wanted to speak further but holding himself back for the sake of another reason. More than likely was the fact he recognised that he wasn't going to be all that useful in this situation. Sulyvahn scoffed under his breath and turned his head back towards the direction of the sound, his sword arm tightened ever so slightly though he relinquished it when the first of the individuals came stumbling around the corner of the street.

Rather, the state they were in was what caught his eye first and foremost, the young shielder girl Mash Kyrielight very nearly slipping onto her backside as she came charging around the corner of the street with Ritsuka dangling off her shoulders as though he was little more than a useless sack of flour. It was a rather pathetic sight and made him all the more curious as to what madness had unfurled in the short time that they had all been separated-

His brows furrowed as they were followed by another figure that he did not recognise, a strange burgundy haired girl in a white dress more suited for a wedding - he had the displeasure of officiating several of those himself during his tenure as Pontiff to keep up appearances for the sake of the masses - and wielding a club more akin to a mace, the design being a touch more complicated than he would have expected for a weapon of it's type.

They were then followed by-

He stiffened his posture as the next figure strolled around the corner with none of the urgency of the first two, her posture was lazy and almost casual. As though she did not realise that she was fleeing any danger at all, and he took an instinctive step backwards. He was clearly not the only one, hearing Medea to his right give a small gasp of surprise, he glanced at her and saw her lips parted and her body now tense.

At least she was no fool and recognised the danger she was in.

The figures that came stumbling around the corner next were those that he did not recognise either, save for the final two who came rushing around the corner. The first was tall, blocked dark armour and a greatsword easily comparable with his own if only due to length as opposed to width. The garb that was most known with knights of the Royal Family, those charged with protecting the King and Queen and he recognised that one quite well. Especially given the distance he was trying to give Gwynevere, though that was clearly failing judging by the fact she was actively glancing over her shoulder to most likely see if he was trying to run away.

Then the final one came stumbling around the corner, just behind a knight in silver armour with red accents, blonde hair and a rather familiar face but set in an unfamiliar expression. This figure was another he knew quite well but they were clearly lacking in some of the familiarities he had been accustomed to.

Which was outstandingly poor luck for him to stumble across all three of these cretins in short order at such an inopportune time for him.

There were very few ways this could be made actively worse.

"Sulyvahn-san!"

And just like that, the heads of everyone in the street turned towards him at the cry of Mash Kyrielight, cementing herself as the individual who was most likely going to come close to his second death. Only this time she did not need to get her hands dirty and, rather ironically, was going to cause his death through second hand methods which was rather poetic when he considered how many he had killed through such ways.

The atmosphere that settled around him was nothing shy of hostile in a split second, while Mash was the only one who looked even moderately relieved to see him - or perhaps she was more shocked that he was still alive, though the duration of that state of being was still up for change it seemed - the others were far less reserved about showing their clear disgust of him. Though few could match the intensity of Vordt, the arrow headed helm of the Knight was fixed upon him with such a fire behind the eyes that he was certain the knight would burst into flames if he could.

…The reaction that most concerned him was Gwynevere.

She just smiled at him.

He would much prefer the anger, that was somehow less horrifying to consider.

"I cannot help but notice a large addition to the numbers since we last saw them." The man remarked from behind Sulyvahn, sounding almost amazed at the gallery of those he had dealt with in the past. He would personally consider it a surprise if he managed to survive the next couple minutes or so-

A thunderous roar of a dragon split through the air, the heads of the group turned from him back towards the junction of the street they had just been running from with no small sense of urgency, save for Gwynevere who looked much the same method of uncaring as she always did. Rather, her expression was borderline indifferent, as though she had just heard a fly buzz around her head, and quickly ignored it in favour of turning her attention to him.

Sulyvahn looked to Mash, he needed something that would grant him the ability to survive the next few minutes and he knew just what it was. He could also consider it fortunate that the moment he got to the grove, Quella would actively prevent anyone from dying or causing harm to another which would provide him with a safe haven. So long as they didn't try to kill him first.

"It would seem as though you're all in a spot of trouble." He called out across the street, splitting their attention back to him as he straightened himself out, with a mental command he dismissed his greatsword and made himself appear more unassuming. This was a much simpler method of preventing his death because he was certain that neither Vordt nor Llew would ever do something as stupid as murder him unarmed right in front of his supposed allies. "Fortunately, I have arrived with good tidings."

He smiled an unseen smile "Provided that I am alive to lead you to the one safe haven that remains here." turning his attention to Mash, he spoke quicker in order to prevent anyone else from getting a word in. "Though if you doubt my intentions, you can speak with the Shielder girl and the Contractor currently on her back, who happens to be my own as well. If nothing else, do not doubt that I would not jeopardise my own safety in such a way."

"You know a safe haven, Sulyvahn-san?" Mash spoke first in a hurried and panicked tone of voice, a clear hint of desperation in her tone of voice. Sulyvahn spared Ritsuka a glance over her shoulder, the distance between the two of them made it rather difficult to actually tell what his condition was though there was clearly something the matter with him, the fact that the link between the two of them was rather numb was proof enough of that. "Senpai is-"

"You trade friendly words with this cur!?" Vordt hissed in a rather foul voice that was borderline animalistic, stomping forwards and bringing out his mace with very little consideration as to what was actually going on around him and showing no signs of stopping. "Wait right there, you-you-" He pointed the mace towards him briefly, clearly at a loss for words.

"How eloquent." Sulyvahn remarked dryly, something that only seemed to infuriate Vordt further as he picked up the pace. He spread his arm wide ever so as to demonstrate the full extent of his injuries. "By all means, kill me and doom yourselves to wandering this world without a guide. I'm sure that will end rather well for you…how long before Friede calls in more of her allies? I am certain I hear a dragon around there-"

"Vordt-san, please!" Mash called out, adjusting Ritsuka on her shoulder and bringing the rampaging knight to a halt with the tone of voice she used. "He's Senpai's Servant as well."

Vordt stopped walking, looking very close to flat out ignoring her. Sulyvahn was certain that he would.

"Don't trouble yourself, dear little knight." He stiffened at the melodious voice, taking a half step backwards on instinct and swerving his head in the direction of Gwynevere as she moved forwards. Ignoring the sound of a roar, this time closer than before, and moving past the Shielder girl, swaying her hips from side to side with each step as though flaunting her figure. "I'm certain that Sulyvahn will be more than happy to tell us where to head now, won't you?"

He felt something pass through his mind-

The presence receded just as quickly, Gwynevere looking a touch surprised before the voice of Medea provided some clarity.

"You are far from the first Goddess I have met to have influenced the mind in such a way." There was a hard edge in the words of the Caster, Sulyvahn glanced at her and saw that her posture was coiled like a hare ready to bolt. "And I have had quite a bit of time to think of methods by which I can deal with your ilk again, if I should encounter them…" there was almost something vindictive in her tone of voice. "You'll find your honeyed words lacking in power."

"Oh?~" Gwynevere purred, turning her attention from him and onto Medea - something he did not envy - and locking her hands together. "That sounds like a challenge to be met, girl…And if there is one thing I might be interested in, it's a challenge…it's always so wonderful when they're hard to get but once you have them…" she trailed off meaningfully, making a clear show of eyeing Medea up and down. "I wonder, with how confident you sound, I'm a little curious how long your sorceries might last…"

"Fuck sake!" The blonde knight stomped their foot, instantly setting her apart from the woman whose face she shared. This one looked like they had none of the incompetence of Nero, she marched forwards and pointed squarely towards him. "Enough of this bullshit! What the hell are you talking about?"

Finally.

"A safe haven established some distance from here, there were two others who found me and have since moved on to try and locate the other groups that doubtlessly exist here." He paused for a moment. "I'm certain that ripping my mind apart is well within your capabilities, Gwynevere…but I will take my own head long before you have the chance to charm me and find it."

Stabbing a finger into his chest, he continued on "So that means your only hope of finding your allies is through my survival…but by all means, kill me. I'm sure it will work out splendidly for you." he glanced at Gwynevere "If nothing else, the thought of how you will explain my disappearance to Quella is something I would be most amused by."

The confident expression on Gwynevere's face faltered ever so slightly as she registered the name, her brows furrowed as she looked at him without a trace of amusement to be seen in those glowing golden eyes. Though it was a moot point now, he had already won the argument.

"...How lucky you remain, Sulyvahn."


Oda Nobunaga was many things, adopting the personality of a Fool served her well enough in the past, though she did derive enjoyment from a great many things that did not mean that she was unable to see what might as well have been glaring her dead in the face and waving its arms around in the air.

One might as well have been an actual fool if they missed signs so obvious.

Those being that there was clearly something wrong with Ash, the Saber had not loosened his posture the second he came back to them. Rather, she noticed that he had looked prepared for combat the second he had come back and wasn't even making a secret about how on edge he was. If it was suspicion pointed towards their newest arrival then she might have been more understandable.

Except he had barely registered the existence of the Spirit in the first place, he was far from being subtle in such things and even with the helmet hiding his face his body posture told a story a thousand words long. He was clearly prepared for something to happen except, having more in common with shell shocked soldiers fresh from a massacre and waiting for the closest shadow to leap out and stab him.

Quite what had put him in this state wasn't known to her but she could guess easily enough, it had been the actions of the Servant he encountered. Physical wounds were those that she could understand easily enough and he looked as though he had suffered no shortage of those at the hands of the Berserker, scratches lining his armour and his previous weapon no longer in his arm and replaced by a rather plain looking longsword.

That and she had heard the sounds of combat even when she fought the large eagle, for a second time in a row, and they had most certainly not belonged to that of the Knight or the demon boy. It had clearly been a rather brutal battle and the fact the Berserker had gotten so close to him and done so much damage was proof enough that they were not the sort to fight up close and personal. Not that anyone in their right mind would try and fight a Berserker up close, considering the nature of their class in the first place.

It was something to note that he was still alive despite all the clear signs of punishment he had taken, yet he had not spoken a single word since he came back. Save for little more than the half baked mutters but aside from that he had been silent as a crypt….that was probably some sort of offensive joke to him or something, considering his undead nature. She would have been sure he'd seen the funny side of it though.

Regardless, Ash had never been one for idle conversation unless he was interested in something but she knew he would not withhold information from them that would be critical to their chances. So the fact he was not immediately regaling the lot of them - or at the very least, her - with information regarding the latest Servant who had attacked them was worrisome enough in her mind. It meant that he was elsewhere and combined with how he was acting, it meant that his attention was similarly elsewhere as well. There could be any number of conclusions that she could draw from that but one thing spoke volumes as to what he was doing.

He was afraid of something, his very clearly terrified reaction when the Spirit had attempted to touch him was proof enough of that. Not that she would have let some Servant she met less than a minute ago touch her and offer to mess around with her head, she might have been a fool at times but she sure as hell wasn't stupid. However a reaction like that just screamed that something was very wrong with him. It was too emotional and for a Saber who held the same level of personality as a plank of wood on the best of times, it was downright baffling.

Drawing conclusions was easy enough.

The Servant that had arrived had not fought him in the traditional sense. They would have certainly fought, the presence of Berserker arriving long before he did was proof enough of that. When he had arrived, he was distracted and on edge, his condition had only worsened in the time that he had been walking around with them for a good couple minutes or so.

What did that mean?

It means that the newly arrived Servant that had attacked him in the immediate aftermath of Berserker, perhaps to let the Servant get away, had gone directly for his mind rather than that of his body. Mental attacks themselves were fearsome, it could be guaranteed that any Servant who would use them was doing so with the intention of really messing up their target.

From how fidgety Ash was at the moment, it was a safe bet to say that whatever the Servant had done, it had worked in part. His head was turning in the direction of every single shadow he came across and in the last minute alone she had subtly caught him staring in one particular direction a touch longer than he really should have been before pulling his head away. Again, he had not said a single word while doing this nor did he look at any of them.

If she noticed this, then it was guaranteed that the others would have as well and right now, she needed someone she could at least trust to be useful. Any Servant that actively forbade her from killing enemies was one that could not be trusted in a combat situation, though the silver lining was that the Servant would probably extend the same courtesy to her as well should the moment ever arise. It was a shallow silver lining but one nonetheless.

Her eyes traced his back as he stopped moving once again, his shoulders visibly tightened and his head whirled to the right and snapped upwards towards the rooftops. She humoured him and followed his gaze, she hadn't sensed anything but with how he was reacting it wasn't as though she could dismiss it often enough. They were in enemy territory but with their numbers advantage it could hardly be said they were in immediate danger, still that wasn't to say they were in no danger at all.

Enemy territory was something to beware for that very reason.

Ash's head lingered on the rooftops for a moment longer before it dragged itself away so sharply that his chin caught on his collar and made a scraping sound as steel ground against steel. It was a high pitched noise that seemingly frightened him if the jolt he gave out a second later was any indication. All the while she watched him as he scared himself before her eyes darted towards the other three, namely towards Percival and the Spirit.

The Round Table Knight didn't look as though he was all that interested, or if he was he was making a good show not to appear all that fussed about the clear paranoia that Ash was exhibiting. As for the Spirit, she caught that one glancing over his shoulder and locking eyes with her for a moment. Bright blue eyes stared back at her for a few moments, the expression of the Spirit was rather neutral though their eyes contained no small degree of apprehension.

They turned back around and broke contact first, prompting Nobunaga to very nearly laugh at the speed at which they looked away from her. She could see very apparent turmoil in the eyes of the Servant, apparently they did not know how to hide their emotions and were still very clearly off put by the way in which Ash had rather vehemently rejected their offer to mess around with his head. An odd quirk to be sure but if their stance of neutrality was any indication…she wouldn't make any assumptions, especially since they had outright threatened to cripple her in order to prevent further violence.

So not a coward, but not one who took sides in a fight between humans. They had made sure to stress that, especially with the clear indifference for the red skinned boy, it was apparent enough that they held very little care for the inhuman as well. Overly friendly towards them all as well and she considered it a fortunate thing that they had not yet made an attempt to speak with her, there was something off about them. Perhaps it was merely that she didn't trust anyone who appeared quite that innocent, the appearance of a young boy and the sheer power they exuded.

They might not have been a God but that certainly didn't mean anything to her.

Regardless of all that, they had mentioned turbulence in the mind of Ash. With the benefit of hindsight and given what he had spent the walk doing thus far, it was a simple enough observation. The problem emerged as to what type of turbulence he was experiencing, if it was some manner of spell then it was high rank to get through the magic resistance of a Saber class Servant. Which almost certainly meant trouble for her if that happened, the symptoms as well…yet he had managed to get away so perhaps it was a case he was not quite so incapacitated as would be believed.

He wasn't foaming at the mouth and he hadn't made an effort to strike at shadows so - again - that was another good thing, at least she supposed it was. The fact remained, until the Saber actually spoke openly about what he was experiencing there was very little they could do about it. Well, ordinarily at least. Talking about something like this so openly and surrounded by people who she wasn't certain she could trust - the Knight and the Demon had afforded themselves greater courtesy, the Spirit not so much - would be foolish.

Though she was rapidly running out of patience for that.

She could only tolerate him glaring at shadows and jumping at the slightest noise for so long before one of the others decided to comment upon it more openly.

When he stopped again, this time to glare at the front of a house, she figured that enough was enough. Either he would answer her in regards to what happened or he wouldn't. She would settle for getting the barest hint of information from him in regards to the enemy who attacked him and the capabilities of the Berserker he fought, the type of information that was actually useful.


He could see them everywhere he looked, a crooked shadow in the corner of his eye twitched as though they raised a sword above their head. It lasted until he looked in the direction of the movement and watched as nothing came of them, the images flickered away back into nothing more than shadows or tricks of the light.

The intervals at which they were happening were becoming less frequent, the time between them shortening and the whispers in the back of his mind were growing louder and louder. It was always the same voice, always the same words, and always the same effect on his nerves. A twitching of his sword arm and a near instinctive desire to bow his head every time he heard the noise.

A flicker in the corner of his eye brought his feet to a halt once more-

"..."

It was a whisper so subtle that he could not make out a single word, yet the power in the voices reverberated through his body. The rest of the sounds around him fell into nothing more than muffles. His eyes locked onto the windows of a home, staring through the frosted over glass with intensity he had never felt before, as though there was something within it that was calling out to him.

He stared for what felt like an eternity, gazing straight through the pane and into the room within - if only barely - and watching for any sign of movement of something out of place.

A shadow stood in the centre of the room, so distant and so vague that he could not make out a single detail about them beyond their form being humanoid.

Twin lights of golden light shone at the top of the shadow, as though they were eyes and stared right back through him. Even with the layer of ice covering the front of the window he could see them shining ever so brightly. With the radiance of the sun, they stared back at him as though beckoning him towards them, their light filled his mind, seeping warmth into his cold limbs.

Why did they look so beautiful?

He took a single step towards him-

"Oi."

His body started at the sensation of something grabbing his right arm, he let out an involuntary gasp of surprise and whirled around onto the noise. His left arm was brought up and his hand clenched into a fist, drawing it back for a punch.

That thought was quickly dashed from his mind as he found himself staring into the unimpressed eyes of Nobunaga. The crimson orbs looked dead into his helmet with a dullness to them, darting between the fist that had been poised to strike her and his helmeted face. He took a step backwards, dropping the arm back to his side as quickly as he could, though he saw the look in her face as he did so. She had seen him clearly startled by something.

Her eyes lingered on his arm for a touch longer before they dragged themselves back to his head, she looked to him for a few seconds longer then turned away from him and looked towards the building he had been staring at a few seconds prior. Ash sharply turned his head from her, and resumed walking.

Or, at least, he tried to before he found that Nobunaga still hadn't loosened her grip on his arm and was now holding him in place. He did not turn and face her, though he tugged on the arm a little harder to try and break free of her grip. Informing them of his own current problems would achieve nothing, he did not know if there was anything to be done and if they believed his performance was debilitated there was every chance that they would try and forbid him from combat or something…

He did not show weakness.

He did not show weakness.

To show weakness was to invite pain.

…Where did that come from?

"What did you see in there?"

"Nothing." He answered immediately, he knew that the question had been coming the second that Nobunaga had taken hold of his arm and it was the safest answer he could give. Though he didn't believe it and he was hardly a liar at any rate, in fact he had never truly lied before in his life. Judging by the fact that Nobunaga tightened her grip on his arm, it was clear she did not even entertain the idea of believing him.

Before he could try and pull free again, he felt himself yanked back and spun around, his body was dragged down ever so slightly by the arm until he was hunched over and staring directly into the eyes of Nobunaga. The woman regarded him with a look that was thoroughly unimpressed with what he had just said, it was fortunate he was wearing a helmet else she would have doubtless noticed the fact he could not meet his eyes.

Nobunaga's lips were pulled tight into a thin line, her eyes roaming his head for a few moments before she spoke in a slow voice. "Speak again and this time make an effort not to insult either of us by lying."

Pulling her arm away, she narrowed her eyes and brought her arms in front of herself and crossed them over. "Ever since you came back from whatever encounter you had with our newest assailant, I've watched you jump at damn near every single shadow that has crossed your line of sight. If you were any more fidgety I would assume that you were seconds away from walking into a trap that you knew about from the start. So tell me again, what did you see or not see that has managed to get you almost punching anyone at the slightest surprise?"

He had precious little intention of telling her, he turned his head to the side and leaned back to his full height. Though he did not turn away from her fully, merely keeping his eyes from looking down upon her. He noticed quickly that the others had stopped moving and were now looking in their direction, Percival's expression was drawn tight with clear intrigue on his face but he didn't look as though he was going to do anything immediately.

The Spirit - Quella - just maintained a strange smile on his face and a look that made it seem they weren't actually present at the scene, at least mentally. With an expression that clearly placed them a thousand miles away.

He didn't care for what the Demon boy thought, he was just hunched over with a pained look on his face.

Turning his head from them, he found himself looking down into the eyes of Nobunaga once again. Those piercing red eyes that were practically demanding an answer from him and would not accept any sort of no for an answer. Ignoring her was probably something that he could at least attempt but she was now aware that there was a problem, he had likely done himself no favours by failing to hide his obvious discomfort.

Then again, there was little chance of that working from the beginning.

The thoughts were all consuming.

"...The Crossbreed-"

"Priscilla."

Both he and Nobunaga turned their heads to the interruption, staring at the expression of Quella as he looked between the two of them with that same smile still firmly upon his lips. He said nothing more, content to look between the two of them as though he hadn't said anything in the first place.

"...Priscilla." Ash corrected himself, though he kept his voice uneven and waited for the next interruption from the Spirit. When he got nothing, he frowned behind his helmet and turned his attention back to Nobunaga, the dark haired woman stared at Quella for a touch longer than himself before she too turned her attention to him once more. "She…did something to my mind."

The Archer raised an eyebrow but said nothing, clearly waiting for him to elaborate.

"I have been afflicted with hallucinations." It was the only way he could describe what he was seeing and yet even that explanation felt so hollow compared to what he was experiencing. He could think of no words to describe what he was truly experiencing, the depths by which these were affecting him but at the same time, he did not wish to draw attention to himself. He had dealt with worse before and was certain that he could deal with it.

It was like a poison, coursing through his entire body and consuming every ounce of his attention. Like a constant pain in the back of his mind where the whispers came and went before he could truly grasp them, moments so fleeting that they dared not linger long enough to be understood but did not retreat far enough that he lost all awareness of them.

A poison of the mind was something that he had not experienced before but that was all it was.

A poison.

It was something that he would endure, he had dealt with poison before and had managed to outlast them. All he needed to do was wait until they left him, the pain of the swamp would get worse long before it ever got better and he assumed that the hallucinations followed a similar principle. Waiting until it passed was the best he could accomplish, nothing more and nothing less.

"Hallucinations?" Nobunaga's reply was coloured with surprise, he wasn't sure why, especially with the flash of bewilderment that flashed across her face before it quickly settled into something more focused. She reached up, pinching her chin between her fingers and humming to herself. "Yes, yes that certainly explains your behaviour recently."

He fought back a flinch at the declaration, though he knew he was far from being subtle; having it directly brought up was certainly no better for himself. Thinning his lips and gritting his teeth behind his helmet at the state he had been displaying, he hadn't even encountered anything physical and he was already showing apprehension.

The hand was lowered "And these visions were caused by the Servant you fought? Hmmm. Certainly sounds as though they would be a problematic fighter-"

"She fled after I landed a hit on her." It was one of the few things he had at least been aware of, though in truth he was barely aware of what had been happening. It was his though his body had moved without any command from himself, he wasn't thinking about fighting the woman or killing her. He just…wanted her away from him as quickly as possible, he wanted her and the visions gone.

"So she ran away." Nobunaga grunted, though her lip twitched upwards ever so slightly for reasons that he did not quite understand. "Wahahaha! Even with her mind tricks she still couldn't get you? That says more for you than it does for her!"

…He didn't see what was so funny.

Perhaps he managed to get across his lack of amusement because the smile on her face faded when she finished laughing, soon dropping off her expression entirely and replacing it with a frown. "Alright, fine. This is a concern either way, especially if you get jumped by more than one Servant. Speaking of which, you fought the Berserker. Anything you can say about her?"

Atalanta…

"...She's insane."

"That went without saying, but I was thinking of something more pressing than her mental state." The dark haired woman flatly remarked, giving him a half-lidded expression and a faint shake of the head. "I was referring more to her physical status, how she fights and all of that."

"...Her name is Atalanta-"

"Wait, the Greek Huntress? Well, shit. No wonder she moved so fast then, and if she's Atalanta then it's a guarantee she has a bow." She paused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow at him "She did use a bow, right?"

"Yes."

"I won't bother asking if she was any good with it because it's Atalanta…" She paused, then raised an eyebrow at him somewhat questioningly. "You seem pretty confident about that as well. Did she use her Noble Phantasm on you or something?"

"I'd met her before."

"Ah, fair enough then. The Assassin's name was Jack so I'm personally hedging on it being Jack the Ripper considering that's the only Jack I can think of off the top of my head. The butcher knives and scalpels are also a pretty good indication of their identity as well and-" She continued to speak, leaving him rather confused as to who she was even talking about in the first place.

With a name like 'Jack the Ripper' he was reminded more of someone like 'Maneater Mildred' which left little to the imagination as to what they were like as a fighter. Yet he pondered the appearance of the Assassin for a moment longer. They looked so small, nothing more than a mere child and they had a name like that?

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know about them…uhm…serial killer who murdered whores."

"...She's a child."

"I mean, who better to kill someone with?" Nobunaga shrugged her shoulders "I wouldn't really suspect a child approaching me in the dead of night to be gunning for my throat and I certainly wouldn't suspect them of being behind the murder of five or so women. Sure, it's a little weird but I'm not going to comment upon it that deeply."

"...She's a child." Was Nobunaga not understand what he was discussing here? How in the world did a child turn to rampant murder and then die? What on earth was going through the minds of those who were supposed to care for her at the time? Where were her parents in all of this?

Was she not-

A silhouette in the street stared at him, golden eyes like the sun focused solely on him and him alone.

A whisper on the wind-

"Oi." He jolted, fingers being snapped in front of his face as Nobunaga brought his attention back to her. She wouldn't understand quite how grateful he was for that little interruption. "You're spacing out. Are you seeing the hallucinations again?"

"...Yes."

Nobunaga made a noise "Well, don't look for me for a cure. I don't know anything about that sort of magic in the first place. Best I can do is now be alert for suffering the same thing as you. When we meet Master or that Witch he brought with them, see if they can do anything about that. I'll bet the Caster would be able to easily enough."

The Witch…Medea, yes.

…He could stomach the visions until that point and there was no way he was allowing Sulyvahn near his head.

"For the time being, just ignore them. They aren't real." She reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "Right now, you panicking at the shadows does no one any favours. Just tune out the hallucinations until we get to safety. You're a warrior, right? You gonna let yourself get done in by literally nothing more than a trick of the light?"

He shook his head from side to side, he didn't trust himself to answer.

She hadn't heard the voice.

"Good man." She clapped him twice on the shoulder, then turned him around to face the direction of the others. "Now, we need height and my boots are soaking wet. Hand me the binoculars and-good work." He presented her with the devices before she could even finish speaking, climbing atop his shoulders as he lowered himself down and the Archer locking herself around him as he rose back up.

He ignored the odd looks he received from the others and focused more on walking.

"Consider it your duty to get us all to safety, yeah? And you're always talking about the importance of duty, aren't you?"


This duty is your life, my will is your soul, my words are your courage.

This is your value.


"As is my value."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"You just…" Nobunaga trailed off for a moment, then she made a noise behind his head. "Hmmm. Nothing, I suppose."

He would have shrugged if he was able, instead he continued to walk.

…He couldn't ignore the shadow in the corner of his eye, however.