Saber Wars: IV

Ash was unbothered by the appearance of three Servants, he recognised some of them at least.

No, he recognised all of them.

His eyes hardened as he caught sight of Gilles de Rais, even without the knowledge that their Caster self was the cause of the problems in France the first time he had been here, it went without saying for him that he disliked the man on principle. Rather, it was the mere sight of him that filled Ash with a profound sense of disgust.

Heroic Spirit?

Hmph. A joke.

Keeping his gaze of the French Marshal, he pulled the bow taught and took aim towards the Saber Servant, or he assumed that was what they were. Especially because they were currently wielding a sword. Either they were a Saber or they were not, he did not care much for classes in the same way as their most recent…

…He was hesitant to call her an ally.

Whatever the case, he paused when he heard some manner of growling noise that he would have attributed to a dog, combined with the shuddering sound of rattling steel. He briefly turned his sight towards the sound and narrowed his gaze.

Mysterious Heroine X stood with a trembling sword in her grasp, a look of fire in her eyes and lips peeled back like some manner of snarl.

"A Saber…" She hissed out between her teeth, forcing every single syllable out as if it was some manner of chore. He mentally dismissed her and turned his gaze back towards Gilles and pulled the bow once more, taking in a short breath as he watched the man clash with Marie.

Waiting for the French Queen to move aside so that he could line up a perfect shot was a little troublesome.

"Inform Marie to move so that I can-"

"If you would be so kind as to lower your bow-"

Two voices spoke at the same time, both his own and another. His eyes narrowed into slits at the subtle command levied against him. He all but forgot about Gilles and whipped a burning glare towards the speaker. Gwynevere had the gall to look back at him with a serene smile as if she had not just tried to order him about.

His jaw rolled from side to side.

"Yeah, what she said." Heroine X jerked her head towards Gwynevere as she stalked forwards, menacingly brandishing her sword and glaring towards the direction of Gilles, a subtle hint of gold burned across the surface of the blade as they marched forwards with clear intentions. "That Saber is mine-"

"And if you would be so kind as to heel." Gwynevere didn't bother to be as polite with Heroine X, dropping her smile only a little and flattening her brows at the Assassin. "Then perhaps we might have the chance to foster some level of confidence within these three. Unless you are all of the impression that they cannot muster their own strength without the need to be aided?"

Ash clenched his jaw and straightened himself. "Stand back and watch as they fight three Servants? That is your plan?"

Gwynevere glanced at him and tilted her head in a rather innocent fashion. "That is indeed what I suggest. I have already gleaned their skill level and in terms of combat, the greatest of the dangers is the man in the silver armour and his reluctance to do battle is rather apparent." she made a dismissive wave of the hand. "The tall thug is hardly an expert in sword fighting and the Angel selected a poor opponent in Mash. They are all outskilled in this fight and will swiftly be defeated."

He felt no relief at her words.

Rather, his eyes narrowed further. "And supposing they were injured, I imagine your response would be to merely heal them and have them try again?"

The Goddess merely hummed curiously. "What gives you the impression that it would ever reach that point?"

He had no words to give, all he could do was stare and search for any sign of deception in her gaze.

No, she could well be telling the truth and he still would not pay heed to her words. They were hardly worth dust in his ears. Turning his sight back to the battle, he drew the bow back once more until he heard the creaking of steel cable in his ears, taking aim on the centre of the knight as they pushed Marie back.

This would be the perfect chance to-

"Is your faith in their capabilities truly so dire, or is it your intention to hold their hand through every battle?"

…

A sharp intake of breath.

He turned and opened his mouth-

"Ash, keep on standby for the moment."

He froze, slowly turning his head in disbelief towards the speaker.

Ritsuka stood with his arms folded, watching the battle unfold with a studious gaze. He turned and met his eyes before they softened. "I'm not as big a fan of leaving Mash and the others to fight, but you heard how determined they were. If we all step in the moment they encounter trouble, then they're always going to think they can't do anything by themselves."

Drawing in a breath, Ritsuka turned his head back to the battle. "It might sound cold, but Mash and Lily were adamant on training and it is meant to push them…and probably me as well."

He looked over at Olga.

She was staring at Ritsuka with a touch of surprise, though her head slowly nodded up and down before shifting her gaze towards him. Hardening her features and folding her arms. "I do not need to explain to you that not every battle will happen where you have access to allies."

He knew that.

Of course he understood that. Most of his battles had been fought completely by himself.

Instinctually, he knew that this was indeed the best method of training one could get when it came to fighting. Battling strong opponents until they perfected whatever style they were aiming for. In his case, it just ended up as avoiding the attacks and countering their strikes where he could from a distance or in close when they made openings.

That was it.

He understood it perfectly well, thus having Mash, Lily and Marie test their strength against enemies made a great deal of sense. In any other situation, he would have accepted the words of Ritsuka and watched on. In fact, he had done so already when Cu proposed the same thing, even without the threat of runes blowing him up at the time.

But to go along with it now.

His teeth grit, he slowly lowered the bow down and kept a heated glare on the battle.

To go along with it now, to be stood where she had been…

To stand next to her while it happened and agree with what she was doing.

Even if it was for the best…No…it was her words.

'What gives you the impression it will ever reach that point?'

What gave him that impression?

"Thank you, I have every confidence that Mash-senpai and the others will be more than capable of fighting off a ragtag band of whatever ruffians have washed up here." Gwynevere quietly boasted.

The pride in her voice made him sick.

"And they cannot fight if you intend to charge down there like a hooligan and swing that sword above your head because you happen to have spotted a fellow sword wielder. Was it not you who claimed to be a teacher of Saber Servants?" Gwynevere prodded at X further with her verbal spears, "Surely you were not planning on doing the training for your pupil, were you?"

"What-but-the Saber is fighting the Rider at the moment!" Heroine X indignantly remarked, pointing her sword and looking dangerously close to stamping her foot. "That means he is absolutely nowhere near Lily so that means I can absolutely kill him."

"And shift the tide of the battle so dramatically? Assistance remains assistance. If you step in now, you will all but state that you have no faith in their capacity as fighters. Surely you are aware that a swordsman without confidence is one that cannot function, hmmm?"

"...Tch. This is why I hate Casters." Heroine X pouted, walking away and dismissing the Excalibur in her hand. Roughly folding her arms, she turned around and cast a withering glare onto the battlefield with a rather hefty scowl coming upon her face. "I am just saying that this is definitely where I am most suited. I have a conceptual advantage against Sabers, you know?"

Ritsuka made a small noise. "Do you mean the class or just people wielding swords?"

"The Class."

"How do you even get something like that in the first place?" Ritsuka muttered, scratching his chin and furrowing his brows in thought. "Because I figure you would need to defeat a lot of swordsmen in life and that translates to being able to beat up a bunch of people who wield swords?"

Heroine X made a confused face for a second. "What the heck do you mean 'in life' I am still alive!"

"You cannot be a Servant if you aren't dead!" Olga hotly cut into the conversation, "In what instance can you think of where-" she abruptly cut herself short and looked towards him.

He met her eyes without words.

Olga swiftly cleared her throat and averted her gaze from him. "What I mean to say is that it is the accepted qualification that a Servant has to come from a time where they do not exist as is understood. Of course, a Servant might be an exception, but that hardly qualifies for whatever nonsense you have come up with!"

"You're all just mad because the cosmos ranks Earth space technology at RankE!"

Ash brought his hand up and rubbed at his eyes.

This conversation was straining.

A swift thrust from Blackbeard, Lily grit her teeth as she blocked the hook with her sword.

"Heh."

Blackbeard smirked, then pulled across and managed to wrap the curve of the hook around her sword. A faint gasp escaped her as they yanked forwards and pulled her along with it. She could see the gleam of victory in his eyes, and yet if she was felled by such a simple blunder as this…

…No, it wasn't over yet.

Mash and Queen Marie were still giving it their all, if she lost at the first attack like this, then how could she walk with them?

Lily narrowed her eyes, thrusting her boot down into the earth and catching herself, there was a brief noise of surprise brom Blackbeard as she pulled back and drew his arm taught. There was always a problem with being the taller fighter, she learned that much when sparring with Merlin at times.

It was that smaller figures were harder to catch.

Having height and range was good, but it didn't mean much if your attacker was faster than you were.

Pressing forwards, mana surged through her legs and sent her shooting forth like a bullet, right underneath the arms of Blackbeard and to his right. She thrust Caliburn forwards into the ground, catching herself against the sword right behind the man, who was still in the middle of turning.

With a swift tug, she pulled the sword from the earth and reversed her grip on the weapon. Her eyes locked onto her target and she swung forwards, driving the pommel of Caliburn into the back of the left knee with a thudding sound. Blackbeard released a sharp gasp as he dropped down onto one leg.

She flipped the sword around, then twisted it so she was swinging with the flat side of the blade.

"Haaaa!"

It cracked against the back of the pirates head, a rather high pitched ouch escaped the man as he rolled forwards, clutching the back of his head and sniffling.

Lily made to pursue but caught herself short as the man turned around and faced her, tears streaming from his eyes and a wounded look on his face that would have been better suited for a child. Yet seeing it on the face of a man at least twenty or thirty years her senior was a rather frightening sight.

What was she supposed to do in this situation? It wasn't as though she had never seen a grown man cry, but this was full on bawling his eyes out.

She straightened and narrowed her gaze. "Do you yei-ack!"

Blackbeard swung his hand out, Lily stumbled back and spat out as the man hurled dirt at her face. Retching a couple of times as she brought a hand up and quickly wiped the filth away from her, spitting once more onto the ground and snapping her eyes onto the man with a disgusted frown.

"Such dirty tactics-!"

"Duh, Pirate!"

Lily quickly widened her eyes and brought Caliburn up, blocking a kick with the flat of the blade and skidding across the ground.

Marie knew for a fact that Gilles de Rais was holding back.

Much as she would like to feel she had made some improvements, she knew instinctively that any man who served with Jeanne for as long or as close as this man did was bound to be a better fighter than she was ever going to be.

Especially because she had only just started to learn how to wield a spear.

As for the feeling of knowing someone was going easy on her…she was unsure of how she was supposed to take that.

Surface level, they were both Heroic Spirits so perhaps there was a bit of a wounded pride there.

On another level, she knew that if she tried to fight this man when he was fully trying, then it would certainly be a short battle. She had neither the strength nor the skill to match Gilles de Rais in a fair fight.

A clang sent shudders through her arm, gritting her teeth she pushed back and sent the sword away from her, though Gilles recovered quickly and immediately attacked from the opposite direction. Marie hastily turned and blocked again, being shoved back a few steps.

Stumbling, she drew the spear back and thrust forwards the centre mass.

Gilles slapped the head away with the back of his hand, but made no effort to chase her down. His eyes remained on her, expression still stoic and making it very difficult to actually get a read on what he was thinking.

A stray thought entered her mind.

Trying to fight this man purely as a Lancer/Rider was never going to work in her favour, they were simply better than she was. However, that was not to say she was totally compelled to fight as such. From the very beginning, she was never aiming to try and change her class in name alone.

Catching her feet in the ground, she pressed forwards and threw herself at Gilles.

She knew how it would appear, it must have shown from the slight grimace on the face of the man, the only real change in his expression during their bout. It must have looked as though she was getting desperate and throwing wild attacks.

But that was how it was supposed to look to an outsider.

Taking the spear with both hands, she swung down towards the legs of the man, he moved his sword swiftly to block the attack.

Marie ducked down and pulled on the link with her mount.

The loud call of the horse echoed above her head, the shadow of the class mount lept above her and she briefly heard the grunt of surprise from Gilles. Her eyes snapped up to see the man throw himself to the side to avoid being run down by it.

She felt a small bit of joy at seeing the bafflement on his face, she quickly recovered and launched herself forwards.

Bringing the spear above her head and swinging it down like an axe, it collided with the blade of the Saber, he quickly pushed her back before another grunt escaped him, bringing up his free arm, and catching the buck kick of the horse to the forearm, skidding for a few metres.

Marie charged him down quickly, she saw the flash of focus enter the man's gaze, his posture shifted and he pressed off the ground to meet her charge, swiftly he parried her spear above his head, dragging the sword across and striking her horse in the face with the pommel of the sword.

She stumbled backwards when he swung back towards her, quickly bringing the polearm up and catching the blade with a scrape.

Gilles briefly locked eyes with her.

Her ring exploded with magical energy, flashing a bright flurry of pink light in the face of the Saber. Making a small noise and turning his head, it was a single moment of distraction that she capitalised on immediately.

She turned, Gilles stumbled with the lack of resistance in front of him.

Her horse landed a twin kick to his gut and launched him backwards, Marie flipped the spear in her hand and swung it like a club, catching the Saber in the forehead and clotheslining the man into the ground, swiftly turning it above and holding the blade just above his neck, Gilles blinked several times before his eyes roamed to the spear, then towards her.

Marie rolled her lips, then offered a tiny smile. "I might not look it, but I'm a Heroic Spirit as well."

Gilles remained silent for a brief moment, then closed his eyes and leaned back into the grass with a faint chuckle. "Then I must offer my sincere apologies for holding back as I did. For a brief moment, I confused you for a fragile flower, more the fool for me to look down upon your skill."

She waited for a couple of seconds, then spoke again. "...Do I win?"

"I believe that should go without saying."

That was great! She won!

Now to help Mash and Lily!

Another thud against her shield, Mash held her ground as the glowing blade of magic impacted once more with a thudding crash.

She waited for only a moment, then pushed forwards and down, thrusting her shield into the ground and pivoting it, dragging the blow of the angle to the side while she pushed herself into the air and swung with the shield.

A pale blue arm caught her leg, her eyes widened ever so slightly before it pulled her away and tossed her through the air, she hit the ground on her heels and dug down to stop her momentum, drawing her shield back and turning, throwing it towards the angel while she sprinted towards them.

Her eyes narrowed, the circle of darkness formed in the air and the shield passed through it.

But she expected that to happen, which meant that the place where it would open would be behind her.

The moment it passed through, she pushed off the ground and jumped into the air, as expected the shield barely clipped past her ankles where it otherwise would have struck her in the back of the head, twisting her body and falling towards the Angel with a straight kick.

A strong beat of its wings carried the angel backwards, she struck the ground with a crunch and swung out her hand, shield formed in her grasp once more as she threw herself towards her enemy with a battle cry. Thrusting towards them, the cross of the shield passed through another ring before the enemy.

She had barely a moment to react before a gasp pulled itself free of her mouth, stumbling to the side and snapping her eyes to her right, narrowing them where the attack had been redirected towards her through those teleportation portals again.

Swiftly drawing the shield back and sweeping a kick across from the other side.

The glowing blade met her armoured shin with a small screech.

However, there was one thing that Mash knew.

Her magic resistance was top notch.

The magic sword from the hand of the Angel shattered like glass, her kick carried on its path unstopped, a brief pressure escaped the angel before she pushed through and struck the side of their head with her kick, they stumbled through the air as her foot hit the ground, she twisted and swung towards their chest with her shield.

Their arms came up, blocking the strike while pushing back with their wings, carrying themselves out of her range, at least for a moment.

Pulling their hands away, she saw the brief flash of light juggle through their palms before she threw her shield up in front of her. The beam struck the front of her shield with a hissing growl, pulsing against the rounded face for but a brief moment. she pressed off the ground and pushed forwards.

Within but a few steps, she closed the distance and swung across, shattering the beam of light and letting out another shout. Pulling her arm back and throwing the shield like a spear once more, but if her guess was right and from what she had seen from them so far, then there was a limit to how many portals they could open.

In the moment she threw the shield, Mash pushed herself off the ground and broke into a low sprint, matching speed with her shield before she dove to the side and pressed forwards, flanking around the angel.

Another quick step threw her in close, hand pulled back and clenched into a fist.

Her shield passed through a portal, another appeared right in front of her face.

She leaned backwards, throwing her left hand up into an uppercut as the shield passed across in front of her head, but she was timing this right, the portal was still open and in the middle of closing.

A blue hand caught her fist in its palm, the angel glared down at her while the other three arms moved across.

Her shield formed once more, pushing the arms aside and throwing the angel off balance.

With a wide swipe, she shoved the guard of the angel open and stepped close, driving her fist into the gut of the Servant and punting them backwards, the angel folded with the blow and skidded away from her, wings beating rather quickly to keep itself in the air.

Mash was already closing the distance, swinging upwards.

The Angel threw their entire weight into the shield, surprising her as they managed to block the attack with their own body, a shuddering sound as the two engaged in a brief shoving match. Gritting her teeth, Mash stepped forwards and drove her heels into the soil, dirt cracked around them as the contest of strength continued.

The shield dissipated, the angel stumbled forwards without a counterbalance.

Her palm swung up and drove itself right into the face of the Angel, her right hand swung above and slammed into their ribs. But that was not the place of weakness, pulling her right arm back, she instead snaked it upwards and gripped their left wing and gave a single yank, dragging them towards her.

She released them, then twisted her body and drove her elbow into what she assumed was their cheek.

With a kick from the ground and flipped her body forwards and swung around, extending a leg and dropping an axe kick into their shoulder, driving the angel into the ground as she did so, swiftly mounting them and throwing a fist towards their face.

It vanished into a black portal, then she felt the impact against the back of her own head, she stumbled off the angel and rolled. Gathering herself quickly and drawing her eyes up, the two portals vanished once more. The angel rose up from the crater without a single sound.

Movement caught her eyes coming from behind the Angel, though she did not turn her gaze towards it to avoid drawing attention. Instead she stepped forwards and pulled the shield back, drawing all her strength into the next blow and swinging over her head, driving the shield down into the ground with force enough to shatter it.

Like a thrown jigsaw, the earth crumbled as fragments hurled themselves into the air, throwing herself forwards, she charged through the debris and twisted her body around, hurling the shield as she was at the apex of her backspin and adding a twist to the throw, this time she thrust her hands down at the same moment and dug her fingers into the soil, levering it upwards and hurling the mass of dirt right after the blow, then dropped to the ground.

The shield passed above her head in the next moment, carried by the teleportation and shattering the rubble she had thrown. Standing back up, she jumped forwards and slipped her fingers into the grip of the shield once more, pulling her arm back and thrusting it forwards like a spear, passing through the mass of dirt and right for the angel.

It pushed itself backwards with its wings, then abruptly froze as it clearly sensed the thing that Mash had been aware of since she caught sight of it. The approach of Marie from behind, riding atop her horse and with spear trained on the back of the angel.

Sammy turned and swung light jetted from their hand, the blade of magic parried the spear aside before it could reach home, but Mash was already upon them by that point, thrusting forwards.

A black sphere appeared before her, then she felt the thud of an impact and the gasp of pain, turning her head and widening her eyes as she saw the other portal had opened up, the tail end of her shield having dropped down from above and right into the path of Marie, catching the Queen in the face as she rode forwards, snapping her off the horse.

"Ma-"

Sammy sprung forwards, the portal expelled her backwards with a shunt, their two right arms swung up and parried the shield away from her body into the air. Sammy's left arms moved themselves around and struck her in the gut, Mash grunted with the blow, thrusting her heel into the ground and keeping herself anchored.

Immediately, her hand gripped the upper arm striking her chest, wrapping her fingers around the wrist like a vice and glaring into the hood of the Angel. They briefly jerked at being caught in her hold, she pulled forwards and pushed off the ground, twisting her body and thrusting her feet upwards, catching the Angel in the chest with a drop kick.

Her blow stumbled them, if they could be stumbled in the air, with the shield fading from her grasp as she fell backwards, throwing her hands behind her head and pressing them down against the ground, throwing herself forwards once more and aiming yet another flying kick towards the Servant.

A brief pulling sensation and darkness swept over her eyes for a brief instant, when light flashed across her gaze, she looked forwards in alarm as she was instead aiming the kick towards the dumbfounded face of Lily, attempting to turn her body, she managed to twist herself just enough so that she ended up crashing into them with her mass, rather than kicking her in the face.

Swiftly knocking the both of them into the ground, Mash followed through into a roll and caught herself. Quickly snapping her eyes up and glancing towards Lily, who lay flat on her back with a moderately dazed look on her face for all of a second, but quickly rolled onto her feet and shot her a look of alarm.

"Kehahahaha!"

A howling laughter, Mash turned her gaze to the mocking figure, Blackbeard strode forwards and folded his arms, all while the Angel floated up behind the Pirate and maintained a neutral pose, the pirate then proceeded to thrust his finger towards them, all while grinning triumphantly.

"My Stand: Spread Your Wings has no weaknesses! Zehahahaha!"

Mash briefly paused at the name, then raised a brow at the Servant before she glanced towards the Angel in question, they looked utterly unmoved by the name that had been given to them, but she quickly dismissed the notion and picked herself up, flashing the shield into her grasp and taking a step forwards.

Looping a hand around Lily, she quickly pulled her up and dropped her voice into a whisper. "They're teleporting the attacks before they land, but they can't open more than two portals at once. If we can somehow attack from three different locations at the same time…"

"Then we can break through their guard." Lily nodded her head up and down, nodding towards Blackbeard. "He is strong, but I'm better in close quarters than he is."

Mash figured that would have been a given, but the confidence that Lily spoke with was gratifying.

Really, they needed Marie to make the attack plan work.

She glanced to where the Queen had picked herself up, then nodded to her and jerked her eyes towards the pair. Marie caught on rather swiftly, shooting them an understanding look and gathering her spear once more.

Lily narrowed her eyes, adjusting her footing and pacing away from Mash, keeping the Angel and the Pirate in her line of sight, Mash moved in the opposite direction to her, she could immediately see the pirate switch his focus between the two of them, visibly rolling his jaw for a couple of seconds before he acted.

Throwing his right hand forwards in a straight jab.

Lily blinked, then she briefly caught a flash as a black portal appeared in front of the pirate, then her head snapped back as a blow landed against her nose. Stumbling back a single step before catching herself, throwing her head forwards and catching the moment the fist retreated through the portal.

Of course they could use them in that way.

But still, for them to have that level of teamwork without needing to say anything…

How did these two develop such an understanding bond so quickly?

Mana surged through her legs, she sprinted forwards and cleared a distance of a dozen metres in a single breath, slipping her legs forwards and sliding across the grass, catching herself into a halt and then exploding towards the pair with movement, at the same time Mash charged forwards with a yell.

She could hear the gallop of hooves and saw Marie coming in from being them.

Blackbeard seemed to pull out a firearm, twirling it around and then thrusting it through a portal.

Lily heard the crack of a gunshot, followed by the sound of shattering glass and briefly caught sight of Marie's horse losing one of its front legs from a gunshot, the Rider being thrown from her mount as it lost its grip.

She stepped forwards, then pressed into the air and thrust her sword forwards, light jettisoned from the end of the blade right for the pirate. The golden stream vanished into swirling darkness, then something slammed into the top of her shoulder, a hot burning which drove her face first into the ground.

Bouncing once, Lily grit her teeth as she pushed off the ground, her sword exploded and flipped her through the air. Her eyes swung down onto the smirking Pirate, who turned his attention from her and onto Mash, stepping backwards as she thrust for his body, her next attack vanishing into a portal, the girl ended up punching herself in the back of the head.

That teleporting ability of the angel was just dangerous.

No, it wasn't just dangerous.

That Angel - Sammy - they were definitely the most dangerous one here, which was rather ironic given that Heroine X had always talked about Sabers but Marie seemed to have defeated him.

She spied the man, standing off to the side and watching impassively, clearly without any intention of moving from his spot.

…Lily had the general idea that he didn't want to be here in the first place.

She hit the ground, then thrust forwards once more and unleashed another stream, this time she rolled the split second she made the attack and sure enough, a golden light just skimmed above the top of her leg in the next second, pressing off the ground and skipping towards another angle.

Lily slashed across the ground, throwing up a wall of dirt as she channelled magical energy into the swing, the obscuring sight provided her with some basic cover and would hopefully work to conceal what she was going to do next.

She drew in all her strength.

They could not open more than two portals at once.

Which meant if they suffered from a continuous attack, they could not close the portal.

This needed to work first time, which meant she would have to rely on the others to see what she was doing in the instant that she actually did it. Hopefully the enemy would be too caught up with blocking her attack to realise it.

Coiling her sword back, she gathered strength into the blade and allowed it to glow brighter and brighter. Stepping forwards, she pushed through the cloud and thrust forwards the second she caught sight of Blackbeards head.

Golden light shot out the tip of her blade and raced for the pirate, the eyes of the man swung onto her, quickly morphing into an expression of security.

The attack vanished into a darkened mass in the air, but she knew that.

She felt the crackle of magical energy behind herself and braced for the impact.

There was a thudding sound, she was tempted to turn around until she heard a voice.

"Don't worry, Lily-san. I have it."

She smiled at the supporting words of Mash, truly, they were a wonderful ally.

"Zeehahahahahaha! Useless! Useless! Useless!" Blackbeard cried out from where he stood, "We've already covered how amazing Sammy is! Surely you didn't think that trying the same golden light beam would work?! You need super awesome powers like-"

"-Like teamwork!"

Lily was not one for smirking, but the sight of Queen Marie appearing behind the Angel with her spear raised high, then swinging it down like a hammer into the back of their head was something that brought a hint of relief to her. The Angel jerked forwards with the blow, Marie pressed off the Servant and swung her right hand forwards.

Hot pink light exploded from the ring on her finger, Blackbeard had barely a second to turn before it smashed into the front of his head and stumbled him backwards.

Marie hit the ground, twisted the spear and turned back across, slamming the polearm into the cheek of the angel and driving its head into the earth with a hefty crash to her.

Lily was moving the second they hit the floor, the beam cut out as she accelerated towards the stunned pirate, who only just managed to wipe his face before he glanced down and immediately caught sight of her.

"Oh sh-!"

The flat of her sword crashed into his knee caps, he jerked forwards with a yelp.

Mash jumped over her shoulders and slammed a dropkick into the face of the pirate, throwing him backwards into a shambling roll, he barely managed to catch and recover himself.

But by then, the three of them had found their pace.

Lily swung forwards and caught the pirate into the gut, Marie cracked a blow against his chin, then Mash kicked the inside of his leg, driving him down onto one knee, which was enough for her to sweep her body back across and punch the pirate square into the jaw and into the ground, he bounced several times.

If there was such a thing as a deciding victory, then this was most assuredly it.

Swiftly turning around, she quickly caught sight of the Angel making an effort to rise up once again, with the mere point of a finger towards it, there was barely a second of delay before Marie bounded forwards and struck the Angel in the back of the head with the butt of her spear once more.

They could not risk it standing up once again, it had been pain enough trying to get past this point.

Nodding her head to the Queen in thanks, she turned to Mash and then sprinted forwards alongside the girl.

Mash hurled her shield forwards, hurtling through the air and striking the shins of the pirate, sweeping his legs out from underneath him and causing him to fall forwards, Lily deftly sent a backflip kick to his chin and knocked him in the opposite direction.

Whereupon Mash swung her leg into his ribs with an axe kick and slammed him back into the ground.

Ash tilted his head as he watched what could only be described as a beating continue onwards.

Not that he was really going to intervene at this point, it was rather…fulfilling to watch the likes of Blackbeard receive a pummelling. Though he personally would have just killed the man by now, it made him feel a different sense of gratification to watch the battle become drawn out like this, despite having long since been decided.

A shame that Gilles wasn't similarly subjected to the same treatment, but perhaps that would have been asking for too much.

"They are really going for it, huh?" Heroine X commented, yet despite that she did not sound all that bothered. Rather, she sounded as though she was amused or even proud about the entire scenario. "She really does have the makings of a top tier Saber, doesn't she? As expected, I would find only the best candidates."

"I found her." Gwynevere lightly corrected.

Ash folded his arms and coughed. "Technically Merlin found her."

"Fou. Tch." A noise and a minute click of the tongue.

He raised a brow, then glanced down at Fou who had…quite literally just appeared with no prior warning. It was starting to become alarming how easily that creature could elude his senses and then appear without any prior knowledge. The fact that everyone else was unbothered by this was equally puzzling.

Setting the matter to one side, he turned his head towards Ritsuka. "How long do we intend to allow this to continue, I believe they have long since claimed victory."

"Yeah…" Ritsuka looked slightly perturbed that the battle was still going on, then winced at a rather loud thud that echoed forwards.

Ash turned, watching as Mash slammed the top of her shield into Blackbeard's head like that of a hammer and nail. Only for the man to be dragged from the ground by Marie swinging her spear into his backside and sending the man ragdolling through the air once more…

…Where Lily proceeded to swing her sword like a club and punt the man away.

"Aha!" Heroine X shouted out, clapping her hands together. "The Saber Home Run! Only the best Sabers can pull off that incredible move!"

"...I think they've had enough." Ritsuka coughed into his hands, then stepped forwards and cupped his hands together, shouting out. "Mash! I think you guys got him!"

Mash briefly paused before shouting back. "We need to be extra certain, Senpai! Blackbeard has a Guts skill that lets him endure tremendous amounts of damage! That means he could still come back from something like this!"

Ash spared a glance at the bruised figure, then turned towards the Shielder once more.

He leaned towards Ritsuka. "She could be right…"

"You guys triggered my guts skill ages ago!" Blackbeard whimpered from his spot on the ground, "I'm literally being beaten to within an inch of my life! I have nothing left to play! You beat my ace card!"

"He is a pirate, Senpai! They are famous for their dirty tactics, like lying!" Mash swiftly shouted over, all while she advanced on the downed man rather menacingly.

"Again." Ash whispered. "She has a point."

Olga made a small noise. "This has already gone on far enough, at this point we have better things to do with our time than beat up this fool." she stepped forwards. "Kyrielight, collect the Altrium and then we can move on from here!"

Mash paused for a moment, then stepped back and resumed a more orderly pose, briefly looking conflicted before she nodded her head. "Yes, Director-"

"I knew it!" Blackbeard called out from his wounded spot. "I knew that Starfall would save me! My popular phase returns, brighter than ever before! Does this mean she will serenade my wounded body back into health?"

Ritsuka silently pinched the bridge of his nose, cringing lightly as he did so. Ash similarly felt an odd sense of foreboding, turning his focus from his Master and onto Olga, and despite the neutrality her expression showed, there was no denying the sheer depth of fury that was burning beneath the surface.

Seconds of silence ticked past.

Then Olga spoke again. "On second thought, it is better to be absolutely certain. Mash, as you were."

"What the heck!?" A shout of alarm from Blackbeard as he scrambled backwards. "I give! I give! See, white flag! White flag!"

Despite not actually waving any form of flag in the least, the man made the motions as though he was actually waving one. Though whether he genuinely believed Blackbeard was trying to surrender, he was more of the opinion that it was better to just kill them and be done with it. Primarily because of who this was, rather than anything else.

He glanced at Ritsuka, already knowing what the answer was going to be.

"Then the battle is decided!" Lily's shout echoed out, resting the tip of her sword under the chin of the surrendering man. "We shall claim the Altrium and you shall patiently await for the end of this Singularity, whereupon you will return to your proper time and place in the Throne until summoned for a respectable reason."

Ash raised a brow but said nothing.

She was being rather optimistic.

"Y-yeah! Sure! I will totally do that!"

Blackbeard didn't even bother to try and sound believable.

"Well, that sounds like that then." Ritsuka shrugged his shoulders, then started to walk forwards with a smile on his face. "I'm sure they're happy about their win as well. Looked pretty tough with the teleporting thing…Never quite realised how dangerous that sort of fighting style could be until right now though."

Ash was tempted to comment about that, but then again, not even the rapid movement of Lorian and Lothric had been anything akin to that. Their bodies were moved around, rather than the approaching attacks. True, they could dodge his attacks but the pair never were able to use his own attacks against him.

"This is, admittedly, the first I have ever seen of such tactics." Gwynevere's words came next, the Goddess moving up from behind him. "Though as revealed by the three of them, once they have found a method around it, then they are a trifling matter to deal with."

"Yeah, but that's only because it's Mash." Ritsuka remarked with a shake of the head. "She's got some strong durability…If they managed to redirect one of Arash's strongest arrows, then that would have seriously done some damage…Yikes. Hmmmm…"

Ritsuka cupped his chin, making a thoughtful sound. "...Worth considering if we ever summon them, actually. Because that sounds like it would be a good combo attack with any other Archer or even a Saber Servant."

Ash could see the application.

"Ah, I can visualise the application." His thoughts were parroted aloud by his mother, a touch of interest in her words. "Yes, that would be a rather potent tool if utilised properly."

He curled his lip and kept his arms tightly folded.

It was common sense though, hardly as if she was speaking wisdom.

"Well, all of that aside-" Ritsuka opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut short when Heroine X all but bulldozed right past him and darted to be right in front of Lily, standing before her in the span of a single second.

…She was fast.

Very fast.

He was starting to realise how fortunate it was that he had managed to land a sneak attack on her without her seeing him coming, else he doubted it would have landed.

"Ah! X-san!" Mash jolted a little in surprise of the sudden arrival, "We gathered-"

"I saw." Heroine X cut her short, though it did not sound all that rude. Merely direct, her head turned from Mash and onto Lily herself. "As for you…That was an adequate first battle against enemies…But you made a single blunder that is absolutely unforgivable."

Lily tensed a little.

X pointed off towards where Gilles was walking away. "You didn't immediately go and fight the Saber! That should have been your priority from the very beginning! As Servants of the Sword, you both should have engaged one another without the need for words, your understanding would have been formed with your blades!"

Naturally, Lily looked rather caught aback by the words, before she quickly made a small noise. "W-well, I was drawn into a battle with the enemy Pirate by their Angel but…uhm…Sorry?"

"Eh…" Heroine X shook her head from side to side. "Is that your excuse? Such things are simple, you just use your amazing Saber speed and run away from the pirate and then beat up the enemy Saber…though admittedly…"

The Assassin glanced away and cupped her chin, Ash caught a glimpse of her thoughtful expression as she rubbed her chin. "They did seem to be a proper Saber through and through, an air of stoicism about them and some sort of commanding presence. But getting bested by a Rider-slash-Lancer hybrid is a little…Well, he did sort of give up so…Well, whatever."

With a shrug of the shoulders, the Assassin all but dismissed her complaints. "What matters is that you fought your first enemy and even if they weren't a Saber, they did fight with a bunch of tricks and tactics, which naturally you saw through immediately. So good job, for a novice Saber, that was a decent enough battle."

X then raised a finger. "But next time, I expect you to run right at the enemy Saber without fail and demonstrate to them that you are definitely the truest of Sabers, understood?"

"Uhhh-R-right! Yes! I shall challenge them to a duel as befits a knight!"

"...I mean, I wasn't talking about a duel but sure, let's go with that." The Assassin strode past Lily and moved onto the odd looking box of metal upon the ground. "Now then, this is some of that Altrium that I was talking about earlier. Now then, it either comes in the form of superparticles or as an amazing metal. It's really inconsistent but you need to be prepared for either!"

Ritsuka moved past him and towards the three. "But yeah, basically what X said, minus all of the odd ranting about targeting the Sabers first. You guys did a very good job out there. So…Thumbs up!"

"Thank you, Senpai!" Mash smiled rather brightly.

Marie, meanwhile, stared at Olga expectantly.

Ash glanced to the woman and matched the expression of the Rider, she quickly looked between the two of them before huffing and rolling her eyes. "I had thought it should have gone without saying, but yes. You did an acceptable job in claiming victory. Your efforts are paying off…Well done-"

"Yay!" Marie, naturally, flung herself forwards and wrapped Olga in a rather tight hug, hefting the woman into the air and off her feet before spinning around. "I can't wait to tell d'Eon all about this! They're going to be so impressed with me!"

"P-put me down! Don't do this in front of everyone!"

"So I can do it in private?"

"That's not what I meant!"

Ash watched the display, rolled his eyes and glanced towards Gwynevere.

He was curious how she would react at the fact that she had lost the opportunity to bestow some praise onto Lily and Mash for their efforts.

As expected, she stood a short distance from them with her hands clasped together in front of herself, smiling with her eyes closed and her expression aimed in the direction of the ignorant Assassin who was the cause of this situation.

…Perhaps it was worth keeping Heroine X around for a little longer.

Then again, the conflicting feelings he experienced at seeing the obvious annoyance in his mother set a small fire in his heart.

He sharply turned his head and placed his hands on his hips.

"So…Can I go now?"

He shot a side-eye in the direction of Blackbeard, the man raised a hand shyly and glanced between all of them before their gaze landed on him.

Ash grunted. "Before I change my mind."

"Blackbeard is blasting off again!" The pirate all but shouted out, charging away and throwing the Angel over his shoulder before sprinting once more. "Hey General, wait for me! You can't run away without your captain, that isn't allowed!"

Gilles seemingly sped up with his retreat, getting further and further away from the Pirate…which only encouraged Blackbeard to run faster.

Ash shook his head.

This place was madness.

AN: Today marks the third year since I started writing this fic.

...Here's to another three.