Chapter 155: A Nightmare of Humanity's own make.

Ash found something very wrong with this fog from the second it had registered with him, a sickening sense that left him ill at ease. Something that was felt by the others present, or at least he hoped and assumed that it was. A cursory glance over his shoulder had revealed to him that Percival, at the very least, recognised that something was very wrong by the way his posture had tightened up and the spear was now gripped in his hand at a ready position.

Taking a step backwards, Ash brought up Galvatyne and ignited the weapon in fire. The chaos flames taken from the Demons spread up the surface of the sword, it was telling that even through the fog, the sword still shined brightly as a result. Holding the weapon above his head as though it was a torch and swivelling his head from side to side. The longer he looked across the fog, the tighter it got.

Vision was starting to worsen, a thick mist now descending above them.

He felt as though he was now walking through the swamps of Farron once more, a coiling sensation around his legs as though he was knee deep in the thick mud again. He looked down at himself, frowning behind his helmet. "My legs-"

"A bounded field." Nobunaga voiced out loud in a cold tone of voice, a clear sign that she was now taking this matter very seriously. Then it shifted into something a touch more amused as she continued to speak onward, quite where she was getting this good nature of hers from remained a mystery to him. "Ho? Seems as though someone is ranking down our agility. Hmmm. Feels as though there might well be something else at work here, though I am not certain what it is…"

"Nor am I." Percival replied in a clipped tone, there was a rustle of armour as the knight moved behind the pair of them. "Considering the sudden nature of this mist…I would say that it is, no doubt, the work of a Servant that means to catch up by surprise. The attack on our parameters…A fast attacker, widening their advantage by targeting our own agility." the fact he was able to deduce that from standing in the mist for all of a minute was rather surprising to Ash, he would not have thought of something such as that.

Actually, he very much doubted the thought of his attackers own status would have occurred to him at all right up until the point where he saw them in person. Though the fact remained, they did not see their attacker. He took a step backwards, still keeping his hand on his right hand firmly clenched around his sword while his left flexed open and closed, preparing to unleash a pyromancy if the moment called for it.

"Berserker?" Percival called out "I would suggest you stay closer."

"I'm inclined…" A wet cough, even through the mist the body of Berserker glowed with a red hue about him, stepping closer to the group while keeping his back to them. At the very least he would see whatever attacker was closing in on him, his head pivoting from side to side to get a better angle on his surroundings. "Inclined to agree…"

"Hmmm." Nobunaga hummed "We're dealing with someone confident, an idiot or a group." she announced with no small degree of certainty about her words. Though Ash doubted she would really elaborate on that further, there was no telling how much their attacker could hear. Yet he could not sense-

His body jolted, as though a shock ran through him for a split second. A sensation of pulling filled him for a brief moment as he staggered forwards. A breath left him as his head whirled around on either side of him, a feeling that something reached out to him for a split second and retreated just as quickly. As though it had been something else there he had not seen before.

Ash jerked, looking around and brandishing the sword of flame in his hand at every glimpse of what looked like a shadow passing through the fog, either it never existed or it was too quick for him to get a proper look at. Whether or not others were saying anything never once entered his mind, all he could feel was that strange sensation.

Something he hadn't felt since…

…

Was there another undead here? The pull felt cold. As though he was stood in the presence of numerous souls once more. A sensation he had not experienced once since he arrived on this world and had not thought he would experience it again. Yet, he was certain he had felt it. With the exposure to the souls, there came something else…

A glimmer of memories.

His mind hardened, the thoughts were banished from him a moment later as an irregularity. Whether they were undead or not changed nothing, and the last time he had felt this strange sort of pull had been moments before the Knight King Rendal had turned him into a Hollow. This mist could just as easily be another form of mental attack placed upon him because of it, or perhaps he could see something about the Servant, lingering traces where they had been but since moved on.

Either way, he would not be distracted.

"I cannot sense them. An Assassin?" He voiced aloud, shuffling backwards to try and account for the distance he had put between himself and the others. It made sense in his mind, to his knowledge the Assassin class was the one that held the Presence Concealment skill to hide them from the senses of other Servants, that he could not track their location was further proof of this.

There was a pause before Percival grunted in acknowledgement "That is what I believe as well, this mist might well be something they use to complete their assassinations, if that be the case. Blocking out our sight and lowering our reflexes is a smart move for one who specialises in sneak attacks." there was an odd note about the voice of the knight, acceptance but still a touch of dislike. Did he not believe in sneak attacks? Thus far, Ash was inclined to believe this was a rather smart use of a Servants skills.

Though if they were reliant on this method of attacking it leant further support to the belief they could not match either himself or Percival in a front on engagement. The likes of Nobuanaga and the Demon? He did not know for the former, the latter was the physical weakest of all of them but he claimed to have some skill in pyromancy, but that did not change his physical conditions of being in a near constant state of debilitation.

"Which means we are left with two choices, we either continue walking onwards or we stay here for the Assassin to jump us." Nobunaga voiced out before she made a dismissive noise "I am not one to wait for a slaughter, though rushing out blindly will end much the same way." another silence fell upon them "Retainer, is there anything in your box of tools to banish this fog?"

His Bottomless Box?

Certainly there might have been, however he could feel the power behind this barrier. "I would require the use of a Noble Phantasm to do that, even the smallest scale one would harm you just as much as it would harm the fog." had he been alone it would have been a different story altogether. That being said "I might try and carve a path through it, but it would require-"

It was in the instant he turned to Nobunaga that he felt it, the hairs on the back of his neck tickled and his words caught in his throat. It was as though his senses had roared to life in a split second as he felt what amounted to a surge of power suddenly appear amidst all of the. He threw himself forwards, Nobunaga had a split second to widen her eyes before he grabbed the front of her cloak and tossed her to the side and onto the road.

Then the shadow that had been poised to attack her fell upon him instead, a black cloak covered their small body and white hair poked out from the top. A pair of dull amber coloured eyes stared back at him for a split second, the face of a child with a singular stitch running up their right cheek stared back at him for a moment. The young girl widened her eyes as she stared at him, there was clear shock in her eyes as though she had not expected to see him there, then they narrowed and her expression hardened.

Ash brought his sword up-

His speed had been hampered and the girl was already moving faster than he would have thought possible for her. In addition, he had been aiming to get Nobunaga out of the way, not to counter a possible ambush. All of which ended up with the young cloaked child slamming into his body, her legs wrapped around his right arm with twin daggers reversed in each hand.

She thrust them downwards, the first fell down towards his shoulder, he had enough time to jerk himself slightly to throw her aim off as he staggered backwards, he dagger slid along the surface of the titanite armour with a grinding sound, showering the pair in sparks. The second dagger thrust upwards with sharp precision, he felt his throat explode with agony as the knife was driven straight into his neck and yanked to the side.

Blood splattered along the snow as the girl kicked off him, spinning her body around and deftly avoiding his attempt to counter her. The tip of the burning sword passed just shy of her head as she flipped through the air and vanished back into the smoke. His left hand flew to his throat, a wet gurgle leaving him as he tried to close the wound, already feeling the liquid seeping out from the massive slash he had in his jugular.

In spite of the pain which was quickly fading into a pinch, all he could think of were the amber eyes of the young girl who had just ripped his throat open. There was something deep within those, something he hadn't felt until she had gotten right into his face. Until they had stared at one another up close.

She was undead, there was nothing else he could call her.

One body, hundreds of souls.

That was it.

"Hey hey?" There was a childish voice that rang out around them, a curious note to the words that were almost innocent. The voice of the young girl - presumably the Assassin - continued onwards. "How come you're not dead, mister? We cut up your throat, we felt it pull apart."

He gurgled his reply, having his throat ripped open was rather unfortunate.

"See! See! You can't even speak! How come you can still walk around, mister?" There was a pause, then the voice came from a different angle and he could feel the air around them shift ever so slightly. Something else came from the tone now, much colder than before. "How come you feel so funny, Mister? Are you like us?"

She was certainly perceptive, if he had made the connection then it was a given she had as well. All the same, to think he would have to face a child of the undead curse. It was a sickening state of affairs, something he would need to put down quickly. The very act of seeing this little human girl turned into such a thing…it was revolting to him.

"Saber." Percival called to him, the knight already flanked him with the spear pointed towards the last direction the voice had pierced through the fog "How badly have you suffered?" there was the unasked question of 'are you going to die?' on the tip of the knight's tongue, the wounds were certainly grievous. But an effort such as this was not quite enough to kill him.

Not for lack of trying though.

He pulled his left hand from the wound, spilling more blood down the front of his armour and onto the snow like a river. The palm of his hand glowed, a warm light floated up from between his fingers and spun itself into a glowing orb, with the radiance of the sun he felt the pyromancy slowly take hold of his body, the skin around his throat gradually knitting back together.

"Simply shouting 'duck' would have sufficed, you know?" Nobunaga chimed in from behind him, he would have looked but he felt as though turning his back now would have been a stupid move. A presence to his right alerted him to the sudden appearance of Quelan, the Chaos boy had both his arms extended and a trickle of fire dancing across his forearms. The boy's posture trembled slightly, as though he was fighting back another painful bout of coughing. "You'd look like less of a mess."

As though such an occurrence would ever happen again, is something he would have commented but he instead settled for a hum of affirmation to at least show that he was paying attention to her words. All the while, the Assassin continued to provide commentary around them.

"Ah, can you speak again, mister?" She asked with a touch of politeness as though she hadn't been the one to rend his throat open, Ash narrowed his eyes slightly as the noise seemingly came from all around them. Though he could sense her now, it was muddled. As though she was surrounding them entirely, a far cry from when it felt as though they were fighting a purely invisible force. "Are you going to ignore us, Mister? That's a really mean thing to do."

Percival pivoted his head "That's an odd choice of words for an Assassin." he remarked with a touch of brevity, though behind it was something darker. "Especially moments after you make an attempt to kill. Would you now claim for parley?"

"Parsley?" The girl replied, "We don't do much cooking, mister, so we don't need that sort of thing." there was a brief pause, then she giggled "That's a really silly thing to ask, though!" Percival looked as though he wanted to say something else, opening his mouth for a half second before he clearly thought better of it, furrowing his brows and shutting his jaw once again. His eyes hardened ever so slightly as he pivoted on his heel.

With the laughter dying down, the girl continued to speak onwards "Mommy said that you were all really bad people but she didn't say there would be another like us! Are you missing a mommy as well, Mister?"

"She's talking to you." Nobunaga spoke up, though her voice was kept low. "And by 'like us' does she mean some kind of undead?"

"Yes." Ash coughed back, then cringed at how his voice currently sounded. Little more than a garbled whisper at the moment, the healing pyromancy still working to repair the worst of the damage inflicted upon him. "Though there is something strange about her…" His voice gained strength the more he used it, though there was still a discomfort with speaking. He suspected that would remain.

As for the question posed by the girl…it was odd to say the least. Not even one he should have considered for any length of time, yet he found himself drawn into answering. The way she spoke, the way she demanded an answer of him. It was as though there was some hidden meaning behind her words, as though they were a mere cover to the true answer she sought from him.

"...I am not looking for a mother, nor am I missing one." You cannot miss what you never recall having to begin with, whether he ever had a mother was something he would not truly understand. Though his Firekeeper might well have counted if the role of mother was nothing more than a woman who aided in raising someone. Which would make her his mother. "Though…are you undead?"

"Undead?" Asked the girl, her voice shifting its position to be elsewhere, Ash turned his body as the voice continued to move around. Echoing around him as he tensed his body, though his sword was still held down by his side. Eyes flickering behind his helmet. "Mhmm." There was affirmation there.

"We're dead, mister. We're all dead." That was then followed by a giggle "But mommy doesn't care, mommy loves us all the same! She's wonderful! She loves us when no one else does! She says we're never in the way. Is that what you're looking for, Mister?"

"No."

"That's very sad, Mister…but okay, I guess that's fine. Yeah, that's fine!" His movements turned stiff, he registered a presence behind him and he felt something light land atop his shoulders, a voice so close to him that had he not been wearing a helmet, the breath would have tickled his meagre senses. "It means you're not here to steal mommy."

He jerked forwards, something whizzed past the pack of his head. He turned and swung upwards, his sword passed through empty space as the girl launched herself into the sky, barely catching a glimpse of her dark ragged cloak as she vanished once more into the fog. He snapped his head down, staring at the spear of Percival that had been thrust just behind him in a clear attempt to catch the Assassin.

The man pulled the spear backwards "Her size certainly denotes her speed, she was faster than I anticipated, or perhaps I am slower than before. A mixture of the two." he muttered to himself, then twirled the spear in his hands and slammed it downwards. "Regardless, we cannot remain here and wait until we are picked off one by one." He glanced Ash's way "Had that been any other, we would be down one already."

Ash knew that well enough, humans were not quite as durable at sustaining fatal injuries as he was. It had very nearly been Nobunaga who had been caught by surprise from the girl, yet there was still something about her that troubled his mind. Looking at her brought strange feelings bubbling to the surface, he didn't want to let her go just yet. Not until he spoke with her…there was something he needed to know.

Turning on his heel, he called out into the fog "What is your name, child?" he wasn't expecting an answer and judging by the noises of surprise from behind him, he might have appeared quite the fool for asking something such as that. Though the question remained, he needed information and it could be provided to him.

"Do you truly believe she will answer-?"

"You're asking for our name, Mister? That's really weird!" The girl cut off Quelan before he could finish speaking "But you're with a child as well! Hey hey! Were you wanted as well? Did people leave you alone?" there was a pause, Quelan sucked in a breath and coughed. "That's a bad cough you have. Is that why you're here? Were you sick?"

Quelan, exhaled, Ash turned and watched the boy glance around for the assassin. "Hey hey! Do you want to play with us?"

"I regret…" Another wet cough came from him, accompanied by a hissing noise as the burning liquid fell from his throat, steaming as it struck the ground and all but screamed as the heat fought against the cold, Quelan gripped at his chest, just underneath his heart and let out another wheezing cough, this one sounding much more raw, spittle of burning charcoal flew from his throat as his skin rippled and glowed, veins lit up like candles, glowing marks spreading across his skin.

"That's really bad!" The voice of the Assassin called out in shock "Are you gonna help him, Mister?"

Percival cursed under his breath, then moved forwards and gripped Quelan around his forearm, pulling him forwards while bringing the spear above the pair of them. There was a flash of light, the spear shined like the sun and felt just as radiant. Ash stared at the weapon, enraptured by it. A light like he had never seen before…

It was calming, a gentle welcoming like the Shrine…and yet…

He found himself taking a step backwards, a sudden feeling of danger flooded through him as his head snapped left and right. Looking for any sign of Assassin. He was rewarded with nothing but confusion, the Servant never materialised while the shining spear remained hoisted above the head of Percival, not once did he even catch a glimmer of a shadow nor did he hear her so much as speak a single word.

Instead he was left confused as to where the danger had come-

His eyes turned straight ahead, staring at the spear with sudden clarity.

A Divine Weapon.

As expected he would withdraw himself from it, such tools were practically made for hunting the undead. The light was as tranquil as it was deadly. Though the results could not be denied, he watched the skin of Quelan calm, the veins on his body lost their glow and the coughing got weaker and weaker until it all but vanished, through it all, Ash stared at the results of the weapon.

By all accounts, it was the work of a Miracle and yet…there was something strange about that weapon. It wasn't so much the spear was divine as it was…splattered across it?

"Hey, did you feel that as well, Mister?" Ash spun on his heel once more, the sword in his hands ignited with brilliant orange flames and left an arc of burning light through the air as he swung it behind him, the weapon passed through nothing and the shadow vanished once more into the fog. Assassin was either stalling for time or she was playing it safe. "It felt really funny, then the red child was all better again! Ah…wait…he's still sick? Does that mean he didn't get better?"

A scoff sounded out "You gonna talk to us all day Assassin, or are you gonna come out here and fight like the child you are!" Nobunaga shouted out, a small squad of rifles hovered behind her, all cocked and ready to be fired at a moment's notice. The woman's expression was no longer one of amusement, instead there was a ruthless glare behind those red eyes of hers.

"Don't worry, lady! We didn't forget about you! Mister really helped you out there earlier! That was very nice of him…"

The silence descended once more, this time it settled into a thick tension. Ash narrowed his eyes as he looked around them, the air became thick. Tensions ran high as a feeling of inevitability settled in. It was hard to track down the precise moment the world had shifted, but when it did it was something they could all feel. Assassin was gearing up for an attack, he did not know when or how, but she would attack them.

All he could do was wait until she finally-

A blur shot out of the clouds, Ash registered her presence a split second before she appeared and was already in the midst of swinging towards her. The girl dropped to her knees, her momentum carried her forwards as she slid underneath the sword, Ash turned his head to track her movement, time seemed to slow as she similarly stared up at him with those wide amber eyes, then flashed him an almost taunting smile before her bandaged arms came out from underneath her cloak.

Nestled in between her fingers were small blade blades, though they looked nothing like any throwing knives he had seen before. The handles were much too long and the blades themselves were rather small, it was though one had forged miniature glaives. Her body snapped back up the second she was free and her arms blurred, the small daggers launched from her like bolts from a crossbow.

Percival stepped forwards, the spear in his hands vanished into a blur as the knives were parried out of the sky before they could even come close to himself or Quelan behind him. The ease at which he moved left Ash with no doubt as to how much skill the knight had actually employed in the manoeuvre, the expression remained unchanged as the spear snapped to a halt and was then thrust forwards.

Assassin twisted her body, corkscrewing through the air and over the top of the spear while throwing out the knives in her other hand. This time towards Nobunaga, who was not quite as well armoured as Percival. The dark haired woman raised her right arm, briefly letting out a noise as one of the daggers struck home in her forearm while the other three vanished off into the fog, whizzing right past the Archer.

Percival lunged, twisting his body around and bringing his enlarged diamond shaped shoulder pauldron into play. Lowering himself to gain some momentum and then shooting his body upwards, Assassin's body twisted at the last moment, placing the soles of her magenta coloured shoes against the armour and kicking upwards, the force of Percival's strike launched her into the sky like an arrow and rapidly vanishing from their line of sight,

Not that it stopped Ash from turning on his heel and thrusting his sword upwards to the sky, brilliant white light rushed across the surface of the sword before accelerating past the tip of the weapon and into the sky, solidifying into the shape of a crystalline comet as it vanished off after Assassin. The attack was accompanied by a roar of gunshots as Nobunaga unleashed a barrage into the sky as well.

It was a losing battle if ever there was one, Sully had been sure of that since the fight had resumed. He kept his guard up, twisting his body to the side and avoiding the downwards slash, then Vilhelm reversed his grip on the sword and swung it back up at an angle towards him. The Ruler brought his own sword down, staggering when the strength of the knight proved the greater of the two.

He twisted the twin blade, the weapon vanished in a flash of blue light as he brought about the other side of the weapon and struck in a wide sweeping arc. Vilhelm's left arm crossed over his body, his palm flashed open and then burned a crimson red as the shield manifested once more, his arms jolted as though he'd struck solid steel. The knight stepped forwards, slamming the pommel of the greatsword into his sternum, he folded with the blow and let out a pained cough.

The shield vanished, Vilhelm's open hand clenched shut into a tight fist and swung forwards, striking his cheek and snapping his head to the side, a grunt of pain flew from his lips, accompanied by a spray of blood and something solid being knocked from his jaw - probably a tooth if the small blur disappearing into the snow was any indication - though even as he stumbled, he re-orientated himself quickly.

Using the force of the punch to propel him, Sully slammed his foot down and turned, spinning his body around and sweeping the twinblade upwards. Vilhelm leaned backwards, the sword passed over the front of his body and only barely skipped past the arrow shape of his faceplate. Though hitting him was never the intention, the sword vanished at the apex of the climb, resting just above the enforcer's head.

A burst of ice cold wind rushed from the staff, engulfing the pair of them in temperatures well below zero. Sully was immune to such things, having been born in the painted world and knowing the cold all too well. Vilhelm might have grown accustomed to it, but he was nothing like him. He was still human through and through, even getting accustomed to the temperatures did not stop them affecting you. As such, having a sudden rush of ice cold air blast you in the face to the point where your skin would crystallise was more than enough to throw the knight off kilter.

It was expected, Sully had managed to make Vilhelm briefly forget that his talents lay in magic, not swordsmanship. Though the numerous bruises and cuts lining his body spoke well enough of that little nugget of information.

Vilhelm released a gasp, his body jerked backwards on reflex.

He saw the chance, he brought his right leg around and slammed it into the back of Vilhelm's knee, where the armour didn't cover. As expected, the knight twisted and dropped down from the impact, with a twirl of his staff, Sully brought it back and gripped it with both hands. Ice rapidly formed around the tip of the weapon, he poured all he could into strengthening it so that it wouldn't break when he did this.

As the cloud vanished, the single thing that consumed the vision of Vilhem was the solid mass of ice on the end of Sully's branch catalyst racing towards his head. Barely a moment later it connected with a sound of shattering glass, Vilhelm's head snapped backwards and he was very nearly floored with the move, the ice broke apart into mist, scattering fragments of it all around, though it was fine.

His intention had never been to make a permanent weapon.

Twirling the staff once more, he reignited the blades on either end and brought the weapon back from the other side in a slash. Whether it was through rapid recovery or through simple instinct, Vilhelm had the sense to turn his body and raise his sword up slightly, the weapon angled over the length of his armour like a ramp and it served its purpose much like one. Sully's strike hit the flat end of the blade and then found itself skating upwards due to the momentum, carrying itself over the body of the knight entirely.

Vilhelm moved, making to try and hit him with the guard of the weapon. Sully took a half step backwards, the attack had been clumsy at best and desperate at worst. Easily avoidable and seemingly throwing the knight into further exposure, his body dropped forward with the clumsy punch, his left hand moved to support himself and buried around an inch into the snow.

His eyes narrowed as he dashed forwards, gripping the twin blades with both hands and making to strike at the Servant-

A sound like thunder filled his ears, the obsidian sword glowed like a black sun as flames jetted down the length of the blade with fury unseen until now. He had half a second to throw himself backwards before the weapon erupted in an explosion of Abyssal flames, the intensity of the blast launched him off his feet, twisting through the air and already noticing the small embers of burning material on his clothes.

Twisting himself, he turned to land and struck the snow on his shoulder. Grunting as he fell into a roll rather than a faceplant, forcing his body to complete the movement and moving onto his hands and knees. He wasted no effort in spinning around, he'd landed with his back to Vilhelm, and brandishing his twinblade once more.

The knight was charging him now, the greatsword ignited in black fire that consumed all traces of the steel skeleton beneath the inferno. The heat radiating off the weapon was something fierce, his nature as a woodland spirit made it his natural enemy and clear Vilhelm had known it as well. Whether it had been a plan to lure him in or just a heat of the moment, so to speak, did not matter one bit.

He brought his weapon forwards, watching as Vilhelm pulled the sword back with his right hand and angled it dowards, dragging the weapon through the snow as he went for an easily telegraphed underarm slash with the weapon. His eyes darted to the left hand which was clenched tight into a fist, then back to the sword as time seemingly slowed for him.

Vilhelm would never have gone for such an obvious attack, which meant this was clearly a feint…

But then it was highly likely that the knight knew that Sully would see things that way, in which case the threat of a quick jab was a ruse designed to lure his attention away and the heavy blow was genuine in nature. With the reach of the sword and the speed of the knight, he would not be able to back away quickly enough to come away unscathed if the slash was genuine.

But if it wasn't then he would leave himself open to the much more dangerous attack of a punch to the face, which would open him up to a follow through.

The sword inched ever closer as his mind raced like lightning, he would have to make a decision soon or else the choice would be taken from his hands and he would find himself either nursing a broken cheek or more open to the world around him.

The sword closed in.

His eyes rapidly darted between the two of them as he turned on his foot and made to step backwards, Vilhelm still closing in on him and matching him step for step. Truth of the fact was, Sully had no way of knowing if it was a feint or not. His older self might have, but he most certainly didn't.

The sword was now coming dangerously close and if he didn't do anything, he would most certainly pay for it. All the while, the fist remained by the knight's side.

He made his choice.

The twinblade spun like a rotor, the gleaming blue projections moved at such speed that it was as though a circle had come into existence right before the Ruler. The burning sword slammed into the midst of the spin, locking the blades in place and holding them there, ending the spin. Though it also found itself unable to progress further. As expected, Vilhelm then launched his left hand forwards in a quick jab.

He twisted the catalyst, the glowing blade accelerated past and skimmed off the front of the obsidian sword, Sully stepped backwards and forced the knight to overextend himself, taking a step too far forwards and putting too much of himself into the blow. At that point, it was no longer a jab and became something more of a lunge. The back end of the catalyst was coming up, poised to leave the knight bereft of his left arm at the joint.

Vilhem turned his entire body on his heel, blurring as he moved in a complete circle as the twinblade moved past his body and cut through naught but hollow air. Sully's eyes tracked the movement, widening as he saw the knight come back around just as quickly, the pommel of the greatsword held up and aimed directly towards the side of his head.

He stepped back to avoid it.

A touch too slow, the sharp point of the pommel struck the side of his nose and sent a blinding flash of pain through his body, tears instantly welled in his eyes.

Sully staggered backwards, remembering at the last moment the rest of the sword was continuing the attack and ducking down to avoid the blow that would have separated his head from his shoulders, only to find himself violently launched into the air when Vilhelm rocketed forwards. The armoured knee of the knight hammered into his already broken nose and virtually obliterated it, such was the pain that all he could feel was a slight pinch and then nothing.

He wasn't even granted the chance to step away to cover when the knight threw his left hand forwards and clenched around his cloak and dragged him back, the sharpened ridge of his helmet slammed into his face like a hammer, Sully's vision whited out, his head went from blinding agony to a feeling of nothing, it was only as the blur returned that he was greeted with the sight of Vilhelm pulling his helmet back, a trail of blood thick like mucus connecting the front of his helm to his forehead.

Vilhelm shoved him backwards, Sully slipped beneath him and struck the ground with a dull thud, having barely a chance to raise his staff and fire off a single spell. As expected, the knight twisted his body to the side, so quickly that it was as though he reacted before the spell had even materialised. He surged forwards, slapping the staff from his hands and sending it spinning through the air and into the distance.

He tracked it as it vanished into the snow, then fell backwards with a faint crunch reaching his ears. His amber eyes barely seeing the form of the knight as he now loomed over him, greatsword held aloft his head with the tip pointed downwards. Perhaps he should have been more angry in this situation, once again he had failed…

Except he hadn't, he knew that Jeanne and the others would have escaped so that was alright by him.

…He was oddly at peace with that-

Vilhem staggered backwards, Sully found himself gaping upwards at the sight of the armoured point of the standard slamming into his right shoulder. The black knight grunted as his hand moved to clasp at the polearm, he made it all of an inch before Jeanne was before him, grabbing hold of the flag and yanking it forwards with her right arm.

The knight stumbled directly into a clothesline, floored by the attack and unable to counter when Jeanne hurled her leg forwards and directly into his gut, the knight let out a deep noise like rushing wind as he was catapulted through the air, spinning and then crashing into the snow a good distance from them.

Sully was blinking up, watching as the Saint whirled around and stared down at him for a few moments, then rushed forwards and slung an arm around his waist, pulling up upwards and onto her shoulder, soon feeling the sensation of rushing wind as he was carried along by the woman. Despite that, nothing made sense about his current predicament.

Why was Jeanne even here?

"W-what are you doing?" He croaked, if she was here then who was protecting the children-?

"I made a promise to myself that I would protect all those if I was able." Jeanne replied before he could even finish the thought. "Perhaps I would have been close, but the chance encounter of additional help pushed me to make my choice." silence followed, then she spoke in an unbroken voice "I shall not look children in the eye and tell them their protector died after all he did for them."

"...You came back for me…?"

"There was never a moment where I debated leaving you."

She came back for him…

Sully did not move from his spot atop her shoulder, ignoring the pain that was gradually returning to his body and being left with the simple truth he now faced. She had come back for him.

That hadn't happened before.

"...Thank you."

He could feel her start for a moment, then she replied in a softer voice "You are most welcome."

Though another thing stood out for him. "You said help-?"

"Aha! So this is the one who was protecting all these children!" Sully blinked at the childish voice that sounded out, it sounded younger than his and around the same age as those he had been working to try and protect. "Hmmm…Well, not being from here is certainly something my older self might take a little issue with, but considering that he did take a big risk in doing all this…I think I can forgive this slight case of trespass."

Trespass?

"That is rather generous of you." Jeanne replied with absolute sincerity at the words, Sully wished he could be turned to face the person who had - apparently - come to their rescue, if it was a little later than he would have expected. "You mentioned a location where we could be safe?"

"Of course, I did mention something like that, didn't I?" The voice was almost whimsical, as though he had forgotten he'd even made that promise in the first place. In any other tone, it might have been somewhat insulting but perhaps it was the voice that carried with it an almost innocent nature to it. "Though, first thing is first…I know you're out there, mongrel."

Sully blinked, then found himself moving as Jeanne spun around, quickly being lowered to the ground and finally in a position where he could see the child who had been speaking. He raised an eyebrow at them, his vision cleared enough to see the face of a blonde haired youth, crimson red eyes stared back at. A young man no older than those he protected, just as he predicted, with a light grey jumper of sorts and a blue shirt, some manner of short trousers that were dyed to match the colours of the forests.

The boy blinked at him, then tilted his head ever so slightly as the eyes narrowed. Sully found the gaze rather piercing, as though it was seeing right through him. The fact it focused solely on his face was rather off putting, though he imagined his injuries didn't make him a pretty sight.

"Huh." The blonde boy made a curious noise, leaning forwards slightly and cupping his chin. Looking down at Sully as though he had spotted a mildly intriguing rock on the side of the road. "That's certainly a rather curious face you have there…it is and it isn't yours? Hmmmm. The face is fake but inside is genuine?" the boy twitched his lip upwards "You're certainly a very amusing person."

"Wha-?"

"Though that can be saved for later." The boy slid his hands into his pockets, his expression hardened and the eyes narrowed dangerously, he turned and strode past both him and Jeanne. Coming to a halt and staring out at the expanse of snow in silence.

He was greeted by only the wind.

"...Are you truly intending to make me ask twice?" The boy asked, a slight edge bleeding into his tone though it remained cordial all the same. "I was being really generous the first time I asked. If you keep skulking around there in the cold then I am going to assume you're up to no good." a chuckle came from the boy, rather innocent in nature but it certainly didn't match his words. "You really don't want me to assume something like that."

Silence greeted them still.

Then there was movement, the winds calmed into nothing, the landscape settled and they found themselves greeted with nothing but the clear scenery. Then there was a shimmer, the air rippled like water before it gradually washed away. As though whatever had been coating the shape vanished without a trace.

Sully widened his eyes at the woman, the immediately divinity that flooded the area left him with very little doubt who this was, even if his discernment skill hadn't revealed her name.

She stood a full head over both himself and Jeanne, perhaps taller than even his older self.

At first he believed her to be wearing a dress, yet that was quickly dismissed as he saw the white fur that lined her body in a similar style was - in fact - growing out from her. It had either been brushed or simply turned into that sort of shape. Though that held nothing on the sweeping bushy tail that moved along the ground behind her, darting just into view and then back out once more.

Along her forehead were small ridges, curling out in miniscule horns like that of her kindred, yet, the one thing that seemingly separated her from looking like any human or lordkin that existed. Aside from the tail, that was.

Platinum coloured hair swept down from her, reaching past her shoulders and over her front, the woman tilted her head ever so slightly. Green eyes that matched the young boys in their sharpness stared right back at them all, sweeping over each and every person in the camp for a moment before settling on the blonde boy.

In her right hand was the largest scythe Sully had ever seen, and it could not have looked more different from Friede's if it had tried. Hers had been streamlined, forged with steel and made to look like a work of art.

This weapon was impossibly heavy, built along the back to provide just as much crushing power as cutting power, to say nothing of the material. Looking instead like a slab of carved stone or similar material. Though it was nothing like some common sharpened implement, this had been done with clear precision. The point of the weapon was to within a hair's width.

"Ah, so you do have the courage to come out." The boy looked utterly unperturbed by the woman's appearance, though Sully put that down to him not understanding quite who stood before him and what she had been capable of, or perhaps reportedly capable of. "I was getting rather worried that I might have to come out and find you, you know?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders "Though, you being here is fine now. It means I finally get to have a chat with the foreign invader who thought it was acceptable to start messing with my garden." he paused for a moment before another laugh came free of him. "I'm not usually this angry, most of the time, but I'm a little bit annoyed at the moment." he even pinched his fingers together as if to punctuate his feelings.

The woman's expression remained indifferent, still staring at the young boy without a trace of emotion to be seen on her face. Soon returning to an upright position and keeping the unblinking gaze on him.

"You know, some might consider it a touch rude if you don't speak to them when they're engaging in a conversation." The boy dryly remarked "If you didn't show yourself to speak, then you showed yourself to do battle…" he paused, letting the words hang in the air "But we both know what happened last time you tried that with me, don't you?"

Sully whirled on the back of the boy's head, widening his eyes as he stared at the youth. He did battle with this woman and came out the victor? Or at least, posed enough of a threat to keep her at bay. He looked even younger than he did!

Through it all, the pale haired woman merely regarded the boy with that cold expression all the while. Her shoulders lost their tension and the scythe in her hands thudded as it was implanted in the ground, an obvious sign that she was not going to attempt anything at the moment. For a few seconds longer, she was still, then slowly turned her head over her shoulder and spoke up.

"Thy Mistress is in grave peril." She spoke in a soft tone, yet the power of her words could be felt all around him. It was a second later that Sully realised she was probably speaking with Vilhelm, if the shadow shooting to their feet behind her was any indication. "Thy role is ended here, I shall deal with this burden myself." her head turned back towards the group, still regarding them with a stoic expression.

Vilhelm offered not a word of argument, not that Sully expected he would if Friede was in danger, as he turned on his heel and bolted through the snow and vanished off into the distance, his thunderous footsteps retreating into the tundra before they vanished altogether.

"Oh? Sending away the distractions, are you?" The boy asked in a perfectly innocent tone of voice, now pacing back and forth almost casually, his head tilted. "So, do you intend to speak with me or shall we-"

"Thy bluster is not necessary, child of the Lords." She cut him off before he could finish, her voice almost sounding amused. Though the boy stilled for a moment. "A paltry victory at thy hand does not make thee my superior." even at this distance, he could see the smile upon her face. "The hasty retreat thou bid after claiming the half-spirit is proof enough. I dismissed the good Sir Vilhelm as a courtesy to thy pride, something I see burning brightly within you."

After a few seconds of silence, the boy made a small noise "That's strangely considerate of you. If that's how you choose to interpret my departure, then there is little I can do to help that. People like to see what they want, after all."

"Shall I assume this act finalises the end of the neutrality I extended to the Great Father?"

"Considering he's also off to rescue someone, I would say so." The boy replied with a wry smile, bringing his right hand and waving it in a dismissive manner. "Though if you feel like fighting us all directly…" he trailed off, then slowly looked over his shoulder towards him. No, it was towards the children situated behind him, something twinkled in those crimson eyes of his before he turned back around. "But you won't do that, will you?"

"Is it a trait of yours to ask which you already know the answer to?"

"I'm doing this more for your benefit." He responded in a droll tone of voice "I could very well have just shown up and started fighting you, for me I change nothing but the time at which our battle begins. Or does not, in this case." a chuckle "But that would be rather boring. Having a conversation with someone is much more interesting when you experience it in real time rather than being aware of it beforehand."

Another chuckle from the woman "So it seems. Though you speak truly, I shall not instigate a quarrel with you while you travel with those I seek to save." she stepped backwards "Though we are both aware you cannot remain by their side forever. The moment in which you stand alone will come soon, and my eyes can see your end."

"...I know." There were deathly serious words from the boy "Those are some nasty eyes you have there, you know that, Miss?"

"Something I have known all my life. Take this victory of yours, child of Lords. I shall offer it to you freely in this instance." Her expression hardened, "Upon our next meeting, we shall settle this matter of your pride." turning side on, she spared all of them a single glance before her eyes fell upon him, emerald orbs narrowed into slits. "Though before my departure, I shall ask you this one question, traitor to his home."

Sully knew that meant him.

"For what reason would you abandon your family?"

…His family? Was that some sort of a joke?

"I tried to save them from this." He shot back with heat in his voice "Though a word of warning if you trust the words of Friede. Do not. Her acts are born not of charity, no matter how much goodwill she might pedal." he coughed out, moving a hand to his ribs as he sat up, thinning his lips. "Whether this madness is of your design or hers, I care not. I shall end it all the same."

The Crossbreed regarded him with indifference for a moment, then closed her eyes and let out a gentle sigh. "Then, if you shall not accept my love, you shall be forced to accept my judgement." she opened her eyes, he felt himself rooted on the spot as instead of the emerald green, they now burned a brilliant blue. There was something in those eyes that made him feel so small, so vulnerable.

Like he was made of a thin stack of twigs and the slightest nudge would send him tumbling to the ground in pieces.

"I can see thy death, Sulyvahn of Aurora." He froze at the mention of that name. "The lines that keep thee in the lands of the world need but a single cut to break. Should thee cross my sight again…I shall break them swiftly." without a single word more, she turned on her heel and was consumed by the cold, her body flashing into nothing.

Sully found himself gulping at the threat.

There was a silence that consumed the group, then the blonde boy turned around and clapped his hands together, flashing them all a brilliant smile that almost seemed to glow. Thoroughly unconcerned with the fact they had just been threatened with death by a Goddess who could very easily achieve it.

"That was suitably scary, wasn't it everyone?" The blonde boy remarked with a carefree smile, then looked over all the faces presented in front of him as though he was expecting something from them. Whatever it was, he didn't get it judging by the way his expression fell into something along the lines of confusion. Though it only lasted until he spoke once more. "I was sort of expecting a round of applause. Isn't that normally what you do when someone goes out of their way to save you?"

He paused for a moment, then shrugged "I'm not making a demand or anything, it was just something that I was expecting to happen without a prompt. Failing that, at least a couple words of 'thank you' would have been appreciated." a sigh left the boy, as though he was amused by their lack of speaking. "Though it is understandable that you would all be too shocked to speak. Ah well, such is the burden I bear."

The smile returned "Now then, I'm sure we can all give our thanks after you have been returned to safety." there was a pause, then the blonde turned his crimson eyes onto Sully. Mirth visibly shining inside them. "Besides, there are a couple of people I am rather excited for you to meet…it should be suitably entertaining whichever way it goes."

Quelan was quickly losing patience with their current situation, being subjected to repeated hit and run attacks while they could do nothing but react to their attacker who jumped into their field of view just as quickly as she left, was getting tedious very quickly.

He was clearly not alone in this feeling as the others expressed their own discontent at their present circumstances, though quite a bit less than he did. Though he blamed his growing temper on the embrace of the Chaos flames in his body rather than his natural state of mind. Especially since he had been drawing upon his powers quite a bit since the battle began.

The fog was the greatest concern and he very much doubted that they would be able to clear it with anything less than a controlled burst of magical energy. Something he could certainly achieve, but it would leave him quite a bit winded in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

If the enemy Assassin had been observant, she might have noticed him steadily growing hotter and hotter. Though she - like the others - had been more occupied with attacking rather than observing whatever he was doing, it was just a matter of waiting until the right time to strike-

"How much longer do you need?" He almost jumped at the voice right behind him, very nearly whirling around only for them to hiss at him in a very commanding tone. "Don't react to me, fool! Just give me an indication of what you're-" the woman, Nobunaga, briefly paused and Quelan had to avoid covering his ears as another roar of that contraption of hers went off, followed by half a dozen more as the snow was shredded into a fine mist from the barrage.

Quelan didn't question how she knew what he was doing, he didn't think he'd been that obvious about it, but he wasn't a military mind. He wasn't much of anything, all things considered. His mind returned to the presented question. "I shall need only a few more seconds." He managed to reply, ignoring the way in which his throat felt as though it had melted with each word spoken.

Whatever Percival had used to soothe his body was wiped away the second he started drawing upon the power of his soul. The Chaos ravaged him from the inside out, the call to be consumed and activate his Noble Phantasm was difficult to resist, but he couldn't do that here. Especially not now, the damage he would do would be without end.

"Alright then. Don't die." Nobunaga replied curtly, then he heard another thunderous roar of guns followed by a childish laughter, a noise like grinding steel reached his ears and was soon followed by a growl of annoyance from the helmeted undead.

"The girl is rather quick." The Saber remarked in a slightly irritated tone of voice "I am quickly seeing the need to remove this fog from the equation if we are to-" another giggle, then a clang of steel striking steel.

"That was very close!" The girl praised, not that Quelan could see her as he clenched his eyes shut. Focusing his mind entirely on grasping the power in his body. His arms started to vibrate, his nerves boiled and his skin sizzled, the snow hissed as it came in contact with his skin, steam rising away from him as his body temperature rapidly spiked. To say nothing of what he was feeling inside.

A pain the likes of which couldn't be described, he bit down hard on his lip to stop himself from screaming and only succeeded in managing in a muffled cry. It was probably enough to get the attention of those closest to him, especially since he felt the focus shift onto his back. More so when he hunched forwards, bending his knees and drawing his arms close to his body.

"Wha-?" The girl had a moment to cry out before Quelan released the hold on the flames.

His body flashed with burning fire, the chaos leapt away from him in a wall of orange and rushed out. He retained enough control to bring gaps into the wall around his allies, allowing them to pass through without incident and then quickly snapping them shut the moment they were freed. His body trembled as he commanded the inferno, a high pitched screech rang in his ears.

The scream he built up could no longer be contained, he let out an agonised yell as his body made its complaints towards him very clear. His eyes flew open as he let his arms drop back to the side, his hold on the flames vanished and they soon followed, though as he dropped onto his knee he found that he could see once again, the fog having receded away from his line of sight.

He stumbled forwards, letting out his most explosive cough yet. This one hacking up a burning puddle of magma onto the ground, popping and spitting embers as it coalesced around his feet.

"It hurts!" He turned his head to the voice, squinting his eyes as he staggered slightly. Catching sight of the white haired girl rolling around on the ground as her cape was covered in fire, having narrowly avoided being caught in the embrace of the flame but still not enough to stop her suffering an ugly burn on her left side.

The Saber accelerated forwards, the white haired girl widened her eyes in alarm as she watched the Servant close the distance between the two of them in a single step. His sword pulled back in preparation for a thrust, the moment she was dead they would be able to-

A howl of fury split the air, a split second later a black blur slammed into the Saber and carried them both upwards of a dozen metres through the snow before any could even register what had happened. The bodies bounced several times before they settled, soon an animalistic growl came from them as whatever tackled the Saber started ripping into his body.

"What the-!?" Percival cried out in alarm, making to charge but then paused and swung back around. The spear brought up and parried an enlarged steel greatsword to the side. The knight of warped steel armour floated there, visor burning a brilliant crimson as it glared at the knight of the lance, then threw their shield arm forwards and into Percivals shoulder, the knight having turned to tank the blow, though only succeeding in getting the pauldron lodged in the groove of the aegis.

Quelan could only gape before a shadow passed above his head, Nobunaga let out a curse and then fired before a giant bird fell upon her, tackling the woman to the ground and attempting to peck at her.

With a growl, he tried to move only to pause when he registered a presence to his left, turning his head slowly and finding himself staring into the angry greenish yellow eyes of the white haired girl, her expression set in a scowl as she brought up her burned arm, staring at it for a moment then towards him. Though they might have been of the same height, Quelan found it as though she stood taller than him in this one moment.

"You hurt us." She growled out, then took a step forwards as he took a step backwards, coughing out once more and hunching slightly. The Assassin briefly paused as she stared at him for a moment "You're sick." Was the remark she made, not a question but a statement.

With a tilt of her head, the girl spoke again. "We never answered his question…Our name is Jack." she nodded once, then flashed him a sharp smile. "Jack the Ripper." As if to prove her point, she flashed out two weapons in either hand, both of which had serrated edges about them perfectly suited for cutting flesh.

"Mommy doesn't like it when we hurt people too badly." The girl said, then the smile widened "But you hurt us first, so mommy will understand!"

Quelan blinked, then ignored the pain in his body as he unleashed a torrent of fire in the direction of the girl.