Saber Wars: Ending
Ritsuka had only remained at a loss when Gwynevere started sword-fencing for a brief moment.
Watching her move was like a dance, one that proved deadly within mere moments.
His revelry, if it could be called that, lasted only seconds before his mind jerked into overdrive.
"Marie!" Ritsuka signalled and then swung his hand down. "Wall."
And that was all the Rider needed, within moments her horse galloped right past him and brought with it a trail of crystalline shards, springing up from under hoof of the glass mount and forming a thin barricade between himself and the clones, though he did not doubt it would contain them for long.
But it didn't need to.
"Director! Hit the wall!"
Stahl raced past him with the axe held in both hands, with a screech of metal which was almost like that of a roar, the Berserker swung it like a bat right into the wall of glass. With a loud crunch, the wall shattered and sent fragments splintering away from them as a spray of fast moving projectiles right into the thick of the charging Heroine's.
It worked about as well as he would have expected, most of them dodged either side as the ground was shredded into ribbons, but separating them away into smaller groups worked out best for him, it stopped them from charging all at once.
Even if they were individually weaker, they were still pretty strong as a group.
A stream of golden light shot past his head and struck one of the crystals, light refracted and split apart. In a split second, several clones were felled as the light caught them under the rays, their bodies breaking down into dust and vanishing in large clouds. Ritsuka didn't need to turn his head to know that it was Gwynevere.
Yet he turned all the same, staring at Heroine Z still caught in the duel, watching just in time as a third combatant launched themselves into the frey against the Goddess and even still, it was hard to say if the tide of battle turned.
Ritsuka stepped back as Mash moved in front of him, a white blur crashed into the shield and was soundly batted away. He watched the Z clone roll across the ground before righting itself and scowling at them, then breaking off into another sprint and vaulting over the remains of the glass wall and into cover.
This was actually going fairly well, but he didn't want to jinx himself just yet.
His eyes swung towards the direction of Lily as she fended off two of the clones at once, dancing between them as she avoided their attacks. Holding her own rather well, but from the noticeable strain on her face, it was clear to him that it wouldn't be long before she got swamped in them.
Especially with more clones appearing.
'Get ready, Lily.' He sent the mental note towards her, then held out his hand and activated the mystic code. "Emergency Evasion!"
Lily vanished in a flash of light, then reappeared in another spot entirely; it sent the two clones for a stumble as their quarry disappeared. The small Saber did not even so much as hesitate, blasting away one with a burst of light with Caliburn before they could react. The other Z whipped around just in time to see their partner vanish in a cloud of smoke.
"Hah!" A shout from Mash, he turned and watched her land a rather powerful punch into the face of the Z clone that had been flanking around. Then followed it up with a kick to the knee to bring them down, her shield cocked back and swung forth like a battering ram into the face of the clone, driving them into the earth and disappearing in an explosion.
Ritsuka could only blink at the display.
Then jerked as he brought himself back into the focus, swinging his hand up and pointing forwards. "We need to push them back and box them in. Gwynevere has the original, so we need to support her."
The real question was what was taking Ash so long, he chanced a look over his shoulder towards the Avenger.
Ritsuka double taked at the sight, Ash engaged in battle with what looked like a white haired teenager swinging spiked iron lumps. At least, that was all he could get out of it from the half a second that they had slowed down enough for him to actually see what was going on, it was easier to say the battle behind him was nothing more than a cacophony of noise.
Explosions and crashing steel alike, mixed with the occasional burst of flame through a cloud of dirt.
What the heck happened in the less than one minute where his back was turned?
No, he couldn't worry about that yet.
Turning back around, he advanced with Mash as they started to face more of the clones.
His eyes darted left and right as he dropped down behind the shield, another clang off the front as the white blur skidded to a halt. They stumbled and made to charge once more, only for the boot of Stahl to crash down on top of them before they could manage a single step.
The Berserker marched forwards, swinging with such force that he could feel the wind shift each time the axe moved.
"Are you alright, Senpai?"
"Fine." He answered quickly, stepping up and shifting his attention, darting forwards as Mash flanked around his side and quickly coming up on Lily, he nodded forwards and Mash shot on ahead of him, jumping through the air and landing a rather powerful two footed kick onto the Heroine clone, they stumbled just long enough for Lily to sweep Caliburn through them and turn the body into nothing.
An exhale escaped him, then he snapped his eyes to the side and stepped back.
Three clones rushed him.
He needn't have bothered doing anything.
"Galactic-Strike!"
The form of Heroine X appeared before him, twin swords blazing as she became a veritable tornado of light. Sweeping the three clones into combat immediately. He barely registered what was happening in front of him beyond the blurs darting around, one by one the heroines were felled by X.
A parry shifted into a thrust, a sweeping kick and a downwards slash and then an X marked strike felled them in rapid succession until just the original remained. She skipped backwards and then appeared by his side. Whatever he was going to say was cut off as the world shifted around him before he could get a word out.
Ritsuka blinked as he suddenly found himself parallel to the ground, staring at the grass and with a sensation like a snake coiled around his arm. With several more blinks, he raised his head up and then the world blurred, he felt the wind strike against his face as he was moving faster than he really should have been.
The only comparable sensation would have been the time that Santoria decided to race her Lancer self and use Excalibur as a propulsion rocket.
The world shifted and he dropped to the ground, turning and staring up at Heroine X as the blades twirled around in her grasp. Sweeping around with such speed and control, the ground at her feet slashed to ribbons as the tips of the sword graced through them with each turn.
Fighting back the dizziness, he rose back up and clasped at his head, then became aware of the person by his side and turned. The Director stared at him with an irritable frown for a moment before shaking her head, she said nothing but the look on her face did more than words could have done in that moment.
Light flashed around, Marie galloped on the outside, her ring flashed with brilliant pink as shots of magical energy exploded from it, spraying the outer layers of the Heroines and keeping them from venturing too far out, though it was safe to say she was already getting chased down by some of them.
"Marie-"
"I see it." The Director cut him short, then stood up "Make sure you stay close to a Servant this time."
With a snap of her fingers, Stahl appeared by her side and scooped her up as gently as he could, though it was impossible to miss her flinch nor the look of worry on her face as the Berserker started to move.
Apparently she wasn't quite used to that yet.
The pair darted off towards Marie, he turned back to Heroine X as both Lily and Mash flanked around him, quick to help him to his feet as the four of them were thrown right back into the thick of battle when the clones descended upon them.
Despite the almost chaotic nature of it, it could be said that he noticed some problems with his attackers.
Namely that it wasn't like fighting a team, it was like fighting a group of individuals, just as likely to get in each other's way as they were to end up fighting himself. But it made sense, if they were all cloned from Heroine Z, then they would fight like her as well and if Heroine Z was anything like Heroine X, then they weren't used to fighting as part of a team.
"X, stay close." He commanded, then moved towards Mash and waved a hand to Lily, jerking a thumb towards Mash. "And when I say down. Get down."
He didn't wait for a response, instead watched with narrowed eyes as they all rushed forwards.
"Mash!"
The girl slammed her shield down, the transparent brick wall formed in the space between herself and the enemies. Most slowed before they struck it, the closest hit head on and bounced clean off the wall and onto their backsides.
"Down!"
Mash dropped down, so too did he.
Lily let out a shout of effort as she swung, accompanied by the words "Saber homerun!"
Caliburn's blade glowed a brilliant gold, light peeled away in a crescent attack and soared over the top of their heads. A couple of the Z's were caught in the initial attack, poofing away as the crescent slice made contact with them, but the moment it passed, he swung across to X and pointed to the recovering enemies.
The Assassin understood and dove forwards with a rather eager look, flinging herself blades first into the recovering Heroine's and sweeping around. Hacking and slashing as best she could and catching them before they could recover. Those who did were able to quickly gather themselves and offer a token amount of resistance.
At least until he glanced to the right and nodded once.
Lily raced past him and thrust upwards, Caliburn unleashed streams of light from the tip of the blade to the clones in the air. Catching them as they fell and poofing them away into nothing. But he watched closer as each one landed, some fell flat on their face and others landed on their feet.
He turned and glanced at Gwynevere, the clones had been putting themselves between them, separating Ritsuka and the others from the Goddess. It was hard not to notice, yet their advance had continued and the more clones they threw, the more they lost.
Their numbers were shrinking rapidly and it wouldn't be long before there were only a handful left.
Her vision was starting to blur and already she could feel the burning deep within her chest.
The very act of breathing was laboured now, putting as much effort into wielding her weapon than she was into keeping herself upright and fighting.
She knew not what manner of poison he had wielded against her, but she could feel it pulsing just under her skin. Itching, clawing, burrowing. It was spreading through her body as if alive, a thousand tiny monsters seeping down into her lungs and scorching everything in their wake.
Another lump formed in her throat, she tried her best to swallow it down as she twisted her body, just barely avoiding the orb of malicious black flames that would have otherwise slammed into her chest.
Whether a result of the toxin in her blood or something else, even stepping near those flames sent every one of her instincts into a frenzy. It was as if those obsidian fires were glaring at her as they passed. Snarling and cursing as they were denied the chance to grasp her skin and peel away her flesh.
As though the flames were, in some way, alive and angry.
So very angry.
Even now as the orb sailed past her, she felt the heat in the back of her neck burning intensely. The fury of the missed attack wailed in the back of her mind as the shudder of an explosion trembled behind her.
Her grip loosened on the chain and she swung forwards, the Morningstar hurled towards its target with a heavy whistle. Then she felt the tremor surge through her arm as the attack was parried away with the back of the mangled blade. The weapon looked no more like a sword than like chiseled glass.
In the very centre, right at the hilt, there was a pulse of white light buried just beneath the surface.
It was hammering faster and faster, flashing and fading with brightness.
Like a heartbeat.
If she craned her ears, then above the roar of the inferno and the screeching in her own blood, then she could hear it press down in her heart. The deep beating of the sword, the drumming of the blade itself as it swept through the air towards her.
A deft yank brought the mace back, coiling the chain around her arm until it was only a foot of leeway and she turned. Throwing her entire body into a clumsy arc and striking the side of the weapon with an earth splitting clunk.
Steel shrieked and the blonde man, her opponent, barely looked inconvenienced.
He had shown not a shred of emotion since the battle started, just an eerie sense of irritation that he was burdened and then it had vanished completely. Like a face carved from stone instead of flesh, the only distinction being that his eyes would turn on her and narrow on occasion but little else.
Perhaps that was the worst part.
If he had been stone, she could have excused the eyes.
Those cold emerald orbs looked back at her without a hint of life in them, no warmth or sense of passion.
Just a deep seated blanket of cold.
Not even worthy of being called an animal, for at least they had something they fought for.
This was just an absence of anything.
A cold contradiction to the savage ferocity with which he fought.
She felt the oppressive heat before she saw it, her breath lodged in her throat as a heaving cough forced its way up her gullet. She was no longer coughing out anything wet, instead it was a dusty rasping which escaped her. She half expected to see shreds of sand spew from between her lips, for how arid it felt.
As though her tongue was moments away from crumbling to dust.
Was it even still there? She had lost the feeling of it some time ago.
Despite that, she still fought because she had her own pride. To be felled with poison without landing any decisive blows would have been an insult to her heritage. Would have been an insult to her own patron if she lost in such a way.
It was that thought which drove her onwards, but it was one that was quickly losing steam.
Her limbs felt heavy, and her body felt hot and sticky. Sweat poured off her brows in great rolling waves and her eyes hadn't stopped tearing up. Now it was burning greater than before, the continuous stream had clogged up her vision and she could only see through some warped perception of the world.
She dared not raise her arm to wipe them away, because she knew that was the moment he was waiting for. The slightest hint of weakness and he would strike.
He closed the distance swiftly, another telegraphed attack, same as before. But she needed distance, she wanted him as far from him as possible. One dose of whatever he had cast had nearly been enough to put her down. She didn't want to be anywhere near him when he cast another.
Her muscles bulged, strength poured into her arms as the chain was gripped tight with both hands. So strong that she was sure she could hear the metal links bending between her fingers as she pulled. Heaving with every ounce of willpower and swinging across, raking the lump of jagged steel across the ground, tearing a trench and keeping him at back.
It was a half step backwards to avoid losing the tip of his toes, she saw the barest embers of smoke drift from his fingers. The first signs of whatever malicious flame he was about to drag out from the very depths of Tartarus and throw at her.
She breathed in and stopped.
It was as if someone had erected a wall in her throat, slammed shut a door and locked it tight. Unable to draw in even an ounce of air, her jaw snapped shut as she forced her muscles to work. Trying to dislodge whatever was stopping her from breathing.
The urge to drop her weapon and clasp at her throat was stamped out, if only barely, as she staggered further away.
Another tug on her strength launched the spiked weights at the Servant one after another, drawing them back and forth with everything she could muster.
He kept walking towards her, at an insultingly casual pace.
Very rarely did he even bother to raise his weapon, a side-step or a slight shift of his posture and he dodged perfectly.
A snarl bubbled in her throat, but escaped as a pitiful wheeze.
With a silent scream, she hurled the weights in from either side.
Then he did the unthinkable.
Before her unblinking eyes, he dropped his sword and stretched his arms out, taking a single step forwards and then catching the weights. His fingers curled around the chains and he held on tight. Already she felt her arms buckle as she dug her heels in, pushing them through the upper layers of dirt and grass to find some manner of footing.
It came loose with a single tug, jerking her feet from the ground and sending her sprawling towards him.
She never touched the ground.
His hand slammed shut over her mouth, clamping down with a grip which was near crushing, any tighter and he likely would have shattered her teeth. Hoisting her up, she snarled behind the grip and swung out.
Movement in the corner of her eye, a glint of something in sunlight and then pain lanced in her chin, the feeling of something suddenly appearing in her mouth and a sweeping sense of agony. Her tongue was rooted in place, a tension spread from her lower jaw and her eyes widened.
He pulled, a squelch filled the air and she stared - wide eyed - at the small knife he had just yanked out from her chin, still glistening with her blood.
Then she was moving, the grip over her mouth vanished and the world vanished into scenery, blurs of colour. Mixtures of sky and grass before she hit the ground hard, grunting and wheezing, a blooded cough erupted from her as she spat crimson onto the ground, snarling and pushing up.
Her eyes blurred, her eyes glazed and then she felt her strength start to leave her.
Spitting once more, she noticed something different, even through unfocused eyes, she could see something amiss in the splat of red on the ground. The clear mixture of some purple stain on her blood, then the burning spread across her entire mouth. Something slick and weighty, merely touching it with her wounded tongue brought nothing but agony.
Her eyes narrowed to slits as a cold realisation set in.
More poison-
An impact struck her hard, vision whiting and her body thrown into a roll, once, twice and then thrice did she skip over the ground before hitting the earth, rolling onto her back and then lay there. Weakness gripping her every muscle as the pain spread in waves, tears sprung as the poison slipped down her gullet.
A shadow darkened her vision, nothing more than a mere silhouette at first.
Only when it leaned down did she really get further detail, a hand came into focus and lowered down towards her.
It found a hold on her throat, a causal and lethargic nature to the feeling of the fingers wrapping around her neck. As if there was no true sense of urgency. She searched for strength and found herself unable to do so much as lift a finger as her body was slowly peeled away from the earth.
Dragged upwards, her limbs dangled by her side as her eyes focused onto the face - limited vision that she had - and glared with all the fury she could muster.
The fingers on her throat just tightened a little bit further, slowly but surely crushing her throat.
She could do nothing but glare into his eyes, strength burning faster and faster and leaving her with very little to fight with. When he started to squeeze down, moving his other hand to support and maintain that dead look in his eyes, it was as if something snapped in her.
This was how she was going to die in this summoning.
Poisoned and strangled.
A deep fury burned inside her, anger flooded her system and like that, she could muster enough strength to move her numb limbs, she reached towards the face of the blonde, desperate to claw out his motionless expression.
He held her at more than enough of an arm's length as if she were some unruly child, not even her kicking could reach him, and when it did, her legs felt numb and worthless. She might as well have been beating him with hollow cloth.
Spots of darkness swarmed, her effort to free herself got weaker and weaker.
Her mind was slowing, all while that constricting grip on her throat was at the forefront of her mind.
It occurred to her, she didn't even know his name.
The man had not spoken a single word.
Then, perhaps as a final insult, she watched his head turn away from her and to something in the distance.
He showed the first true emotion she had seen.
Annoyance, then she caught his eyes, glanced at her and she understood what it was.
Like she had somehow done some insult against him.
Then he looked away once more and squeezed tighter, as if trying to hurry the process along and get to something he actually wanted to do.
Even in her last moments, he wasn't even paying attention to her, as if she wasn't worth the attention.
All she could do was snarl and promise in the back of her mind that she would remember this face.
And she would get even.
Then the darkness embraced her with the same cold hands that were wrapped around her throat.
The next Z clone fell beneath the blade of Lily the moment it tried to rush towards them.
Ritsuka felt less concerned than before, it was clear that the Saber was growing more confident with the more enemies she faced and he was similarly glad to see it.
But all the same…
No, not time to concern himself with that.
This was about Lily.
Sounds of clashing steel from behind him, Ritsuka turned his head and found himself witness to a rather odd sight.
There was no sign of the Servant Ash had fought previously, instead he was engaged in a duel with the Caster Servant who had aided Heroine Z.
If it could be called a duel.
No expert in sword fencing was Ritsuka, but as he watched the Caster tumble to the ground and scramble backwards, shield raised high as Ash swung again and again into the lion faced steel rim, he knew that the blonde was going to be the victor of the duel. There was no contest of skill, Ash merely wailed on the man without an end in sight.
His mind connected with the Avenger for a brief instant.
'Do you need support?'
'No.'
It was all Ash said in reply, pulling back his sword and kicking down now. Armoured boot driving the Caster further into the earth.
This was more a beating than a fight.
He stared at it for a few moments, then turned his head back around and closed his eyes for a brief moment. Taking in a deep breath before he opened them again and resumed his walk forwards with Mash and Lily. His eyes narrowed as he watched the clones reduce in number with the length of the attacks.
There was a gasp of pain, one of Gwynevere's opponents went down with a streak of gold carved through her chest. Her body turned to dust a moment later, leaving only the original two she had been fighting.
Another swipe from Lily felled the next Z clone and left only several remaining, each one of them was back to back with the other and glancing around looking a lot more nervous now than they had been when the fight started.
He turned.
Gwynevere cut down the last clone, he assumed as such because the remaining Z had all but launched herself away from the Goddess, darting backwards like an animal only to scramble to a halt when she stared at the rest of them.
He watched the moment that the reality of her situation came crashing down on her head.
"D-duel!"
He paused, then frowned. "What?"
"I request a duel!" Heroine Z shouted again, her voice strangled. "Me and the novice Saber! One on one! T-that's how it goes, right? Chivalry and all! If you refuse, you'll definitely be a fake Saber forever!"
Ritsuka stared at her and the tremble in her arms.
It was clear she was terrified.
"You can just leave." He stepped forwards, nodding his head to the distance. "Turn around and run and that will be the end of it."
At that, Heroine Z turned on him.
Something flashed through his eyes, she paused, looking to entertain his idea, but then her gaze turned cold. The tremble in her arms vanished and she stood up straight. When she spoke again, her voice was flat…resigned.
"A Heroine does not run from battles against Sabers."
Ritsuka grimaced. "...Have it your way."
"I accept her duel."
He blinked, shocked at the voice, and whipped his head to the speaker. "You-what? Hang on, Lily-"
"Master." Lily stepped beside him, she did not turn her head from the Heroine. Did not divert focus from the dual wielder. Her green eyes remained firmly locked upon them, when she spoke again, it was in the same firm tone that he would have heard from another. "It is a matter of honour."
Ritsuka frowned. "She did set bombs and try to blow us up."
"She did." Lily replied without missing a beat. "But she has no cards left to play. She will not run…So I shall give her an end that befits her purpose. I shall do my utmost to grant her an end with dignity."
She turned, looking up at him.
"...Alright." He paused, then reached up a hand and pressed it on her shoulder, giving her a small squeeze. Not tight enough to truly cause discomfort or stop her, but it was one that he believed passed along his thought. "I will be right here. We all will."
Lily looked into his eyes, then gave a dazzling smile. "Thank you, Master."
Then she turned, and walked with her sword drawn.
Ritsuka met the eyes of Gwynevere from across the way, and he could have sworn he saw a flicker of unease in them. But it went ignored, because he needed to keep his eyes on Lily right now.
She could feel her heart beat away in her chest.
Everything she had been working towards was right here.
"Kick her ass, my student!"
The shout of Miss X was a rather welcome one, if a little crude. But it was nostalgic in a way, very much the type of encouragement that she would have gotten from her brother.
"Show this savage the measure of a true Knight."
And the support from Lady Gwynevere was a bit different but no less encouraging, already there was the confidence that she would claim victory in this battle. Lily was not overconfident in anything, she would not underestimate her enemy and had some expectation for what she would be facing.
Miss X had been fast and the clones, weakened as they were, still matched Lily in speed until she used her mana burst to surpass them. Sword skills remained unchanged and she knew that as a novice, this Servant would still be better than her.
She had been fighting Gwynevere, her body marred with proof of the scuffle. Burn marks and cuts across her clothes, her hat missing the left side of the beak. Her breathing came out in pants, sharp intakes and exhales.
Z was tired, exhausted even.
Yet even then, Lily had to admire the strength she held herself up with.
There was no doubt that it would be a hard fight.
But Lily had reason to win, she had something to prove.
Taking her stance, she brought up her sword and gripped it with both hands, prepared for her attacker.
Heroine Z narrowed her eyes, the final two clones at her side vanished in a puff of smoke as the Assassin brought up her twin Excaliburs. The black and gold blades glowed as the Servant started to twirl them between her fingers.
"Your move."
A scoff from Heroine Z. "You fool. I have long been trained in the Anti-Saber arts."
The swords in her grasp started to spin faster and faster, Lily took a cautious step backwards as she watched the blades spin with such speed that they became impossible to track, turning into little more than circles of light along either side of the Servant as she started to walk forwards with slow and purposeful steps.
Each spin of the weapon slashed into the ground, picking out grooves in the dirt and shredding the grass with each step she took.
Lily wavered on her feet, eyes darting between the spinning blades and then to the face of the advancing Heroine herself.
This was a rather unorthodox tactic she had not quite expected, it was as though the wrists of the Assassin were built on a ball joint with the ease at which the blades span. But there was something she noticed. It was the footsteps of Heroine Z, she wasn't using her incredible speed.
It didn't feel right as a taunt.
Or rather, Miss X never felt like the person who would do a taunt like that and not immediately capitalise on her alarm at the move.
'She probably can't run like that.' Ritsuka's voice filtered through her mind a moment later. 'Go for her legs and she'll probably stop and return to a regular fighting style.'
Lily was of the same opinion.
But rather than doing that, her eyes narrowed as she glanced to the spinning wrist of the Heroine and then back towards the Servant.
She had an idea.
Stepping forwards, she ignited Caliburn and thrust the sword forwards, light shot from the blade and towards the left arm of the Servant. Heroine Z reacted immediately and twisted her arm, stopping the spin and sweeping her sword across, parrying the light beam away to the side.
Lily accelerated with mana and thrust for the leg next, then changed at the last moment and swung upwards instead. Heroine Z reacted quickly, catching the blow with her twin swords and then forcing it down into the ground once more. The Heroine pushed forwards and flipped over the top of her.
Turning her head, she stumbled as Z kicked her in the face as she flipped over, sending her to the ground for all of half a second. Lily hit the earth on her shoulder then used the momentum to roll her body, slashing up as she did so and sending a crescent of light from her blade and towards her attacker.
Z leaned to the side and avoided the attack, then pressed forwards in the hopes of catching her before she could stand.
Lily activated her mana burst in that next moment.
The ground was shredded to ribbons as the magical energy exploded out of her without anything even close to resembling control. It was a rather reckless move, but at the same time, it worked in that the uneven footing prevented the Assassin from closing the gap quickly.
Z caught herself on a small outcrop of earth and stumbled, giving her a fraction of a chance to stand up again and swing out. She expected the blow to be blocked and found her expectations met rather handily. Drawing her sword back and going for another slash, this one being parried away.
Lily used the parry and kicked off the ground, spinning through the air and sweeping around from the other side and chopping down with all her might. Z blocked the attack with one sword and thrust with the other. Lily brought out her leg and kicked the blade away from her body, or tried to.
The force of the swipe was still enough to knock her away and without proper footing, Lily ended up flying for a short distance before she hit the ground. Her feet had barely even touched the ear before the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Her eyes widened as her instinct screamed at the same time Masters' voice rang through her mind.
Both said the same thing.
'Duck!'
She dropped to the ground a fraction of a second later, hearing the sweeping sound of the blade passing above her head. She rolled forwards and turned, then gasped as a kick struck her in the chest and sent her sprawling across the ground, rolling for a few metres before reacting on instinct.
Righting herself and swinging up, sweeping out a cloud of dirt and grass from the ground as she did so and throwing it towards the Heroine. Z dodged right as a blur, then accelerated forwards and thrust for her head.
Lily angled herself, avoiding the thrust by the skin of her teeth, then swung up and parried the blow into the air, stepping forwards and-
She ducked low, the other sword came about and very nearly took her head off, another burst of mana escaped her and shunted Z back a few steps but not nearly enough for her to take advantage of. Instead it just gave her the chance to rise back up and prepare herself, her breathing was coming out faster than before, her heart hammering away in her chest.
It was never that she underestimated Z.
But there was no denying that Z was the better fighter, only her instincts were keeping her in the battle at this point and she knew it.
Z hopped back, gaining some distance and twirling her blades once more, though far slower than last time, then she stopped. The black sword was held in a reverse grip while the other was held in a standard grip. The Assassin started to pace back and forth, narrowing her eyes as if trying to figure something out.
Lily was thankful for the breathing room, but it was still rather problematic.
'Lily. Use your mana burst when I give the signal. Then get ready to move.'
It was a clipped command, but she transmitted her acknowledgement.
Taking in a deep breath and narrowing her eyes, drawing Caliburn down and to the side so the blade was angled for the ground.
'Speed then strength.'
Close the distance and then swing? She would trust her Master with that.
Mana flooded her legs, she stepped forwards and then charged straight ahead. To the outside world, this would have looked as though she'd just abandoned reason and thrown everything into her speed and power.
The reckless move of a novice.
She supposed Master would count on that.
Indeed, she had never underestimated Z.
But could the same be said for Z?
The Heroine narrowed her eyes and tensed her posture, awaiting her attack or rather, probably making an effort to avoid the attack and then catch her.
'Momentary Reinforcement.'
She felt the surge of power flood through her body, strengthening herself beyond as it would have been normally. It would only last for a few seconds at most but she knew that it would be enough for a decisive blow. Especially when coupled with her mana burst.
That was probably the signal Master spoke of.
Lily stamped down and halted her momentum, flooding mana into her arms instead and bringing them above her head with sword in hand. Her eyes narrowed as the muscles bulged, she took in a sharp breath and trapped it inside her lungs.
She brought the sword above her head and swung clean down.
Heroine Z was already stepping to the side to ensure the blow missed.
'Emergency Evasion.'
Lily's whole body blinked to the side, changing position from where it had been moments ago and finding herself perhaps a metre or so to the left of Heroine Z. Which ensured that she was actually behind the Servant instead of in front of them, especially with their body turned at an angle.
Catching herself, she changed the swing and swung across and towards the Assassin.
Heroine Z was already turning, the flash of alarm and panic clear across her face as she swung out her sword to block the attack, but her footing was all wrong, her grip wasn't prepared for it.
She had underestimated Lily.
Lily's blow connected with the sword of Heroine Z, the surge of strength exploded from her arms and into the sword. Caliburn sang loudly, light exploded from the blade at the point of contact as sparks and flashes of light danced from the connected blades. It was a song which lasted only a fraction of a second.
Stepping forwards, a cry escaped the throat of Lily as she pushed with all her might.
"Guh!?"
The golden sword was forced from the hand of Heroine Z and sent flying into the sky above their heads. Lily stepped forwards and threw her body into the next attack, thrusting forwards and driving the tip of Caliburn through the chest of Heroine Z.
Better to be safe than sorry.
"Cali-!"
She stepped forwards and pushed up, lifting Heroine Z up and pointing to the sky.
She didn't want to catch any of her friends or allies in the blast.
"-burn!"
The sword exploded, a beam of golden light erupted from the blade and carried Z into the sky, moving faster than she could even really comprehend. Merely that in one second she had the Servant on the end of her sword, and in the next there was a golden meteor of light shooting across the blue sky and bright enough to rival the sun.
The meteor exploded with a shower of sparkles, Lily watched it for a moment and then lowered her sword, thrusting the blade into the ground and resting her hands upon the pommel.
She won.
…Wow, that was a really close thing?
She didn't think she would have actually won if it was for that last move, but…well…what was the point of having allies if you could not rely upon them?
A smile spread across her lips, she turned her head towards the others and nodded to them.
"The enemy has been defeated, Master!"
Her Master was still staring at the explosion in the sky with a blank expression, then his gaze lowered towards her. He started to walk forwards while nodding his head up and down, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he looked down at her. When he was close enough, he brought up a hand and dropped it onto her shoulder.
"...That'll do, Lily. That'll do."
She beamed up at him.
Heroine X watched it with a rather disturbed internal feeling.
She had thought she could take Lily at the moment but this proved otherwise.
Well, technically Lily had help so she probably could take her in a lone fight if it was just one on one.
But what Servant of this era fought without a Master?
Yikes, was this really the strength of a Servant and Master combination that even Sabers of novice ability could be powerful enough to rival her?
Actually…how strong would it make her if she was coupled with a Master as well? She had always heard of the stories - what Servant hadn't - but to see it first hand was both incredible and terrifying.
A rattle of chains behind her had her turn her head.
Her eyes glanced at the approaching 'Avenger' and then turned down to the odd weapon he was holding in his hands.
…It was literally two lumps of iron with spikes attached to them connected together with a chain.
"It's over then, is it?" Ash asked with a blank expression, then grunted as he looped the chained weights up and moved towards the box strapped to his waist, opening it up. X watched as the weapon started to break down into what looked like dust, then flowed into the open container and out of sight, he clipped the lid shut a moment later and folded his arms.
"She won then?"
X jolted as she realised the question, then nodded her head up and down, turning towards the Saber as she was surrounded by the others who all seemed to be congratulating her on her victory.
"She did, yes…So what took you so long? It was only a Caster."
"He was easy. It was the fact he summoned a Servant, which was a small problem."
"Oh…Not another Saber, was it?"
"No, a Berserker. Penthesilea."
Heroine X pinched her brows, then slowly turned her head and stared at the Avenger with a sudden case of confusion.
She felt her face scrunch up as the name registered, her mind restarted, and then she registered the name again. "...The Amazoness CEO?"
"...The what?"
She shook her head, trying to dismiss the rather bizarre image that brought about and instead returning her attention towards Lily.
The Saber…really had gotten better and not just that…
Lily…defended her.
Heroine X rolled her jaw inwards and then shuffled on the spot for a few moments, she glanced down for a second and then closed her eyes. Turning around and slowly walking away from the group.
"Leaving?"
"Yeah." She replied to Ash, turning and staring at the blonde as he side-eyed her. "No sense in me sticking around, is there? My ship will probably be a bit easier to repair now with…stuff…well, I don't really see the need for forcing the matter anymore. Being around you guys is more trouble than it's worth."
Ash remained silent. "Lily will probably want you to stay."
"...I was just learning how she fought so I could beat her in the future."
"She'll still probably want you to stay."
Her jaw clenched and her head turned to the side, a huff escaped her as she folded her arms. "...That's stupid."
"Probably."
"Couldn't you have pretended to disagree to make me feel better?"
"No."
Her lip twitched upwards. "You're blunt…I appreciate it and find it quite hurtful as well."
"Hmmm."
"Miss X!"
She jolted at the sudden voice of Lily, then slowly turned around and stared down at the Saber as they bounded towards her. She pulled a strained smile as the girl slid to a halt in front of her with a triumphant grin. "I did it, Miss X. Just like I told you that I would, both you and Lady Gwynevere…I'm glad I was able to put all your teachings into practice."
Heroine X shrugged. "I…I didn't do all that much and…"
"Not at all!" Lily argued. "I felt like I could fight even stronger with all of you behind me. Not just all of you, but with Mash and Queen Marie standing beside me as well…I'm certain they will all be amazing with me."
She turned from her and towards Ash, frowning. "What happened? I sensed another Servant-"
"Dead." Ash replied without even letting her finish, arms folded and face like stone. "Same as the Caster who summoned her. You won. Congratulations."
Yikes, it sounded so flat.
Apparently even that flat compliment was good enough for Lily.
She turned back to her and X felt herself shrivel up a little on the inside from the earnest gaze of the young girl. "So what do we do now? I'm sure there's a lot of work to be done if we're going to repair the rocket."
Heroine X slowly shook her head from side to side. "Yeah…uh…I can take it from here now so you guys can…go and do your thing."
Lily blinked, then stepped backwards and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I…" She wet her lips and dropped her head. "Sorry, Lily. I…I deceived you. I was just training you because I…I was confident that I could defeat you."
"Eh? What does that have to do with-"
"When…when I returned to the future, I was going to use all I learned when fighting you to hunt you down and then kill you. I would leave you alive in this era but I would know all of your moves and everyone else who was like you…I…I was gathering a movelist and rigging it in my favour…the more you relied on me, the easier it would be."
Bringing her foot up, she kicked away at the ground. "But…uhm…yeah…I'm gonna…gonna hand you back over to the Caster from now on, she can train you so…yeah."
"Eh? Why?"
She blinked, then brought up her head up and squinted at Lily. "Why what?"
Lily frowned. "Why would you stop training me?"
"...Uh…Did you hear a word I just said?"
Lily nodded her head up and down. "I did. From the very beginning, you looked at me and were determined to train me until I was at my absolute best. Until I had learned everything that I could possibly learn from you, right? It meant you believed that it was possible for me to learn everything there was to learn from you?"
"Uhh…wait? What sort of conversation are we having here-?"
"It meant that you truly believed I could learn from you." The girl continued on, bringing up a hand and placing it flat against her chest. "The only way I can repay such earnest kindness is by remaining as a student of you until I learn everything that you have to teach me. Until I know everything, I will not abandon your tutelage."
…What?
…What!?
Heroine X blinked.
Then she blinked again.
"Uhhh…" She leaned back, then shot a look towards the others and saw that at least some of them were looking at Lily with a rather weird expression, but most of them were just smiling as if the Saber hadn't just said something rather crazy. "I…don't…I mean…you could take it that way but I…personally…wouldn't…"
Lily was still smiling.
Someone cleared their throat.
Her eyes snapped towards the Caster, the tall Goddess lowered her hand from in front of her mouth. "The young squire makes a valid point. You would never allow your pride to give Lily anything less than the best training she could handle. Whether you intended to use that knowledge for good or ill…ultimately what you wished for was for her to grow until she was at her absolute peak."
Well…kind of?
What she wanted was for Lily to use all of her moves so that she could easily counter them all but this was really weird.
"I mean…I wouldn't half-arse her training but-"
"In which case, you were truly genuine in your actions." Gwynevere continued on with a wave of the hand. "...Lesser as they might be to mine, your eye for cultivation is at least worth noting. As are your skills as a swordsman."
…That sounded like an insult.
"You…" She stared at Lily for a few moments.
"Are you really fine with that?" It was Ash who spoke next, looking down at Lily with an odd expression on his face. "She just taught you everything to further her own goals…are you really fine with learning from someone like that?"
…He sounded really disapproving, which left her torn between nodding her head in acceptance of what he was saying while also being a bit insulted that he was trying to talk her down so much.
Lily gave a single nod of the head. "Whatever her reasons might have been, I cannot deny the results. With the skills she has given me…I can better protect Master and help human history. I might even save many people with what she teaches. It is not about her skills…it is about what I can do with them for my own ideals."
Ash remained silent, then turned his head away. "...If you say so."
Why did it feel like she had missed something?
And why was Gwynevere pointedly looking away from everyone?
Heroine X glanced down at Lily, then looked past the girl towards Ritsuka.
The boy shot her a faint smile and a shrug of the shoulders. "I think you've been shanghai'd into the role of teacher, X. Probably easier to just accept it at this rate…"
Her shoulders dropped a little, her eyes fell to the earnest gaze of the young girl.
"I…" Shuffling on her feet, she rolled her lips inwards. "I can't abandon my mission but…but a small break couldn't hurt…right?"
It was the only compromise she could give.
There was no doubt she and Lily might one day cross blades.
But it didn't have to be anytime soon.
There was a long time between now and the end of the universe, after all.
Clearing her throat, she looked away. "Bu-but first thing is first. I gotta repair my ship and then get it back to the future. I can't leave something like that anywhere near you guys because that would seriously damage the timeline. You know…bad stuff would happen if it stuck around."
"Yeah, all those timeline shenanigans are awful."
"Exactly."
X realised two things.
One, that was not the voice of anyone in front of her.
Two, everyone was now looking behind her.
She turned around and stared at the three individuals.
Blackbeard raised his hand. "Hey…we walked around for a while, then realised nothing interesting was happening so we came back here…did we miss the training arc?"
The silver Saber leaned towards the Pirate and whispered. "It appears they have resolved everything already."
"They have, damn it." Blackbeard whined and stomped his foot, then pouted like a child and turned his head away. "That blows. I knew we should have stuck near them for a bit longer before we all walked away, but that sucks. Everyone knows that it's always in the final battle where everything is the coolest. Like the big power up or the badass one-liner or the power of friendship shining through."
The Angel said nothing.
"Sammy…we got beat up by the power of friendship. It's a real thing."
"Senpai, the enemies have returned-!"
"Wait, Mashmallow, don't!"
Heroine X remained stone faced as the Shielder rushed past her like lightning.
Madness quickly descended from them, a few raised voices - someone begging for clemency - and then someone arguing about whether or not they should do anything with them.
She barely even registered Ritsuka when he stopped next to her.
"...This is sort of crazy, you know?"
Ritsuka chuckled a little at her words. "How do you think we felt when a rocket fell on our heads?"
Heroine X remained silent for a moment, then she let out a small snort. "Heh. I guess that would also be a little crazy…guess we're even on that front now, aren't we?"
"I'd say so." Ritsuka replied. "...Are you going to stick around once your ship goes back?"
"...Maybe." She replied with a faint shrug. "After all…You'll need some professional help if you run into enemy Sabers, won't you?"
"...Yeah, I suppose we will." A short reply, Ritsuka folded his arms. "...Glad to have you around, Heroine X."
"Yeah." She nodded once, then sniffled. Watching the madness with a twitch of the lip. "Glad to be around."
And she meant it.
Saber Wars: Epilogue
Olga said nothing.
Neither did Cerejeira for a few seconds.
Then there was a crinkle of paper as the other individual in the room lowered the report which had been filed of the latest incident.
"...I think we could do with omitting a few details."
Olga slowly nodded her head at the words of El-Melloi II, the man took a puff of his cigar and turned away, bringing a hand up and nursing his brows as he closed his eyes. A few moments of silence passed before he brought the hand back down.
"But there is a good chance she might well have been telling the truth."
Cerejeira palmed at her face and remained that way, like that of a statue.
El-Melloi II grunted in acknowledgement, as if recognising that it was the appropriate reaction to it. Which it probably was as well. "The fact of the matter is that the energy readings of that…craft were far beyond what could be expected from anything created by your average Caster. Not to mention even Leonardo Da Vinci and Pharros could attest that it was rather advanced even for them."
Olga really did not need this today.
She mutely nodded her head up and down and silently promised herself that she would go for a drink.
"But the craft is gone, as for this…'Heroine X' it is clear from the reports and the presence of the woman herself that she is a version of King Arthur."
El-Melloi II paused for a moment, then added on. "Another version of King Arthur, that is. Bringing our grand total of encountered versions up to five."
They had run into King Arthur five times.
"Setting all of that aside." El-Melloi II waved his free hand towards the pair of them. "Examination of 'Heroine X' is that she does indeed possess some measure of conceptual advantage against those of the Saber Class…Thus she could prove a significant boon to Chaldea's roster. In addition to the half dozen Servants that you were able to acquire from the Singularity as well."
Another pause.
"Fortunately they all passed through the examinations of Medea who could detect no trace of alteration to their bodies or spirit cores. Evidently neither could Scathach and if they have been vetted by the Princess of Colchis and the Witch of Dunscaith, then it can be assumed they are useful."
Another puff of the cigar.
"All in all. The Singularity was rather fruitful."
He looked down at the paper.
Then he sighed and closed his eyes once more, turning his head and making it for the door. "But I will say if a report like this crossed my desk, I would assume it was a prank from one of my students."
It went without saying which one.
Glancing down at the paper as the man left the room, she stared at it for a few moments and then brought her head up to look at the archivist of Chaldea. Cerejeira was still sat in her chair with her head in her hands and looking as though she would rather forget about today.
A pity that it was impossible for her.
"...List it down as another potential intrusion from an alternate timeline."
She did not want to deal with the headache of whatever this was supposed to be when it came to being dragged before the Clocktower when they fixed everything. Because there was no way that anyone was going to read that and not assume she had been the victim of some Caster induced hallucination.
She was brimming with confidence as she strutted through Chaldea.
Sure, it might have been a little more primitive than she was used to, but it was a bit like walking around one of those antique houses. Not quite in date, but not unpleasantly out of date either.
The layout and technology were passable.
From an objective point of view.
And there was food.
They were letting her have free food.
And the food was good.
If they had led with that from the very start, she would have been much more open with them from the very beginning.
But that was not what she was after.
She spotted him rather swiftly, taking in a deep breath, she marched across the room and towards the kitchen countertop. Eyes alight with determination, she marched towards the kitchen and with a single powerful motion, she slammed her hands onto the countertop and produced a loud bang.
Silence engulfed the room.
From across the kitchen, the blonde slowly brought his head up, cold green eyes focused on her for a moment.
It was all the time she needed.
"I demand a rematch!"
A pregnant pause followed.
Ash slowly tilted his head to the side, then shrugged. "If that's what you want."
She wasn't quite pleased with how bored he sounded with it, this was a matter of pride. She would never be able to look anyone in the eye if she did not wipe away this little blemish. Her pride as a Saber demanded that she establish that she was in the best class - no matter what that Assassin nonsense was about - which meant that whatever make believe class this guy was in, she had to show that she was still above him.
Redeeming herself from the cheapshot was essential.
"Good." She declared, nodding her head. "We'll fight after lunch."
Immediately after that, she turned to the red haired woman and smiled a bit wider. "Could I please make an order?"
A slow blink was the response, the redhead traded glances between her and Ash several times before exhaling and rolling her eyes. "At least you were polite about it…"
Heroine X wiped her mouth as the scents of the kitchen wafted through the air. She was certainly not going to drool in front of all of them.
Damn.
That food smelled really good.
The twin swords fell into her hands, twisting around until they were but blurs.
Across from her stood the blonde, an expression on his face that made it seem as though he would much rather have been anywhere else.
Well, that was fine with her.
Distracted enemies were way easier to take down.
"Ready?"
She called out, getting a grunt in response.
"Threetwoonego!"
Accelerating forwards, she was behind the 'Avenger' before he managed to turn his head. Her lips spread across with a victorious grin.
This might end up being a record win for her-
…
…
Heroine X blinked, then blinked again.
She frowned as she found herself staring up at the ceiling.
"...Wha-?"
A lance of pain shot through her a moment later, her hand came up and pressed against her nose, feeling a numbness spread across the front of her face. It felt quite sore to the touch and the blurs in her vision were definitely tears.
Wait…what?
Her body jerked upwards into a sitting position, brows furrowed.
What happened?
"Oh, you're up."
Her head whipped to the sound and narrowed her eyes, Ash was stood to the side, both hands resting on the pommel of the sword. His eyes looked down at her with the same bored expression he had when the duel started.
"What did you do…why does my face hurt?"
"You ran behind me, so I elbowed you."
Heroine X blinked.
He…he what?
"...Huh?"
He remained stone faced as he spoke again with greater detail. "I knew you would use your speed to get behind me, so I waited for you to be in the perfect position. Then I swung my elbow into your face…"
A frown came upon his lips.
"But I was not expecting you to go down with the single blow."
"Fluke!"
She howled purely on instinct, scrambling to her feet and bringing out her swords once again.
There was no way that happened.
It was definitely just bad luck-
That was right! She had just eaten so she was obviously going to be moving slower than normal to avoid feeling queasy. That was the only way he had managed to score a win there. Of course, that made sense.
Ash kept that now infuriating blank face. "If you say so."
That sounded like a challenge and an insult.
Especially with how toneless he spoke.
Her right eye twitched, her ahoge straightened.
Twisting her feet, she pushed off the ground and rocketed forth.
As if one with the wind itself, her weightless body was upon the Avenger before he even had a chance to draw his sword from the ground. This time, for certain, she knew that she had him.
Her blades came in from the left, all her weight behind them.
Then a shudder ran up her arm as all her momentum stopped.
She blinked hard and then her eyes went wide.
Ash had stepped into her guard immediately, not even bothering to raise the sword, and had thrown up his right arm. The vambrace had caught the blades near the hilts, locking them in place before they could touch his body. True, the edges of her swords had bitten perhaps a half centimetre into armour, but that was all.
Then pain lashed across her again, her right cheek exploded with agony and she found her vision whiting.
A moment later, it occurred to her that he had struck her with his free hand.
Instincts screamed, she turned and moved with all the speed and skill she had, or tried to.
In that half second of delay, Ash had torn the sword from the ground and was upon her like a ferocious beast. Swinging with powerful blows, each one sending her reeling and caused alarm to shoot through her each time he struck her.
He fought with the strength of three Servants, easily Lancer strength.
No, he fought like a Berserker except for one concerning detail.
She saw not an ounce of madness in his gaze.
Instead there was nothing.
The next blow came stronger than the others, the sword burned with light and heat, her eyes snapped shut from the display directly in her face. It was a momentary mistake and it cost her dearly.
She did not see the knee drive itself into her stomach, but she felt it.
Dropping to the ground, she wrapped her arms around her waist and could do only one thing as she felt something rise up her throat.
She cursed herself for eating such a large lunch.