Ryuunosuke had kind of gotten into a routine when going out with Ibaraki. He wandered pretty much where he wanted, she followed silently as a ghost, then she jumped out and ate people and they both had a wonderful time.
Not tonight. Now, Ibaraki had finally decided she'd drained enough power that she felt comfortable taking on another Servant – so it was time to kick ass and take names. This time, it was him following in her wake. While Ibaraki was still invisible, she forged on ahead, pausing only to send him terse updates as to her location. The streets were deserted, as usual – no cars, and only the occasional pedestrian, so Ryuunosuke was alone with his thoughts as he trudged along.
It felt a bit weird that they weren't travelling together, to be honest. After seeing what Ibaraki could do, Ryuunosuke had no embarrassment whatsoever about being protected by her in a fight, and the knowledge that things like her were out to kill him… he wasn't afraid of death, but he definitely didn't want his fun cut short.
But, as Ibaraki had pointed out, his main advantage was that none of the wizards knew who he was or what he looked like, and that he didn't even give off any magic for them to sense (being only barely a wizard himself). As long as he didn't obviously associate himself with Servant Berserker, there should be no reason for him to be targeted.
In fact, Ibaraki had wanted him to remain behind at the temple, but yeah, screw that. He was in this to actually have some goddamn fun in his life, and he wasn't going to do that by staying home with his thumb up his ass. If he could see through his Servant's eyes reliably, maybe… but he couldn't, so that was that.
Mind you, he was regretting his choice a little – the weather was horrendous. Just, wet, and windy, and overcast. It wasn't raining all that heavily, but there was a persistent drizzle, and already there were rivulets running through the street, reflecting the streetlights like little silver streams. His trainers were getting ruined.
If he was the dramatic type, he'd have loved to narrate his thoughts with something like 'It was a lovely night to kill people', but it really wasn't. It was a lovely night to stay indoors and not get cold and wet, was what it was, but sadly if he was going to participate in the War he didn't really have that option. Bah.
Anyway. Tonight, Ibaraki would test herself in combat against another Servant for the first time. She had a whole bunch of strategies based on how well she did – like, she didn't know just how much stronger being Japanese summoned in Japan made her – but honestly Ryuunosuke had kinda zoned out while she was explaining them. The main thing was, he was going to see how Ibaraki fought someone on her own level. This was going to be so cool.
Of course, the problem was actually finding other Servants. Six people, in a city of thousands, were not obvious, and that was before you considered that some of them were trying to hide from the others. Ryuunosuke wasn't a wizard, but he assumed that the reason Servants like Ibaraki could sense each other was just to hurry the damn War up a bit so they didn't die of boredom.
So, Ibaraki was returning to the scene of the crime. While they'd gone out of their way to provide a plausible excuse as to why an entire bar full of people had been annihilated, Ibaraki didn't expect that any of the Masters or Servants would actually be fooled – it was more to cover their asses so no-one got pissy about not keeping the secret of magic. It was just too much of a coincidence for something like that to happen just after the War started.
Or so Ibaraki had said. Ryuunosuke didn't really get it, and didn't care. As long as his Servant had an idea of what was going on, he was more than happy to follow her lead.
Up ahead, the bridge came into view, the other side still only a shadow lit by lamps turned to halos in the rain. There wasn't any shelter while crossing, and Ryuunosuke would have to cross – the temple was on the other side of the river to the bar Ibaraki had blown up. He cursed, snuggled further into his hood, and stepped forward into the road, now flowing with water running off the bridge.
In a flash of flame, Ibaraki appeared, halfway across the bridge and in the middle of the road. She faced the other side, and something in her posture made Ryuunosuke stop – an instinct that something wasn't right. After a moment, he realised what it was. Ibaraki had her sword out, ready. She'd never done that, never just brought it out without immediately using it. That she had, now… was she nervous? Surely not.
Summoner, came her voice in his mind. It was calm, but there was an undercurrent of something. It didn't feel like fear, but Ryuunosuke couldn't place it. It is time. Remove yourself, discreetly. Watch if you must, but do not be seen.
Well, he didn't need to be told twice. Ryuunosuke stopped, looked at his watch, then turned around and hurried back the way he came. He found a spot outside a café, where an awning gave him shelter from the rain, and settled in against the wall to watch.
Goddamn, he could hardly see anything from here. Shitty rain. This was going to suck if he missed all the action because of the damn weather of all things. He concentrated on the mental link he clearly shared with Ibaraki, on how it felt whenever she talked to him in his mind. Mentally, he crawled back down that link, imagining his ghostly image flying from his body and settling behind his Servants eyes.
Come on, come on…
With that, it finally clicked. He could see the bridge in front of him, a lone figure in yellow highlighted against the dark. But, overlaid on that, he could see… the road. The red steel of the bridge, on either side of him.
And, approaching, a figure in pastel blue and white, carrying a rapier.
Ryuunosuke smiled. Forget the nonsense he'd been doing so far, and forget whatever was happening with those arrow storms too. This would be the first battle of the War, one Servant against another, and he had no intention of missing it.
Ibaraki's grip tightened on her sword as the other Servant approached, and a low growl emerged from her throat. She wanted nothing more than to pounce, to rip and tear and smash and break until this speck was nothing but a smear beneath her feet… but there were formalities to be observed.
"Greetings," she said. "Know that you have the honour of being slain by Servant Berserker. Whose head is it that shall hang from my hall before the night is done?"
The other Servant paused, but recovered smoothly and gave a flamboyant bow – though their hand never left the slim rapier at their side. "A good evening to you as well, fair lady. I am Servant Saber! I regret that I cannot introduce myself as befits a knight, and conduct our duel in accordance with the proper customs – but, you understand. However, I shall ask, all the same: will you surrender? I promise, under our protection your Master shall come to no harm, and be treated as an honoured guest for the remainder of the War. This, I so swear, on my life, my honour, and my very name, though you know it not."
Ibaraki nodded, satisfied. It was always nice to meet an opponent who knew what was what. "Very generous. I decline, and answer in kind. Surrender, and I promise I will send your Master's heart to his grieving mother as a token to remember him by, after I slaughter the both of you."
Saber's mouth opened. Saber's mouth closed. "Perhaps it is best we dispense with the rest of the formalities…"
"Oh," said Ibaraki, a little disappointed. "If you insist."
"…yes," said Saber. "En gard-"
That was as far as the other Servant got before Ibaraki's bone blade smashed into the ground where Saber had been standing. They had danced aside at the last second, and drew their rapier in a flash of bright steel – but were forced to backpedal frantically as Ibaraki exploded up from the crater, sword blurring right to left.
Ibaraki gripped her blade in her left hand, and leapt at Saber once more, whipping it round in a horizontal strike. Saber ducked underneath the slash, rolling with the motion – and sprang to their feet just before Ibaraki's stomp cracked the concrete. Despite the speed of the manoeuvre, they came up in a picture-perfect fencing guard, balanced and even.
Pressing the attack, Ibaraki swung her blade overhead, an arc of violence moving too fast to track, aiming to crush this insect. It was met with a heavy tap from the rapier, sending it off course into the ground. Saber slid away from the shockwave as it landed, and resumed their guard.
Annoying. Ibaraki's lips curled, showing tusks. Did her opponent plan to avoid her the entire time? Enough of this dancing around. With a low growl, Ibaraki launched a flurry of blows, ripping through the air with a noise like arrows falling. Saber twisted and turned, dodging each by inches. With a flash of annoyance that left her lips as a snarl, Ibaraki realised Saber had gotten her measure.
When the assault broke off, Saber was unharmed. They held their rapier in in that perfect guard, looking not even out of breath. Ibaraki's face twisted in a pout of frustration, tusks showing. There was a way through Saber's defence, she knew it. Ibaraki hadn't shown everything she could do yet. While she considered, she stalked in a circle, unwilling to humiliate herself further just yet.
Saber followed, stepping with surety even on the rain-soaked road, clear blue eyes on their opponent.
"That is a very heavy blade," they said suddenly, eying Ibaraki curiously. "Tell me, what is it made of?"
"Oni bone," said Ibaraki. "The densest material above the sea. I have never had a problem swinging it, though. You would be a fool to underestimate my strength based on what you see."
"But of course!" said Saber. "After all…" And then they were there, launching forward in a lunging slash that took them inside Ibaraki's guard in an instant. It was all Ibaraki could do to duck her head in time to take the blow on her horns – and when it came, it staggered her back a step.
"… I myself have been underestimated many times."
Ibaraki shrieked in fury and swung her sword in an upwards strike that could have uprooted an ancient maple. It was caught by Saber's boot barely a foot off the ground – and forced back down, the knight's strength, technique and positioning more than a match for Ibaraki's raw power. Ibaraki put more force into it, only to be sent off balance as Saber suddenly disappeared, swirling to the right and coming round with a slash.
Unable to dodge, the strike laid open Ibaraki's upper arm, and she hissed – more in rage than in pain. Flexing her claws, she lashed out with her right hand, and was rewarded with nothing but a strand of Saber's golden hair as the other Servant ducked out of the way. A light cut to the cheek spun Ibaraki's head round as Saber whipped their sword across in a riposte, and she staggered backwards.
Damn it, Saber was a waifish bundle of twigs! Where was all this strength coming from?
She brought her bone blade down once again, but it was useless – Saber would not be taken by surprise so easily. The other Servant rapped their rapier just where Ibaraki held the blade, and it slammed into the ground an inch from Saber's boot. They stomped on it, driving it further into the asphalt of the road, and lunged.
Ibaraki was fast, much faster than she seemed. She could play with the greatest mortal swordsmen, and catch arrows mid-flight. She was rightly feared in Kyoto as an unstoppable force.
But Saber was just so much faster.
Heart, throat, inner thigh, wrist, jaw… Saber carved deep, deep wounds into every one in the space of a single second of violence. Ibaraki tried to react, but everything she did only presented the next target for Saber.
At last, Ibaraki caught a bone-breaking kick in her chest and sailed across the bridge, colliding with the barrier and bending it out of shape. Below her, the waters of the Mion river surged, swollen with rainwater.
Saber had done more damage to Ibaraki in the space of a second than most heroes managed in a lifetime. And yet, Ibaraki barely felt the pain.
As an oni, Ibaraki was strong beyond the dreams of humans. Saber was stronger – they didn't look it, but they were. Ibaraki was quick, and unhesitating in her pursuit of violence. Saber was faster. Ibaraki was more skilled than most foolish heroes ever suspected, a lifetime of war with her chosen weapon making her a master duellist as well as a terror on the battlefield. Saber could read her every move like she'd been told about it hours in advance and had had Musashi Miyamoto himself helping to plan the perfect counter.
But for all that… Ibaraki was still going to win this fight. Because Ibaraki's real strength?
Sheer rugged toughness. Many soldiers, guardsmen and heroes were sure they had killed Ibaraki, and all were proved wrong in the end. Bring on Saber's worst, because Ibaraki did not give a fuck. Stab her, slash her, beat her black and blue, Ibaraki would still be in the fight and only come back twice as pissed off.
She could do this all night.
Ibaraki picked herself up, and stretched, flexing her claws. "Very well," she said, still the image of politeness. "You have some skill, I admit."
"Ah, you embarrass me," said Saber. "You also are far more skilled than I expected. But, alas, I fear this battle is all but decided. You are not, I think, a match for me."
Metal crumpled as Ibaraki's fists clenched on the barrier fence. "Is that a fact?"
In a blur of motion, a six-foot section of steel was torn off and flew like a bullet towards Saber… who sidestepped it. Ibaraki, back on her feet, snarled. Around her, the bridge, otherwise soaked with rainwater, was quickly drying, wisps of steam curling up around Ibaraki's feet.
"It is," said Saber as though nothing had happened. They took a guarding stance. "Well? Shall we continue? This cannot be all you are capable of! A skill, some hidden talent… your Noble Phantasm may yet turn the tide! Come, and show your mettle!"
"You asked for it." Ibaraki drew in a breath, reaching deep into her reserve of prana.
And the space around her exploded into blinding, dizzying flame.
Asphalt melted. Metal glowed. The air swam like water, and the rain boiled into steam before it even reached the ground. Even across the far side of the bridge, paint started peeling under the impossible heat. In the middle of the inferno, Ibaraki stood, a monster fresh from the fires of Hell.
Saber's eyes widened, just a touch. Ibaraki pounced.
There was none of Servant Berserker's previous attempts at martial prowess. She simply bore down on Saber with all the subtlety of a meteorite – and when she landed it had much the same effect. Before, concrete had cracked. Now, it rippled, shards flying outwards with the force of bullets.
And a sphere of fire scorched what was left black, for a dozen paces around.
Saber backpedalled, rapier flashing to deflect concrete shards. They skidded to a halt outside the range of the punishing heat – only to grit their teeth and hold their ground as Ibaraki slammed into their guard, fist-first.
Now it was Saber's turn to go flying, clothes darkened by soot. Even as they landed, skidding even further towards the edge of the bridge, Ibaraki kept up her charge, carving a trench of melted asphalt and shattered concrete into the road with her passage.
Faster. Stronger. It wasn't mere physical might that empowered Ibaraki's blows now. Her body was always a vessel of pure prana – but now, more than she could ever hold hammered through her and exploded out of every strike. This was power, this was true strength, this was the birthright of all oni channeled into stone-shattering force and set ablaze by her hatred of all things human.
Prana Burst – Flame. Saber's body may be stronger than Ibaraki's. But when it came to sheer destructive potential? Nothing, nothing came close to the oni kind.
With one clawed foot, Ibaraki aimed a kick at Saber's tumbling form, and this one connected cleanly. Ribs broke, skin blackened and tore even as Ibaraki's superheated shin slammed directly into Saber's chest. With a sadistic grin, Ibaraki pumped a little extra prana into the strike, hitting with the monstrous strength that only an oni could call on.
Like a shot from a cannon, Saber flew upwards, colliding heavily with one of the metal girders that made up the bridge before crashing back down to collapse on the road. They coughed weakly, and struggled to rise.
Ibaraki smiled a predatory smile. "Are you having trouble, Saber?"
"Not… at all…" came the reply. Somehow, Saber managed to struggle to their knees. "I… am quite alright…"
"If you are sure," said Ibaraki, stalking forward. "Oh, by the way…"
Saber looked up, and their eyes widened as they saw what was clutched in Ibaraki's claws.
"…I found my sword."
Ibaraki… swung.
Unarmed, she had cracked the concrete. Empowered by her fiery prana, she had shattered it. With her sword in hand…
A wave of roiling fire and force obscured Saber from view. There wasn't an analogy that described it – an oni with her favoured weapon in hand striking full-force was like nothing else on Earth. What parts of the bridge that had not already melted or broken did so now. For an endless moment, nothing existed in front of Ibaraki except fire.
When it faded, Ibaraki's jaw dropped open in surprise.
Where Saber had been was a silver orb, no larger around than an umbrella. It seemed completely unscathed by Ibaraki's attack. As she watched, it flowed open, revealing Saber crouched inside. The knight smiled and stood, apparently recovered.
"That… is not yours," Ibaraki growled.
"No indeed," said Saber. "But it is quite useful, no? Such an amazing and beautiful piece of craft… magi are quite something these days."
A Mystic Code? Impossible. Saber could not have been carrying something like that – Ibaraki would have noticed something so eye-catching. Whatever it was, it shone like mercury, and flowed like… water…
Ibaraki realised, too late. All around Saber, mixing with the rivulets and streams of rainwater, were streams of the flowing silver Mystic Code. As she watched, they crawled and streamed up into the main body around the other Servant.
"Ah, Berserker, you surprise me!" Saber continued. "I was sure I was a match for you, but that flame skill is too powerful. Had my Master not intervened, I would have perished, and the world would mourn the loss of its most beautiful knight…"
"Be silent." Ibaraki had had quite enough of this. Again the swing, again the wave of fire and force. Again, Saber emerged unscathed.
"My apologies. We were in the middle of our duel!" With that, Saber stepped through the shimmering mass, and it moulded itself to their form. After a moment, it seemed as though Saber's knightly costume had been reforged in quicksilver. "Now, for the last time: en garde!"
With some instinct, Ibaraki twisted to the side – just in time for Saber's rapier to change course from its feint and knock her to the side. Growling, she struck out with her free hand, a raking slash with claws that could have scored solid steel. It skittered off living metal, and the hilt of Saber's sword thudded into Ibaraki's chest with enough force to push her back a step.
Ibaraki gave ground, bringing her bone blade round from behind her in a crushing strike. Saber pivoted smoothly round it, managing to plant their boot in the side of Ibaraki's knee – and throwing off the blast of flame Ibaraki had been calling.
Dammit, dammit, dammit. Saber was just too quick, too good at reading Ibaraki's motions. And it was just unfair how strong they were. With the Mystic Code armouring them against the worst of Ibaraki's fire… she wasn't sure she actually could land a clean hit on Saber anymore.
But you didn't get to be the leader of an oni clan by giving up that easily, so Ibaraki grit her teeth and settled in for the long haul. She was flush with prana from her victims – surely Saber must be running low right now. All it would take was a little more…
Again and again the demon and the knight clashed, and again and again the knight danced away without a scratch while the demon simply ignored deep cuts.
An intervention would clearly be required, if the fight was to end by morning.
It came in the form of three green blurs, slamming into Saber's back just as they were about to plunge their rapier into Ibaraki's heart. In a flash, they gave ground, and snapped their head around to look for the source.
On a distant building, a vague figure could be seen aiming a bow.
And then…
Then the world turned green.
