Halo: Shattered Fate

The Fate/Grand Order and Halo series, along with all characters and elements, do not belong to me. Both works are respectively properties of Type-Moon and 343 Industries.

Writing Keys:

"Dialogue."

Special

Written Text

"Highlight/Supernatural Voice."

"Magic."

X—X—X—X—X

The Master Chief did not hesitate a single moment and squeezed the trigger of his rifle, opening fire towards the saint standing in front of the dragon.

The violet-haired woman observed the four rounds traveling in her direction with complete calmness, not a hint of nervousness showing in her eyes. Then, she raised her staff and, with a simple swing through the air, she destroyed each of the bullets he shot at her.

He was not at the least surprised. Already he had deduced that the only reason he had been successful in getting a decent shot on the pale woman in the Dragon Witch's group was more a matter that the woman had not expected his weapon to work that way. Undoubtedly, the Witch's faction would now be prepared for the kind of weaponry he utilized.

Another approach would have to be implemented. That much was quite evident.

However, before he had the chance to figure out what course of action he had to follow to handle the saint and her dragon, the latter had moved. With a speed that scientifically should have been impossible given his size, Tarasque had suddenly appeared directly in front of him, with his right front leg high in the air.

Upon realizing that it was dropping down and didn't seem to be stopping, John pushed himself backwards with his left leg. Placing his rifle down on the magnetic weapon holder on his back, he reached out with his arms, grabbing Ritsuka with one and Mash with the other, before taking a leap sideways. Then, the dragon's leg slammed heavily against the ground, shattering the soil and raising up a cloud of dust.

At his side, Jeanne joined him while carrying Marie in a manner befitting a princess, while Amadeus approached from the left. As the saint released her hold over the Queen, who appeared displeased for reasons unknown while she landed on her feet, everyone's attention was quickly drawn towards the dust cloud.

As the dust began to settle, he, and probably the rest of the group, were soon able to make out two deceased individuals lying in the ground, their bodies having been torn to shreds by the dragon's claws. They both belonged to the French soldiers who had been rescued by Marie earlier. To be precise, they were the two who had drawn their swords against Jeanne.

Even knowing what their intentions were towards his ally, John was not at all pleased to witness their demise. Even Jeanne, the said ally who had received the harsh words which she did not deserve, seemed by what had just transpired.

His eyes snapped to the side when grunts of pain echoed throughout the field. A few meters from where the two soldiers had been slaughtered, members of their unit were spread across the ground, with injuries all over their arms, legs and bodies.

While their injuries did not strike as being of a life-threatening nature, there was still the matter that they were in very close proximity to the dragon. It was necessary to evacuate them from the vicinity as quickly as possible, both for their own safety and to keep them out of the way of the battle.

"Ritsuka, Amadeus, Marie," He spoke out loud, gaining everyone's undivided attention. "Move and evacuate the soldiers. Attend to their wounds if you are able to. Marie, Amadeus, you must take care of Ritsuka. Understood?"

Although they hesitated momentarily, the three of them nodded their heads in agreement right before they set off to where the injured were, with the two Heroic Spirits on both sides of Ritsuka for his protection.

"Mash, Jeanne, you two will distract the dragon. It is not necessary to eliminate him, just keep him occupied long enough for me to eliminate Martha."

Jeanne regarded him with an uncertain expression. "Are you sure? She's a Saint from the old testament, it will not be an easy fight for you."

"I am. If the circumstances require it, then I will call for backup."

"…All right, we'll get you as much time as we can. Good luck to you." She nodded once, before glancing out of the corner of her eye at Mash. "Let's go Mash."

"R-Right! Good luck Master Chief!"

He gave a single nod toward the girl before she and Jeanne departed. The dragon, although it kept its attention on him for a moment, soon followed behind the two girls, tearing to pieces the passing trees that crossed its path.

Seeing how they had distanced themselves to a distance he considered adequate, John flicked his gaze over to Martha. His legs moved forward, moving himself closer and closer to the saint, who was regarding him with a calm mask that concealed madness.

Was it foolish of him to confront her on his own? Perhaps. He could have instructed Ritsuka and the others to approach him and provide assistance once they had finished treating the wounded.

But he hadn't done so. And now, it was time to learn if he was indeed capable of holding his own against the heroes of legends.

"So you'll be fighting me on your own. A rather naïve idea, to tell the truth. I hope you aren't underestimating me." Martha said.

"With me it's enough."

John had lied. He was by no means certain that he could defeat her on his own, but he was not about to show any weakness before her, and certainly not in front of his allies.

The Master Chief leveled the assault rifle and pointed it firmly in the direction of the saint, his helmet's targeting reticle aligning perfectly with the target. As he pressed down on the trigger, the bullets poured out of the barrel of the rifle, sending a rapid stream of bullets through the air, as the ammunition counter quickly dropped from 32 rounds to 22.

Just as it had happened before, the majority of the bullets were shattered with a swift swing of the cross-shaped staff, save for the final three, all of which looked as if they were about to impact the body of the saintly woman. Before they could do so, however, the violet-haired woman nudged herself out of the way to her side, narrowly avoiding the impact.

When she landed, her gaze hardened for a second, right before she bolted off in a sprint toward him. He only managed to fire three bullets just before Martha reached him. Two of them shattered and the other was dodged simultaneously as she swung her staff towards his head.

Quickly bending down, he activated the thrusters on his armor and propelled himself to the side, barely avoiding her strike.

As he jerked his weapon toward her, this time, he pressed the trigger with the intention of exhausting all the bullets inside the magazine. Due to the non-stop barrage of rounds flying toward her, with one brushing past her right cheek, the violet haired saint was eventually forced to evade the rest of them, only managing to destroy a couple that she appeared to know were bound to impact her.

John quickly pressed the magazine release switch and slipped another mag into its place, slamming the charging handle down firmly, locking the new magazine securely.

Once more he aimed his rifle towards the woman, only for his eyes being unable to locate her. Blinking in disbelief, he quickly scanned his tracker for any trace of her presence, but it returned nothing. However, a second later, the threat indicator flared, emitting a warning from his immediate left.

Twisting his body, he was met by the presence of Martha, her staff gripped tightly in her left hand and hurtling toward him. The weapon was mere centimeters from making contact with his left shoulder. He was aware that he had no time to evade the attack, so he gritted his teeth and braced himself, preparing—and hoping—for his armor to absorb the full force of the strike.

Then, the strike struck him on his side. The momentum of the blow was strong enough to send him flying sideways through the air, while simultaneously sending tremors all through his body. His back collided against a tree, which stopped him as he tumbled down to the ground.

As he regained his bearings, John quickly stood up and began to assess the damages he had received. Beyond the painful ripple of the blow he experienced, nothing in his body had been broken. Meanwhile, his armor remained in one solid piece, with his shields having managed to successfully absorb the brunt of the strike, losing a mere 20% of their full capacity.

The instant his shields were thoroughly recharged and the bright yellow hexagonal pattern lining his entire armor vanished, he dashed in a sprint toward Martha. The woman, who just seconds ago started in bewilderment at his personal shields, also darted toward him, quickly recovered, and charged at him as well, her staff raised behind her and ready to strike.

As though it were a spear, she thrust her staff with all her strength straight towards his chest. However, this time he was well prepared and had already foreseen her actions, so he managed to avoid her attack by slightly twisting his body, thus allowing him a clear chance to fire at her.

When John pressed the trigger, the rounds popped out of his rifle barrel. Or at least about five did, as she swung her staff through the air, swinging it towards him, forcing him to use his weapon as a shield. The force behind her swing was enough to cleave his rifle into two pieces at the moment of impact, prompting him to leap backward to put some distance between himself and Martha.

The Spartan immediately reached out his hand down to his right leg and took hold of his M6H2 pistol. Just as he was about to open fire at the woman, he noticed that her face was tightening in pain. When he lowered his gaze, he observed how her left leg sustained a bullet hole, which meant that he had finally managed to land a shot in her body.

A brief flicker of satisfaction passed through John's thoughts, though he quickly brushed aside the feeling, staying focused. Drawing his pistol, he aimed toward Martha and pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession while moving swiftly among the trees. Martha managed to compose herself just in time to swing her staff and deflect the bullets, although it was still clear that she was still in pain from the gunshot.

John continued to sprint behind the trees at the fastest speed he was capable of—which was quicker than he had previously achieved in his life—when he suddenly stopped behind a tree. A glance at his motion tracker showed him that Martha was standing still in place, with only occasional side-to-side movements. Judging by the erratic pattern in which she was moving, he gathered that she must have lost visual sight of where he was.

Not willing to squander this opportunity, he pressed his back against the tree while he tried to gather himself together. He didn't physically feel exhausted, on the contrary he actually felt almost as if he could stand up to thousands of Covenant troops before he even shed a drop of sweat, yet he did feel a little bit weary mentally.

Martha was unpredictable, powerful in ways that unnerved him. Every move, every calculation, weighed on him in a way that physical combat never did. Taking a deep breath, he centered himself, knowing that letting his guard down now could be fatal.

"Well it looks like your theory was correct." Hope commented.

He merely grunted in response. In the evening, he had remarked to Hope that he thought that something weird had occurred when he had fired upon the pale woman. If he had not been mistaken, due to the fact that his entire arsenal had now been upgraded into a Noble Phantasm, the firing rate of his weapons had actually increased, presumably to keep up against the Servants.

It was something that at the time he was unable to verify, since firing his weapon in the middle of the camp would only scare the others, but which he had now confirmed.

"It looks like it." He said. "What about her dragon?"

"Mash and Jeanne seem to have it well under control, but just in case I would be quick to take care of her."

John replied to her advice with a small nod.

Then, the Spartan drew one last breath. An idea was already taking form in his mind regarding the way he could get the advantage over Martha, one which he considered had merit in pursuing.

Whether it would end up working or not was still a complete mystery. But there was only one possible way to figure it out.

John calmly emerged from behind the tree, with his pistol held tightly in his right hand. Having only fired three rounds so far, he saw no reason to replace the magazine and waste the remaining nine bullets. A couple of meters away from where he was walking, Martha snapped her head towards him and her bright blue eyes narrowed as they locked onto him. She seemed to be considering something, perhaps weighing her next move.

After a brief moment, she stretched out her arm toward the sky. John was on the verge of quickening his pace towards her and stopping her before she could make her move, however, before he could take another step, her voice cut through the air, loud and commanding, halting him in his tracks.

"Tarasque, come here!"

As the words escaped her mouth, the dragon suddenly appeared right behind her.

The Master Chief barely had time to widen his eyes before the dragon swung one of its massive legs at him. Reacting instantly, he activated his back thrusters, propelling himself backward to narrowly evade the sweeping attack. Once he had put some distance between himself, Martha, and the dragon, he noticed Jeanne and Mash approaching from behind. A quick glance confirmed that both girls were thankfully unharmed, showing no signs of injury.

"We're sorry, Chief. He suddenly escaped from us." Jeanne apologized while holding her gaze over the dragon.

"It's fine." John replied calmly. "If you can distract the dragon a little longer, I can take care of Martha."

"But you lost your weapon." Jeanne pointed out, concerned.

"I have others." John dryly said.

Just then, three blue dots appeared on his motion tracker. The sound of approaching footsteps echoed, and a slight smile crept across his face behind the visor.

With everyone now present and facing Martha and her dragon, the odds had clearly shifted in his favor. They outnumbered them six to two, a fact that was not lost on Martha. Her sharp gaze flickered between the group, a faint tension settling in as she seemed to register the sudden disadvantage.

And yet, she still remained composed. That calmness in the face of overwhelming numbers was a cause for concern.

"At this rate I will definitely lose…" Martha suddenly stated. "So I'll have to end this in one strike!"

When she said that, something appeared to have shifted through the air. A subtle but palpable shift coursed through both Martha and Tarasque.

"Magical energy output is rising!" Mash worriedly called out. "Master, it's her Noble Phantasm!"

Immediately John raised his pistol, prepared to shoot and finish Martha off. However, just in the moment before he was about to pull the trigger, Martha once again spoke, this time her words carrying a heavy edge that stopped him in his tracks.

"On the fifth day the Lord had created the Leviathan." Martha's voice rang out, sharp and unwavering. Behind her, the dragon abruptly stood up on only two of its legs. "Its child would display its ferocity through the slaughter of innumerable heroes. Now, together with me Tarasque. Raise your boiling fervor to equal that of the sun."

The skin and shell of Tarasque then started to change its color, transforming into a white shade.

"To those noble ones who stand against destruction! Grant them the test of this one strike!"

His eyes remained fixed on the dragon when it abruptly flew upwards. Tarasque continued to ascend through the air until it stopped at least a hundred meters above the ground, at which point it began to spin around, concealing its head and legs, exposing only its spiked carapace.

"Like a star—O' Tragic Drake Who Knew Naught of Love!"

Once those final words were pronounced, Tarasque began its swift descent, diving rapidly towards them with an unthinkable speed.

And yet, he found himself unable to move. His mind raced, but his bones and muscles refused to respond, leaving him paralyzed as he stood there, watching the spinning dragon hurtling towards them with unstoppable force.

"Mash! Activate your shield!"

Ritsuka's voice managed to bring him out of his paralyzed condition, right in time to watch Mash step forward in front of everyone with a determined expression, slamming her shield firmly into the ground in front of herself.

In front of the lilac-haired girl's shield a brilliant blue light began to glow. They all instinctively pulled themselves behind her for protection, with John positioning himself in front of Ritsuka, ready to shield him from any danger if necessary.

"Lord Chaldeas!" Mash called out as the light expanded, forming a massive circular barrier just in time. The spinning dragon collided with the shield, sending shockwaves through the ground but failing to break through the protective barrier.

Mash, despite the use of her Noble Phantasm, was visibly straining to hold the barrier in place. She was slowly starting to get pushed backwards inch by inch by Tarasque, who didn't appear likely to stop spinning any time soon.

"Hope, calculate a route that will bring me directly to Martha." He said.

"On it." Hope replied, and within seconds, a new line appeared on his HUD. "There you go, use your grappleshot."

She didn't have to repeat that twice.

As swiftly as he possibly could, John extended out his left arm and triggered the grappling hook, which latched securely onto the ground just beyond Tarasque. He allowed for the nanofiber line to quickly pull him past the dragon, while at the same time he loosened his hold of his pistol and allowed it to slip past his fingers.

Once the Spartan had reached the end of the wire, he didn't hesitate for a second and using the momentum, he propelled himself toward Martha, his legs pushing off with all their might. The saint's attention had been focused on the dragon until she caught sight of him from the corner of her eye, as she raised her staff.

As the distance between the two diminished, his mind quickly wandered to the arsenal of weapons in his head. Among all the ones available, he concentrated on locating the one that he had been planning to utilize before Martha had called out for her dragon.

Then, the familiar weight of the M45 Tactical shotgun settled into his hands. He quickly pulled back on the fore end, aimed it at Martha, and squeezed the trigger, unleashing a burst of high-velocity pellets toward her.

With the bullet spreading out into multiple pellets, Martha didn't have enough time to either dodge or block every single one of them. She was barely able to shield a portion of her torso, but that didn't stop the remaining pellets from piercing through her shoulders, her stomach and arms, causing her to stagger back in pain.

The saint attempted to remain on her feet, but she was unable to do so and began to collapse. However, before she reached the ground John swiftly stepped forward as he placed his hand against her back, so he could carefully support her against him.

Behind him, the Master Chief stopped hearing the noise coming from the struggle between Tarasque and Mash. Peering over his shoulder, his eyes met those of the dragon, who was regarding him with a mixed expression of fury and, strangely enough, thankfulness.

Jeanne, Mash and Ritsuka all rushed towards him, with the first two girls keeping an eye on the dragon in case it made any sudden moves, whereas the boy reached down for his pistol that was lying on the ground.

Upon reaching him, he handed him his pistol, whereupon he accepted it with a grateful nod of the head. It was rather amusing how bulky the weapon was in the teenager's hands, however, any hint of amusement quickly vanished when a sudden cough caught his attention, making him lower his gaze to see Martha, her body trembling as she began to cough up blood.

A regretful expression appeared on the faces of both teenagers, clearly affected by Martha's condition. In response, the saint tendered them with a gentle, reassuring smile. "It's fine, this is how… things have to happen. But now listen to me carefully, you will never be victorious against the dragon being controlled by the Dragon Witch. Not on your own, at least. Head towards Lyon… and search for the "Dragon Slayer". He will help you, of that I am sure."

"…We will." Ritsuka said in a determined tone of voice.

"That's good to hear." The kind smile on Martha's face shifted into a sorrowful one as her eyes lowered. "Now… you need to finish me off."

The atmosphere around them suddenly became heavy.

"Is… is there no other option?" Ritsuka asked, to which Martha shook her head slightly.

"Sadly no. I'm afraid that his attack… wasn't enough to damage my Spiritual Core, so the Witch could command me to return to save me." She said. "Please, don't… make me go back to her. She would only order me to attack you again, or perhaps to kill more innocent people."

Uncertainty crossed through the eyes of both teenagers, particularly in Ritsuka. The boy genuinely seemed to want to help her, an admirable action, but that unfortunately was simply not possible in this case. Mash meanwhile was resigned to what was about to happen, painfully accepting it as it was.

Still, it was not an action that was meant to be performed by two children. John especially understood that, probably more than anyone else.

"Alright." John said, as he turned his head towards the Shilder and her Master. "Return back to camp with Amadeus and Marie. Jeanne and I will join you shortly."

Ritsuka stared at him in silence for a few seconds before he nodded a single time and turned back, heading in the direction of Amadeus and Marie along with Mash at his side.

John slowly moved his head toward Marie, seeing how Marie was looking at him with comprehension. As the two teenagers had joined her, the four of them set off towards the camp, leaving the three of them on their own.

"You shouldn't have said that to them." He did not use a harsh tone in his remarks.

"I know, but for them to survive they will have to mature in one way or another." Martha replied with a small sigh. Then, her blue eyes settled on him. "They could use someone to teach them, you know?"

"…I'll see what I can do."

"I appreciate it." Martha smiled, before moving her blue eyes over to Jeanne. "I know you have doubts, but now you must start focusing on defeating the Dragon Witch. If Jeanne D'Arc is what I believe her to be, then she is standing right in front of me."

"…I will keep that in mind, and I thank you Martha." The saint gave a light smile after saying that.

"Hehe, you are so humble, I'm certain he would have liked you." She said before closing her eyes. "Tarasque, I'm sorry… next time, I hope I'll be summoned properly."

John gently leaned back her head against the ground, before pushing himself to his feet.

With a steady hand, he gripped his pistol and aimed it directly at her head. No further sound was heard though the surroundings, only the sharp crack of the bullet leaving the barrel.

X—X—X—X—X

As the Chaldean group made its way towards Lyon, John's mind lingered on the events that had transpired earlier, endlessly repenting the battle on his head.

To say he was angered with himself was an understatement. Furious could also be a usable term. The shock that had paralyzed him in his tracks at the sight of Tarasque flying had forced Mash to use her Noble Phantasm—when, in reality, he should have taken the shot at Martha and avoided the entire situation altogether.

His bewilderment had placed two children in grave danger. That had been one mistake which he would absolutely not repeat, of that he was determined.

Needless to say, he would also have to do a thorough overhaul of his tactics. The assault rifle, the shotgun and the pistol had all proved to be capable at times of putting him at an advantage against Martha. He was confident that the heavier weapons would provide him with an even greater advantage, although he preferred to keep them and only use them if he needed to.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Hope softly told him, speaking over his helmet's private comms system.

He was grateful that she wanted to discuss it privately, although John did not agree with her words. "I made a mistake and we were almost killed for it."

"And now you will not repeat it. Simple, isn't it?"

"No, it isn't." John replied, his tone firm and final, leaving no room for further discussion.

Hope lapsed into silence after hearing his words. A part of him felt rather ashamed for being so harsh with her when she had only intended to help him, yet he couldn't bring himself to discuss it any further.

When Lyon came into view in the distance, John raised his hand and brought the whole group to a halt. At that moment, the Spartan activated the magnification function of his HUD in order to get a clearer view of the town ahead.

As he expected, everything from the houses to the roads lay in ruins. Yet, what truly captured his attention was not the destruction itself.

Living Dead. The majority of them consisted of French soldiers, most probably the ones who attempted to defend the town alongside the Dragon Slayer.

His mind briefly drifted back to the Flood. That nightmare that, to this moment, still haunted his thoughts. However, he quickly acknowledged that these undead creatures were distinctly different from the parasite. With that thought, John allowed himself to relax slightly.

He still thought that they should be eliminated, but it was not a priority target. He turned back his head toward the group. "The city is swarming with the undead, and there is no sign of the Dragon Slayer."

"If he is still alive, then he probably must be wounded, possibly in hiding thanks to Martha." Hope said.

"We should split up to cover more ground." Ritsuka proposed, his eyes remaining on the destroyed town for a second.

His idea was as straightforward as it was correct, at which he nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. Ritsuka, Mash and Jeanne will go east, while we'll search around the west. We will regroup here in half an hour."

"Alright. Let's see who can find that person first." Marie said, excited.

With nothing more to be said, they all made their way towards the town.

It didn't take long for them to split up, with John taking the lead in his group. He had chosen to dismiss the pistol, and was once again clutching the assault rifle in his hands, except that it was the MA37 model rather than the MA40 which he had been carrying ever since he had arrived at the singularity. On his back, he secured the shotgun, preparing it in case he encountered another Servant wielding a short-range weapon.

Their journey through the town's streets was uneventful, that is, until they crossed paths with two undead. He promptly levelled his rifle at one of them and opened fire, three bullets striking against the undead's body and dropping him to the ground. The second undead was swiftly dispatched as well, and after finishing the job, John replaced the magazine of his rifle.

"Christ, don't you have a more silent weapon?" He heard Amadeus groaning from behind him.

When he turned his head back, he saw how the musician had his hands cupped over his ears as he wore an annoyed expression on his face. Then John recalled that Mozart's hearing was more sensitive than the average human's, meaning the rifle's sound must have been twice as loud for him. Even Marie had her hands placed over her ears, though she didn't seem bothered, only curious.

Nevertheless, he was not about to change his weapon, despite the fact that he had other weapons that were silencers.

The Master Chief shook his head before resuming his walk down the destroyed roads. Behind him, he overheard Amadeus continuing his grumbling while he followed him, as Marie attempted to calm him down.

Not encountering any trace of life along their path, the trio eventually came to a halt. The three of them then considered whether they should continue walking through the west side of the town, or if perhaps they should regroup with the other team.

John believed the former was a better option. But in the end, it was only he who thought so, so a minute afterward they were moving eastward, cutting right through the middle of the city. He was not bothered by their decision, it made sense in a way, and besides, he was only working alongside them, and not in a leadership position.

Everything was going smoothly on the way, before suddenly Hope spoke up in alarm. "Alert, I detect several life forms approaching."

John immediately went on alert, and so did Amadeus and Marie. "Where?"

"To the west, right where we came from. There are four of them, although the signal from one of them is much larger than the rest."

He felt the temptation to swear, but he managed to dismiss the urge and he addressed the two Servants. "Let's go."

"…You two should move ahead, I'll try to give you some ti—"

"No." He bluntly interrupted Marie's murmuring.

"N-No? What do you mean no?" The Queen of Lilies asked, bewildered.

"We will meet with Ritsuka and his group to work out a better strategy." John explained.

"If you're going to do that, I highly recommend you do it now. It will only take a few minutes for whoever is coming to get here."

Hope's advice took effect on the two of them, who wordlessly followed him as he raced to the east.

It took them under two minutes to reach where Ritsuka, Mash and Jeanne were. Already John was getting accustomed to his new abilities as a Servant, becoming as easy as breathing by this point. The other group from Chaldea was looking like they had only just walked out of a fight, albeit not a very tough one.

Jeanne was the first one to notice them, the blonde saint tilting her head slightly at the sight of the three.

Before she could even begin to question their presence here, John spoke up. "We have four unidentified individuals approaching." He quickly explained, drawing a frown from the blonde girl. "Any luck on finding the Dragon Slayer?"

"The same as you." The frown on Jeanne's features grew deeper. "What do we do? Should we retreat?"

John squeezed shut his eyes behind his visor, and thought carefully. His mind raced through the various options they had, weighing them against each other and attempting to pick out what to do. Retreat, in itself, probably wasn't a terrible idea. Even though their group outnumbered the others, that apparently mattered very little if they were dealing with Heroic Spirits, plus there was that larger signal that Hope had detected earlier to take account.

The prospect of standing their ground against whomever was coming was there as well, albeit that one was much, much more dangerous. One of them would also have to concentrate on shielding Ritsuka, so that meant that they would be already down one.

It was moments later when a different idea took shape in his mind. Truthfully, it was not one he was personally comfortable with. It was beyond risky, and would most definitely result in the casualty of some members of their group. But even so, out of all the plans he had formulated in his head, of which there were plenty, that was the one which John considered the most appropriate for them to carry out.

So, making up his mind, John reopened his eyes, noticing that scarcely a second had gone by since he had closed them. Then, he addressed the Servants and the Master. "We will advance northward in three separate lines, Mash and Ritsuka will go in front, in the second line will be Amadeus and Marie, who will be responsible for protecting both of them if the circumstances require it. Meanwhile me and Jeanne will move in the rear, in order to provide cover."

"But what about the Dragon Slayer? We can't just leave him here, they would surely kill him."

His head turned in the direction of Mash. He considered her words carefully. As beneficial as it might be to have this dragon slayer on their side, it wouldn't help if in the end all of them ended up being killed before they could locate him.

Eventually, he settled on an alternative. "Hope, extend the radius of my motion tracker. Scan for all living signatures that you find, evaluate them and then determine which one is most likely the Dragon Slayer."

"At once, Chief." The AI responded to his command as she began to modify his tracker.

He nodded slightly, then turned back his gaze to Mash. "Finding him will not be our number one priority, but if we encounter him along the way then we'll get him out of here. Clear?"

"Crystal." Ritsuka answered in place of Mash, who was for some unknown reason staring at him in wonder now.

"Alright, let's get moving."

His words garnered approving nods from each of the members of the group.

As they commenced to make their way up north, John could only hope that it would be worth it to find this dragon slayer.

X—X—X—X—X

AUTHOR NOTES:

Here it is.

I hope the fight I wrote between John and Martha was entertaining for you. Surprisingly, it didn't take me long to write, although I have modified it a little.

Originally, John was going to ditch his assault rifle at the start of the fight to summon his shotgun, but I've changed it to show the level of Halo weapons in the Type-Moon universe. As I have written in the chapter, the travel speed of the bullets has been increased so that the Chief can fight well against other Servants. I know that many of you would have expected John to have used a flashier weapon, but I opted for the shotgun considering its effectiveness at short range.

This next week I'm not going to write, unfortunately I have exams so I'm going to focus completely on that. With any luck, maybe I'll write at least 500 or 1000 words, but I'm not sure. I really don't want to fail the exam.

All right, that's it for me, I'll be seeing you in the next one.

N.R