Assassin VS Archer vs Saber vs Berserker
1 month after the battle of Avenger and Ruler.
Archibald Jaques McLockland, the master of Berserker, a man whose family of mages has spent decades or perhaps millennia gathering favors. His reach is small, but those he can reach gathered to him a vast treasury of artifacts that allowed him to summon the perfect weapons to take the Grail. His reason for all of this - the same as any other mage family. Only his family went through the trouble of being considered 'muts' that bred with non-mages.
A family of fools.
A tainted pedigree.
A headless horse.
A wild hunt.
They were called idiots for even considering such an idea, but it would save them from a fate most mages suffered. The bond in the McLockland family was firm, they would sacrifice their whole existence to secure their future.
On the night of October 31st, Archibald gathered his family onto the hills of Ireland. They brought with them swords, spears, knives and sacrifice. The ritual was simple, though unorthodox. They would force two children of their own blood to battle and kill each-other, ending with one of them killing themselves.
They knew their fate, Archibald believed, but these were not children. They were mages and as such had been drugged with the mind of mages. They would be the lamb in the honor of heroes and antagonists of the distant past.
As the ritual came to an end, the spirits of 'the hunt' gathered around torchlight and extinguished all light. The ritual began, "Fill o seven cups of fools gold. Rinse thine blood with the purity of death", Archibald chanted. The light of the spirits began to glow, despite the ages passing. They bore witness to death through the ages and as such held knowledge of history not recounted. "Maddened heroes of past, rise. Fill, fill, fill the cup. Let the balance of the scales bare witness to an equinox and give life to your memory."
The life faded from the men and women of the family. Their lives intertwined with Archibalds magic, their crests would form his laws.
"Let the world be filled with mystics once more. Let heroes be struck down once more. Let the light of the ! be reflected on this side of the world!"
The spirits grew reckless and mustered the wrath of death. Thunder rang and the ground quacked, the light of ages past filled the air. The ritual-site flashed with light as three rings of light crossed and spun around the air. In the end there stood two maddened servants, one with a necklace of spears and the other an armored behemoth. On the hand of Archibald there burned seals of a Master, a set of nine crimson marks.
And now they held the power to sink nations with their own will to win. "One can match the might of the world itself and the other can hunt down even a legendary hero...", Archibald spoke before turning to look at his ally. A young lady in a brown trench-coat - "simply stunning", he thought. She had fair skin, impeccable hair and posture and was the heir to a family with far greater grooming than his own. Liisa Kauranen-Valentina, the representative of Finland in this War. "It is a delight to be accompanied by the beautiful master of Archer." He quivered only a little, out of fear. "But why do I owe the pleasure of being so politely greeted by a potential enemy."
"Assassin is after you", she replied sharply. "You're idiotic performance in Scotland has made you a target."
"Surely you jest, who would so confidently decide to try to kill me after seeing my Servants in action against that greek hero."
"Someone who has spent the entire war gathering contracts for assassinations, all just to buy out artifacts and items from under everyone", she said while gripping her fist. "He's even spoken of having obtained mystic eyes. His servants have been a larger boon to him than any fame he would gain in this war otherwise."
"And now that person is after me..."
"Yes, I would like to keep you in the game for the time being. So I shall offer my services to you, I believe my servants would hold a candle against that bastard's."
"Yes, that would be for the best as my servants are at the moment going after him", Archibald remarked, making the woman flinch. "Caught you by surprise, didn't I?" He began predating around, looking around the room, spotting an intense concentration of mana with an eye he had aquired. "What part of 'I bought the damn city' did you not understand? I may be from 'the headless chicken' but that does not mean you get to act like I don't know anything." His tone became childish, only supported by the amount of power he was insinuating.
He had bought the city they were staying in, Dublin. In a matter of words, it was the entire truth as the city was the home of his family. By using everything in his hands, he had 'bought' authority over the city. Familiars patrolling the entire city; bounded fields in myriad numbers; making officials turn a blind eye.
"So how about you keep your damn hound in check", he shouted as Berserker with his three spears rammed through the wall and grabbed a hidden servant. The modern gear Archer was smashed against the ground. "And don't try to act like you didn't try to kill me." Berserker pressed Archer down, crushing the floor beneath both of them.
Liisa looked at Archibald, her pokerface was being shattered. "Let him go."
Archibald approached her. "Don't give me that bullshit. You want to kill me, admit it. Do you honestly think I didn't get informed about your relationship with your servant. You're a disgrace to mages everywhere." His limbs charged with magecraft grab her by the throat. "So how about we end this war quickly", he said while his fist moved quickly towards her stomach.
Right when it would hit her with the speed of a bullet, it was blocked by a droplet of sound. "You have some serious issues...", a man with a thick beard appeared, pointing his blade at Archibald's neck. "But can someone explain how things went so out of hand here?"
"Berserker...", the Master looked at his servant, he was in a trance. "What?!" He almost moved, but then he was grabbed by the shirt and flung to the other side of the room by the Saber servant. "You piece of shit...", he groaned. He tried lifting his hand to fire a blast spell to get away, but the saber servant jumped on his legs and crushed them. "You piece of-", he shouted in pain. "... BERSERKER!" His command seals glowed, he now only had six remaining. And as the light reached its height, his mad warrior returned to his side.
His eyes lit-up, swinging one of his spears at the Saber, who lifted his sword at each attack. He clearly struggled to guard while Berserker was annoyed just enough to pump him up. Berserker's speed forced Saber to back away and let Archibald retreat with his servant braking the walls. He jumped out and was picked up by a swarm of familiars, his leg nearly ripping off from the momentum. He groaned in pain and was carried away.
Saber was left with Berserker facing him. He laughed nervously, "y'know... I was never really that big of a hero. Maybe you can leave me off the hook", he soon realised that Berserker wasn't listening, he was simply still under the influence of Saber's spell. "Oh, that's interesting." He froze, quickly ducking as a shot was fired at him, he saw it was Archer. "Well, what do we have here?"
Archer was gone, dissapearing into the air like fog. Saber lifted his blade, swinging it through the room, making sure to stop before killing the master in it. The light of the blade flashed, revealing Archer who shot a bolt at Saber. This continued for three more swings as Archer dissapeared repeatedly and Saber revealed him. Archer was evasive and Saber clearly lacked adequate skill with his sword to be effective. Thankfully, he didn't need to anymore as he was shot in the leg by a gunshot.
Like a thunderbolt without a lightningbolt, it rung like an empty vessel.
Archer felt it.
Saber felt it.
Berserker felt it.
This was not a heroic spirit. It had a sense of divine to it, like a faded scent of a raging fire.
Assassin readied another shot, not even loading ! gun. He aimed, breathed and pulled.
Saber dodged the attack, barely, stepping back and dodging Berserker's wild rampage. The wild warrior was set on killing Assassin. He lunged, blasting apart the room they were just in and ripping through the air to attack the assailant.
Assassin saw the approach and faded away, moving farther away. After finding a spot, he fired at Berserker.
Berserker dodged, or as much as he needed to not be killed. He simply allowed the round to pierce his body, which then regrew in a matter of seconds as he closed-in.
Assassin held his hand to the wind, a whiff of air formed into a dagger. He threw it at Berserker, who did not expect the knife blasting his hand apart. "My quarrel does not lie with you!" A gust of wind flings the dazed Berserker away, ripping off the tiles off of the roofs. Assassin thens follows up without another seven rapid shots at Berserker, blasting him away. "Now where were we...", he looks towards the tower that was now collapsing. He saw none who would survive it, "... hopefully that wasn't your end." He said before dodging gunshots from Archer.
"We had a deal, damnit!" Archer's words held heartbreak.
"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't pick the summoning...", Assassin explained. "But good to see you too, glad you were remembered for something else... though I can't understand what's so great about that." Archer fired shots at him again. "Come now, we are old friends, are we not?"
"It was a deal!" Archer managed to tackle Assassin after a short sprint. "You son of a bitch - it was a deal! Can you leave me alone!"
"Archer, relax!" Liisa tried to command her Servant. She now stood on a rooftop with Saber, looking over the battle between the servants. Her connection to him was being wavered, blocked away by corruption. It was madness that now filled her Servant's mind.
"It's alright lass, he won't die", Saber explained. "That Assassin lacks any physical strength, his entire being is a spirit of death and wind. Archer may be a vessel with holes, but he's still in better physical condition than him."
Liisa let her mind wonder for a moment, "How do you know so much about them...?"
Saber's eyes sparkle with life, his heart almost bursting with flames. "I am the wise-man of the land of lakes! Of the land which was born from the breath of Ilmari and a great egg! I am the master of strings! I am the child and hermit of the sea! The mentor, swordsmith, shipwright and Väinämöinen as a Saber class Servant!"
Liisa stared blankly, she knew of him, but his current manifestation was ruining any excitement she would have had. His attitude didn't inspire any kind of wisdom and his use of a sword went against his story. Väinämöinen did not use a sword frequently in his tale, only his instrument made her connect dots to the wise-man of the Kalevala. She then stared out at the battle between Assassin and Archer.
"You fucker", Archer swung his fists down at the Assassin servant. He was then kicked in the stomach and pushed away, leading the two to pulling out a pistol. Assassin fired first, the 'bullet' pierced Archer and causing him to be sent back like being hit by a motorcycle. Archer, while being flung through the air, fired his gun. The bullet curved around to strike Assassin, his body was pierced like a straw-man. Archer crashed through the walls of an apartment, filled with mages stationed to stand guard. He took out his knife as they tried to fire at him with magic. He shot any and all familiars that would try to fend him off or alert others.
Archer is shot in leg, "I've been so gracious." Assassin steps down to the room from the air, through an open window. "I didn't mean any harm- I'm not even taking pleasure in this. I'm going by our contract, you reckless brat! And what the hell you do?" He fires another two shots into the servant's leg, loud shots ring through the room. "You treat me like an imp clawing at your back." His attention is taken away from the battle, leaving Archer free to fire a bullet to attack him from behind. "Weren't you happy with coming back as human?" Assassin threw a knife into the air, it made a hard turn and flew towards Archer, cutting him as he guarded with his gun.
Archer gets back up, his leg being severely injured from the knock-back of Assassin's attack. He hears a voice in his head, "I thought he was an assassin?"
"... Well I guess that's my fault." Archer began to go find a place to find cover and prepare an ambush. He dashed through streets and halls, bursting through windows as he dodges bullets being fired from the sky. "Isn't he just cheating at this point, I feel ripped-off."
Assassin flies in the air with a rifle pointed towards the ground. He periodically fires three shots, once they leave the barrel they change directions to where-ever Assassin wants. "Where are you hiding...", his eyes flare up, mana flows into him. He dodges a spear and looks dashes to the ground. "Why can't you just give-up?" He looks towards Berserker who rushes him, throwing spears as he does. They are not filled with mana and are simply able to return to him, but Assassin does need to dodge them when they fly towards Berserker.
Berserker leaps, swinging two spears at the ground. He is losing mana rapidly as he has the spears return to him, so he begins trying to enter melee with Assassin. He swings are less focus, as if his heart isn't in the battle. It is as if he is merely following orders to the bare minimum. He growns, "where the hell are all the heroic types...", he swings a kick at Assassin, who dodges. "You guys are no fun, what's wrong with you people from this era?"
Assassin's fist tightens, "Oh, do not be mistaken." He pulls out a hammer, smashing it against the air.
Heat surrounds the two servants.
Sparks fly and the air trembles.
It is as if they were in a furnace.
It is as if the air is forming into solid steel.
A gun shot, Assassin creates a massive artillery cannon whose barrel is facing Berserker - it was fired at the moment of creation and sent the mad warrior flying. He flies through the city, landing on a park bench at the end of a crater. He shakes his head, rubs his shoulders and is hit again with a round from the weapon. It is charged with highly concentrated magic. It is like a spell from the Age of Gods, Berserker smiles. "Well that brings me back", he leans back and extends his arm. "Tri Con", his spears transform into a crimson shade and flare-up with magic matching Assassin's creation - barely. Once settles into his hand. "Hunt down this king...", he hurls the spear into the air, splitting the sky as it goes, dodging all obstacles to maintain momentum.
Assassin senses the attack. "Weapons by the hands of man", he holds his hand out. "Have no place in the realm of Gods", he strikes the air ahead of his hand with his hammer - a shield is formed. It's shape is like that of a ripple of water, he takes a defensive stance as the spear reaches him in less than a fraction of a second. The two clash, though the spear quickly pushes past the shield, not even damaging anything. It strikes Assassin in the chest, blasting his chest apart.
End of Part 1
Author's Note
I originally wanted this to be shorter, but I got excited by the music I had playing in the background. I really got excited, so let's save the (hopefully) climactic conclusion to this part of the story for another time.
To be honest, I almost wasn't feeling up to writing this thing so far, but then I found some backlogged stuff here and published it. Really feels nice to have SOMETHING done, I don't know if that's just a me thing.
I really wanted to try to focus on the dynamic between Archer and Assassin this chapter, as they were some of the first servants I came up with along with Armored Berserker and Shining Lancer and Constantine of Briton. I have some details saved regarding them from years ago and it's really nice looking back and making adjustments to everything I wrote.
