"There is no glory in war... If there is no compassion..."
(...)
Confusion and anger swirled in his mind.
Servants were meant to face each other! It was an unbreakable rule!
Ordinary humans should have no chance!
But, amidst that chaos...
Who was he?
Olga clenched her fists, her gaze fixed on the fool who seemed to be the only master.
Oh, of course...
HE WASN'T EVEN FROM CHALDEA!
"Are you going to help them, right?" Olga asked, her eyes locked on the man beside her.
Caster hummed distractedly while manipulating his staff.
"Are you not...?" The heavy silence filled the air.
Mash, gripping her shield, looked at her master, questioning everything, while a spark of emotion pulsed within her.
Admiration?
Strong and agile, he had displayed astonishing skills in an instant, experiences she had yet to live... A pang of discouragement washed over her.
"Watch out for the enemy, Mash!" Izuku warned, casting her an intense glance.
She tensed, surprised that he was watching her.
The steel-eyed opponent scrutinized them coldly.
The swords rose, ready to strike.
"Aren't you supposed to be an archer?" the green-haired one murmured, disdainfully.
"Mph! What can I say? I'm multifunctional..." replied the servant.
"Does that include eliminating humanity?" Frustration was palpable in Izuku's voice.
"You don't understand what is being protected here..." the archer responded, his tone laced with contempt.
"Maybe if you stopped trying to kill us..." The tension between the two combatants was like a thread about to snap.
"It's obvious you wouldn't understand... Not with that pathetic mindset," the man challenged.
Izuku raised an eyebrow, indignant.
"I don't know what thoughts are running through your head... But confusing me will not be an option," he prepared to charge at the servant.
It was then that a flash glimmered next to the man.
The metallic sound resonated as Mash intervened.
"A sword? But... where did it come from?" The green-haired one, now more alert, saw a flashing blue gleam.
An identical sword appeared out of nowhere and was launched like a projectile.
The danger sensor activated.
"Does he create swords in the air? Can he do more? No, from the beginning he's only created swords..." The ground creaked beneath Izuku's feet as Archer moved away.
"If he can throw swords at that speed, why does he need his bow? Maybe the speed of his launches is slower than his bow... Yes, definitely! Mass x acceleration."
Swords flew at great speed toward Mash's shield.
"No... we can't move!" the servant grunted.
Izuku shook his head.
"You keep covering." Mash obeyed, but was surprised to feel her legs being pulled apart.
In an instant, Izuku lifted her over his shoulders.
"Senpai!" the girl shouted.
"Hold on tight!" The green-haired one charged toward the archer.
He frowned at their approach, and without hesitation, a whirlwind of blue light enveloped his hand.
The tension became palpable, an imminent danger flooded the atmosphere.
A sharp pain made Izuku grit his teeth.
"My core twists in madness..."
"Mash! Hold your shield tight!" the green-haired one shouted.
The girl nodded, anxious at the warning of danger.
Archer drew his bow, a spiral of energy surrounded him.
A distorted sword transformed into a lethal arrow.
"This ends now..." thought the servant, watching the crack in that broken Phantasm.
Time seemed to slow as his steel eyes focused on the shield, mere centimeters away from him.
Wait...
Centimeters?
People react in two ways to imminent danger: flee or become paralyzed.
A resignation...
However, there are those who, in desperation, find a quick thought.
Survival instinct?
"Keep going until it becomes involuntary."
"He admires our gifts so much that he makes them shine."
Since they took off the ground, the green-haired one never stopped flexing his legs.
Repetitive movements, over and over.
And a subtle movement of his right hand, as if he were shifting gears.
The air vibrated...
The eyes of the counterguardian widened at the sudden increase in speed, as if inertia had vanished.
The shield shattered his position, and if he didn't want to be consumed by the explosion of the broken Phantasm, he had to fade away.
A second thrust into the air changed his direction, sending him toward the ground.
His wrist was caught by a hand full of scars.
Not this time...
Were they... claws?
Archer grunted, surprised to feel the claws piercing his flesh.
With no option, he dissipated into blue particles, returning to his intangible form.
Mash and Izuku crashed to the ground, but thanks to the shield, the fall was cushioned.
"Ugh!" Mash groaned as she rolled, while the green-haired one hugged her protectively.
"... Ufff... AGH... Are... you alright...?" he asked anxiously.
Mash blinked, looking at him.
"That's... my line..." replied the Demiservant.
Izuku smiled apologetically as he helped her up.
They both looked around, only to find the counterguardian in front of them, with an expression of annoyance...
(...)
Caster watched seriously, restless.
The Celtic blood in his veins clamored for a good battle.
But damn it, the spectacle was captivating.
And above all...
"His speed in the air suddenly increased..." Olga expressed, bewildered.
The distance between the corrupted servant and the team of idiots... (Olga would call them that)
Had reduced in an instant.
Reinforcement...?
What kind of reinforcement was that? The ability to "kick the air" with such force seemed delusional.
A person capable of facing a servant...
"They're... crazy..." Olga whispered, clenching her fist, fearing for Izuku.
She wasn't ready to form a contract with a servant; losing the only one who seemed capable of doing it filled her with anxiety.
"Shouldn't you do something?" Olga growled at Caster.
Normally, he would have responded with a threatening (fake) glare, but this time he knew she was right.
Both were interrupted when the communication device buzzed.
The image of Doctor Romaní appeared.
"Romaní, what's happening!" Olga asked. "Don't you see we're in a critical situation?"
"The statistics of Mash!" the man shouted, leaving both confused.
"What? What do you mean?" Olga asked.
"The readings from Mash's body showed an abnormality in her statistics as a Demiservant!" Romani said, visibly unsettled.
"Mm? That's not unusual; depending on our master and their mana supply, the statistics can vary," Caster said.
"Yes! But I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been from the beginning. This was a sudden change! Her strength, which was previously at C, received two optimizations, going to C." Olga and Caster's words resonated, surprised.
Now they understood the doctor better.
"But not only that, her agility also had the same improvement, going from D to D!" Caster looked back at the young ones.
He noticed a blue glow emanating from their bodies.
"I knew that wasn't mana..." Caster remarked.
"Two abilities received such a considerable increase? But... what the hell is happening?" Olga groaned.
"Although it seems that, in turn, one statistic has decreased... The resistance dropped from A to A-," Romaní said.
(...)
"This is the first time I'm doing this..." thought Izuku, looking at the Demiservant by his side.
"Are you using Overdrive on her too? Isn't that risky?" asked Deigoro.
"I've always limited it to using it on myself, but never on another person," thought Izuku as he clenched his fists.
"Considering you're facing such a dangerous enemy, acting is the only option left. But stay alert; my metahuman ability has not been as straightforward as before for a long time," Deigoro commented.
Izuku nodded silently.
The man didn't represent much danger in physical terms.
He was neither that fast nor that strong; he could keep up.
The problem was his combat skills.
He used feints and those weapons that appeared out of nowhere made him nervous.
Several swords emerged around him, ready to shoot.
The green-haired one frowned, but his gaze focused on the marks left by his fingers on the man's skin.
"Well then, let's start with my second theory," thought Izuku.
"Eh?" Deigoro asked, confused.
Swords flew toward the green-haired one and Mash.
An annoying attack, but effective to generate pressure.
However, this time there was something different.
Moving his hand, the green-haired one whispered.
"Low march."
A blue glow flooded Archer's body, just like the swords.
Suddenly, the speed of the sharp blades astonishingly decreased.
Mash and Archer watched, bewildered.
Archer noticed the bluish glow of his own body.
"A spell...?" he wondered, looking at the green-haired one, who was the source.
Izuku summoned the two twin swords into his hands, but was surprised to see that his ability to "create" things had diminished his speed.
"The boost of Kanshou and Bakuya's magical resistance seems ineffective too!" the counterguardian growled.
(...)
Caster, from a distance, smiled with a mix of satisfaction and desperation at Archer's struggle.
That power was not Magecraft.
Even with his knowledge of the supernatural world, the strange ability that the young master had imposed on both seemed like a puzzle.
(...)
"Are you imposing Overdrive on three people?!" Deigoro exclaimed, surprised.
"To be precise, I'm interleaving Overdrive on three people... using high march on Mash and myself, while using low march on him..." Izuku explained, although doing that was easier said than done.
It was his plan since he dug his fingers into the servant.
After all, Overdrive required contact.
The second warned.
"Using it that way will reduce the uptime! You might have three minutes before your cells run out of oxygen."
Without responding, the green-haired one focused on Mash.
She understood and launched herself toward the servant, followed by Izuku.
Archer was surprised by the servant's new speed.
Mash also noticed the sudden change.
Her strikes were flooded with renewed power, pushing Archer back.
"My body doesn't respond as I wish!" The counterguardian tried to move at his maximum speed, but felt trapped.
Though his gaze could follow the Demiservant's movements, his body did not comply.
In a quick motion, Mash's shield crashed against his face, sending him into a group of trees.
Archer tried to turn in the air, but was surprised to see the green-haired one stalking him.
Emerald lightning flashed through the forest like a thunderstorm, swirling in Izuku's fist.
Once again, emerald and steel clashed.
Yet, in the green-haired one's eyes, there was a reflected sadness.
As if he truly didn't want to do this.
Archer, on the other hand, showed a bitter, ironic smile.
"What a fate, huh? I had to be defeated by an idiot... with hero ideals..." He recalled a young redhead.
While the possibility of their paths crossing again crossed his mind.
The sound of the sound barrier breaking resonated after the movement.
And a lightning bolt descended to the ground, followed by a shockwave that created an explosion around him.
Trees flew while Mash sheltered herself with her shield, avoiding the wave of debris.
Olga was covered by a wall of roots created by Caster, who wore a bitter expression.
"Just this once, archer..." thought Caster.
The environment displayed unprecedented destruction, a massive crater at its center.
Mash's hurried footsteps led her toward the place, worried about the attack.
"Senpai!" the Demiservant shouted.
In the midst of the dust cloud, a young green-haired one silently observed blue motes fading into the air.
"... I'll never get used to this..." Izuku murmured, feeling bad about himself, though there was also another type of pain within him.
Mash, finally close to him, looked horrified to see a considerable amount of blood oozing from her master's side.
As if it were a farewell gift, the servant had plunged one of his swords into Izuku Midoriya's side.
To be continued...