Saber Wars: VI
Ritsuka figured that by the time they arrived there would have been a fight. With the way Heroine X behaved around Sabers, talked about Sabers, and generally made her thoughts and motives clear regarding Sabers, it was impossible that she would have not started a fight with whatever Saber had arrived.
Sure enough, he could already see the flashes in the distance and the thunderous crashing sounds of steel battling steel. Accompanied with the occasional explosion of dirt as blurs propelled themselves across the battlefield, only halting briefly to give the barest glimpses of the combatants.
Ritsuka frowned to himself and picked up the pace, the last thing he really wanted right now was someone dying over this. Though it could depend on what the intentions of the individuals were, he supposed.
They could have been like Blackbeard, he wasn't dismissing it, but he would have liked to hear them out first before people started swinging.
"Siegfried is engaged in conflict with Heroine X."
He jolted, then turned to see Ash keeping pace with him relatively easily, the eyes of the blonde squinted dead ahead, flickering from side to side as they tracked the battle, lip drawn down into a frown. "I cannot claim one or the other is winning, they appear evenly matched."
Well, that was good news at least.
Ritsuka blinked and frowned deeper. "Siegfried? You're certain?"
"Absolutely."
Well, there was no way that his second theory about them being another Blackbeard held true, because he very much doubted that Siegfried was the sort to do anything like that. Sure, they hadn't spent much time in the company of the knight, but he had seemed like a very decent fellow and an upstanding individual.
He turned around and called out to the others. "Ash says it's Siegfried fighting Heroine X! No sign of the other Servant yet though!"
"Siegfried, the dragon slayer?" Olga called back with a clear hint of irritation. "This is a perfect opportunity to form a contract and bring them back to Chaldea, if they are amicable! If this half-wit kills him in a moment of unbridled madness-!"
Ritsuka understood where she was coming from, mostly because he felt the same way.
Just a bit less hostile about it.
He turned back around and called out. "New plan! We're going to get close enough and break the fight up before someone ends up getting hurt! No idea why Siegfried is out here but we need to find out and I'm fairly certain that Heroine X is the aggressor here!"
Receiving calls of understanding, he pressed onwards.
Ash suddenly stopped and held an arm out, Ritsuka released a gasp as the palm of the Saber struck him in the chest and forced him to a halt, in the next second Ash had brought his sword out and ignited it with fire, pointing upwards to the sky.
He followed their focus and squinted, a flash of a shadow in the light of the sun, blotting it out rather briefly. It did not last long before he heard a shout above the wind and the distant fighting, one that was equal parts excitement and welcoming.
"White Flower!"
Ritsuka blinked at the shout, then was forced several steps backwards when a blur smashed into the ground before them like a meteor, mud and grass rocketed past his face like a shower of debris, forcing his arms up to cover his eyes to avoid being struck with them, feeling the smaller bits pelt against his skin and clothes.
Whipping his arms down, he narrowed his eyes as the dust settled, revealing the definitive figure of Akal.
The dragon woman stepped forwards, rolling her armoured shoulders several times until it made a popping sound, the brown haired woman smirked rather widely as she stared at all of them, stretching her arms up and groaning as she did so before lowering them down and shaking them.
"And others."
Akal nodded to them as if only just seeing them for the first time, then she blinked and leaned her head to the side and rolled her jaw. "And is that a younger Arty back there as well? This day is just so full of surprises. I've never been so invested before, you're right on the way to becoming my favourite human if you keep bringing me such interesting things, White Flower."
There was a click of the tongue from the Director as she strode past him and then fell to a halt, placing her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes as she did so, Marie not long in joining her with the others forming a small group.
"Akal…What are you doing here?"
The woman hummed, then tilted her head. "I was waiting for you…Well, not you specifically. More like I was waiting for whomever would come and claim the large metal arrowhead over there." she jerked a thumb over her shoulder to the rocket. "And then see what they would do. Whether they were thieves or the owner themselves, I figured it would be interesting either way."
Ritsuka stared at her for a moment, then shook his head and narrowed his eyes. "And? What are you going to do now?"
Akal turned in his direction, giving a broad smile as she did so. "Well, I certainly am quite intrigued by your group…Is the screaming one with a grudge against Sword-wielders in your little pack? Because she didn't seem much interested in talks before she came flying in like a shooting star."
As if to punctuate her words, a earth shaking crash dragged their attention away from Akal and towards the distant fight once more, a blur skipped along the ground while another gave chase, the golden sword of Heroine X shone brilliantly as it rose up from its time being punted along the ground and met the clash of Siegfried with another obscuring explosion.
"...Like I said, shooting star."
Ritsuka rolled his lips inwards. "Are you going to stop us?"
Akal brought her hand up and made a 'so-so' gesture. "Initially I was going to let you pass, I figured that it would be a shame for Siegfried to die…" then she lowered her arm, her expression turning blank, her glazed over eyes switched their target to the tallest of their group.
The pressure skyrocketed.
"...Then you went and brought a God here."
Ah.
Right.
Yes.
He could see the problem.
"And does my presence cause you anger, dragon?" Gwynevere asked with an even tone of voice, betraying nothing or even sounding concerned. "Surely I am not the first of my kind you have encountered thus far, or have you made it a point of order to hunt down all those who bear the mark of divinity or travel with them?"
Akal folded her arms, scowling deeply. "I'm speaking as a mother who had to watch a great many of her children hunted down or dragged into servitude, turned into common mounts for knights. I believe I am entitled to a touch of malice. Certainly not to those who bear no responsibility…but for those who are? I doubt the Queen of Lothric was wholly innocent."
"...You are remarkably well informed of my status, yet I find myself troubled that I have never once heard of you…Though, ah, perhaps this is the vaunted Way of the Dragon in reverse?" Now Gwynevere sounded rather intrigued. "A dragon that turns to a human, I had not quite thought such a thing possible."
"The world is full of surprises."
"Isn't it just?" Gwynevere chuckled lightly, as if hearing an amusing joke. "Though that is beside the point, do you intend to do battle with us now, or shall you step aside and give us the chance to pass before blood is spilt unnecessarily? After all, you spoke how great of a shame it would be if your companion was to die."
"Hmmm? Oh, I'm not worried about the shouting woman killing him." Akal corrected with a chuckle, hands going to her hips once again and shaking her head. "I do not doubt that he shall defeat her, what concerns me is that he will exude too much magical energy and then fade away…I do so hate a draw."
Ritsuka straightened at the words.
Then shot a quick look at Mash as she came to the same conclusion, the slight widening of her eyes and then the tensing of her shoulders.
Akal was right.
Even if Siegfried won, then there was a good chance he would burn through his magical energy in the process.
"Then we have wasted enough time here as is." Olga declared rather loudly, already marching forwards, visibly keeping her eyes on the dragon. "Are you going to fight or are you going to stand aside?"
Akal brought her lip up into a faint smile. "You've grown a bit bolder, White Flower…Alright."
She stepped to the side, folding her arms over her chest. "I'll see how this plays out, though I am a bit curious as to what you're all doing out here…Maybe we can trade stories? I would be rather interested in hearing all that you have been up to…and while we're at it-!"
She vanished in one moment, then Ritsuka heard a faint gasp of surprise, quickly turning his head and blinking to see that Akal had reappeared next to Lily and with her arms hooked under the pits of Lily, hoisting the girl into the air as if she was Simba, all while the small knight looked utterly panicked.
"You can tell me all about this one! She's clearly so young! Are you a little teenage Arty? You can call me your big sister if you want!"
"Eh-what-wha-!?"
"Get off her." Gwynevere commanded rather immediately.
"Ho?~" Akal sang, wrapping her arms around Lily and pulling her against her body, resting her chin upon the top of the blonde mop of hair and grinning from ear to ear. "That sounds a bit commanding, but since when would I do what a Goddess asks? I'm allowed to be as friendly as I want with all of my siblings or children…Or can't you sense the dragon blood that runs through her veins? Because it is very potent."
Ritsuka would have commented on the situation, but another explosion shook him from his thoughts.
He stared straight ahead, then turned to Ash. "Go on ahead and get in the middle of them, break up the fight as best you can but try not to hurt either of them."
Ash looked down at him for a brief moment, then nodded his head. "Understood."
The Avenger stepped forwards, then exploded with motion that propelled him the entire length in a single leap.
Ritsuka, meanwhile, was launched flat onto his back and stared up at the sky with a blank expression on his face.
"...One of these days…" He muttered quietly, already hearing the panicked shouting of Mash at what just happened. "He will learn restraint…One of these days."
He quickly pulled himself back up into a sitting position, watching the vague shape that was Ash vanish off into the distance and drop back down. The exasperated frown lingered on his face for a couple of seconds before he shook his head, pushing off the ground and standing back up, brushing his clothes down and wiping the dirt off them.
"So what are you all doing?"
Turning to the speaker, he noted that Akal was still holding Lily in much the same way a child would hold a cat, much to the obvious confusion of the Saber and the slightly pleading look she was sending in his direction, clearly having no idea what was happening or how she was supposed to respond to this.
With a quick nod of the head to Mash and a small smile to show he was alright, he returned his focus towards Akal and waved his hand down. "Before we get to that, can you please put her down. Given that you two really haven't actually met…"
"Eh?" Akal pouted at him for a couple of seconds before she sighed and lowered Lily towards the ground. "Alright…"
Then she turned towards him, holding her arms out.
He raised a brow.
"What? We know one another." She simply remarked, flicking her fingers as if trying to beckon him closer. "No? What about you, White Flower? Do you want me to hold you?"
Ritsuka glanced towards the Director and kept his brow raised, privately curious as to what the Director would actually do.
The white haired woman kept her expression utterly devoid of emotion, then slowly blinked before giving a single curt reply. "No."
"...Alright." Lowering her arms, Akal placed her hands on her hips before huffing. "Well, that aside, back to my original question. What are you all doing out here in the first place? Unless you were summoned by the big arrow head over there, but that doesn't fit right. Also I'm a bit intrigued now…So…What are you all doing?"
"Training!" Marie replied quickly, smiling rather brightly as she did so, then faltering. "At least, that was how it was initially, but we sort of got sidetracked by a couple of…problems and circumstances."
Akal's eyes visibly brightened.
Ritsuka had a sudden sense of foreboding.
"Training, you say?" The slow manner of reply as well as the way the woman started to smile rather subtly put him on edge instantly, it was as though the atmosphere shifted in a moment. "Well…Now that puts things in an entirely different light."
The dragon woman took several steps backwards, all while keeping her eyes on them with an unblinking gaze.
"That's the sort of training that humans and warriors do when they want to get better, right? I suppose you could call it the story arc in which a protagonist undergoes their efforts to get better…But without a proper obstacle, such arcs can get stale or otherwise bland."
Ritsuka suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.
Akal rolled her neck until it popped.
"That is to say…Every protagonist requires an antagonist."
Lowering her head down, the brown haired woman puffed smoke through her nose as she smiled.
"So think of this as my contribution to your resolve, humans. Come at me, if you can land a fight ending blow, then I shall consider it your win and accompany you for the remainder of your journey here…Siegfried will probably do the same."
Ritsuka took a half step backwards, wetting his lips slightly and glancing towards the Director. She met his gaze with a grimace of her own, then the pair shifted their gaze back to Akal as she looked around.
The smirk on her face grew wider still.
The woman paused, humming for a moment as her head teetered from side to side before she snapped her fingers.
"Oh, and if you require further incentive, then I shall say that if you cannot defeat me, then I shall take the large arrow head for myself. I'll keep it for…nefarious purposes, I believe should suffice. I trust that White Flower can attest to how quickly I could escape from you if I wanted to."
"...Your Noble Phantasm?" Ritsuka surmised with a rapidly growing grimace, the lack of a response from the dragon proved it. "But you don't have a Master, if you were to use a Noble Phantasm without one then-"
"Ah-ah-ah!" Akal waved a finger from side to side. "Let me worry about my own magical capacity, you should worry about yours…A strong opponent is offering the chance for you to test yourselves against her…I fail to see how we don't all benefit from this. I get to partake in someone's training arc, you get greater experience as warriors…and no one dies."
A brief pause.
Then Akal shrugged her shoulders.
"I can't make a promise on account of injuries though."
She shot forwards without a second word, already appearing directly in front of Marie with her hands raised up, clasped together and forming a single fist.
The Rider managed barely a half step backwards before the fists swung down, slamming through the polearm in the grasp of the Rider and throwing it into the ground, Akal stepped forwards and launched her fist as a followthrough, catching Marie in the gut and lifting her off her feet with a single blow.
"First rule." Akal chuckled as she turned on them, fire danced across her fingers. "Don't assume the antagonist will let you get the first blow in…" she leaned her head back, a sharp smirk on her lips as her eyes burned brightly.
"Let's go."
Ash struck the ground after the initial jump, pushing forwards into a sprint before sliding to a halt.
His eyes narrowed upon the fight, watching Siegfried and Heroine X trade blows with ease, though the Assassin held a lot more ferocity with her attacks than the Saber, unless the man was just far more skilled at keeping his emotions reserved.
That aside, he narrowed his eyes and brought his left hand up.
Fire danced in his palm, spitting and hissing as he clawed his hand around the flame to contain it, succeeding in forcing the desire for the inferno to escape his grasp. The addition of more magical energy to the pyromancy spell succeeded in drawing out a greater screech from the fire until it sounded akin to the roar of a dragon.
Ash stepped forwards, coiling his arm back and tensing his muscles.
He located the point between the two fighters as they separated once more.
Then he swung his arm forwards, the orb of flames surged forwards in a heartbeat, streaking through the sky like that of a comet falling to the earth. An apt comparison with the speed and noise it made.
Only then did the pair notice what was happening.
Heroine X quickly stepped away like a blur, vanishing just before the attack landed.
Siegfried, meanwhile, brought his sword up and swung.
Ash blinked.
With a flash of azure and a roar of fire like energy, the blade of Siegfried slammed into the orb and shattered it, fire spilled over the dragon slayer and slammed into the ground behind them, churning up the dirt and charring the earth yet leaving the man virtually unharmed as he straightened himself out, the sword in his grasp made a clicking sound before the raging blue light that clung to the blade was snuffed out.
Shouldering his sword, Ash approached slowly and kept his arms by his side, sparing a glance to where Heroine X appeared, who was now glowering at him as though he had done something wrong.
Which, he felt, should have been his own expression.
He came to a stop a short distance between the two Servants, looking between them before he turned to Heroine X.
"I believe Ritsuka would have preferred the opportunity to speak with the Servants to ascertain their demands, not to charge off and immediately engage them in battle."
The Assassin scoffed loudly, pointing a sword towards the man. "He is a Saber! There is no doubt in my mind that he was going to try and steal away my ship! Even if that wasn't the case, it is utterly unacceptable that a Saber would dare to walk anywhere near my property!"
Ash slowly blinked at what could only be called a rant.
Then he glanced at Siegfried for a half second, the man had made no further moves, but it was clear that he was measuring Ash rather swiftly. The gaze in their eyes was sizing him up in case they needed to fight.
…Fair enough.
"Shall I assume then, that he made his intentions apparent before you charged him, or did you merely attack before he could get a word out?"
Heroine X raised a brow and looked at him like he was a fool. "Are you crazy? Why would I let a Saber get a word out? Don't you know that's how they trigger their Noble Phantasms? I wasn't going to take the chance that his first words to me would have been enough to suddenly fire a big sword beam into my face."
Ash opened his mouth to speak.
Then he closed it.
…She had a point there.
He turned to Siegfried once more. "What were your intentions with the rocket ship?"
Siegfried kept silent for a moment, then he replied. "I sensed something amiss so myself and my companion ventured here. I discerned that the…" he trailed off, then gestured towards the spacecraft. "Rocket ship, would cause similar problems to a…treasure I am familiar with. Therefore, in the absence of an owner and the disrepair it was in, I assumed it was a wreck and decided to move it away from civilization."
Ash folded his arms, then nodded his head up and down.
That made sense to him.
Human greed irked him quite heavily and if those of this era were to stumble across it, even by mistake, then the repercussions would be dire.
"Understandable."
He turned back to Heroine X.
"There, you see?"
"Yes, he just admitted he was going to steal my ship."
"Sorry."
"Don't think apologising is going to save you from my apology-denied-calibur!"
Ash frowned at the Assassin for a moment, inwardly debating whether her starting fights with every Saber Servant they encountered was actually worth keeping her around for. Then again, he could hardly comment on the habits of other Servants at all.
That being said…
Stepping forwards, then brought up a hand and pointed towards the Assassin, drawing her eyes to him. "This will not happen again."
Heroine X narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you intend to come between a Mysterious Heroine and her prey?"
The warning in her tone did not go unnoticed, he narrowed his eyes and took another step forwards, unconcerned about her words and continued to move until he stood over her, arms folded over his chest and looking down to meet her gaze with his own. Neither one of them was clearly going to back down.
"If you need to hunt Servants, then do so when it shall not cause problems for Ritsuka, otherwise keep yourself in check. The motives of Siegfried have been explained, if you cannot accept them…Then you are free to seethe about it, but you will not take further action."
He turned his head away from her and towards Siegfried.
"Unless you have further intentions to do away with the craft now that its owner has returned."
Siegfried remained silent for a half second, then shook his head. "No, I have no further plans. Now that the owner has returned, I trust that they will see to the safety of the people, furthermore if you can vouch for your Master's honour that he will see to it that it will not linger here."
Ash nodded his head. "Even without that, I will not allow this craft to threaten the humans of this era." his lip curled upwards in disgust. "Especially not if it represents the beacon of greed and desire that I suspect it otherwise does…I have little interest in seeing the humans rip themselves apart trying to claim even a shred of it."
His eyes returned to Heroine X. "The matter has been solved. Ritsuka has given me orders to prevent you from fighting…Do not force me to act on them."
Heroine X puffed out her chest. "Don't get all cocky because you had someone help you! You only one because you had a sneak attack and I had recently eaten lunch, I just didn't want to throw up. That was all."
"Is that-" Ash cut himself short of making the comment, instead shaking his head and turning away. He had little interest in being drawn into an argument over something as trivial as this. "I trust you understand the position you are in. Now, perhaps we might return to Ritsuka so that-"
He straightened.
The others did as well.
It was a single instant, he felt the pull of magical energy behind him.
His head snapped around, just in time to catch the flash of light before an explosion mushroomed into the sky, the blast front washed past him with a thunderous crack.
"...I'm sorry." Siegfried replied from behind him. "I believe that my companion is currently with your allies."
Ash sent a side-eye to the Saber for all of half a second, then clicked his tongue and stepped forwards, pressing off the ground and launching himself into a sprint towards the explosion, he could already hear the laughter echoing out from the centre of the flames, deranged and excitable.
His eyes swept away and towards the base, searching out any sign of where Ritsuka and the others might have been, he could still feel their link so Ritsuka was alive. A pulse of blue light shone amongst the cloud of ash, his eyes landed on the disk shield extending from the front of Mash before a shape slammed into it, sending the young girl hurtling into the air.
The sensation that flooded his skin was rather familiar to him in that one moment.
A dragon.
He pressed forwards once more, carrying himself through the air with a powerful leap and then dropping down into the space near Ritsuka and Olga…his mother was also there and looked uninjured.
His eyes instantly landed on Ritsuka. "Your orders?"
Ritsuka lowered his arms down, coughing several times. "Apparently we've been dragged into a training arc."
Ash blinked, then took note of the lack of urgency.
No, there was still unease, but there was a decided lack of panic from Ritsuka in regards to the whole situation, much the same could be said for Olga as well. His eyes looked between the two of them before shifting towards the flames and narrowing slightly, he tensed his arms and spoke slowly.
"Am I to assume that there is no need for me to step in?"
"...Not right now." Ritsuka replied after a second. "But I'll see how it progresses. Just be ready to move…Oh, I see you got Heroine X and Siegfried to stop fighting, that's good."
"I threatened her with fighting me if she progressed."
"...That worked?"
"She made several claims but was otherwise pacified by my words."
The ground shook, cutting off whatever Ritsuka said in response. Ash kept himself balanced from the trembling, knitting his brows together and glancing around to catch a glimpse of the fighting, it was difficult to track on account of all the smoke, which meant that there was only one thing he really needed to do.
Thrusting his sword into the ground, he reached for his Bottomless Box and swiftly withdrew another blade.
Stormruler started to growl, air twisted around the length of the sword in a vortex, moving faster and faster until it was sheathed in a raging torrent of wind.
He took several steps forward.
With an almost lethargic swing of the blade, he brought it across and loosened the vortex surrounding it.
The gale banished the cloud of black smoke and flourished the fires down into the ground, opening up the view for the battle with a howl. He kept his expression blank as he returned the blade to the box and grasped Galvatyne once more, bringing it up and mounting it upon his shoulders.
However, the second he caught sight of the battle it looked decidedly less comfortable than he had been expecting it to be.
Then again, the power emanating from this dragon Servant was…
His lips drew themselves down instantly.
…She was perhaps a tier lower than he currently was.
It still placed her leagues beyond the three Servants she currently fought.
"Ritsuka…" He muttered to the boy. "They cannot win, the strength gap is-"
"At least let them try first." Ritsuka replied back, "Akal said she would sort of go easy on them…But…" he glanced down at the boy turned and towards Siegfried. "...Are you going to try and stop us if-"
"No." Siegfried replied before he could even finish. "They are your friends and allies. Do what you wish to keep them safe, I shall not take sides in this brawl."
"Heh." Heroine X scoffed. "I'm willing to bet that Lily lands a good hit on that…" the blonde frowned and then squinted. "...Where are her weapons? Is she just fighting with her fists? I thought she was a Caster…?"
Ash mentally sighed at the ignorance of the Assassin before he took notice of something.
The expression on Gwynevere's face looked a touch…tight.
Almost as though she was…concerned.
"Boy." She spoke after a few moments. "While I am not one to shy away from rapid betterment, I will have to agree with the comments of Ash. This is not a foe they are prepared to fight, the Everlasting Dragons stood in direct competition with the Gods at the height of our power…Even one of their descendants is still equal to one. As the three are now…they might not claim victory."
Ritsuka noticeably grimaced, then turned to the Director. "...Stahl?"
The Director blinked twice, then hummed and nodded once. "Stahl."
Gwynevere looked slightly puzzled. "Stahl?"
Ash, meanwhile, inferred what they meant. "Yes, Stahl will suffice for now."
Heroine X looked baffled. "What the hell is Stahl?"
Fire surged past her, it was more on instinct that she swung towards it and that instinct paid off. Caliburn sung as golden light shimmered along the blade, cleaving the stream of flames in twain before she stepped forwards, hurling herself towards the thrower of the fires and thrusting forwards.
Her sword jerked in her grasp, Lily widened her eyes and stumbled to the side as a forearm slammed into the sword and parried it away from the body.
No, it wasn't even a parry.
They just slapped it away with the back of their hand in a move that was lethargic, all while staring at her with that same carefree smile, though the gleam in their eyes now appeared far more menacing than it had been.
Akal - the name of the dragon woman, if what was spoken was true - then ducked forwards as the spear of Marie sailed over her head.
Lily twisted and swung up at the woman-
She caught her thrust between her fingers.
Akal jerked her other arm across, batting away the spear of Marie before stepping forwards and kicking down into the knee of the Rider, driving the Queen to the floor with a gasp of pain, another blur of movement and Lily was pulled off her feet in the next second, hurtling through the air and granted a brief flash where she saw Akal spin around and slam her shin into the side of Marie's head.
The Queen bounced off the ground twice.
Akal swung around, slamming a shoulder into the shield of Mash and driving the girl backwards with that movement.
Lily's feet carried her forwards the moment she touched the ground, bringing her sword across in preparation for a slash. Approaching from the blindspot and waiting until the prime moment to swing.
Now.
Mana surged through her arms, propelling them forwards with even greater speed than before, Akal clearly sensed it, already turning to face her, but Lily was certain that she would catch the Servant before they could-
Her eyes shot wide, pupils narrowed into pinpricks.
Her instincts screamed at her to move, so she did.
Before her blade touched home, she pressed against the ground and shot backwards with an explosion of force, in the next instant a pillar of fire burst from the ground where the dragon woman had stood, shrouding her body for all of half a second before the tower of flames was ripped open from the inside.
Akal burst from the fires and was upon her before she had even touched the ground.
She turned, raising her sword up to guard herself as the fist of the woman raced towards her head.
A kick slammed into her raised legs, spinning her through the air instead.
Then a heel crushed her midsection, her eyes bulged as air rushed out from her lungs, driving her body into the ground. The world exploded with sound around her, a harsh ringing in her ears as dazed images blurred atop her, blinking several times to get the spots from her eyes before she rolled onto her side.
At least until a rather powerful grip found itself on the back of her armour and yanked her off her feet, she felt herself go weightless for a brief instant before touching down on the ground once more, crashing hard on her shoulder and tumbling, the world a flash between green and blue before it settled on the latter.
Another powerful clang, one of a force striking metal which sounded akin to a hammer.
Then came the pained grunt and a shape flew over the top of her head, Lily blinked as the brief shape of Mash rocketed past her before she heard the impact and felt the earth shudder, then came the echoing cry of a horse and the determined shout of Queen Marie.
Lily pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the pain in her gut.
Just in time to watch Akal backhand the horse with enough force that the head was reduced to sparkles in the wind, following the spin through and slamming her open palm into the face of Marie as she attempted to flank around, gripping the Queen by the face and throwing them into the earth.
Lily scrambled forwards, launching herself into the air and bringing her sword up.
Akal turned, then faced her with the same lackadaisical smirk.
It was a touch grating to not be taken so seriously.
Her sword swung down, the woman sidestepped and deftly avoided the blow.
She twisted her grip and swung upwards, it didn't so much as skim the nose of the woman as she leaned backwards, Lily drew her arm back and thrust for their chest.
Akal gripped her wrist as she angled her body to avoid the attack, smiling down at her.
Lily merely gazed back, mana surged through her body before exploding outwards as a haze of gold, it was enough to loosen the hold and let her pull herself free. Stepping forwards and pressing up, flipping back through the air and holding her leg out in an effort to catch them in the chin.
She felt nothing, meaning she had missed.
Sure enough, the moment she landed down Lily was greeted by the sight of Akal with her head leaned slightly back and out of range.
"Hah!" Lily pressed onwards, swinging in from the side and feeling the shock reverberate through her arm as she hammered a blow into the raised guard of Akal. Yet, to her dismay, she hadn't been able to break skin, it was like she had struck a brick wall rather than a person.
Something else felt amiss.
This situation they were in.
Akal had raised her right arm to block her strike, but her left was doing nothing.
It meant they were going to try and punch her.
Akal swung her left arm forwards, palm open and with a point aimed at her gut.
Lily pulled one hand from Caliburn, sweeping it across and channelling mana into her arm, reinforcing it as far as she could. She slammed the back of her wrist into the approaching attack and parried it aside, keeping the arm at bay for a good-
"Gotcha."
"Eh?"
Her eyes flickered to the open palm.
The open palm that now glowed a brilliant orange.
Ah.
That was why this felt so familiar.
…Merlin often did the same to her.
A flash of light and heat, a force knocked her backwards and threw the air, Lily coughed as she felt the burns across the front of her body, cracking her eyes open to see the black soot clinging to her once pristine white dress and armour, she twisted her body and hit the ground, trenching her feet through the earth and thrusting her sword to slow herself.
Her head came up as Akal strolled through the cloud of smoke.
Akal swung up, catching the shield of Mash between her fingers without sparing the girl a look.
Mash was allowed a brief look of alarm before she stepped forwards and swung her leg towards the side of the dragon womans knees. Though it seemed that Akal had the same intent, catching the kick with one of her own and sweeping Mash off her feet, pulling on the shield and throwing the girl over her shoulder.
Lily darted forwards, a glimpse of white burst through the smoke as Queen Marie appeared from the other side.
Akal ducked under the blow of Marie, then blocked Lily's slash.
Her boot swung outwards, catching Marie in the ribs with a wheezing grunt, then pushed Lily's sword aside and closed the distance, her vision whited out as an elbow smashed into the front of her nose, swiftly followed by a hammering blow to the gut that lifted her off her feet.
A hand clamped around her face, pulling her forwards and slamming her into the ground, then another kick sent her tumbling across the earth, striking something that fell over the top of her with a grunt, Lily cracked open her eyes to see Queen Marie lying atop her and rubbing her head while holding her side with her other hand, glancing towards her.
Akal hummed to herself as she stepped backwards, dodging another blow from the shield girl.
Their attack shifted from a thrust towards the ground, anchoring their body and hoisting themselves into the air. Mash spun on the shield and twisted her body about, thrusting a leg out towards her head.
Akal brought her arms up, blocking the strike.
She broke the kick back, then stepped forwards and grasped the leg, briefly seeing the fleeting look of alarm across the face of the girl before she was abruptly yanked free of her shield, Akal pulled her across and then slung her forwards, the girl crashed into her own aegis and sent the two tumbling away from her.
With a chuckle, she brought her arm up and shook her hand.
"I thought this was a training exercise to get better, at this rate you're only going to improve at being punching bags."
Trash talk, she believed, was the phrase.
If she was going to play the role of antagonist in this story, then there was no reason that she would go half measure.
Going all out in such things felt rather enjoyable.
"If this is the best you can manage, then perhaps it would be smarter for the humans to get some better reinforcements-"
Her head angled to the side, the spear thrust past without even so much as clipping her cheek.
Akal stepped forwards, gripping the spear and kicking down into the leg of the white haired Servant, she dropped with a pained gasp. Her hand pulled, turning the direction of the spear and blocking the sword strike of the little Arty rather handily.
Directing a kick into the chest of the white haired girl, she pulled the spear from their grasp and swung across, stumbling Arty away while she stepped forwards and coiled her arm back, then shot the spear forwards like a javelin towards the shielder, not as fast as she could have managed it though.
She wasn't trying to kill them.
Sure enough, the shielder girl was fast enough on the draw to bring her namesake up, parrying the spear away from her with a metallic clang.
Akal spun on her heel, sweeping an arm across.
Little Arty ducked beneath the blow into a low crouch, sword poised to thrust upwards and it did just that the second she made eye contact with the girl. Unfortunately, little Arty was just a bit slower than Akal was.
Her left hand came across, catching the tip of the sword with her hands and stopping it just shy of touching her chin. Her right hand came back across, knuckles catching the soft skin of the Sabers cheeks and driving her into the dirt, head forming a crater upon impact.
She stepped back, narrowly avoiding being caught by a dropkick from Mash.
Her fist swung forwards, it struck the face of the shield with a thud and ground against it.
Her eyes narrowed a touch at the study defence.
Alright then.
Her left hand swung forwards, then followed by her right.
On and on it went, her knuckles slammed against the shield with increasing speed and ferocity, putting a bit more of her strength into each strike. Slowly but surely, Mash was being driven backwards with the consistent barrage of blows, though Akal could see that she wasn't so much breaking the guard as much as she was just pushing it.
Hmph.
Alright then-
A crackle caught her ears.
She turned about face, fire burst from her open palms and consumed the glass horse in an instant.
"Hah!"
Mash stormed forwards, the shield thudded into Akal's back and sent her into a small stumble, it wasn't much but it was more than enough for her to be off balance. At least long enough to catch the glow of little Arty's sword racing towards her face, she stomped down and caught herself.
Then thrust her head towards the sword.
It stopped.
Her eyes raced down the length of the blade and towards the wielder, the alarm gave way to naked horror.
As expected.
Little Arty probably hadn't been expecting her to catch the sword between her teeth.
They caught Caliburn between their teeth? Who would do something so reckless!?
Those being the immediate thoughts that flashed through the mind of Lily before her expression hardened. This was salvageable.
Mana flooded through her arms, pushing them backwards and driving it into the sword, Caliburn shined like the sun as she pushed forwards, the heat and explosion enough for Akal to loosen her grip, as she pushed Lily stepped forwards and let out a shout as she drove the head of the dragon woman into Mash's shield.
A loud clang as the back of their skull bounced off the surface, dragging the sword across and scoring herself a large gash across the cheek of the Servant, which was a bit less than she had been expecting, but in a good way. She didn't want to do something horrible to them like that, but really, it was their own fault.
Who would bite a sword?
With a spin, she turned and built up momentum, gripping her sword with both hands and swinging it into the midsection of Akal, slamming their back into the shield of Mash once more before thrusting across, this time cutting a thin red line across Akal's abs, though it felt like trying to cut steel.
Her instincts screamed, she ducked down and felt the rush of air right above her head as a counter narrowly missed her, but she had been here long enough. She stepped backwards, shooting away as another fist just passed before the tip of her nose, eyes tracking the attack before veering towards the owner.
Akal shifted and stepped forwards, bringing her body across for a shoulder barge.
She turned at the last second, bringing her right arm up and blocking the downwards swipe from Queen Marie before it could land on her head.
Lily stepped forwards, sweeping around and catching Akal in the back of the leg with a slash, dragging the edge of her sword across-
Akal twisted, aiming her right arm towards her and opening her palm up.
Her hand exploded, catching Lily in the face with the sudden explosion of heat and pain and propelled her arm across, parrying the spear away from her body, as Lily stumbled backwards, she had just enough sight to witness Akal strike Marie in the chest with another straight kick to the chest and punt her away.
Mash thrust her shield into Akal's side in the next second.
They swung down, slamming the shield into the earth and throwing a fist towards the head of Mash, which the shielder deftly caught in her own palm and stopped the blow short.
Lily jumped forwards and thrust.
Akal dragged Mash towards her, slamming her forehead into the face of the shielder and staggering her backwards, Lily ducked down as they made an effort to drive their elbow into her face as she closed in, rolling across and thrusting upwards.
Golden light peeled from Caliburn, catching Akal in the chest and sending her into a stumble while losing her grip on Mash.
Something Mash took advantage of rather swiftly, catching Akal in the cheek with a left hook, following it up with a gut punch and then a kick to the side of the leg.
Lily drove all her mana into her legs, bringing herself up and jumping from the ground.
Her knee struck into the chin of Akal and punted the woman away from her, they rolled twice across the ground before driving their fist into the earth, jerking themselves to an abrupt stop.
Lily's feet barely touched the ground before an explosion from her hands propelled Akal towards the pair of them, appearing in front of her with their fist raised high. Lily widened her eyes, stepping back and bringing up her sword.
The fist smashed into her nose, she felt something crack in her face as she fell backwards, a gasp of pain escaped as heat exploded across the front of her face and started to leak down across her lips and chin, her body fell backwards, flipping only for a hand to grab her leg and pull.
The world blurred before her, then she caught a glimpse of Mash's face before she crashed into it, their bodies tumbled over one another before they landed on the ground in a messy heap.
Lily coughed, pushing her hands flat against the earth and bringing her head up, blinking through teary eyes at the stinging pain that lanced across her face, moving a hand up to touch her nose only to pull it away with a hiss, even that single touch earned her a red stain upon her fingers.
Her eyes turned to Mash, who looked ready to say something only to snap her head and shoot up, gripping her shield and raising it.
Akal dropped down with a kick against the shield, pushing herself off it with an air shattering crash and throwing herself back through the air. The second she touched down she shot forwards, thrusting a palm forth and unleashing a torrent of flames, the sudden stream obscured her from sight.
Instinct kicked in.
The moment the flames struck the shield, her eyes snapped upwards.
She and Akal made eye contact with one another, the latter grinning challengingly at her.
As swiftly as she could, she stood and thrust upwards, the stream of light launched itself from her sword towards the dragon, who turned at the last second and twisted around the attack, all the same, Lily dodged to the side out of the path of the shadow and called out.
"Above!"
The attacker struck the ground a second later.
A clawed hand raced towards her face, Lily swung up and parried the blow away, then freed a hand from her sword and raised it across, blocking the fist that would have otherwise struck her jaw. With a wince, she felt her arm protest the strike, likely only her mana burst at the last second which stopped the fist from breaking her arm.
She stepped forwards and swung across.
Akal jumped away from her attack, which threw her body into the back of Mash and shunted the girl towards the ground, bringing her leg up and pressing it down onto the shoulder of the girl and kept her there, using Mash and a springboard to shoot her body to the side, vanishing like a blur.
Lily tracked her movement and swung, gold peeled from her sword like a crescent, passing through empty air as it missed entirely. Her world slowed, her eyes turned and started to widen as Akal closed in from the low right, fist already coiled backwards and pushing forwards.
She was too slow.
It was going to catch her.
A white blur crashed into the side of Akal, Lily had a fraction of a second to realise that Akal had been tackled by Queen Marie before she understood the chance for what it was.
Akal stumbled, then swung down-
Pink light exploded from the arms of Marie, an explosion of magical energy at point blank range threw Marie clear of the dragon while they stumbled backwards and coughed rather loudly, shaking their head before turning themselves to face her.
Lily twisted about and stepped forwards, it might have been a bit odd for her, but she had been shown how to throw a proper punch.
Mana channelled through her arm and shoulders, her entire body twisted with her left arm as it swung forwards, her knuckles connected with the cheek of Akal, just below her right eye before the mana exploded forwards, the crack of air heralded the dragon woman's head snapping backwards as she stumbled backwards for a couple of steps, head still aimed for the sky.
Akal said nothing.
Slowly, her head lowered down and she rolled her jaw from side to side before moving her hand up, touching the mark just beneath her eye and pulling her fingers away after a couple of seconds of prodding what was doubtless going to bruise.
'Lily.' Her Masters voice rang through her head a second later. 'Sorry for the silence, but I'll do my part here. Same with everyone else, I've been watching how Akal fights, she's holding herself back for the most part, it gives us a chance.'
She kept her expression even as she prepared herself, glancing left and right towards Mash.
'I've got a plan. If you and Marie can block her against Lord Chaldeas, then you can use your Noble Phantasm and hit her with it. Mash is strong enough to take the blow, aren't you?'
A beat, then a response from Mash. 'I can, Senpai.'
'Knew it. We've brought Stahl down for reinforcements if you need it, but we're keeping him on standby at the moment…alright. Marie, mount up and start flanking around, keep whittling away with spear and magic attacks. Lily, look for those openings that Marie creates and use them to drive her backwards. Once Mash is in position, use Caliburn and Lord Chaldeas at the same time. Make sure that Marie doesn't lose momentum.'
Lily internally nodded.
Her legs shifted and her body leaned forwards, angling herself and narrowing her eyes.
Akal seemed in no rush, but there was little reason for them to be.
Thus far, they had dominated the battle.
But Lily was counting on that overconfidence to cause them to be careless.
Akal angled her neck until it cracked, then started to walk forwards once again and called out to them. "Finished with your planning?"
Lily made a strong effort to avoid betraying her emotions.
"You don't need to say anything, it's fairly obvious…still…I'm game."
The woman hunched forwards, arms wide and a bloodthirsty grin upon her lips.
Lily dropped forwards, then pressed off the ground with a singular burst of mana, the ground shattered underfoot as she rocketed forth, body low to the ground and angled as far forward as she dared, the speed increased further as she was upon Akal within a second, yet the woman was already prepared.
'Dirt.'
The single word from her Master was all the instruction she needed.
Her sword swung across, though rather than aiming for the dragon, it instead crashed through the ground before the blade erupted with light, the explosion of gold catapulted a cloud of grass and mud into the space between the two of them, Lily pressed off the ground and to the side.
A ball of fluorescent pink shot over her shoulder and bulldozed through the haze, a grunt and then an explosion, she watched Akal take a step backwards with an arm raised and a frown on her face, the concentrated ball of magical energy having been a suitable distraction.
Lily charged in the wake of the attack, her muscles bulged as they filled with as much magical energy as she could pour into them. Sweeping her sword across and striking it into the chest of the Servant, they blasted back with an explosion, Lily chased them down and reversed her grip, swinging across from the other side and striking them once more.
Another step forwards and a thrust, it caught the raised forearm and sank an inch into flesh. Lily stepped forwards and pushed up, driving the arm above their head and bringing her leg up, striking them with a kick and pushing themselves backwards, not a moment too soon as Akal recovered and went for a grab.
Or rather, tried to.
The hefty gallop of hooves, Marie barrelled them over with the glass horse, Akal rolled beneath the hooves and onto her back, shooting back up and turning towards her, just in time for Lily to slam a kick into the bridge of her nose and drive her further backwards.
She brought the sword across once more.
Akal blocked the slash, an orb of pink caught them in the shoulder and earned a flash of irritation or bemusement. The lack of pain aside, the reaction was more the physical jostling that it earned, and it was enough for Lily to stomp down hard on the foot of Akal with a burst of mana, the explosion stumbled them further backwards.
A thrust, they caught her sword in their hand.
Akal swung her free hand out, unleashing a stream of flames and intercepting the next flash of light from Marie. Caliburn sang and burned a streak of light from the blade, swinging down and slashing open the fingers of the Servant, pulling the sword from their grasp in the process.
She turned and swung downwards, driving the sword into the kneecap of Akal, then stepped upwards and drove her shoulder into Akal's chest with a burst of mana, it shunted the dragon backwards and into the air.
Lily stepped backwards and to the side, Marie shot past her and rolled the dragon down once more, the slam of their body against the front of the horse and then it jerked to a stop, sending the Caster ragdolling forwards before they resumed momentum, spear held at the forefront. The tip struck Akal in the shoulder, force pushed her back into the mud and dragged her through the earth, her body carving a trench.
Marie pulled the spear clean and made a sharp turn.
Lily had followed behind every step of the way, in the instant that it looked like Akal was in the midst of getting up, she was already there.
'Heroine X says, Saber Home run.' That was the advice from her Master and her second teacher.
It sounded good enough for her.
She pulled Caliburn across, the sword hummed with magical energy before rushing off the blade in a jet of light, Lily skipped to a halt and swung the sword forwards in a move more like swinging a club, it didn't sit right with her to use Caliburn so clumsily…but the results spoke for themselves.
The results being Akal getting struck under the chin with the flat of the blade and being knocked through the air with that single swing.
"Lord Chaldeas!"
A cry from Mash, the shield expanded and like a dart, Akal struck the dead centre of the shield and jerked to a stop, a gasp escaped the Servant as the slid down.
Lily held the sword before her, grasped with both hands and kept her eyes narrowed.
She pulled it back, funnelling more and more magical energy into the blade.
This was it.
This was the deciding blow.
…She really hoped they didn't die from this.
"Sword of Selection."
Caliburn exploded with a dazzling display of golden gleam.
"Grant me your power to cleave the wicked!"
She stepped forwards, pulling the sword back and aiming the tip towards the dragon woman, still pulling themselves up and stopping as they caught sight of what was happening. Akal's hands exploded with fire in the next instant, but it was not to retreat.
Instead, Akal took a step forwards and thrust her palms forwards, throwing out the wave of fire towards her.
Lily thrust forwards.
"Caliburn!"
The sword answered.
It's power flooded out from the blade as a streak of light, burning forth and piercing through the cloud of flames as they approached, a hole opened clean through the inferno and through to the other end, Lily did not see the blow land, but she knew it had to. The lights shimmered from behind the wall of flames, then surged outwards.
Dozens of small bubbles of light exploded from the point of contact, ripping the fires asunder and leaving nothing but the burning glimmer of the swords power behind, she could vaguely see the silhouette of Akal flung back against the shield, but that barely lasted until it was obscured totally by the light.
Lily stepped backwards, bringing up a free hand to block out the light, waiting for a few seconds before lowering it again.
Wetting her lips, her eyes scanned the cloud of dust before her, searching for any sign of movement or counterattack.
Seconds passed.
For a human, it might have been fine.
For a Servant? An eternity.
Then a rather loud cough, slightly strained as well.
A shape stumbled forwards, Lily tensed only for the figure to raise their hands in a show of surrender.
Akal stood before her, the right side of her body looking lightly cooked with bits of skin peeling away. From the right side down, she saw the burn marks where the Caster had raised her arm to block the attack, spreading from the forearm and up the shoulder.
A queasy sight to be sure, but that was not what made her feel so uneasy about it. Especially as the dragon woman stalked forwards.
It was how little damage had actually been done.
It was a Noble Phantasm, her trump card.
And it looked like Akal had caught a bad case of sunburn than anything remotely deadly.
If this had been a fight for real…
"I think that counts as a deciding blow…" Akal gestured to her right side, holding a lopsided smirk before she rolled her left arm. "...I can't feel anything from my shoulder down…not sure I can move my right arm either. So yes…You have bested me."
Akal grinned as best as she could manage, then raised a thumb. "Nice, little Arty."
As relieved as Lily felt about all of that, there was a single thing that bothered her.
"...Little Arty?"
"Ah. I know your big self." Akal replied, then paused and looked at her with squinted eyes. "Your…bigger self."
…Why did she get the feeling they weren't just talking about age?
But…she won.
No, she and her friends won.
They won.
It started as a smile and blossomed into a grin before she could help it, thrusting her free hand into the air. "We won! Mash, Queen Marie! We won! We did it!"