For want of a Grail

by fangsla

This will be a story about Mario Mario and his master Cu Chulainn going around during the murder death kill not my story just posting it here after author abandoning the quest it a male master that enter a alternate 5th grail war more than 7 servants and masters tags au harem evil mc villain protagonist genderswap such as shiro no mc lemon

16. Chapter 14: Nobu Takes the Spotlight! D3

Chapter 14: Nobu Takes the Spotlight! D3P3

You continued to watch the roughhousing for a bit longer, but Tharja and Kiyohime's fight quickly bored you. It quickly became a fight for dominance which neither were going to win anytime soon. In spite of that you tried to keep your interest up, but soon enough you found yourself walking off.

You had offered up the idea in your head to go see Olga or Lucia… But after hurting Olga and scaring Lucia, how could you look them in the eyes so soon? Really it was a blessing those two degenerates had been fighting,

You had to redeem yourself. Somehow, in some way. How you'll do that well… You'll have to figure it out later… Hmm?

You felt something weird flow through your body. Fatigue? Yes… Fatigue, it flooded through your body all of a sudden… Your body began to feel heavy, you felt like you were dying.

And then.

Thirty Minutes Later

Your first sight was the wall, "What in the hell…" Utterly confused you lift yourself up as you try to look around the hallway for what happened. As you stepped forward you hear a splash. Looking down you saw… Blood.

Your blood. In response to the sight you quickly activate all contracts that would affect your healing processes. You feel a hole next to your stomach close causing you to look down and see a hole through your shirt, a rather large one.

Did someone fucking stab you? Wait a minute… Is someone attacking you? If they were why didn't they just kill you while you were passed out… Hmm… Well someone had to cause that wound…

Ah, speak of the devil! Your contracts with the wind activate as you feel an outline of a human female preparing an attack behind you. You couldn't make out the details, but the shape of the body told you that the one behind you was… Well endowed to say the least.

Alright… Just gotta take advantage of your foreknowledge…

Three…

Two.

One!

DODGE!

Rolling to the side you barely make out two sources of mana fly past. A Caster? Your wound definitely felt like someone stabbed you… Turning around and… That's definitely not the wear you'd associate with a Caster! Damn… That body though, and a redhead too! You'd be in love if she wasn't trying to kill you!

Summoning forth Gae Bolg you prepare to strike for her torso but all you see remaining are golden lights fading… Really entering spirit form mid fight? You couldn't help but say, "For a Saber you're acting like quite the coward!"

A stab right beside your heart, she would've struck true, but you used the wind to direct her attack to a non fatal area. With it sufficiently dug into your flesh you activate more contracts to keep the blade stuck in your body. "Are you sure you aren't an Assassin?" You say as you bring your leg up while she struggles to rip her blade out of you.

Doing a quick kick to her face while maneuvering yourself away from her there was now a distance between the servant and her blade. With the sword stuck in your chest, you're certain that the servant in front of you is in fact, not a Saber. The blade should've at least stung even if it was a weaker Saber.

Then you felt mana be sucked in towards the blade… Nevermind you needed this thing out of you now! Pushing the sword out of your body you rush the woman as the sword let's out another blast of mana. Thankfully due to your quick thinking the blast didn't hit you.

Striking downwards with Gae Bolg you find yourself flatfooted as the woman side steps you and grasps your spear. You tried to overpower her but quickly found yourself without a weapon. "Well that's not fair…" You 'complain' as you ready your contract with Gae Bolg.

"I thought I might as well try it for myself." She cheekily says as she throws your spear behind her. You can't help but be confused why she did that. But before you could question her action further a fist meets your face.

Okay, so she might be a bit of a threat!

Preparing to strike back you summon forth Gae Bolg but as you go to strike you see the woman nonchalantly walk towards her sword before picking up and causing it to disappear. Is she surrendering or something? Stuck in your stance ready to attack her you watch the woman look at you like you were an idiot, "You sure you want to continue? I mean I don't mind, but you barely took that punch to the face!"

"Huh?"

A Few Minutes Later

So apparently what happened wasn't someone trying to kill you… It was just a Celt being a fucking Celt. Sometimes you hate your heritage... Especially your relation to your dog of a servant. Like yeah, you like fighting every once and a while… But you really fucking hate the stupid sneak attack bullshit!

Lancer did it to you for so long that you got used to having contracts up at all times to prepare for someone randomly attacking you because Lancer would 'spar' with you so often! You really have slipped! You should've noticed the servant in front of you the moment she left her spirit form!

However, while you had gotten a bit of information about the redheaded servant such as her being a Rider servant, her being Celtic like you, that her master was actually Ayako of all people, and that she wasn't trying to kill you… "Okay then what was with that first attack against me?" You asked with annoyance.

The Rider laughed nervously before responding with, "Honestly… I thought you'd have dodged it. When I saw you fall flat on the floor I worried for a moment that I killed you, but I noticed you were still breathing so I just waited for you to wake up." You gave her a blank look for her response.

That only gave you more questions, "Okay… Then why did you continue to attack me if you were that worried that you could've killed me?"

The endowed woman had a moment of realization as she happily answered with, "Oh that's easy! I was fascinated with how quickly your wound healed after you woke up. At that point I just couldn't pass up the fight! Though afterwards it became rather obvious that while you are skilled and a quick thinker, that you don't have much experience fighting."

Clench your teeth Will… Just clench your teeth… You've dealt with Lancer for years, you can deal with this broad. Clearing your throat you say, "Uh-Huh… I'm certain that you would've realized if we had continued that you would've been the loser."

She smirks at the statement, "Oh I'm certain… Though I wouldn't mind going for another round, if not just to impart some… Worldly experience. So, what do you say?" Her sword appears in her hands once more, and you can't lie. Your blood was pumping for another bout.

However, before you could accept someone ran around the corner.

"Rider? William! What happened? I heard smashing from downstairs! Did those assassins attack you?" Were the panicked words that left Ayako's mouth as the two of you turned towards her. With the change of perspective the mess you two made of the hallway came to light…

You feel yourself sweating as you quickly say, "Uh… No, just a friendly talk between… New friends…" It strained you a lot to let those words out.

Rider lets out an affirmative hum as she walks past you to her master before embracing Ayako. Though the way she did it caused her master to suffocate in between her bosom. The poor girl blushes wildly beneath the fleshy pillows as she looks up to her servant.

Giving Ayako some space and the ability to breathe, Rider says, "I'm glad that you're better Ayako, you looked like you could barely hold on earlier today. But you did it, you've survived, you should feel proud!" The Master's blush got worse due to the praise expressed by her servant.

It takes her a moment but Ayako stutters out the words, "I-I r-really did n-nothing! I-If it w-weren't for y-you and W-Wiliam I'd be d-dead by now!" Well… She's not wrong? It was really just pure luck that you happened to come across her when you were in a 'better' mood.

Though obviously saying that aloud was a bad idea, "Well Ayako, as you mentioned to me earlier you didn't even know what the Holy Grail was until I told you. So you managed to survive what? Two days completely on your own? Against Masters who have likely prepared for months if not years in advance for this war? A pair already got wiped off the map yet you survived. That's something to be proud of!"

The Rider gives a thumbs up towards your words, causing your eyes to twitch uncontrollably. She's really just going to act like she didn't JUST attack you isn't she… Whatever… Turning her attention back to her master she continues to give encouraging words, "You just need to keep your chin up Ayako! As long as you do that I'm certain you'll be fine!"

You can't help but find the attempt at comfort laughable. It was like a mother trying to comfort her children before their imminent demise. However, you keep such thoughts to yourself for now.

You understand the methodology behind her actions as fruitless as they are. If Ayako gives up all hope, she has no chances either… Though maybe she actually believes her own words.

You can't tell if she's being genuine honestly. You're just assuming she isn't.

With Ayako cheered up, the insane servant calmed down, and you no longer being murdered… What to do, what to do?

It took you a moment to think of something, but you eventually settled with, "Actually if you don't mind me asking…" Pausing for a moment allows you to grab the attention of the two women in front of you.

With the focus now all on you, you ask, "I would like to know about the events that transpired since you summoned your servant. You were attacked multiple times right? Meaning you should have some info on our fellow competitors, right?" You took up a polite tone, despite your pride demanding you to command the info out of them.

However, there was a reason why you were playing nice. Ayako had mentioned a saber, a berserker, and assassins that had all attacked her. You wanted to know more…

Now just answer the question Ayako! Then you can leave and pretend nothing in the past hour has happened! Sadly Ayako didn't seem too keen on answering… In response to your query she began to sink in on herself as the memories of the past thirty-six hours surfaced in her mind.

The redheaded servant went from enthusiastic to solemn as Ayako slowly got closer and closer to the floor. You heard her let out a whimper when she finally fully reached the floor, as if she was afraid at any moment someone would kill her.

"Ayako?" You stupidly ask.

That just causes her to collapse in on herself more… "Has this happened before?" You ask the servant, not really expecting an answer. She shakes her head no in response as she gets on her knees to help her master up.

Though Ayako refuses to cooperate with her servant as she continues to shrink in size, now fully curled up in a ball. It became very difficult to stop yourself from laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Then she started crying, and you started feeling bad. She was just… So pitiable…

You were about to help the servant in getting her master up, but before you could act the servant began speaking, "Ayako… You can relax now… You no longer have to survive... You can live again, as yourself… What need is there for tears now?" She gently pulled Ayako out of her shell, bringing the tear-stained face of the young girl into view.

Watching the servant at work you were surprised by her 'motherly aura'. It provided a natural sense of comfort to even you, and it seemed to work on Ayako. Finally standing up the girl hastily wiped her tears away. Yet with her vision cleared of tears, she still struggles to look into your eyes for a moment.

Obviously ashamed with how she just acted, Ayako tries to collect herself. It took her a small while, but after a few minutes Ayako finds it within her to face you. The stream of tears still fresh on her face she shallowly asks, "I-I…. I would… Rather not…."

Well shit.

Sighing to yourself you try again, "Ayako I understand that you're… A bit traumatized, from what happened to you... But knowing what happened could help us both!" You take notice of the Rider servant subtly placing herself between you and Ayako.

The frightened girl backs up, tears renewing around the corners of her eyes, "I-I can't! Every t-time I think about it… It's like I'm going to d-die… Please just drop this! I just want to forget what happened!" The redheaded servant was now fully in front of her master.

You take a second to think. You guess you don't need the finer details as much as you would love them. Very well, any further pushing would likely damage your relationship with Ayako, and you aren't ready to make such a sacrifice yet… "Fine, feel free to forget every little bit of trauma you suffered. However, can you at least tell me about the servants you've seen?"

Ayako looked ready to protest and so did her servant, but you held your hand before they could say anything. You sigh before saying, "You don't need to give me any details beyond the servant's appearance, abilities, and class! You can keep everything else to yourself!"

Ayako renews her protest but her servant is the one to stop her this time, "I can give you that information. There's no need to stress my master out like this…" You hear Ayako mutter her thanks to Rider.

Walking forward the redheaded servant reaches out her hand as she says, "Though… Before I do so I'd like some assurances. While I am grateful for your hospitality towards my master, and while I'm certain that you don't intend us harm… I'm not entirely certain that we can trust you…" Her tone was cautious.

"Huh?" Ayako says in bewilderment.

So that's how it is… For a while you truly believed your 'fight' was just a Celt being a Celt… But at this point it's too obvious, the Rider was testing you. Tch, if she was just the dumb warrior type like your servant you'd be annoyed but able to deal with it… But this woman is surprisingly shrewd, also stronger than you physically.

It's hard to look at someone who gave such a bad first impression to you as an equal, if not superior… Yet, for now… You'll have to give her some respect. "State your terms…" You say with a cold tone. Your posture and face turned to stone as you prepare for a battle of wits.

Yet the servant continues to surprise you, she starts laughing, "No need to get so serious! I just want some certainty on my master's safety! I'm willing to do an exchange of sorts if that would make you more amicable to the idea…"

You'll hear her out at the very least.

Nodding your head the servant makes an affirmative noise as she says, "Thank you. I much prefer talking to someone when we're on equal footing, and right now I'm certain that you may feel that this 'deal' is favored to me… So as a show of trust, I'll give you my true name as a servant." Huh?

Obviously Ayako was just as confused, "HUH! Rider! You were the one who told me that it was important to keep your name a secret! Why are you so willing to give it away now!"

Rider sighs as she stretches her hand out further, "I already know your name William, so let me give you mine. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you don't recognize it, I am Boudica. I hope that we can continue to work amicably for the duration of the Grail War."

You take the now named Boudica's hand before shaking it. At the very least you are intrigued, "Very well… So what do you have in mind for this… Exchange?"

Boudica lights up due to your cooperativeness as she says, "I'm willing to tell you everything I know on the three servants we faced so far, but I want you to ensure Ayako's survival for the duration of the war."

You and Ayako stare at Boudica strangely as she turns her head in shame, "Despite my determination to keep my master safe… I know that when compared to the average servant of this war that I am quite weak all things considered. Most of my skills and even my Noble Phantasm work best when assisting another servant, which…" Isn't particularly useful in a battle royale like the Holy Grail War, you're beginning to understand.

You also noticed that she isn't much stronger than you, and that if you had just activated the Eyes of Balor, the outcome of the fight would've been very different. Yet that doesn't change the fact that she is indeed stronger than you and even has skills that apparently can assist your own servants.

Meanwhile Ayako was beginning to understand her servant's worries yet despite trying to cheer her up, "Rider… No, Boudica. You've done so much to protect me… I can't thank you enough for everything you've done! I'm so sorry that you got stuck with me as your master!" She ends up bringing herself down in the process.

Boudica had already begun moving to deny her words. Yet before their pity party can continue you interject, "Enough with the waterworks, I swear you two are made for each other. If you're done feeling bad for each other, let's actually get things done."

Luckily the two women heed your words, Boudica turns back to face you as she coughs into her fist, "Y-Yes… Are you willing to agree to protecting Ayako for the duration of the war?"

You give a slow nod. Boudica clears her throat as she says, "Are you willing to form a Geas to confirm that…" Ah that's what she meant by certainty. Well even if you make one it's not like it'd matter. You could absolve it after a while with your mastery of contract magecraft. Not that she needs to know this.

You take a moment to look at Ayako forming the contract before turning back to Boudica and saying, "Done."

Both are confused at what happened, especially Ayako. She was feeling all over her body as if something had just touched her, while Boudica asked, "What did you do? I didn't see you form one…"

You explain with a flippant tone, "The Arathorn family are renowned for their contract magecraft. As one of the two remaining members I find it exceptionally rude that you'd doubt my ability. To form contracts one does not need written paper, just the confirmation of the soul after all. I merely bound Ayako's soul to mine, if she were to perish I would quickly follow."

Boudica is understandably frightened by such a concept. Though she isn't certain if you're being truthful until Ayako says, "So that's what this tugging sensation is? I thought… Y-You k-know w-what, I-I p-probably shouldn't s-say i-it, h-hehe…" What?

Letting out a sigh of relief Boudica begins speaking, "Alright. What do you want to know about those three servants…"

"Anything you can tell me." Was your response.

Boudica nods as she says, "A bit broad, but beyond one servant there isn't much for me to tell you." You raise your brow inquisitively at how she phrased that.

Before you could question what she meant, she began, "I'll start with Assassin. As they were the one I had fought for a prolonged period of time. It seems this war's Assassin is multiple servants, I'd say they are just as strong if not slightly weaker than me. We were attacked by three at once but I know that there are at least two others."

Hmmm so there really is an Assassin that is actually multiple servants at once? At least you have proper confirmation now instead of just hearsay. A terrifying ability, but they should've easily been able to kill Boudica if there were no caveats.

Boudica continued, "While the Assassins worked well together they simply lacked the tools and skills necessary to be a severe threat. It was only due to my failure to keep track of them that led to me being so severely injured. I know if I had to fight those three again, I'd beat them."

"So it really was my fault that you got injured…" Ayako once again was moping as she realized something.

Boudica was quick to deny the claims, "No that's not what I was saying! Ayako… You weren't responsible for me lowering my guard then, that was my fault. It almost cost you your life, in no way was it your fault!" While Boudica genuinely believed that, you have a feeling that Ayako likely did have a hand in Boudica being injured… Though obviously she didn't intend for Boudica to be harmed.

Clearing your throat you once again take their attention away from Ayako's misery and refocus the conversation to the point as Boudica says, "Forgive me… Anyways, beyond that Assassin isn't that special. I could see it potentially overwhelming a singular opponent like they did me, but otherwise I don't think they're too much of a threat unless there are way more Assassins."

Despite having run into rather weak servants so far, you have a feeling there is more to Assassin. You'll just have to wait and see for yourself if they're as weak as Boudica is making them out to be.

She proceeded onto the next servant, "Then there's Berserker… I honestly don't know who's more insane, her or her master."

Color yourself intrigued, "You've met the master of Berserker?"

Ayako and Boudica nod solemnly before Boudica continues, "Yes. While Berserker ended up being far stronger than me, in the end the bigger threat ended up being her master. For three hours Ayako and I were on the run from them. It was only due to having enough energy to use my Noble Phantasm that we managed to get away."

"They chased you for that long?" You asked with curiosity.

Boudica responds with, "Technically, no. We lost them multiple times, but the Master was always on our trail or one step ahead. It began yesterday evening after I convinced Ayako that staying at her home would've endangered her family. The master began attacking us the second she saw us on the edge of town."

Ayako started to look uncomfortable as Boudica talked about what happened. The two of you obviously took notice of Ayako's sudden change in demeanor. So sadly that means Boudica will have to go a little less on the details for this one. You'll deal with it though, "What does the Master look like?"

Boudica, catching on nods her head before saying, "Blonde hair with a very distinctive hairstyle, trust me you'd see her from a mile away. No-one else wears their hair like that. She also wore a blue dress, but I didn't catch any other details about her beyond her voice."

More than enough, if she has that distinctive of an appearance she'd be an easy find if you looked for her. Now, "What about the servant?"

Boudica takes a moment to think before saying, "She was surprisingly lithe for someone with that much muscle behind her. Trust me when I say she could easily overpower everyone in this mansion with her sheer strength, there was a reason why I chose to run from her instead of fight."

"Though must say that despite her status as a Berserker she seemed rather lucid. She wielded a pair of spiked balls and chains with a level of skill I'd never seen before. Though after the second hour of chasing us it became very apparent that she was indeed a Berserker when she began tearing up anything in between her and us." Finished Boudica.

By that description you began to wonder if Lancer could beat her? Maybe? You could definitely see it, but you have too little information about this 'lucid' Berserker to come to a proper judgment. You'll have to do some investigation on her and her master later, for now, "And the Saber? What about them?"

"I'm entirely aware of the Saber's identity." Boudica said with intense malice.

How interesting… Boudica didn't seem like the kind of woman to hate another person.

"The Saber I fought was the former emperor of Rome Nero Claudius… My tormentor in life, and now in my afterlife." Boudica grit her teeth as she said the name of the Emperor.

So personal history?

"I'm afraid to say with the exception of appearance I can't tell you much more than that. As I've never seen Nero fight, and our brief scuffle when I was initially summoned only told me that she was stronger than I." Spoke Boudica with shame.

You would've wished for more, but beyond the info of Nero, it was sufficient. "I must thank you for your cooperation Boudica, this information will certainly prove useful. I can actually plan around something now." Despite saying that you know you weren't actually going to plan anything.

"No. Thank you for allowing my master to have a safe place to stay." Boudica said in response.

Hmm despite your initial displeasure with the servant of the mount, you can't deny that you ended up satisfied with the interaction. "Well then, I hope you two have a good evening. I have some other things to attend to."

Waving goodbye to the Master and Servant you headed off.

After your talk with Ayako and Boudica you had continued to wander the halls aimlessly. By this point you had completely given up going to talk to Olga. So you don't really know what to do right now… It had been ten minutes since you left Ayako and her servant behind, yet despite saying you had 'much to do' it quickly became apparent…

That you don't…

Maybe you should've went out with Lancer or Medea and hunted some servants down… But for whatever reason you felt compelled not to, as if it wasn't worth your time. Though when your instincts act up like this, it's often in your best interest to listen to them.

So you just continued to walk around the mansion's outer hallways in a circle… And it was surprisingly relaxing! Though due to the path you took, you ended up walking past Ram who was cleaning up the mess you and Boudica made. She seemed really annoyed at the mess but she continues to clean without complaint.

As you pass her you start to make out sounds from around the corner… You hear gasps of surprise and… Celenike… What the fuck did you say to her earlier? As you sidle up to the corner you listen for the conversation between Celenike and whoever she was speaking to.

Much to your annoyance the voice you end up hearing was Mash's, "Miss Robin… Really did that? Then that means… Oh no… What William told me can't be true! No, no, no! There has to be some misunderstanding…"

You hear Celenike take a breath as she goes to respond but before she could, you turn the corner, "Hello Mash… Celenike…" Your malice for your maid became fully apparent as you said her name. Both girls shivered in fear as they looked at you.

"Now what did I tell you about talking about your… Escapades…" Were your next words.

Celenike takes a step back as she shakenly says, "To… Not to…" You nod in confirmation, she clearly understood what you meant. Made it all the more annoying that SHE DIDN'T LISTEN!

Giving a quick glare to Celenike you turn your attention to Mash as you say, "Now Mash… What did Celenike tell you?" The demi-servant looks ready to run away due to your harsh tone, but the Shielder servant stands strong despite her fears.

Her face becomes flushed as she thinks over what Celenike told her. With a shake of her head she finally answers you, "I-I… I couldn't! Just thinking about it is so embarrassing! I should've just left… But… But my curiosity took over…" That doesn't answer your question.

You repeat your demand, "Mash… What did Celenike tell you."

Under your glare Mash eventually cracked, "She told me… She told me about what you and Miss Robin did to her servant… And… Friend? Celenike didn't seem too certain about their relationship…" Honestly neither are you, but that's not what is important.

"How did you know about that Celenike?" You ask seriously, causing Mash to gasp from the lack of denial.

By this point Celenike had backed away to the point where she was behind Mash. "I don't know anything Master!" She denied.

Yet you have an obvious point on why she was lying, "Then why are you putting Mash between you and I?" Then she ran.

Celenike didn't get far. Only a few seconds after she started her sprint away she ended up hitting a brick wall… Or in this case a wall of air… Upon slamming her entire body into the invisible blockade she cried out in fear. Her reaction to the sudden impediment was to feel for the wall in front of her, once she realized it was 'invisible' she asks with fear, "W-What the hell?"

Quickly rising to her feet she slams her fist into the wall in annoyance. Once she realizes the futility of running, she puts her back to the wall as she looks at you in horror. What else did she expect? Like you'd let her get away…

Amused by Celenike's attempt at escaping punishment, you turn back to Mash. Her confusion was palpable, but instead of letting her figure out your trick you say, "Hey, Mash. Follow me." Mash listens to your demand.

The two of you approach the frightened Celenike, she continues to try and put as much distance between you two as possible. With nowhere to back away to, it didn't take much for you to grab Celenike.

With the gray-haired woman's arm firmly in your grasp you say, "I'm not mad Celenike… I'm disappointed… VERY… Disappointed…" In truth you were absolutely livid due to the lack of obedience… You just had to control yourself.

Now with Celenike unable to run away, you annulled your contract. You couldn't help but chuckle when Celenike fell flat on her ass once the wall disappeared. Alright enough playing around, time for business, "Now… How did you know about that…"

Celenike's face was drenched with sweat as she nervously said, "I simply peeked Master. I happened to be working nearby and heard the noises of passion! I couldn't prevent myself from taking a moment to watch Master and Lady Robin at work!" If that were true… Then why would she run? Much less deny that she saw anything?

You were going to question further but you heard groaning from behind you. Taking a moment to turn around you found poor Mash absolutely flushed in red… She looked like she was a second away from shutting down. With mirth you call out to the Shielder Servant, "Mash, get your mind out of the gutter."

Her response? "So it's my fault that you… You… You, it's… It's not my fault you're all… Degenerates… I never wanted to think about any of this!" Mash was in tears as she bemoaned her lost innocence. You try to pity her, but honestly you couldn't bring yourself to. It was too funny.

With your focus on Mash, Celenike attempted to take the opportunity to loosen your grip on her arm. Of course she failed, but you were really disappointed that she was still trying to run. You grip her arm harder before pulling her in to say, "Now Celenike. The truth. Tell me."

Celenike buckles under your gaze, "F-Fine… I'm certain you're not aware but this mansion has an advanced security system that Lady Robin had set up before your arrival. There is a room where you can see the live footage from the cameras set up around the mansion, us maids only know about it due to it being one of the rooms we need to clean out." So Robin was spying on you?

You and Mash are notably concerned by such a system, though such a revelation brings certain questions unto the forefront, "Cameras? I haven't noticed any within the mansion. Also why would there be a camera in Robin's room, there'd be no need for her to watch herself…" You got a pit in your stomach.

No longer fearing for her life, Celenike gives her thoughts, "From what I understand they were set up by a third party. However, that's all that Robin told us of the room, it doesn't seem like she uses it." Third party… And she doesn't use it?

You can't help but jump to a certain conclusion, but you aren't going to make assumptions. "Can you take us to this security room Celenike? I'll forget about your insubordination if you do so." You ask 'kindly', Celenike can't help but accept your demands.

Honestly, you didn't expect Mash to come with, but you have a feeling she came to the same conclusion. It took about five minutes to arrive at the 'security room', the door was no different than one leading to a bedroom, yet entering the room was very strange. Where the rest of the building had a rustic yet somewhat decrepit feel to it, this room opposed that feeling with its sleek futuristic interior.

Inside there were three terminals all showing the different floors of the mansions with the exception of the dungeon. Each of the terminals had a fancy chair that you swear you'd seen before, yet you couldn't put your finger on why they were so familiar.

Before committing to go inside you look to your two companions. Celenike seemed disgruntled that she had to reveal this room to you while Mash had frozen still.

You couldn't help but sigh to yourself, that was the nail in the coffin for you. Yet you still wanted the last bit of evidence, walking to one of the terminals you take a look at its side and sure enough…

There it was…

Marisbury's grubby mitts…

You honestly aren't surprised. Just disappointed. Any respect that remained for the Clocktower Lord was now finally gone, you understand why he did what he did. You both are Magus's after all, yet by this point you expected some trust between you two.

Did he not reach out to you? Did you not offer to help him as long as helped you? What made Marisbury Animusphere change his mind? What caused Marisbury Animusphere to lose faith in William Arathorn?

These are questions that you don't think will ever be answered… Or perhaps you didn't want them answered?

Regardless of your drama with the Clocktower Lord, you got the feeling that there was more to this room than you originally thought. There had to be, why else would it be so easy to find? Why leave identification behind for who made it? The more you think about it, the more it feels as if it was too easy…

Fuck it, you'll have to inquire the purpose of the room at a later date. Hopefully Robin can provide sufficient answers otherwise you'll be a bit more than mildly upset. Yet just as you were hoping to drop the subject Mash speaks up, "Was Chaldea working closely with Miss Robin? I know that she was contracted by Lord Animusphere to house you… But…"

Yeah this seems a bit more elaborate than a simple request to house a competitor in the Grail War… On top of that, why did Robin summon a servant? Disregarding the chance that she didn't have a choice in the matter… Dammit! You don't want more questions! You just want some fucking answers!

Whatever the fuck Robin and Animusphere are up to are not currently your top concerns… Was it something to worry about? Yes. Could you do anything about it at this moment? No. So instead of worrying about that.

You're going to worry about why the fuck was Celenike aware of this room, knew you didn't know of it, and didn't tell you? You really wanted to hear her excuses, honestly, "Celenike, why was I not made aware of this room?"

That also brought into question why Irisviel or Ram didn't tell you either… But thankfully Celenike would answer that question as well, "Well… Irisviel seemed certain you would investigate the mansion on your own terms. I and that bi-... Ram and I didn't care all too much about the room…"

There was a slight pause as a shine entered Celenike's eyes, "However, when I saw the activities you all were getting up to, it quickly turned into prime time entertainment!"

You and the demi-servant were left dumbfounded, "Huh?"

Celenike's cheeks became flushed as she happily explained, "I was tasked to clean up the dust in the Security Room yesterday morning and I got treated to the most wonderful sight! Master, Lady Olga, and Master's Caster all having some fun in bed!" Before you could say anything in response, Celenike went into extreme detail about what happened.

You couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, especially since at least when you told Mash, you gave her vague details with the intent to embarrass her. You didn't actually want her to know what you were doing with Olga, at least not yet.

So to watch Mash go from blushing like the virgin she was to mortified as every opinion she ever had of Olga came crashing down. Well, you had to put a stop to Celenike's ramblings.

"Enough Celenike… You… You don't need to remind me of what I already experienced, besides you're traumatizing poor Mash." Was your attempt to stop Celenike from delving deeper into the details of the previous morning.

Thankfully she stopped, but she seemed like a second away from delving back into the topic. However before she could start again, you had a question that came to mind, "How were you able to go into that much detail? It sounded as if you were right there with us with how you were describing it."

Celenike proceeds to speak without thinking, "Oh I figured out how to transfer the recordings onto a c… d…" She caught herself too late. Upon revealing her crimes for both you and Mash to see, you can't help but sigh in frustration.

Meanwhile Mash's reaction was way more animated, "WHAT!"

A deep seething rage radiates from the core of your person, but you hold back. Celenike has already dug her grave, if she wants to dig deeper more power to her. "Y-Y-You've been taping recordings of Olga and William's… I… I… I-Intimate acts! T-That has to be a breach of privacy!" Ah good ol innocent Mash.

Before Celenike can 'defend' her actions, you interrupt, "Where's the recordings Celenike?"

Much to your chagrin, your 'maid' does not tell you. However, you'll give her credit, she's smart enough not to tell you off either. Instead Celenike just stands there completely silent, like a child who stole something and didn't want to admit to it. In a sense you can respect it, but the fact that she's being petulant over recordings of YOU fucking YOUR lover is enough to bring you over the edge.

However, where previously you would've descended into a fit of rage before brutally beating or fucking Celenike you find yourself… Calm. Collected. Your mind is still clear, you think over Celenike's actions and you had to remind yourself that it wasn't like she was dedicating herself to spy on you or something.

No, you can figure out her intentions quite easily. Celenike is a simple creature. Much the same as you, you both are creatures of vice. The uncomplicated way of living by just listening to your desires. You can't really get mad at her for being a victim of her vices especially since you've done much worse because of your own.

But…

That doesn't change the fact about the hierarchy of this situation, you are at the absolute top and Celenike in this moment is at the absolute bottom. For her to do something behind your back like this is a sin of itself. However, you're a benevolent lord.

"Celenike, if you do not take me to your recordings within the next ten minutes… There will be hell to pay, at the very least soften your punishment by making up for the crime." You say with a dark tone. Mash was noticeably concerned with the situation upon hearing your words. The pink-haired girl gulps in anticipation expecting everything to go to shit real fast.

However, Celenike at least understands the situation she is in and won't make another mistake like going silent on you. "Celenike?" Right?

Too afraid to speak up, the gray-haired woman simply nods before making her way out of the room. You followed behind her, and not too far behind you was Mash. Why is she coming along? You didn't say she had to… Unless, little innocent Mash, ain't so innocent…

Nah, that's probably bullshit. Girl would probably faint on sight if she ever saw another man's dick. She's just too curious for her own good and is soon going to be traumatized. Perhaps you should tell her to run along elsewhere…

But in a moment of exceptional sloth, you find yourself not really caring if she comes with.

You choose to not say anything. If she wants to be traumatized that's her prerogative. Following behind Celenike for a bit longer you soon find yourselves outside the Maid's Quarters. Really… She hid it where both Ram and IRISVIEL COULD FIND IT!

Why didn't Irisviel ever tell… You remember what Celenike said earlier, about Irisviel thinking you would have investigated the mansion on your own… You really can't help but sigh in utter defeat… That woman places too much faith in you, you aren't omniscient.

Sighing to yourself you watch Celenike dig around under one of the unused beds before pulling out a food crate with about… You'd like to say five CD's… Some of them might be overlapping, but you can only make out five distinct disc's from your distance.

While you watched Celenike pull out the crate from afar Mash decided to walk up to woman. She takes the opportunity to look into the crate before whispering under her breath, "E-Eleven discs… Since we've entered the mansion… Olga and William have… Have… Have…" After that the girl shut down as her face became completely flushed in red.

"Not all of these discs are of Master and Lady Olga." Celenike says succinctly.

Hmmm… How much of this is Robin? How much of it is just Kiyohime masturbating? At least one, right? That girl is definitely the type to hide around a corner to masturbate to someone's presence.

Celenike takes her time sorting out the discs upon the bed before turning to you with a look of annoyance. However, despite her obvious disgruntlement she proceeds to tell you, "These two are of Master and Lady Olga. These three are of Lady Robin, her servant, and Master. This one is of me and Master. This one is of Master and his servant Caster. Then these two are of Lady Robin, her servant, and that gloomy woman. These two are just Lady Robin's servant."

Hmm interesting. So Robin was having her own fun then… What about Kiyohime then? You kind of want to see what they were up to now… But taking a second to look at Mash… Maybe it isn't the best idea…

The poor girl was on the fritz, she looked like she was moments away from breaking down and crying.

So… What to do about those discs…

You walk up to the discs and pick out the bottom one of the pile that was supposedly you and Olga. Looking over to Celenike you ask, "I'm assuming you have somewhere to watch these… Preferably somewhere close by of course."

"W-Wiliam!" Mash says in utter horror as she comes back to reality.

"What?" Was your response.

The demi-servant shakes uncontrollably while stuttering out, "W-Why are you… That's… That's Olga! Aren't you two in a relationship! Why would you do such a thing?"

You raise a brow in response. So what if you two are in a relationship, don't most people nowadays send nudes to each other? How would watching you and your lover having sex be any worse than that?

So you say, "And?"

Mash tries to come up with a rebuttal, and for a moment she looked confident enough to argue against your simple retort. Yet just as quickly as she gained confidence she lost it, "I. I give up…" Okay?

Ignoring the solemn Mash, you ask Celenike, "So Celenike, do you have a place where you can watch these?"

Celenike responds with some confusion as she says, "Uh, yes… Follow me."

So you do so. Yet for whatever reason, Mash continues to follow you, "Hmm? Thought you'd be too embarrassed to come with, I guess your curiosity is too great. To be fair, I think pursuing Olga is a great idea, but personally between you and me. I don't think she's a lesbian."

Mash sputters at your sudden words, "W-What?! I-I'm… It's… It isn't like that! I… I just want to make sure you weren't taking advantage of Olga… That's all." Very convincing.

Though you're pretty sure she isn't lesbian… Mash, not Olga. You are very certain Olga isn't, for obvious reasons. Mash on the other hand? Maybe? You… Honestly, you don't know anything about her beyond that she's Olga's servant and that she had some sort of relationship with Ro… Romani? Romani, yeah that's his name.

So instead of worrying about Mash's sexuality you continue to follow your 'maid'. Leaving the Maid's Quarters behind the three of you walk past three doors before stopping at a fourth one.

The door seems to lead to a… Storage closet? Before you could ask what the room was Celenike opens the door and yes it was indeed a storage closet. Repurposed into a personal viewing room it seems.

There were two things to note about the room. While it was indeed a storage closet, everything storage related was removed. There were no boxes, no shelves, nothing. Instead there was a small desk at the end of the closet with a television on top of the dvd player.

"I'm only going to ask this once Celenike, was this closet empty when you moved that TV in here?" You question coldly.

Instead of getting fearful Celenike nods her head as she responds with, "Yes. Only the closet next to the Maid's Quarters is in use. So, I repurposed this room since it was sufficiently far away for… Certain activities~..." Considering her lewd expression, you could easily guess what she meant.

Nodding your head in response, you say, "Alright, then. I'll obviously be asking Irisviel later to confirm that, but I'm going to put my trust in your words for now… Now, let's see…" You go to insert the cd into the dvd player, yet before you could…

"Wait!"

Oh great what now?

Unsurprisingly the one who was yelling was Mash… The poor girl was shivering like she was in the middle of a blizzard. What's the issue now? She looks like she's a second from running off. Is she really going to pussy out at the last second?

Eh, you won't blame her if she does... Though you might mock her. However, instead of running out Mash attempts to stay. "Can… Can you give me a second… I-I need to… Pr-Prepare myself…" Mash stutters out pathetically.

You and Celenike give Mash a pair of judging looks for her rather pathetic state. Though Mash pays no heed to your glares as she quickly collects herself by slapping her face with both of her hands.

With a deep breath Mash leaves behind her previous quivering self as she gains an aura of confidence. Though that confidence is belied by her face that is fully flushed in embarrassment.

"Alright… I can do this…" Mash whispers to herself

Why is she acting like you and Olga having sex is such an ordeal? The damn voyeur already saw you two going at it before, or at the very least the outcome of it. So why is she so determined to see more of it, you aren't going to believe the 'I'm making sure you aren't taking advantage of her' schtick.

However, is it really that she's curious? The girl seemed to basically be a saint. One of those goody two shoes types that'd be eternal virgins, not because of their lacking ability, but because they'd rather remain chaste. You don't understand her thought process at all, is she really just that curious about sex? Or is it something else…

Well… Only one way to find out.

Walking up to the TV you take a few seconds to insert the CD into the DVD player. It was a bit clunky and you never had such technology in the manor. However, you're proud to say you're a quick learner.

Yet after turning on the television the screen stays black. Did you fuck something up? While you were wondering what was wrong Celenike walked up to the TV before pulling out a remote. Then she changed the input of the TV, and there we go. So you weren't being an idiot, you were just missing something. That's good.

Celenike proceeded to navigate some menus and then the strangest scene appeared. You expected a distant camera angle that wouldn't give much detail of either you or Olga. Yet the current scene on the Television was the paused visage of Olga's naked back.

"Hmm?" Was your response to the sight, it was rather surprising after all.

Celenike gains an annoying look of superiority as she says, "Just a sample of my own personal Magecraft." Not that impressive all things considered… Although all of a sudden Mash wasn't looking so confident.

You were rather excited since you came to the quick conclusion that this was when Olga was 'taking' care of you during your sleep… So... What kinky shit did Olga Marie Animusphere get up to while you were conked out?

While you may have been excited for the viewing, Mash instead had a look of concern. Before Celenike pressed play Mash had seemed ready to say something. But as soon as the moans of your lover came through the speakers of the television any thoughts Mash had came to an end.

The 'camera angle' zoomed out giving a better view of the current scenario, and sure enough there was your sleeping form underneath Olga. Speaking of, the white-haired woman had both her hands on your stomach as she lifted herself up and down on your cock.

Mash couldn't believe it, "Wh… Wha… WHAT!"

Wait… Did she actually believe you were taking advantage of Olga or some shit? You turn your attention away from the sight of your lover as you look at the horrified Mash. She seemed to be muttering something under her breath. Taking a few steps towards the girl you take the moment to wrap your right arm around her shoulders.

Mash stiffened under your grasp. Her muttering stops as she looks up to you with complete terror in her eyes. The way she stopped breathing the second she realized it was you who 'embraced' her told you all you needed to know. Mash Kyrielight feared you.

You let a soft smile take over your face. At this moment the moans of the video and of Celenike are of no importance to either of you. "What are you so scared about?" You ask genuinely.

"N-Nothing." She says as she looks away from you.

Internally sighing to yourself, you keep up the pleasant persona as you say, "Then why are you so concerned about Olga and I's relationship? I honestly didn't believe your concern for our relationship was your reason for following me until this moment. So what's the issue, tell me."

The two of you stood there in complete silence… Well relative silence, at this point Celenike was full on masturbating on her knees to the video. It was hard to ignore her, but you both did so despite the difficulty.

Mash's face takes the image of guilt as she says, "The Director's daughter is so different when she's around you…"

"Hmm?" You ask genuinely.

"Olga always had the appearance of a prim and proper magus within Chaldea. I thought for sure she took pride in her duties within the organization yet ever since I've met you she's completely different. It's like I've never known who Olga was… So… I assumed it was your fault…" Mash elaborated.

"At first I didn't think much of it, you just seemed like good friends. And I did remember you from your initial visit to Chaldea so I just decided that maybe it was a side of the Director's daughter I hadn't seen. It was refreshing, but I quickly got concerned… And…" She closes her mouth and takes a gulp.

She then continues, "I'm sorry I didn't entirely forgive you after our argument. After what you said I was trying to come up with any excuse for why you were evil… To get you away from Olga, but now I can't really deny it… You two actually love one another don't you."

As if to completely ruin the mood the roar of climax from Olga happened to play just after she said that. You make out the twitch of her brow as the moan is let out for all to hear. Letting out a slight chuckle you say, "I'm not entirely surprised but I genuinely thought you were above such a thing. Guess everyone makes their mistakes on occasion."

You turn your attention back to the video as you see the footage of Olga happily sucking your dick, pulling her tongue all over your length before the you in the video unconsciously came. After the scene you feel a tap on your waist, "You don't mind if I leave do you… I might understand now that your relationship is genuine… B-But…"

You understood completely, you let her go as she ran out. Promptly not even a second later you hear a squeak. Turning around you find that Mash had knocked over… Kiyohime?

When did she get here?

"I'm so sorry!" Mash worriedly yelled out as she helped up the Berserker servant. She hadn't intended to knock over Kiyohime, but that was rather obvious. What wasn't obvious on the other hand was why Robin's servant was even here…

Based on her location you can safely say that the servant had been watching you all from behind the door this entire time. Yet… When did she get there? You didn't bring up the issue as you didn't want to involve Mash… Since you might have to do some… Extracurricular activities she would not be fond of…

Wait. Why are you being careful with your words in your own head? Nobody in this room can read minds.

"Are you ok?" Were Mash's words to Kiyohime after she didn't get any response from the servant.

Standing up to dust off her kimono, Kiyohime's face became disgruntled as she said, "Hmph. If a slight tap to the head was enough to hurt me I wouldn't be a worthy wife for Anchin-sama!"

While Kiyohime went on her spiel Mash simply tilted her head in confusion as she asked again, "You're okay then?"

Instead of audibly responding, Kiyohime nods her head, and due to the pleasant news Mash begins to smile. "Alright. Have a nice evening, I'm really sorry about that!" Was Mash's response as she ran off to god knows where.

Kiyohime seemed annoyed with the demi-servant but she didn't say anything. In fact she began making her way away from the room as fast as possible… That little bitch is trying to run away at the last second!

As Kiyohime walks away you make out sweat rolling down the side of her face. You yell out to her, "Hey, Kiyohime. Why are you running off so fast?" Your mirth was very apparent in your tone.

Kiyohime on the other hand did not share in your 'good' humor as she promptly ran off. Of course you were right on her trail and despite her surprising burst of speed, you were faster.

It took you only two seconds to clasp your hand onto her left shoulder forcing her to stop in her tracks. Glaring at the Berserker servant she meets your gaze with pure fear. Yet she still attempted to remove herself from your grasp.

The servant's face becomes flushed, in her shame she whispers under her breath, "Please no… Anchin-sama… Help me…" After those last words, her struggles finished as she stills.

Chuckling to yourself you give Kiyohime a hard truth, "Even if Robin was here, I honestly doubt she'd help you…"

The girl stiffened under your grasp, "Liar."

"Hmm?" You hum out.

Then your hand began to feel very hot… What the fu-! "LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR, LIAR, LIAR!" Yelled out Kiyohime as she began to beat against your chest with tears in her eyes and rage in her heart.

Her body became that of a bonfire, while warm and comforting you knew that standing so close to an open flame was a dangerous gambit. Her fists hammered into your chest, what once was barely above human, her strength was now what you'd expect from a low level servant. By that you mean that her fists actually hurt.

She did not stop her pitiful assault as she yelled out, "ANCHIN-SAMA LOVES ME! ANCHIN-SAMA LOVES ME!"

If you let her have her tantrum any longer she might actually start hurting you for real. As she slammed her hands once again into your chest you take the opportunity to grip both of her wrists. Unable to put up a fight her anger became sorrow. Soon enough the servant began weeping in your arms.

Rolling your eyes to the pathetic display you walk Kiyohime over to the storage closet only to enter upon Celenike reaching climax. Your face was completely blank, you know that she wouldn't have been of much help against Kiyohime's mental breakdown….

BUT SHE DIDN'T EVEN SEEM TO NOTICE WHAT WAS HAPPENING!

Grumbling to yourself you enter the room with the crying servant in hand. Even Olga's bewitching body from behind the screen wasn't enough to bring a smile to your face. Looking down on the panting maid and then towards the weeping Berserker… You got an idea…

It was a stupid idea… But it would be something nice and quick…

Hmm… Though it might not work, you aren't certain if Celenike has a camera or not. However, if she does. Maybe it's time to see her skill with one. Like seriously just watching the footage from here you can tell she did good work with her magecraft. How well would she do if she had full control of the camera?

Thankfully Kiyohime here offered herself up as your victim. Of course if you do go through with this idea you'll have to send such footage to Robin as well. Just as an apology for touching her things… Aka your soon to be things.

Hmm… To be or not to be. It is indeed a question…

Actually, is William Shakespeare a servant? What kind of Noble Phantasm would he have? You've never really read his works but you'd assume it would relate to one of them…

You're getting distracted. Focus you bastard.

After pushing the servant into the corner of the room so that she can weep in peace, you make your way to Celenike. As soon as you reach the still masturbating woman, you kick her head with your foot. "OW! What the hell!" She shouted in pain.

"I was going to try and call out for you… But I thought against it." You said with faux melancholy.

"SO THAT MEANS KICK MY SKULL IN! WHAT IF YOU GAVE ME A FUCKING CONCUSSION YOU BASTARD!" Yelled out the crude woman.

With a simple glare you silence the woman as she shivered in anticipation. Turning away from Celenike you look towards Kiyohime. Celenike shortly follows your gaze as she as well stares at the solemn servant.

Afterwards she turns to you in confusion."You wouldn't happen to have a camera? Would you?" You asked.

You didn't even need to turn around to tell that she was grinning.

15 Minutes Later

A lot had changed about the room in fifteen minutes. It had been totally emptied, the TV was removed temporarily, left in the hallway. In its place? On one side of the room there was a chair and on the other a tripod with a camera on top of it. Within the chair was a girl, her name, Kiyohime.

The Berserker servant of Robin was tightly bound to the chair by her waist and legs. Her legs were tied to the front legs of the chair while her hands were tied behind her head. The way it was done forced her chest outwards, making her bust look much larger than it was.

Meanwhile the usually beautiful face of the servant had been thoroughly ruined by tears, a blindfold, and a ball gag. The girl shivered in her seat as she felt two pair of eyes stare into her soul. She was a lamb surrounded by wolves, waiting to be devoured.

Devour you shall.

Walking up to the bound Berserker you don't begin with anything overt, you simply place your hand on Kiyohime's leg. Your fingers were chilled by the cold air of the storage closet and when met with the servant's flesh you found a pleasant warmth. Though for her she found a biting cold.

Clutching the outer thigh you revel in its warmth as Kiyohime clenches the ball gag with her teeth. Her thighs were soft, no doubt, however all your brain could focus on was it's natural warmth. Lingering on her thigh for just a bit longer, you enjoy the fact that your fingers no longer felt frozen.

Though sadly you would have to let go of her thigh eventually, you noticed you were beginning to leave a mark on her flesh. Removing your hand from the thigh you begin drifting behind the chair.

Now in your preferred position you bring your hand to her cunt, yet instead of immediately plunging your fingers into her depths you try something else. Lingering away from her pussy for a bit longer you wait for the chill of the storage closet to take over. It takes but a few seconds for that comfortable warmth from earlier to be entirely replaced by a frigid cold.

With your fingers now sufficiently freezing you begin trailing them along Kiyohime's cunt. The action causes obvious discomfort for Kiyohime as she visibly recoils from the contact. She desperately tries to get herself away from the chilly appendages. However, she quickly realizes the futility of the action and relinquishes herself to groaning in displeasure instead.

Smirking to yourself you lean onto Kiyohime using her bound arms for support as you plop your chin onto her head. With a good view of her chest you begin slinking your free hand to her right breast. Yet before you maul her breast with your rough hands you tilt your head towards her right ear and say, "Let me get this out of the way."

Tearing the kimono downwards reveals both of her breasts as you cause her appearance to become even more disheveled. Well you took off the packaging, now time to enjoy your gift.

Taking hold of her right nipple you start pulling it, twisting it, pushing it. Anything and everything is what you did to get any reaction out of Kiyohime. Each and every one was worth it in your opinion. A moan here, a gasp there, a yell for that, and a silent scream once you finally plunged into her cunt.

Though it was just your middle finger Kiyohime immediately began struggling under your grasp as you finished the first pump into her. Sadly for you that forced your hand and required you to hold her down instead of molesting her tits. Then again, quelling disobedience had its own pleasure.

You take a few steps to the left with one hand holding the Berserker's bound arms while the other continues to thrust away into her pussy. You've long since moved on from just using your middle finger and have taken to using three fingers.

Now standing to the left of the restrained servant you lean forward until your head is right next to Kiyohime's ear. Taking a short breath you then blow into Kiyohime's ear, the way she cutely recoils from the discomfort pleases you.

Just how many reactions could you get out of her before it's over?

Actually… Maybe you were a bit too obsessed with seeing how people bend to your whims, but well… That's to be expected.

Though, perhaps it was an obsession with Kiyohime instead? Nah… That couldn't be it, it's not like you went out of your way to molest her or anything. She's just very unlucky is all. You just happen to be an opportunist, and Kiyohime just so happens to give you many… Many opportunities.

You let go of the servant's arms and with a now free hand you take hold of her chin before forcing her to face you. Despite the fact that she was blindfolded and gagged, Kiyohime could feel your lustful gaze behind the fold. Well… That's what you're assuming anyway, due to the fact that she pried herself from your grasp only to turn her head away from you…

Perhaps it was simply another sign of defiance… Ah well... Too bad for her you don't take such things well, and besides she was sufficiently wet now. Ripping your fingers out of Kiyohime's pussy you then kick the chair over. You must've used a bit too much force as it causes the ball gag in her mouth to dislodge.

Before she could make her surprise known in anything other than a yelp you sever everything binding her to the chair with a set of contracts. Now only the chair was in your way, which was an easy fix. Forming another contract the chair suddenly flies through the air before slamming into the wall.

Due to still being blind, Kiyohime was obviously confused about what was going on. Yet before she could get a sense of awareness a foreign object was shoved into her pussy while she was still on the ground. Kiyohime immediately knew what it was as she then screamed out, "No, no, no! Take it out!"

Really this song and dance again? How many times do you have to fuck her before she realizes that you aren't going to not fuck her? Lifting the restrained Berserker off the ground while she was sheathed on your dick you turn until the disheveled servant is front and center for the camera.

Then you truly start.

Embracing Kiyohime in a tight 'hug' around the waist you then lift the girl up before loosening your hold causing her body to fall. In the end it is gravity that impales the Berserker on your dick, the sudden fullness that she feels causes her to scream out, "Stop it! Haven't you defiled me enough-!"

Hefting her off of your crotch you once again let her go, then again and again she is forced to spear herself due to gravity. Finally Kiyohime starts crying once more, any noises that left her throat from that point on could only be assumed to be the mangled words of personal woe.

Yet such terrible noises did not disturb you, for you were a sadist. To anyone but you such sorrow would be pitiable and scarring, yet for you? It was a personal symphony! Ah how you loved her screams, you even made a game out of trying to figure out what she was 'saying'.

You were pretty bad at it admittedly but it wasn't an easy game, the only word you could ever make out was 'Anchin-sama'. The fact that she continued to call for Robin despite the fact that if she were here she'd join in an instant or just watch from a distance with a smile on her face disturbed you for whatever reason.

Perhaps it was the inanity of calling for someone so despicable to save her. Kiyohime was too far gone, by all accounts she is insane. It is of little wonder that she is of the Berserker class.

That aside, you were getting tired of having to lift up Kiyohime, so you instead lay her out on the floor as you begin taking her doggy style. By this point her words had turned into slurred moans, you couldn't even make out 'Anchin-sama' anymore. Though you were certain she was still trying to call for her master.

Too lost in the pleasure it takes you a minute realize that you probably shouldn't fuck her into the floor, as that wouldn't look good on camera. So instead of continuing to thrust, you pause to grip Kiyohime's hair. You look at the blindfolded servant's tear stained face before you pull.

What you earned was probably the loudest scream from Kiyohime yet, "ANCHIN-SAMAAAAAA!"

She came from that? Like, actually? Heh, truly too far gone. You continue to thrust until you feel the need to cum. You let it all out into her pussy as you just sit there, with the panting Berserker's hair still tightly gripped in your hand. You look past the camera at Celenike and ask, "How was that?"

Instead of a vocal response the woman, who you just realized was masturbating, simply lifts her thumb up. With the show over you sever the last of Kiyohime's bindings before helping the exhausted servant to her feet. You don't know why you did it, but you did. Perhaps deep inside you, you felt some touch of pity.

No, that wasn't right… What was that quote again? It was a Shakespearean quote if you remember correctly, Wilhelm had taught you it when you were younger. But you had forgotten such teachings ages ago… The quote was lost to you honestly, but you remember the basic idea.

Every creature feels some sense of pity, even beasts. Yet in this moment where even a creature of great evil might pity Kiyohime, you do not. Perhaps that makes you worse than them. Perhaps it doesn't.

Meh, not like you care. You aren't a philosopher and you don't like to think for too long about how you feel. Going with the flow fits you better and was why Wilhelm had long since given up trying to make you the scholar type. Though you really wish you remembered that quote… When you were younger you thought it was pretty cool.

Finally leaving your thoughts behind you notice Kiyohime staring at you with a dead look in her eyes. "Why?" Was all she asked.

"Why not?" Was your response.

The Berserker servant doesn't know how to respond so she simply doesn't. Instead of lingering on what just happened to her she leaves. Perhaps in an attempt to find comfort in her 'Anchin-sama's' arms? Perhaps to cry?

Why do you care? You can't lie to yourself, for some reason you're interested… Perhaps you are obsessed…

Standing in the semi-empty storage closet your thoughts begin to wander again, they seem to be doing that a lot recently, though this time they lead towards an earlier thought… Perhaps you shouldn't put off talking to Olga or your daughter. You hurt Olga, you know you did. You can't forgive yourself for that so you tried to distract yourself.

While in the case of Lucia? You had no excuse. You should've immediately went to comfort your daughter the second you could. You hurt someone close to you both and she was frightened by you at that moment. How could you let that happen…

How could you try to distract it -?

Before you could finish that thought you feel an arm slink around your shoulder before Celenike whispers into your ear, "So I can keep the recordings, right~?" You swat the arm away causing your 'maid' to become sheepish at her audacity. But you don't have the energy to be upset with her, nor the desire to.

You just nod to her request and begin walking off, ignoring the squeal of excitement from the grown woman. Why were your thoughts so unfiltered recently? Why did they contradict so often? Why can't you just go with the flow like you had for so long…

Why can't you muster the ability to be angry any longer? Dammit! Why do you have to have these fucking existential crises! Life was so simple until this war! Right?

Stop thinking… Just stop... You aren't going to get answers like this Will. Even if you need them, you have more important issues right now and you have the fortune of being able to take them one step at a time.

Just go see your daughter, provide her comfort, provide her safety. Then talk with Olga, and then you can figure out everything from there.

Yeah… Take it slow, you don't need to rush.

You don't need Wrath.

Walking down the halls you start wondering how you would start the upcoming conversation with your daughter. You have to be warm and inviting yet you have to make sure that it's apparent that you know your wrongdoings… Yet that would be difficult for you…

How the hell do you be 'warm and inviting' if you're depressed over having a manic episode that resulted in the second most important person in your LIFE being hurt? Oh god, you're just gonna have to wing it aren't you… Times like this are when you wish you had plans. But Christ, you find yourself incapable of holding a thought like usual.

Are you stupid? You're a top tier magus all things considered, most would assume your magecraft was a crutch not requiring the nuance or years of experience that most other magi would need. However, they would be wrong. Conventional magecraft knowledge you may not hold, but the ability to use contracts effectively requires on the fly thinking.

With basic magecraft you can get your craft down to a near science, always getting a similar result as long as you know what you're doing. Not contracts. If you can't fix every loophole, every bit of unnecessary bloat, know every nuance of the 'scripture'? You're going to die.

Half the time you'll have to form hundreds upon hundreds of contracts that are ready to burst at the slightest inconvenience and for most of your family such a thing was something they couldn't do. You might have ridiculous mana reserves but even that drains you after a while.

You need to be quick, you can't linger on a single contract and have to be ready for each and every one of them to break at a moment's notice. Then quickly reset them, reinforce them, or just accept that they'll break. There is no 'science' to your magecraft, there is a reason why your family spent more time learning contracts rather than pursuing the Root.

Perhaps your mindset so far has been why you took to contracts so readily. You are not exactly sane to be honest. However, while your ability to jump from one thing to another is impressive and indeed useful for your magecraft… Your inability to linger on subjects for longer than a second and readiness to forget them is the absolute opposite.

So, much to your annoyance, you've found what is stopping you from pursuing newer heights with your magecraft. In the end, it was your Wrath. Something you were trying to deal with, but have found little headway in outside of a few circumstances-.

Oh you're here.

Damn, you had at least a few more paragraphs worth of thoughts to sort through. Eh, it can be saved for later, your daughter is more important than your mental well-being.

Let it be known at this moment William Arathorn feels fear. When death itself sought your demise, when the gods themselves manipulated you to their liking, and not even when you actually died managed to cause you fear.

However, having to enter your seven year old's room on the other hand? Especially after recent events?

Safe to say, you're terrified.

Now most would use this opportunity to give themself a pep-talk to help themself get over their fear and do what needs to be done. Not you, let it be known that you are one dumb fuck of a person. Instead of worrying about your fears, or hoping for the best outcome, you open the door.

You expected a lot of things, but upon opening the door you don't know what else you could expect. The sight in front of you was a loathsome one, sitting at the foot of her bed was your daughter. With her head hanged low, you couldn't make out any sign of tears. Though you wouldn't have been surprised if she had already cried her eyes out.

Then she looked at you and your heart broke. Your daughter's face had no tears, none at all but the immediate fear on her face as she looked at you… You are shameful, let you not be damned for the many crimes you've already committed in this war, but instead may you be condemned for making this little girl fear you.

What surprised you though was when Lucia spoke first, "Are you… Okay…" Her voice was strained, yet the concern was palpable.

"Huh?" You didn't know how else to respond.

Lucia hops from the foot of her bed, her fear was still very apparent and she was cautious in her approach. Yet Lucia still walked up to you, the damn girl despite her laziness at times was too damn courteous. You could feel your tears streaming down your face as your daughter latched onto you… They were few, but they were enough…

Despite your tears you forced your face to be flat, expressionless… Otherwise you'd have started crying then and there. "No… I'm not okay Lucia. I can't lie to you… There's something wrong with me. I don't know exactly what it is but I'm trying to get better… I just… I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine." Was her weak response.

In this moment a 'father' and 'daughter' found comfort with one another despite the father's shortcomings. How sweet, how unfortunate that it's about to turn sour. All the father heard was a bang, but that was more than enough for him to know what to do next.

Inches away from your face was the disintegrating form of a fiery bullet. Stopped by a series of contracts that almost failed to keep you safe. Looking through the now broken window and out into the city from a fair distance away you make out the oddest sight.

That is a lot of guns.

Before anything else could happen you watch as a short circle of flames surround the mansion's exterior. You'll assume that's Robin's bounded field or something along those lines. Reason why? As soon as the guns fired the pyre ascended and caught the bullets before they could hit the mansion.

It's certainly impressive, but while it might be effective for stopping projectiles, it seems to be useless at preventing entry.

The reason why you were thinking such things was because you just watched a man casually walk through the flames. Despite the sight that wasn't the oddest thing, the man's appearance was what truly befuddled you.

Standing in front of the mansion was now an oddly armored man with a blood red sword in hand. Yet his oddities keep adding up… From all the way up in Lucia's room you could feel barely concealed Wrath from here.

Then came the oddest thing of the night, "William Arathorn, come down here and face me!"

Why the fuck does he want to fight you? What the hell did you ever do to this guy? Is he one of those guys that your family fucked over or something? Perhaps a relative of his was used in the stockades and he knew about it?

Dammit! Dammit! You just wanted to comfort your daughter. Why the hell did this need to happen now? No point in complaining about it now… Turning to a shell shocked Lucia, you shake her out of her state before telling her, "Go find Olga and Mash, if you can't find them go to Irisviel. I need you to stay safe alright?"

You didn't give your daughter much time to respond, as well… This needed to be dealt with, now.

Jumping through the broken window you summon forth Gae Bolg and activate the Eyes of Balor. By the time you land, Lancer is already by your side. Meanwhile the man simply looks at the two of you unimpressed. Since there was no immediate hostility you attempted diplomacy, "What do you want?"

The man chuckles, he begins pacing to the left as he spins his sword in his hand, "I want a fight. It's been a while since my last one and I want to make sure my skills are… Sharp? Besides that? Well you have something of mine, and I'd very much like it back." What?

"Seems like an easy two on one situation Master. Just let me take the lead and we'll take care of this easily." Spoke your Lancer calmly. By all accounts what he said made rational sense, but… This man had his servant attack you when you were with your daughter, proceeded to tread on 'your property'…

THEN HAS THE AUDACITY TO CHALLENGE YOU IN YOUR HOME!

Your Pride demands that you put him in the ground. So you'll be the one to fight him, not Lancer, "Go deal with the servant."

Lancer looks at you as if you had just killed yourself but as you raise your hand with your command seals he gets the memo. Running off like the good dog he is now there was only you and the odd man. If anyone were to interfere from this point on, you are not liable for what happens to them.

"Before we begin I'd like to know the name of the man I'm about to bury." You say in complete monotone.

The man is a bit dumbfounded, "Hu-? Oh, straight to it then? I quite like that, just call me Sam, boy. Any other name has been lost to time."

Your aura began to accelerate in its potency as clarity became your being, you spoke with total confidence and certainty, "Sam? Very well then. When I bury you in your unmarked grave I'll be certain to let everyone know of your meager existence, if for nothing else because of your audacity."

Brandishing Gae Bolg the man brings up his own sword.

It has begun.

Nobu POV

The servant of the 'bow' sat upon her ride with a degree of annoyance. Nobu was excited for the first fight she and her new master would participate in… Yet that stupid barrier was immediately set up once she made her warning shot. Now she couldn't attack the mansion unless she wanted to waste ALL of her master's mana.

So either kill her master or be bored. If it wasn't for the fact that her master is actually interesting the decision would be easy. She'd NEVER get a master like him again, she knew that, so she wasn't going to risk it…

Still she couldn't help but be disappointed, the first fight and she's forced into the sidelines. Hopefully the rest of the war will be more entertaining.

What's that noise?

Looking down to the streets below Nobu sees a blinding red energy heading towards her at top speed. A sardonic grin takes her face as she yells out, "Yes! Finally!"

Dodging the glowing blast of energy she looks past it to see nothing? Was that the servant? Looking up the red blur it was still ascending so that was-, "OOF!" Forcefully grabbed from her ride, the servant of the bow was slammed into a building by a Lancer servant.

The only reason she was certain it was a Lancer servant was because this had to be the servant of the guy her 'master' wanted to fight. What a good boy his master must be, to send free entertainment her way! Aiming all of her guns at herself she asks, "Just a word of warning, back up."

The blue-haired servant lifts a questioning brow before his eyes widen as he jumps away. All of her weapons fire at her location leaving cement riddled with holes as she jumps down onto a new ride. Riding into the air on one of her rifles she ascends into the sky away from the servant of the spear.

Perhaps she should've just riddled the servant with holes, but she at least wanted to squeeze him of all he's worth before killing him. Aiming all of her rifles at the unarmed servant Nobu quickly found herself annoyed as she realized the identity of the servant…

It just had to be someone who could bypass her main weaponry, huh. Is A- Luck worth nothing in this day and age? Oh well, she can manage against such a foe, it helps that he has a high divinity… Doesn't make it any less annoying that he just DODGED HER ENTIRE ARSENAL LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!

Gah, why do some heroic spirits have to be so cool! Well… If they weren't then she wouldn't be here, so who is she to complain! Rising higher into the sky just to be certain she begins another round of fire, her famous Three Line Formation will prove useful.

Volley after volley of a thousand rifles shall bear down on Cu Chulainn, no matter how skilled he is as a servant… He will falter, eventually.

William Arathorn POV

Blood Red Spear meets Blood Red Sword as you clash against 'Sam'. He is stronger than you, no doubt, if he was a servant… You'd say a C in strength potentially a B, is what you'd assume. You believe yours is a D- by that scale of measure. So how were you keeping up?

Contracts and having a legendary spear tend to make up for your lacking strength.

Too bad that the man was fast enough to make every opportunity you gained useless.

Leave himself open? He'd just dodge out of the way.

Contract a wall behind him or try to grab his ankles with the grass? Jumps right out of it.

Actually manage to put him up against a wall? He'll parry your ass.

No doubt your opponent is far more skilled than you, stronger than you, faster than you. However, you made a promise, on your Pride you shall not give up on it. You're going to be out of mana by the time this fight is over but you have no choice.

Forming a contract on his sword and around his hands you solidify the air and make it as heavy as possible. If it affected him he didn't show it, but you could tell the contracts were active. "Neat trick, boy. But if all you have is tricks, afraid it'll amount to nothing!" Then he did the impossible.

He shrugged off the contracts as if they weren't there, and after that, they weren't. One second he was in front of you and then… He was behind you! Blocking an overhead strike from behind almost caused you to pull a muscle but you were just barely able to react quickly enough… How fast is this guy?

Judging by the fact he just kicked your spear out of your hand without you realizing? Fast.

Grabbing you by your neck the man slams you into the dirt as the breath leaves your body. Dammit… You're really going to lose like this? "I will admit you have potential boy, but you just don't have what it takes with how you are now. Let me fix that!" Yelled 'Sam' as he ripped his sword straight through your stomach.

Yet blood did not spill, a red energy began to coalesce around his blade as you see his eyes turn black with red pupils before they turned back to their usual color. "To hold another man's rage within you… That can't be healthy!" Was what Sam yelled out as he threw you into the air before roundhouse kicked you into the wall of the mansion.

Getting onto your knees you can't help but groggily ask, "W-What…"

As Sam casually walked towards you contracts began to form around the hole in your stomach. Accelerating the regeneration helps you become lucid faster, though you can't tell if it's a good thing or not.

Kneeling down to meet you face to face Sam says, "Your 'Pride' was contaminated by my 'Wrath'... I don't really understand the gist of it, but I knew that if I let you contain my rage any longer it'd be bad for us both."

Pride… Wrath… Was your anger not your own? Your thoughts are so much clearer. Finally memories of your earlier life return, memories of your coma… Apophis… That bastard… You feel rage once more, however, this time… It was yours for the first time, ever.

Reaching out your hand Sam looks at you in confusion, then you activate the contract with your spear. This causes the spearhead to be spawned through Sam's chest, though you don't think you hit anything lethal sadly.

Before he can even register the pain you continue to push the spear through as you yell out, "APOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!" Your spear is sent flying through Sam as he is forced on the backpedal from such an action.

Winded from the action, but not down from it, Sam steadies his ground with a large hole through his chest. Almost as if he didn't even care. You however did.

How dare he not die. How dare he live! You decreed that he dies, so he should just die! No… Calm… He will die, you just have to be patient… After all you decreed it.

Rage, anger, and wrath floods through your body anew. However, you were not clouded by the hatred, your mind was made all the clearer from it. Everything started to make so much more sense, the damn gods could never leave well enough alone.

"You have the potential to be quite a beast, boy." Sam jokingly says.

A memory from a short time back re-enters your mind. That Shakespearean quote that Wilhelm taught you. You remember it now and the lesson behind it, he was always scared of you becoming worse than a monster…

You feel some shame in admitting that it might already be too late for that lesson to take hold.

However, that wasn't what was important. You remembered the quote…

"No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity. But I know none…" You started.

Your skin began to bubble as it changed shape you could feel the power flowing through, your rage filtered into sheer power.

"And therefore, am no beast!" You finished.

Hello Riastrad…

Rushing forward with now weapon in hand you spear your now clawed hands into the sword. Normally such an action would cause great pain, but the hole in your hands just felt numb, as if there was nothing wrong. Impaling your hands further on the sword, Sam found it hard to force you back as he began trying to push through you.

Upon reaching the crossguard you took hold of his sword before pulling backwards. Still trying to push you off his blade Sam only succeeded in disarming himself as you changed the direction of force. You nearly sent yourself flying with how hard you pulled.

Removing the sword from your hands you watch as the holes patch at a rate that not even your contracts could achieve. Your amazement sadly could not last as you were in the middle of a fight. Raising Sam's sword into one hand and summoning Gae Bolg into the other. You felt a change in the tide of battle… Yet it was not entirely towards your favor…

Sadly, Sam did not seem perturbed about being disarmed. His damned smile didn't even waver as he watched you handle his own blade… Then he did the most infuriating thing since having his servant try to put a bullet through your skull.

Raising his arms in a 'come at me' pose he says, "Well? You have the advantage now? Or are you afraid that even with that advantage you'll still lose…"

Afraid, bah! Fear… You fear only one thing… Upsetting your daughter.

Jumping high up into the air you form contracts beneath your feet causing Sam to flinch in surprise. However he quickly adjusted as he then digs his foot into the dirt before kicking up into the air sending debris of earth towards you. The rocks and dirt were turned into metaphorical bullets as they blasted across your 'skin'. If it could even be called skin anymore.

You felt nothing but the force of the blow, no sense of pain entered your body. Just numbness. Unfettered by Sam's attempted attack, you let go of the contract. As you fall down with spear and sword in hand the man jumps back from the sudden movement.

He was now in a proper stance but you couldn't help but feel that he wasn't taking you seriously… Then before you could blink a fist met your stomach, heat flushed through your body…

No, that wasn't heat, it was pain. It was the first time you felt pain in your new form, the Riastrad.

Then another fist meets your cheek forcing you into the air before a final kick to your back sends you flying through a window. Is even this power not enough?

Nobu POV

Oda Nobunaga, the Archer Servant of Samuel Rodriguez gave chase to the servant of the spear as he ran through the streets of Fuyuki. She quickly made the assumption that the red blur from earlier was the legendary spear Gae Bolg. Having thrown away his only weapon, the Lancer servant was now on the run.

Flying a hundred meters above him the servant of the bow not once had to risk her safety as her Noble Phantasms blasted away at the servant. Even with salvo after salvo of a thousand bullets raining down on him the servant seemed incapable of being struck. Nobu was not greatly upset with this fact, all things considered.

She knew from the Holy Grail's knowledge that the Hound of Culann could not last forever, there was a limit to what he could take. Nobu just happened to be the perfect servant for outlasting him. While it may be a bit boring, all things considered, she can just sit up here and fire safely at the Lancer without an ounce of worry.

Line up a thousand guns, then fire. Those guns back up and the next company of a thousand guns would fire, then repeat. The gunfire was unending for the Lancer servant and after a minute of dodging every single bullet fired. Two landed.

One in his right shoulder and one in his left leg. By all accounts it was the beginning of the end. A few more hours at longest and by that point he'll be swiss cheese. "Truly a shame, I'd try to have more fun with you, Ireland's Child of Light… But you're just too much of a problem for me to not take seriously." Nobu said to no one in particular, not like he could hear her from up here…

Sighing wistfully she hears more bullets meet their mark as three land themselves in his torso, despite the pain the servant took the bullets like a champ. Amongst the noise of her guns Nobu took note of a whistling. Despite the loud gunfire, this… Whistling sounded like a bomb had just gone off in her own ear.

She needed to move! Rushing forward Nobu lost focus on her Three Line Formation as she felt something hit the tip of her cape. However, she could not linger on the thought as she continued to fly forward bringing a hundred guns to her before she went to restart the volley fire on Lancer… Only to find him gone…

Turning towards where she felt the previous attack come from, she looked for her attacker. Nobu found nothing as she felt a sense of unease, and excitement. Her face became manic as she yelled out, "Hehehe! Weren't you a hero known for fighting an entire army to a standstill by forcing them to duel you one by one? Yet you feel the need to have someone assist you in killing me? I'm flattered~!"

Aiming all three thousand of her guns in the general direction of her sneak attacker she then fired without a care.

William Arathorn POV

Crashing into the mansion you lift yourself up to watch Sam walking towards you, he'd already given up his previous stance. He no longer deemed you a threat that deserved to be taken seriously…

Taking up a stance with spear and sword in hand you wait for the man to strike first. He obliges, and for a second you catch his blur, you strike downwards with his sword. A squelch is heard as the blade cuts through his left foot.

You continue in your assault striking forward with Gae Bolg only for Sam to sandwich the spear between his hands. All of the force in your blow was thwarted by his palms alone, you couldn't push forward.

With an unperturbed face Sam speaks with a grin, "Seems we're at a standstill… What are you going to do about it boy?" His tone was challenging and filled with mirth, which only served to piss you off more.

While it felt nice to know that this was your actual rage this time. Your thoughts were finally starting to become clouded by the hatred. You need to keep your thoughts clear… Keep yourself controlled, you will not let wrath take hold.

"Well? Make your move boy!" Yelled Sam.

Locked together you saw one possible option for you to take. Your Pride's Mark could prove useful in this fight. Pushing forward with newfound strength you see Sam struggle to hold your spear in place as you start saying, "I look upon this struggle in disgust! By my Pride's Mark I beg your struggles to end… So stop breathing…"

Sam's breath catches in his throat as you plunge your spear forward. Your strike meets its mark as you go straight through his torso, once again hitting nothing vital much to your chagrin. Still unable to breathe Sam begins to elbow your face, much of his previous strength gone as the action only leaves behind a slight sting.

Then as you went to pull out your spear to make a second strike his elbow hit your chin again a bit more forcefully. Yet before you could do anything else he wrapped his left arm around your neck before pulling you in and punching you in the stomach five times.

He only stops as he suddenly falls over. Winded, but not done for, you look to the right to see Boudica with her sword out. Then does that mean? Looking behind you, you see not only Ayako but Olga as well.

No! This is your fight! You do not nee-! "Will! Oh god, are… Are you okay?" Concern was Olga's tone. Then you remembered you were using the Riastrad. A unique skill of the Hound of Culann that shifted his form into that of a wild beast.

Your body had become malformed, yet you only took note of it now. Your skin had turned a bright red, yet all over your arms and legs there was 'black fur' that covered the ugly skin. While investigating your new body you took note of an additional appendage coming from your back, a mangled tail of a wolf.

You can't focus on this… You have a man to kill, so you yell out, "I'm fine! This is my fight! Stay out of it!"

The downed man had recovered from his fall as he rose to his feet with his sword returned to his hands. As you struck from the left you watched Boudica attack from the right. Yet despite the two-pronged assault and even with his current injuries, Sam manages to kick away Boudica into the wall before blocking your strike with his sword.

As Boudica gets up she readies her sword once more, causing you to yell out, "You stupid servant! This is my fight, don't interfere!" Sam looks at you with a grim expression as he abuses your lost focus to strike at your legs which ultimately forces you on the backpedal.

But before he could follow up on his advantage a black orb slams into his side. It was surprisingly powerful… That had to be-! Suddenly you felt something slam into the side of your face, but your newfound form absorbed the entirety of the impact…

Olga just smacked you.

Then she started yelling with tears in her eyes, "What the hell do you think you're doing! I have been running myself ragged for the past hour because of your stupid antics with that girl and her servant! Then Lucia comes to me crying that you were going to get yourself killed! I just-! I can't-!"

You feel your skin bubbling again as the Riastrad begins fading. Your rage begins to fade, but before it can disappear, your rage returns once more as your 'demonic' features grow tenfold. Grabbing Olga you dash forward dodging a attack from Sam. Looking back you see that where you just were was completely shredded by whatever technique he just used.

Putting his blade in his sheathe, he looks at you with an air of levity, "What an adorable couple you two make, maybe you're not as much of a boy as I thought… Perhaps even quite the man… Hmm, ah… Who am I kidding, someone such as you can only be seen as a foolish boy in the end."

"You aren't human…" Hissed out Boudica. That caused pause for all but Sam.

Sam claps his hands together as he says, "Rude, but… Not wrong." His eyes turn black with red pupils as the holes in his body repair at a rate that you envied. Near instantly there were no longer any injuries upon Sam.

His face now solemn he says, "I can't be called human any longer… That is true… But… I don't think there's a word for what I am now… I'm supposed to be dead, you know… Yet I linger on the wind… This body is more ash than flesh by this point."

As if to prove the point he scratches his cheek, you can only watch in disgusted intrigue as it turns to dust from the action before naturally repairing itself. " In fact, I'm more spirit than human." He says cheekily.

Then landing his hands on his sword and sheath, he rushes forward.

Nobu POV

She fired three volleys then halted her Noble Phantasms by raising her right hand. Then from a few kilometers away Nobu makes out a red glow heading towards her. It's noticeably smaller than the previous red blur, but also noticeably faster… Nobu and a collection of one hundred of her guns ascended into the sky to dodge the strike.

Only for the red blur to stop for half a second once it was below her before turning directly towards her and speeding in that direction. Nobu's eyes widen as the blur begins rushing her, not ready for the sudden tracking ability of the attack. She couldn't dodge it in time.

Shot out of the sky, Nobu began to fall.

Falling out of the sky was not in Nobu's list of things to do today so using her Noble Phantasms to make a platform she lands harshly upon her weapons. Only to groan in annoyance as she notices another one of those red blurs were heading towards her, she couldn't possibly avoid it. Biting the bullet she surrounds herself with her guns and lets herself fall.

Landing on a roof below Nobu feels her body strain from the impact which was not helped upon the second attack hitting her wall of guns sending Nobu sprawling across the floor. With great difficulty the servant of the bow tries to lift herself up.

But she wasn't receiving any form of healing from her master… Dammit… She can survive this, the Demon Archer won't die from something so pathetic. Bringing all of her Noble Phantasms to her Nobu then aims them directly at where both attacks came from before firing volley after volley of bullets to keep the servant shooting her pinned down.

Sighing to herself Nobu rises from the ground finally. Standing up with some difficulty Nobu then wipes the dust off of her clothes as she grumbles to herself, "Can't believe I let myself get shot…"

She may have to retreat from this fight if the Lancer servant ends up reaching her location… Dammit! When it was just getting fun, but if her master wasn't going to support her… Then finally some mana filled her body as the Heroic Spirit's body was healed. "Ah, you do care!" She cooed.

Putting her hands on her hips Nobu then begins surveying the scene. She was mostly looking for the two servants she was fighting. The one that shot her had to be a fellow Archer, she could make that assumption due to being privy to the oddity of the current war. However, she had the feeling the servant had already repositioned…

Meanwhile Lancer was still out of sight…

Where were they?

Cu Chulainn POV

The Heroic Spirit Cu Chulainn looks at his retrieved spear with a degree of exhaustion. That Archer servant really put him through the wringer. Even if only five of her bullets hit him out of the tens of thousands that she fired, they hurt... Greatly… Even his death was less excruciating…

It sucks, he trusts his abilities for sure, but that servant wasn't an idiot. She sat her tiny little ass far above him and never descended below that, all the while shooting at him with her army of rifles. Thankfully some other servant decided to attack the little demon, forcing her to switch her focus from him to them.

Though now with spear in hand, he could attempt his offensive once more. He was really hoping to end this fast with that first attack… But it failed… However, with that servant now distracted he may be able to gain the upper hand.

He'd love to fight that servant, any servant really, one on one.

However, he had a war to win. He couldn't afford to care too much about what he wanted. If it wasn't for the fact that she was an Archer that could fuck him up despite his Protection from Arrows skill he'd be more willing to hold back a little…

Ah well… Perhaps this will still be fun despite that…

Before he could cast his tracking rune to find the little shit. Something materialized in front of him… He quickly prepared himself to strike yet instead, Cu Chulainn finds himself stumped. The figure before him, with their arms crossed, was none other than the Archer servant of that Tohsaka girl his master hates so much.

Before Lancer could question the circumstances, the Archer speaks up, "Before you get any ideas… I'd like to propose that we have a temporary truce on the grounds of defeating that other Archer servant…"

The Hound of Culann was notably dumbfounded, "You are aware that-."

"That your master hates my master, yes I know. I'm unpleasantly aware of that fact actually." She spoke.

Leaning on his spear Lancer looks at her confused, but then says, "Then you're also aware that just because you help me beat that other Archer that my master is still going to go after yours right."

Sighing to herself Archer says, "Yes, but for whatever reason I have a feeling that he... Nevermind… Can I expect us to work together or not?"

Grinning to himself Lancer chuckles as he says, "You know what… Sure, why not?"

William Arathorn POV

It takes all of your strength to block each and every blow from Sam. What once was a simple matter of rolling with the punches became a deadlock of taking blow after blow. Upon the revelation of his lacking humanity he suddenly became much faster… Much stronger…

Thankfully you had Olga and Boudica assisting you, though you'd never make your gratitude known, willingly. But due to Olga's gandr's and Boudica being an extra body, even with Sam's sudden increase in power he was having difficulty staying in close range.

Every time he'd try to keep in range with you Olga would fire a gandr upon seeing an opening forcing Sam to back away. Then he'd try to go after Olga only for you and Boudica to stop him in his tracks.

He had to remain focused on you and you alone. However, that's when Boudica came in… For example when Sam positioned himself in such a way that Olga couldn't hit him without hitting you? Boudica would force him out of the position and into Olga's line of fire.

It was only fitting that you got overzealous.

After a strike towards your stomach you believed you saw an opening, so you tried to take it, only for Sam to disappear from sight. You felt dread well up inside of you as you realize… He was going for Olga.

Boudica made the attempt to stop him from rushing both Olga and Ayako, but Sam was much too fast for her to keep up. "I've had enough of you, girl!" Sam yelled as he barreled towards Olga.

Ayako screamed out in terror as he jumped at Olga, but Olga couldn't react in time even if she wished. So she casted a spell in vain. You could only watch in utter terror as you believed Olga was about to be bisected by the man's blade…

Only for it to be completely stopped upon striking her head. "What?" He said in shock. Before striking her head again only for it to be completely stopped once more before even touching her skin…

The untouched Olga gains a smug look on her face as she begins producing another gandr, she couldn't stop herself from making a snarky observation, "So you weren't lying about being more spirit than human after all!" With no time to question anything that just happened Sam quickly adjusts to the new info by kicking Olga away before she can take her shot.

With you and Boudica only a second away from him and, for the first time in this fight, Sam was genuinely put on the defensive. Like clockwork you and Boudica make strike after strike against the spirit as he desperately tries to regain control of the situation.

You could make out of the corner of your eye Ayako helping Olga up. So soon enough any sense of victory would be ripped away from him. You… You're gonna have to thank Olga at the very least once this is over aren't you…

That thought aside you realized something rather peculiar.

Sam could just use his naturally superior speed to run away, however, for whatever reason he continued to stay. Perhaps this became a matter of pride to him. Irony…

Once again you see an opening only to notice it was another fake one… You instead decided to take advantage with Pride Mark rather than leave yourself open, "I look upon your desperation in disgust! By my Pride's Mark I beg for your struggles to end… Take your last breath!"

His breath catches and that was enough for you to stab straight through the man. You feel Pride knowing that it was indeed you who struck down this adversary. A man who could compare to servants, a spirit on the same level of heroes, and you were the one to kill him.

If only it were so easy.

The spirit has a look of defeat on his face as his body begins to deteriorate. His entire being collapses into dust. You can't help but feel a sense of accomplishment for having defeated such an opponent. However, now was not the time to celebrate, apparently Lancer was struggling with the man's servant.

An Archer. Meaning they had Independent Action. Even if the master was dead, the servant would persist. You'd like to erase what little remaining legacy that Sam had. Yet it was not to be as Olga immediately got up in your face.

Even if your lover was notably shorter than you, in this moment she towered over you with presence, "Oh no you don't! Before you run off from one fight to the next perhaps we should take a moment to talk about something called communication? Because you suck at it!"

What is she mad at you for again? Olga seemed to notice your confused look which only served to exasperate her annoyance, "Them! Who are they! Why are they staying here! Why did I have to learn about them on my own instead of you… I don't know… Telling me!"

"It… Slipped my mind?" You said honestly.

The tick mark on Olga's forehead tells you all you need to know about that being the worst thing you could've possibly said… However, instead of exploding Olga calms herself and takes a deep breath. She looked tranquil, yet you felt a sense of dread as she looked at you.

Then the kicking started… Slamming her right leg harmlessly into your hip again and again Olga furiously ranted, "Why! Are! You! Such! An! Idiot! You! Damned! Fool!" At most Olga's kicking was a slight annoyance, but still while it may not physically hurt. Every second of Olga being upset with you hurts you emotionally.

Putting your hand's up defensively you say, "Jeez I'm sorry okay what do you want me to say? That I'll do better next time? We both know we'll be having the same conversation a day later… Besides, at this point… It's a part of my charm, wouldn't you agree?" That got you a reinforced kick to the skull, again it didn't hurt physically, just emotionally.

Taking another deep breath Olga lowers her leg as Ayako walks over and says, "I'm sorry that I'm so much trouble?"

"Why did you phrase that like a question?" Olga asked in response.

Ayako scratches the back of her head, "I just… Don't really know what's going on…"

Then Boudica joins in, "It's fine Ayako, you aren't a burden for being unaware. It's not like it's your fault for not knowing." Boudica's words seem to soothe Ayako's unease at least.

Though Olga immediately ruined it, "While it might not be her fault for not knowing anything about magi or the Holy Grail War… It doesn't take away from the fact that she is indeed a burden." Damn… Even your tact ain't that shit.

"S-Sorry…" Whispered the poor girl.

While you were focused on the interaction with the three women… You felt something in the back of your mind, telling you that it wasn't over. You mostly ignored it since well, Sam died. You watched him disintegrate. Even if he is a spirit, no one just comes back from being dead.

Yet like a whisper in the wind you hear, "As I shed blood…" It was singular in it's tone, androgynous by it's very nature and completely unfamiliar to your ears.

You turn around immediately upon hearing the voice, yet find nothing… All three women took note of your sudden action but it was only Ayako who expressed confusion, "W-What?"

You hear it again, "Leave behind my memories… Leave behind the truth…"

"You don't hear it?" Olga asked.

Ayako raised a brow as she said, "What?"

"The wind… It's whistling…" Olga said ominously.

So it seems she isn't hearing what you are hearing, once more you hear it, "I'll even leave behind my name…"

You wonder if Boudica can hear it? Looking towards the woman she looks confused, as she says, "Is this some form of magecraft? It feels soothing… Yet I can't help but be on edge."

Soothing? Not what you'd call it, the whispers despite being near silent and smooth in their delivery felt like shrieking right next to your ear. All it did was make you uneasy as it continued, "I've long since lost count of the days…. I've forgotten the passage of seasons…"

"I've left behind all reason…" Something is in front of you…

You can't see it, "I stand here, blade in hand… In this desolate place I've vanished without trace…"

Your eyes widen at that as you reach forward only for you to realize what was happening. In your hands was now the blade of Sam… You couldn't let go of the blade nor could you pull it out from the floor it was stuck in as noise radiated from it, "Though the cold winds are all that I feel… It's I that I spite as I stand up and fight…"

Staring forward you realize you are no longer in the mansion… In front of you was him… The man you thought you had just killed… Sam… He looked serene in this… Desert? You feel as though you should recognize the place, but it's only a faint recollection at best. You know you've never been here, yet you can't help but feel like you have.

It was as if you had completely forgotten that you've been here before. Though it obviously couldn't be true.

Turning towards you Sam finishes the chant himself with, "For bloodshed has been The Only Thing I Know for Real…"

Why couldn't things ever be simple?

Nobu POV

Nobu had been scouring the city from above looking for the two servants that had decided to pick a fight with her only to find nothing in their stead. How mind numbingly boring, two hit and run attacks then nothing? Have some respect for your fellow servants!

Well unless you were an assassin, because nobody was going to respect you in the first place… But that is besides her point! C'mon fight her! Her master's gonna be done with Lancer's master any minute now and she'd like to salvage at least SOME entertainment from this venture!

Okay… At this point it doesn't even have to be Lancer, she'd take getting shot at by that Archer again rather than just looking at this city from above any longer! "Hmm? Ho! Ask and you shall receive it appears!" Her excitement went from a dastardly -1 to a pleasant 8 upon that Archer servant making her presence known.

Landing on the roof the opposing Archer servant materialized on Nobu then says, "Now… Why do you appear before me, lesser Archer? Have you come to get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness? Perhaps you'll perform a dogeza and plead for an alliance? I'm afraid that I'll have to deny both!"

Her guns quickly enter formation then begin their volley's before the Archer can say anything. This initial volley kicks up a lot of dust, and so for a moment Nobu becomes unable to see her opponent. She keeps firing.

As the dust begins to part Nobu can only raise a brow in confusion as she sees the projection of a large purple flower. Whatever this thing was… It was preventing her bullets from reaching the opposing servant…

She came to a quick conclusion, this was a distraction!

Turning around with all her guns aiming at the building just behind her she begins firing anew, only for Lancer to come inches away from disemboweling her with his spear. The heat of the moment leads to Nobu immediately taking off from the roof before showering it in lead with volley after volley.

Nobu could already tell that Lancer had abandoned the roof so she split her three lines into six as one followed Lancer and the other continued to shoot at the Archer. Though without the large breadth of her total arsenal Lancer became hard to pin down.

Jumping from roof to roof, a mere fifteen hundred guns would not be enough to force him into an unfavorable situation. So to her annoyance she had to let go of trying to pierce Archer's barrier and focus entirely on Lancer.

Flying away from the Archer and behind a building, the Demon Archer began her renewed assault on the Lancer. This ended up forcing him to the streets below though this can only be a benefit for you. Lancer gained no cover from being down there, Nobu on the other hand did.

As Lancer ran down the streets at top speed Nobu followed close behind flying lackadaisically upon her firearms. She had paused her assault instead relying on the maneuverability of her Noble Phantasm to force Lancer into a predetermined path of Nobu's choosing…

He was being led to his doom as they got closer and closer center of the city. Only for her so far well thought out plan to be interrupted by the opposing Archer. At the very least she wasn't using those annoying tracking arrows that she was shot with earlier.

Instead the opposing Archer made use of much more conventional arrows… If her arrows can even be considered conventional, they look more like swords than anything! All this did was force Nobu to descend further down, meaning she was now but a few meters above the streets.

With Archer's attack avoided, Nobu began her taunting, "I thought heroes were those who accomplished great things!" She couldn't know if Lancer could even hear her over their high speed chase.

It just felt good to be snide, so snide Nobu did, "Though I'll be fair, you're awfully accomplished at running!" She began her assault with all three thousand guns beginning to fire upon Lancer.

Her plan was nearing completion… Lancer was forced to head towards the bridge. This brought a smile to Nobu's face as she said, "But I don't quite see the use of running, however!"

She was excited, so excited she couldn't keep her mouth shut as she whispers, "Keep going little spearman. Your good friend Nobu is so close to giving you a merciful death…"

Finally there it was, her destination, and like a good dog Lancer was running right for it. Upon reaching the central bridge of the city Nobu split off her arsenal once more as she descended onto Fuyuki Bridge herself.

Nobu could only become confused as she watches Lancer stop in the middle of the bridge… She hadn't even closed off the exit of the bridge yet! "Confident Lancer?" She asks…

The Hound of Culann casually lifts his spear onto his shoulders as he turns around to say, "Yeah, pretty confident…"

Nobu's eyes narrow as she gets a bit more serious, "I know that your skills have limits Lancer. Pride in oneself is laudable… But arrogance?"

"Wouldn't really call this arrogance… I just know it's over is all…" He says with a mocking grin… He's belittling her… Her! Oda Nobunaga! Oh this little shit is going to get it!

Lowering all of her rifles into range there was no longer an escape path for Lancer. Dodging her attacks when he could go in any which way he wanted was no longer possible. He either goes forward and gets shot, goes backward and gets shot…

Or jumps into the river below… And get shot…

So why does it feel like she's the one who's been trapped… No, if she keeps worrying about it she'll miss the chance, she will not let him have control over a losing situation. "Fire." Was all Nobu said.

Bang.

William Arathorn POV

Looking around the surrounding badlands you wonder what the hell is going on… However, the oddity of the situation becomes greater as you realize the state you're in. You didn't feel real, as if you were… Dust in the wind…

You didn't have clothes, you didn't have Gae Bolg, and you didn't have a being. Your body was entirely composed of sand, dirt, and dust. The only part of your body that seemed to have any definition was your face…

In between you and Sam was his blade. It radiated death, and you were not willing to get close to it… "What is this?" Your distorted voice yelled out. Yet despite yelling out as loud as you could, it came out as a tiny whisper… As if you had no voice…

"Hmm?" Sam hummed out as he began walking towards you.

You felt utterly powerless… He continued, "Well… I honestly don't know what to call it… By this world's definitions? It's closest to a thing called a Reality Marble, but even that isn't entirely accurate…" A… Reality Marble? Even if it isn't one, the idea of some brutish swordsman made of ash can produce something similar… Annoys you…

As he approaches, you feel the desire to run, but your legs are so fragile that even moving them would destroy them… Yet as he reaches his sword, instead of pulling it out, he sits beside it and says, "I don't know if you are entirely aware of the concept of a Corrupted Phantasm, nor do I care to explain it to you… But I'll tell you what's happening to you right now…"

Corrupted Phantasms? You're at least aware of the concept, they're similar in concept to Noble Phantasms except that they represent your sin. They don't necessarily need to be something related to you or your history, though obviously it usually just twists an existing concept associated with you and makes it a phantasm.

Such as your Riastrad and Eyes of Balor, technically you should have access to neither. Yet, due to your relation with Cu Chulainn… Such Phantasms came into existence… So he really is Wrath, and this is his Corrupted Phantasm?

"My Corrupted Phantasm The Only Thing I Know for Real is a Phantasm that brings I and a singular opponent into the world you see before you. It's supposed to be used on spirits, so humans don't react nicely to being transferred here." He explains.

"Then what's happened to my body? Am I dead again?" You ask.

He raises a brow at your admittance of dying previously, but shrugs it off as he says, "You aren't dead, in fact in your current state I can't exactly hurt you. Again this Corrupted Phantasm is meant to be used against spirits… It can't suck in your body…"

"So I'm not physically here? Just spiritually, mentally?" You question.

He nods as he continues, "Something along those lines I don't understand it much myself. But basically your body is fine, it's stuck in a catatonic state as you hold my sword." That's when it all began to click…

"You aren't human." You say.

Smirking to himself, "Rude, but as I've already said… True."

"You are the sword…" You elaborate.

Sam's expression turns flat, as he explains, "Technically, if it was as simple as saying I was a spirit trapped in the sword I'd agree. But it's more like… My soul is in the sword, and I can produce my spirit physically to wield my blade… Which contains my soul… Like I said I don't really understand it myself…"

To think all you had to do was break his fucking sword and he'd actually be dead… "That's a rather nasty expression, hope you aren't thinking of doing something you'd regret." He mockingly says.

"All I had to do was break your stupid sword!" You yell, but again, it only comes out as a whisper.

His eyes narrow as he says, "Easier said than done. You wouldn't have figured out you needed to do such a thing before being brought here anyway. Even if you know now it's not like it matters, I let my 'body' die for a reason. Then on a whim I had you pick up my blade, so I guess if you have questions ask them."

You did have two, "Why attack me after getting your Wrath back? Why try to kill Olga?"

The man hums at that, "After I got back my Wrath I was going to attempt diplomacy, but then you sent a spear through my chest." He says that last bit with such a dry tone it makes the desert you two were stuck in look humid.

He didn't answer the thing that pissed you off most however, so you ask again, "That doesn't explain why you tried to kill Olga… If you were only after m-."

Sam interrupted, "I was only after you, boy. At first anyways. As I said, I was after my Wrath, and got it back. After you sent your spear through my chest I got a little annoyed and I was itching for a fight so I continued. Then your little lover and the redhead interrupted and it didn't take much after that for my temper to take hold of me." So simply a matter of Wrath…

You kept up your glare despite the explanation, just because there was an explanation did not mean you weren't going to be upset about it. At the very least you got the answers to your questions, all but one, "So what now?"

Sam lays his back onto the dirt as he says, "I'm just going to wait a bit until my 'body' reforms and then get out of your hair. I didn't intend to take it at all this far… Just wanted to make contact, retrieve my belonging then head off."

How dare he! "You think you can just run off after all that? Like I'm just going to forget this transgression 'Sam'! You attacked me, you attacked my daughter, you attacked the one other person that I love in this world… And you expect me to… Forgive and forget?" You rant.

Sam looks at you quizzically as he says, "When did I say that? If I wanted your forgiveness boy I would've asked for it… Did I?"

You weakly say, "No, but…"

He continues, "If you want to forget and forgive or whatever, that's on you boy. I don't particularly care for your being beyond the fact that we happen to share similar circumstances at the moment. If you feel compelled to get your 'vengeance' I welcome it, just know that I will not go easy on you if you decide to."

You had nothing to say to that.

Nobu POV

All she heard was a bang…

In that moment was it wrong for her to assume that it was the sound of her guns firing?

Was it wrong of her to remain confident even as she was blasted off the bridge?

Was it wrong of Oda Nobunaga to stand tall against the power of fellow Heroic Spirits?

Maybe…

But as she floated down the river, her cold eyes stared into the skies as she contemplated her own hastiness, "You did it again fool. How the hell did you let yourself underestimate the Archer? She shot you once, why did you assume you'd be safe in such an open area!"

Pride is an incredibly dangerous emotion.

An incredibly dangerous sin…

Usually Nobu is better with holding back on her arrogance for the sake of rightful confidence… But like always it is an easy line to cross… She knows she should've taken more care to not underestimate the other Archer and not overestimate her own abilities.

Doesn't change the fact that wasn't what she did... Hmph… The Great Fool of Owari was a fitting title indeed. Though for very different reasons than why she was initially given such a nickname.

So, as Nobu floated down the river she contemplated what happened... The only reason why she wasn't dead right now was because of her Strategic Retreat skill. Even after being blown off the bridge the Archer continued to fire upon her. It was only thanks to this skill she got out unscathed.

Staring into the constellations Nobu can only sigh as she brings forth ten rifles to carry her out of the river. Now sufficiently far away from both Lancer and Archer she made her ascent towards the skies. Passing far above the clouds Nobu's plan takes form.

She'll have to wait for her master to be done with his business before she can safely descend; she barely has enough mana to heal her sore body. If she got into a fight now, she'd die. There's no speculation about it, if she gets into a fight she'd only be able to bring out a maximum of a hundred guns.

She doubts any servant is weak enough to get killed by such pitiful artillery.

Archer POV

"She got away." Was all Archer could say. What else could she say? Congratulations, we somehow grasped loss from the jaws of victory? Regardless, the outcome had her rather annoyed…

Lancer's attitude didn't help much, "A shame. Though I guess with her survival this war will be a bit more difficult now. So it's not like I can really complain." She's already regretting working with him… But she wanted to see how different this war was.

With the appearance of Oda Nobunaga as an additional Archer? Safe to say things were fucked. But despite how wrong everything was she could take solace in the fact that no matter what, Lancer was still the same. Being a loyal dog for a heinous master… Though she doesn't want to think about either of his 'masters' honestly.

Lancer looks at her with curious eyes before saying, "Seems like she's flying towards the clouds, you think you can hit that?" Turning around she does indeed see the enemy Archer servant ascending towards the heavens, but there was a very simple issue…

Archer makes that issue known, "No, way too far…" Even with Hrunting she'd probably be unable to hit her.

Lancer finally gets up from the floor as he grunts out in pain, "Oh well… Damn… You said that'd hurt, but hell… Didn't think it'd hurt that much. Where'd you get a Noble Phantasm like that anyway?" She chose not to answer.

Lancer continues despite her silence, "Seriously how the hell is anyone going to explain a crater of this size in a bridge like this?" He chuckled as he looked towards the crater that had been left behind her Broken Phantasm.

"Not our issue, leave it to the mediator." She said succinctly.

Lancer chuckled to himself as he brought his spear to his shoulder, "Fair enough… Anyway-..." She quickly jumped back, as a spear struck where she once was.

"Lancer?" She asked in an apathetic tone.

The Hound of Culann had tried to strike her when she least expected it… "Well our agreement was over…" He says before striking at her again and again.

"I shouldn't have expected anything less…" She said before jumping into the river. How ironic that after blowing the enemy Archer into the river, she would follow not long after.

William Arathorn POV

Entering the waking world once more you looks around as Olga's voice reaches your ears, "Will… Are you ignoring me?" Looking towards your lover you see her disgruntled face glaring at you as if you had just killed her dog.

"Sorry I spaced out, could you repeat?" You say honestly.

Olga glares at you harder as you raise your hands in defense yelling out, "I wasn't trying to ignore you dammit. My mind just wandered elsewhere. I'm sorry." Her glare softens as she looks down to your hand.

"Were you holding something?" She asks innocently.

Looking down at your hand you see that it's tightly clenched, but leaving space enough for something like your spear to fit in it. Were you holding something? Repeating Olga's question in your head, you find no answer.

You feel like you're forgetting something, "Doesn't matter." Though you feel like it does.

Olga shrugs as she says, "I was wondering mostly about that strange wind. It seemed to be some form of magecraft but I'm having difficulty deciphering what it could've been. I thought perhaps some form of hypnosis but your friend there seemed completely unaffected."

Ayako scratches the back of her head as she pathetically says, "Sorry that I couldn't be more help…"

Olga waves her off as she says, "No, the fact that you were unaffected is more than helpful. I think it only affected us capable of magecraft and your servant. Which makes what it did even more concerning, if it even did anything at all…"

While Olga continues to question the wind Boudica turns to you and asks, "Did you hear anything Will? Is that what you were thinking over?"

Did you hear something… "The only thing I know for real?" Why was that at the forefront of your mind? Where did you hear it?

"Huh?" Boudica questioned.

"I don't know, ignore me… Thought I heard something, but it makes no sense…" You say.

Ayako's voice overtakes all of your mutterings as she asks in concern, "Umm… William… Did you always have a tear in your shirt?"

Looking down at your clothes you do notice a small tear right above where your heart is… Throwing off your top all three women in front of you blush as you find… A scar just above your left pectoral. "Will?" Olga warily asks.

"I only noticed it because of Ayako just now… It doesn't hurt, yet it should've been repaired by my contracts… Was this that magecraft? Is it some kind of curse?" You ask in wonder as you gently touch the spot where you were 'cursed'.

"There's a chance that sword of his was cursed… Perhaps that man slashed your chest at some point and you didn't notice?" Olga suggests, not entirely confident in her own idea.

Boudica then wonders aloud, "Wait if it was a curse then shouldn't it have disappeared on his death?"

Olga shakes her head as she says, "Plenty of curses can function even after the destruction of it's source. However, I will admit that I personally don't believe that man had the capability to produce such a curse, nor do I think his own blade was cursed. So I doubt it came from the dead man."

"Sam isn't dead." You say.

All three women look at you as if you grew a second head. "What?" Ayako yelps out.

"I don't know why I know this, but that man isn't dead. Though I agree with Olga that this curse isn't from him." You calmly say.

"What do you mean he isn't dead? He turned to dust! There's nothing left of hi-…" Olga stops her rant as she realizes something.

"Spirit… Dammit…" Olga lets out.

Oh yeah, he was a spirit. That kind of explains it, but you feel like there's more to it than that. "Anyway that's not what is important, who casted this curse on you Will and why?" Olga questions.

You respond with, "I couldn't tell you and honestly worrying about it right now is only going to cause us unneeded stress. All it seemed to do was cause scarring, not really anything to be concerned about." Olga looked like she wanted to disagree with your statement but she didn't press on it.

"Fine… If it gets you killed, don't come crying to me." Olga says as she walks off.

You stand there completely still as she leaves you three alone. Not long after Ayako and Boudica walk off as well, but not before saying goodnight. Good on them for having manners…

Yet you stayed there for a rather long while. Not that you wanted to…

But this fucking curse feels like it's burning your soul.

Clenching your beating heart through flesh and cloth you begin making your way towards your bedroom. The pain is almost unbearable, as if you were lit on fire and then someone tried to rip your heart out.

With weary steps you limped down the halls of the mansion wondering if at any moment your heart would stop working. Your senses were overwhelmed with new sensations. As you said twice now your body felt like it was on fire…

But that was not all… A rotten miasma, not dissimilar to a decaying whale, entered your nostrils. Out of the corners of your eye psychedelic shapes and colors shifted like a kaleidoscope. All the while there was this horrible buzzing in your ear, as if a hundred bees were stuffed into it.

Then there was the taste of your mouth. It was the only one not excruciatingly horrible. However, that in itself was the terrifying part. Your mouth tasted of iron, blood.

Overall it was a mundane feeling in comparison to what was done to your sight and smell. But it was what the 'blood' tasted like as you gulped in disgust.

Ambrosia.

The one pleasurable thing about this experience only added into making it unbearable. The very idea that 'blood' was tasty disgusted you more than anything else. This fucking curse needed to be removed before it turned you into a dead apostle or something.

Or worse, a fucking celt.

Why the fuck does this shit always seem to happen. Finally free of the blight of Wrath and the Gods then this fucking garbage was inflicted on you. Fuck your life like seriously. At least you have people like Olga and Lucia that make this hellhole of a life worth it.

Entering the hall of your bedroom you see a strange sight. You almost thought that Ayako was being attacked by an intruding servant until you realized you had seen a beauty like that before. That's… Tharja's servant? Right?

Either way you can't limp to your room at this point. Shit…

William Arathorn (First Person POV)

Alright just stand up straight.

Straight.

Fuck body just work for me for one goddamn moment!

Finally alright… Breathe in, breathe out.

Great now that fucking carcass smell is stuck in my lungs, ugh.

Now just. Step forward, one at a time.

Right, left. Right, left. Alright you got this.

Just ignore the rapid beating of your heart.

Forget the buzz in your ears. Forget the taste of blood in your mouth.

Just.

Walk.

Forward.

William Arathorn

Making your way to the door at a steady pace you end up focusing so hard on reaching your destination you completely ignore what was around you. Upon reaching the doorknob you are seconds away from passing out.

As you reach out for the door your hand goes wildly off course as it careens into the door frame. Such a thing should never have hurt, but you felt as if you just split your hand in two. With a tight clench of your teeth you hold your hand close to you hoping that the pain disappears quickly.

But of course it lingers.

You go to use your other hand to open the door but as it touches the knob you find yourself removing it in a single motion. Looking at your hand in horror you can only cry on the inside as you realize what this means…

Wait! Why the fuck are you crying! You have contracts! Just make the door open you dumbass! Forming a series of contracts you compel the door to open. As it slowly moves open you can't help but let out a sigh of relief before a slam is heard.

The door just closed itself?

Then you realize for whatever reason your contracts were altered to close the door directly after opening it…

"Okay. What the fuck?" You whisper to yourself. The curse can't possibly be this obtrusive?

You hear the sound of soft steps from behind you as Ayako politely asks, "William? Are you alright?"

"Huh? What?" You ask dumbly as you turn your head to face the girl.

You take note of the servant following behind her. Both women look at you in confusion as if you were stupid. "What!" You shout out, a little too loudly.

"Well it's just… You've been standing there for 8 minutes now… Um.… Is your hand alright?" Ayako states.

Looking at the hand you slammed into the doorframe you notice that it has begun bleeding, profusely. However, that wasn't what was confusing. It was the fact that the door and door knob were completely fine…

Were you delirious?

"I-I'm fine." You say with uncertainty.

The servant looks at you with mirth as Ayako shakily asks, "Y-You sure?"

You just need to compose yourself. So you straighten your posture and take in a deep breath.

That's it. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Then you are out. Like a light.

It was as if you were tossed out of the realm of Reality.

So as you enter the realm of the unconscious…

As you drift into the nothingness you feel the curse bite into your skin.

However, you finally have peace in this moment.