Chapter 05: Differing Views, Similar Standards

"How shall we proceed, Master?" Berserker's voice spoke to him as the scent of sea salt reached his nose. "Do you have a plan beyond observation?"

"Not really. I'm just going as it flows, to be honest." Kariya replied as he reached the docks, his ring rendering him invisible as he easily slipped through a setup Bounded Field and observed the two Servants already fighting. One was a blonde female knight, clearly wielding an invisible blade against the dual wielding spearman. "Do you want to interfere?"

"No. This is most likely a duel, considering how that man had been broadcasting his presence." Berserker replied. "Of course, if we showed ourselves and were attacked, it's their own fault if they get cut down."

"That's... pretty callous." Even as he sighed at that, Kariya let himself shimmer into visibility above a nearby crate, idly waving as he took a seat right there while Berserker manifested at his side in a seiza position. "Oh, don't mind us. Berserker will be happy to fight either the winner or the next Servant who shows up."

"Very well, then. I'll see to you afterwards." Lancer raised one of his spears in greeting, causing his opponent to bristle.

"Brave words, Lancer." The ground shook with Saber's next strike the moment Lancer gave her back his attention, blocking two of his retaliatory stabs before dodging from the sudden thrust that gouged through the shipping container behind her.

Saber momentarily collected herself and went back to her battle stance after taking a deep breath. Lancer himself stood straight, still holding the smile on his face as they stared each other down.

"What's your opinion on this, Master?" Berserker suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Kariya asked, puzzled at her inquiry.

"Your evaluation of this battle." Berserker clarified. "I'd like to hear your opinion, considering your very diverse battle experience."

"...I'll be honest, I've been using my ring to speed up my perception of these two." Kariya confessed. "Just with their physicality alone, they could be ranked as Lesser-Type threats. Add in their potential Noble Phantasms, and they'll definitely fit between Intermediate-Type and Greater-Type."

"And those are?" Berserker pressed.

"Threat levels." Kariya replied. "From lowest to highest: Quasi-Type threats equal to civilian entities. Petty thieves and the like. Then there's Demi-Type, which equal to civilians with actual combat training and/or experience. From your perspective, that would be an average samurai with absolutely no magical involvement."

"I see." Berserker hummed as Saber avoided Lancer's strikes with his shorter spear before having to quickly flip over the extended long spear as it left a deep crescent cut mark on the ground, the knight gracefully landing in a manner that was almost too graceful for someone with much armor. "Then I suppose with just their physical capabilities, Saber and Lancer qualify as Lesser-Type threats?"

"Pretty high on that scale, but yeah." Kariya nodded. "Then one has to consider their Skills and Noble Phantasms, which puts them into Intermediate-Type at minimum, which is where all Green Lanterns have to be individually. And before you ask, you're firmly a Greater-Type threat, one who can take on an entire country in her lonesome."

"Oh, you flatter me." Berserker muttered with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"An Assassin-type signature has breached your vicinity."

Kariya straightened up at his ring's mental warning, idly turning to regard the cloaked Servant in black that crouching on top of the handrail of the nearby crane.

"Oh?" Berserker's hands rested upon her bow.

"Wait, it looks like it's doing reconnaissance." Kariya noted. "Let's leave him until he actually makes a move against us."

"That's rather bold." Berserker replied, even as she let go of her weapon. "What if they have that one as a decoy, preventing you from noticing the blade in your back until it is already buried?"

"I have faith in my reaction time, should I be proven wrong." Kariya shrugged. "And with you next to me, my faith's doubled."

"...you flatterer." Berserker's cheeks reddened again.

Was she weak to compliments or something?

"There's activity at the warehouses at the mouth of Mion River. The first battle has finally begun."

"Not the first, really. This is technically the second battle, Kirei." Tokiomi Tohsaka hummed as he acknowledged Kirei's report in his Workshop, sitting in his chair while his phonograph was close by.

"It would appear that Saber and Lancer are the combatants, with Kariya Matou and his Servant being spectators."

"Oh?" Tokiomi's eyes widened in interest. "Can you read the Servants' statuses through Assassin's eyes?"

"With ease. Both Saber and Berserker's parameters are particularly high, with the former surpassing the latter by having just a single of her attributes ranked lower than A."

"I suppose the reports of that particular Class being the strongest was no exaggeration." Tokiomi rubbed his chin in thought. "Can you see where Kariya and the other Masters have hidden themselves?"

"Matou hasn't hidden himself in the slightest."

Tokiomi blinked in surprise. "Eh?"

"Matou appeared with his Servant atop a nearby crate and is watching the battle between Saber and Lancer. Similarly, there's also a woman that Saber frequently responds to behind her. A woman with silver hair and red eyes."

"Kariya, even now, your amateurism outshines your competence. Well, that means only Lancer's Master seems to possess the wisdom to remain hidden. Compared to Kariya, they clearly understand the rules of the Holy Grail War" Tokiomi chuckled before the rest of Kirei's words suddenly caught on. "Wait, a silver-haired woman with red eyes?"

"Yes. With Caucasian features." Kirei confirmed. "She can easily pass for human, but..."

"Then she's definitely an Einzbern homunculus." Tokiomi realized. "If she was made as an artificial Master for Saber, then what did Jubstacheit hire Kiritsugu Emiya for? Well, in any case, she will be a critical factor in the rest of the Grail War. Kirei, keep an eye on her."

"Understood. I shall keep an Assassin tasked to her at all times."

"I can see him." Maiya's spoke through Kiritsugu's earpiece. "But shouldn't Assassin be dead?"

"I knew something was amiss." Kiritsugu lowered his gun from where he'd been looking at Assassin and returned his gaze towards the very visible Kariya Matou. There were two reasons why he had yet to instantly capitalize on that. The first was the faint green halo that had heralded his sudden appearance and was still subtly clinging to his form. Given his casual demeanor at being so exposed, Kiritsugu could only rationalize that the halo had impressively protective capabilities. The second reason was the Servant sitting next to him. She was in casual conversation with her Master, but Kiritsugu had broken into a sweat when she'd directly locked eyes with him the moment he'd trained his gun on Kariya Matou. She'd done nothing more, but Kiritsugu had no illusions of what would follow if he pulled the trigger. "Let's see how this plays out for now. Continue to observe Assassin. I'll watch Lancer and Berserker."

"I'll attack Assassin and draw attention, so you can use the chance to take down Lancer's Master."

"No, Maiya." Kiritsugu immediately shut down that idea. "Not when it's Assassin we're dealing with. We aren't prepared to fight Servants right now."

"Understood."

Irisviel kept her carefully Reinforced vision steady as the two Servants disengaged once more, their surroundings now noticeably demolished by their battle. Along with the ground bearing numerous gouges and cracks, the fight had also damaged a few of the cargo shipments, one finally caving in as it bent and tipped over.

Irisviel had known that Servants were each powerful beyond human standards, but had never imagined that even without either using their Noble Phantasms, a clash between the two of them could still inflict so much damage. Even at the moment, Irisviel could still feel her ears ringing from the metallic screeches of their weapons meeting.

"While there is no honor in a battle fought without an exchange of names, allow me to offer my regards." Lancer offered his respect to Saber. "It is impressive for a woman to fight this much without even breaking a sweat."

Once again, Irisviel wondered how he could say such chauvinistic words without any actual chauvinistic intent...

"You need not be so humble, Lancer." Saber replied with as much respect as her opponent gave her. "Even without knowing your name, words from such a master of the spear do me honor. I accept them gratefully."

"That's enough fun, Lancer."

Irisviel startled at the voice that echoed across the yard, carefully looking around her surroundings. "Lancer's Master?"

"Do not allow this battle to drag out."

Saber slightly shifted her head, searching for the source of the voice as well while not looking away from Lancer.

"Saber is formidable enough of an opponent that stretching this out will be detrimental." Lancer's Master continued from his hidden spot. "Eliminate her immediately. You may use your Noble Phantasm."

Both Irisviel and Saber tensed at those words, Lancer smirking at his Master's command.

"Understood, my lord." With that, Lancer immediately dropped the short lance with the golden spearhead from his left hand, readying himself with the longer polearm. Afterwards, the fabric that had concealed most of it from view began to disintegrate, revealing the scarlet spear in it's full glory.

Despite herself, Irisviel couldn't help but admire the weapon's design, especially regarding the runic symbols embedded on it.

"That's right. I shall go for the kill now." Lancer put his spear into a stance, slightly tensing more than he'd done so far. "Saber, you will still use prana to conceal your blade with wind?"

Saber tensed at his question, blatant enough that Lancer noticed.

"I see. So you have a reason to hide your sword." Lancer realized. "My guess is that the sword reveals your True Name."

"Unfortunately, Lancer, you will never know the name of my blade." Saber rebuked, raising her sword stance. "I will finish this before you have the chance."

"We'll see about that. I shall expose your invisible sword, Saber." Lancer confidently said as he began to walk towards his foe, bursting into a sprint and clashing his spear against her sword once more. However, unlike before, Irisviel winced as a piercing screech filled the air as sparks and gusts discharged from where the Noble Phantasms scratched against each other, Saber's weapon began flickering into view against Saber's will and forced her to leap back in shock. "Your cherished sword has been exposed."

"Invisible Air was dispelled?!" Saber questioned, bewildered at how her supplementary Noble Phantasm had been affected in such a manner.

Without warning, Lancer charged forward with a burst of speed and an excited grin, striking below Saber's feet and forcing her to jump back. The moment his spear hit the ground, he swiftly pulled it back as the impact caused a small burst of debris to block Saber's view.

Despite Saber's vison being temporarily blocked, she immediately dodged to her left, avoiding Lancer's piercing strike to her head from the smokescreen. Not stopping there, she also dodged the following strikes to her left arm and her head once more before ducking down and rolling to avoid the sweeping strike.

However, Saber quickly realized her mistake in stepping too close into Lancer's range, barely avoiding the slash that managed to shear off some of her bangs. Crashing to the ground on her back, Saber immediately flipped back up and clashed blades with Lancer again, creating a massive impact that repelled them both a bit.

Lancer quickly recovered and produced a barrage of strikes against Saber, forcing her into the defensive. With every clash that their weapons met, Lancer's Noble Phantasm always distorted Invisible Air, briefly revealing the hidden sword. Saber could only grit her teeth at this as she held her own.

"What's going on?" Irisviel muttered as she watched Saber's imminent defeat. Lancer's spear seemed to be distorting Invisible Air apart, which meant that it was a Noble Phantasm of similar rank. It couldn't be greater, otherwise Excalibur would've been fully exposed from the initial clash. And it couldn't be lesser, otherwise, it wouldn't even have worked. But did that mean that it was a Noble Phantasm specifically geared towards attacking wind-based constructs?

No, his earlier words... Prana...?

"Saber, his Noble Phantasm's directly attacking the prana!" Irisviel shouted out her realization, the two knights pausing a bit to regard her. "Rather than your Noble Phantasm, he's disrupting the prana that's supposed to be keeping it active!"

"...an astute observation, Master of Saber. I'm pleased to see that my opponent has a splendid supporter as yourself." Lancer praised. "Unfortunately, I now already know the exact length of your blade. Now I need not worry about worry about being struck!"

"On the contrary, Irisviel's warning has saved me from making a brash attack just now." Saber clashed against Lancer once more, aiming for just below the spearhead, smiling as the dispersing effects upon Invisible Air were much less pronounced and allowing her to duck and land a shallow slash on his side as they passed each other. "First blood goes to me, Lancer."

"So, you just won't let me win that easily." Lancer commented, not seemingly affected at all by his injury. To Irisviel's surprise, he actually seemed pleased by it, even as a brief flash of light heralded his recovery.

"Don't act so carelessly, Lancer!" The voice of Lancer's Master snarled out. "Enjoying this battle is no excuse to lose it!"

"My apologies, my lord." Lancer readied himself into his stance once more, his blade almost shimmering from his intent. "I promise you... I will cut her down now."

"Really? he'll have to be disappointed, then." Saber gripped her sword with both her hands and pointed it facing behind her. "Prepare yourself, Lancer!"

Lancer took a cautious step back but suddenly slipped from the loose gravel of the battlefield, causing him to grit his teeth at his mistake as he lost balance.

A mistake that Saber immediately capitalized, forcing Invisible Air to discharge a compressed burst of wind, pushing her towards Lancer at an alarming speed that caused the very air to crack apart, ready to strike him down. Unfortunately, this made her too fast to stop herself when Lancer suddenly kicked up the short golden spear that Irisviel had forgotten about, the wrapping around it disintegrating as both scarlet and golden spears aimed directly for Saber's throat.

Irisviel's Reinforced eyes widened at the sight. She wasn't sure what the golden spear would do, but for it to be held so close to the crimson one, she could at least guess that it was like those Mortal Kombat finishers in those games that Maiya had shown (and played with) her, needing an initial act for completion, which was clearly the effect of the crimson spear Noble Phantasm. She had no Command Seals on her, but- "Saber, drop!"

Thankfully, Saber heard her and let her legs come to a sudden stop while twisting to her left, the upwards-aimed double thrust tearing through her armored wrist.

Lancer held his spears up for a bit before chuckling as he stood upright, casting an approving glance at Irisviel. "Truly, not only your observational skills, but your quick judgement has saved Saber's life. If not for those, it would be her throat rather than her wrist bleeding out now. Well done, Master of Saber!"

Keeping her distance, Artoria briefly regarded her injury. It was barely passable. Perhaps she could've risked gaining a worse injury at the chance of aiming to cut down Lancer. But Lancer was right in more ways than he knew. From what she could tell of her injury, her tendon had just been shy of being cut through. If Irisviel had shouted just a second later... or perhaps not at all...

"What are you talking so much for, you fool?" The voice of Lancer's Master rang out, their annoyance rather apparent. "Finish her, already!"

"Irisviel, I require healing." Artoria called out, raising up her sword while her blood continued to dribble through the gaps of her gauntlet. "Irisviel?"

"But I already...?" Irisviel gave a confused mutter, visibly glowing with prana. "I don't understand. Why are you still bleeding?!"

"Allow me to enlighten you as a reward for your efforts. You did well to the futility of that armor before my Gáe Dearg, making Saber halt her charge towards me." Lancer raised his long scarlet spear on his shoulder. "But that was exactly why I decided that just like her, I had to take a risk myself. Putting myself into a vulnerable position if I'd failed, I struck with both spears simultaneously, allowing for that brief instant of your armor being bypassed to cut you with my Gáe Buidhe."

Lancer kicked up his short spear and caught it from the ground, gesturing with it as he smirked. "How fortuous for me."

"I see. A spear that inflicts wounds that cannot be healed... I should have realized this sooner." Artoria declared as she finally recognized the knight before her, understanding her mistake as she raised her injured arm to briefly survey the damage before dropping it. "A red spear that bypasses magic, a yellow spear that causes cursed wounds, and a mole that enchants women beneath the right eye... First Spear of the Knights of Fianna, Diarmuid of the Love Spot. I never dreamed that I would have the honor of facing you."

"It's all thanks to the Holy Grail War." Lancer answered before pointing the finger that held Gáe Buidhe towards her. "But it is me who is honored here. No Heroic Spirit summoned by the Holy Grail could ever mistake that golden blade. To face the legendary King of Knights and land even a single blow..."

Lancer hummed triumphantly as he relaxed and stood straight. "I must be pretty skilled myself."

"King of Knights?" A sudden mutter from above caused Artoria and Lancer to regard the Master above as he stared at her in surprise, turning to gawk at his own Servant before returning his gaze to her and then clapping his face into his palms. "But she's... How did... I can almost get how she got away with it, but she, or rather he, fathered Mordred-"

And Artoria decided to stop listening from that point onwards. Madness lay that path if she dared to awaken those buried memories.

"He seems quite surprised." Lancer chuckled before facing her again. "Now that we both know each other's names, we can duel honorably as knights. Or are you upset that this is happening after you've lost an arm, Saber?"

"Lost an arm?" Artoria made a show of twirling her aerokinetic blade clearly enough so that the others could see the 'lost arm' in action, before gripping it tightly with both hands. "Don't be so proud over scratching me, Lancer. Plenty before you have achieved greater."

"Then I shall proceed to achieve greater." Lancer took his battle stance with his two spears, his smile widening. "Prepare yourself, Saber. I'll get you this time."

"Only if I fail to strike first, Lancer." Artoria declared, a smile blooming despite herself.

Before their battle continued, up from the sky came down a lightning bolt crashed down between the two Servants, followed by the sounds of rushing wind combined with charging hooves as something immense crashed down in the middle of Artoria and Lancer's battlefield.

"AAAALALALALALALAIE!" The owner of such a thunderous voice was an equally giant man, adorned in crimson as fine and wild as his hair while the bulls of his war chariot groaned menacing as their hooves cracked the shattered ground beneath them with idle stomps. "Both of you, sheathe your blades. You are in the presence of a king!"

"Eh? A... A chariot?" Irisviel blurted out, sounding in just as much disbelief as Artoria felt herself at this sudden change of events. She slightly braced herself when bolts of lightning crackled around the area, but she slowly relaxed when she realized that they were not harming her.

"I am Iskander, King of Conquerors! In this Holy Grail War, I am of the Rider Class!" Rider declared with unrepentant arrogance. receiving shocked stares from absolutely everybody present.

Then the Master atop the crates spoke. "I give it a 7 out of 10... for interrupting the duel!"

Lancer

Master: Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald

True Name: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

Alias: First Spear of the Knights of Fianna, Diarmuid of the Love Spot

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Sex: Male

Strength: B

Endurance: C

Agility: A+

Mana: D

Luck: E

NP: B

Class Skill(s)

Magic Resistance(Rank B)

Personal Skill(s)

Knight's Strategy(Rank B): A battle methodology in which Lancer grasps the flow of battle and induces his opponent to make mistakes they normally wouldn't, even without being a match for them in prowess.

Love Spot(Rank C): Taking the physical form of a mole beneath his right eye, this is a curse that Lancer was born with: Any woman who confronts Diarmuid gains a strong romantic affection for him, unless they are capable of protecting themselves from magical effects.

Mind's Eye(True)(Rank B): Lancer is capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament.

Noble Phantasm(s)

Gáe Dearg - Crimson Rose of Exorcism(Rank B: Anti-Unit): This is a scarlet demonic spear two meters long that renders magical enhancements and projections useless by severing all ties with prana. Unlike most other Noble Phantasms, the abilities of the spear are passive in nature as it does not require its name to be called upon in order to be utilized, allowing it to instantly disrupt any prana-infused object it strikes. However, the nullification is not strong enough to cancel or break the source of the magecraft, making it unable to sever completed magecraft such as contracts exchanged in the past or the after effects of an already cast spell. Additionally, the spear is not suitable for defensive usage because its effects only last while the tip of Gáe Dearg is in contact with the object, and it allows the affected magecraft to function as normal after the spear is lifted away.

Gáe Buidhe - Yellow Rose of Mortality(Rank B: Anti-Unit): This is a golden lance that inflicts wounds that cannot be healed naturally or with magecraft. Unlike most other Noble Phantasms, the abilities of the lance are passive in nature as it does not require its name to be called upon in order to be utilized, allowing it to instantly actualize its curse of mortality upon striking the enemy. The lance lowers the opponent's maximum health limit, thus limiting healing and regeneration abilities to the point where the opponent received the injury. The effect cannot be normally dispelled, and canceling the curse requires the destruction of the lance or Lancer's death.

KingVessel: For those of you wondering how Kariya is so carefree and seemingly careless, remember that he and Berserker are easily the strongest pair in the War, and he knows it. Sure, there are Artoria and Gilgamesh, but it's not really Green Lantern's first time facing and beating impossible odds. In fact, its an occupational hazard.