A coastal village in England, 514 AD

CLANG!

Artoria: "Oof!"

A twelve-year-old Artoria fell on the ground after taking a wooden sword to the stomach. She was using the inside of the stable house to train while the horses were grazing outside. The person she was training with was her foster father, Sir Ector.

Ector: "Artoria. Your overhead swing still leaves you vulnerable."

Artoria: "My apologies, Sir Ector."

Ector: "Other than that, your progress is incredible. Your strikes have doubled in speed since yesterday. If I am to be honest, I had trouble keeping up. You have what it takes to become a truly great knight."

Artoria: "T-Thank you, Sir Ector. I am honored to receive such praise."

Ector: "You are welcome. Now, stand back on your feet. It's time to bring the horses back in."

Artoria: "Right."

This was usually how her training sessions went. She had been trained as a knight ever since she was little and didn't even have time to be a normal girl. She was raised to be a warrior first and foremost.

Present

That was why she didn't fear the one hundred cultists in front of her. She pointed her katana at them in a taunting gesture.

Artoria: "So…who's first?"

One brave cultist charged at her with a war cry, but Artoria cut his hands off, leaving him screaming before the blood loss made him lose consciousness. That was when the other cultists went berserk. Two attacked her from the sides, three came at her from the back, and one more jumped up and tried to stab at her from above, but Artoria easily countered every single one. She ducked down, causing the six of them to stab each other, allowing Artoria to slice off each of their heads.

Artoria didn't waste time savoring her victory. As soon as their bodies hit the ground, she dashed into the crowd. She tore through the cultists like a hurricane as she hacked and slashed everything in front of her, all the while dodging their pathetic attempts to attack her. Blood burst out of their vessels like a sprinkler as limbs were tossed every which way. It was an absolute massacre, but for Artoria, it was just another walk in the park.

Back when she was alive, she had been in countless situations just like this one. The Battle of Badon Hill was a prime example. In that particular scuffle, King Arthur was said to have killed over 470 Saxons by himself. If she was capable of doing that, then 100 cultists with no training were no match for her. The oni masks they wore to give themselves power only made them overconfident and prone to making mistakes, something an experienced warrior like Artoria could exploit to catch them off guard.

The fight was brutal! Artoria was so deep into carnage that she was now blinded by the blood covering her face. Suddenly, Artoria stopped her sword as she noticed she wasn't hitting anything. She took a moment to wipe the blood off her face. Once she did, she noticed that there were no more enemies left. She had killed every single one. Only one thought surfaced in her mind as she noticed it.

Artoria: "That's it?"

This was the quickest Artoria had ever defeated an army. For instance, the Battle of Badon Hill lasted for three days and three nights. This battle? Four minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Although she had won, Artoria had to admit that she was kind of disappointed. As much as she tried to hide it, she liked fighting and thought that facing one hundred oni-powered enemies would prove to be a fun challenge. She was wrong.

Akuma and Tonbo, meanwhile, have completely different reactions. Tonbo was in shock. He couldn't move, nor could he form coherent thoughts. He simply stood there in disbelief. Akuma, on the other hand, barely had any reaction at all. He simply raised an eyebrow in surprise at how quickly Artoria had finished the battle.

Tonbo: "H-H-H-How did this happen!? T-There's no way….s-she just…"

Akuma: "Calm down, Tonbo. It's important to keep a level head even in seemingly hopeless situations. So, take a deep breath and sort things out. Breathe in…"

Tonbo: "Sssss!"

Akuma: "...and breathe out."

Tonbo: "Haaaaah!"

Akuma: "Breathe in…"

Tonbo: "Sssss!"

Akuma: "...and breathe out."

Tonbo: "Haaaaah!"

Akuma: "Feel better?"

Tonbo: "Yes. Thank you Akuma Doji. You are most kind."

Akuma: "Hmph! You are welcome. Now, back to the matter at hand."

He looked down at Artoria from atop his throne, and she looked back at him.

Artoria: "You are out of warriors Akuma Doji. I'll ask again: your surrender…or your life. Choose one. Quite frankly, I don't care which."

Akuma: "You think defeating some cultists would be enough to scare me? Foolish girl! I knew those idiots wouldn't be able to kill you. They were only there to tire you out! Let's see how you do against an ACTUAL warrior."

He snapped his fingers, and a figure walked out behind the throne.

Akuma: "Miyaki, your up!"

The figure walked up to the battlefield, giving Artoria a better view of their appearance.

The figure was a girl around the same height as Atoria. She had blonde hair tied in pigtails and wore a muzzle that looked like a demon's mouth. She wore a standard schoolgirl uniform with blood splatters all over it. She had a large kanabō in her hand, which she dragged across the floor, making a horrible screeching sound.

This was Miyaki Hanami, the Oe Cult's most dangerous hitman- or hitwoman, in this case. They used their kanabō to execute anyone who got on the cult's bad side, hence her street title: "The Bludgeon." Now, at Akuma's orders, Artoria was on her hit list.

Miyaki: "I hope you're prepared to die, Saber."

Artoria: "Compared to what I've been through, death is the last thing I fear."

Miyaki: "We'll see about that!"

She wasted no time as she swung her war club at Artoria, who blocked it just in time, but the sword ended up shattering. Miyaki swung at her some more, and Artoria deflected every strike, chipping away more of the blade in the process. Artoria quickly threw the broken sword away and kicked one of the ones on the ground into her hand, only for this one to become broken as well.

Artoria: "Dammit! These swords are too brittle! I need a much sturdier weapon."

Before she could think about what to do next, Tonbo's claws surged towards her face! She quickly avoided it and took several steps back.

Artoria: "Tonbo is joining the fight? It appears that Akuma isn't taking any chances."

Tonbo and Miyaki charged at Artoria, who dodged and weaved through each attack they tried to land on her. However, she could not do anything due to the vicious onslaught of attacks being directed towards her. This continued for a few minutes until…

Artoria: "An opening!"

She lunged forward, seeing a chance for her to attack. However, this turned out to be a mistake, as Miyaki used her club to destroy Artoria's katana, allowing Tonbo to slash her across the stomach.

Tonbo: "Now, Miyaki!"

Miyaki then swung her club into Artoria's side, rupturing her right kidney and breaking a few ribs. She couphed up blood and tumbled to the ground. When she tried to get up, Tonbo slashed her across her back.

Artoria: "Gah!"

She fell face-down, painting the front of her body in the blood covering the floor. Tonbo followed up his attack, but as his tekkō-kagi were about to reach her, she put her hand up and caught the claws between her fingers.

Tonbo: "Wha-?

Artoria: "How dare you…"

Her grip on the claws tightened.

Artoria: "HOW DARE YOU LEAVE SCARS ON MY BACK, YOU KNAVE!"

The saying "scars on the back are a swordsman's shame" implies that a swordsman who is wounded in the back has turned their back on their opponent, a sign of cowardice and dishonor. While most people would overlook it, to a proud swordsman like Artoria, it was personal!

She broke the claws off Tonbo's tekkō-kagi and elbowed him in the face. When Miyaki tried to swing her kanabō at Artoria, she caught her swinging arm and, with the broken-off claws still between her fingers, stabbed Miyaki in the throat, making her drop her club and crumple to the ground clutching her throat.

Artoria then threw the claws like knives back at Tonbo, who managed to deflect two of them, but the third one managed to insert itself into his eye. She didn't give him time to recover as she picked up Miyaki's kanabō off the floor and swung it with enough force to send his head flying off his shoulders.

Once they were both dead, she stared back at Akuma, who was now all alone.

Akuma: "Alright. If that is how you want to play it…"

He got up from his throne and walked towards Artoria with his naginata.

Akuma: "...that's fine by me!"

?: "I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

Akuma looked behind him and saw Taro holding him at gunpoint, using a cigarette like a pistol.

Taro: "Your Mystic Eyes of Nullification may be strong, but they have one weakness: you can only use them on one person at a time. So if you were to cancel out my magecraft, Saber would regain her powers and take you down."

Akuma was momentarily shocked and wondered how Taro had gotten into his lair, but then he reasoned that he had probably snuck in while Artoria was fighting his cultists. However, there was one question that remained on his mind.

Akuma: "Why didn't you interfere before? Saber was in peril, and you could have easily helped her. So why didn't you?"

Taro: "Saber asked me to. She told me to wait until the enemy was sure that they had won since that is when they were most vulnerable. Also, Miyaki was behind your throne, and that made it hard to sneak up on you. Now, surrender, or we will take you out."

Akumai: "Hmmm…well played. Not many would resort to tactics as risky as this, yet you pulled it off with few casualties. Very well, I will surrender. I will move what remains of my cult to a remote part of the city."

Taro: "Good. I think that concludes our business."

Meanwhile, Naru still had Akachi in his grasp.

Naru: "Alright, Akachi, you're going to tell me what I want to know."

He pulled a photo out of his pocket and showed it to Akachi.

Naru: "Did the Oe Cult kill my mother?"

Akachi: "H-Huh? Why are you asking me this?"

Naru: "Because my mother died from a hail of bullets, and the Oe Cult is one of two gangs in the city who use guns. So, was it you?"

Akachi: "N-No! Why would we kill some random red haired bitch?"

Naru wanted to punch Akachi for calling him mom the 'B' word, but he decided to let him go since he didn't serve any real purpose beyond that. Besides, Akachi did have a point. The Oe Cult didn't have any motivation for killing his mother

Naru: "So it wasn't the Oe Cult. It must be someone from the Broken Chain then."

Later, after the Oe Cult had left and the bodies were cleaned up, Naru, Rei, and Brook came back to report their results to Taro.

Taro: "So Naru, how did it go?"

Naru: "It went pretty smoothly. We had a few twists and turns here and there, but other than that, this might have been our most successful operation yet!"

Taro: "That's good to hear."

Rei: "Yeah! I must admit, I had doubts about Saber's plan at first, but after seeing just how well this went, I think we can do this!"

Naru: "Oh yeah! That reminds me. Saber!"

Naru reached under his sweater and pulled out a golden sheath covered in diagonal blue lines.

Naru: "You probably need this, considering your injuries."

Artoria: "Right. Thank you, master."

Brook: "So that's how you recovered from Akachi's paralysis so quickly!"

Artoria took the sheath and let it back into herself.

Artoria: "Strange. I can give it to others, and its healing abilities are unhindered. Yet, I am unable to use it as a noble phantasm."

She shrugged the thought aside and walked away. The others soon followed, except for Naru, who tapped Brook on the shoulder.

Brook: "Yes?"

Naru: "Can we…talk about something?"

Brook: "Um…sure! What is it?"

Naru: "It's about 'The Knuckleduster.'"

Naru suddenly reached out and started stretching Brook's cheeks.

Naru: "IT WAS YOU!?"

Brook: "Awawawawawa!"

Naru: "So when you were talking about it back at base, you were just hyping yourself up you little shit!"

He pulled her cheeks even harder.

Brook: "Waaaah! I'm sorryyyyy! I just wanted to be coooool!"

Naru: *sigh* "Whatever. Just don't try this shit again. Just because you're kinda cute doesn't mean you can get away with stuff like this. Now come on. It's getting late, and we should head home."

Naru finally left to go join the others. Meanwhile, Brook was thinking about what he had just said.

Just because you're kinda cute doesn't mean you can get away with stuff like this.

Just because you're kinda cute…

…kinda cute…

…kinda cute…

…cute…

…cute…

…cute…

Brook: "C-C-C-CUTE!? He called me cute!? This is the first time a boy called me such a thing! What does he mean by that? Are my clothes cute? Is my face cute?" *gasp* "AM I CUTE!? If he thinks I'm cute, does that mean…HE LIKES ME!?"

Naru: "Brook! Are you coming or what?"

Brook: "H-Huh? R-Right. I should get going."

Naru: "Weirdo…"

Brook: "Cute…" *Internal screaming intensifies*

Akachi: "FUCK!"

Akachi kicked another garbage can over. He and Riko were in an alleyway, recovering from their injuries. Akachi had his arm wrapped in bandages to keep it from falling apart while Riko was in a wheelchair.

Akachi: "I can't believe this! Not only did they utterly destroy us, but they had the nerve to let us go just to add salt to the wound! Who does that!?"

Riko: "Hey! At least your wounds can be healed with magecraft. LOOK WHAT I HAVE TO DEAL WITH!"

Akachi: "Alright, Alright! I get it! Dammit, if only we had a servant of our own. You know what, here's what we're going to do. We're going to find a master in the Holy Grail War, kill them, take their servant, and use them to get our revenge! What do you think, Riko? Um….Riko?"

Riko was nowhere to be found. All that was left of him was an empty wheelchair.

Akachi: "R-Riko? W-Where did you go?"

?: "Pssst! Hey! Over here!"

A slimy, almost sickly sounding voice came deeper from within the alley.

Akachi: "Huh? W-Who are you? What did you do to Riko?"

?: "Hehehe! I'll show you, but on one condition: you can't scream until I tell you."

Akachi was terrified. He wanted to run away, but if he left his partner to die, Akuma would most certainly punish him. He walked deeper into the alleyway. He was scared. He wasn't sure what he would find.

Akachi: "R-Riko?"

Riko(?): "Uhhhhh! Uhhhh!"

Akachi heard Riko whining in front of him. He was clearly in a lot of pain. Akachi, unfortunately, could not help him because it was too dark. So, he conjured a spell that created a small orb of light that allowed him to see in the dark. However, what he saw made him wish he had left the light off. Right in front of him was Riko, or rather, what used to be Riko.

His limbs looked like they had been put into a paper shredder and split into several strands that stuck onto the walls like cobwebs. His chest had been ripped open, and his ribcage had malformed an elongated to form a tree made of bone, with his organs hanging off the branches like fruits. As for his face, his teeth had grown and curved outwards like tusks and pierced several parts of his face.

As nightmarish as this was, it wasn't even the worst part because Riko…

Riko: "Uhhhhh! AHHHHH!"

…was still alive.

Akachi was frozen. He was no stranger to gore, but something about this felt… indescribable and made him sick to his stomach. Suddenly, he heard the same, slimey voice behind him.

?: "What's the matter? Are you scared of what I did to your friend? Don't be. You'll be joining him soon enough."

Akachi spun around to face this mysterious figure, only to freeze when he got a good look at his face.

?: "You can scream now!"

Akachi: "AHHHHHHHH!"

Akachi's screams rang throughout the alleyways before going silent. All that was ever heard were the sounds of bones breaking and flesh tearing as he met the same fate as his partner.

Well, that ended on a disturbing note! Sorry it took so long to upload this chapter. I had other stuff I was dealing with. I hope you're enjoying the story so far!