Lancer sized up the temple before him with a bored expression.
It was an old collection of buildings, still inhabited by a fair number of monks, sitting on top of a hill. A staircase just a bit too long to be comfortable lead up to the single gate that led into the compound, which itself was surrounded by an inert bounded field. It was anyone's guess as to what it did, but as it wasn't completed yet, it currently didn't seem to be a cause for concern. Much more importantly, he could clearly feel the presence of a Servant within the temple, making no efforts to hide itself.
Was it bait? Possibly. But it seemed just as likely to be a bluff. He had been by this way not two days before, and there had very evidently been nothing, so whichever Master and Servant had taken up refuge here had likely arrived very recently. The possibility that the bounded field was simply incomplete was high, and that if he didn't attack now, he might lose his chance.
However, it seemed equally likely that the incomplete field was bait, intended to lure him into a trap with the "opportunity" of striking before they were ready.
If he had any idea which Servant was inside, it would make guessing a lot easier. This early in the war, he had unfortunately little intel - he knew Berserker was in the employ of the Einzberns, so they would likely be outside the city proper. He had scuffled with Rider the night before, and it was unlikely she and her Master would have been able to relocate and set up on such short notice. That still left Saber, Archer, Assassin, and Caster.
With his Master safe and snuggly at home, fighting against an Archer or Assassin would likely be the best situation he could hope for. No matter the Servant, a Saber class opponent would likely prove to be a tough fight, and a Caster would be a complete wildcard - certainly he had an edge against the class, but if there was any class that could be labelled as unpredictable, it was Caster.
With a shrug, Lancer began ascending the steps. In the end, he didn't have much choice in the matter. The Command Spell forced him to fight each opponent he encountered to a draw - he had recognized the presence of a Servant inside, so there was nothing he could do but press on.
A brief twinge of revulsion coloured his expression for a moment as he thought that. He knew he should know better, that this was a fight to the death where winning was everything. But even so, his "Master" was on a whole different level of despicable, and even after going through all the trouble of stealing Lancer from the woman who had originally summoned him, he had still relegated him to scouting duty.
Well, as long as he got to fight, he supposed it didn't matter. Secretly he was hoping his new Master would run out of Command Spells and allow Lancer a chance to introduce him to his favourite spear, but after seeing how many Command Spells he had, that hope had quickly died. There was nothing to do but enjoy the battle to which he was summoned as much as he could.
Having ascended to the top of the stairs, Lancer turned his attention back to the present. He had made no attempt to hide his presence, either magically or physically, so unless the pair inside were literally sleeping they should have known he was here. Even so, without so much as a word of protest, Lancer stepped through the gate and into the compound, completely bypassing what he thought should have been a rather ideal chokepoint.
If his opponent had been an Archer, he would have expected them to use the advantage of the narrow stairway to kill him on the approach. If they were an Assassin, they should have ambushed him the moment he attempted to step through that gate - or fled at his approach. The fact none of these happened meant it was likely the Servant inside was a Saber or Caster.
Lancer gave a wry grin. This was either going to be very fun, or very boring - there didn't seem to be much space in between.
Planting the butt of his spear on the stone ground of the courtyard, Lancer waited patiently. The Servant had made no attempt to flee or ambush him on his approach, so it was the least he could do to let them get ready. And sure enough, in short order, someeone came out of the main temple building to greet him.
...but it wasn't a Servant.
A young man, maybe in his late teens or early twenties, walked out into the courtyard. The faintly glowing red emblem on the back of his right hand confirmed him as a Master, and in that hand was also a long-bladed dagger suffused with a surprising amount of magical energy. At first glance, it looked like ritual implement of some sort, but from the manner he held it and his lean, muscled frame, it seemed like he was well experienced in using it for more conventional purposes as well.
The most striking thing about him, however, was his eyes. They held no magic, no power of their own - as if to take the place of Mystic Eyes, they instead held a phenomenal darkness, as if they had seen horrors even a Heroic Spirit couldn't fathom. Though he appeared as a young man, those eyes alone led Lancer to believe he was positively ancient.
In contrast to those eyes, the man smiled, raising his hands in a welcoming gesture.
"Welcome, Servant Lancer! So good of you to join us here. My name is Arcann Asfilia. It will be my pleasure to remove you from this War."
"And here I was thinking badly of my Master for hiding while I did all the work," Lancer said with a laugh, "but is your Servant actually sending you out alone? And I thought my situation was bad!"
"I'm touched by your concern," the magus replied, making no moves towards taking a combat ready stance, "But I think you will find it is unnecessary."
"I commend your bravery," Lancer said, "but there's no fun in straight murder, you know?" Looking past Arcann, Lancer shouted towards the temple building. "I know you're in there, Servant! If you're a man, come out and fight me like one!"
After a curious grunt of a laugh from Arcann, Lancer's attention was drawn to the roof of the temple. Though difficult to see in the darkness with human eyes, he could easily make out what looked like an inky black shadow, twisting and turning in the air. In short order, it arranged itself into the form of a person, and soon after gained true colour.
"I'm hardly a man," the woman replied, the hood hiding her face unable to mask the entirety of her unpleasant expression, "but no matter. Do you have some business with me, Servant Lancer?"
Finally, Lancer brought his weapon to bear, sinking his weight low. "As a matter of fact, I do. Care to show me your cards, Servant Caster?" From her long purple robes and lack of any visible weapons, not to mention her method of appearance, it was obvious that she couldn't have been a Saber. Unfortunately, that meant he had very little idea of what to expect from her. The most important thing would be to close the distance between them - if he could keep her within his spear's range, then she wouldn't have time to use any significantly powerful magecraft, and anything she could snap off would likely be soaked up by his innate Magic Resistance.
Caster sighed from her perch on top of the temple building. "I must admit, Master, I did not expect anyone to be stupid enough to fall for your trap. No matter. I'm busy preparing tonight, please deal with him quickly."
"Are you sure?" the magus replied, giving Lancer an apologetic smile. "It seems like he's more interested in fighting you than me."
"Oh?" Caster smiled, somehow managing to look less friendly while doing so. "I thought you told me you could handle fighting a Servant on your own. Was that all a show?"
"Alright, alright," Arcann said with a shrug, twirling the blade in his hand. "But if I die, it's your fault." Without another word, Arcann flipped his dagger into a reverse grip, sank his weight low, and lunged forward.
Though Lancer had no issue tracking his movements, they were certainly far beyond the possibilities of any human. Unfortunately, in a battle against Servants, such an ability was only a prerequisite, not even close to an achievement. Effortlessly Lancer deflected the flurry of slashes coming his way, driving his opponent away with a wide sweep. He couldn't help but react cautiously - was Caster really letting her Master fight while she stood by and watched? Even with that seconds-long exchange, Lancer could easily tell he was enhanced significantly by Caster's magecraft, but he was still no where near the level to be fighting Servants.
It had to be some sort of trap. It was too easy. He could just kill her Master and leave, and she'd be finished.
Or maybe...she was trying to get her Master killed?
Either way, he had no reason to oblige her in her plans. Leaping out of Arcann's immediate range, he hurled his spear directly at Caster. The shock barely had time to register on her face as the spear plunged through her chest, continuing on through as if it hadn't just punched a hole through a woman's body.
Lancer clicked his tongue, dissatisfied. Caster's body wavered, like the surface of a pond in which a stone had been flung, before losing colour and melting into the darkness. At the same time, Arcann lunged forward after him.
"Krr Ast!"
Trained as he was in magecraft, it was easy to see his opponent's Magic Circuits open full throttle as he shouted. Though Lancer had no idea what the words meant, he knew enough that it was a spell - and one too weak to break through his Resistance.
Unarmed as he was, Lancer had no choice but to deflect the incoming blade with his bare hands, striking and deflecting the hand gripping the blade rather than contesting the dagger itself. Try as he might, even Arcann's enhanced speed couldn't penetrate Lancer's unarmed defense. Seeing no apparent threat from the spell he had just used, Lancer called his spear back, throwing a straight punch as he did so. With his speed, Arcann probably wouldn't have even understood what was happening as Lancer's fist connected squarely to Arcann's jaw, shattering his face before launching him back-
- but he missed.
Lancer blinked in surprise as Arcann, crouched on the ground, lunged upwards to gouge at his side. Staggering sideways out of the path of the stab, he whirled around with a spinning kick to his opponent's chest. The blow caused his opponent's ribcage to splinter like rotten wood, sending him flying back towards the stai-
- but the kick, aimed low to catch the still crouching magus, met nothing but air as Arcann jumped over it.
Once again startled at the jarring change in outcome, Lancer hopped backwards a step, narrowly avoiding Arcann's dagger again. Grabbing his spear out of the air as it flew towards him, he threw another wide sweep, which Arcann attempted to block with his dagger. Even reinforced by Caster's magecraft, however, he was no match for Lancer's sheer strength, and even the blocked blow sent him sprawling a dozen feet backwards.
Before he could pursue the fallen magus, a sudden burst of magical energy in the air above him interrupted the combat. Lunging backwards once more, he narrowly avoided being struck as an immense pillar of light crashed into the ground where he had been standing, sending chunks of stone and dirt flying in all directions. Cautiously observing his surroundings, Lancer allowed himself to relax a little as he confirmed no more rays of light were coming.
As shadows twisted above the gate to the temple into the form of Caster once more, Lancer watched the magus hurriedly return to his feet with a suspicious glare. He knew his attacks had landed. He could still feel the sensation of his fist crushing bone, of his foot smashing ribs. Yet standing before him, Arcann's only injuries were those from skidding across the ground, no more than a few superficial scrapes. Somehow, after his attack had already been successful, the outcome had been changed...
It sounded a bit too familiar for his liking.
"That's an interesting trick you've got there, kid." Lancer said, a grin slowly returning to his face. "I don't know what you're doing, but it seems like two hits is your limit, huh?"
Arcann smiled, wiping dirt from his face with his free hand as he took a guarded stance again. "Krr Ast."
In his place, Caster spoke from her spot atop the gate. "I was going to leave you two children to sort this out yourselves, but it seems you're desperate to get me involved, aren't you?" Caster spoke with a murderous sweetness, waving a hand towards Lancer as she did so.
In short order, as if walking out of an invisible doorway, dozens of creatures began to materialize around him. Roughly man-shaped, made entirely of bone and clutching weapons that could be at best described as crude, the golems slowly shuffled into place surrounding him.
"You call this getting involved?" Lancer laughed, taking a combat stance again. This time, however, he wouldn't wait for his opponent to make the first move. Lunging forward, he plowed effortlessly through the bone golems towards Arcann.
Attacking Caster was evidently pointless, as her presence here was no more than an illusion. Arcann, however, was very much here, and while his bizarre magecraft was keeping him safe, it seemed he needed to recast it fairly frequently to keep it active. All he would have to do is wear that defense down and deal a decisive blow before Caster could interrupt their melee.
Leaping sideways around a bolt of light conjured by Caster, he thrust his spear towards Arcann's chest. Apparently having learned his lesson, Arcann deflected the incoming spear with his dagger rather than try to block it, following up with a stab towards Lancer's own chest. Casually stepping around the swing, Lancer used the butt end of his spear to strike the magus from behind his shoulder, slamming him face first into the-
- but the strike was too shallow, allowing Arcann to step around it. This time prepared for the jolt, Lancer's weapon was already in position, sending another thrust at his opponent's face. A look of surprise was the last expression to grace Arcann's face as the spear punched through-
- went high, missing Arcann as he stumbled and fell backwards. With a whirl, Lancer swept away the bone golems that had approached him from behind, before bringing his spear down like a sword to cut the magus in half.
With practiced motion, Arcann rolled sideways, simultaneously dodging the spear and rising to his feet. Flipping his dagger to a forward grip, he lunged forward with another shout.
"Eid Sa!"
Once again, Lancer sidestepped the attack, this time bringing his spear across horizontally to catch Arcann in the-
- unable to get out of the way in time, the dagger bit deep into his shoulder. Instinctively spinning away from the incoming stab at the sudden unexpected pain, he kicked forward. As if by an invisible hand, Arcann was pulled away, causing Lancer's kick to hit nothing but air. Before Lancer could think to pursue, more bone golems took the magus' place, forcing Lancer to spend precious seconds dispatching them.
Another series of beams of light scorched the earth around him as Lancer quickly dodged out of their way, noting that Caster paid no heed to her own golems as they were incinerated by the blasts. She was certainly a magus of some caliber, being able to launch attacks like this without any apparent buildup, but she was at least predictable. The golems, the beams, even her illusionary appearance were all things he could at least see coming thanks to his battle-hardened reflexes and training in magecraft. Though he couldn't match what Caster was putting out, he could at least recognize and avoid it.
In contrast, her Master was surprisingly proving to be a more difficult opponent. While she would likely inflict significant damage if he were to let his guard down, her Master was still a complete unknown. He could dodge after being hit, and hit after being dodged. It seemed all too much like his own Noble Phantasm, but the feeling was much different. Rather than pursuing an inevitable conclusion, it was more like he was rewriting a conclusion that had already been decided.
And that made killing him very difficult.
Lancer poured magical energy of his own into his spear, ignoring the stinging pain in his shoulder, as Arcann floated gently to the ground behind the growing mass of bone soldiers. The wound was deeper than he would have liked, but it wasn't enough to impede his movements yet. If he kept up fighting like this, though, it was unlikely he would be able to continue saying that.
Even with his tricks, Arcann did not seem like he was combat savvy enough to win the fight. While a normal human would no doubt be killed almost immediately against such magecraft, whatever it was, it was unlikely that it would be enough to defeat a Servant. But those tricks could be enough to cost him the fight if he brought Caster into the equation.
She was content so far with lobbing attacks at him from afar, but who knew what the two of them were capable of if they made a concerted effort?
He would have to end things as fast as possible. He couldn't get to Caster directly - and even if he could, he was under a command spell to leave her alive - but her Master was another story.
As the horde of bone golems began their charge as one, Lancer too charged at them. While plentiful in number, the golems were slow and lumbering, much slower than even Arcann himself. Sweeping them aside as he charged was less difficult than making sure he didn't lose his footing on the bone fragments that began to carpet the ground.
The sound of more beams of destruction drowned out the surrounding noise as Lancer punched his way through the last of the golems. Visually, he could see Arcann prepare another spell, but he couldn't hear which spell he had used. As he dodged around the rain of light shredding the temple grounds, he could do no more than guess.
Was it the defensive spell, or the offensive one? Or was it a third, yet unseen ability? Did it really matter?
Weaving through the blasts of light, Lancer rushed towards the enemy Master, his spear glowing a sinister blood red.
Even with his speed and reflexes enhanced by Caster, there was no way he could hope to keep track of Lancer's speed, let alone deal with it. Before either he or his Servant could react, Lancer reached his target and drove his spear through Arcann's chest. As if ignoring the fact he had been impaled, Arcann drove his dagger into Lancer's shoulder-
- yet even with Lancer's tremendous speed, Arcann somehow managed to throw himself out of the way in time. With his dagger now embedded in Lancer's shoulder, he pointed his right hand towards the spearman, palm open.
"Khas Um Fhal!"
A sinister power poured from the dagger in his shoulder, flooding over Lancer as if to erase him...and promptly vanished.
Grinning at the look of confusion on his opponent's face, Lancer turned and thrust his spear again. He was out of range, but that hardly mattered now.
"Gae...Bolg!"
Invoking the true name of his Noble Phantasm, the accumulated magical energy burst forward. As if the spear itself had awoken to a mind of its own, it surged forward, seeking the heart of the enemy Master.
A magical barrier appeared around Arcann, no doubt activating in response to Lancer's Noble Phantasm, and promptly shattered like glass as the spear went through it, not even slowing. Still recovering from his failed spell, Arcann didn't so much as move before the spear pierced through his heart.
- before the spear pierced through his heart.
- before the spear pierced through his heart.
- before the spear pierced through his heart.
To Lancer, and likely to Arcann as well, it seemed like time had ground to a halt. For the briefest moment, Lancer's Noble Phantasm and Arcann's magecraft clashed, each seeking to deny the other, each refusing to give an inch of ground.
One, that would pierce the heart, that was guaranteed to succeed even if there was no possible method.
One, that would protect the heart, that would erase the result regardless of the method used to reach it.
But even as they struggled, the winner was obvious before the fight had even begun. What human magecraft, no matter how powerful, no matter how refined, could stand against a Noble Phantasm?
Time moved again. With a flourish, Lancer tore his spear from his opponent's chest, letting the magus' corpse slump unceremoniously to the ground. Planting the butt of his spear on the ground, Lancer reached up with his free hand and pulled the dagger still lodged in his shoulder, dropping it at the man's head.
"Sorry kid, nothing personal." Turrning, Lancer looked up at Caster, still standing on top of the temple gate. Bone golems once again began to arise from the darkness, creating a meaningless buffer between the two servants.
"Using a Noble Phantasm against a normal human magus? You really have no pride as a hero, do you?" Caster sneered. Though her eyes were hidden, he could still keenly feel the contempt in her gaze.
"Is that really the tone of someone who just lost their master?" Lancer said with a grin. "Shouldn't you be off looking for another Master or something?"
Caster chuckled. "Do you really think I'm so stupid as to let my Master die to an enemy Servant?"
"Oh, let me guess," Lancer said dryly, "your Noble Phantasm can bring the dead back to life?"
"Nah."
The corpse spoke.
Startled, Lancer leapt back away from the body, raising his guard once again. Slowly, Arcann began to move, lifting himself from the ground to a kneeling position. As he unsteadily rose to his feet, the enormous wound in his chest began to heal.
No...heal was the wrong word. This wasn't healing. It was not a repair, not a mending of damaged flesh and bone. It was more like a reconstruction, a rebuilding.
Like his body was rewinding.
As the wound closed, his clothes mended, and even the bloodstains evaporated, Arcann picked up his dagger from where it was laying on the ground. With an immensely self-satisfied grin,
"I can take care of that myself."
Probing the spot on his chest where he had been stabbed, Arcann's grin became a frown. "You really got me that time. I thought for sure I had you with that Curse of Atrophy. What happened there?"
"Didn't I tell you?" Caster answered with a sigh. "The three knight classes almost always have innate Magic Resistance. Even if the intended effect was grand, your curse was too simple, too efficient to overcome it. Not that it was really a curse, I suppose."
Arcann began to pout. "Skip and Jump worked fine, so I figured he didn't have any."
"Skip and Jump don't affect him, so there's nothing there for him to resist."
Lancer couldn't help but laugh, interrupting the conversation happening before him. As the two turned to him with varying looks of disdain and amusement, he waved his hand in apology.
"Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking, you got me real good here. To think I was driven to the point of using my Noble Phantasm on a Master, a normal human, and I couldn't even kill him? I thought I was pretty good, but it seems I've got a long way to go."
"If it's any consolation," Arcann said with a grin, "you really did kill me. And frankly, I'm not exactly what you'd call a normal human."
"Thanks, I guess," Lancer replied with a chuckle. "But this is the end of the road for me. Now that you've seen my Noble Phantasm, my Master wants me to go back. If only my Master was as brave as you are."
"See, now we're in kind of a bind," Arcann said, scratching his head awkwardly. "Now that you've seen my magecraft, I can't exactly let you leave."
"Oh?" Lancer lifted his spear up to rest on his shoulders, not bothering to hide his amusement. "And you think you can stop me? You're good for a human, I give you that, but that good?"
"Well of course I can't stop you," Arcann said with a shrug. "But you see, I've got a very powerful friend who might just be willing to help me out in a situation like this."
With that, both of them looked to Caster, still smiling atop the temple gate. With a grand sweeping gesture, she raised both her hands in the air, and the area surrounding the entire temple surged with magical energy.
Lancer whistled in admiration as the boundary field surrounding the temple grounds activated. It wasn't a boundary field covering the entire temple at all, as he had expected. Such a field would have no doubt been dangerous, but all he would have had to do was run outside of it. There was no way either of them would catch him if he really put his mind to escaping.
But it wasn't a simple boundary field at all. In a way, it was much simpler.
It was a barrier.
A simple conceptual boundary. A border that would sap the life of any spiritual entity that attempted to pass through it. Sure, a Servant would be strong enough to get to the other side in one piece, but at what cost? No doubt there were also additional traps set to snare him if he attempted to flee through the barrier anyways, and as weakened as he would be for trying to do so, they would likely be more than enough to bring him down. Especially if Caster pursued him herself.
Lancer smiled, dropping back into a combat stance. "Sorry, Master, looks like I'm stuck. I guess I'll have to fight this to the end after all." Making eye contact with Arcann, Lancer spoke louder this time. "I guess we'll get to see how many times you can bring yourself back to life, huh?"
"Oh please don't," Arcann replied with an unpleasant expression, raising his guard as well. "I can do it for a while, but dying hurts, you know?"
Without another word, Lancer burst into motion. Immediately, bone golems lunged forward in an attempt to impede him, but the few that managed to get in front of him in time were blown away without a second thought.
"Krr Ast!"
Moments before Lancer reached his target, Arcann was able to fire off a single spell, stumbling backwards from the mental shock of Lancer's rapid advance. Just as the words left his mouth, Lancer's spear swept forward, cleanly slicing Arcann's head from his-
- narrowly missing, sending a small tuft of hair scattering into the wind as it grazed the top of his head.
"Eid Sa!"
Without missing a beat, Arcann spat out another spell as he slashed at Lancer's stomach, narrowly missing as Lancer disengaged, leaping back-
- gouging deep, cutting through the rune-reinforced armour as if it was paper. No doubt, Caster had enhanced the weapon itself as well, if she hadn't made the thing herself in the first place. Once again, though the wound was deep, it was not critical, and Lancer was able to leap backwards, whirling as he landed to destroy the golems that had congregated around him.
With a flick of the wrist, Arcann shed the blood from his dagger. "Three strikes. Looks like you're time is up, Lancer."
"That's a shame," Lancer replied with a wry grin, readying himself once again. "I was having so much fun, too."
Without waiting to see their next move, Lancer charged forward once again. He knew Arcann still had one hit left on his defensive spell, so he would need to kill him twice in the next few seconds if he wanted to make any progress.
An ability like his, to come back from the dead even after being thoroughly slain by a Noble Phantasm, was beyond the scope of reasonable magecraft. In order to offset the magnitude of such an ability, there was no doubt a monumental cost. He had no idea what that cost was, but forcing him to keep paying it seemed like his best shot at getting out of this temple alive. If he could exhaust his stock of lives, as it were, then it would just be a matter of surviving against Caster until she lost the strength to keep up the Barrier.
Predicting Lancer's charge, Arcann attempted to dodge to the side, but even seeing the attack coming he just couldn't match Lancer's speed. Once again, Lancer's one-handed thrust took him through the chest, cleanly impaling him-
- missed, not quite catching Arcann as he dodged around it. But as Arcann moved to attack Lancer's side, Lancer's free hand finished the pattern it was drawing.
"Ansuz!"
A harsh orange light filled the clearing as a gout of flame raced from Lancer's open hand, engulfing Arcann.
Lancer couldn't help but growl in frustration as the flames seemed to freeze for a moment, before being sucked into a single point - a talisman Arcann had been wearing under his shirt. The flames had managed to singe his clothes, but beyond that, he had been protected by the unseen talisman.
Paying no heed to the flames that had washed over him, Arcann continued forward, thrusting his dagger at Lancer's side.
"Eid Sa!"
Before the dagger could make contact, Lancer brought his spear around and smashed it into the side of Arcann's head. The impact sent him sprawling, sending him and the dagger tumbling away-
- sending Arcann tumbling away, just a moment too late to prevent the dagger from sinking into his side. The blow had clearly been fatal, caving in the side of his face, yet without delay, the magus, rose again to his feet and shouted.
"Caster!"
A short incantation, made of sounds Lancer couldn't even comprehend, reached his ears as a sudden crushing weight dropped him to his knees.
Lancer strained against the weight on him. Caster was no doubt using some sort of magecraft to weigh his body down, but it wasn't enough to stop him completely. He had killed Arcann two times...would three be enough? Even if it wasn't, killing him a third time would hopefully buy him the time he needed to break free from the spell that was holding him down.
It would only take a few seconds to break free. Even Caster's beams of pure destruction wouldn't be able to reach him before he escaped.
As Lancer strained against the increased weight, Arcann began to chant. He did not stop at one verse, or two. By the fifth verse, Lancer had been able to overcome the weight holding him down, and rose back to his feet, once again charging at Arcann. But the added weight was just enough to keep him from reaching the magus in time.
"Ethasa! Foth! Raia!"
As Arcann's incantation came to an end, Lancer stopped. Though he tried to keep moving forward, he couldn't move an inch.
From each of the points Arcann's dagger had cut him - both shoulders, stomach, and where it was still embedded in his side - threads of magical energy were sprouting, wrapping around his body and holding him in place. It was not simply restraint though - it didn't just hold him still. He could still move, he could feel himself moving, but no matter how much he moved, the position he was in never changed.
But even that would only last for a few seconds. No matter what kind of magecraft they used, using human-level magecraft against a Heroic Spirit who was also trained in magecraft was misguided from the start. In a few seconds, Lancer would be free again, and Arcann would die-
- but those few seconds were all it took.
Raising his right hand, Arcann's Command Spell glowed a brilliant red.
"Caster! Now!"
With that one word, space tore apart. A third of the shining mark on Arcann's hand went dark as the space behind Lancer warped and twisted before shattering like glass. And from the shards emerged Caster, a bizarrely twisted violet dagger held in her hands.
In the split second before Lancer could free himself, the dagger plunged into his back.
"Rule Breaker!"
A sensation Lancer could only describe as being like a cloud of locusts passed through him. In the space of an instant, the precise moment when Caster's words had finished, that swarm passed through his entire body, devouring all traces of the magecraft that bound him.
Arcann's binding spell.
Caster's gravity spell.
The Command Spell on him, restricting his ability to fight.
And even the contract between him and his Master.
In the blink of an eye, they were all annihilated.
"Out, now!" Once again, Arcann shouted, his Command Spell flaring to life as a second mark faded. Before Lancer could even react to being stripped of his bindings, space warped again, and Caster was gone.
Seeing his chance, Lancer lunged forward, thrusting his spear at Arcann, but for the first time he had actually been too slow. As before, like an invisible hand had grabbed him, Arcann flew out of Lancer's range before coming around to land gently on top of the temple gate, where Caster's shadow had been moments before. Though it had apparently disappeared with Caster's pair of forced teleportations, it soon took form beside him again, and the two looked down on Lancer still standing in the courtyard.
Turning to face them, Lancer planted his spear again. It was obvious just by looking that they no longer had any intention to fight him. Seeing the lull in the fight, he inspected his own condition.
His contract with his Master had been severed. He was no longer receiving magical energy from him, nor was he anchored in the present age anymore. If he couldn't get back to his Master to reforge the contract, or even find a new Master, he would disappear within an hour. Fighting further would cut his time even shorter.
"Oh?" Arcann tilted his head to the side quizzically. "You didn't rebind him? I thought you said you were thinking of taking on some new pawns?"
"I was considering it," Caster replied. "But strong as he may be as a Servant, he's not enough to take on that monster of a Berserker."
"That's unfortunate," he said, his expression saying he felt the exact opposite.
"Are you sure we're finished?" Lancer called up a challenge, still grinning. "If you don't come stop me, I'm just going to go find another Master, you know."
"And where do you plan on doing that?" Caster replied, her wicked grin as aggravating as ever. "Inside the temple? Oh, we already eliminated that option. In the city? Go ahead, try to get through that barrier in your weakened state. It'll be an interesting to see the actual effects of going through it - though I doubt you'll make it to the other side without an anchor. And even if you did, would you last long enough afterwards to find any living person? Let alone a magus."
Lancer gritted his teeth. He was hoping that taunt would have been enough to goad them into continuing the fight, but apparently they were happy enough with letting him vanish here. Trapped inside the temple, with no way to restore his mana reserves, he was as good as dead even if they left right now.
"I must say," Lancer said, taking a seat on the stones of the courtyard as he pulled Arcann's dagger from his side, throwing it to the ground. Even Caster's bone golems had vanished, both the still functional golems and the broken remains of the destroyed golems having melted away into the darkness. "That's a pretty good strategy you had, but it's a bit wasteful, don't you think? Two Command Spells to beat one Servant...I don't think you're gonna hold up at that rate."
"Ah, yes, it would appear that way wouldn't it?" Arcann said inspecting the single remaining seal on the back of his hand with a frown. "I wonder if there's anything we can do about that. Caster?"
"Don't look at me," Caster scoffed. "For a Master as reckless as you, I wouldn't give you back your Command Spells even if I could."
Scratching his head awkwardly, Arcann turned his hand to show the mark to Lancer. "Well why don't I try something, then?"
With a sly grin, he spoke.
"Vasketh, Krr Ast."
Arcann's form began to change. Not into something new, but into something old.
His burned clothes reverted to their clean state, the scrapes and cuts adorning his body from the few times he had been sent flying closed and healed, even the hair that had been cut from the top of his head grew back.
And most disconcerting of all, his hand once again glowed with three red marks.
"Well, that wasn't so difficult, was it?" Arcann quipped to himself as he inspected the marks.
"Hey hey, I think that's cheating," Lancer said with a strained laugh. If this guy could restore his own Command Spells...if he could do it more than once, he might even have been a scarier Master than his. He might have even been scarier than the woman who first summoned him.
Lancer sighed. There was nothing left for him to do but wait to disappear. He could make a last ditch effort to kill Arcann again, but if he had already resurrected himself twice, it was not unlikely he could do so a third time. And with the real Caster nowhere to be found, her presence having disappeared from within the temple with his second Command Spell, there was nothing he could do to dispel the barrier that was keeping him prisoner.
All at once, the sting of his wounds came to him. He didn't have many options, being ordered to engage any Servant he encountered by a Command Spell, but even so it grated at him to have fallen for their trap so fully.
It was his complete loss.
He had killed his opponent no less than twice, but it was still his complete loss.
"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you," Arcann called out as he turned away, his tone strangely authentic. "I hope you have better luck in the next War."
With a snap of Caster's fingers, Arcann's dagger launched itself up into the air, spinning towards the two on top of the temple gate. Catching it out of the air, Arcann gave Lancer a final wave.
"Good night."
With that, Caster and her Master vanished into the night, leaving Lancer alone in the temple courtyard.
As Caster had mentioned, there were no signs of life inside the temple. Whether they had killed the monks that lived there or relocated them somewhere else, they weren't here now. And getting through Caster's barrier would be suicidal in the best of circumstances. With no Master to back him up and having just come out of a battle in which he had used his Noble Phantasm, he couldn't even pretend that he would make it out of the temple alive.
Just like that, his War was over. He had lost a Master and met two Servants. As far as he knew, three had yet to even be summoned, and here he was, the first casualty.
Looking up at the clouds blocking the moon overhead, he couldn't help but laugh.
Just like when he had been alive, it seemed like luck just wasn't on his side.
I'd probably be very bad at this. I just was making a general statement.
Originally Posted by AkaiNeko
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