I wasn't expecting to update so soon. Normally I'd write this in a week or so.
But I was unusually motivated and I wanted to get the "five Servants gathered together" mess over with, so here we go.
The view that unfolded below Kiritsugu was a scene of carnage.
Compared to the battlefields that he had fought on in his time, it was clean and lacking in corpses, but he could all too easily imagine the devastation that would have occurred if any bystanders had been present. The ravaged ground and burning air certainly gave sufficient information.
The fact that the causes of the devastation were only two warriors confirmed his beliefs that Heroic Spirits were not entities that belonged in the world. He would put an end to this war as soon as possible.
Others might consider the talent that had been honed by those heroes to be a glorious proof of humanity’s possibilities, but for Emiya Kiritsugu it was nothing more than another symptom of the horrors of war, the very thing he fought to stop.
He could not compare the skills of Servants with anything he had crossed in his travels, but simply from the gap in their capabilities, he judged it unlikely that Lancer would emerge victorious. Saber, the Heroic Spirit of the Sword, was a monster.
The young girl with blond hair was on the offensive, barely held at bay by the twin spears of her opponent.
But assessing the outcome of the fight was not his task. After observing them long enough to witness their parameters, he raised the sniper rifle that he had prepared for such occasions. He doubted he would be so lucky as to find both Masters, but in this situation, he would take what he could.
Through the sight of his rifle’s thermographic scope, the first thing that came to his attention was the furnace of the two battling Servant. This battle being outside of his ability to affect, he turned his attention to the nearby roofs.
There. Standing arrogantly near the center of a remote warehouse, the figure overseeing the battle could only be the enemy master. Dependant on the concealing properties of magecraft, Kiritsugu doubted he had even considered that he could still be found mechanically.
That was the failure of the existence known as a Magus and the reason why Kiritsugu had put an end to all conflicts he had entered.
Methodically, he fell back into old patterns and began to prepare the bipod. Once his preparations were ready, he would simply wait until the battle below ended – if this was Saber’s master, then he could eliminate two-
“On the crane.”
Maya’s voice broke his line of thought, and he instinctively swung around to the designated spot.
The figure standing there under the sky shatters his plans of defeating a third of the opposition in one night.
Blacker than the sky stood the Servant Assassin, unnoticed by the other warriors thanks to his ability of Presence Concealment.
Kiritsugu, whose knowledge of magecraft is limited to what could help him on the battlefield, does not know that Assassin’s Master is observing the battle through his eyes and so he cannot understand why Assassin is allowing himself to be seen by taking corporeal form.
All that Kiritsugu knows is that simply by his presence, Assassin has effectively paralyzed both himself and Maya, as they cannot act without revealing their position and suffering a swift death.
This power that surpassed logic could be said to be the true difference between a Heroic Spirit and a “powerful warrior”. No matter how strong a human is, they can still be dealt with or evaded through mundane means. But a Servant, and more so Assassin who specializes in slaying Masters, cannot be challenged with only human means.
Before Kiritsugu could contemplate his misfortune any further, lightning struck the battlefield below his position.
Only paying minimal attention to the chaos below, he took a few moments to formulate a new course of action. Until the newcomer’s voice bellowed out, challenging the other Servants to show themselves.
“Ridiculous. Does he expect to be obeyed?”
Well, he supposed it was possible that some particularly foolish heroes could fall for such a taunt. He would at least trust his own Servant to not be swayed by such a blatant appeal to pride.
From a certain point of view, the situation was simple. With Assassin present, neither he nor Maya could act. The only resource at his disposal that could remove Assassin was Archer.
But if he summoned Archer, Assassin would react accordingly and escape. This might allow him to remove the enemy Master from the equation, but it wasn’t an optimal outcome; Assassin had revealed himself early and if he escaped Kiritsugu might never have a similar opportunity to take care of the Servant that posed the highest threat to him.
The answer to his dilemma came in the form of a second command from below. With a cynical smile, Kiritsugu reminded himself that idiots were often the best at creating opportunities.
“Archer, Assassin is standing on the crane. Use Rider’s demands to justify your approach and remove him.”
---------------------------------------------
Even from the distance that she had chosen as her position, Archer could feel the battle occuring nearby.
Well, that was less a sign of her talent and more a tribute to the power that Lancer and Saber were unleashing.
The Bounded Field that surrounded the battle was efficient at keeping ordinary citizen away, but even the lowest Magus would be able to sense the battle between two Heroic Spirits.
Kiritsugu had not called upon her. She assumed that this meant that he had not located a Master, or that he was confident that he could handle things himself. A good sign, by all account.
Now, if only she had something to do.
When the lightning struck and what appeared to be a chariot drawn by bulls descended from the sky, she doubted her eyes.
But…this was the Holy Grail War. Surely, such a thing was not outside of the possibilities? She had seen some odd things in the past, even if they tended to take less antiquated forms.
Well, she supposed that she was being a bit of a hypocrite.
A bellow from the battlefield broke through her thoughts.
“And the rest of you! I know you are hiding in the darkness, spying on us!”
“N-no way.”
Surely, she couldn’t have been detected from this distance while keeping her prana expendure to a minimum? If someone could detect her from there…
No, it wasn’t impossible. If the one who had shouted had been the one aboard the flying chariot, he might have seen her. She had made no efforts to conceal herself from above.
“D-did I screw up?”
Kiritsugu would not be happy. Definitely not. His very first order and she’d managed to fail!
“This isn’t good…”
“Heroes summoned by the Grail! Let us gather! And to those too paralyzed by fear to show your faces,
know that Iskandar, King of Conquerors, holds you in utter contempt!”
The second shout replaced her panic with indecision, worry overcoming even the fact that the man had just shouted what was probably his true name to the winds.
To answer, or not to answer? If she went, she risked being attacked. And Kiritsugu had told her to stay hidden.
On the other hand, if she stayed away, it didn’t sound like she would be forgiven.
“Ah…which one’s the right decision?”
In a quiet voice, Servant Archer lamented the unfairness of it all. Or at least, she did for the five seconds that preceded Kiritsugu’s order.
“Understood!”
This was much better. If she simply obeyed her orders, there was no risk of her making a mistake and she wouldn’t be blamed.
But was that really alright? That thinking was what had allowed that man to…
No. This was different.
She was Emiya Kiritsugu’s sword. Her opponents were six Heroic Spirits that had been summoned by the Holy Grail and their Masters. And maybe allies of their Masters at the worst.
There was no reason to hesitate. Her Master had a wish worth fighting for, as did she.
So she would fight.
“Sword.”
As a metallic sphere materialized and took flight, Servant Archer approached the battlefield.
---------------------------------------------
On the list of Waver’s bad days, today had managed to climb to the number two spot. He hadn’t thought that his Servant could do anything worse than not listening to him and stealing books from the local library.
Considering that Rider had managed to proclaim his true identity to anyone who happened to be listening and had placed the two of them mere feet away from both Saber and Lancer, the deadliest classes in close quarters, it was clear that he had vastly underestimated Iskandar’s ability to place him in danger.
Still, around the third time his Servant had silenced him with a flick, he had decided that he would simply stay quiet in his corner until everything made sense again. At least he could find solace in the fact that Saber and Lancer were just as perturbed as he was.
And now the idiot was standing there with his arms crossed, as if anyone would be stupid enough to-
“Hum…is it really alright to shout out like that? This is a secret, isn’t it?”
No. Way. He refused to believe that this could possibly have worked.But once more, reality seemed set against him.
The girl who slowly approached managed to stand out compared to the others Servants. It wasn’t due to an overwhelmingly presence, but rather due to the lack of pressure.
Somehow, she seemed too…feminine and fragile. Despite the fact that her blue cloak and beret obscured her figure even more than Saber’s armor, Waver could not shake the thought that this girl did not fit the image of a warrior.
Compared to Saber, who exuded the presence of a knight befitting a Heroic Spirit, the newcomer was just a girl.
Or would be, if his Master’s Sight didn’t betray the fact that she was a Servant. Was she a Caster, then?
He couldn’t see any sign of armament. But then, those clothes of hers were far too modern; it was probably a disguise provided by her Master.
With a satisfied grin, his Servant turned to observe the newcomer, disdaining his previous engagement with Saber and Lancer.
“Ah! Another hero joins the fray! Welcome! And fear not. As a King, I have no need to maintain others’ secrets!”
As if a grave offense had been dealt, Saber’s answer was swift and demanded immediate surrender.
“Nonsense! Being a King does not mean that you can do whatever you want, King of Conquerors!”
As though realizing that he had accidentally stepped into dangerous territory, Iskandar raised his hands in a placatory gesture.
“We may discuss the rights of a king later, if you wish. But for now, I must repeat my offer to-”
Faster than Waver could react, Iskandar jumped back upon the Chariot as Saber and Lancer readied their weapons.
A high amount of Prana emanated from the girl. Ridiculous! Did she intend to fight three Servants at once?!
Before he could voice his disbelief, the gathered prana was transmitted to a point above the gathered Servants.
And none were more surprised than Assassin when the crane from which he was observing the process was struck by a blinding ray of light coming from above, reducing it to melted pieces of steel.
As Saber prepared to charge at the perceived aggression, the girl took a fearful step back.
“Ah! Please wait! Assassin was there!”
The other three Servants paused.
“Assassin, you say? What a convenient excuse.”
Though they were accusatory, Lancer’s words held no real venom. That was probably because he had realized the same thing as Saber and Rider; the fact that no Servant would manage to so completely miss their target as to not even strike the person standing next to them.
Certainly, that would be quite a feat even for a normal human who had never held a weapon before.
However, a that time, it was Lancer who acted in a way the others could not understand. His eyes suddenly widened before he vanished, dematerializing without leaving a single word behind.
“Oh? That was quite a rude departure. Perhaps something happened to his Master?”
Carelessly, Rider offered his conclusion. It seemed to make no difference for him if Lancer retreated or not.
With the situation having become so nonsensical, Saber lowered her blade with a sight.
“Humph. Fighting any more tonight would dishonor my battle against Lancer.” Saying so, she raised her green eyes toward Rider, still burning with outrage. “Do not think that I will forget this offense, King of Conquerors.”
Rather than vanishing as Lancer had, the Spirit of the Sword gracefully walked away.
“Hrm. It seems that my fellow king is easily offended.” Distractedly, Iskandar scratched his beard. “I can’t help but feel that I’m forgetting something.”
“The girl, you idiot!”
With an exasperated cry, Waver returned Rider’s attention to the fourth Servant that had answered his call.
Far from taking advantage of the situation, it appeared that the girl was simply struggling to take in the swift succession of events. Certainly, for someone who had just arrived, Saber’s reaction was rather odd.
“Of course.” With a nod, Rider continued as if he had never been interrupted. “As you can tell, I am Iskandar, King of Conquerors, summoned as Rider by the Grail. Who are you, girl?”
The fourth Servant jumped to attention, jolted out of her thoughts by Rider’s forceful voice.
“Oh! I-I’m N-Servant Archer! Pleased to meet you!”
…Had she almost revealed her name? Perhaps Waver was being too harsh. Rider’s tactics appeared to almost work sometimes.
Now, if only he could get him to actually focus on winning the Holy Grail War…
“Archer, then? I assumed you were Caster from that show earlier….” With a majestic wave, he dismissed his assumption. “No matter. As I asked Saber and Lancer, I now ask you: Knowing that I am the King of Conquerors, will you become my ally and allow me to seize the Holy Grail?”
In stark contrast to the indignation with which Saber and Lancer had responded, Archer’s surprise turned to a small smile.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Bowing her head, she managed to seem genuinely regretful at being unable to grant such a ridiculous request. “Unfortunately, I have a wish that I need the Holy Grail the grant, and I’ve promised victory to my Master.”
With a deep sigh, Rider accepted his defeat.
“I see. It seems that my hope for a company of Heroic Spirits will not come to pass.” A smile returned on Rider’s harsh features. “Then, Archer, the next time we meet, we shall be rivals for the Holy Grail!”
With those words, the man that wished to conquer the entire world seized the reigns of his chariot and flew away.
“…What…just happened?”
At a loss after being confronted with such a direct personality, Archer remained standing in the middle of the former battlefield for a considerable amount of time.
“Oh! Master Emiya! I hope everything went well.”
Saber
True Name: ?
Master: ?
Alignment: Lawful Good
Strength: A
Endurance: A
Agility: B
Mana: A
Luck: B
Noble Phantasm: ?
Class Abilities:
Magic Resistance: A
Cancel all Magecraft below A-Rank. In practice, no modern Magus can harm Saber.
Riding: B
Able to freely manipulate all vehicles and mounts, with the exception of mythical and divine beasts
Skills:
Charisma: B
A rare talent representing the natural ability to lead an army. This level is sufficient to lead a country.
Instinct: A
The ability to innately feel the right course to take during combat. At this level, it is close to precognition and additionally reduces by half the penalties caused by obstructed vision and hearing.
Prana Burst: A
Reflects the ability to increases one’s ability by releasing large amount of prana.
It should be easy enough to guess, but the next chapter will show what happened from Kiritsugu's POV. And things will continue to move further away from canonical events...
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Originally Posted by lethum
