"Because of the earlier interruptions, the enemy probably knows we're here."
Louise silently walked behind, staring at her own shoes. The older man sounded so displeased and angry. It made her uncomfortable. An aura of uneasiness permeated around him. Yet he was supposed to be really sweet, right?
"Well that's amusing." Saber chuckled in her spirit form.
"What is?"
"They've been fighting the whole time we were, and who knew when they started."
Wardes nodded thoughtfully. "As expected, the intel wasn't wrong, whoever this Lancer is, she must be really strong."
Louise could hear the radiating sound from within the castle. The sound of shattering bricks and wood rang throughout the area. A piercing machine gunning noise slice through the air incessantly, but it did not sound like it was just one; rather it was like an army of Vulcans.
Wardes carefully slipped past the small opening of the gate, with Saber and Louise following right behind. There they saw a huge destroyed hole leading down to the basement.
"This place is a wreck."
It was then Louise noticed floating golden portals hovering in the air; numbering in hundreds, no thousands. It was the only form of light to be seen in the otherwise pitch black basement.
There was something shooting out of them, it was like golden bullets. They were far too fast for Louise to make out what they were. They came out like a golden blur.
Wardes casted a levitation spell on all three of them, descending them all down as quietly as a butterfly.
The darkness blinded Louise initially, but slowly she could see two figures. It was a woman, she looked almost exactly like Mordred, except her blonde hair paler, her eyes golden and her skin like porcelain. She cladded herself in less than modest armor; her figure shapely and curvaceous, her assets almost made Louise vomit out of jealousy.
The woman was mounted on a black armored horse; the gleaming red eyes suggested it to be one of demonic origins.
And facing this fearsome knight was a tall man who shone brightly in a golden radiance. His body armored in gold, even his blonde hair stood with pride and magnificence. His handsome soft face did not make him appear as a warrior, but more like a luxurious king. His crimson eyes glinted like that of a serpent.
Raising one hand, more countless golden portals hovered appeared around the regal figure.
The woman in dark armor was painted in red. His almost platinum blonde hair was in a disheveled mess. She looked like she took quite a beating. Around the black knight, was numerous weapons imbedded to the walls and floor. And to Louise's horror, the golden Archer seemed to have even more weapons at his disposal.
Wardes silently whispered next to Saber and Louise. "We will help Archer to fight against Lancer. Understood?"
"Sorry, fighting two on one isn't my style." Mordred replied halfheartedly. She appeared to be straining herself studying her lookalike.
"Do as I say." Wardes sounded impatient.
"Was Lancer really that powerful?" Louise pondered absently.
The pale servant whose class was Lancer fought elegantly, like a mesmerizing dance, her large black lance larger than even her own body was able to deflect the torrent of light beams that rained down on her.
And despite her injuries, her face remained indifferent.
The golden Archer raised his hand, and then portals ceased its assault. From there, Louise could finally discern what was within those golden portals. They were weapons, elegant and ornately decorated, but deadly weapons. They were weapons of different kind and of different designs. There were axes, and then there were swords, then there were spears, and even types of weapons that she did not knew existed.
Then the golden Archer moved his hand forward. Like a general issuing a command, the hail of weapons launched out like arrows. They traveled at a speed so fast, Louise was sure that no one could dodge them.
They ripped through the air with a loud cracking sound.
This servant is insane…
She doubted even Berserker, Caster or even Saber could last more than a minute against this guy. He was indeed a monster of a Heroic Spirit.
Louise tried to find the victim of rain of weapons. The pale servant- she was equally a monster. With untraceable speed, she managed to deflect each and single one of the flying killers. And those that she could not were barely able to lodge effectively in her body.
Louise's eyes widened with disbelief. She was sure Lancer was pierced by over 30 weapons. Her armor did little protect the vitals; her black sweater like clothing even exposed her abdomen and the bottom of her breasts. How could she ever manage to survive being hit even once?
Lancer should have been made a honeycomb. Yet instead once the weapons disappear into golden dusts, her body looked like it was stabbed by knives instead of by claymores and spears.
Louise could feel the annoyance emanating from the golden Archer. He prepared double of the previous load and launched them forward once more. Thousands of Noble Phantasms lunged forward and Lancer repeated the process of deflecting and dodging.
"No wonder why the fight lasted so long, one servant doesn't even take full damage, and the other guy got like infinite Noble Phantasms." Mordred mumbled in amazement. Even the proud knight was awestricken by the sight of the fight.
Feeling increasingly agitated, Mordred erected her body. The woman whom was fighting Archer, looked too much like…
…like her father, Artoria.
Besides her lighter shade in hair and complexion of course. Well the much larger chest too.
But could it be? Mordred found herself in a state of disbelief.
Suddenly, a silhouette lumbered forward; above the railings, stood a feminine figure. She wore glasses and had short blue hair. It was… Tabitha.
Louise almost fell down trying to run to her friend but Wardes pulled her back by before she could.
"What are you doing? Now they know we are here!"
Flinching from the grip on her shoulder she angrily snapped back, "Watch what you're doing, dog!"
But instead of apologizing, Wardes only tightened his grip. "Shut up, do you want to die!?" he whispered angrily.
"S-Sorry…"
Louise winced in pain. He really was acting out of the ordinary…
"Whatever, they do not notice we are here. Saber we can't dillydally any longer, go and help Archer and kill Lancer."
Clicking her tongue menacingly, Saber replied, "What? Listen you old man, I agree to be your servant, but not when it breaks my code of honor."
Wardes' servant…? Louise did not understand what Saber meant by that, but she didn't have time to dwell on the subject.
Wardes insisted again, much to Saber's annoyance. Louise decided to finally object herself, "You can't! Lancer's master is Tabitha and Archer is trying to kill her!"
"Louise, be quiet. Lancer is evidently far too powerful to deal with. It is in our best interest to eliminate the strongest adversary."
"But it's Tabi—"
"Listen, you're too naïve, let me handle it, alright?"
She glared at the older man with watery eyes.
"Louise, I will take over the planning—What are you doing!"
The pink haired mage ran across the battlefield of death, if anyone cross it, they would surely die. But Louise did not care she just ran forward and forward.
"L-Louise!?" Jaw dropped with disbelief, Tabitha could not believe who she saw.
"Ahh…" Tabitha's mind was hectic she could not come up with a word or even organize her thoughts properly.
Lancer glided backwards gracefully, in that instant, a blue veil of mana covered her exposed chest; instantly a black armor materialized with a protruding breastplate.
The new armor managed to block all the incoming Noble Phantasms. Or so she thought, the weapons found themselves lodged inside her despite the protective layer.
Louise soon realized what the small cuts and gashes were, the weapons sliced through her armor, cut it up so badly, Lancer had to discard it, and then rematerialize it.
"Lancer, I wonder how much longer it'll take to make you squirm like a woman."
Archer's smugness did very little to hide his sadistic smile. He reveled at the prospect of humiliating her. He was a man who reeks of blood and slaughter.
Finally having enough, Wardes pulled his hand out, revealing the brilliantly shining red marks.
"Saber, if you will not listen then… with this command spell here. I order you to kill Lancer at all cost."
"…You…!" Saber held up Clarent as she unsteadily walked forward. And in that instant she dashed forward with her sword out.
Lancer paused herself. Was her eyes deceiving her?
That face… the face of Mordred Pendragon, her "son."
Lancer's cold lips slowly curled into a wicked smile.
"So you recognize me?" her voice impassive but hinted with amusement.
From Saber's aggressive posturing, Lancer concluded that she was indeed springing for an attack.
Dealing with Archer was difficult enough but dealing with two servants?
Lancer held up her spear defensively.
But before Saber could move in; dozens of weapons pierced her armor right through her body.
"Mongrel, how dare you sully my fight with your presence?"
Plunging her sword to the ground steady, Saber coughed up copious amount of blood. Glaring up at Archer, she laughed haughtily to herself. The golden servant had doubled the amount of weapons he had launched at her previously.
"Hah… damn, dying before I can even get a real fight…"
This guy is a monster, that's all I can think, what the hell kind of Heroic Spirit is that? father… to hold out so long…
"Disappear like the irrelevancy you are, mongrel."
The golden Archer snapped his finger and… in that instant a large blinding flare illuminated the entire arena in a shadowy force of blackness.
Stunned with shock, Saber looked on frighteningly as the swirling dark mana concentrated into a twister of pure destruction. The intensity of the attack was unlike anything Saber felt before.
"!" Archer immediately took out a large white shield, the size greater than even a mansion. It shattered through the castle. Light from outside lit up the entire area as the huge angelic while materialized. The divine construct known as 'Shield of the Gods' was a shield that was strong enough to block an attack from the holy sword Excalibur without a scratch yet the great shield cracked and subsequently shattered into countless pieces when it came into contact with Lancer's spear.
"It is you, who will disappear from my sight, arrogant Archer—
-Rhongomyniad…!" her calm demeanor would force a cold chill to anyone.
Archer looked on with indifference as the attack tore through reality, ripping apart the laws of physics.
The pillar of light known as Rhongomyniad, was a spear of light which was stated to have tied the reality and illusions together. It was the holy lance that has been rumored to be on the same tier as Longinus, a lance which has tasted the blood of Christ.
In comparison, the mighty shield that Gilgamesh used did little to stop its powers. In fact the only reason why he was even alive right now was because Lancer ran out of mana.
"So you live, Archer…" still her voice remained calm.
Barely believing what he had just witnessed, Archer's crimson eyes quivered with fear.
"…I'm surprised you have a Noble Phantasm of such legends… one that even I lack."
Lancer petted her mare, absently replying to her adversary, "It's a shame I've lost purely because of mana constraints."
Lancer was already low on resource before being forced to use her trump card. She had spent heavy amounts of mana to regenerate her armor repeatedly, had she not, she would have been reduced to a honeycomb by the continuous barrage of Noble Phantasm.
Despite what seemed to be certain doom for Lancer, the knight on top of the black horse remained impassive. Her calm golden eyes did not betray any emotions; they remained locked on to her target, without fear, without exceptions.
But then something finally broke her unbreakable stance...
…the sound of a falling body.
Lancer's eyes widened with pure shock. Instantly, she came to her master's aid, but it was too late, she was already a corpse. Her master's heart had been crushed. The only person next to her was the pink haired girl from earlier. But she was just as shocked as she was. So shocked in fact, that she couldn't even scream.
Lancer scanned her surroundings. She could not feel anyone past the third servant which was Saber.
Archer while not startled like the rest were, he was still visibly annoyed. Taking out a Noble Phantasm which allowed him to detect nearby enemies, his golden brow twitched with ever growing irritation.
"Come out mongrel! Or do you prefer to hide in the shadows like a common thief."
At that moment a chilling chuckle eerily filled the atmosphere, "Very well, Archer."
The voice sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
A red haired man appeared. His face was young and handsome. But his eyes were cold blooded and merciless. His bushy red hair was tied into a pony tail. And he wore an oriental red robe that extended down to his legs.
His hands were promptly folded behind his back. His expression was that of amusement.
"Mongrel…" Archer muttered with contempt, clearly irritated at the constant interruptions.
Instantly, he launched countless Noble Phantasms towards the new servant that appeared. The barrage of swords and spears homed in on its target leaving only rubbles and destroyed debris.
A hearty laugh echoed throughout the ruins. "You were targeting the master from the start, and you feel insulted I lent you a little hand?"
Gilgamesh glared at the empty space that the red servant once occupied. He managed to dodge the onslaught of weapons, and slid away like a sly snake.
The mysterious servant was once again undetectable.
Saber forced her legs up. Holding up Clarent cautiously, her head darted everywhere. The servant was no doubt an Assassin.
"Well now." The voice continued, resonating as if it came from everywhere. Using the originating point of the voice alone, was impossible to pinpoint Assassin's location.
"I will be after your master Vittorio next, so do not tarry Archer."
"A cowardly mongrel like you, threatening me…?"
In full blown out anger, Archer turned in all directions, wearing a menacing glare.
"It is not my personal preference to go after masters, I rather kill the servants. But it would be amusing no? To watch you all struggle that is."
"An Assassin talking that big heh…" Mordred laughed, but her jeer did not last long when she felt a cold embrace on her heart.
"You were saying?"
Mordred swung Clarent downwards but the only thing that came from it, was the sound of slashed air.
Clicking her tongue, she commented, "Not even my instincts were able to detect you!? What the hell are you?"
"Farewell Archer. Take my warning seriously."
Archer puffed up with anger but could not release it on anything, shooting an imposing regal look of condescension at Lancer he said, "I will finish what I started. Do find a new master. It would be such a shame if you end up dying to anyone else besides me."
And with that, Archer disappeared into bright golden sparkles.