[h2]Saber[/h2]

"I would not be much of a warrior if I could not protect myself or my Master from a surprise attack," Saber began, still standing at the ready. She would not allow herself to fail, so she could not let down her guard.

[i]In return, please stay out of this battle. I will ensure you are not harmed,[/i] was her swift response to her Master. She did not want to place Mira at risk if it could be avoided, and the black-haired swordswoman felt certain it could be at this time. Her blade still glinting in the moonlight, the Saber-class Servant prepared herself. There was no point in attempting to obfuscate her class, but in that regard they were on equal footing. She knew that her opponent was Rider, and he knew that her class was Saber. Nothing thus far, aside from perhaps her manner of garb, would hint at their identities. And so at the moment things seemed quite equal.

Still, there had been a great deal of power behind that approach... as expected from a Rider-class Servant's steed. She couldn't be certain what its functions are, but she also knew that a Rider-class Servant's best asset was their Noble Phantasm. Still, this figure seemed to radiate power. Certainly she was up against a heroic spirit with a powerful legend.

But Saber was nothing if not confident in her skills.

And yet, at that moment, abruptly, another Master seemed to appear from out of no-where, atop a large peak of rock. It could be assumed her Servant was nearby. This conflict was becoming more complicated by the second.

"There is little time for introductions when one is ambushed," was her only retort, her focus swiftly returning to her opponent. But now she would have to keep an eye on multiple directions of approach...

"... Rider, we are both heroic spirits bound to these class containers," she began, "As such, I should hope you would respect a request from one hero to another. If you do not target my Master, I shall not target yours. Let this be a battle between Servants, and no-one else."

It was what she hoped for. Truth be told, it was unlikely she would be able to bring herself to attack Rider's Master. A child, even in the caste that she was not truly a child... to raise her blade against one such as that was heartlessly cruel.

Of course, anyone able to observe such a thing, such as a certain Berserker, would be able to note-

[b]Alignment: Lawful Good[/b]

But at last, her Master's orders...!

"Understood!"

[hr]

[h2]Estelle Varianbec, Master of Rider[/h2]

The other Master wasn't responding? So she didn't want to surrender, it seemed. Oh well, she'd rather watch Rider destroy his first opponent rather then a simple surrender and slaughter. Smiling brightly to herself, Estelle folded her arms across her chest as she hopped off of Rider's chariot. However, as she did so, she noticed that another magus. They were likely another Master having arrived on the scene perched atop a rather large rock... The small, dark-skinned girl narrowed her eyes. She'd never seen that person in real life before, but she'd seen images. In preparation for the Grail War she had learned about the previous attempts, and indeed the way that the Fuyuki Grail had ultimately been dismantled.

"Johanna Faust?" she asked, cocking one eyebrow as she spoke. "Are you here to watch the first battle of this war? Or should I say the first slaughter~"

Estelle giggled to herself, one hand placed to her lips. So one of her opponents was the disgraced Enforcer? How interesting. She'd win, of course. She knew she would. But the enforcer was a very powerful opponent. If they fought, Estelle would have to potentially work hard to overwhelm her.

But for now, her attention had to be on this battle.

And her enemy had finally replied?

"Fufufu, you're funny," she said, letting out a chuckle once more as she eyed the witch-hat-clad magus, "I'd volunteer to help you get to the Church when you've lost, but you were on your way already!"

[@Blackstripe][@Raineh Daze][@Cu Chulainn][@Feyblue]