[IC] Fate/Transcendent Paradigm—Take 3 (Closed)

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

It had been a few days since the Enforcer had arrived at the facility, and he was none the worse off for it. The somewhat humid climate didn't matter in the AC-cooled miracle that was his room, thankfully enough, and the time spent handling things like paperwork and debriefings on the problems at hand was fairly short. But while the more mundane problems were settled, there was a larger problem at hand.

Well, two problems would be a bit more accurate under these circumstances. There was the issue of 'singularities' that had been brought up multiple times over, and after reading the (admittedly wordy) debriefing Keisuke more or less understood the gist of the problem. It was a bit odd that he would be sent on what was essentially a solo mission into these problems, but even with the backup of multiple Servants and the entire support staff here, having only one Master in each scenario was incredibly dangerous.

That led to the second problem, of course: summoning multiple Servants. The summoning itself had gone off without a hitch, and the results couldn't have been better: a Saber, a Lancer, an Archer, and a Caster. Given the variety of possible problems in the future, having all three of the Knight classes at hand with a Caster to support them would theoretically be one of the most ideal situations that could possibly be conceived. Normally, he would probably be unable to sustain more than the Archer or the Caster over extended periods of time, but apparently the Wizard Marshal had installed something within the building to facilitate keeping that issue as a nonfactor before he decided to leave.

"Hm... The mission debriefing for the first Singularity was to start today, wasn't it?" he mused to himself as he calmly pulled out the short listing of Servant names from a drawer at his desk. Artoria Pendragon, Tomoe Gozen, Nero Claudius, and Elizabeth Bathory...

In retrospect, this would have been a terrifying scene in any ordinary Grail War, but that much wasn't an issue at the moment. Before he could start reviewing information on the latter two (as he himself had not studied as much about them as he did the others), though, a message came from the intercom to meet with the rest of his Servants in the debriefing room.

"Understood," he said in response before the microphone on the other end of the line clicked off before changing his attire into something a bit more fitting for combat and heading out. As far as he knew, the first problem was going to be in quite the cold environment, and he would loathe to be somewhere like that without a coat (at the very least) to keep himself from freezing over.

Tomoe Gozen

A single target, perched well out of her eyesight, stood atop a simulated hill that seemed to scarily mimic the wide fields of Japan that she had traveled through during her lifetime. The swaying grass was a nostalgic feeling, and the Archer let her body relax for a moment before she drew her bow. With one calm, nuanced motion after the other, Tomoe drew the bowstring back and took aim.

She was a bugeisha and a warrior, and thus had to maintain her spirit, body, and mind before the coming battle. This was no different from mere practice at home, after all, and though she would like to speak with her Master and the other Servants she was to be cooperating with at length, neglecting her training, even in a body that did not abide by normal human standards, would have been disgraceful.

Loosing the arrow from its place, Tomoe calmly watched as the projectile soared by and landed straight in the center of the target. She had a smile on her face, knowing that she hadn't dulled in the least, before firing another four arrows in turn. Each one met its mark without a single beat missed, and it was at this point that she let herself relax. As the land around her dissolved into the same oddly mechanical room it had been when she entered, the Archer found herself reminiscing of days past.

"...Yoshinaka-sama... I swear, upon my honor, that I shall not disgrace your name here. To save the world is a lofty task, but in your stead, I shall act accordingly," she quietly whispered to herself as an announcement rang through the building—a call to arms, if anything.

"Understood. I will head down without delay," she stated, calmly letting her bow fade away before quickly moving to meet with the others. The danger inherent in their journey was a given, but so long as she drew breath, her Master would not fall.

That was a mistake she would not repeat again.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@KoL

[VitaVitaAR]

The empty plates were neatly stacked, to make room.

It had not been long, not at all, before the blonde knight discovered exactly how good food could truly be. Certainly, the first thoughts she had upon her summoning were brief doubts, but then steeling herself for the duty she had been given. The Preservation of the world, the salvation of humanity... these duties stood far above her own personal wishes, no matter how important she felt they were. At that point, however, what was necessary was for her to grow accustomed to this facility, and the Servants she would be working with. This had gone mostly well, insofar as she could tell, she have eventually made her way to the cafeteria, where those in charge had insisted on offering her a meal. When she had tried it...

... Her memories of food in Camelot had been poor, but now... now... this was incredible. The first dishes she had tried had been Japanese cuisine, then food of her native country, which far surpassed the meals she remembered from her past. For there, she had requested whatever meals that the cafeteria staff were able to surprise.

They seemed stunned, really, that someone like Arturia could put away the sheer volume of food she had, and so quickly as well. But nevertheless she had continued to eat, finishing her latest meal(a finely-seasoned and rare steak) with gusto.

She placed the empty plate aside.

"Ah, that was truly delicious."

At the call to the briefing room, the Saber-class Servant rose to her feet. It was time to do her duty as a knight.

[KoL]

Keisuke, and any one else that came after him, would have a very interesting surprise as soon as they got to the debriefing room. “Laa~” The sound of a melodic voice echoed through the facility as the ultimate idol of the Servant world rehearsed her songs within the large room, which Elizabeth found by chance a little while earlier.

As soon as anyone opened the door they would be literally bombarded by the dragon girl’s loud voice with enough force to throw an unprepared human several meters away.

Elizabeth wasn’t even aware of the message broadcast by the speakers spread all over the facility since her ‘music ‘ drowned any form of sound in the vicinity. Thankfully, she had an uncanny skill to pop up exactly where and when she was(not) needed.

On the bright side, at least Elizabeth wasn’t covered in anyone’s blood… yet.

---

[Raineh Daze]

Nero

The Emperor was beginning to get the feeling that she had seen her Master less over this past week than might have been expected, even in a facility of this size. She had been busy preparing what she could in the time available--medicines and the like, mostly, though it seemed unlikely that Servants would be getting injured much. Though if they did, at least she had ensured that the medicine wouldn't be bitter! It was hard to find many of the ingredients, but there were enough to make a start on some of the recipes from Apicius, and the blonde had made sure to make the potions and the like part of that...

It was surprising how much the basket she was carrying could hold.

However, following the directions to the briefing room treated her to a terrible cacophony. There was only one other person around who had as much of an interest in the arts as she did, and yet... why did she have to be so bad at it? Not that this was terribly important at the moment, with Nero dramatically throwing open the door and making her presence known. Mostly by standing right in front of Elizabeth. Trying to talk over the singing was a forlorn hope.

"Lancer! This is not an auditorium!"

She'd probably get the point once other people arrived. Or assume it was an audience.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

With a winter coat now draped over his shoulders, Keisuke calmly walked down to the room in question, quietly taking note of the distinct lack of personnel in the immediate area. His instincts immediately told him to be on his guard, and the Enforcer quietly acknowledge those feelings as he slowly shifted into a stance ready for possible combat. It was unlikely that something had infiltrated the area so easily, after all—there were four Servants to combat them if they did.

Once he finally reached the room in question, Keisuke took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. There was nothing at first, but—

Just as he prepared to look around, a large shockwave struck his body square in the center, and the Enforcer was thrown backwards into the wall behind him. An involuntary cry slipped out of his mouth as his back hit the metal, and Keisuke fell to his knees as he looked at the source.

"Right. Lancer. How could I forget?" he chastised himself quietly, slowly attempting to pull himself to his feet just as his Caster arrived on the scene to chastise Elizabeth.

There was a good reason he had been trying to avoid the two of them until now, and this just happened to be one of the reasons he had forgotten until now.

Tomoe Gozen

The walk down to the room in question was a mundane one for the Archer, but the lack of personnel the lower she went was a bit worrying regardless of the situation. It was only when she heard the sound of what must have been a youkai's death scream and the sound of a body hitting the wall, though, that she sprang into action. With her hand on her katana, Tomoe bounded down the hallway, only to see her Master recovering from an attack and that odd blonde Caster speaking with the Lancer—'Nero' and 'Elizabeth', if she recalled correctly. It seemed that the threat had passed, and Tomoe could more or less figure out what had transpired moments ago.

"Master, please, allow me to help," the Archer stated, grabbing Keisuke's arm and propping him up on his feet before nodding. "Do you require any further assistance?"

"I'm fine, Archer. I'm not that old yet," Keisuke replied, coughing to clear his throat as he picked up his coat from off the floor. "Lancer, there are better places for you to... 'Practice'... Than here. In any case... There was a debriefing to be done, right? Work before relaxation. Let's go."

It was at this point that a rather stalwart-looking older man in a lab coat quietly walked forward from out of the hallway, a small stack of paper in his hands and very distinct earplugs in his ears as he strode forth. Without a guise of complete apathy to how the situation had unfolded, the man (a staff member, given the name tag on him) quietly entered the room behind Keisuke before setting up his own materials.

The debriefing would begin momentarily, assuming there were no further interruptions to be had.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@KoL

[KoL]

It seemed like the number one idol Servant would never be able to perform, or even rehearse, without attracting a crowd of squirming fans, be they humans or other embodied heroic spirits.

“What? I can’t—” While the pink-haired Lancer’s heart swelled with joy, she couldn’t very well listen to what the others were saying while she continued to sing. For the time being she stopped only to find out that they weren’t crying out of joy but protesting against her number.

“What do you mean?” Elizabeth replied to the midget Caster. “I know this is not a proper stage. However, an idol has to do sacrifices for the sake of her fans sometimes, am I right?”

She turned around to face Keisuke just as he came into the room. His countenance was visibly shaken and even his knees seemed about to give in. Elizabeth couldn’t be more excited than to see that her performance left so much of a lasting effect on her Master that he almost needed to lean on the Booby Archer to remain standing.

Elizabeth wriggled her tail as she listened to what Keisuke had to say before replying. “A debriefing? I don’t get what you are saying, Puppy. Is that like when a producer talks about where to go on our next tour?” Elizabeth said before turning around to face the no-fun looking guy that just walked in the room.

They were going to go on a tour already, right? Why didn’t anyone say that before? Elizabeth would have practiced at least three times harder if she knew it.

---

[Raineh Daze]

A sacrifice for her fans? Of all the things to claim... fans might be devoted, but there was still no way for any of them to be getting over here! Furthermore, that claim was all wrong for a more fundamental reason... "What fans would be able to enjoy anything in here? The acoustics are all wrong and they missed the start."

Unlike Lancer, she was at least far more understanding of their current state of affairs... summoning an idol aside, Servants were meant to be warriors and the like, and military actions were inevitable. A magus, though, was still not a soldier--so she would forgive him for getting a briefing confused with a debriefing. It would be hard to debrief anyone before anything had been done, wouldn't it?

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

Once the last of the servants—Artoria Pendragon—had arrived to the room for the meeting and had settled down, the older man who had entered only moment prior cleared his throat. Keisuke, though still trying to make sure nothing important had been injured and that no bones had been dislodged (neither seemed to be the case), immediately snapped to attention once the lights in the room dimmed and a projection began to play on screen.

"All five of you are present, so let us begin this posthaste," the old man began, beginning to cycle through the slides on the screen as he spoke. "As all of you are likely aware of already, the revision of human history is something that will likely cause irreversible damage to our current timeline, and in order to prevent such a thing from occurring, you are present here today. This is the first of multiple 'singularities', as we have labeled them, and the first one we have discovered thus far. Your mission is simple: fine the 'Holy Grail' at the center of this distortion and return here with it in hand, while also making cure to correct any anomalies in your way.

Your first destination is 9th century Scandinavia, though given your coat I assume you are already aware of this fact. We are unsure of what is occurring on-site, but we have confirmed the signatures of multiple Servants already on-site. It is likely you will come into conflict with a few of them during your investigation, but I advise you to seek out allies, if possible.

For the sake of your assignment, though, we'll have a specialist monitoring you back here in the base. You should be able to communicate with that device you were given a day ago, Mr. Kumozaki, so please make sure you don't lose it. She should contact you once you arrive in the singularity itself, so please, do not be caught unaware. Her name is Meran Briefort Marzikek, and is a representative from Atlas Academy. If you need any information, do not hesitate to contact her.

That is all. You are free to proceed at your leisure."

With that short commentary out of the way, the lights in the room turned back on and the old man promptly left the room, leaving Keisuke alone with the other 4 Servants. There was a moment of awkward silence, and Keisuke coughed once before slowly getting to his feet and actually putting on his coat before beckoning the other Servants to follow him to the next room over.

The Kaleidoscope World Altar was a lot less grand than he had first expected it to be, but the Enforcer didn't mind the object itself as much as he did the giant portal in front of him. Witnessing the execution of the Second Magic in any form was a bit awe-inspiring despite the circumstances, but he knew it was no time to simply stand around continuing to gawk. There was a job to be done now, after all.

"I'm entering the portal now. Are we all clear?" he called out to whoever was monitoring the room before a light flashed green above his head. "Seems so. Well, then..."

And with that, Keisuke calmly proceeded ahead, a bit of sweat beginning to form on his brow as the rapidly-shifting landscape dragged him through to his destination.

Tomoe Gozen

The explanation of the whole ordeal wasn't anything new to the Archer, per se, but knowledge of their destination was certainly something she had not expected. Sadly, not being on familiar territory would be a little problematic—doubly so, actually, given that what knowledge the Grail had inserted into her head about the location in question. Snow impeded visibility, and though she was a Servant, something like a blizzard would still block her line of sight.

"Understood, Master. In that case, I shall follow," she stated, calmly following after Keisuke as he entered the portal.

It didn't take long for the portal to drop the two of them (and the others) off at their destination, which at the moment seemed like a pitch-black forest covered in snow. With a frown, Tomoe took a few steps forward, only for the sound of clashing metal to reach her ears.

"Master, there is an engagement up ahead. May I go ahead to scout?"

"Please do. Something seems off about this place already," Keisuke responded. With a nod, the Archer quickly dashed ahead, bow at the ready as she began to seek out the target.

Just as Keisuke was about to take any moves to follow her, though, the sound of shifting snow around him immediately caught his attention, and without a second thought the Enforcer drew his sword and parried an incoming blow. The sparks from the electricity coursing through his weapon gave him a momentary glimpse of the enemy—a zombie soldier, whose face, though bloodstained and torn, was preserved surprisingly well due to the snow.

"Hm. Where there's one of these, there are more," he muttered to himself before parrying the next blow and running his weapon straight through the zombie's head. The sound of shuffling and the crunching of snow was increasing in intensity, which meant that there was more to come.

"One of you three, back Tomoe up. All others, help me clean up this mess. With no visibility, I can't see these enemies unless they're right in front of me," he stated, adopting another parrying stance as he waited for the next enemy to come.

Of course, lighting a tree on fire would be an option, but that might only serve to draw unnecessary attention to them instead...

Tomoe, on the other hand, was rapidly running through the woods, firing arrow after arrow at any zombie that had sprung up at her flanks. The density of the enemy seemed to increase the closer she got to the noise, but that only made her more certain that this was her intended destination.

It was only a matter of time, though, before she came across a wall of blue flames that seemed to extend around past her field of vision. Without a second thought, the Archer bounded up a nearby tree to examine the source.

One solitary warrior was clashing arms with a pale-haired maiden wielding a lance, and though the blue flames flickered around and caused the shadows to shift, the Archer was able to tell at a glance that the black markings encroaching upon the woman's left arm meant something far more dangerous than a simple decoration or even a Noble Phantasm. The feelings that the two of them gave off were also unmistakably those of Servants, which meant that this matter was of the utmost importance regardless of that fact.

Of course, interfering now without ascertaining the situation would be as foolhardy an action as any, so instead Tomoe prepared an arrow and readied herself to fire at a moment's notice before relaying the information to Keisuke and, by extension, the other Servants of the group.

"The warrior is being pushed back ever so slowly, but it looks as if he has been worn down considerably. I shall prepare to engage once reinforcements arrive," she said, calmly standing by and waiting for a chance to strike.

@KoL@Raineh Daze@VitaVitaAR

[VitaVitaAR]

It was nothing that Saber had not previously been informed of. At least, aside from the destination that had been laid out for them, which was a detail that she hadn't previously been aware of. With this knowledge, they now at least had some idea of what to expect, and some kind of idea of potential Servants they may encounter there. Of course, the Throne of Heroes could pull Servants from all eras across time, but it was likely that at least some of the Servants that were present within the singularity would have some kind of connection to the location or era.

Confident with this knowledge in mind, but wary, the blonde-haired knight made her way through the portal.

What was immediately apparent was the lack of light, the cold temperature, and the forested surroundings. With a burst of light, mana flowing across her body, Arturia was clad in her armor, gripping Excalibur in one hand. Bringing her left to its hilt, she stood at the ready. There was no telling exactly what was on this side of the portal, in this era of time under attack by unknown forced. Noting that her Master had taken care of an undead creature himself, she glanced back and nodded.

"I will take a forward position, Master."

It was what she was most suited to in a battle of this nature. Even in this pitch black condition, she was able to pinpoint the locations of nearby enemies. Most importantly, there was the matter of the clashing metal, the battle that was clearly ahead.

Snow crunched underfoot as she moved forward.

The first zombie clumsy raised its weapon, and fell in two halves before it could move another centimeter. The next, two, was cut apart in an instant. And zombie that came into Arturia's path, as she followed along closely to Archer, sliced apart. Again and again they fell, sometimes as many as three of the undead perishing in a single blow.

The Saber-class Servant only stopped when she caught sight of a warrior engaged with a spearwoman. Both were Servants, there was no doubt about that.

To be honest, she desired to quickly step in, but she had to agree with Archer's assessment, that waiting for a moment before mounting their own attack until the group was more organized as likely the best option.

There was something especially strange about the spearwoman...

@PKMNB0Y@KoL@Raineh Daze

[KoL]

“Scandinavia? Isn't that place full of berserkers and dragon slayer heroes?” Elizabeth quipped as soon as she knew about the destination of their first tour throughout history. She wondered why they had to begin by such an uncultured land, even though the idea of going there to rid the world of the curse known as death metal amused Lancer. Perhaps, if she put a good enough show--not that she ever put bread shows, of course-- that wish could come true?

Regardless of her delusions, Elizabeth stepped through the portal, right after the others.

Her first reaction upon seeing the dreary landscape of the North was to sigh. “I knew that this kind of lighting wouldn't fit my cutesy idol motif,” Elizabeth said as she slapped a zombie with her tail, flinging its half-rotten head to God-knows-where. “I'm sorry but I don't remember booking a handshaking event,” she added as more undead rose from their snowy grave to take the place of the one she just eliminated.

A quick swing of her spear sent all of them flying harder than the minds of Elizabeth's fans after listening to her greatest hits.

After Elizabeth cleared the area adjacent to her point of arrival, she sprouted her wings and took to the skies in order to rejoin with Puppy and the other Servants faster. It seemed like Archer found a pair of suspicious individuals locked in a battle to the death. The group was still deciding what to do regarding them but, if the situation was left to run its natural course, it was more than clear that the male was going to bite the dust. “Would you like for me to get attention?” Elizabeth asked the others as she observed the fight between the couple continued. If she didn't know better, Lancer would think that this was some kind of lovers’ quarrel.

---

[Raineh Daze]

Lancer's assessment of Scandinavia was appropriate but... she had really missed the absolute most vital part about their destination. It was cold, which was something that even a Servant like Caster was well aware of on her arrival... she was from a much warmer part of Europe and a Scandinavian winter was frankly uncomfortable. It was making her chest cold!

There just had to be an unnecessary extra to make things worse: zombies. Zombies, and their Master couldn't see them at all! Of course, there was a simple solution to this problem... if she just stopped and racked her brain for a second, then...

"Φλεγέθων." The result of the single word was instantaneous--a ring of fire pulsing outwards. The flames of an underworld river... it was definitely bad news for anything such as dead bodies that happened to be in the area, since they would go right up, lighting the place up a bit more in the process. But it shouldn't ignite the forest... hopefully deadwood didn't count. Either way, with the others having dealt with the closest of the Dead, this would give them plenty of breathing room and make sure that their Master didn't blindly walk into a branch or something similar.

Though it wasn't subtle. The fighters might notice.

At least her chest would be warmer.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

The Enforcer squinted and half-shielded his eyes from the sudden increase in light in the area, and though he was thankful that he could see more than a foot in front of his face again, the glut of zombies in front of him were still an issue. Thankfully, the fire that had lit up the night had also torched a few zombies in the process, and whatever other members of the undead that remained were swiftly dealt with by both Arturia and Elizabeth. All the better for him, at least.

"Good work," he stated before the message from Tomoe came through to him. Two other Servants locked in combat... Regardless of the context, something like this would likely prove to be nothing but trouble.

Cutting down the occasional leftover zombie proved as much a challenge as walking to Keisuke, and it was only a matter time before he caught up with the other Servants who had gone on ahead. Though he could barely see past the flickering flames, the commentary from his Servants was more than enough to give the go-ahead to engage. Letting anyone die right now without getting any info in return was the height of folly, after all.

"Lancer, at the very least, distract them so Saber and Archer can interfere cleanly," he stated, standing off to the side and out of the way from any direct fire from the ensuing conflict.

Tomoe Gozen

Once her Master had arrived and orders were dictated, Tomoe silently nodded and nocked the arrow she had prepared, ready to fire the moment that she saw a chance. As the Lancer took to the skies next to her, though, the Archer felt a chill run up her back, telling her to shield her ears for what was to come. She didn't waste a second in moving to defend herself, and not a moment too soon. The resonating sound seemed to shake the tree she was perched upon mercilessly, and the two combatants temporarily paused to locate the source of the shockwave that had rippled through the land.

"Now!" Tomoe said to herself subconsciously as she stood tall on the branch before loosing the arrow at the enemy Lancer. Without so much of a glance, though, the arrow was struck aside by the target before she turned to face Tomoe. While it hadn't been clear earlier, the sight that the Archer saw caused her to take a deep breath.

Half of the woman's face was being wrapped in some black matter, and the eye on that side seemed to have an iris dyed the color of gold, in contrast to the melancholy light purple of the other. It was unsettling, of course, but the aura of corruption that felt so blatantly wrapped around the Lancer made Tomoe certain that she was her target.

"Saber of this land, we have come to aid you!" she declared before loosing another arrow at the Lancer.

The enemy Lancer wasted no time in dashing off to engage the combatants that had just joined the fray, at which point it would be clear to the others that the Saber himself had almost completely exhausted his own mana reservesand would be unable to aid them for the moment. But that might have been why the Lancer sprang forth, her weapon aimed straight for Elizabeth's neck as she leaped off the ground to fight.

@Raineh Daze@KoL@VitaVitaAR

[VitaVitaAR]

Now that Saber could get a better look at the Lancer, what she saw was... disturbing. That blackness clinging to her body, shadowy matter of some nature... even from here, the King of Knights could feel it. Something deeply wrong and warped, something corrupted attached to the Lancer's body. One of her eyes was a shade of gold... something was horribly wrong with this Servant. Something had blackened her very existence. Almost immediately after Bathory's distraction, the white-haired Lancer hurled herself towards the horned Servant, attempting to drive the tip of that unusually-shaped spear directly through the pink-haired girl's throat.

Reaching into her mana core, Arturia allowed magical energy to burst through her body, filling her with even further strength, light flowing up Excalibur's blade. From this angle, she'd have to strike from above in order to deflect that spear...!

Breaking into a sprint, tossing snow up behind her, the armored girl suddenly sprang into the air, raising her weapon above her head before bringing it sharply towards, slamming the resplendent blade down onto the place where the shaft of the spear met the head, briefly burying the tip in the snow with the resounding clash of metal on metal. Before the enemy Lancer could pull her spear back up, Arturia immediately drove the tip of her sword towards her chest...!

... And as expected, had it blocked. Servants did not fall so quickly, after all. In fact, the motion of the spear's shaft to avert its wielder's impalement seemed almost instinctive, rather then a calculated move. It wasn't unexpected given how sudden the knight had attacked, and yet... On Arturia's second attack, forcing the Lancer back, her guess was confirmed. The Lancer's motions were swift, but there wasn't any intelligence behind the defense. It was not strategic in any sense, simply an automatic move made to save the enemy Servant's life as opposed to anything intended to force the blonde Saber to change her tactics.

However, guessing that the Lancer was acting entirely off of instinct and nothing else would be a mistake.

The tip of the spear suddenly launched forward, a pin-point strike aimed directly at Arturia's heart. Now, she was forced to defend, deflecting the oddly-shaped weapon only to have it nearly immediately lash out once more. The strikes were not wild attempts to deal damage, but instead targeted blows... the Lancer was inflicted with some form of madness, but not in a way that dulled her skills. Rather, it make her focus almost entirely on offense!

Again and again, spear met sword. The Lancer's speed was lower then expected from her class, but it was hardly enough to exploit. Still, the instinctive nature of that defense... the Saber-class Servant felt that if she focused on unexpected attacks she could overwhelm it!

[KoL]

"Stop, stop, stop! I heard about wild fans throwing their underwear on stage, but this is going a bit too far," Elizabeth said as she lept her place atop her microphone stand—erm... her spear— high into the air, clearing the way for Saber to clash against the enemy Lancer. She soared in the air, thanks to her draconic wings while observing the battle.

The collision between Saber and Berserker Lancer lasted only a moment from a human point of view but a Servant such as Elizabeth was able to make up finer details of what was going on there. The two women fought fiercely; while Saber was no doubt the superior combatant between the two of them, Berserker Lancer's single-minded focus on offense more than made of for the difference in potential.

Even though Saber would likely find a way to turn the tide of battle if given enough time, Elizabeth had to earn her keep as well.

"Since you are so excited, you won't mind an encore, will you~♥?" Elizabeth said before cupping her hands in front of her lips and drawing a long breath. "Ahhhh~♪♪♪" she unleashed her breath attack from above, targeting an area as small as she could, hopes that the pressure wave would force Berserker Lancer to slow down, opening the room for Saber and Archer to do their job.

[Raineh Daze]

With the others springing into action, the emperor was left with a dilemma: she could try and aid the fight... but at the cost of significant friendly fire. Well, she said significant; those two would ignore most spells. Unfortunately, those spells that might harm an enemy Lancer for sure would also pierce those defences. And explode the one their Master wished to assist.

Maybe she ought to pull him from the line of fire? Saber was providing a good deal of cover and the sudden addition of singing was sure to make the run even clearer. Was there some magic she could use, some hidden ability to make it easier to sneak through... well... there was that and she didn't even have to do anything... just... exist. How dare being vertically diminished become useful!?

It was with a deep sigh that the Caster made her way around the fight, picnic basket of restorative delectables left by the master... only to return carrying the defeated fighter like a sack of potatoes, ignoring any protests. He was a Servant; he'd be fine.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

Keisuke also moved to shield his ears as Elizabeth shouted at the Lancer, continuing to hide off to the side as both his Saber and his Lancer engaged the enemy. It would be fairly obvious that he would be targeted if his presence was made known, at the very least, since he was the only possible Master in the area. Even past all that apparent corruption that he could make out in the midst of the high-speed duel, there was no doubt in his mind that the enemy Lancer still had enough wits about her to immediately move to take his head thereafter.

Luckily, the distraction above had given enough leeway for Nero to slip onto the battlefield and return unnoticed with the warrior from earlier. Though the new Servant's current status was less than ideal, it was far better than him being dead.

"Thank you for your assistance. I'm... Sorry for having to go through this trouble for me," he apologized, to which Keisuke responded with a swift shake of his head and a quick glance around to re-affirm the location of the skirmish right now.

"No problem, but formalities can wait. For now, we should attempt to—"

Just as he began to speak, though, the sound of a large explosion caused Keisuke to turn his head towards the source. Of course, he couldn't see past the giant fireball of blue flames that had engulfed the area. The heat was rapidly melting the snow that was piled up on the ground, and bore than anything else it would be dangerous for them to remain here.

"Archer, what just happened?!" he asked, quickly grabbing the basket and attempting to move it. It felt like it was anchored to the ground, though, which caused him to pause for a second before reinforcing his body to slowly pick up the thing and begin to move.

Tomoe Gozen

The high-speed skirmish caused Tomoe to begin to fire and force the enemy Lancer to decide on which attacks to block. Of course, her arrows could only do so much to force her target to act as she desired. While not every attack from Arturia had met its mark (nor had her arrows), the occasional moment that they came in tandem had, at the very least, forced the enemy to take a blow. Time and time again, these attacks began to pile up, and if Elizabeth entered the fray it was all but inevitable that their target would soon fall.

Of course, the one thing that put a stop to that pattern was a sudden glow from the Servant's corrupted eye. The blue fire that the group had seen engulfing the arena just prior seemed to flare out from her body, mixing with whatever it was that had blackened her face and radiating outwards. The corruption itself did not seem to mix with the flames, thankfully, but the Archer could feel the incoming explosive intensity of the attack and immediately leaped off her perch before letting loose an arrow straight towards the center of the flames.

"Master, the enemy Lancer just performed some sort of attack, and it does not seem like we would be able to easily pierce the flames she has surrounded herself with," she stated, calmly landing by Nero's side with her bow still drawn. "Should we withdraw for the moment?"

"...That flame... No, there's no need to withdraw; the fire is a distraction. That Servant has already retreated, and that fire will fade out within a few minutes," the Saber said, shaking his head. "This is the third time we've met, and the third time she has done this."

"Third time, you say...? Saber, explain yourself," Tomoe stated, lowering her bow as she stared at the Servant in question. "Ah, apologies for my rudeness. My name is Tomoe Gozen, servant of the Archer class."

"Ah... Saber class Servant, Siegfried. Once again, my thanks for your aid. As for the Servant you just engaged... Yes. I still do not know of her name, for she has never spoken nor unleashed her Noble Phantasm once against me. That corruption has gotten progressively worse every time I have fought her, though, and each time she has gotten stronger," he replied, letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, but that last battle likely ended with a few of my tendons cut, so without a healer I will likely be unable to move very well for the moment. But if you have any questions, I do not mind answering them to the best of my ability; it is the least I could do."

"Hm... Well, then I shall begin," Keisuke stated, his eyes closed as he mused to himself for a moment. "Other than that Lancer, have you engaged any other enemies as of late?"

"...I have. I am—or was—acting as a guardian for a nearby town here, and they've been plagued by a string of zombies and wolves. That Lancer seems to appear whenever those enemies arrive, though, so I have a feeling they may be linked," the Saber responded before the sound of wolves howling began to fill the air.

"Speak of the devil. Siegfried, direct us to this town; it will be easier to fight from a fortified position," Keisuke responded as Tomoe picked up Nero's basket of food. "The rest of you, question him as you please en route; anything you might have in mind, no matter how small, could be useful here."

@Raineh Daze@KoL@VitaVitaAR

[VitaVitaAR]

While the corrupted Lancer was not mentally operating at her full capacity, there was enough intelligence there for her to be able to perform some level of strategy. That being said, Saber was growing increasingly certain she would eventually wear her enemy down. Whatever corruption had inflicted itself upon this Servant... It wasn't likely that there was any way in which it could be purged. Not that such an idea wasn't a possibility in the blonde knight's mind, and undeniably that would have been the preferable outcome. But in this case, the next best outcome, the more likely outcome, was the death of the corrupted Lancer. Her next manifestation would not be corrupted, and therefore she would be freed from whatever affliction this was.

With that fact in mind, Arturia struck again, forcing the Lancer to take an arrow to her shoulder from Tomoe's support. She had already been sent off balance by Elizabeth's attack! Sliding Excalibur downward, she forced the oddly-shaped spear out of the way before driving her sword forward, the Lancer only barely managing to avoid being impaled and instead taking a gash along her side and backing up. Refusing to give her the room required to strike again, the Saber-class Servant immediately pressed her attack, slamming her blade down as the corrupted Lancer attempted to make room, forcing her to block with the shaft of her spear!

Stepped forward, pressing down, Arturia could feel her opponent weakening from the injuries. Her defense wasn't as stable, now, her ability to hold the knight's assault back was waning. It was only a matter of time...!

It was in this instant that a light flashed in the Lancer's gold eye.

And then Arturia could feel it, the heat, the blue flames engulfing her enemy's body and erupting outwards!

Stepping back, Invisible Air suddenly gathered around Excalibur once more, as the flames ripped the air towards her.

"Strike Aiiiiir!" Saber cried, the whirling bounded field erupting outwards and forwards just as quickly as it had gathered, an enormous rush of wind whipping towards the advancing wall of flame, sweeping away the flames and forcing a gap through the attack! Even still, she could feel the heat, the blackened flames surging past her for some distance before finally fading.

Unfortunately, her attack had not found its other target. The enemy Lancer had fled(at least, as far as she could tell given the blue inferno), using her flames as a distraction.

At this point, the best option was to swiftly move away from the flames, and so Arturia made her way quickly back to her Master's side. She was undeniably somewhat frustrated that the corrupted Servant had been able to escape, but there was no time to dwell on the matter. For now, she had to see what condition the other Saber-class Servant was in, as well as introduce herself.

Arturia planted the tip of her sword in the show.

"Arthur Pendragon, King of the Britons, summoned as Saber," she began. No matter what her regrets may be, it couldn't be said that she did not still fulfill that role in history. It could not be said that Arturia was without pride, no matter what she felt about her past. Even now. "I am glad to have met the legendary dragonslayer, but I wish it could have been under better circumstances."

So the corruption had spread each time? Whatever it was that had been the catalyst for the Lancer's blackening, it was still doing its work. It was like an infection, it was a disease that was slowing running its course through her body. Whatever was the source of the affliction had to be rooted out and destroyed, before it could take any further victims.

As they quickly began to make their way towards the town, there were two matters on Arturia's mind. The first was simply that the needed to make their way to the town as quickly as possible, in order to prevent any innocent people from falling to the wolves or zombies.

"What happened when you first encountered her?" Arturia began. "Was there anything notably out of the ordinary from the start, beyond her corruption?"

@PKMNB0Y@KoL@Raineh Daze

[KoL]

"Wha!?" Elizabeth shrieked as she avoided the flame burst by the skin of her fangs. Even though she had a dragon's eye view of their surroundings, she wasn't able to track where their foe went after she escaped. "The Lancer Class is really chock-full of lightning-fast Heroic Spirits, huh?" she said to no one in particular, in an introspective tone that almost made it look like Elizabeth didn't think of herself as a member of said Class. In fact, if asked about that, she would say she'd much rather prefer to be considered an Idol Class Servant. But, that's going on a tangent...

As soon as she snapped back to reality, Elizabeth landed beside the others and observed as they socialized with— "Wait, did you say you are THE Siegfried? One of the most famous dragonslayers right there in the same category as Georgius and Susanoo?" she said with no small deal surprise, and perhaps a bit of apprehension, seeping in her voice. Their conversation wasn't allowed to go very far before being interrupted by the imminent arrival of more enemies and the need to protect those who inhabit this era.

"Well, if you want to protect someplace, you've come to Idol. These beasts will learn that the walls of a prison castle are as hard to break in as they are to break out," Elizabeth said as they took their leave to the village. She may not be a Shield-bearing Heroine, but when it came to defensive fights, the ability to summon Csejte, and command all the wraiths that haunt its halls, give a big edge to Elizabeth. It might not be something as fancy as the Trojan Walls, but it's a prison at least on par, if not better than, Alcatraz and Chateau d'If. It's certainly as hard to get in those kinds of places as it's to get out.

---

@VitaVitaAR@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

[Raineh Daze]

Fire, huh? Whoever their opponent was, if she wished to bring magical flames into it, then Nero would be more than happy to compete with her, to prove that her ardour was greater than such offensive magic! Only... not whilst carrying an apparently hopeless dragon slayer. And it certainly wasn't an option when the Lancer involved had taken this chance to up and run.

It seemed that he was in need of healing and, despite still carrying him like a sack of potatoes, the emperor had no intention of foresaking their current ally. "Archer, if you reach into that basket, there should be some sweet cakes, slightly sticky. I made sure to mix some of the food as healing remedies exactly in case of things such as this."

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

"Aah, the first time I encountered her? I believe it was a short while after I had arrived at the village; after I had repelled the first wave of enemies, she had shown up. At the same, it seemed as if only a small part of her gauntlet was tinted black, and so I assumed it to be a Noble Phantasm. I should have realized it sooner... Sorry," Siegfried responded to Arturia, shaking his head. "As for anything out of the ordinary... She seemed to be lamenting something during our first bout of combat, and constantly referred to me by the name of some other man. 'Sigurd', I believe it was?"

"Sigurd, Sigurd... Hm... That name sounds familiar, but... I don't recall from where," Keisuke replied with a sigh as the group continued on to the village. If the dragonslayer's word was to be believed, then it was possible that they had already handled the issue of zombies the moment they had arrived. The wolves, on the other hand...

"How many wolves usually attack the village at once?" the Enforcer followed, carefully priming his blade in case of an ambush. "Even if there are multiple packs, they can only number so many, after all."

"On average... Three or four wolves, I would guess? Ah, but don't assume that they are normal beasts; their size dwarfs the average man," Siegfried replied as the village, lit by dim torches in the distance, finally came into view. "At the very least, it doesn't seem like their usual assault has begun. But in any case, I apologize, but I will have to rely on you for this upcoming fight. Please, protect these people in my stead, if only for the night."

Tomoe Gozen

"Sweet cakes...? Ah, like mochi, then?" Tomoe asked as the Caster requested a few pieces of food from the basket. it was certainly a bit more sizable than the Archer had expected it to be at first glance, but after shuffling through a few times she realized that no, the food she was searching for was not mochi, but instead a Western-style cake that was more like... Bread? She didn't quite know how to describe it, considering how she tended to only consume rice with sides as she did in life at the cafeteria, but it seemed to be somewhat like the food that had been described to her.

With some degree of confidence that she had picked the right foodstuff, the Archer walked to keep pace with Nero before attempting to hand Siegfried one of the cakes. Though his right hand seemed to be somewhat damaged, his left seemed to be well enough such that he could take the cake and begin eating it.

"This is fairly tasty, miss Caster. I sincerely thank you for allowing me to have some," he said after finishing a bite. The Saber could feel his wounds recovering, at the very least, but it would definitely not be complete before the night's battles were over.

Just as the walls of the town began to come into clearer view, though, the howling of wolves began once more, though this time it seemed to be far closer to them than it had been a while ago. The silhouettes of four wolves, as Siegfried had predicted, were rapidly making their way towards the town.

"I guess their size has made these beasts less careful about subtlety, then. Saber, Lancer—engage the enemy. The rest of us will continue towards the village to make sure that this isn't a diversion and give you support from afar," Keisuke stated as he began to pick up his pace a little.

@KoL@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze