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

[Raineh Daze]

"L-Lancer, now is not the time! I'm still Caster!" Nero protested, squirming out of the unexpected embrace. Normally, she would be all for such a thing... but with the mass of aggressive Valkyries to deal with, their Master was right: it was time to stop messing around. "Umu, stand back and behold! Praise me! Praise my theatre!"

The oversized sword was swung in a ponderous circle, lighting up in flames as it completed and despite the enemies getting closer. Held ready to thrust, there was no way that the sword could threaten that many--"Sing, Fax Caelestis!" but the uncanny surge forward, the technique buoyed by the power of the theatre, took the Caster through the mass, even if the sword might only have stabbed one of the enemies.

The slight tink of the red blade being balanced point-first on the ground was the ignition that proved that the others hadn't escaped either. Behind the Emperor, a vast pillar of flame roared up and to the ceiling. That ought to do a nice amount of damage--maybe enough that they could finish this fight before she was forced to exit this and give their enemies back the best means of retreat.

[KoL]

“Ri—right! Of course I knew that. I was just, erm… testing… Yes, I was just testing you, dumb Emperor,” Elizabeth said in a stuttering voice after Caster slipped out of her embrace. The Lancer face got as pink as her hair, after she allowed her instincts to take control of her actions, but certainly no one would see through her well thought excuse, right? In the end, it was all Caster’s fault for pulling such an underhanded move while Elizabeth was distract. The Lancer had no reason to apologize for her actions, of course.

“Hah! I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of that. I’m sorry, but it seems that feeling your pain is all that I can do for you,” Elizabeth said to the valkyries as they got Fax Caelestis’ed. Well, that wasn’t exactly the attack she knew but Lancer wasn’t lying by saying that she was well acquainted with the business end of Nero’s sword.

“Anyway, I would love to stay and chat, but…” Elizabeth said as she spread her wings. Contrary to everyone else here, the Lancer’s ability to fly wasn’t powered by magic and, even if the Domus Aurea would force her to be ground, it couldn’t forbid Elizabeth from using her wings to assist her leaps. “I have something important to do as well~” she finished her statement with a powerful wing flap that would be enough for her to jump over the new Caster’s head (not that doing so would be hard anyway) and land in front of her, hitting the remaining valkyries with a swipe of her tail followed by a quick jab of her spear at whoever was the closest one.

※ ※ ※

Meanwhile, at the other side of the battlefield…

“Lancerrrr!” Atalanta practically howled as she step sideways just enough to have Lancer’s spear slash as gash at her left flank instead of any more vital organ. “Wake up! I can’t let you doom the future of any more children!” She said while blood and foam dripped from her mouth.

However, the wound didn’t stop Atalanta at all. Instead of that, her Self Evolution skill kicked in, making the Berserker’s skin tougher, like the hide of the beasts of the Age of Gods which were her prey once more. In addition, her claws became like the talons of a great bird of prey as she reached for the Lancer’s good arm with the intention of disarming her quarry for good before dealing the final blow. All the while ignoring the danger posed by the flames that engulfed much of the Lancer’s body.

---

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

Being dragged around by Elizabeth as she followed up on Nero's attacks wasn't the most pleasant of experiences for Keisuke, and the sudden explosion of fire and rose petals behind him wasn't making the situation any better. Granted, it wasn't as if he could do much other than monitor the battle anyhow, and the safest place in all of this chaos was probably right in the Lancer's grasp.

However much that was worth, at least.

The Valkyries who had thus been placing their attention towards Skuld seemed to divert their attention away from her once Nero's technique had landed, which had thus sent their companions flying into the air before they landed (rather unceremoniously) on the ground. At the very least, the ones who had been hit by the attack or its aftereffects seemed to remain on the ground, unconscious... Which itself was fairly impressive, considering that every one of them was a Heroic Spirit.

Elizabeth's foray towards the front led her straight to one of the Valkyries who seemed to be attempting to direct the action—though she wore a hood, her black hair seemed to be barely visible from under it as she stared back at her opponent.

"I was only given the order to stall for time, so I shall try to do as much," she said, pointing her spear at Elizabeth before charging forth. Unlike the other Valkyries (who were content to focus on Nero for the moment), the one attacking Elizabeth seemed to be a bit more nuanced in her attacks. The jab that Elizabeth had put out was quickly parried, and the Valkyries who had thus been keeping her somewhat occupied all moved towards Nero once more.

The lack of threat from the other Caster, who was cowering off to the side behind a barrier in their eyes, warranted less attention from them at the moment despite their knowledge of who she was.

Or maybe that was in spite of it?

Tomoe Gozen

Despite the furious clashing of weapons and the various wayward arrows and spears that were now scattered in front of the walls, neither Tomoe nor the Valkyrie that she was matching in combat seemed to be giving up any ground. Both seemed to be getting worn down ever so steadily, however, and the pauses in action seemed to get more frequent as time passed.

"N-not bad..." the Valkyrie said, shaking out her hands as Tomoe seemed to pause for a moment in front of her. "If you weren't already dead, I'd probably invite you to Valhalla. Great warriors are always welcome there."

"I appreciate the gesture," Tomoe responded, throwing aside the naginata that she had pulled out for the last few rounds of combat before the sound of a large explosion caused both warriors to turn their heads towards the source—the location of the combat between the Sabers and the only other Valkyrie present.

---

Thrud was caught wholly off guard by the suddenness of Arturia's attack, as the Valkyrie herself had not expected to be attacked out of the sky so easily. She had expected her opponent to prepare to counterattack directly, not launch herself as a projectile towards her.

The impact of Excalibur was deflected by the Valkyrie's weapon, but only barely. The resulting impact promptly launched Thrud into the ground, causing a large impact that left a crater in the ground she had just been flying over, leaving her somewhat dazed and injured from the outcome. One of her wings seemed to be cracked from the impact, but Thrud simply gritted her teeth and climbed back onto her feet, however unsteadily.

"That was... My mistake," she said, struggling to maintain her composure as she attempted to move out of the crater with her wings; when that failed, the Valkyrie glared at Arturia as she descended from the sky and attempted to jump out physically, as a being without wings might. "I can already tell that I will not win here, but even so..."

With that, Thrud held her spear aloft before adopting an aggressive stance and attempting to strike at Arturia.

"I cannot afford to fail here; not with Elder Sister occupied as she is now."

Siegfried simply stared at the exchange and sighed, deciding against directly intervening in the fight any further. Given that dealing with Brynhildr was still to come, the Saber knew that his ability to endure would only last so long if he decided to participate in battle now.

---

Brynhildr seemed to struggle for a moment as the Berserker spoke, but that moment of pause lasted for naught but a moment as she began to stoke the blue flames around herself. Despite the lack of an arm, the numbers present on the enemy's side coupled with the nearing exhaustion of the sudden "reinforcements" and loss of an arm had finally registered in the Lancer's brain. There was only so much more she could do here, but she was heavily outmatched without having full use of both of her arms.

As the Lancer prepared to strike out against the Berserker with her spear, though, the sudden howling from over the horizon couple with the sound of thundering movement as something arrived from over the horizon.

A giant wolf, fifty times the size of the ones that had been executed in droves by the Servants defending the town until now, cast a looming shadow over the land with the moonlight at its back. Almost as if on cue, the beast howled as it arrived, causing the air around it to freeze in place and large crystals to form in the air to deflect the blow of the Berserker before it landed. With another cry, the wolf caused those same crystals to turn and fire—rather indiscriminately—at both her and the groups fighting in the distance.

Seeing the wolf in front of her now, Brynhildr lowered her weapon and seemed to become almost slack as a few other wolves that had been trailing behind this one came to pick her up and carry her off to who-knew-where. Once the Lancer seemed to be far enough away, though, the beast would retreat in turn, causing a large wall of ice to crash down in an attempt to stall any further pursuit.

Tomoe and the Valkyrie next to her had ample time to dodge the ice crystals as they were fired, and at this point it became clear to the Servant opposite Tomoe that something was more than wrong.

The Valkyrie in front of Arturia, however, only registered the ice as 'something to dodge' and continued her strike towards the Saber even then. Whether it was out of pride or something else, though, was a question all its own.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@KoL

[VitaVitaAR]

Saber

Her opponent was powerful, but thanks to the blow that had knocked her out of the sky that power had been dulled. The blonde knight had no doubt in her own capabilities, but this battle had to be dealt with quickly and, preferably, non-lethally. If the valkyries only understood what had become of Bynhildr, she was certain they would wish to do everything they could to free her from the corruption that now gripped her mind and body. Thus, Saber wished to do what she could to end her battle with her opponent without killing her, if possible. If she could overpower her and slam her down, then maybe...

Arturia prepared herself for the coming blow from her opponent.

"Your Elder sister has been corrupted by some sort of terrible darkness!" she declared, "If you care for her, you must understand that she is no longer of her right mind! It's not the curse that was laid upon her love, it-"

That massive thundering sound...!

Arturia stepped back, unable to prevent herself from glancing away from the battle if only for a moment, to the sight of a truly enormous wolf, towering over all the others. A great wolf from Norse mythology, a massive beast embodying the cold, could it be...!?

Her train of thought was interrupted as ice hurtled towards her. No matter what the great wolf's nature was, nothing could be done about it until Saber defeated Thrud! Stepping back, with a flash of her sword she cleaved apart one of shafts of ice that had hurtled towards her, sending its fragments into the air! But it was that very moment that Thrud's thrust spear careened towards her, forcing the blonde knight to step to the side to avoid being skewered. Using the invisible flat of her blade, she pushed the spear to the side and then raised her sword. From this range, the only option left to her opponent would be to block, as she was past the spear's optiminal range! Therefore...!

When the King of Knights swung her sword down to meet the shaft of the shimmering spear, there was a brilliant flash of light, a rush of noise and air. For the briefest moment, the true form of her sword was visible, the elegant blade surrounded by a brilliant gold light as Saber directed her mana to overpowering the valkyrie, slamming her down into the earth as hard as she could!

---

Caster

Ah? Lancer had jumped right over her head!

Well, at least it gave her an opening to try... something, anything. While there was little she could do when it came to intervening in the fight between Lancer and her opponent, the valkyries attacking the other Caster(except she was using a sword. How inappropriate! What kind of magus was she?! Of course someone with that much chest would be so lacking in proper magecraft!) were a different story. Now that no-one was attacking her, she could cancel the barrier. In fact, the valkyries were no longer paying her any attention... that would be a mistake, on their part.

Their resistance to magecraft, after all, was not perfect. Even if the full impact of her spells would be dulled... Well, the aim wasn't to kill them outright. But if she could incapacitate a few, or open them up to counterattack by the allied Caster...

Or simply give them what they deserved for forgetting she could still fight back.

"Just because you're the tools of the gods who seem to have an answer to everything I can muster doesn't mean you should just forget about me!" Skuld declared, a sound like a ringing bell echoing through the theater as a large, green magic circle spreading over her head. Raising her staff, she released a hail of green light, some of her stronger offensive spells! Since they were distracted, the Elven Queen had time to prepare!

[Raineh Daze]

Skuld's approach to the Valkyries did give her an idea... one that could actually be implemented before they returned to the normal world. After all, the explosion had done plenty of damage, and magic was much better for hitting multiple targets very quickly. Having magic resistance would help against magical attack--but if it was reduced slightly and the magic was strong enough, you'd get worn down by volume of firepower...

With Nero jumping away to maintain distance, there was time for Skuld to fire--and when that happened, no doubt distracting them again, that was when the other Caster planned to strike: letting the valkyries fly again... at the cost of reducing their magic resistance.

At which point being able to incant powerful spells in a single word was going to be very useful to match Skuld with a laser barrage, because there were only a few seconds left before this all finished.

[KoL]

“Thank you, I certainly appreciate a captive audience. I’ll make sure that you stay for long enough to forget everything else,” Elizabeth said, to the Valkyrie that had just parried her attack. Thankfully that was just a nuisance for the draconic-themed Lancer, since she followed up with a tail strike to keep the hooded girl at bay and another series of quick stabs aimed with an almost surgical precision to inflict more debilitating pain than damage to the her opponent as an attempt to possibly capture her alive while relieving Elizabeth’s more… sadistic side.

Back at the other side of the the battlefield, Atalanta kept on her struggles to either convince Lancer to stop, or put an end to her.

“Lancer, I know you can hear me! This is not the enemy you are supposed to be fighting. If you don’t stop, I’ll have to,” Atalanta said once more, trying to get through the Lancer while her claws reached for the other Servant’s throat, ready to crush it if she had to.

However, she couldn’t foresee what would happen in a moment.

Atalanta was unable to dodge some of the the icy projectiles in time, getting stuck as they impaled one of her legs, freezing her place. The ice wall that rose as soon as the gigantic wolf hauled Lancer away from her made it impossible even for Atalanta to shoot them down. The only thing that the Berserker could do was yell Lancer’s name as she raked at the ice, trying to get herself free.

---

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

Once Elizabeth had engaged in battle with the hooded Valkyrie, Keisuke was finally allowed to stand on his own two feet, which in turn let him figure out what exactly the situation had become by now. The two Lancers dueling were the furthest from his mind in terms of worries, though, as the giant light show that had started (mainly due to the intervention of the two Casters) caused him to shield his eyes. The sound of thunderous explosions echoed through the theater, and it took the Enforcer a moment to stop the ringing in his ears that came about as a result.

Most the Valkyries that the two Casters had struck were now lying prone on the ground, and more than a few of them were disappearing into golden particles. That number began to increase as a few more bombardments occurred, leaving the group at less than a quarter of what it had been initially.

By now, the group as a whole had been dragged out of Nero's Reality Marble, leaving them in the middle of the cold Nordic night. The sudden shift back to cold air caused Keisuke to shiver, and he involuntarily rubbed his arms to warm himself up before turning to survey the rest of the battlefield.

"What the heck happened while we were gone...?" he muttered to himself, glancing at the giant pieces of ice lodged in the ground and the massive shimmering wall in the distance.

---

Once the Reality Marble had dissolved away, the Valkyrie who had been dueling Elizabeth faltered for a moment. The sudden shift back to the night caused her to flinch, and that mistake proved to be her undoing. In a few successive strikes, her opponent had quickly forced her on the defensive, and every so often she would slip up once more and cause another gash to appear on her body. Even so, if she could just keep her opponent here a while—

"Ortlinde! Put that on hold for a second and get over here! Thrud needs help!"

The familiar voice of her sister pulled her attention away from the fight at once, and with one final parry the Valkyrie quickly retreated from the battlefield and moved towards where her sister (and her opponent, oddly enough) were crouching over Thrud's battered body. She wasn't gone, if that meant anything, but she was certainly not in any state to fight.

"Hildr... What...?" she asked, half out of breath from the fight prior.

Tomoe Gozen

Once she had arrived at Saber's side, Tomoe took a deep breath and knelt down to examine Thrud's prone body. She wasn't dead, of course; if she was, then it was long past time for her body to be disappearing. Despite that fact, though, the Valkyrie seemed to be more than just 'unconscious'. It wouldn't be surprising if it took a few days for all of the damage she had sustained to heal—time that they didn't have to waste right now.

As she rose to her feet, the faint sight of someone—likely the one who had pushed their enemy into a corner while they were occupied—caught Tomoe's eye, and she immediately leaped over to go see the cause. It was as she had expected... Somewhat. To see a Servant dressed in such attire in the middle of an environment like this, even if they were more than superhuman...

Could they really have been anything other than a Berserker?

"Mmm... I thank you for keeping our opponent at bay," the Archer said, quickly nocking an arrow of flame and firing it to shatter the ice holding the Servant in place. "But that's not what I'm here to ask about. If you have enough of your senses about you, answer me thus: what was it that attacked us just now? And more importantly: are you willing to aid us in defeating it anyhow? There must have been a reason for you to keep attacking that Lancer for so long, after all..."

The Archer's weapon was lowered, of course, but it was clear that she was wary about questioning a Berserker in the first place.

Their Master, on the other hand, had by now run up to the two Sabers from the other side of the battlefield. The increasing amounts of ice scattered about coupled with the massive blockade in the distance caused him to pause for a moment, glancing behind him as the two Casters and Lancer followed close behind.

"Can I get some answers, please?" Keisuke asked, motioning towards all of the anomalies around him before Siegfried spoke up.

"Master, it is a relief that you are safe. I can summarize the situation in short: the two Valkyries are huddling over the body of the one who challenged the King of Knights here to a duel and failed to obtain victory in turn; the ice was thrown by the giant wolf Fenrir, who retrieved the enemy Lancer and created the wall that you see over there. It is unlikely that we will be able to pursue with the current wounded, as I believe that it would be too dangerous to leave them be and—"

"Hey, what are you talking about over there, not-Sigurd?" chimed in the pink-haired valkyrie as she walked out of the crater and stared at Siegfried. "Just because I'm all bruised up right now from fighting your friend doesn't mean I've gone mad, you know. Even I can tell after seeing that creature that something was far stranger than what we thought was mind manipulation. Oh, right, introductions..."

With that, the Valkyrie took a deep breath and put of a half-smile, half-wince as she looked at the rest of the group.

"Lancer, Hildr. The one over there looking after our fallen sister, Thrud, is Ortlinde, and we're all technically summoned as a single 'Servant' despite being different existences physically. For the trouble we have caused, erm... We're really sorry," she finally said, bowing her head low before turning to glance towards the wall once more. "But to think that it would appear... Without the gods present, I'm not even sure if all of us could defeaa..."

As the Servant spoke, her voice began to trail off as she spotted Skuld walking over. The glow of her spear began to strengthen ever so slightly as she adopted a stance in opposition to the Caster, despite the situation.

"...I was going to request that we form a temporary truce and figure out a plan to at least contain that beast, as the second-in-command following my sister, but knowing that she is still alive is making me have second thoughts..."

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@KoL

[VitaVitaAR]

Saber

The battle had ended in an instant. The Valkyrie she had challenged was already injured from being struck out of the air, and thus had been unable to stand up to a second blow. Now she lay passed out, in a crater in the icy ground. The King of Knights held her sword down at her side. There was no reason to finish off her opponent. Not only would that be dishonorable, but from the start Saber had hoped to end the battle without slaying her enemy. It seemed as if the rest of the battle had concluded as well, and that was... possibly the best situation they could manage. With the presence of Fenrir, any other conflicts had to be ended as swiftly as possible.

The great wolf that swallowed the sun. One of the children of Loki, one of the beasts that participated in Ragnarok. Its presence here was completely unexpected, but the incredible danger that it posed made it their top priority. Even the corruption overtaking Brynhildr could be overlooked, for the moment, if it meant putting a stop to the threat of the sun-devourer. Thankfully it seemed as if the valkyries understood this just as well as they did.

"It is just as Siegfried said, Master," asserted Saber, "It appears that whatever corruptive force has overtaken Brynhildr has compelled her to work as an ally to the sun-devouring wolf."

She turned to face the valkyries. One of their number, Hildr, had apologized for their actions.

"I am simply glad that the battle has concluded with little bloodshed," she responded, "It is all the more important that we have as much strength as we can, in order to bring down the sun-eater."

Arturia still felt as if it would be possible to slay the beast, but it was best to stack the odds in their favor as much as they possibly could.

---

Caster

Finally. A few of the Valkyries had perished, but they were not the ones who composed the main body of the Servant in question. They were a sort of familiar of a familiar, in a way, perhaps best considered as part of a skill, or a Noble Phantasm. As much as she was dismayed at the presence of the living weapons created by Odin, her aim had not been to destroy them. Their clearest enemy was the corrupted Lancer, Brynhildr, and they had to pursue her. Only now...

Fenrir? The great sun-eating wolf? That explained the presence of the huge wolves that had served as stronger foes among the waves of useless undead. At least they weren't entirely insulting to her craft, but Fenrir... his role in myth was meant to be long over. Ragnarok had come and gone. If he was present here...

Skuld approached the others, to the immediate protest of one of the valkyries.

"Really?" she questioned, cocking her head to one side, "I am far more heinous then the presence of a wolf that ate the sun? In a way, I'm proud of the fact that your recognize my nature as a powerful evil queen, but I should think that Fenrir takes priority."

[KoL]

“Ah, the show is already over? I wasn’t even done with my vocal exercises yet,” Elizabeth complained as the battle came to an abrupt end. It didn’t look like she was particularly shocked by the widespread destruction of the battlefield. Once you have seen a Holy Grail War or two, it’s hard to be impressed by many things, after all.

Instead of concentrating in the aftermath, the pink-haired Lancer drifted to midget Emperor’s side so fast that it looked like she had a temporary boost to her Agility. “Hey, hey, Sab— I mean, Caster!” Elizabeth called out, poking the other Servant’s shoulder. “Why— I mean, how did you do that? You may not remember it, but there’s no way that I would ever be able to forget that sword or that theater of yours. If only we could get you to the Moon, or find that Little Squirrel, I’m sure that you would remember everything as well,” she said while hugging Caster once again.

XXX

On the other side of the ravaged battlefield, Atalanta mauled at the icy trap, trying to free herself from it when she noticed the approach of the white-haired Archer. She bared her fangs aggressively once the other girl aimed towards her, reaching for Tauropolos to shoot back. Before she could do so, the other Servant shot the ice, releasing Atalanta.

“Grrr!” the Berserker growled like a wild beast, taking a step away from the other Servant while lowering her own bow just like the other woman.

“I’ve no means to know what was that beast, however, I can tell that it’s of divine nature,” Atalanta replied once she assured herself that the other Archer wasn’t an immediate threat. “I can only imagine that I was summoned here because of it. But I only answered it to protect the future of all children. If thou art here for this cause, I can tell thou everything that I know. But first, show me thy Master if thou hast one.”

After making her request, Atalanta got back to her feet. The boar pelt that covered her dissolved back into the ether that composed all Servants, leaving a much more sensible dress in its place as she waited for Archer to lead the way back.

[Raineh Daze]

"How? Umu, because I'm an Emperor--why!?" Nero started--obviously trying to boast about her talents, and the buffs that had yet to run out, but being surprised by Lancer's strangely enthusiastic hugging. What was it that made this girl so excited to see her...? She didn't know anyone in her life that could have qualified to be a Lancer and shown such exuberance, and the rambling about the moon only made it more difficult... and it was unlikely that she had anything to do with her uncle, the only other person she had known of with any sort of moon-tinged madness.

It made it rather hard to focus on what could have been going on out here in the meantime.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

The Enforcer massaged his forehead as he listened to the explanation given to him by Siegfried, rapidly attempting to piece together a general overview of what had transpired based on that. As things were now, pursuing Fenrir past the giant wall of ice with the current party was a bit too risky; a the very least, Keisuke wanted everyone to be on the same page before diving headfirst into the fray.

"I—You—Aaagh, I can't really refute that argument..." Hildr said, sighing and shaking her head in response to Skuld's comment. "Fine, we'll work with you in dealing with that creature, but remember that if you show any sign of betrayal, we'll be the first to take you out. Are we clear?"

With a somewhat shaky truce now in place, Keisuke let out a slight sigh of relief and glanced down at the crater where the unconscious Thrud was being tended to by the Valkyrie named Ortlinde. If anything, it seemed that Arturia had done enough of a number to make her wholly unable to fight. That being said...

"She won't be awake for a while," Ortlinde stated, staring straight at Keisuke as she stood up. "Nor will the others that you have defeated, for that matter; I request that they be allowed to rest while we pursue Fenrir as a group."

After a moment of though, Keisuke turned towards Siegfried, who simply nodded and motioned towards the town.

"I shall come with you to bring those who are unconscious inside the gates. Once they are all secured, we can move out in pursuit of Fenrir; I trust this is sufficient for your cooperation?" the Saber said, to which Ortlinde simply nodded.

"That's fine by me, but I'll stay here with the rest of the group you have," Hildr remarked as Ortlinde picked up Thrud's body and began to fly towards the town's walls. "Your Archer did a number on me, but I guess I should count myself lucky that it wasn't that Saber over there that Thrud went to handle. If the circumstances were a little different and you had been born in a different era, we might've brought you to Valhalla ourselves. Could I ask for your name?"

Tomoe Gozen

Tomoe hesitated for a moment as the Servant in front of her spoke before quietly nodding and leading her back towards Keisuke. There were other Servants on hand to stop things from going south, including the 'Valkyrie' that she had been fighting up until recently, but...

"Master," she finally spoke, bringing the Enforcer's attention over to herself and the cat-eared Servant behind her. "This is the one who held off the corrupted Lancer while we were engaged in combat. She has requested to speak with you."

There was a momentary flash of stress that passed over Hildr's face once the word 'corrupted' was mentioned, but no more than that; she simply remained silent to see what was to be said.

@KoL@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

[VitaVitaAR]

Saber

For a moment, Arturia paused, then planted the tip of her blade in the earth, resting her hands upon it as she did.

"I am the King of the Britons, Arthur Pendragon," she introduced herself. She was happy to do so, secrecy was of no importance in this circumstance and they were now allies, set to take on the monstrous wolf Fenrir. In this case, it was important to one another, to know how they were able to best work with one another's abilities. When secrecy was unnecessary, there was no need to maintain it. After all, that could only get in the way of working together in order to defeat Fenrir. "I am happy to fight alongside you, Valkyrie Hildr."

After a moment's pause, Arturia turned towards her Master.

"Master, I would like to discuss our plan of attack in the time it takes for us to reach the great wolf."

---

Caster

Caster smiled smugly. Indeed, there was no argument that even the most self-righteous of the valkyries would be able to muster when it came to her, not when their enemy was something as absolutely dangerous as Fenrir, the great wolf that ate the sun. For the moment, before they set out, however.

"Ah... Master!" she rounded on her heel, turning towards Keisuke, "Won't you praise me? I worked hard to ensure that fight ended quickly, fufu~"

[KoL]

“W-well, just be sure to let me know beforehand next time. It’s not good for my idol image if I’m surprised every time,” Elizabeth said after pulling away from Nero. The pink-haired Lancer crossed her arms before her (not so much developed) chest and turned her gaze aside, trying to regain a measure of her composure. At this moment she didn’t care so much about the facts that were transpiring around the two of them, especially Elizabeth couldn’t allow herself to slip anymore and lose to Nero in a battle of wits.

She was sure that a time when she had the upper hand in their rivalry battle. It was all a matter of waiting and hoping.

X X X

Atalanta eyed the chaotic gathering of different Servants, spending a particularly long time glaring at the Valkyries before turning her attention to the human Master that the Flaming Archer talked about.

“So, art thou of Archer’s Master? Thou doesn’t seem to belong to this era more than I do. I would ask what’s thy reason to interfere with the flow of human history, however, I must first repay your Archer’s deeds by answering thy questions,” the silver-haired Berserker said in a much more composed way than one would expect of a Heroic Spirit summoned in her Class.

“Before anything else let me tell thee my True Name as a proof of the honesty of my words,” she said, bringing one of her gauntlet-clad hands to her chest. “I’m Atalanta, a chaste huntress anointed by the Goddess Artemis, one of those who helped in the felling of the Calydonian Boar, as well as taking part in the Journeys of the Argo, and the daughter of Iasus, King of Arcadia,” Atalanta introduced herself in a way that, unconsciously, made her priorities clear when it came to the tales that recounted her life.

“I was summoned here by the World, as a Servant that is knowledgeable about tracking down and slaying Divine Beasts, in order to stop the spread of the beasts you have just seen and put an end to their progenitor. The reason why I answered the summoning is because the fate of all children hangs in the balance. Originally, I was an Archer, much like your own, but I was forced into this state after having to deploy one of my Noble Phantasms after my first encounter with Lancer,” Atalanta explained her situation, summoning a patch of the Calydonian Boar’s hide so that the others could understand what she meant.

“If thy mission is to stop them, I request that thou accept my assistance. If this is of thine accord, I shall offer thee my bow and swear to stand by thy cause as long as thou does not seek to bring harm to any children,” Atalanta concluded her statement in a serious voice, gazing straight into Keisuke’s eyes

[Raineh Daze]

Any chance that Nero might have replied to Lancer, or really paid attention to much of anything, was promptly blown out of the water when her ears caught wind of Atalanta's name--at which point, the Servant gave the impression of teleporting the intervening distance with how suddenly she ran over, doing her best to clasp one of Atalanta's hands, whilst looking up with a surprisingly bright expression.

"Umu, I've always wanted to meet you! And fight you!"

It was rather hard to follow what the blonde was then going on about, since she was so enthusiastically going on about everything, though it seemed like she was getting sidetracked into thinking about the Argonauts and how she'd like to fight many of them. Or sleep with them. And Atalanta.

It was probably quite disconcerting this bubbly blonde, for some reason, wanted to fight Heracles as well as the cat.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

Once Tomoe had called his attention towards the new Berserker, Keisuke stood by and listened silently to the latter's words. The obsession that the newcomer—Atalanta—had with protecting children was a bit odd, but given that her current class was 'Berserker' the Enforcer decided to give that a pass. It wasn't like the goal wasn't noble, but given that she was a Berserker it was mildly difficult for him to try and figure out what might constitute as 'not seeking to bring harm to children' given the unpredictable nature of what might be to come.

Assuming, of course, that they came out of this ordeal and if she decided to follow them back (if she could).

"Yes, I understand. Atalanta, we would gladly accept—" he began to say in response before Nero promptly stole the stage and began to speak at length to the Berserker. With an awkward cough, Keisuke took a few steps back before noticing the other Caster requesting praise. Though it was true that she had done well in handling the Valkyries inside of Nero's Noble Phantasm, the fact that she had also spent a good amount of time cowering was also worth considering.

"A-ah... Yeah. Sure. You did your best, huh?" he asked, a smile half-full of pity on his face as he patted her on the head.

---

It didn't take long for the combined efforts of Siegfried, Ortlinde, and the other conscious Valkyries to transport the wounded back to the town, and the addition of Atalanta to their ranks meant that tracking Fenrir down became fairly straightforward. The wall of ice had taken a bit of effort to break through simply because of how densely packed the magical energy inside of it was, but eventually the structure caved and allowed them to pass through—Keisuke, of course, remained worried about that as they continued moving throughout the night. The Archer and two Sabers at his sides continued to discuss a strategy for taking down the massive wolf, and in the end they had developed a rudimentary plan to deal with the wolf who ate the Sun.

The plan of attack was relatively straightforward—lead with a ranged assault upon their enemy to distract it, then send those more suited to close quarters combat in to handle both the corrupted Brynhildr and the giant wolf in two separate teams. The rest, they would play by ear.

It wasn't long before the Berserker had led them to the gaping maw of a cavern that descended into the earth, with fresh tracks from the giant wolf they were tracking still visible under the moonlit sky.

Tomoe Gozen

With their stratagems laid out, Tomoe silently nodded as the group collectively entered the cavern. The light from the other Valkyries' weapons and the flames from her bow were enough to make sure that their descent downwards wasn't prone to sneak attacks, but after a certain point the unnatural red glow from the cavern walls was enough to light their way down instead.

Once they arrived at the bottom of the pit, though, it expanded into more of a subterranean arena that well and beyond dwarfed what any of them had expected. In the center, just barely visible to Keisuke, was a stream of some unearthly black liquid coalescing into a deeper chasm; with it, of course, was the great wolf Fenrir that they had been chasing and the wounded and now-unconscious Brynhildr being submerged inside whatever it was that was gathering in the center.

"It doesn't seem to have noticed us yet," Tomoe stated, drawing back the bowstring on her weapon and preparing an arrow. "Let us end this hunt and slay this beast, once and for all."

There was a moment of silence as the Archer drew the arrow back further, and the Valkyries with them slowly rose into the air as they raised their spears one by one in preparation for the signal.

When Tomoe's arrow was loosed, the rest of the blindingly bright weapons followed. With a snap of its head, Fenrir let out an unearthly howl that seemed the shake the entire cavern before loosing a variety of beasts from that very same pool of liquid at them.

"The rest of you, go strike down that youkai! We shall hold off the rest here!" she declared, loosing arrow after arrow at the oncoming horde of shadowy enemies.

@KoL@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

[VitaVitaAR]

Saber

The plan she laid out while they followed Fenrir's trail was not a particularly complex one. But that had been Saber's intent. A simple plan that was easily mutable on the fly. If something did go wrong, they could alter the plan quickly in order to compensate for whatever had changed. That was the value of simplicity, when it came to strategy. Sometimes, a complex plan simply wasn't the best option.

Unfortunately, the nature of the cavern Fenrir had chosen to hide itself in became more and more disturbing as the proceeded deeper. The red light, the strange thickness of the air... it simply wasn't natural. The feeling of the cave was the same as the feeling that Brynhildr had given off, a sort of sickness, a corruption that suffused the very essence of the cavern the deeper they went. And the feeling only became stronger the deeper they went.

"... I do not like the feeling of the air here, Master," Saber commented as they went deeper, "This place is an unnatural location. There is something terrible here."

And when they emerged into the larger cavern...

There.

Brynhildr was submerged in something dark, a horrible black mud that engulfed her utterly and filling the deepest deaths of the chasm. And there stood Fenrir, the great wolf, standing over it all... with a howl, he loosed a swarm of blackened abominations from the muck.

But the King of Knights had to wait, until the ranged and aerial assault took the massive wolf's attention completely.

And then...

"Charge!" cried Saber, darting forward. The air seemed to explode around her, as if she had been set off with a rocket! The instant she met the first of the black beasts, her invisible blade sliced through the air and cleaved it apart. Her goal was not to eliminate all of them, that was a task she left to the support of Archer and the Valkyries. Instead, she was aiming to cut a path straight through the shadowy monsters, to reach Fenrir himself! Sprinting through the cold cavern, feeling the corruption in the air whipping past her, Saber's blade met another one of the monsters, lodging into its upper body before being sliced downwards with a burst of magical energy, the brilliant light piercing another immediately behind the first!

But another of the beasts immediately swung a strange, tendril-like limb at her, forcing the small blonde knight to leap back to evade the crushing blow! However, before it could press its attack, she sliced through its torso and pushed her assault further! These creatures were more dangerous then the undead had been, but that didn't mean she would allow them to stop her!

---

Caster

That did not sound like genuine praise.

For much of the travel to the cavern, Caster had spent her time pouting at her Master. What kind of praise was that?! Certainly not anything worthy of the Elven Queen of the Undead, Skuld! Of course, when they arrived at the cave, she immediately picked up on the unpleasant feeling in the air. She was hardly about to stop anyone, given the gravity of the situation, but it was easy to detect that there was something pure evil located in the depths of the cave. The fact that the lighting suddenly became a dark, oppressive red was a rather strong indication of the fact that there was something terrible down there.

The fact that the valkyries were present meant that raising the dead probably wasn't the best idea. Caster wasn't in the mood to have them distracted from their duty by killing her toys.

She wasn't exactly prepared for the swarm of shadowy monsters pouring from the mud, either. But...

"Hmph, it will take far greater forces to impress the Elven Queen!" she declared, confidently. Indeed, it was not the creatures themselves that got her attention... no, it was the terrible blackened muck that Brynhildr was being submerged in. What was that? It practically exuded corruption! No wonder the valkyrie had been blackened as she had...

"Let me demonstrate the power of the legendary necromancer!"

Dozens and dozens of magic circles opened in the sky above her, as she ascended to the air alongside the valkyries on wings of black mist. A sound like dozens of tanks being fired tore through the air as she unleashed her assault of the army of dark creatures.

But something went wrong.

Not with her attack, but the plan as a whole.

Fenrir had still erected a wall of ice?!

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze@KoL

[Raineh Daze]

The First Caster, Anno Stop Being Imprecise

Sadly, it seemed that their plans left little time to continue trying to get to know the Greek hero... not that she seemed to be responding well to it in the first place. Maybe she would have to step back and try a slightly more measured approach after this. Perhaps try to make a meal with whatever Chaldea might have available... if there was an opportunity, hunt something before returning and cook a meal with that...

Even a genius emperor such as herself had to cast aside such thoughts when going to confront a monster of this magnitude. Long-range bombardment as a distraction... it would obviously be helpful to have something in mind before going on, and what better than to once again show her superiority to Apollo? Naturally, there was a distinct lack of a chariot to help, but a laser to equal the sun... yes, if she took the idea of firing many beams of light and concentrated them on one spot, then even that mutt would take notice!

Until it hid itself with a wall of ice. A small matter, though, as the blonde's perpetually-levitating stance (not because of height!) rose slightly higher and her gesture pointed at it. Focus the beams and burn through, it would still work for certain...!

Work it did--at least on breaking through the wall of ice, the concentrated lasers spearing through and causing the wall to melt around. Unfortunately, whatever lay beyond was not particularly hampered by the magical force heading its way, breaking through enough firepower to represent the majority of Nero's reserves and penetrating through its own wall with a pace to suddenly leap upon Saber--

---

Alter-Ego

Quite what anyone might have been expecting to intercept Fenrir and its enormous bulk couldn't be said, but what did evidence itself was a blur of white; a ball spinning from the edge of the cavern and ramping off a small ledge and smashing into the enormous beast--though even though the ball was itself far bigger than a person, the sun-eater dwarfed it. But when it hit, there was a thunderclap, and the white figure spun off to land on its feet--and the beast's charge was thrust aside, staggering and forcing it to find its footing again.

As for the source of the ball? Now revealed to be a white bear, its "owner" was walking forwards towards Keisuke, firing frozen arrows into the summoned beasts. A small, doll-like girl dressed in pink, but with a serious expression--"Saber's here as well?"

[KoL]

Berserker

“Uh… what are you--” Atalanta had to restrain herself from clawing Caster after being surprised by the blonde’s over enthusiastic hug. Before she had any chance to ask what the other Servant meant by fighting her, or even the identity of her sudden admirer, their Master allowed her to lead the way to Fenrir’s hideout.

“You owe me an explanation once we are done,” the feral Berserker said to Caster before they departed.

X X X

Atlanta summoned the Calydonian Boar’s pelt as soon as they reached the beast’s lair. “The scent of corruption is stronger here than anywhere else. The source of this whole incident must be right up ahead,” she said as they threaded the darkened ice halls.

It wouldn’t be long before the unavoidable battle broke loose. Atalanta charged forth as soon as Caster’s spells created an opening in Fenrir’s ice wall. Thanks to her Crossing Arcadia skills, she was able to weave unimpeded through incoming mass of shadow beings and the attacks of Archer and the Valkyries, reaching the other side in the blink of an eye.

“LANCER GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!” Atalanta howled as she kicked a couple of Fenrir’s summons into the pool of black mud and used them as stepping stones to reach Brynhildr. She tried to pull the other Servant out of there in a last attempt to avoid killing the Elder Valkyrie, however, if turned out that Brynhildr was truly beyond salvation, Atalanta didn’t have any qualms about ending her suffering then and there.

Lancer

“Ehh!?” Elizabeth was caught by surprise when the battle began. It wasn’t as if she didn’t knew what was about to happen but rather that the events that unfolded would be so… chaotic. However, nothing made the pink-haired Lancer more flabbergasted than the last individual that showed up.

“A fairy? What is someone of your kind doing here?” Elizabeth asked before the incoming horde forced her attention off of the newcomer. “You guys really don’t know when to stop, do you? Very well, then. The next performance is sure to send shivers up your spine!”

After saying her piece, Elizabeth stabbed her spear on the cavern floor and took a deep breath before letting out her melodic voice raising up the pitch until she found a frequency that resonated with the countless icicles littering the ceiling causing them to precipitate over the incoming enemies as a jagged rain of icy death.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Kumozaki Keisuke

The Enforcer watched the battle unfolding in front of him with an impassioned gaze, his own blade at the ready on the off chance that any of them made it past the hail of arrows and spears that the rearguard was firing. The sudden movement of Fenrir to the front lines, however, caught him off guard. There was no way that he would be able to block any direct attacks from a beast of that size, and evading up a steep incline was about as foolish an idea as they came.

"Crap, the rest of our vanguard is pursuing Brynhildr—" he spoke as the wolf lunged at Arturia...

Only to be intercepted by what seemed to be a little girl and a bear.

"...Another Servant, I presume? I'm not going to complain; the more, the better," he remarked, calling for the rearguard to advance as the shadow beasts began to be pushed back. Military strategy was far from his srong suit, but it wasn't as if there was any other military commander here to handle the job for him instead.

With Elizabeth's latest attack, a large amount of icicles did indeed begin to fall from the ceiling, causing more than a few of their enemies to simply be impaled and die on the spot. The "singing" had the added benefit of disrupting the wolf's already-sensitive canine ears, and it seemed to be wincing in pain as it struggled to right itself after being intercepted. Almost as if reaction, Fenrir howled back, its fur now bristling as a layer of frost and ice began to cloak its body. It seemed to want that noise to stop, and that meant taking out the girl currently screaming her lungs out.

Tomoe Gozen

As soon as the giant wolf turned its attention away from the Sabers and towards Elizabeth, Tomoe sheathed her bow and began to slide down the rest of the incline. A few of the Valkyries called her out and asked what exactly she was planning, but the Archer didn't hear any of that at all. The Lancer's disruptive attack was enough to stall the shadow beasts that spawned, which made them easy targets for the combined force of Nero and the other Valkyries. That only left the two major threats, and their new ally was already off handling one of them.

"Avalokiteśvara... Please, lend me your strength!" she shouted, the mana inside her body building up as she moved to intercept Fenrir as it charged at Elizabeth. Without missing a beat, the Archer anchored herself and, as the wolf began to pass by, grabbed it by one of its forelegs and threw the beast into the air before drawing her bow. "The brilliance of the rising sun!"

With a deep breath, Tomoe calmly drew her bow back and aimed straight at Fenrir, who seemed to be suspended in midair for a brief moment, before firing off an arrow that seemed to burn with the light of the sun itself.

"Oṃ ālolik svāhā!"

Once the arrow had met its mark, the entire cave seemed to shine with a brilliant radiance before returning back to its prior dull red glow. The wolf, who had taken the brunt of the attack, seemed comparatively unfazed. That being said, though, the ice that surrounded it was definitely not there any longer.

"Tomoe Gozen, entering the battlefield!" she declared, switching from her bow to her katana as she began to cut through any beasts that were charging for her Master.

---

Brynhildr was limp as Atalanta dragged her from the mud, her eyes glazed over and unfocused as the material dripped off of her body. There was a slight twitch from her body as the Berserker screamed at her, but it was almost as if she was like a puppet that had its strings cut.

However, that seemed to change the second that the icicles began to rain down from the ceiling. Immediately, every muscle in the Valkyrie's body seemed to go rigid before the corruption on her arm seemed to instantly overtake the rest of her body. The armor she wore was now dyed black, and her eyes, now both golden, seemed to instantly focus onto the Servant in front of her. There was roughly a second of silence before the corrupt Lancer immediately gripped the Berserker's extended arm and began to twist it. It was clear the the intent was to return the favor from last time, and given that the corruption had returned the arm to a somewhat usable state, the threat of lasting damage being done was very much present.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@KoL

[VitaVitaAR]

Saber

For a few moments, a brief pause in battle, Saber stared in muted shock. The figure that had intercepted Fenrir... it was a bear, and that bear was commanded by... it couldn't be. How could she be here, wielding such powers? But there wa no mistaking it. There wasn't the tiniest bit of doubt in the blonde swordswoman's mind about the individual she had laid eyes upon. That was, absolutely, unquestionably, the daughter of Irisviel von Einzbern.

Illyasviel.

And yet she possessed the power, the strength, the speed of a Servant. She was even capable of using her bear to knock the great wolf off its attack course, just like that! Saber was only pulled away from her shock when she noticed the surge of mana, as Archer used her Noble Phantasm to toss the massive wold high into the air and pierce it with a great, flaming arrow! But it didn't appear to harm the beast very much, rather it melted the ice around it, and briefly stunned the enormous creature.

But...

The battlefield was cleared.

Fernir was unable to respond quickly.

It was clear that a legendary monster of this size and strength could not be slain so easily.

It needed a great legend to destroy it.

Perhaps using this in an enclosed space was dangerous, but the King of Knights had concluded that not only was the vastness of the cavern sufficient space, but there was little other choice. A monster like this would be able to run rampant if not killed quickly, and given that it swallowed the sun in legend... it was possible this was not even its full size.

"Clear the area around Fenrir!" declared Saber. She could question the presence of Irisviel's daughter(a pang of pain echoing through her heart as she recalled the woman's face). For now, she had to strike this beast down.

She had to deliver a strike from which it could not recover.

Gripping Excalibur's hilt in both hands, she raised the blade skywards. Invisible Air was dispelled immediately with a burst of wind, revealing the brilliant gold of the divine sword.

Fenrir was beginning to rise. The moment that there was space cleared around the massive wolf, however...

Golden light, piercing the reddish hue of the cavern, suddenly began to build. Like particles of dust they drifted and gathered, coalescing around Saber's blade more and more, building into a brilliant glow. A shining, resplendent beacon that blazed across the battlefield, calling to all warriors past, present, and future. A light of hope to the suffering, singing victory to all those who needed it.

The unquestionable Noble Phantasm of King Arthur. One of the greatest weapons in human history, standing as the pinnacle of all Holy Swords second only to the Sword of Rupture.

There was a second blast of air, pushing a wave of wind away from the sword.

The greatest of all Holy Swords, indeed. And its name...

"Ex..."

Saber drew the sword back...

"CALIBUUUUUR!"

A wave of golden light exploded from the sword, erupting through the cavern! What little remained of the shadowy beasts that had emerged from the blackness was annihilated, vaporized in an instant as the cleansing light tore towards the Sun Eater!

@Raineh Daze@KoL@PKMNB0Y