KoL

Fate/『 』Märchen

Saber didn't notice the approach of more Servants at first as she was focused on gauging her opponents' skills. She did, however, take notice as soon as Caster made herself known, followed shortly by—Lancer, perhaps?

Saber sighed inwardly as she backed away from her current opponent.

Regardless of the other Servants' intentions, the fact that she was interrupted when she was about to get a good grasp of the other knight's defensive capabilities was a major setback which Saber wasn't pleased with.

"For you to interrupt us like that. I presume you either have no sense of honor or are eager to go back to the Throne," Saber said in a cold voice as she lowered her sword. "This is not a place where my blade can show its true beauty anymore. We'll continue this at another time, Knight of the Hammer. I hope that you endure until then," she added, dismissing her weapon and throwing a especially scornful glare at the possible Lancer who dared try to flank them.

As long as no one attempted to attack her, Saber would go back to her spirit form and retreat to her Princess' side.

"Apologies, My Princess, my duel against the Ironclad Tyrant had to be called off thanks to unforeseen circumstances. I suggest that we retire ourselves for the night before we attract even more undesired attention," Saber said to her Princess over their telepathic bond.

Fate/『 』Märchen

"Oh, what's that? A bird...? I was joking about breadcrumbs earlier, but," Alex thought after the sound of something moving in the, otherwise deathly still, alleys caught her attention. She took a peek through a gap in her cover only to notice that it was... "A pigeon shouldn't be around at this hour. Whoever is in control of that familiar should be a little more wary about what kinds of creatures they pick for each task," she silently analyzed the situation as she observed the bird perching close to one of her lures.

"Very well then. I guess that I know what I should do about this," she thought for a moment before coming up with the perfect solution.

Taking her Azoth, Alex took a deep breath and chanted:

"The Fifth Crown
Duke of Iron Chains
Bind them with your might..."

—X X X—

A few moments later...

"Hey, psst! Bird Boy, did you lose something?" Alex yelled from downstairs as she barged into the building that Daisuke was using for cover. With her eyes, following the trail that lead back to him was easy after she captured his familiar, which was bound in thin, black iron chains that temporarily caused it to remain in a state of paralysis.

The fact that she knew she was leading with a man that went upstairs was easy enough to guess from the footprints of his shoes. Whether or not he was a boy in the literal sense didn't matter.

"Why don't you come down here so that we can have a talk from mage to mage? If you don't, I'll burn this place down and wait outside to shoot you when you try to get out." Alex shouted in a nonchalant tone. The second part of what she said was meant to be a bluff, but if he wouldn't come out, she was more or less going to be forced to act on it.

High Ground Online

"Woah! Remind me to never help you guys in your lame-o boss fights if you aren't even gonna be able to kill it. Especially you, Saffron, you virgin," Thea said as she sent a voicemail to the to the other delegates over their HGO app. It was then that she noticed a notification showing a new message on her inbox.

"Pfft, as if..." Was all she said to herself before deleting it as soon as she saw the name of the sender, not even caring to read the message.

"God, I really could use a milkshake now. I guess there's only one thing I can do, then," she said to herself as she left the park behind, going to her favorite place in the city. "Maybe I can kick some noobs ass on the way there? I sure could use some stress relief."

Fate/『 』Märchen

"Woah, no kidding! I can feel that from here even though I'm not in even that close. Try to not get caught in the crossfire, ok?" Alex said once Emon made his observation about the enemy. "I'm really sorry for leaving everything in your hands like this," she added in a half apologetic tone.

So that was a what it means for two high level familiars like Servants to clash against one another, huh? Alex could not only feel the oppressive aura coming from Berserker, but also the powerful gusts of prana blowing from the tower. Or rather, she could see their after effects, like scintillating waves rippling before her eyes.

"Talking about seeing things. I wonder if none of the other Masters are going to notice my trick. I tried to set it up as close to the Tower as possible, but it seems that either I made it too much like a genuine concealed bounded field or they are just too dull. I bet it's the second," she said to herself as she continued to wait on her hiding spot.

The fact that her opponent had a hard time keeping up with her speed despite Saber being not only limiting her own output, but also under the effects of his skill said a lot about the gap in their powers.

That Saber was able to analyze it while keeping her own information concealed was a great advantage for herself. One that she planned to capitalize on.

Of course, she didn't plan to underestimate him. A single hit of his weapon was likely enough to even the odds, if not put Saber at a disadvantage. As long as she could keep herself from being hit—even if she had to sacrifice some of her momentum—she could keep on the pressure.

A war of attrition. At this point it was probably going to be a matter of who would be exhausted first.

Saber's icy expression didn't show it, but this was actually a battle that she enjoyed so far.

Fate/『 』Märchen

Saber was ready to strike when the other Servant acknowledged with a sharp glare. She found herself hesitating for a moment, tightening her grasp around her sword's hilt but resisting the impulse to give any ground.

The pressure from being under his gaze was impressive to say the least. That sort of overbearing personality could certainly shock a lesser warrior to halt, maybe more.

Nevertheless, Saber knew better.

Despite hesitating for a moment, Saber recovered fast enough to meet her opponent's expectation. She didn't say a word, her expression remaining the same cold gaze from before. This wasn't a duel that would be resolved by speech, but rather by action and so she acted.

Dashing forward under half of her best speed, Saber struck with her blade. She aimed for the gaps in her opponent's armor with quick trusts combined with fast draw-cuts. A style that was only made possible by her fencing-like footwork, with gracious movements that felt like those of a swan spreading its wings over a moonlit lake.

Fate/『 』Märchen

"Well... It's not like I can't create'em. But, you're kind of my familiar now, so..." Alex said once Emon suggested that she created a familiar to follow him. She didn't mean any ill with her explanation, just laying out the facts. Thankfully, Assassin didn't take it personally, causing her to sigh with relief.

"I can do that, sure. I didn't mean for you to take me right into the fray, so it's fine like that," she replied to Emon's next suggestion, before letting him go do his thing.

—X X X—

Naturally, Alex would take a little while more to arrive at their destination than Emon. However, that was part of the plan, since she disembarked a few blocks away from the Tokyo Tower and took a detour through some back alleys.

"You can act at your own discretion. You know more about these tactical stealth operations things than I do, after all, Emon. However, now that we are here, we might as well try to learn as much as we can before hopping to somewhere else," she said to Emon as she crossed the alleys.

Every once in awhile, she wrote a small sigil in the walls, and floor using chalk. These wouldn't do anything but they radiated a faint magical energy aura, like an incomplete bounded field. Alex tried to spread them apart randomly as if she were trying to build an actual bounded field in the alleys, but the intention was quite different...

"Like a trail of breadcrumbs," She said to herself as she wrote one last sigil before ducking behind a pile of crates, at the back of what seemed to be a bar and erecting a quick bounded field to erase her presence, waiting to see if some other mage would notice her fake bounded field.

"I'm thankful for your understanding, My Princess," Saber said after finally being given the order to pursue their enemy.

—X X X—

At the Tokyo Tower.

"As expected, even Archer would think it foolish to try to isolate themselves in such a position. The disadvantage of having a perfect vantage point is that it leaves you open to counterfire," Saber said in a calm and collected manner as they approached the massive steel structure, leaving the implications of her assessment unsaid.

As soon as the opponent she had been feeling came into their field of vision, Saber made herself known, materializing right in front of the tower, several meters away from the other armored-clad Servant.

"A knight, I presume. I'm the Saber Class Servant summoned for this Holy Grail War. It'll be my honor to challenge you to a duel," Saber said, presenting her sword in a single-handed fencing stance to the other Servant, whose imposing presence dwarfed hers.

Fate/『 』Märchen

If everyone is waiting for someone else to run into them, no one will run into anyone.

Just saying.

(Which is why Alex is going on the offensive as soon as I can post again)

The Nameless City — Invite Only!

Their first action when faced with anyone was to attack...

@VitaVitaAR

Nanoha: "Nyahaha..?"

The Nameless City — Invite Only!

"Don't worry. Actually, I'm sorry for that, I shouldn't be telling you what to think," Nanoha shook her head and said in an apologetic voice after listening to Youmu. Maybe, one day she'll be in a position where she can tell others what to do, but right now she didn't know anything. It wasn't right to try to push her beliefs on others.

"Axel Shooter! Shoot!" Nanoha shouted, casting a spell before she could answer Youmu's next question, sending dozens of homing magical bullets to knock down the creatures that came out of the hole created by the Divine Buster.

"There's another letter and a chest full of gems here. And two big signatures deeper down the labyrinth. One of them is stationary, but the other is moving away. We can catch up to it easily, considering the speed its moving, though," she finally said, after taking a look at the chest.

Fate/『 』Märchen

"So... I was ripped off? The dealer who sold me that assured that it belonged to a famous warrior. But it seems like I got scammed. Oh well, I guess that's what I get for trying to game the system," Alex sighed once more. Things weren't really going like she expected them to.

"Stay calm, analyze, decompose, reassemble..." she thought, remembering the steps of the alchemical method. She could do it, she could...

"Oh, woah! You are quite a hottie, Emon! Maybe I didn't draw a hand as bad as I thought," Alex said when she got to take a proper look at her Servant's features. The greatest alchemical discoveries of all time were made pretty much by accident. Having luck on your side is something every Alchemist has to be used to. Alex was sure she could make do with anything she was given, except probably a Berserker. That would never work.

After feeling her heart skip a beat for a moment, Alex set the coins aside—they probably belonged to the family that she was living with—and looked at Assassin as he informed her of his next course of action. "Scouting, I see... that's a great idea. Just what you'd expect from a professional in the field," she said with a smile stamped on her face.

"Anyway... would it bother you if I tagged along? I mean, I don't have anything against being one of those crooks that sends an assassin out to stab people in the back while they are in the toilet or something like this if that's the kind of Master you prefer to work for. But, if I could, I'd like to do something more interesting than chilling around for the next two weeks or so," She asked in the same bashful from before voice, once again scratching her cheek.

"Also, erm... I can help find the other Masters faster with my eyes and this," Alex said as she drew a map of the city overlaid with a magical circle in the shape of an astrological chart and a crystal pendulum hanging from a silver chain.

"It's kinda rough to do this kind of Divination in a land I'm not used to, but at least we are still in the Northern Hemisphere, so the stars aren't gonna be misaligned," she said as she laid the map on the floor and ran some mana through it, before letting the pendulum do its work of pointing towards the next few nearest major sources of magical power.

"I guess that... this is where we should be looking at first," Alex said, pointing towards a certain direction in the map of Tokyo.

"Understood, My Princess. I'll refrain from using my full capacities until you order me otherwise," Saber replied to her Princess' orders. Both the spoken and unspoken ones.

Following that, she extended her hand to her Princess and said, "With your choice made, I believe that we should leave this place. If we stay, we ran on the risk of endangering innocents as well as revealing the existence of the Holy Grail War to the public. It would be ideal if we could go to an open place, like a park. If that's not possible, the rooftops of the nearby buildings will suffice. I'd rather not need to duel in a filthy place such as the alleys if it can be avoided."