It should be an easy decision.
You take it slow and steady, follow the path Roman took, and you creep past all the obstacles. You manage to avoid two corrupted Servants at the very least, you keep your energy up, and you get to the real objective, the Holy Grail keeping all of this together. You might even end up running into Lev and Candidate Thirteen on the way. All it would cost you is letting Roman make his own way through this hellhole, the sole person without any way to defend himself, without any hope of surviving if he's not being protected by someone who has the power to keep him safe.
And that was you, wasn't it? Except you decided to fight, and look where that got you.
You suppose that it is an easy decision, in the end, even if it's probably not the decision a sane person should make.
"We're cutting through. If Roman gets killed because I- because we ignored him, then...Chaldea needs him. We're not losing anyone else after what happened."
Archer's looking at you and nodding and there's not the barest hint of disobedience on her face, even though you've just finished intentionally fighting one Servant and now you're pushing her to fight another, most likely, but Circe's not quite so easy to convince. She's got that vague look of wanting to disagree but knowing that it's partially her fault, and all of a sudden you're
furious. She was the one who insisted that her barriers were impregnable, she was the one who had promised you Roman would be safe! The look in your eyes as you glare at her makes her swallow slightly, but she still seems undaunted, speaking up without even the slightest hint of the playfulness that she'd had before.
"...There's no guarantee we'll make it in time. If you go this way, you could be risking the lives of the others and yourself. You understand that, don't you?"
"Of
course I do!" You growl back, feeling your frustration rise. Every moment you spend talking about it is a moment you're not making ground, a moment Roman could get hurt. You know that it's not the cold math that a magus should make but damn it, he was your responsibility. You'll admit you like him from the few minutes you've known him, and you know your own
issues with your Origin are making that worse, but it's more than that. You've been given the power of a protector, and failed the first human you were told to protect.
You're not letting this be how things start, sacrifices and equations where you balance lives on scales and decide which ones are worth less in the grand scheme of things. You're not going to fail at the starting gate. You've been told to save people and damn it, you're
going to save them.
One part of you almost wants to laugh. Animusphere must be thanking her lucky stars that you disappointed her the way you did when you rescued Shankar in that simulation.
"Chaldea's already lost too many people. Roman told you, didn't he? We were attacked." The somber look she gives suggests that he had mentioned it to her, as well as mentioned how many casualties you were looking at. "We're not losing a single more person if we can help it, and we
can help it. There's three of us and one of Lancer. We're going, Circe."
"...Alright. I suppose I can't argue with that kind of resolve when I'm just going to fade anyway..." She sighs, before standing up and frowning as she casts her gaze around. "Something feels a little-"
There's that funny feeling again of your body moving before your mind can really catch up, and you're almost surprised to find yourself in front of Circe, shield summoned and steady as one, two, three impacts shake your arms slightly. Peering over the rim, you spot a single skeleton lowering a rifle, the sockets of its eyes glowing a dull, brownish-red as it lifts one bony finger towards you instead, right before you hear a little whistle beside your ear and its skull explodes into a shower of dirty bone.
Archer's bow is already disappearing when you turn, and her head is bowed already. You're not at all sure how to react to that, especially with what you're worried about happening next. You've dealt with the Solider before, here and before you joined Chaldea. There's never just one.
"We're moving, come on." Your shield vanishes as Circe lets out a held breath from behind you, before giving you a nod. Considering she doesn't like this plan, you're going to assume that it was acknowledging that you probably saved her from being the one suffering a headshot. Can't be a bad thing when it comes to getting her support for the probable fight with Lancer.
Your group moves faster without a human in it, which is some small blessing, and you're about a kilometer away from the melted slag that marks your fight with Medea when you hear the telltale whistling. Half a minute between when you were targeted and when you moved, and then the Soldier was shelling where you'd been. You can still hear the explosions and the collapsing buildings for too long to be comfortable even from how far away they are, another uncomfortable reminder of what your choice means. More fighting means more noise means more chances for the skeleton army infesting Fuyuki to find you. If they stay out of Lancer's territory, that'll help, but they intervene whenever there's an opportunity, and a fight is going to draw them like flies to a carcass.
As the last crumbling crunches of concrete collapsing in on itself fades away into the distance, a thought flickers through your mind, and your blood runs a little cold. You can only hope that the shelling didn't somehow catch Roman, if he'd doubled back to regroup after changing his mind, or if he'd gotten lost by himself and wound up in the strike zone.
Nothing for it now. It's another twist in your gut, but that's nothing you can't handle for a little while, at least as long as it takes you to retrieve the Grail.
You're on the move for only a short while before Circe stops you, her wings twitching slightly as she frowns and looks around. You're on the rooftop of one of the last buildings before you're closing in on the mountain, and if you strain your eyes you can almost see the stairs to the temple through the haze of smoke and heat. The cavern that once housed the Greater Grail is beneath the mountain, so you're close. There's no sign of anyone else around, nor Lancer, but Circe's clearly concerned. When she speaks, it's in the quiet, serious voice you're coming to think of as her
real one, when she's not trying to flirt with you to throw you off balance.
"We're right on the edge of Lancer's territory. I don't know who he is, only that he's some great furry beast with a red spear. Does that ring any bells, Edward?" You furrow your brow, but...no. The colour of their spear isn't enough of a hint, and you've never heard of a Servant with a red spear anyway, let alone one that's beastly. As you shake your head, Circe looks a little disappointed, but continues on with her explanation. "He's been corrupted by the mud, but I didn't see him before it happened. I don't know if he's changed as dramatically as...as Medea did, but he's certainly more powerful, and more feral. He's taken the area before the cavern as his territory, and anything that goes into it, he kills. Assassin tried attacking him a few times, but Lancer repelled them, and I think they gave up for the time being. They usually stay in the city, so we should have some time, but..."
No need to finish that sentence. Without the need for secrecy, if the Soldier smelled blood, it could be on them in minutes.
Archer has her bow in her hands again, her eyes scanning the area, and you murmur under your breath as you recall one of the benefits of her class. Even if she doesn't have it explicitly, her eyesight should be leagues better than either yours or Circe's, and you don't want Circe to waste any mana right before a fight.
"Archer, do you see anyone? Or...do you see a body?"
"No, Master. There are signs of fighting, but I cannot tell how recent they are. Everything here is already quite dead."
She's not wrong. Around this time of year, the walk to Ryuudou Temple would have been a gorgeous stroll through a canopy of verdant green leaves. Now, in this corpse of a city, it's just a mountain covered in dead trees, gnarled and naked branches stretching upwards and out like skeletal feelers poking through the surface of the stone. It's an eerie thing, even compared to the burnt out city behind you.
Hearing that there's no sign of Roman could be very good or very bad. You've probably beaten him here, at least, and Circe mentioned she didn't spot him on the way, but that just gives you a time limit. If he ends up running into you during the fight with Lancer, he'll die.
No time to waste, then.
"Archer, Circe, back me up. I'll distract him, you take him out from afar."
You're not going to listen to any argument, though you're quickly coming to learn that Archer seems more obedient than you'd expected. Still, you hear Circe's cut-off cry for you to wait even as you kick off the building, your shield appearing on your left arm as you smash the chains of your right against it, the cry of metal-on-metal ringing out through the night, drowning out the dull sound of dying flames for a few moments.
<"I'm watching, Master. I will protect you.">
Always nice to hear.
A moment passes, then another, and you chance a quick breath, holding it fast as your ears tingle with magical energy, strained to hear even the slightest crack of a branch underfoot-
A howl rips through the night, as loud as the explosions from one of the Soldier's shells, and all of a sudden all you can hear is the crunching of dried branches, the echoes of that howl, and the mental warning from Archer that something is coming before your senses scream at you to lift your shield, and you manage it just in time for the sky to fall on you.
At least, that's how it feels.
With a cry that's half-effort and half-pain from your bruised arms, you push forwards and launch Lancer backwards, hoping for even a moment to catch your breath but that's too much because Lancers are all about
speed and he's on you again. You can only get flashes of black and blue and red as he moves, his spear a crimson blur in the air as he slams it down again and again and again. There's no technique to it, no finesse that you can see, but with the power he's putting into those strikes there doesn't need to be. If you didn't have a Servant's strength, you'd be pummeled into paste by now, and Lancer's doing his utmost to make certain that he makes it happen
anyway.
There's a low-pitched whine from behind you and you duck to the side on instinct, the scent of ozone filling your nose as one of Circe's rays of light barrels towards Lancer. Whether he was just too focused on you or too blind to see it coming, it manages to strike him dead on the chest, knocking him backwards even as it washes off of him like Circe had used a water gun. Still, it's given you time, and as the spell peters out you immediately leap backwards to take him in properly, get a grip on what you're fighting.
He's seven and a half feet easy, maybe even eight, and he's covered in dark blue and black fur. One hairy leg bent like a dog's is left totally bare, while its twin seems to be either covered or fused with what looks like black rubber with shocks of red throughout up to the groin, so form-fitting that you can see the bulging muscles even through the "clothing." In lieu of feet, he has huge paws, with gleaming onyx claws tipping each digit. His torso is as broad as two men, and even through his thick fur you can spy the slabs of hard muscle that make up his chest, patchwork black rubber half-covering him up and spreading down to his arms, ending just after his shoulders. Both are as built as the rest of him, packed with enough muscle you half expect his skin to tear when he moves, and both end in hands with claws to match the ones on his feet. The only difference is that in his right, he holds a beautiful scarlet spear.
Above the neck is where he shocks you the most, because instead of a normal face, he's got a wolf's head. Like Medea, he's got a disturbingly organic looking mask covering his eyes, this one seeming like it's made out of the same black material that's scattered across his body, the same red veins running through it. Tapered triangular ears flick towards you, and already you're half wondering if he's somehow hearing the way your heart pounds in your chest. In place of a mouth is a long, snarling maw, teeth as yellowed and filthy as they are razor sharp, thick beads of black saliva slipping through them and dripping to the ground, making it hiss and steam wherever it hits. His snout is moving constantly, taking in the new scent of an intruder like some kind of bloodhound. Even with the blindfold, you can imagine the rage in his eyes, the bestial hate for something that dared to intrude on his territory. Even after Circe's spell, he's staring at you. The acrid scent of Grail mud seems baked into his fur, and every movement he makes sends another wave of the scent assaulting your senses, making your eyes water.
Archer doesn't hesitate, letting fly a volley of arrows, but it's less than useless. For as tall and broad as the beast before you is, he seems to almost
flow around them, like there's some invisible force guiding him as he moves. For an instant he's showing off all the grace you'd expect of a hunter, and then the arrows pass and he's charging at you again, no technique, no finesse, nothing but pure, bestial fury, and more than enough power to back it up.
You might need a change of plan.
[ ] Archer's arrows are doing nothing. Bring her in close and take advantage of having two people in the fray to make it easier for Circe to get a shot. Magic Resistance is going to make it difficult, but if she could punch through Medea's with prep time, she can do the same for Lancer. It'll cost her, but against Saber what good is her magecraft going to be?
[ ] Circe's magic hasn't done much thus far, and you doubt it's going to as long as you focus on offence. Have her focus on strengthening you, while Archer defends her and provides covering fire. You're the toughest when it comes to taking hits, and if you take enough, you might get lucky.
[ ] Write in.
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Q/N: I'm not dead!
I know this is very late, and I wish I had a better excuse, but between bad sleep, college starting up, and dealing with some other personal stuff, writing ended up far down on my list of priorities, not helped by everything I wanted this chapter to be. I realised that if I fit it to what I had in mind, it was never going to get written, so I decided to split it in half and update. The downside is a smaller chapter than I like to give, especially after such a long wait, but the upside is that the next chapter is borderline written already and will be out much, much sooner.
As always, comments and criticism is appreciated and encouraged. The next voting period will be relatively short, considering I split this chapter, so I'll estimate midnight GMT on the 31st as the deadline. Thank you for sticking with me!
