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Chapter Text

A lone hunter stood in a field of white flowers.

Fatigue wracked his body as the Great One before him breathed its last.

Godly Ichor freely flowed from the corpse, staining the once spotless flowers in blood red.

Silence echoed through the field as the hunter took off his mask to calm his body.

Weapon and clothes dripped with blood as his mind begun to register what had happened.

The Dream was no more.

He was free.

But as the realization set in.

His shoulders begun to shake.

At first all that could escape him was small chuckles as he tried to contain it.

However, that restraint broke quickly as the chuckles evolved into laughter.

Throwing his arms wide open, his laughter begun to echo across the fields.

The flowers paying witness to a nightmare being born in the blood of an old one.

For all this hunter could think about was not of how the hunt had ended.

Of how he could forget this horrid dream.

But of what other beasts he could hunt.

What sporting hunts he could partake in.

Whilst he basked in the glow of a bloody moon.

A field of blood tainted flowers wept the loss of their hunter.

The night was silent in the city of Fuyuki. Lights shut off as the innocent citizens of the city went to bed, unworried about the fate of tomorrow.

For Ryunnosuke Uryuu,

It was the perfect time to go on his nightly murders.

Breaking into the home of some random family that just happened to leave their front gate open was trivial. All he had to was lockpick their door and sneak in. There was nothing special about this family. It comprised of a father who had normal office job with a wife that stayed home and a child, a typical Japanese family here.

Typical enough that no-one would miss them.

The look of despair that flashed across the father's face as he woke up to a knife held close to his throat was pure gold to Ryunosuke. The father had tried to put up a fight for his life but Ryunosuke was quick enough to motion to his already tied up wife, the distraught wife had tears running down her face as she tried to scream for help through her gag. Seeing the love of his life in such a state, the husband quickly became submissive to the serial killer; in hopes that Ryunosuke would spare his wife.

Not like it mattered as by the end of the night, the entire family would be dead.

Gazing at the bound form of the couple, Ryunnosuke wished that he had more time to 'enjoy' their time together. Maybe torture one while the other watched, maybe play a sick game of Russian Roulette to decide which one got to live while he killed the other. Oh well his dark fantasies could be played out on another unsuspecting family another day.

Pulling out a book he couldn't help but grin at the prospect of what tonight was going to bring. He had done some cleaning up and found a book that his ancestors had kept. Curious he decided to read through what his ancestors deemed worthy of writing down.

Imagine to his surprise it was a grimoire for summoning demons.

He had never summoned a demon before, but tonight was the night he'd get to see an envoy of sin in the flesh. He hoped that it would be a terrifying abomination or maybe a demonic snake that consumed humans in a horrific way, wouldn't that be a fun one.

The sound of a door opening put his thoughts on hold as he looked out of the door and across the hallway. A door opened up as a kid seemingly wanted to grab a midnight snack before retiring back to his room, oblivious to the state of his parents as they realized their boy was in danger. Grinning manically Ryunnosuke motioned for the two to stay silent before silently followed the unsuspecting boy down the stairs.

Three was always better than two after all.

"Now what do I do next?" After following the boy down to the kitchen, Ryunnosuke quickly knocked the kid out, before tying him up and throwing him into a closet. The grimoire specifically said that only a child would be able to appease a demon, rather specific but who was he to question the specifics. Making sure that the kid was still breathing he closed the closet and addressed the empty living room. He had also dragged down the parents down because their blood would serve as the catalyst for the ritual. Looking down at the book he noted that he would have to draw a pentagram that would call forth the demon.

Now he wasn't the best artist in the world but he did happen to have a high amount of drawing material on standby. Looking back at the fearful gazes of the parents he could feel his excitement soaring.

Now it was time to summon a demon.

Dropping the struggling kid down on the floor with a thud, he proudly looked at his masterpiece. It took some time but having so much blood that the parents kindly donated for his ritual, he was able to create the ritual circle. The parents surprised him however as they were still alive and kicking, if anything their struggle doubled.

The kid locked eyes with his bound parents and he too begun to try and trash his way out of captivity. Ryunnosuke looked down at the kid with a maniacal smile. "Hey isn't this great! The whole family is together now!" Enjoying the horror of the kid struggling to free himself, Ryunosuke continued on with his diabolical plan. "So, I found this book in the warehouse. Apparently, it was my ancestors trying to summon a demon," Pulling out the book he showed the kid what was going to await him.

A pentagram that was easily recognizable for summoning demons.

"Now I'm curious to see if demons really do exist, however..." Looking to his side, he made sure the parents were looking at him. "It'd be pretty stupid if a demon did appear and all we did was chat and not offer it anything to eat so...," Holding his hand in a mock sign of charity.

"Mind if we let it eat your kid?"

The father struggled against his bonds in rage while tears begun to streak down the wife's face as she tried to beg for her son's life. The kid proceeded to absolutely lose it as it became apparent, he was going to be the dinner of some eldritch being. Laughing at the struggle of the kid Ryunosuke looked back at the ritual circle.

Now all that was time to do was chant the summoning.

"It's going to be great seeing how demon eats a child," Flipping across the pages he tried to find the appropriate page that held the invocation for the summoning. "Alright let's see..." It seemed like time had really ravaged the contents of the page, seeing how only a few words of the actual chant seemed to have been faded out.

"Um destroy each when filled...or something like that." Squinting as best as he could, he continued doing his best to try and continue the chant with what he had.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill." He counted out loud, using his fingers as reference to make sure he didn't skip on one. The book was very specific about it being five times, something about your body blowing up if you didn't do it right.

"Okay, now it should be..." He trailed off, squinting as the text had become too faded to even make up. You couldn't even try and decipher what a single word was as it was all just some big black smudge on the page.

"Eh maybe this book wasn't really-Ow!" He winced as a sudden flare of pain overcame his arm. Lifting the arm up, he was lost as a sudden red tattoo begun to etch itself onto the skin of his hand. Red like blood, the tattoo formed the shape of a claw, with it being clearly divided between the three claws.

The blood pentagram that he had spent so much time and effort on making illuminated the entire room before reaching its peak before throwing the entire room into smoke. Not believing what he was seeing, the serial killer looked away from his hand in growing glee as the smoke parted to reveal an obscured figure.

"Servant Caster." The figure tilted the hat that he was wearing so that his eyes, which the redhead couldn't help but marvel at how red they were, stared directly into his eyes.

"Are you my master?"

"Uh," Not knowing how to proceed, the serial killer decided to just introduce himself. Nothing in the book ever said anything about a 'Caster'. "Um names Ryunnosuke Uryuu." Not getting a response from the man he just continued onward. "I'm currently unemployed and I like killing people, pretty much."

"I see." Caster brought up a hand to his chin in intrigue, to which Ryunnosuke couldn't help but marvel at how his fingertips were actual metal claws. "Very well, the contract has been signed in blood. For through the duration of this Holy Grail, I shall be your servant."

"Holy Grail?" What was he talking about? The Holy Grail? The cup that Jesus drank from at his last supper? Eh it was probably nothing, maybe it was some sort of rambling that he had to do whenever he was summoned.

Ryunnosuke quickly frowned as he noticed a key problem. "...Are you sure you're a demon? I expected you to be a lot...different." He motioned to his form, he had expected this towering figure whose eyes would be that of fire and horns dripping in blood. Not someone that came out of the Victorian era

Caster chuckled as he motioned to his form. "Didn't the stories tell you that we demons never show our true forms to lowly humans, though..." Ryunnosuke's gaze was taken as he could see something rustle in the back of the servant's cloak.

"If you want, I could show you what exactly this demon can do." Looking down, Caster locked gazes with the bound child. All color was drained from the toddler's face as he found himself under the gaze of the servant and now begun to trash as hard as he could in his prison. His parents were too shocked at what had occurred right in front of their own eyes to even react to their child's life being in danger.

"Oh yeah, forgot about you." The serial killer had genuinely forgotten about his existence but seeing the prized meal before them, he motioned for the servant to feast. "So, uh got this kid over here, you wanna eat him?"

Caster looked at him with what looked like mock hurt. "You harm me master, even we demons have some pride you know." Walking over to the thrashing bound child, he put his arms up in peace. "Don't worry kid, I'm not here to eat you."

The kid calmed down but still held a look of caution as the servant begun to undo his bonds. Ryunnosuke looked appalled at the act. "Hey what do you think you're doing!?" To which was ignored as Caster finished removing the child's bonds.

Lifting the boy up, the servant tone shifted to a somewhat proud emotion. "There there now, no need for tears now." He wiped the tears that had been falling from the child's eyes, carefully not to scratch his delicate skin with his metallic claws.

"You're so strong to being able to brave such an ordeal." Ryunnosuke was about to argue what he was doing with his supposed meal until Caster caught his eyes and reassured him that all was well. The look in his eyesomehow reassuring that all was well.

"Kids should be more like you, brave, fearless..." He trailed off as his grip on the child suddenly tightened, his metallic claws drawing blood. The kid let out a cry of pain but soon forgot about that pain as he looked up in horror at how close Caster was getting. His red eyes now seemed to be glowing in the dark.

"And oh, so delectable." The servant's voice shifted from proud to that of a starving beast. He growled as his mask seemingly parted to reveal a mouth of sharp canines, drooling as its next meal was sitting right in front of it.

"A-!" The kid couldn't even utter his scream as Caster tore into him, devouring him with gusto. Ryunnosuke's mouth dropped in awe as he witnessed the demon before him devouring the sacrifice that he had prepared for this very occasion. He couldn't fully see what was going on, with Caster's back facing him, but he could imagine the vicious feast occurring as blood sprayed from the kid's body and the sounds that the servant was producing.

The parents could look in horror as their kid the was devoured right before their eyes. The mother shut her eyes and looked away as she did not want to see the scene that was happening while the husband's eyes dull having witnessed his son's gruesome death.

Dropping the now headless kid onto the ground, Caster looked back at Ryunnosuke with a smug look in his eyes. His mouth no longer visible as the only signs of it was the copious amounts of blood that was on his mask. "So master, was that enough for you?"

The serial killer in question could only drop his book in awe as he threw his arms out in excitement. "C-COOl! You're so awesome!" He yelled in glee. Steeping forward he took hold of the servant's claw like hand, uncaring if he might be the next meal.

"Okay! I don't know what this Grail crap is but I'm following you from now on! Kill more people!" Ryunnosuke's eyes sparkled as he made his happiness known. "Show me even cooler ways to kill people!"

Even if his mouth was hidden away by a mask, Ryunnosuke could see that Caster was sporting a similar smile as well. "Ryunnosuke was it? I must be truly blessed by the gods themselves if my master is someone that shares in my delight. Then it is final Master, I shall show you the joy of a bloody hunt. One unlike this world has ever seen!"

Hunt? Well, who was Ryunnosuke kidding, he didn't care what this demon wanted to do. As long as he got to see more blood than he was fine with whatever his partner planned!

"Oh dear," Caster's eyes moved past Ryunnosuke to the bound forms of the parents whose child he ruthlessly devoured in front of their eyes. "Don't you know its rude to try and interrupt a conversation."

The husband's bonds had loosened from all the thrashing he had done, his strength much greater than both his wife and son. He knew that it was suicide to even attempt to fight but he wasn't thinking straight anymore, the death of his son breaking him. All that was running through his mind was avenging his dead son.

"ARGHHH!" He let loose a war cry as he stood up and rushed the two, his rope prison loosened enough for him to even achieve this feat. Raising his fist, he was ready to maul the redhead responsible for the fate of his family.

He didn't make it two feet before something skewered him through his heart. Coughing up a considerable amount of blood, the husband looked to see some sort of blade like appendage going through his body.

"Respectable but ultimately foolish." Caster remarked as he maneuvered his tail, throwing the husband's body to the floor before retracting the blade-like appendage back under his cloak. The now dead corpse splattering against the floor, blood flowing out of the hole in his chest at a rapid rate.

As the sole survivor of the family, the wife begun to absolutely lose it as she saw the dead bodies of both her son and husband lying right before her eyes. Her muffled sobs were the only sounds present in the room.

"The love of a family is life's greatest gift." Caster walked up to the crying women before kneeling down in front of her. "But fate is a cruel mistress for the greatest gift can so easily be turned into the greatest curse." Reaching up the servant cupped the weeping women's cheek, wiping the tears off.

"Rejoice however, for you shall be gifted a blessing from the gods." Taking his free hand, he plunged it straight into the women's abdomen. Still cupping the women's cheek, he leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Receive enlightenment, you poor lost lamb." He finished as he freed his hand from the body effortlessly.

However instead of blood pouring out of the wound, the wound begun to close on itself miraculously. No signs of the wound ever happening remained, the only signs present was the tear in her shirt that the servant had stabbed her through.

At first the woman was confused, however that confusion did not last long as pain soon overcame her. Collapsing unto the ground, she begun to convulse as her entire frame was wracked in pain. All that she could manage was pained muffled screams as her body shake erratically on the ground.

Flicking his wrist to clean off any blood on his metallic claws, Caster looked at the convulsing women with intrigue. "Hmm, it seems the blood is very potent here. Just a few drops of blood are required for it to take hold. Very promising."

Standing up and wiping his mask clean of blood he looked back at his master, who looked at him with sparkles floating around him. "So Master, I hope that I am everything that you wished to be."

"Everything and more!" Walking up to him, Ryunnosuke begun to realized something. "Uh, I actually never learned your name."

"Oh yes a name, I had forgotten about that, it's been so long since I've needed to use one. Hmm..." Racking through his brain, the servant found a suitable name that would fit him quite well.

"Call me Laurence then Master."

By the time the authorities had arrived at the scene, they were treated to a horrid scene. All that was left was a headless child, a husband killed by a massive hole in his chest, and a wife devoid of any injuries laughing hysterically as she soaked in the blood of her dead family.

The master and servant were long gone by the time the authorities had reached the scene, pleasantly walking down an alleyway. "What's next Laurence!" Ryunnosuke asked excitedly, like a child in an amusement park wanting more and more fun.

"Patience master, we will get to the fun part soon enough." With his arms placed behind his back. Laurence gave his master a hidden smile as his bladed tail swung discretely underneath his cloak. The only visible part was the actual blade of the tail as it seemed to be wagging to match the mood of its master.

And as the two departed into the night,

If one looked up for the split second that it had occurred, they might've seen it.

A red glow encompassing the moon.

Beckoning all to receive its divine truth.

My heir to The Hunt. Wanted to try the story of a hunter who lost the battle with bloodlust and embraced it fully. Unlike the Hunt, this will sort of follow the Zero storyline; unlike The Hunt with the Yharnam universe vs the masters and servants. Though I'll add my own plot twists into the story, incorporating some key things I planned to write in The Hunt.

And yes, Ryunnosuke is going to be living past the first chapter, his going to be somewhat a pupil to 'Laurence' as the maddened hunter preaches his philosophy to him.

Hope you all enjoyed this!

Chapter Text

The air was cold.

If one was to breathe then the frigid weather would reveal one's own breath.

How did the nobles of Cainhurst survive such winters I had no idea.

Looking back, I could see the Queen that called this frigid castle her domain, sitting with the posture of royalty as she did when I had arrived. Even with the steel mask that had she wore; I could feel her gaze on me as I left the room she called her throne room.

Descending the white marble stairs that had masterly crafted statues of horseback knights flanking both sides, I did not get far until I stopped, weapon drawn at the unexpected guest now leaning on the doorway that had mystically appeared before me after fighting the being that kept watch on top of the castle.

"Hmm, so it seems that another has joined us." The mysterious figure's deep voice, who strangely wore the same cloak as Eileen, commented as he noticed that his presence was revealed. "Even stranger, it seems our majesty has deemed you worthy of being one of her...'pets'. I don't fault her, it's not every day that Logarius is defeated."

I should've felt some sort of anger at being called a pet but strangely, I felt no hostile intentions from the feather caped man in front of me. All I could sense was intrigue from him. Like if I was a puzzle being presented to him for the first time.

"I'm sorry did you just say 'pets' right now?" I couldn't help but ask, much to the amusement of the man in front of me.

"Hahaha, I meant no disrespect." The man's laughter resounded through his helmet. "Forgive me it must be confusing with how fast everything has been going for you, it's not often you meet sane people in a Hunt, especially ones like this one." Pushing himself off the archway, the knight begun to leave.

"But this is for the best I suppose, maybe my lady has grown a bit daft from being cooped up in that throne room all this time that she simply chose you out of desperation." Turning his head, the faceless visage of the helmet peered into his eyes as if he was searching through his soul.

"If you can please our lady, then maybe I will teach you the ways of being one of her 'pets', after all there's much more to being her revered Wolf."

"Wait, Wolf?" What did he mean by wolf? What was all of this supposed to mean!? "How am I supposed to know what am I supposed to do if I don't what the hell happened to me!"

The raven feathered cloaked man stepped outside, the frigid blizzard dusting his feathery cloak with snow as he made a complete turn in order to fully face him. Strapped to his belt was rather elegant sheath, the blade within that sheath seemed have a mind of its own. The bloodlust coming off of it was astounding!

"The Corruption within you will guide you on your mission, even if you yourself do not know what you are doing. Our Queen will beckon you once you have fulfilled your mission." The knight threw his arm out, his feathery cloak billowing in the wind in response.

"I am the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst, her majesty's Harbinger of death to all those who dare oppose her will. I wonder if you are a fluke..." The blizzard picked up, the intensity that the howling winds produced were too much as I shielded my face with my arms. The Bloody Crow paid no heed as he allowed his form to be enveloped by the cyclone.

Once the gales cleared, there was no sign of the knight

"Or are you truly someone deserving of the title of the Wolf of Cainhurst?"

Kiritsugu Emiya knocked on the door rhythmically, a rhythm only known to one other person in this world. With his back against the door, staying alert if anyone was following him to the hotel room. One could never be too sure, especially when you were in a Holy Grail War.

A second later, the door creaked open as Maiya peeked out of the opening to see if he was truly there. Confirming his presence, she shut the door to release the chained lock on the door before letting him in. Taking one last look around the hotel's hallways, Maiya shut the door.

"All of your equipment has arrived." Locking the door, she turned around to see Kiritsugu inspecting all the weapons that they had brought for the Holy Grail War. Weapons ranging from assault rifles to mere hand grenades.

A weapon for any situation that they would need to face.

"Madam and Saber have arrived in Fuyuki and are working their way through the city." Originally the plan had meant for the two to drive straight to the castle that they were using as their base of operations. Fortunately, their detour actually helped them in the long run. "That should be sufficient to convince the other six that she is Saber's Master."

"Good." Saber was considered to be the strongest servant out of the seven summonable classes. Possessing the best parameters out of the seven classes, it made sense that Saber was the most sought out servant to summon. However they were also beacon of mana, so by having Irisviel and Saber going through the city the masters would be notified by Saber's magical energy.

"Last night, there was movement at the Tohsaka Mansion." Kneeling down, Maiya turned on the DVD player beneath the TV. "This is what was recorded." Kiritsugu turned around as the TV statically switched on.

As the Magus Killer watched the recording of Assassin's death, something felt off about the entire thing. "What is your interpretation?" Either the master of Assassin was a complete idiot or...

"It is too good to be true." Maiya came to the same conclusion as he did. "There was very little time between the start of Assassin's infiltration and the appearance of Tohsaka's Servant."

"And if you were to take into account Assassin's Presence Concealment Skill, there would be no feasible way for the Tohsakas to be able to detect the servant unless they knew that they were coming." Finished Kiritsugu as his mind begun to piece things together. "It's imperative to keep your servant's identity a secret from the other masters. So why would Tohsaka risk sending out their servant into the open like that?"

If one knew that a servant was coming, why have your servant's abilities be revealed for all to see and not do it discretely? Was it cause Tokiomi was confident of his servant's ability that he had no fear in revealing their combat capabilities for all to see? Magus were generally confident in their abilities, even arrogant to a certain degree. But Tokiomi Tohsaka could back up his arrogance with the skills as an accomplished magus.

"So, it was deliberate?" Maiya asked to which Kiritsugu nodded in confirmation. That meant that the Tokiomi Tohsaka and whoever the master of Assassin was had colluded to fool the other masters. "Maiya, what happened to Assassin's Master?"

"We have heard word that he sought asylum from the Church and was taken into protective custody by the observer last night." So, the master of Assassin chose to take refuge in the Overseer's ability to provide a safe haven for any masters that chose to either forfeit their place in the Holy Grail War or if they lost their servant, it was most often the latter.

"The Assassin's master was Kotomine Kirei." Kiritsugu's eyes widened in recogintion. There was no way that the first master to fall just so happened to be the son of the Overseer, Risei Kotomine. Not unless... "Maiya send a familiar to the Fuyuki Church."

"Are you certain that's a wise decision? It's forbidden for masters to impinging upon the neutral territory of the Church."

"Just enough so that the Father won't notice its presence, if what I'm thinking is true then Kotomine Kirei is not done in this Holy Grail War just yet."

"Understood sir." Maiya nodded before walking off to one of the two beds in the room. "I came upon something that I am not so sure to make out of this morning." Kneeling she pulled a metal box from under the bed's frame.

And not just any metal briefcase. Kiritsugu knew the magical circle that was imprinted on the briefcase, it was designed for one thing and one thing only. As a contracted killer the two often came upon magical items that were too dangerous to be held by bare hands. The mini boundary field that the magical circle created protected whatever was placed in it without risk of the volatile magic going haywire.

"From what I can tell, there's nothing special about this." Popping the safety locks off, Maiya opened the briefcase to reveal an ordinary looking...grail? This wasn't the Holy Grail that had a war being waged for it, there was no abundance of magical energy spilling from it.

It certainly looked like a grail; the golden sheen of the cup suggested that it wasn't some cheap knockoff. Approaching the briefcase, Kiritsugu cautiously took the cup from the case. It certainly had the feel of an authentic Grail, the ornate designs that were on the cup were all real.

"Where did you find this Maiya?" The Magus Killer could not make any logical explanations on how his assistant had managed to randomly find what would be considered in modern civilization a relic that could go for thousands from archaeologists.

"Just outside in a random alley." She herself could not believe it as well. She was just going around and making sure that the location was secure when she happened upon it. It was just randomly laying there in a puddle, with no signs of anyone nearby.

"And I'm not the only one to find this." Holding the remote, Maiya flipped to the next channel where an image of the grail was posted. Judging by how this channel was one of the more recognizable news agencies, this wasn't the case of a few 'grails' being discovered.

"Good morning Fuyuki City, today we begin with strange reports of what appears to be Holy Grails popping up all across the city. While one may argue if a Holy Grail really does exist, our friends in the archaeology field can confirm that these are the real deal. Police officials urge citizens to report any grails they may discover to the police department. It's not sure what is the cause of all this but stay tuned for more updates as we receive more reports on this."

"How many of these have been found?"

"From the reports, at least a dozen of them have been found. The report was only made due to most of the 'grails' being found near schools and the commercial district. It hasn't garnered any suspicion from the Church yet. They probably think of this as some sort of prank." That was good. The Church and the Mage's Association were very serious about keeping the Holy Grail War a secret. Any signs of the world of magus being revealed to the public meant the shutdown of the Grail War.

"And the masters?"

"I assume that each master has acquired their own grail." Maiya shut the TV down before looking back at him. "What do we do?"

Good question. What should they do?

"Keep a track on this situation Maiya." He decided. They couldn't waste their time going after baseless conspiracies while fighting a Holy Grail War. With so much at stake, he couldn't afford to leave anything to chance. "If the situation evolves, contact me immediately."

"Understood." Taking the grail off of Kiritsugu's hands, Maiya went to place back inside the briefcase and lock it up.

However, if the two of them had the insight to see, the insight to look beyond the veil that shrouded humanity from the cosmos, to look beyond what laid beyond the stars.

They would hear the faint sounds of an ocean, its waves drawing all into its murky depths, accepting all that there is and can be.

"Updates on this case are slow, but if anyone possesses any information, they are encouraged to call the police department as there are concerns that this is a prelude to something-"

Waver Velvet shut the TV off with the remote, much to the displeasure of his servant.

"Hey, boy! I was watching that!" Rider, Iskandar, King of Conquerors, laid lazily across the bed as he watched the TV. The massive servant could barely fit himself across the bed, it's a miracle that the bed itself didn't collapse under the weight of the Macedonian Conqueror.

"Its a waste of time Rider," Dropping the remote onto the floor, the young magus stood up from his position on the ground and leveled a glare at his lazy servant. "Do you honestly believe that! It's just someone trying to get famous with their lame magic trick."

"Do you think that boy?" Iskandar raised an eyebrow in question. "The Holy Grail War begins and the first morning has someone dropping grails left and right, and the first move you make is to ignore it?"

"Well duh! Who would be stupid enough to start dropping priceless artifacts around like spare change!" Crossing his arms, Waver turned himself away from his pesky servant. Why couldn't he just be a good servant and obey orders like he was supposed to?! "Besides the Church has yet to call this out yet so we have nothing to worry abo-".

"Are you daft?" Standing up, Rider gave a light bonk on top of his master's head, much to the magus's displeasure. "This obviously the beginning of a master's elaborate plan."

Now it was Waver's turn to become absolutely confused by the other's actions. "Huh?! What are you talking about?"

"It's quite simple actually." Iskandar laughed as he adopted a thinker's position. "If a general knows that they will be engaged in a long conflict, then the best course of action to take would be to set themselves up for the long run."

Long run? "W-Wait that's impossible!" Waver argued as he turned back to face his servant. "It's forbidden to try and involve the public with the Holy Grail War. The Church deals out heavy punishment for any masters that try and break this rule."

"And this is the field where you are inexperienced in master." Taking advantage of their height difference, the servant ruffled the hair of his master. "It's not breaking the rules if you don't get caught in the act. This servant must be particularly cunning to deceive to the eyes of the Church."

Waver opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out as he registered what his servant was saying. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't disagree with what his servant was saying. The timing of the whole incident was too good to not be the works of a servant. That meant that only one servant class was capable of this kind of deceit and that would be...

"Caster." He realized. They were the only class that could achieve such a feat. With magecraft dating back to the Age of Gods, it would probably be child's play for them to hide any magical energy emanating from the grails.

"Now you're learning boy." Iskandar gave a hefty slap to the back, but had forgotten that he was now a servant and as such his strength was amplified. Much to Waver's poor back as the force shot him straight down to the ground.

"Rider!" Waver yelled as he picked himself up. Iskandar laughed in response as he sat back down unto the bed. "There's hope for you yet. Don't worry I got the perfect thing for you right here." Pivoting his body, the servant begun to rummage through a plastic bag that he had the old books that the room had when he had arrived in Fuyuki.

He didn't like it when he had to put the elderly pair under a spell to convince them that he was their grandson but what other option did he have. He didn't have enough funds to book a room for the Holy Grail War and he was sure that he didn't want to be a homeless on the streets.

"Tada!" He announced victoriously as he pulled a lone book from within. Was this the moment that Waver had been waiting for? Would his servant finally see his worth as a master and begin to openly listen to what he had to say?! Did he find a book that he would think would help him as a master, some sort of secret perhaps?

Waver's excitement quickly turned to disappointment as he read the title of the book that his servant had pulled out.

Starcraft Strategy Guide: How to Conquer your Opponents Flawlessly

"I saw this nifty thing yesterday night when I was going through the books. I have to say that this is pretty resourceful piece of knowledge right here." Flipping through the pages, the Macedonian Conqueror showed him a random page detailing how feint attacks were useful in confusing the enemy. "Why if I had this, I would've conquered the world back then."

Waver's eye twitched before glaring at his servant.

"RIDER!"

"This 'grail' was found near the Church this morning." Within the study of the Head of the Tohsaka Family, Kirei Kotomine was giving his master a report on what he found at the Church in the morning. "There was no intent in hiding it, whoever planted it there must have wanted it to be discovered."

Taking the 'grail' from his apprentice's hands, Tokiomi gave it a calculative look. Kirei continued on with his report. "Assassin has tried their best in retrieving the 'grails' but a few managed to be collected by the public." Kirei finished as he waited for his master to finish glancing over the 'grail'.

"And what does the Church plan on doing about this?" He asked as he finished inspecting the 'grail'. Placing it down on his study table, he waited for a response from the Overseer.

"The Church will do nothing in response to this." Back at the Church, Risei Kotomine was communicating with them from a device that only the two had. A secure magical leyline that no one else had access to, which meant no one would be able to intercept their messages. "The master and servant have not broken the laws of secrecy yet; however, they will be placed on high surveillance from now on."

"Assassin have you determined who is the one that placed these fake 'grails'?" Taking a seat on his chair, Tokiomi took a sip of his wine while awaiting an answer.

Arriving in a cloud of smoke, an Assassin copy appeared. This particular copy was the one that considered herself the 'main' body, the leader of the different personas of this servant. Long purple hair distinguished this one from the rest.

"Forgive us, we were unable to catch the one who performed the task." Hassan of Hundred Personas bowed in apology. "It was as if they appeared out of thin air."

Tokiomi couldn't help but smile as he lowered his now empty wine glass back unto his study table. "You are not at fault Assassin, if anything your report has solidified who we are dealing with now. After all the only class that could feasibly perform this task would be Caster."

"And that in itself is victory over this battle." Risei's tone held confidence that their carefully constructed plans to win this Holy Grail War had not been compromised. "With this knowledge, all we must do now is to wait for Caster's master to act carelessly."

"And we shall dispose of them when the time comes." Kirei reaffirmed as more Assassins begun to show up within the study. Different bodies that represented the Assassin were there, ranging from buff bodies to child-like bodies. With no one knowing the true from of this particular Hassan, the Holy Grail saw fit to gift this servant an army of assassins that were all of one mind.

"They think that they can get the upper hand on us?" One Assassin spoke.

"Well, there little luck streak is going to end fairly soon." Another spoke right after.

"After all, why would they be defending against a 'dead' servant." This time one with a child-like body spoke up.

"And just like all of the other masters, so too will Caster's fall." All of them spoke in unison, multiple personalities speaking with one voice.

The air became distorted with mana as another servant was entering the study "What a revolting sight, insects scurrying around in the dark. Spitting out nonsense as they believe themselves to be superior but when confronted, come slithering back into the darkness." Arriving in a shower of golden sparks, Tokiomi's servant, Archer, appeared with a scowl on his face.

"Leave, your mere presence irritates me." He commanded, leaving nothing up for debate. He had mercilessly destroyed one of them, they were in no position to fight back. Abiding to his commands, the other servants present left the room.

"My king," Tokiomi stood up and bowed. It was more of a necessity then out of curtesy that he did this. Yes, the Tohsaka family had summoned the strongest servant in this Holy Grail War but such power came at a price that Tokiomi needed to earn this servant's favor in order for them to win against the other servants.

Which was easier said than done when one's servant was King of Heroes, Gilgamesh. The first hero to be recognized by the Throne of Heroes.

"Tell me Tokiomi," Activating his Gates of Babylon, the golden king dropped one of the fake 'grails' that had been popping up around Fuyuki City. It seems that this king has also taken a particular interest in this matter as well. "It is not every day that I encounter a treasure that is not present within my treasury."

"Nothing to concern yourself with my king, it is just the carelessness of a master wasting the potential of their servant. They will offer you no challenge in your contest for the Holy Grail."

"I find myself disgusted with this world that I have been summoned in, however it seems that this Holy Grail War will be interesting to say the least." And this was truth that he was speaking. His treasury was to hold all of Humanity's treasures so imagine to his surprise that his infinite treasury had something missing within them.

"Yes, my king, the five other servants are sure to be worthy of your presence when the time comes. We will choose only the worthiest of them for you to fight." Tokiomi wasted no time in appealing to the King's ego. Kirei chose to remain silent, knowing within him that such fake praise was wasted on the servant.

Gilgamesh's red eyes stared at his master for a moment before tossing the fake 'grail' back into his treasury. "I shall be the judge of who I deem worthy to fight or not." Standing up he begun to turn into spirit form. "Regardless of who stands before me, all of the world's treasures belong to me. Only those that have proven their worth to me will have the honor of fighting for the Grail."

With that he disappeared into a shower of golden sparks.

Tokiomi sighed tiredly as he collapsed back into his chair, dealing with Gilgamesh was a tiring task. One that he however performed to ensure the victory for the Tohsaka family. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he motioned to the other person present in the room. "Kirei return back to the Church so that no one suspects what occurred here."

"It shall be done master." The Executor bowed before silently leaving the room. Leaving Tokiomi to try and decipher the meaning behind the fake 'grail'. How unfortunate that even the most fined tuned magical senses of a magus were useless if they did not look past their traditions.

However if one did hold the insight to see beyond the veil...

They would see a chalice overflowing with ancient blood. Beckoning those to come closer and take part in holy communion, for their deepest wishes to be fulfilled.

"Now stop struggling or you'll mess it up." Deep down in Fuyuki City, within the sprawling sewer tunnels of the city's underbelly, Ryunnosuke was hard at work. The eccentric redhead was deep in concentration as he worked on his latest victim.

Knife in hand, the serial killer performed strokes with his knife like a painter would with his paintbrush. Each strike was surgical, every blood spurt was deliberate in bringing to life the vision he had in mind for this particular 'painting'.

"Almost there." He was so close, just a bit more and then-! His knife hit a vein, rupturing it and spraying blood everywhere. Some blood managed to get on his face, but that was the least of his worries as he saw his hard work getting ruined. The beautiful painting of red that he had envisioned was now ruined in a big splatter of red failure.

"So this one's a failure then." Standing up, not even bothering to wipe the blood splatters on his face, he motioned to his hidden audience. "I'm done here guys, you can have him now."

As if one cue, a sea of red eyes filled the darkness. The sound of drooling begun to feel the room as the hidden predators begun to make their way towards the carcass. Now thinking about it, he should've kept the poor man alive after all. It was much more fun when the person was screaming for mercy.

He paid no heed as the sound of a thousand teeth descended unto the corpse. He had done this a couple of times to know that when he returned that there would nothing but a blood puddle of his victim and a couple of bones. Maybe if he was lucky, he would be there for the final act as the beasts would fight over each other for the last scraps of flesh.

"Hey Laurence." He announced as he came to the chamber where his servant was sitting in front of a table. His metallic tail was on the floor, freely moving without the hinderance of the servant's coat.

"My master." Caster greeted as he motioned to what was on the table. "Come, I was just reviewing some things."

"Oh? What are you reviewing?" Getting closer, Ryunnosuke's curiosity soon turned into confusion as saw what was on the table. "Chess?" He questioned seeing the game of pieces set up. He didn't see his servant to be one to play such a game like Chess.

"Does that come off as a surprise? A good killer is separated by the rest by their ability to plan ahead." Snapping his fingers, a chair manifested on the opposite side of the table. "Sit master."

"Uh sure." Taking a seat, Ryunnosuke got a good luck on his servant. Seems like he still preferred to wear his hat and mask. "Just letting you know I have no idea on how to play Chess." He preferred a much more 'direct' approach to doing things after all.

"And that is fine master, we will not be playing any games anytime soon, that is not the goal of this board. Tell me what you see." He motioned to the already set board.

"What I see? Hmm..." Taking a closer look, the first thing that he noticed was that the only side that had pieces were Caster's, his side was devoid of any pieces except one, a golden Grail. The next thing he noticed was how each piece was made out of this red steel like material, almost if it was made by pure blood.

"I'm guessing that this is the Holy Grail that we are fighting for." He pointed out the only thing that he could on the board for certain.

"And over here we have all the players that have gathered to fight for this wish granting device, us included." Caster continued as sparkles seemed to light up in Ryunnosuke's eyes. Could you fault him? Legends like King Arthur were going to fight with other servants and he got a front row to see it all.

It was a like a childhood dream being fulfilled!

"Woah! Which one are we then?" He then begun to point at the various pieces assembled on the board. "Are we the Rook, no what about the Knight, or what about the Queen, or..." His rambling was cut short as Laurence held his hand up, motioning for him to stop.

"Neither of those options master, rather we are this piece right here." Bringing his hand down, he grabbed the piece that he was referring to, much to Ryunnosuke's confusion. For the piece that he had picked up was none other than the...

A puny Pawn.

"Isn't the pawn like the worst piece though?" He may not know much about Chess but he knew for a fact that the Pawn was the most expendable piece to use, often sacrificing them so that the much more valued pieces had opportunities to take out the enemy's pieces.

"Does that surprise you master? That I have valued us to be the weakest contenders for the Grail?" He asked as he played with the piece in his hand. His metallic tail moving across the ground in a much more aggressive manner, scraping the ground with each motion. "The other masters are magus who have refined their magecrafts for countless years while you are just a mere human. Better yet I am just a lowly hunter that enjoys the hunt, who am I to compare myself to the legends of heroes of have engraved their very existence in the annuals of history?"

Ryunnosuke's eyes dropped as he registered his servant's words. They were true, after all he had never heard of a hero called Laurence before, and that was assuming that it was even his true name in the first place. "So... there's no way we can win?"

"...I didn't say anything about being unable to win, just that we are the weakest pair right now." Placing the pawn back unto the board, Laurence leaned forward, his striking red eyes bore into his master's eyes. "Do you know what makes the pawn to potentially be the strongest piece?"

"Uh..." Ryunnosuke racked his mind for an answer but his limited knowledge on the game of wits left him drawing blanks. "Sorry don't know." He relented as he held his arms up in defeat.

Caster laughed before reclining back into his chair. "No worries master, you see the pawn has the potential to become a Queen, which as you know is the strongest piece on the board." He motioned to Ryunnosuke's side of the board. "All that they must do is get to the other side of the board in order to do so."

"So, we must bide our time, play ourselves passively until the time is right. Turn our enemies against each other. Let them believe that we are the weakest contenders of the Holy Grail." Holding his hand out, his metallic tail rose up with a fake 'grail' in its clutches. It was trivial work to plant these chalices across Fuyuki City, and he would continue to plant these across the city until the time was right.

"Oh those!" Recognizing the chalices that Laurence had shown him, Ryunnosuke knew that they were important for his master plan, though he didn't know what their true intentions were. All that he was told was to wait for them to take effect, whatever that meant.

"I just have one question to ask you actually." Now that he actually thought about it, there was thing that he wanted to know about his servant.

"What is your wish for the Grail?"

Laurence's eyes widened in shock for a second before he begun to laugh, echoing in the chamber. The sound of scurrying soon joined the laughter as Ryunnosuke could see in the corner of his eyes red eyes lighting up the darkness around them. A sea of red eyes surrounded them as the beasts awaited the commands of their master.

Holding the chalice so that it was directly in front of him, Laurence looked his master directly in the eye. Ryunnosuke swore that he could see his red eyes shining over the chalice, to which was suddenly filled with rich red blood.

"Salvation."

Chapter Text

It was raining in Yharnam, a rare occurrence for the city currently locked in its most deadliest hunt. The night seemed to stretch on forever whenever a hunt was taking place. It almost felt like night was the only time that the city of blood could exist on.

The rain was a welcome change. It helped wash the streets that were soaked with blood and the feeling of raindrops hitting you helped break the monotonous act of killing others.

For Eileen though, she liked it when it rained especially when there was someone that she needed to kill. With the rain, the only source of light was from lampposts and the citizens that hunkered in their homes for the night to pass.

Down in the streets, a blood-crazed hunter was running through the streets. It hadn’t been that long since he had fallen into the bloodlust but he still retained his human sanity. His human paranoia had him looking behind him to see his chaser leaping across the rooftops above him, a feathery cloak that was synonymous with death.

Frantically turning a corner, he randomly fired a shot at the Crow Hunter, hoping that by the Good Blood that it would hit. All his frantic firing did was have the quicksilver bullet soar into the air, the bullet nowhere near enough to hit Eileen as she continued her pursuit.

Soon desperation took hold of the blood-crazed hunter as he pushed all of his strength into his speed, no longer caring where he was going as long as he could somehow lose his pursuer. As he approached a stair of cases leading downward, he didn’t even make the conscious effort to slow down as he simply tried to jump the entire flight of stairs in one go.

The landing was rough as he had to roll on the landing attempt. Hastily getting back on his feet, he continued to run into an alleyway that looked dark enough to lose Eileen in. His entire world was plunged into darkness as his only way of navigating through the murky alley was through a lot of falling over as his feet tripped on bags and boxes alike.

The hunter burst out of an alley as he looked above him to no longer see Eileen chasing him anymore. Seeing that he had successfully lost his pursuer, he was about to throw his arms up in victory until a cough broke him out of his stupor mood.

“Oh? Did you think you lost me?” The blood drunk hunter slowly turned his head to see the Crow Hunter had been waiting for him to exit the alleyway as she had already drawn her Blades of Mercy out.

“H-Have mercy please!” He pleaded for his life even as he drew his axe out in an attempt to defend himself, even though he knew it was a pointless endeavour as he had heard the stories of Eileen the Crow.

Find yourself in her sights, and you’ve already got one foot in Death’s domain. 

“And how many people pleaded the same thing to you?” She asked as she began to slowly approach the hunter. In response the hunter began to slowly back away as he continued his pleads.

“I swear I’ll repent! I’ll leave this place and never pick up a weapon again, I promise on my life!”

If Eileen could she would’ve glared at her prey as she knew he was just spouting out false promises in an attempt to save his life. “And what then? You’ve already been corrupted by the blood of the beasts, there is no salvation for you left for you here. Only the heavens have your salvation now.”

In one last ditch attempt to save his life, the blood-crazed hunter dropped his weapons as he held his arms up in surrender. Tears were now beginning to fall down his face as his voice began to grow hoarse. “PLEASE!”

Seeing this pathetic show of words and action, Eileen sighed as she relaxed her stance. “Fine I won’t be killing you here.”

The hunter clasped his hands together, and was about to offer his profound thanks before he was interrupted by Eileen. “But he will.” Hearing the sound of a firearm being cocked behind him, the blood-crazed hunter whipped his face around to try and kill the person who was trying to murder him. Axe was in a swinging motion to try and butcher whoever was behind him.

Unfortunately he was too slow as the last thing he saw was the beautifully forged barrel of an Evelyn before a quicksilver bullet was shot through his head, instantly killing him.

Seeing the body flop onto the floor as the now dead hunter’s blood now began to paint the pavement, Eileen addressed her partner. “You took too long.”

Stepping out of the shadows, the Good Hunter holstered his Evenlyn. Never had he imagined that a firearm of this sort of caliber existed. It was as if this firearm was beautifully designed just for him. Not even his old pistol had the power behind its bullets.

“Well sorry if I can’t run across buildings like you can.” And that was true, Eileen just seemed to have this adept ability to run across rooftops like if it was nothing. Maybe one day he would be able to recreate such a feat.

Eileen shook her head as she placed her Blades of Mercy back in her cloak. “You’ll learn how to do it one day, comes with the job.” Making her way to the body of her prey, she sighed tiredly as she kneeled on the wet pavement.

“I free you fellow hunter of the beastly scourge.” Moving her hand, she slid the hunter’s eyes shut as she finished her prayer. “May you find salvation in the heavens, and may you find eternal rest in the dream.” With the prayer finished the Crow Hunter stood up from her position.

The Good Hunter looked at the now peaceful look on the hunter’s face, a pang of guilt hitting him as he remembered what he had shouted before he had to take the beast-stricken hunter out. “You sure we couldn’t have let him go? He seemed kind of genuine about the whole redemption thing.”

Eileen gave her partner a look of pity, he was still fresh to this whole hunter business. Tumbling his way through the city with a weapon he had never used before, she had to admit that he made remarkable strides with combat. 

She could only pray that he never experienced the darker half of what it meant to be a hunter.

“A lesson from one hunter to another.” She said as she began to walk towards the edge of the sidewalk that overlooked the city’s sewers. “There is no salvation for those that walk our line of work, any dreams of a life after this? Forget it, there are only two things that a hunter can do…”

“It is to hunt or too be hunted.”

She climbed on top of the railing of the sidewalk, before looking back at her pseudo apprentice. Her heart clenched as her mind drifted to the past, where only rash decisions and foolish ideals existed.

“Sooner or later, the hunter will become the hunted. It is up to you to decide when that time happens.”

With that…

Eileen dropped down into the sewers, vanishing into the night.

Life had many opportunities for one to enjoy the finer things that the world held. Of course there were many limitations on how to enjoy such luxuries. Status, money, even age were all barriers to being able to enjoy these sorts of things.

“Would you like a refill on your drink sir?”

Unless you had magic or magecraft, then you could essentially just cheat your way past these barriers.

“Yes please!” An enthusiastic Ryunnosuke held his glass up for a refill of the very expensive wine he had been drinking. How ironic that the wine had the hue of fresh blood. On the opposite side of the table, Laurence was drinking actual blood from a wine glass.

You see the master and servant were dining in a private room of Fuyuki’s most renown restaurant. The delicacies that the restaurant was famous for was known worldwide, guests were those of elite status, such as celebrities and politicians. It would take a lot of fame in order for one to get a reservation at this prestigious establishment.

Or you could just wave your hands with magic and create an illusion that could mask a being of mana and a serial killer as a pair of elite celebrities that had a reservation for the private room. And the staff were none the wiser as they welcomed them with open arms.

“Would you like anything else sir?” Another waiter walked up to Laurence, their eyes dimmed red due to servant’s magic.

“I am fine for now, would you please leave us for the time being. Me and my master have something to discuss privately.” He commanded as he set down his empty wine glass.

The waiters bowed in obedience as they were issued their orders. “Yes, your majesties.” They shut the door quickly as they left the Holy Grail War contenders alone in the room.

“Dang this is really good Caster!” Ryunnosuke grinned as he tore into his order of steak. Never in a million years did he think he would ever have the opportunity to be able to enjoy such a divine feast. 

“One should be able to enjoy the finer things that life has to offer.” Waving his hand over his wine glass, the Hunter magically filled the glass with more blood. Lifting the now full glass, he motioned over to the television on the wall. “And speaking of luxury, food should be enjoyed with some entertainment to watch.”

Lifting his free hand the servant snapped his fingers at the TV, causing the black screen to start buzzing with life. A moment passed before an image was placed onto the screen.

Down at the Mion Dock Harbor, a crow on one of the harbor’s shipping cranes cawed as its eyes glowed bright red. Whatever the bird was seeing was now being projected onto the screen of the room’s television, giving the master and servant a perfect view from the comforts of their private room.  With the connection created, the avian familiar shifted its gaze down towards the main event of the evening.

To see an albino homunculus standing alongside a blond servant as they seemed to be in a conversation with a servant already dressed for battle. “Woah, is that what I think it is!” Forgetting his gourmet meal in front of him, the serial killer now had his attention stolen by what was being played out on the screen. 

“Indeed master, it is the beginning of two servants taking the honor of the first battle of this Holy Grail War.” And no the fight between Archer and Assassin did not count, it was the most shameful attempt at a trap that he had ever seen.

The two watched as the two servants exchanged dialogue, but that was rather short-lived as the battle ready servant brandished his two spears beside him and the servant across from him  was readying herself as well.

“Oh how strange for one to wield dual spears, mastery of one spear is already hard enough but two? Now that is a fearsome foe to fight against.” Laurence felt no worry in voicing his own thoughts as he identified the servant as Lancer. It would help his master understand his way of viewing things later down the road.

Responding to her fellow servant’s declaration of battle, the blonde servant answered in kind as her entire form was engulfed by a bright light. The light died down to reveal that the servant had forgone her black suit in favor of her battle uniform, rich blue complimented by armor that both offered protection to the wearer while not impeding movement.

“Is she not holding anything?” Ryunnosuke noted as it looked like the servant was holding something in her hand but in reality it looked like there was nothing to be held.

“You’re wrong,” Laurence quickly debunked as he could see the distortion surrounding her weapon. “Divine winds are surrounding her weapon, shrouding the weapon’s true form from prying eyes. And judging by the way that she is holding her weapon, the knightly atmosphere that she exudes as she stares down Lancer, why she could only belong to the Saber class.” He deduced before the two were even at it.

Ryunnosuke could only stare at his servant with a mix of disbelief and awe. He knew that his servant was very smart, he could tell from his first meeting with him but this was just insane.

However Caster’s revelation was cut short as the two servants on screen decided that the time for talking was over.

And the time for battle had begun.

Saber was the first to act, rushing to meet Lancer, who readied himself for the attack. Spear and sword met in the middle, the force behind two servants caused the ground where the weapons met to break from the sheer power that a servant possessed.

Ryunnosuke had sparkles in his eyes as the two showcased their prowess as both knights and servants. Gracefully avoiding attacks that would kill an ordinary opponent, executing attacks with fine tuned finesse worthy of legends, with unparalleled strength as each strike was met with an equal reaction, the ground shaking as the two servants fought it out.

As for Caster, he was making mental notes watching the two servants fight it out. Even from a small glimpse he knew that force alone would not allow him to win if he was to be in a fight with the two of them. The manner that they fought showed him that they would not fall to petty tricks or tactics, only carefully constructed strategies would see him through.

The two servants danced around each other, prodding the other into attacking them. They were acting with caution, and for good reason. Saber essentially possessed an invisible sword, making it impossible to determine how long the sword really was. On the other hand, Lancer possessed two wrapped up spears, probably for the same reason that Saber had hers covered, it meant that they possessed some sort of ability that they did not wish to reveal yet.

Still it would seem that the Grail wasn’t holding back when it came to summoning only the worthiest of contenders, and that was only two of them. Even with two other servants showing a sliver of their abilities, there were two other servants that had yet to show themselves.

Laurence rubbed his forehead with his hand as he could feel a migraine coming. They weren’t going to make it easy for him to win. Through his mask an excited smile took shape as his excitement soared.

Finally, worthy opponents for him to face.

As the fight progressed, with neither servant gaining any ground, Laurence was more than aware of the outside variables. The albino homunculus that was simply pretending to be Saber’s master, the actual master who had positioned himself above the docks with a sniper in hand, his partner positioned in another vantage point, Lancer’s master that arrogantly watched his servant battle, the ‘dead’ Assassin observing the battle.

It helped that he had many avian familiars in the area acting as his eyes.

But as the battle progressed, he found himself getting increasingly...bored. He supposed that it was the fact that it just didn’t have the same feel as watching it in person, rather than watching from the comforts of this dining room. The atmosphere was sorely lacking in the tense, exciting aura that came with the thrill of combat.

He needed to do something lest he fall asleep from boredom.

“Say master,” His sudden words grabbed his master’s attention from the fight playing out on the screen. “I’ve heard that there are different experiences when it comes to watching sport, that the feeling one gets is different depending if they are there physically or watching from afar like we are.”

“Shall we see if this merit holds true.”

It did not take long for the serial killer to understand what his servant was implying. He grinned in excitement as he shook his head in approval. “Let’s do it!”

With his master’s approval, Caster lowered his wine glass of blood onto the table. His eyes glowing a menacing red as the blood in the cup started to begin bubbling. “Then let the show begin.” 

The bubbling blood shot up into the air before it expanded into a massive bubble that surrounded them. The dark red orb churned with magical energy before the bloody spell achieved its goal and disappeared, taking the master and servant to their destination.

Alongside the master and servant leaving, the spell also left a clean table that was devoid of any evidence that anybody had been dining in there. With Caster’s departure, so too did the spell that he had on the restaurant’s staff. They would continue working as if nothing had happened and they were none the wiser as they let whoever wished to have that room to dine in with no problem. 

“So Assassin does live after all.” As Lancer and Saber were busy fighting, their strength shaping the docks from their strikes, Kiritsugu observed the new factor that the night was throwing at them. Through the lens of his scope the Assassin that has perched himself on a crane looking down at the duel between servants.

“But we saw Archer defeat them, their body disappearing. How is the servant still here?” Questioned Maiya from a different vantage point.

“There’s more to this than meets the eye.” He moved his rifle from pointing at Assassin and back to the duel between Saber and Lancer. “Better to keep watch over things, Maiya watch Assassin for me while I watch Lancer.”

“Understood, I’ll fire at Assassin which should give you an opportunity to take out Lancer’s master.” Making sure that her rifle was ready, Maiya was ready to let loose her ammunition at the servant. Obviously modern weaponry was going to have no effect on a servant, but the surprise of being shot would do the trick.

“No, Lancer is no longer the priority, Assassin is now. We aren’t prepared to deal with servants by ourselves.” Their whole strategy involved having Saber being the beacon of attention, while the two lurked in the shadows to take out the enemy masters.

All of that was moot if Assassin, a servant that could navigate the shadows much better than they ever could, was still alive.

“Understood.” Maiya replied as she kept her scope on Assassin.

With that out of the way, Kiritsugu refocused his attention on the fight happening below him. Things could have been worse, worst case scenario would have Lancer outclass Saber in combat, but with Lancer being Saber’s equal then the outcomes had an equal chance of going either-.

The beak of a crow suddenly appearing in front of his scope broke the Magus Killer out of his train of thought. Moving his head from the scope, Kiritsugu gave a look of puzzlement at the crow that was perched on his scope. 

“CAW!” The bird cawed at him in its own way of greeting.

Just thinking it was just a strange one in a chance situation, he didn’t dwell too much on the bird’s behavior as he shooed it off from his gun. The bird took to the sky to avoid getting hit by his hand, but instead of flying away it decided to land back on the railing, undisturbed by his attempts to shoo him away.

He was about to try again but was stopped short as another crow joined its fellow avian brother on the railing.

And then another.

And another.

“...What is happening?” Maiya questioned as she too was getting her fair share of her own crow visitors. All around the dock crows were slowly surrounding the present master and servants, their red eyes gleaming in the cover of night.

Saber and Lancer were too absorbed in their duel to notice the growing murder of crows surrounding them. Irisviel, who was the closest to the duel, only began to notice the sudden audience that was now watching the duel.

Just as she was about to warn Saber about the development, any crow in her vicinity locked gazes with her, killing any words that she might’ve uttered as their many red eyes filled her with terror.

From their vantage point, Assassin was busy relaying all that was transpiring at the docks back to their master, to which the priest would relay back to his master. “A sudden murder of crows have just arrived.” Kirei spoke to Tokiomi through their secure leyline.

“Then it appears that Saber and Lancer’s duel is beginning to draw in other servants in.” Tokiomi brought his hand up in intrigue as he thought of what move to make next.

“Kirei, what is your judgement on this?” 

Kirei contemplated what he would have done before answering. “I would send Archer in, at the rate that this is going the other servants will reveal themselves. It would raise suspicions if Archer is not present, considering that he has killed Assassin already.”

“A wise decision my apprentice, the King of Heroes would not pass the opportunity up to judge the other servants personally.” Yes this was a good development for the Tohsaka magus. By gathering the rest of the servants up in one spot, then it would be easy for Gilgamesh to destroy them. If that wasn’t in reach then the revelation of certain servants and their abilities was more than enough.

“Keep watch and update me on any developments Kirei.”

“Understood.”

Saber and Lancer stared at each other as the two found themselves in another deadlock once again. Their skills were so stunning that neither was able to deal a single blow on the other. Not to say that they hadn’t been trying too, the devastation that surrounded them was a testament on how serious they were being.

A container wheezed before collapsing onto the ground, all it took was one single strike from Lancer’s spear to bring down the metallic container.

“You have my respect Saber, throughout this entire fight you have not broken a single sweat. That is an impressive feat by itself.” Lancer praised.

“You’re too modest, Lancer.” Saber could not help but praise the servant back. “Regardless if I do not know your true name to receive compliments from a master of the spear, the honor is all mine.” Her green eyes narrowed as she looked upward. “However it seems that we have an uninvited guest.”

Lancer followed her line of vision, frowning as he noticed the avian audience that had been watching them. “So it seems.” He said before he thrusted his spear upward in an act of declaration.

“You who watches from the shadow! You would dare intrude upon my duel with Saber!” 

Silence reigned as the hidden watcher seemed perfectly fine with what they were doing. Lancer seemed irked by this response and was about to raise his voice once more.

“Oh? Forgive us if our watching offended you, Lancer.” The crow that was closest to Lancer spoke.

“We meant no offense.” A different crow spoke up.

“We wanted you to finish your duel without our interference.”

“Honor dictates that we wait until you have finished.”

“But if you wish to see us face to face.”

“So be it.” The entire murder of crows spoke in unison before the entire dock was filled with the sound of flapping as every crow took to the sky. They cawed as they began to converge on a singular point, forming an orb with their own bodies.

It was a bizarre sight as the sky right above the docks was now covered in a cloud of dark feathers. Saber instantly retreated back to Irisviel’s side, who was holding onto her hat lest it fall off from the sudden gale produced by the crows. Lancer took a step back in caution as he readied himself for an attack.

A figure bursted out of the orb, another figure in his arms as he descended from the sky. Briskly landing onto a set of containers, Laurence released his hold on Ryunnosuke before jumping onto the ground where the other two servants were.

“Greetings fellow servants,” Bringing his hand up, he snapped his fingers together. On command the cloud of crows dispersed, the murder flying away from the harbor under the cover of night.

Bowing, the servant introduced himself. “Greetings Lancer and Saber, I am Caster. A pleasure to make your acquaintance at last.”

Irisviel adopted a look of shock as she registered who was in front of her. The grail within her resonating with the servant’s appearance, confirming who he was. “Caster?” Casters were never the type to introduce themselves out in the open, they were the type that preferred to hide away in the shadows. Their weak parameters made it so that they would lose to anyone on straight up duels with other servants.

“Why yes, I am Caster. Does my appearance startle you? It just got really boring in my workshop and I just felt the need to stretch my weary bones. My master also shared the same dilemma as me so I decided to bring him along.” Motioning to his master above him, who was waving with a big smile as he became the center of attention.

“I do hope that isn’t a problem.” He looked at Irisviel for confirmation before suddenly snapping his head in a random direction upward.

To which he found himself staring directly at the scope of Kiritsugu’s rifle. The sudden attention had the Magus Killer scope out of his rifle as he braced himself for an attack. Unrelenting in his staring match, Laurence’s eyes glowed red as the message was conveyed to him.

Attack my master and suffer the consequences.

Seeing the point was made clear, Laurence smiled underneath his mask before redirecting his attention back to the servants in front of him. “Where was I...Oh yes forgive me for my unannounced visit. It was not my intention to interrupt your duel.”

He first looked towards Lancer. “Milord.” He bowed, surprising the servant. Looking towards Saber, he reciprocated the same treatment. “Your highness.”

Saber’s shock was only temporary as she leveled his sword at him, narrowing her eyes at the subtle revelation that he just dropped. “You know our True Names?”

If his mask wasn’t on him, Laurence’s smile could be seen growing. “Perhaps, I have an idea of who you may be; but it is just mere speculation of course. Let us say that I am familiar with those that hail from a chivalrous background such as you two.”

“Enough fooling around Lancer.” A projected voice cut in. “You have dragged things out far enough, Saber is a fearsome opponent and Caster has shown themselves. Finish her quickly and move on to Caster.” From his not so hidden vantage point, Kayneth commanded his servant to uphold his duty.

“You may use your Noble Phantasm.”

Saber and Irisviel tensed up while Caster gave Lancer a look of curiosity. Lancer simply grinned as he was given permission to go all out. “As you wish, master.”

Settling into a stance with both his spears, Lancer readied himself as he dispelled the magic bindings that he had wrapped around the two Noble Phantasms. Magic fabric gave way to a bright red and yellow spear that shined in the night.

“Both of his spears were his Noble Phantasms!?” Saber readied herself for this new change in the duel, one that would influence how she would now be exchanging blows with Lancer.

“You have heard my master Saber, for this point onward every strike will be one with the intent to kill.” He looked towards Caster next. “Caster, you have shown honor for our duel so far, can I trust you not to break it now?”

Laurence simply held his arms up in mock surrender. “No promises Lancer, so you’d best finish Saber off before I change my mind. Regardless of who wins this bout, I will not be fighting the victor tonight.” He tilted his head upward at the moon. “The War is still young,so why rush it?”

While it was not the answer that he had been hoping, it was enough to satisfy the servant as he shifted his gaze towards Saber. “I assume that you’re hiding your sword with wind magic Saber? And if its true form is revealed then so will your identity. ”

“Sorry Lancer, but this fight will be over before you can ever have the chance to see it.”

Lancer grinned confidently as he stepped forward. “Are you so sure about that, Saber!” He rushed forward with his red spear out in front of him. Saber rushed forward with her blade to meet his weapon in the middle.

The weapons clashed in the middle, but this time the result was different as the wind magic that surrounded Saber’s sword began to dispel from the spear’s contact. Caster held onto his hat in fear that the winds billowing from such a reaction would have it fly away from him. 

Saber looked up in shock to Lancer’s confident face as his gambit worked. Breaking the stalemate, Saber moved away from her opponent. Her divine sword was still being covered with divine winds.

“There it is.” Lancer grinned triumphantly “Your precious sword.”

“He dispersed the Invisible Air.” Saber could not believe what she was seeing. For a Noble Phantasm to be able to strip away her only defense for her identity.

“I see, your spear has the ability to nullify any magical defenses that it comes into contact with.” Caster spoke up as he continued his explanation with everyone’s attention now on him. “A red spear that is able to deal a lethal blow to any servant, treating magical defenses as tissue to be shredded down.”

He looked towards Saber and gave her form a look from top to bottom. “Meaning that your magical armor is just a hindrance at this point.”

Lancer gave Caster a look as he could see where the other servant was going. “Have you discerned my true name Caster already?”

The two servants could tell when the masked servant was smiling or not, which in this case he was. “As I have said before Lancer, I only have theories and hypotheses to go off on. Only when you yourself confirm it will I be proven correct or incorrect.”

“Hmm, I see. Well then Saber.”  He settled back into his combat stance, ready to resume the task at hand. “Would you like to see what my yellow spear can do?”

Not even giving herself a chance to answer, Saber rushed forward. If her defenses could be easily pierced, then she would rely on her speed to prevail. Her sword was held low to try and use her superior strength to try and knock off whatever spear that Lancer would try to strike her with first. Lancer answered her rush with one of his own as he held his yellow spear behind him with the red spear in front of him.

Irisviel watched the recommencement of the duel with worry. While she did want to believe in Saber’s ability to come out on top, Lancer was proving to be a formidable opponent that had an equal chance of coming out on top.

Her attention was stolen however as she could see Caster’s master begin to place his fingers in his ears. Why was he doing that? The only reason you would do that was to-!

A loud bang echoed across the harbor, stopping Lancer and Saber from attacking each other as they jumped back into the confines of safety. Irisviel had immediately brought her hands up to her ears once the gunshot had gone off. Had Kiritsugu already fired?!

Her question was answered to see that Caster was holding his hand up and had a pistol in its grasp. The barrel was pointed upward with no intent of hitting anyone.

“Caster you would interfere with our duel!?” Saber pointed her hidden sword at Caster. While Lancer did not voice his displeasure, he did frown at the servant in question.

“Forgive me but…” He suddenly dispelled into smoke before reappearing back on top of the containers where his master was. “I thought it was prudent to give you a heads up to the incoming servant that might flatten you if you don’t move out of the way.”

Those on the ground could only look at him in confusion at what he was trying to imply. That did not last long as a thunderbolt struck the middle of the ‘battleground’, causing everyone to look upward at the cause.

“A chariot?!” Irisviel recognized the descending object to be that of a chariot. Bulls pulled on the chariot that was seemingly riding lightning as it descended from the heavens. The massive man behind the reigns was yelling his battle cry as he landed.

Throwing his arms out, the unknown rider wasted no time in shouting his greetings. “Lower your weapons! You are in the presence of royalty!” Looking around, he saw that he had everyone’s attention on him. He grinned as he continued onward.

“I am Iskandar, King of Conquerors! I have been brought forth as this Holy Grail War’s Rider!” Various shocked faces stared at the servant who had broken the one agreed rule that every master took if they participated.

Always safeguard your servant’s True Name. A True Name revealed everything about that servant and one would lose the element of surprise if it were ever to be leaked. And judging the way that Iskandar’s master was currently looking at his servant with a shell shocked face, then it's safe to assume that he had no say in the matter.

Laurence could only look at the situation with growing shock. It was unthinkable! Inconceivable! Illogical! There was no advantage gained from casually dropping your True Name, no strategic value in such a move.

And yet.

He couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the absurdity at what Rider had done.

Oh this Holy Grail War was just going to hold so many forms of entertainment for him.

And he couldn’t wait to experience all of them.

Chapter Text

"DIE!" A voice yelled through the bleak night of Yharnam. The sudden outburst of noise had any nearby birds take to the sky, their short reprieve of peace lost in the city of beasts.

Not a second later, the sound of a bullet resounded through the air.

"I guess putting that extra time into firing practice was a good idea." The Good Hunter noted as his adversary fell unto the pavement, a bullet cleanly going through his head.

He had been making his rounds through Cathedral Ward at the reluctant request of Eileen. The Crow Hunter had mentioned that there was an alarming influx of newly mad hunters, much more than she was able to handle by herself.

So he had volunteered himself to help with effort, she would handle the slums of Yharnam while he would work in clearing up Cathedral Ward. He wouldn't have to work too hard in finding them, they avoided the Grand Cathedral in fear of dying to the massive sentries that guarded the place.

But that meant that they would be grouping up together like a pack of wolves. They may not have had the intuition left in them to work as a team, they made up for it by all attacking him at the same time.

He had dealt with crazed citizens attacking in groups, but trained hunters was something out of his forte.

So when he had managed to finish the last hunter, the Good Hunter was able to finally breathe in relief as this ordeal was finally over. Taking off his hunter's cap, he wiped the layer of sweat that had formed on his forehead with his sleeve, uncaring if said sleeve was dirtied with blood and dirt from the fight.

As a hunter, you quickly forget what it means to be hygienic. Blood was going to get on you no matter what you did, best to suck it up before that blood became your own.

"Still, why the hell does one of them have a cannon of all things?!" He complained as he loaded another quicksilver bullet into his Evelyn. It was absurd to think that someone decided that it was a great idea to create a handheld cannon. It was impractical!

Think of all the ammo you'd waste just to fire one shot, the weight of carrying that around, not to mention that even if you did blow up your adversary it was bound to create a bloody shower of guts. That would take hours in trying to clean your attire for the next hunt.

"I think you did rather well with the situation." A rather familiar voice cut through his internal monologue. They had only one brief exchange, but he would never forget that masked voice. Reacting quickly, the Good Hunter whipped around and pointed his Evelyn at the Bloody Crow who was leaning on a lamppost nonchalantly.

"And your reflexes have improved as well, there's hope for you yet." The masked knight stopped leaning on the lamppost and began walking towards him, taking note of the corpse he passed before continuing. "And I feared that the blood would not acclimate well with you."

"You've been following me?" He should've been more offended, but honestly he began to stop caring when he began to work with Eileen. He would often see her watching him from the top of rooftops as he made his way through Yharnam.

First time had scared him so shitless that he had not been comfortable walking down the streets without a torch in hand for a while. That was a rough time explaining why he insisted on walking with a torch in the Hunter's Dream to the Doll.

"I had to see if our majesty had not made the wrong decision in imparting you the blood of the Wolf to you." He easily waved off the other hunter's concern as he continued explaining. "When a new follower joins her order, they are to drink of the blood that helped birth the Vilebloods."

"However us 'pets' are different, we partake our oath in her blood. Which is much more potent than the normal blood used." He stopped in front of the Good Hunter, who still had his Evelyn aimed at him. "Never has a newly-inducted Vileblood received this kind of a treatment before. They have had to work for it, yours truly included as well." The hunters that he had to kill were so high that he had lost count after a hundred.

"And seeing how I received this 'Wolf's blood', you thought something might've gone wrong." He deduced, much to the pleasure of the Bloody Crow as he began to clap in approval.

"Very good, it seems that the blood has already sharpened your mind." The caped-knight brought his head in contemplation. "Or has it always been this sharp, it takes a great mind to know that a crazed hunter with a cannon would not have the foresight to look where he was aiming which is why led him into a shack and made him bury himself alive in a burning ruin."

Hearing the praise, the Good Hunter rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as his cheeks tinged red. "O-Oh that was nothing, I just judged that he would be too deluded to judge his shots."

"Humble as well, you will make a fine 'pet' for her majesty." The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst walked past him as made way for one of the various smoky alleys in the area. "If the blood had failed to adjust within you it would have turned you into an unsightly beast very fast. My job was to follow you and put you down if it was required."

Stopping, he turned his head towards him. "I am delighted that I am no longer her majesty's sole remaining 'pet'. Being her sole Royal Guard is a stressful job and with two of us now here the burden is much easier to carry."

"Carry on with you hunt, kill more hunters, the Corruption Rune has already been doing its job; collecting blood dregs with each kill you achieve. Once you have enough, the Rune shall beckon you to have an audience with her majesty." He turned his head back forward.

"It is quite an experience, heed her words carefully. There is a reason that she is our Queen, and it is not because she just sits on the throne."

And with that he walked into the smoke and disappeared.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Caster threw his head back, a hand cradling it as he laughed as hard as he could. He had forgotten the last time he had openly laughed like this. "There were many things that I expected tonight, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would witness a servant casually drop their true name, no less in the midst of three other enemy servants!"

His amusement at the situation was not lost as Waver was looking quite pale as he leveled his gaze at his servant, however instead of amusement his eyes were full of panic. "What are you thinking, you moron?"

The now named Rider servant, Iskandar, simply flicked his master's forehead in response. The force behind it was not hard enough to harm but was enough to send his master tumbling down into the chariot. "Of course, I am your enemy in the battle of the Holy Grail. But before that, I ask you three…"

Suddenly he threw his arms out triumphantly as he gave his declaration for all to hear. "Would you consider surrendering yourselves and relinquishing the Holy Grail to me?" Not stopping as he was given even more shocked stares from such a bogus question, the muscular conqueror continued onward. "Do so and I shall welcome you as my allies! Follow me, and you shall know the thrills of world domination!"

Silence reigned as the servants and masters present registered what this servant had just asked them to do. To give up a wish-granting Grail to this bumbling oaf just so that he could fulfill his wish of world domination. Was this really the same Iskandar that had almost conquered the world? The legendary figure that was known as the King of Conquerors?

Laurence was the first to break the silence as he answered the servant's question. "Forgive us King of Conquerors but us two," He motioned to himself and his master, who still had a smile on his face from seeing his childhood dreams be played out. "Such ambitions of that grandeur scale don't really interest us."

Lancer shook his head before giving his answer. " I'm afraid that I must decline Rider. I have already pledged my loyalty to my master and I shall not stop until I have won him the Holy Grail." His face turned into a glare as he leveled it at the Rider servant. "And you are not my master!"

"Honestly Iskandar, you would have a better time in trying to convince a bird that it is a fish than trying to convince Diarmuid Ua Duibhne to try and betray his lord." Caster smiled as the center of attention shifted towards him as he casually revealed Lancer's true name.

"What?" He held his heart in mock hurt at the sudden stares he was receiving

Lancer held no animosity towards Caster as he had an inkling that the servant had already gleamed his identity. He gave a knowing look to the smirking servant. "So you did know."

"A magical love spot that enamours any woman that gazes upon your face, a red and yellow spear? It's pretty easy to guess your identity once you know all of that." Laurence began to move his dangling feet like a child would if they were on a swing. As if he was at the park rather than a War with six deadly opponents that would be going for his head.

"Oh, then by extension you have already gleamed Saber's identity." Theorized Iskandar. It wasn't too absurd to think about. He had proven to be a calculative servant, able to pick apart small hints to find out the whole truth.

Caster moved his eyes towards Saber, who looked up at him with a wary look that quickly narrowed as he adopted a look in his eyes that was filled with amusement. "You could say that, a golden blade that shines with the hope and wishes of humanity. Even if I was only able to see it for a second only one name comes to mind. However…"

He leaned in closer as his amusement was made known. "I thought King Arthur was supposed to be a male, hence the King title. Otherwise a more appropriate title for you would be Queen Arthur."

Iskandar whipped his head from looking at Caster to Saber. "Oh, to think that the King of Knights was a little girl, incredible!" He cried out in astonishment.

The now revealed Saber did not take it kindly as she held her sword out, face flushed in irritation. "Then would you like to taste the steel of my blade!"

Seeing that she didn't take too kindly to the words aimed at her, Caster acted quickly to soothe the situation. "And is there something wrong with that? There is no shame in being a female and the ruler of a nation. I myself am in service to my queen, and she is a fearsome ruler that has more than proven herself deserving of my loyalty."

"You're a knight?" Irisviel couldn't help but blurt out. When the word 'knight' came to mind, it wasn't what Caster was. She expected a noble figure in a suit of armor, willingly risking their lives against grave threats. If anything Caster looked more like the court magician, but in service to the devil.

"Where I come from knights were not restricted to those that wore cumbersome suits of armor, for us speed was everything. Otherwise the beasts would tear you to shreds." He moved his cloak to reveal a plate of paper thin silver. "But it does not hurt to come a bit prepared."

"Still, to think that I have been fighting the King of Knights this entire time." Lancer looked at Saber with a newfound sense of pride and awe. "Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be fighting you."

"The honor is all mine, Lancer." Saber returned the smile. "Never did I expect to fight an opponent of your caliber."

Resting Gae Dearg on his shoulder, he pointed a finger at the King of Knights. "Even if our duel has been interrupted, I expect you to survive until we can properly finish our battle."

Pointing her hidden sword at Lancer, the servant's grinning face turned to shock as the divine winds concealing it dissipated, revealing the true glory of Excalibur for all to see. The radiance that it produced was like a beacon in the dead of night. "On this sword I swear, Diarmuid of the Love Spot, that we will have our duel once again."

Concealing the sword back with divine winds, Arturia held a small smile that Diarmuid quickly returned. "And I shall hold nothing back."

"And I as well." Lancer smirked, anticipation for their duel already rising.

"Say, Caster." Iskandar stole Caster's attention from the scene between Lancer and Saber with a question of his own. "What is your True Name? Everyone has given theirs out fairly, will the honorable knight give his own? Now that had everyone's attention, including his own master who looked at him expectedly.

In response, Caster sighed as he found himself put on the spot. "What a mess, I should have expected this sooner or later." He was tempted to lie, put on a false persona for the sake of trust. However, he looked down to the expecting eyes of Iskandar. He had a feeling that he would be able to tell if he was going to tell the truth or lie.

Maybe his initial judgement of the Rider had been a bit rushed as he had a feeling that he needed to work much more carefully against this particular servant.

And for the sake of plans to come, he decided it wouldn't hurt to tell them a bit of the truth.

"Cainhurst," He blurted out unexpectedly. "If you cannot find what that word means, then my True Name means next to nothing for you."

Iskandar found himself contemplating what the servant meant as he stared back into the red eyes of the elusive servant, who accepted the challenge and stared back. Just something about his eyes had him wary, as if those eyes were regarding everyone present like a chess piece to be played.

Caster himself was a piece on the board and he couldn't directly control how each servant would react. That didn't mean he couldn't try and influence how they would react to certain actions, he certainly had the resources as a Caster to do so.

"Boy, do you know anything about a 'Cainhurst'?" He looked down to see his slightly trembling master that still had a death grip on the railings of his chariot. He may have done too much for their second night as master and servant but the time of differences could be put off for later.

Realizing that he was being spoken to, Waver broke out of his daydreaming and began to rack his brain for answers. "C-Cainhurst? I don't think I have before." He had spent days reading various myths and legends in preparation of this Grail War, but never did he hear of a place called Cainhurst.

But it couldn't be anything but a place, it didn't sound like a name that one would have. Maybe it was an obscure legend but even then-!

"I see. So it was you of all people." A familiar voice broke the young master's thoughts as he could feel the blood in his face drain away. No he couldn't be here! Looking around the harbor, he hoped he was able to prove his paranoia wrong.

His hope was soon crushed as Kayneth continued talking. "I wonder who was mad enough to try and steal my relic. Never did I expect you to be the one who did the deed and enter the Holy Grail War."

Curious, Laurence decided to check what Diarmuid must've been feeling. Unsurprisingly, the servant had averted his gaze, trying not to involve himself in this shameful display.

From his vantage point, Kayneth Archibald savoured every second of terror that he was installing into his former pupil. The brat had caused him so much trouble when he stole his carefully prepared catalyst.

And he was going to make sure that Waver Velvet felt his wrath.

"Waver Velvet, you will rue the day that you decided to slight me." Back down on the harbor, Waver Velvet could feel his soul leave his body with each word his former teacher spoke. "It seems that I have been a bad teacher, allow me to give you a hands-on lesson of what it means for two mages to fight to the death."

"I shall ensure that you remember all of the pain and agony that it entails." With his death warrant practically signed by the one person he did not wish to fight against, the young master fell to his knees and clenched his eyes closed as tears began to form. So this was it, he was going to die tonight. Kayneth was a formidable magus while he was just a mere student, the outcome was so obvious on who prevailed

A rough pat on the back broke him away from his depressing contemplation. Flabbergasted, he looked up to see the reassuring gaze of his servant. Iskandar gave his master a smile before projecting his voice once more.

"So you were meant to be my master instead of this boy, that very idea makes me ill! Only a man that has the courage to stand with me on the battlefield is worthy of being my master!" Waver's eyes stared in awe as his servant that was standing up for him.

"A coward that is too afraid is not fit for that role!" Up on his vantage point, Kayneth clicked his tongue in annoyance. Who was he to lecture him!?

Surprisingly Ryunnosuke spoke up next as he took a chance to take a jab at the cowardice master with his words. "I thought mages were meant to be honorable and such, must speak volumes of what kind of mage you are right now."

"You dare lecture me!? You're not even a proper master! Let alone someone who would even be my equal!" An offended Kayneth objected.

If that was meant to be some kind of comeback at his master, Laurence wasn't able to see it as Ryunnosuke just shrugged it off. "And arrogant as well, what's next? You're going to start off on how you're from some accomplished family and that you should be the victor of this war?"

The witty remark that his own master just made had Laurence laughing on how quickly he's master was acclimating to his presence, and he wasn't the only one finding enjoyment in his words. Irisviel held her hands up to cover her giggling while Iskandar was openly laughing at how Kayneth was being targeted for his remarks.

"Let this be a warning to those that watch from the shadows!" Iskandar turned his head out to the open air, speaking to the hidden viewers. "I know that you are watching from the shadows, there is no use in hiding any longer."

"What do you mean, Rider?" Saber asked as she regarded the space where Iskandar was looking towards. There were more viewers to this?

Rider turned towards her with praise written all over his face. "Saber and Lancer. Your fight was fought fairly and with honor. I know Caster meant no ill-will when he interrupted your duel but I know that the both of us were not the only servants drawn in by such exemplary fighting."

He raised one hand up. "Heroes summoned by the Grail,"

He then raised the other hand up. "Let us gather!"

Clenching both outstretched fists, the muscular servant puffed his chest out as he made a declaration. "And to those that are too paralyzed by fear to show your faces, know that Iskandar, King of Conquerors, holds you in utter contempt!"

And for a second, there was a baited silence that filled the harbor. None dared to move a muscle, fearing that they would disrupt the declaration that Iskandar had just made. Laurence noted how the air itself seemed to be still at the servant's words. So this was the charisma of a legend that had almost conquered the world, how curious.

As a Caster, his Mana parameters were much higher than everyone else so he was able to feel the arrival of another servant from his magical sensors earlier than anyone else could as the atmosphere became clouded with the mana of another servant.

"So," He begun to say as a golden shower of sparkles begun to shine over a lamppost. The dazzling light attracts everyone's attention. Recognition flooded their minds as they knew which servant was arriving.

"That's," Waver continued as a corporal figure manifested into reality. Golden armor that shined as if it had been forged in the sun itself, an aura that demanded absolute authority from all that gazed upon his form.

"The servant that defeated Assassin." Kayneth finished.

Caster looked at the manifesting servant before deciding to act, his eyes glowing a pale blue as he activated a rather helpful ability that he developed back in Yharnam. When you've devoured your fair share of Great Ones, blood echoes aren't the only thing you inherit from the eldritch beings.

And as the new servant's red eyes surveyed those beneath him, Caster's dark red eyes narrowed as the insight within him whispered back to him a name. While the hunter would've preferred to learn this servant's True Name naturally, like he had done with Lancer and Saber. There were times, however, when he could recognize the gravity that some situations had that required him to act serious.

So this was the servant that was going to be the most trouble out of the rest. Just like in every chess game, you would aim to take out the opposing sides queen first or watch it wreak havoc on your pieces.

And this Holy Grail War's Queen revealed himself in a way befitting his stature.

"So not one but two mongrels dare presume themselves as kings in my presence, disregarding my divine authority?"

Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, the first ever hero to be recognized by the Throne of Heroes made his presence known.

Ryunnosuke shared a bond with Caster, as normal for masters and servants. Looking up in amazement at the new servant, his already wide eyes widened even more as he was told the name of this new servant.

He summarized the situation with one word.

"Sh-"

"Shit." Kariya Matou cursed as he tripped on a pile of trash bags in a dark alleyway. The damp floor felt surprisingly nice for the disgraced heir, considering that it felt like his entire body was a furnace right now.

"These damn crest worms can burn for all I care." He muttered as he spit out a glob of blood unto the ground, a plethora of crest worms writhing on the ground. If he had his way then he would've had nothing to do with this accursed war.

An image of Sakura filled his mind, the mere thought of the girl suffering any more filled the forced master with anger as he clenched a fist and slammed it into the floor. Damm Tokiomi! Damm the rules of being a magus!

Forcing himself back up and holding his side where he could feel the crest worms eagerly devouring his insides. Fighting the urge to yell out in pain, Kariya focused his mind on the scene playing out at the harbor through the eyes of his familiar.

Despite the scathing pain that he was experiencing, he couldn't help but crack a smile at the sight of Tokiomi's servant. So there was the bastard's servant. How so alike, they looked down on others as if they were the superior ones.

And he would happily be the ones to shatter such an ego.

"Berserker," He commanded as the shadowy servant emerged from the shadows. The dark cloud that surrounded the servant obscured the features of the armor that he wore. The only thing you could make out was a blazing red visor.

"Kill."

The frenzied servant let out a beastly roar before turning into a cloud of dark smoke as he made his way to the harbor. He knew firsthand what kind of power his servant had and he was ready to see when he would show Tokiomi the error of his ways.

As the crippled master let out a deranged laugh, up above him on the rafters, unseen by all.

A bloody cloak of feathers watched from on high.

While lesser men might cowed at the supreme authority rolling off of this servant, Iskandar was not like lesser men as he scratched his chin in confusion. "I am Iskandar, known throughout the world as King of Conquerors."

Gilgamesh let out a haughty laugh as he looked down upon the supposed king from his vantage point. "Foolishness. Only I am the one true king to rule over this world. All others are but mongrels that live for only my pleasure."

Iskandar motioned to the new servant, "If you make such claims, then state your name so we may be the judge of that! Surely a king that claims such authority is not scared to reveal his name to his enemies."

The lamppost that Archer was sitting flickered before dying as the servant's anger rose from such a disrespectful demand. "You dare make demands to me, your king!?" His face turned into condescending as he craned his neck upwards. "You are blessed to even have the honor of standing in my presence."

"Oh? Caster!" He turned his head back to the still sitting servant up on the containers. Said servant tore his gaze from the golden king and redirected it back to the conqueror. "Would you be obliged to reveal this servant's name, you've shown a knack for cracking such mysteries."

In response Caster gave him a deadpan stare. "Do I look like an omnipotent scanner to you? I'm not going to be able to discern every servant that I see the moment I meet them." He lied of course, he knew who the Archer servant was.

"And besides," He looked up to the almighty king with a bored look. "He just wants me to lick his boot and throw endless praise onto him so he can feed his ego. Even though I have loyalty to my Queen, to praise another is the greatest offense I can commit to her."

This riled up the Uruk King as his face morphed into a scowl. "Do you have a death wish so badly?"

Scowling in turn, Caster's eyes gained a predatory look as he kept on riling the king up. "We're bound to fight to the death at some point, why prolong it when we both know how this is going to end up with us as enemies. Unless…" He brought out his Evelyn. "You're scared of losing?"

Everyone present was holding their breath in as the already tense situation was beginning to dissolve into something very ugly. Artoria positioned herself in front of Irisviel with her invisible sword ready for the inevitable clash, Lancer doing the same while Rider just watched the altercation with interest.

"Uncivilized mutt!" Gilgamesh roared as a pair of golden gates manifested behind him. A pair of weapons from his treasury sliding out as they awaited the command to be fired. "Maybe your death will be fit to entertain me!"

Then suddenly, a black cloud of smoke began to form on the ground next to the servants, the inky abyss giving way to a humanoid figure covered in the same smoke. "ARRGHH!" The black servant roared in greeting.

"Berserker?" Saber could recognize the only class that had yet to reveal themselves, the servant of madness being the only outlier from the six already present.

"Say King of Conquerors, why not recruit him into your army?" Diarmuid joked to try and ease the tense situation that was just being played out.

"I would try, but even I know that he's not the type to sit down and negotiate." He looked down to his master. "Hey boy, mind telling he measures up as a servant?"

Waver just shook his head as he regarded the new servant. "I-I can't, it's most definitely a servant but other than that I can't tell a thing." As a master he was able to see the basic parameters of a servant, judge how much of a threat a servant might be. But for Berserker all he was getting was a bunch of blanks.

"The servant is under an enhancement then," Artoria theorized. "It obscures his abilities and identity."

"Then that must be the black smoke that seems to be covering the servant like a shield then." Diarmuid said as he readied his feet into a battle stance. Iskandar simply stood there while Laurence still had a dangerous glint in his eyes, ready to pounce at a moment's notice."

"All of the servants in this Holy Grail War are present." Irisviel realized as she could feel her heart thumping in terror. The most dangerous forces currently present in the city had converged unto one point, effectively turning the entire harbor into a ticking time bomb.

"Master," Laurence spoke up, grabbing Ryunnosuke's attention from the mess that was bound to explode. "It seems that the situation has gotten much more dangerous than I anticipated. I must have you retreat before a stray attack kills you."

The serial killer just sighed in disappointment at the fun being cut short. "If that is what you think is the best option, I have no choice but to follow. Though the next time this happens I'm staying till the end!"

Beneath his mask, Caster smiled at his master's insistence on sticking around the next time something like this happened. It was like a bloodthirsty child was his master, not that he minded it though. "Very well then, now I trust you know how to get back from here?"

"Yup don't worry about me, I'm a big boy now." Standing up, the serial killer began to make his way towards the opposite side of the crate where there was no one. Since everyone's attention was still on Berserker, only the people watching from their vantage points saw him scurry away as he dropped from the container.

"Maiya, follow Caster's Master!" Kiritsugu commanded through their earpiece. The two mercenaries had not moved from their vantage points as the servants began making themselves known. "If we can get him we can eliminate Caster from the War."

"Understood." Folding her rifle's bipod back up, the female mercenary began to make her way towards the red-haired master. "Will you be fine here by yourself?" Slinging her rifle behind her back, she started to slide down a ladder to the ground.

"I will, but watch yourself. Caster has probably ensured that his master is still being protected in some way." Kiristugu warned as he placed his scope's crosshair on Caster, his eye narrowing in suspicion at the servant. "What are you planning?" He mumbled to himself.

"So not one but two mutts dare slather my glory?" He clicked his tongue in annoyance before noticing the frenzied servant looking up at him. "You dare look at me without permission?" Turning his portals away from Caster, he set his sights on Berserker. "May your death provide me with some form of entertainment." With that he fired the two weapons at Berserker.

The frenzied servant did not move an inch from such a fearsome attack, having no reason to as the two weapons were shot from the air by two red streaks. The bullets exploded on impact, resulting in a cloud of smoke.

"Hey Berserker!" Sensing an object being thrown through the smoke, the servant in question reached up and intercepted the thrown object. He didn't even register it as an attack, the velocity of the object wasn't fast enough to be considered dangerous for the servant. As the smoke parted, it inspected the object that it had just caught.

An axe.

More specifically a Hunter's Axe.

Standing from his position, Laurence began to roll his neck, cracking a few bones in the process as he warmed himself up. His once hidden tail now revealing itself, the bladed appendage standing ready as Caster readied his Evelyn.

"Looks like you have a bone to pick with Archer over here and I've gotten a bit bored just sitting here and doing nothing."

"Mind if I join you?"

Chapter Text

The first time that he had stepped into the throne room, he was filled with excitement and awe at how lavish everything was. Even with the absurd number of creepy statues filling the room, there was an atmosphere of opulence that he really hadn't encountered before.

The second time was filled with caution and trepidation, like he was entering the den of a dangerous beast. As he set foot on the rich red carpet that lined the throne room, he wondered if each statue was actually a person. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

Yharnam was truly a one of a kind place.

"Dreadwolf." The Vileblood Queen, Annalise, greeted as she watched from the confines of her throne. It was impossible to tell what was going on through her steel mask. Was it intentional or a forced burden? Maybe time would tell.

"Thoust has returned from thy hunt, I trust that thou was victorious?"

The Corruption Rune resonated with the Queen's words as he made his way towards her, yearning for the ruler's presence. The Hunter should've been more cautious with how casually the aristocratic figure was speaking towards him, but strangely...he felt no worry about getting killed here.

Maybe it was the rune influencing his thoughts, but any thoughts about how he ended up here vanished as he was only a feet away from the seated queen, on one knee with a hand across his chest and the other outstretched.

A gesture of deep respect, one expected from nobles and knights when addressing the Queen.

As he bowed, the Hunter did not know how to respond to the queen's inquiry. This was something he never dreamed of doing. Granted his entire adventure in Yharnam was something that he thought he would be doing either.

But this wasn't something he couldn't learn on the fly! There was a whole hierarchy that he needed to study and that was something he needed to learn at birth and be acclimated to, not just wing it. What if he accidentally offended the queen!

Luckily his silence was noted as Annalise sighed in realization. "Ah, forgive me. I did not realize that you are not familiar with the norms of this castle. A foresight that I have overlooked unfortunately."

"Speak thy mind, we are not privy to being offended with what you might say." Elegantly reclining back to her throne, she propped one arm on the armrest before motioning to the still kneeling hunter to speak.

Seeing as he had permission, he decided to voice the question that had been plaguing him ever since their fateful first encounter. "Why? Why me? Why did you choose me to be your so-called Dreadwolf."

Also another question that he had for the Queen, what in the good blood was a damm Dreadwolf?! He had heard of wolves before, even fearsome ones called direwolves but never a DreadWolf.

"Why indeed." Annalise looked upwards, as if she was reminiscing on something. "Thoust should know that I am no ordinary Queen. Ever since I began my rule, I have sat on this throne, guiding my people."

"But a human's life is that of a candle, it shines brightly before it is extinguished in a heartbeat. Many generations of Cainhurst lived and died while I have sat on this chair, immortality running through my blood." As if to demonstrate this she raised one of her rather sharp nails and ran it across her opposite arm, a slit of blood spewing forth from the wound.

The Hunter watched in amazement at how fast the wound healed itself, within seconds the self inflicted wound was gone. No blemishes or scarring to suggest the wound's existence remained on her pale skin.

"As such, one can say my mind had to evolve past what a human was capable of. Those were dark times, I would spend days stuck in an endless dream." Reaching down she began to pull something out from under her chair.

"However in the darkness, I was blessed with visions. Visions of beings that I did not know of but was mesmerized by their strength. A raven whose very existence heralded death wherever it flew, a dragon that seemed to coil around the universe's existence by eating its own tail, a horse blessed with the wings of the heavens, a giant that seemed to hold the weight of the sky on its own back."

"But the one that had fascinated me was that of a wolf, whose fangs were so strong that even the gods feared its existence. They tried everything that they could to try and delay the inevitable but it was all for naught as the wolf walked through the ivory halls of their kingdom, it's fangs dripping with ichor as it devoured the King of Gods."

Pulling out a wrapped package, she motioned for the kneeling Hunter to rise. "Rise Dreadwolf, you possess the cunning of the wolf, but it is time for you to possess your own fangs." Opening the wrapped package, the Hunter's eyes widened in awe at what it was.

He knew of the fabled Chikage. A blade that only Cainhurst Knights possessed, incrate designs were etched onto the steel of the blade that allowed the weapon to sing in scarlet tunes, at the cost that it would eat away at a user's life. The Messengers of the Dream presented to him a copy of the weapon if he wished to use it, however the damage and wear on the blade meant that it was not in the best of conditions.

The blade before him was clearly a Chikage, but the wear and damage that he saw on a previous blade was nonexistent as the Queen presented a clean, polished sheath of a Chikage that had never been used, as if it had never seen its first battle.

The usual red, dirty cloth that would have been wrapped around the sheath had been replaced by a far more striking shade of red with golden marks that exuded royalty. But what stole his attention was the head of a wolf that seemed to be etched into the sheath.

"A gift for Cainhurst's new Dreadwolf. You will find it's quality much higher than any other weapons you may find." Holding the blade out to be taken, the Queen's mask hid any emotions that she may have had, but the Hunter had a feeling pride was what she might've been feeling.

Regardless, it would be rude to turn down a gift. Especially one from a Queen.

Standing from his position, he carefully made his way to the throne. Annalise made no movement as he graciously received the weapon from her hands. Marveling at the workmanship that had gone into the forging of the blade, the Hunter slowly unsheathed the Chikage. Its lustrous edge reflects the moonlight for all to see.

"Do you know why I have named you our Dreadwolf?" The Queen's words brought him out of his awe as he directed his attention back to the masked queen. "Gods are untouchable beings, they live until time itself ceases to end. For a wolf to install fear, dread into these divine beings, only a select few could ever be worthy of such a title."

The queen's gaze bore into the hunter, who shivered at the sudden intensity that she was pouring into the stare. It was like being under the gaze of a supreme deity, your entire existence being picked apart under their eyes.

"I have lived many lifetimes to know when I can see potential." Leaning her head, a blue eye peered at him through the cracks of the helmet. Staring into the striking colors of her eyes, the Hunter came to a conclusion about the Vileblood Queen.

She was dangerous, the most dangerous being he's encountered since his rude awakening in this land. An immortal queen who could easily plot the downfall of any opponent. What foe existed that could challenge her?

"And that is why you were chosen to be our Dreadwolf, for each time you swing that sword will be like the fangs of the wolf. Go forth my royal knight and hunt for the glory of Cainhurst."

Caster had to give King Gilgamesh credit. While he may have been overly arrogant about his status, he had the power to back up such an ego, unlike many others who would instantly cower when their lives were in danger.

The golden king made no shift to his displeased expression from having two opponents collaborating with each other to fight against him. His red eyes observed them as two additional golden gates opened up behind him, a total of four weapons from his treasury awaiting his command.

So there was no spoken command when the four weapons were shot like missiles, two for each servant that had decided to raise their weapons against him.

Unfortunately, the two were more than prepared for the incoming weapons.

Berserker got to work with his new weapon, extending the trick weapon into its transformed state. The blackened smoke that was enveloping the crazed servant extended its reach to the Hunter's Axe, the wear and tear on the weapon being replaced by red cracks.

The first weapon met the transformed weapon's edge in the air, resulting in an explosion. Using the weapon's force to turn his entire body, Berserker shifted the axe back into its one handed mode. Completing the turn, he slammed the weapon into the second weapon.

From the smoke of the second weapon's explosion, the black knight gave a roar of victory.

Caster preferred a more, simpler approach to dealing with his own attack. Aiming his Evelyn at the two approaching weapons, he fired two quick shots that intercepted Archer's attack. Lowering his firearm, he gave Gilgamesh a mocking bow.

The slight twitch in the Uruk King's lips showed his growing irritation for all to see.

"Now that's a strange ability to have there." Iskandar said after seeing how Berserker moved. Waver Velvet looked up to his servant in shock after tearing his eyes away from Berserker, it was his first time seeing two servants duke it out through his own eyes.

"You didn't see it? Wouldn't you find it strange that a servant would suddenly know how to use a weapon to its max potential, especially if it was from another servant? The black smoke enveloping the axe was the biggest giveaway." Looking towards Caster, he noted just how he preferred a much more obscure strategy in showing off his abilities.

"Anything that he touches turns into a weapon that they can masterfully use." Artoria realized as Irisviel gasped at the ramifications of what that meant. Berserker could essentially turn anything that they touched into a weapon. Be it a traditional weapon or just a brick that they picked up from the ground.

"You proclaim that you are the King of all Kings but if anything you have just proven to us that the only thing you are the King of is arrogance!" Caster taunted as he holstered his Evelyn in his coat. However he would not be defenseless for long as begun to reach deep into his coat for something else.

An answer was given as Laurence unsheathed a blade, freeing the weapon from its sheath and letting the blood red blade be illuminated by the moonlight. With his Chikage free, he pointed it at the golden clad king.

"Enemies like you are all the same, barking endlessly about their strength, but having none of the bite to back it up. Honestly King Gilgamesh…" He smirked as he could see everyone else reacting the way he wanted to. The strongest servant that a master could summon was their opponent, how many plans would be affected by this?

Certainly not his.

Locking gazes with Gilgamesh, he hammered in the last nail that would probably seal his fate if he were a lesser servant.

"You bore me."

Now that got a reaction out of Archer, whose calm facade had now been replaced by a glare that was filled with so much venom that if looks could kill then he would've been dead already. "You dare!" He spat out as numerous portals were now focusing themselves on Caster, quickly forgetting about Berserker as a plethora of weapons lined up behind the Urukian King to be fired. The king could only focus his anger at this thing that dared disrespect his kingship!

"No way, are you kidding!" Waver Velvet's jaw dropped at seeing how many weapons were being summoned. Irisviel placed a hand over her mouth in horror at seeing Archer's Noble Phantasm. This was the power of the King of Heroes!?

"You wish to see my supreme authority? Fine! Let us see how long you can keep your bravado up!" Without wasting any time, he fired all of his present weapons at Caster.

Placing his sword back into its sheath, Laurence made no move to try and intercept the incoming weapons. He flexed his fingers that were still holding the handle of the Chikage as the first wave of weapons were almost upon him.

If one had a keen eye then one could see blood flow from his hand into the blade's sheath, the engravings of a wolf beginning to sing a scarlet tune as it drank the blood of its user.

In one swift motion, Laurence unsheathed his blade once more. This time a noticeable blood coating on the steel of the blade, the vibrancy of the blood on the red blade almost conveyed the view of a blazing vermillion saber. With one swipe of his bloody blade, the first wave of weapons had been destroyed.

But he wasn't given much refuge as another wave of weapons was upon him. Two weapons pierced through the smoke of the previous wave, seeking to end his life. Both were knocked out of the air as Laurence's tail extended outward to intercept them.

The bladed appendage sliced straight through the middle of the first blade, cutting through it with ease. The two halves flew past Laurence and into the containers behind him, causing them to explode from the impact. His tail batted away the second weapon to the side and sent it flying to the ground.

And into the free hand of Berserker, who wasted no time in transforming it into his Noble Phantasm. But it wouldn't be his for long as he aimed it straight at Gilgamesh to try and behead him.

Gilgamesh made no attempt to move his head from the attack as he stared unflinching at his former treasure being mere inches away from taking his throat. The only thing stopping it was a set of chains that had shot forth from the Gates of Babylon and stopped the weapon from fulfilling its purpose.

A sudden snarl redirected his attention from the frenzied servant below him as he was able to glimpse for a second of Caster on all fours before he pounced. The force behind the move dented the container that the servant launched from, a bloodthirsty look in his eyes as he took to the sky.

"Entertain me King of Heroes!" Shouted Laurence as he began to fall towards the servant.

As if obliging to his request, the sneering King of Heroes launched a barrage of weapons at the free falling servant. What was he thinking? Falling in mid air meant that Caster would have a hard time controlling his movements and add in his endless arsenal of weapons, no ordinary servant would be able to dodge them.

Laurence however was no ordinary servant.

As the first weapon was nearly upon him, a halberd by the looks of it, Laurence put his skills as a hunter of Yharnam to use. Landing on the handle of the polearm with the finesse of an acrobatic, he jumped from it onto the next approaching weapon, and to the next one. With each landing, his landing was so soft that the weapons didn't lose their momentum from his weight.

"What?" Irisviel gasped in shock at seeing Caster nimbly jumping from one weapon to another with such graceful movements.

"His touch is so delicate that each weapon doesn't lose its velocity when he lands on them and he's fast enough to jump onto the next weapon that's nearest to him." Caster right now looked more like an Assassin than anything with how agile they were demonstrating themselves to be.

Iskandar could only think of what his capabilities as a Caster was if this was his combat skills.

As he jumped from weapon to weapon, making his way closer to Gilgamesh, somewhere along the way his mask had reverted to its canine form. Drool slipped through his teeth as he could feel the beast within him starting to take hold.

The thrill of battle, the thrill of a new sensational bloodbath, was something he had forgotten about for so long. Beasts that had once struck fear into his heart had become laughable as he mercilessly painted the walls of Yharnam with their blood.

And as he jumped the last weapon that was needed to close the distance between him and Gilgamesh, it never felt so right to let a beastly roar as he held bloodied Chikage in hand as he went for the kill.

It was only the quick thinking of summoning a sword to block the wolf's blade from severing Archer's head from his neck. Quickly pushing down a grimace, because a king of his stature did not show fear, only mongrels did, he moved his hand down to summon another sword to behead this horrid beast.

But Laurence's red eyes twinkled as beastly instinct took over, overriding any form of rational thought. Unrelenting in his assault, he freed his other hand, metal claws sharpening as he tried for a second time to crush his prey's head.

If he had been a split second faster than he would've succeeded but that was not the case as his hand roughly scraped the side of the king's head as he moved his head to evade.

Settling for the next best thing he drew back his clawed hand to find purchase on the servant's golden shoulder pad, a satisfying crunch reached his ears as he clawed into the golden sheet of armor.

His tail reached up to finish the job but Archer wasn't the King of Heroes for nothing. Reacting to the third attempt on his life, he lashed out with a sword in hand. Normally Laurence would have been much more alert but it was hard to think when his entire mind was swimming in bloodlust.

So he didn't yell anything when his clawed arm was severed from his body, he didn't bat an eyeball as his severed arm fell onto the pavement below with a bloody splat.

But even in his beasthood, he still maintained a sliver of rational thought as he backed away from Archer and landed on the harbor floor.

Gilgamesh looked in disdain at his ruined shoulder pad, the once brilliant sheen that magnified his glory now been reduced to a piece of trash. He sneered at the servant who dared to ruin his perfect image.

He opened his mouth to curse the servant, but quickly shut it when he could see Berserker beginning to act. Still in possession of the Hunter's Axe, the frenzied servant threw the weapon at the lamppost.

The weapon tore through the flimsy pole like paper, forcing Archer to jump down unto the ground where the rest of the mongrels were.

"Ignorant fools, you should be regarding me as a god." Shoulders shaking from anger, Archer was no longer interested in trying to keep a facade up as his face exploded in fury. The Gate of Babylon resonating with his anger as a flood of gates filled the sky above the harbor.

"And yet you dare not only disrespect my authority but see fit to tarnish my appearance with your filthy hands! Not even your death will suffice for this affront!" Weapons began to slide out of the gates as the sky itself seemed to be filled with instruments of death.

"Irisviel!" Saber said in worry at seeing the sky above them being illuminated in gold. Was Archer really serious about turning this entire area into ash! While she did not wish to place worry on the homunculus, even she was unsure that she could defend against a hail of swords.

"Boy, we need to get ready." Dispelling his chariot, Iskandar grabbed his master and slumped him over his shoulders in preparation that things went south, his chariot not providing much in terms of defense. Lancer was also getting ready to avoid the king's wrath.

Up in his vantage point, Kiritsugu made no attempt to move. Rifle still scoped in, he was more worried about Irisviel who was stuck in Archer's bombardment range. The crane was high enough from the floating portals that he would not have to worry about a weapon killing him. Though if Archer's attacks were to get close to the crane's foundations he would be out within a flash.

He resisted the urge to rush down there and save Irisviel, even if she did possess Avalon to heal any injuries she might receive. All he could do was trust in his servant's abilities in keeping her safe. Even if he didn't see eye to eye with what Artoria represented, he had to trust that she would keep Irisviel safe.

Standing up from his position, Laurence looked up at the golden servant with only one motive in mind.

Kill.

Even with a missing arm, his entire body was still willing him to hunt, to mutilate. His tail raised itself threateningly above him while his Chikage began to pulsate, the spirit of the blade fully encouraging this course of bloody action.

Kill this being that reeked of divinity, to hang his head as a proclamation to why he-!

His blood crazed eyes widened as a sudden flash of sanity hit him, Caster's eyes lost their bloodlust as he began to regain control. The sudden sense of control brought him to his knees as he could feel the mana within him spiraling out of control.

"Shit, it's too soon," Bringing his hand up the servant could see how it twitched wildly. Looking up he could see everyone's gaze on him from his sudden fall to the ground. Even if he wanted to stick around he couldn't, having burned most of his magical reserves while fighting Archer.

It was an unfortunate consequence in having a master who had no training in the ways of a mage. As a Caster he could supply himself with his own mana but once he left his workshop then he would be running on a limited supply.

Alongside his spirit core on the verge of collapse, he just had to go crazy with his barely functioning core. "Not yet, not here. For the plans to come, we can't reveal everything yet." He reminded himself.

There was only one option that he could do now.

He turned into his spirit form and vacated the scene.

All was quiet in an alleyway not too far from the harbor. Rats were scurrying about in the dark as they feasted on what scraps they could, paying no heed to the ominous bell that seemed to be playing.

Even animals with such fast reflexes could not see what was looming over them.

The choked silence however was broken swiftly as Ryunnosuke was frantically running from his chaser. He let out a yelp as a bullet sailed past his ear. The sound of gunfire throwing the rats into disarray as they scrambled back into the safe reaches of the dark.

Not too far behind him, Maiya Hisau was hot on his heels. Taking aim with her rifle, she sent a few bullets to try and kill the master of Caster.

Whether it was by pure luck or skill, the red headed master was able to evade all of them from hitting him. He turned the corner thinking he could lose her in another dark alleyway.

Only to see a dead end.

Hearing him swear out loud had the mercenary slowing down, knowing that he had just encountered a dead end. Still this wasn't the time to let down her guard. Experience taught her the cornered prey was the most dangerous one of all time.

Readying her assault rifle, she turned the corner to see Ryunnosuke frantically touching the wall as if there was some hidden lever or passageway that would save his life.

"If you value your life you will surrender peacefully." A laser was pointed at the master's back to further emphasize her point. If he would be uncooperative then she had a clean shot that all she would just need to do was to pull on the trigger.

"H-Hey now," Slowly turning around, Ryunnosuke had a sheepish look on his face as he tried pleading for his freedom. "W-We can just forget about all this now can we? We can just walk our own separate paths and-!"

A bullet shot that pierced the wall next to his head by a couple of inches quickly shut him up as Maiya got closer to him.

Originally they were to kill any masters that they encountered but Caster's master required a different approach. Sure killing the redhead in front of her could hinder the servant but Caster was a servant that could create and maintain a different source of mana to supply themselves with.

Killing the master now was only a bandaid for the problem, hence why she needed to capture Ryunnosuke alive so that they could force him to use his command seals to force the servant to commit suicide.

The only sure way to kill off a servant.

When she was only a foot away, the serial killer decided he at least needed to put up a fight. Turning around, he aimed a weak clumsy punch at her head. However the combat gap between a serial killer and an experienced mercenary that killed mages for a living was so high that Maiya saw the punch coming from a mile away.

Easily moving her head away from the punch, Maiya grabbed the outstretched hand and snaked her leg around Ryunnosuke's leg. Wasting no time she flipped the surprised master unto his back.

Wincing from the rough landing, Ryunnosuke scrambled to move away but a barrel being aimed at his head had him quickly raising his hands in surrender as he was subdued by the mercenary.

"Kiritsugu I have apprehended Caster's master." She spoke into her communicator, however the only thing that she received back was a bunch of static. "Kiritsugu come in." She tried again but to no avail as she received static once more.

The way that she had flipped the redhead had her back still facing the way that she had come in. Even if he did try something to escape she would be more than prepared to subdue him once more.

The sound of crunching bags quietly filled the alleyway as someone arrived at the scene.

Ryunnosuke moved his eyes up from his position and smiled at the newcomer who had arrived. "Oh hi, are you here to save me?"

Reacting quickly, she turned around and began to fire her rifle wildy in hopes that the random spray of bullets would take down her mystery assailant. A hand shot out with lightning fast speed and grabbed the rifle from its barrel to prevent it from shooting them. Quickly striking with their other hand, they slammed their fist into the rifle. The force shattering the weapon into many pieces.

With the loss of her main weapon, Maiya unsheathed her knife and tried to impale her attacker in the chest.

What she wasn't expecting was the newcomer to hold out their palm in the knife's trajectory, letting the knife's edge easily pierce through their hand. He didn't even flinch as he had just caught the knife easily by using his own hand as a target.

Raising his other hand, the assailant brought it down onto Maiya's hand with enough force that the sound of bones breaking filled the alleyway.

Screaming in pain from having the bones in her arm breaking, Maiya could do nothing when the figure that was strangely dressed like Caster brought up his knee to slam into her chest, the force behind it had her spitting out blood as she was launched into a wall.

The pain was too much for the mercenary as she painstakingly brought her head up to see her assailant fully for the first time. And before she succumbed to her injuries and welcomed the black void that awaited her.

She noted the two antlers sticking out of her assailant's head.

Caster arrived back in the hideout that he and his master had claimed as their base to see Ryunnosuke working on one of his 'art' pieces under the watchful eye of his savior.

"Laurence you're back!" Noticing his servant's arrival. Ryunnosuke welcomed him with open arms. His greeting was cut short when he took note of the missing...appendage.

"Uh...you okay over there?" He motioned to the still bleeding stump that was once his arm.

Laurence tilted his head in confusion at what he was referring to. Following his master's gaze he found his concern over the fact that he was missing half an arm.

"Oh this, a moment." He said before closing his eyes in concentration.

Wondering what he was planning to do, Ryunnosuke watched as a spurt of blood shot out of the stump. However instead of falling to the ground in a splat the spurt of blood expanded to begin forming a hand.

Within seconds the process was complete, with Caster flexing his brand new arm. Ryunnosuke's jaw dropped in awe at how flawlessly his servant just healed an otherwise fatal wound.

"Good as new," He assured before looking at the person responsible for saving his master from being captured by Maiya. "I assume that Brador has been an excellent guard dog for you?"

At the mention of his savior, Ryunnosuke looked back at the assassin sent to defend him with sparkles in his eyes. "He's so cool! Why didn't you tell me about him sooner? Why does he not talk? He's so strong!"

The beast garbed assassin stayed silent as Ryuunosuke began to ask question over question about his existence. As if to cement his confusion, the red headed master began to wave his hand in front of the hunter to try and garner a reaction from him.

He couldn't even see the assassin's features seeing how the hood on which the two antlers were attached had casted a shadow that hid the hunter's face.

Laurence chuckled at seeing where the problem was. "He can't speak at all. He's just a mindless beast that obeys my commands like the rest of the beasts I command. His skill as a hunter made him a worthy bodyguard for you. He might not be able to fight against a servant but he can distract them long enough for you to escape."

Opening his mouth in realization, Ryunnosuke began to inspect his new bodyguard. After a complete circle around the obedient assassin, he clicked his fingers in approval.

He was perfect.

"And what of your assailant? Did you dispose of her?" Caster asked curiously.

The red head shook his head. "Originally I had planned to but I then thought of what you would do and decided to keep her here as a prisoner." He scratched the back of his head in confusion, "Was that the right thing to do?"

Walking up to him, Caster patted his back with satisfaction. "You have performed admirably master, you have given us a piece that will be instrumental for our victory."

Ryunnosuke beamed with happiness, "What's next?" He asked curiously.

Smirking beneath his mask, Laurence walked up to a table with a chess board on it. The red blood pieces that he favored already in their starting position. Moving his hand down, he picked up the Holy Grail piece.

He smirked.

"Now, we begin the game."

Chapter Text

Yharnam was a city that made it quite hard for anyone to find respite. The constant fear of turning into a beast was on everyone's mind making it quite hard to relax. Even neighbors were seen as a threat as paranoia could easily turn people against each other.

So the Good Hunter was very thankful for the place that was the Hunter's Dream.

He didn't know why this ethereal plane existed, and it certainly had been quite a shock when he had woken up here after he got his throat viciously chewed out by a wolf.

Yeah that was not a fun experience.

But one advantage that the Dream had over Yharnam was the pleasant silence that it offered. It was a haven where he could rest his soul and body from the terror that was the Hunt. There wasn't the constant worry about getting jumped by a random beast, or having to worry about murderous mobs chasing after him.

It was just...him.

In a field of white flowers, the Good Hunter was busy practicing his new Chikage. Ever since he had received the weapon from the Vileblood Queen, he just couldn't seem to let it go. The Saw Cleaver that he had previously used just felt...inadequate compared to the Chikage.

It was as if his very existence could not part with the blade. Everytime he inspected the weapon to marvel at the quality of it, he swore the engraved wolf was eyeing him back.

Getting a feel for the weapon, the Hunter was practicing a few strikes with the weapon. As he executed a final slash, he couldn't help but frown at the notion that he was doing something wrong.

Relaxing his stance, he gave the lustrous blade a look before quietly sighing. He knew the best way to work a weapon out was to test it against some beasts, just like he had done with his Saw Cleaver.

But he felt like he was disrespecting the Queen if he tried out the blade against a beast with no prior knowledge on how to use it. He felt as if needed to know how to fight like a 'Dreadwolf' would in order for him to get comfortable with the blade.

Whatever that meant.

"Ah, it's rare for me to see you here. The last time I saw you here was when you could barely swing your weapon." A masculine voice filled the once quiet atmosphere of the flower field. There were only two people in the Hunter's Dream and the sound of a creaking wheelchair filled in the criteria.

"Teacher, it's been awhile since I last saw you." It was true, the reclusive wheelchair bound hunter would mostly be cooped up in his room in the Hunter's Workshop and the times where he did leave his room was only for a short period of time before retreating back inside.

"Doll," He bowed his head in greeting to the one pushing the wheelchair. The Plain Doll reciprocated the greeting with her own.

"It's Gehrman now, it's been a long time since I've taught anyone about being a hunter." The aged hunter held a wry smile as he was pushed closer to the hunter. "Besides most hunters pick up the hunter ways exceptionally fast."

Letting his posture relax, the Good Hunter sheathed his special Chikage back into its place. "Oh? Then I must be a special case seeing how you had to supervise me for the first couple of hours on how to swing a weapon." He joked with a raised eyebrow.

Gehrman let out a chuckle. "I felt moved to help your plight in teaching you how to swing a weapon around, lest you accidentally maim yourself out in the streets."

The two men shared a laugh together, something rare in a Hunt. It was hard to find any joy when you were constantly being covered in blood and laughter could be mistaken as a sign of creeping beasthood.

The Plain Doll simply tilted her head in confusion, what was funny about not wanting someone to accidentally bisect their own arm off?

Still it was nice to stop having to worry about the next opponent that he would have to face or when his next death would be.

"Though this is certainly a surprise, using a new weapon all of a sudden. I was sure that you had cemented your choice in the Saw Cleaver." Gehrman's eyes went down to the sheathed Chikage, a brief look of pain flashing through his eyes.

"It was a...gift," The Hunter tried explaining as he looked down at the blade. "I thought it would be disrespectful if I didn't know how to use this weapon."

He looked back at Gehrman to see the retired hunter thinking about something. The way that his eyes seemed to be glued on the blade, maybe he was remembering something from his glory days as a hunter.

After a brief period of silence, Gehrman finally snapped out of whatever daydream he was in. "If that's the case then you are already doing this wrong, this sort of weapon is different from the rest of the weapons that you've come across."

"Oh?" The Hunter crossed his arms together. "Have you had experience with this sort of weapon before?"

The old hunter shot him a look, "I tutored many hunters back in my day, do you really think that I wouldn't have taught a hunter of Cainhurst descent?"

The Hunter's eyes widened as he was getting rare information about the inhabitant of the Hunter's Dream. Gehrman was very reluctant in sharing what his life before the dream was, something he avoided whenever it was mentioned.

"The weapons of a Cainhurst knight served a different purpose than those of the workshop," The disabled hunter motioned to the sword. "Draw your sword."

Releasing the Chikage from its sheath, the steel of the blade shining under the gaze of the moon. Gehrman's eyes gained a new light at seeing the blade, as if he was no longer the retired hunter but a hunter back in his prime.

"Cainhurst knights did not have to worry themselves about hunting beasts like we did, no they were champions of the nobility. Dueling for the favor of their lords. Cainhurst Nobles settled disputes through these knights, and there was a demanded expectation of elegance when one was to draw blood from their opponent."

"Picture your enemy in front of you, do not think of this weapon as a mere instrument that you wildly swing around. This blade has been forged with only one thing in mind, to end their opponent in a single strike. It was not designed in mind of taking blows head on, its sharp but brittle steel will shatter if placed under too much pressure."

Huh, now that was a far cry from the workshop weapons that had been built to eviscerate their foes in a bloody fashion. Serrated edges so that the poor beast on the receiving end would have their flesh ripped out. Not the cleanest way but it was efficiency over hygiene.

Relaxing his posture, the hunter lowered his arms so that his arms were much closer to his waist. Rather than assuming a stance meant to use the weapon with as much strength the wielder could muster, he assumed a much more cautious stance that would allow him much more options when it came to fighting.

Gehrman clapped his hands, "I see you've figured out the basic framework of how to use that weapon. You should spend a bit more time here getting used to this style before resuming your hunt." He motioned for the Plain Doll that he was tired. Nodding her head, she began to turn the wheelchair and push him back to the workshop.

A question suddenly popped up in the Hunter's head as Gehrman knew a little too much about his sword. He expected pointers on sword posture, not a history about the sword and its origins.

Swiftly turning around, he opened his mouth to ask but no words left his mouth as he saw that the pair had already left the field. Trying to hail them would be a worthless endeavour now.

Focusing his attention back on getting used to his Chikage, he swore that he could hear the field of white flowers weep at the sight of the blade. As if they had been planted in memory of someone who once used such a blade.

It was noon for the city of Fuyuki, the sun shining its warmth over the citizens as they carried on their day. It was currently lunch time, many people strolling the streets as they looked for where they would be eating.

Not to mention to discuss whatever interesting stories that they've experienced. Most of them discussed their new found fortune as another set of grails had been found randomly in the city this morning. It was all that people were talking about today.

How they went from zero to thousands in profits as many planned on selling them for easy fortune. Of course no one was complaining. Even if they were living quite comfortable lives, the greed of man is not so easily resisted.

Lifelong dreams of riches were finally in reach and for many it seemed as if favor was finally looking down upon them, that this was their lucky break.

If that could only be the truth.

Deep in the underbelly of Fuyuki's sewer system, a fascinating maze of sewage tunnels and water storages that helped the entire city run as efficiently as it did. A perfect lair for a devious scheming servant.

We are born of the blood.

In a particularly massive chamber, numerous pools of blood littered the dark chamber floor. The horrid smell of blood would usually attract many predators, the enticing smell usually correlating with scrap to feast on.

But even the lowest of rats knew to trust their instincts as they steered far away from this place.

Made men by the blood.

Because it was here that Death made his home, his Hell that he would unleash upon the world above.

Undone by the blood.

One pool of blood began to bubble uncontrollable as a shape seemed to be surfacing from its murky depths. A clawed hand breached the bloody pool to which it proceeded to drag the rest of its body free.

Another clawed hand surfaced from the pool, this one much larger than the other. The gray fur that covered the hand was stained in the blood that it had been born in. With both arms now freed, the beast within began to pull itself out.

Our eyes are yet to open.

A terrifying set of horns emerged as the Cleric Beast basked in its birth. Letting loose a piercing screech, the blood soaked abomination took its first steps out and began to walk away. Simultaneously the other pools were showing signs of activity as beasts of different shapes and sizes were being born.

Each freshly born beast walked into a tunnel that was connected with various exits of the Fuyuki Sewage System. Ever so hungry for blood, but obedient to the will of their master. They would not go out to hunt, waiting ever so patiently for the command to eat.

Fear the old blood.

High above this spawning chamber, in the safety of a suspended steel platform, master and servant were casually enjoying a game of chess as if the spectacle below was just a passing thought for them.

"Master the knight moves in an L shape, not the rook." Laurence admonished as his master scratched his head in confusion as he tried to come to grips with this game. The servant had taken it to teach his clueless master the ways of chess.

Seeing how they took quite a while for the red headed serial killer to grasp the movements of each piece, this would take a long time for his master to understand this game of wits.

Luckily for Caster, time was something that he had in boundless quantity.

Taking his rook from where he had originally placed it, Ryunnosuke's face scrunched in concentration as he tried to figure out his next move. Looking up to see his servant's impassive face, he made the decision to move his bishop forward.

And immediately regretted it, wincing as Caster mercilessly took the bishop with one of his knights without hesitation. Even if the servant had offered to teach him how to play the game, that didn't mean that he would be going easy after all.

There was no point in trying to coddle his master, coddling meant that his master would be dismissive of the game. And that was something he would not tolerate.

"Hey Laurence," Deciding a much more defensive approach, the master pulled back his sole remaining bishop back. In response the servant began to push his pieces forward. "Why are you teaching me this in the first place, it's not like you can kill someone with chess."

Chuckling Laurence took the opportunity to snatch a pawn up using one of his. "Indeed, it's not like you can maul someone to death with one of these pieces. It would be amusing if you could."

He turned his attention to the spawning grounds below, the blood pools still birthing beasts. "A good killer is separated by their ability to plan ahead. If you wish to do well later on then you should practice your strategizing skills. Chess is a good way to foster them."

Ryunnosuke didn't look convinced, his eye twitching as he watched his queen get taken by Laurence's own queen. "Uh-huh, cause the only thing that I'm learning from this is to never challenge you to this game."

"I've had many years to hone this art, do not be disheartened by the fact that you are losing to me." The hunter smiled as he lifted his queen and placed it in front of his master's king. "Checkmate by the way master."

Seeing how he had lost for the umpteenth time, Ryunnosuke unceremoniously plopped his head down unto the chess table, scattering the pieces everywhere. Some of the pieces rolled past the platform and fell into the spawning pit.

A newly birthed wolf looked up in curiosity as a chess piece bounced off its head. It's confusion lasted only for a second before it shrugged it off and resumed its path into the sewer tunnels.

The servant resisted the urge to laugh at his master's behavior. For a beginner he had caught onto the rules fairly fast and he respected the fact that his master had yet to throw in the towel. Leaning back into his chair, he twirled his king piece with his fingers.

"I have a question Laurence," Ryunnosuke lifted his head up as he looked at his servant in confusion. "You said that we would be keeping a low profile but I thought that meant not aggravating the strongest servant right off the bat."

Laurence had to admit that he felt a small hint of pride at hearing his master beginning to ask the right questions. "Because master by slighting King Gilgamesh, we both blend in with the rest of the servants and clearly establish who our enemies are."

"Huh?" Ryunnosuke tilted his head in confusion.

"As the famous tactician Sun Tzu once said, Know thy enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle."

Moving his hand across the board, seven bloody pieces came into existence. Each piece represents a servant in the Holy Grail War with the wish granting device that they were fighting for placed in the middle.

"Out of all the servants and masters, you must admit that we are the ones that were surprise contestants. Each master is a magus of their own calibur and each has their own strengths and weaknesses that make them stand out."

He then directed a hand to his master, "Meanwhile you are just," He wracked his brain for a suitable word to fit what he was trying to say. "Ordinally simple."

Ryunnosuke had grown used to being the 'underdog' of the seven masters so he just shrugged it off. He had never been good at anything before, nothing that really made him stand out. So why would that change now?

"As such we are unknowns in this War. My little show with Archer may have seemed impressive but I can assure you that was a one time thing." Even now he could still feel the effects of his temporary lost of control. He doubted that he could survive a repeat.

"But isn't hiding under the radar you know kinda good, underdogs and such?" Ryunnosuke remembered all the lessons that school teachers drilled into his brain about underdogs prevailing, that you should be humble and such or you'd fail.

Laurence shook his head in denial. "Technically being the underdog is best, but these masters are not shortsighted to leave anything up to chance." Not in a game where you bet your life in every action that you took. "Besides fate has a tendency to favor those very underdogs so it would be wise to get rid of them as quickly as possible before the worst case scenarios become reality."

Folding his arms, Caster continued on with his explanation. "By making an enemy out of Archer, we have effectively told the rest of the other servants where we stand, what our motives are. It also acts as a deterrent to potential enemies as I do believe Archer has made his claim for my head, and no one is willing to risk his wrath so early in the war."

"But doesn't that mean we're alone when fighting him?" The serial killer asked.

Laurence shook his head, "Berserker was a surprise ally, if we were to engage Gilgamesh I can trust Berserker coming to our aid. Perhaps his master has a grudge against Archer's master? Besides…" He opened his arms out to show where exactly they had chosen as their home base.

"Do you honestly think that the King of Heroes is going to come into the sewers to kill us?" He motioned to the dark sewers that they had claimed as their own.

Laurence...had a point there. The Urukian King was very adamant on how he viewed himself higher than everyone else. Stepping into a sewer was something that he would not do, even if commanded by his master.

Ryunnosuke could see the logic behind the thought process. He still had a hard time seeing how this was all connected to chess but he never really did expect to be dragged into this whole Grail War in the first place.

He was excited to see where all of this was going.

Speaking of exciting things, he wanted to know about a certain hostage that they had. "What about her?" He asked knowing that Laurence knew who he was talking about.

"Ah our hostage, your foresight has given us a valuable piece for the next plan that I have for us." The servant then stood from his chair, motioning for his master with his hand. "Walk with me my master."

Wordlessly complying, Ryunnosuke stood from his chair and began to follow his servant to wherever he was taking them. From the shadows Brador stepped out and began to tail the two, fulfilling his task as a bodyguard.

The trio left the spawning pits, moving in a direction that Ryunnosuke himself had never been to before. Sure he was granted unlimited freedom in the lair, but there was one area that Caster had forbidden him from going. If he was ever alone Laurence was most probably in his secret lair doing god knows what.

They walked through a narrow dimly lit tunnel, prison bars on both sides of the passageway. Taking a peek, Ryunnosuke could barely make out the red feral eyes of the beasts that lived in their dark abode.

Red eyes watched them as they progressed further down the hallway. Some peaked their heads out of the shadows, their maws dripping with saliva as they showed their hunger to their master. One was feeling bold enough and walked right up to the bars that separated their home and the passageway.

Squeezing its head through the space between the bars, red eyes pleadingly looked up at Caster who stopped with a face of amusement at the action performed. Reaching out he gave the beast's snout an affectionate petting.

"You must be getting anxious being cooped up here for so long, do not fret. Soon you will given the chance to use your fangs." Patting the beast's snout one last time, Caster resumed his stroll. The beast in question slinked back into the shadows, soon lost in the sea of red eyes as Ryunnosuke quickly followed after him.

The red headed master did not know how long he was following Laurence for, the corridor just seemed to never end with no clear end in sight.

So you could not fault him when he yelped as a sudden breeze of freezing wind swept by him. The surprise drop in temperature had him instinctively bringing up to his arms in an attempt to warm himself up. The temperature drop was so huge that he was beginning to see his own breath for crying out loud!

Caster turned his head and gave his master a knowing smirk beneath his mask but said nothing as he continued his way forward. The freezing temperatures reminded him of Cainhurst, to which such gales had no effect on him. Brador did not react in any way to the freezing gales and dutifully followed after the duo.

They soon came upon a massive double steel door. Intricate metallic carvings of a massive tree were etched into the door, the branches of the trees extended upward and seemed to hold some sort of mighty castle within its grasp. At the base of the door a wolf was curled around the root of the tree, fangs bared as if the first thing it would do once it woke up was violence.

Laurence walked up to the door, trailing the wolf on the door with his hand. Ryunnosuke moved his head in curiosity to see him looking at the canine with a look of longing? Red eyes that once held only bloodlust now had a rare soft look as he stared at the wolf.

"Just like Yggdrassil held up the nine realms, so too must a strong foundation hold humanity up. Otherwise it will topple over and it will all be for naught." He muttered to himself. Ryunnosuke could hear only whispers coming from his mouth and looked at his servant in curiosity.

But that would not last long as the look was lost as the servant brought up his second hand and pushed the door wide open, revealing what was inside for Ryunnosuke.

The first thing he noticed was the surprise ray of light that was being emitted from the ceiling. It didn't look like an artificial light was providing it, no it was like there was somehow a crack in the ceiling that was deep enough to reach the surface where the sun was currently active.

The room itself was nothing special, if anything it had the worst condition out of all the rooms in the sewers that Ryunnosuke had visited. The walls were barely holding themselves together and water was leaking from any broken pipes.

This room could collapse at any moment.

But what was the main attraction was a little hill of planted flowers, where the hill's peak was being illuminated by the ray of light. Kinda poet seeing how it was a literal ray of light in a rather area of ruin..

The planted flowers were a shining angelic white, a strange choice considering he never suspected Laurence was someone that cared about such an angelic plant. Just looking at them had Ryunnosuke's worries just seep away.

"Forgive me for taking so long, I had some things to take care of," A gentle aura washed over Caster as he approached the hill of flowers. Unlike the predatory approach he had towards his enemies, he took gentle care on how he trudged through the flowers to ensure that he did not trample even a single petal.

"I promise you that I didn't mean to leave you alone for so long." He came to the top of the hill, where it was barren of any flowers. It was evident of the dug up soil that something had been planted recently.

As Caster continued to make small talk with whatever he was talking to, Ryunnosuke just stood back awkwardly as he tried not to eavesdrop on his servant. It was strange to hear him talking so innocently about life, to think a hand that did not hesitate to kill had such a gentle side.

"But my time here with you must be cut short unfortunately. My duty calls and I must answer, I'll set aside more time for you later I promise."

The sound of footsteps entering the sacred chamber tore the servant's attention from his listener. "You've returned, " Standing from his kneeling position, he turned around to address the newcomer. " I trust that you have accomplished what I have tasked you with."

Stepping out of the shadows, the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst nodded in confirmation as he took a knee. Just like Brador, the once royal guard to Queen Annalise had been summoned as a mindless husk to serve his whims.

Chuckling, he looked back at his master with a barely concealed grin. "Say master,"

"How do you feel about being an active role in the next step?"

Maiya Hisau was no stranger to imprisonment. She was no newcomer to being locked up in a room with no way of telling if days had passed. It wasn't like she could pace around the room as her legs were bound in a kneeling position with her arms held in chains from opposite walls.

She was aware that she was on some sort of pillar, with the outer edges of the room towering to what she assumed to be a moat of water, if the sounds of running water around her were any evidence to support such an idea.

So to pass the time for a situation like this, she developed the ability to count time so she had something to occupy herself with. Right now it was approxiamately the beginning of sunset, with it the recommencement of the Holy Grail War.

It was a good habit to keep track of time, lest you find your sanity breaking from the silence of your prison.

Not that she had to keep herself occupied any longer as the door to her room opened and a particular servant walked right in, pockets in hand as if he was just casually greeting a guest.

"I do hope that your stay here has been comfortable for you." Caster rustled through his coat, pulling out a succulent piece of meat. "My pets do love the guests I bring for them to play with." He then threw the piece of meat over the edge of the room.

What Maiya had thought was water was actually a moat of blood, and as the meat splashed down into the red liquid, all hell broke loose. Multiple beasts bursted out from the blood and fought over each other for the tiny piece of flesh that had been thrown.

Laurence chuckled at the sight before continuing forward. "Forgive me if I couldn't meet with you personally but I must say I'm a big fan of the Magus Killer and his feats."

Maiya said nothing in response, favoring silence as her answer. Talking could often lead to hurt prides and hurt prides would often lead to severment of a body part as retribution.

If he was offended by the silence, he didn't show it as he continued on. "Well just wanted you to know that you won't have to worry about being cooped up here any longer. You'll be able to stretch your legs as you become our hostage when we attack Saber's stronghold."

The mercenary couldn't help but smirk at Caster's plan. Her, a hostage? She had as much worth as a hostage compared to a piece of garbage. She and Kiritsugu both knew what was at stake and promised not to jeopardize their victory.

Even if it meant abandoning the other to certain death.

"I thought you were much smarter than that Caster, they will not surrender to you just because I am your prisoner."

Caster laughed darkly, "If you were a robot then I would've thought so but humans are not so easily cold to their feelings. I know that he will try and save you." Leaning down, his red eyes bore into her eyes. "I'm quite confident in it."

"You can try and speak about how courageous you are, how unrelenting you may be in your quest of victory, but those are just words. Meaningless without action and let me tell you, most of the time those words are as fleeting as the winds. There in one instance and gone the other."

"But that's not what I came here to do." He abruptly stood up and began to walk around her. "I wanted to take the opportunity to explain my master plan in all this."

Master plan? He was just going to reveal his plan for her to hear right here and now? Could he get any stupider?

"But it's not like you'll be remembering any of this before we head out." His sudden revelation broke her out of her thoughts as she stared at him in shock. "Of course there's no strategic value in telling you this but I just wanted to see how an ordinary human would react to what I have planned."

Completing his circle around her, he once more leaned down and gently cupped her chin with his hand. Maiya could not hold a small gasp as she saw how bloody red Laurence's eyes were as he inched closer to her lips.

"I truly wonder if you and your servant will stop this, out of all the servants only Saber comes close to stopping it." He stopped only centimeters away from touching the now trembling Maiya's lips. She had killed people in cold blood, children if the situation demanded it. Unflinching as she carried out her orders.

But for the first time in a long time she was truly afraid.

Reaching up, Caster brought down his mask to reveal the perfectly normal set of lips that he had and began to speak. He was just like any ordinary human, but she knew that it was just a facade to whatever devil lurked within.

And as she listened to his diabolical plan that he had made for Fuyuki.

She so desperately wished that he showed her his fangs instead of what was coming out of his lips.

Chapter Text

Cainhurst was an impressive sight to behold, that was an indisputable fact no matter how many times the Good Hunter visited the Vileblood Castle.

Even if most of the residents were less than hospitable about his presence, he didn't mind it at all. If left alone the ghosts, gargoyles, servants, and the strange bloated boodlickers would mind their own businesses.

A far cry from the chaotic mess of Yharnam.

Cainhurst quickly found its way to his heart as a second home, becoming a place of comfort alongside the Hunter's Dream. Even the frigid winds had become a nice touch to the empty castle.

Maybe even now it was higher on the list than the Hunter's Dream, it felt as if he had lived his entire life here. A knight in service to the Queen and responsible for the protection of the nobles that lived here.

Was this the blood of the Dreadwolf's fault? The more he reminisced about it, the harder it was beginning to recall certain parts of his life before Yharnam. He could still remember the village that he had grown up in, he could still remember his family that he cherished before anything else.

But anything other than that? It was just a massive blank that he struggled to remember.

He was exploring the vast labyrinth that was the Forbidden Woods, trying to find a way out of the seemingly endless trees that inhabited the forest. He remembered how he loved to traverse the woods near his village with…

And that was how he first found out that he was losing important things in his life. His best friend would often accompany him in their trips into the woods, often leading the way as he triumphantly declared his power and letting his loud words echo out. The way he carried himself was unlike any person that he had encountered, even in Yharnam.

A name that he should've been able to recall perfectly but he all he could draw were blanks.

The shock was so much that he didn't even see his impending death at the hands of a gargantuan snake.

And that's where the Good Hunter found himself at, sitting on one of the castle's ramparts that overlooked the main courtyard. His face was scrunched up in concentration as he tried to piece his past back together. A notebook to his side with all the details that he could scrounge up.

And judging by how empty the book was, it was safe to say that he wasn't having any luck.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the hunter let out an irritated sigh as he failed to find anything new. In a rare fit of anger he grabbed the book and threw it as hard as he could, watching as the book got miniscule by the second as it descended before getting swallowed up by the snow blanketed ground.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Even if his mind was preoccupied with trying to remember things, his senses were still sharp as he leveled a glare at the figure watching him.

"No, I thought it would be wise to give you some space before approaching you." Even if their times meeting together were short, he was confident enough to know that the Bloody Crow had a smug look underneath his metal mask. "I never expected someone like you to succumb to such anger like that."

"What can I say," He snapped back as he redirected his attention back forward. He brought his legs that were dangling from the side of the castle ramparts up to his chest and leaning his arms on top of them. There was no fear of falling off, where he was sitting was more than big enough to hold his size.

Besides it's not like death was a hindrance for him anymore.

"We're humans aren't we? We all mess up don't we?" He mumbled as he leaned his head forward, covering his mouth with his arms.

He had expected some sort of snarky comment from his fellow knight but the Bloody Crow just chuckled, "Yes, I suppose we do." He walked up and leaned his back against the rampart, the two facing opposite directions with neither speaking a word to the other, letting the other to soak up the silence.

It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, no it was just a silent answer from the Bloody Crow that he knew exactly the way that the young hunter was feeling.

Eventually the Good Hunter broke the silence, "So I'll end up forgetting everything? Everything about me that I thought defined me will be gone in a puff of smoke."

"The sacred blood that flows through us royal knights is special, granting us strength and speed unmatched by any hunter. However such strength must come at a price." Idly bringing up his own special Chikage, the Bloody Crow's tone grew soft as he remembered his own days. The blade was similar to his own in design, a crow instead of a wolf engraved unto the sheathe.

"It was rough for me as well, my beginning days as the Crow was quite jarring. The previous Crow was a female knight, how do you think I felt when I was receiving memories of a female knight?"

Yes that would be quite disturbing, still the revelation of the Crow's experiences did bring a small smile to the distressed hunter's covered mouth. Camaraderie was rare to find in Yharnam, hunters tended not to work well with others lest they fall to bloodlust and kill the other.

It was nice to be able to talk normally with someone that was similar to you.

"It's not a very pleasant feeling, to have everything taken away from us." The masked knight turned his gaze towards the troubled Dreadwolf. "But there are some things that not even blood can take from us, remember that."

The Good Hunter tilted his head to look at his fellow knight with interest. "What memories did you retain then?" He asked curiously.

"Nothing too important," The Bloody Crow deflected the question as he crossed his arms beneath his cloak. Tilting his head upward, he let out a small laugh. "Though some of them are not particularly nice to remember."

Speaking of his cloak, the Good Hunter had a question that always nagged him ever since meeting his fellow royal knight. He didn't seem the sort to wear clothing that he might've stolen from a dead corpse, there was a reason why he was wearing the same cloak as Eileen.

And he intended to find out.

"Mind answering why you have a feathered cloak like that? You don't strike me as the person to be wearing that unless it held some sentimental value." He gave a sideward glance, gauging the masked knight for an answer.

A small period of silence followed as the hunter feared he might've gone beyond what their relationship was. They were technically nothing more than acquaintances with their encounters being few, but it felt as if he had known him for his entire life.

"So Eileen is still flapping her wings? That old crow still in this business of hers, stuck to her ideals." Rummaging through his cloak, the Bloody Crow brought out a weathered Crow Hunter badge. He traced the edge of the antique badge as he heaved a tired sigh.

"I was just like you, coming to Yharnam from a place far far away. Came to the bustling city of the healing blood in search of a new life. But you could only get far if you were affiliated with the Healing Church or you were loaded with riches, which I had neither of. So I quickly became a street rat that had to steal in order to survive."

"Then one day I just happened to steal the wallet of a certain Crow Hunter," The Bloody Crow chuckled as he thought back to that day. He remembered getting corned in the alleyway by the hunter before getting his ass kicked.

"Eileen?" The Good Hunter asked.

"Heaven's no, I wouldn't meet her until I was a certified Crow. The Crow Hunter's wallet that I just so happened to steal saw some potential in me and offered me a way out of my street rat life."

"I accepted and the Crow Hunter took me under his wing, taught me all there was to being a hunter" He resisted the urge to snicker at the pun he had just made. "And the rest is history." He finished, placing his badge back inside his cloak. He may have rejected the calling of the Crows, but the badge still held some sentimental value in him.

"And why did you leave?"

The words that would come out of the ex-crow hunter would mark a dark shift in the Good Hunter's life in Yharnam from that point onward. The naive image that he had built up would be ruthlessly shattered in front of his own eyes.

"Because you cannot save everyone."

"Authorities are advising citizens to stay indoors this night following the horrible attack on Fuyuki's harbor. The cause of the attack is still unknown to investigators but the government has assured us that everything is under control. However we still advise citizens to stay at home and report anything suspicious to your local police station."

"We will now be going on commercial break and once we return will have a special guest here to talk about the value of the grails that have been popping up all around the city as-". The TV anchor's voice was cut off as it was turned off.

Irisviel von Einzbern let out a tired sigh as she slumped against the back of the couch. Night had descended and with it the recommencement of the Holy Grail War. She knew the danger of what the Holy Grail brought, she knew these risks very well but…

She didn't expect tragedy to strike them so soon.

"Irisviel is everything alright?" Saber worryingly asked. The servant had taken it as her duty to be with her, even in the safety of the Einzbern castle. The castle was a magical fortress, with multiple boundary fields surrounding the territory, it was the safest place in Fuyuki for the homunculus .

But this was a Holy Grail War after all, no place was truly safe.

In response she just gave a tired smile. "The situation isn't so good right now." Ever since the events of the harbor, things weren't looking up. They had returned back to the castle expecting to hear back from Kiritsugu about their next plan.

They weren't expecting to see Kiritsugu pacing around, and it had been the first time in a while she had seen him so shaken up. He might've hid it well from Saber but she could tell that Maiya's disappearance was weighing heavily on him.

She knew that he had a lot on his shoulders, the weight of the world would soon be his burden and in order for his wish to be fulfilled, she wouldn't be there for him when he would need it the most.

He needed to be strong, even when she no longer could be strong he needed to be for the sake of the world that he fought for.

For Illya.

"Do we know who might've taken Maiya?" Artoria had a few suspects in mind on who might've done the deed but just recklessly charging in would be costly. With Maiya's kidnapping they needed to change how they approached things.

The Einzbern homunculus just shook her head. "For all we know Assassin might've taken her," And considering the man that was closely affiliated with the servant was someone that they were trying to avoid at all costs, entertaining that thought wasn't a fun one.

"What about Lancer? We both know that his master isn't exactly the honorable one."

Saber shook her head. "I do not believe that Lancer would allow that sort of action to be taken." Diarmuid was just like her, a knight serving their master so that they would be the victors of the Holy Grail War. And both knew that it was only through honor that they would be victorious.

Attacking from the shadows was cowardice.

"Then the only one who would do this would be…" Irisviel trailed off as Artoria's eyes narrowed.

"Caster."

The homunculus just nodded her head. The Victorian theme servant was definitely the wildcard out of the bunch. The way that he regarded everything nonchalantly as if he had been taking a stroll through the park.

The way his blood red eyes would fall on you and you didn't know if he was amused or planning your death.

And that didn't shake off the feeling of something wrong about him, but she couldn't point a finger at what was. There was just something off about him that the grail within her couldn't agree with.

"I do not trust him," Artoria's voice was laced with venom as she remembered how he embarrassed her at the docks. "His eyes remind me of Merlin's, uncaring of the consequences of their actions just for their own enjoyment."

But unlike her teacher, Laurence seemingly did not possess the same care for humanity than the wizard did. If humanity was to be in danger then she could trust her old mentor coming to help, even if he did say that he would only do it out of boredom.

Irisviel tilted her head in confusion at how she compared the Caster servant to the Camelot magician. She was always under the impression that the King of Knights highly valued Merlin, after all it was through him that the King of Knights got to wield Excalibur.

"How was he like?" She was curious and it was a great opportunity to forget about the oppressive atmosphere that was clouding the room.

"He was...difficult." The servant paused before deciding on an appropriate word. "He could be very helpful but at other times he would make life difficult." The prankster wizard had made it his job to make things difficult for Camelot, and most often than not his main target was none other than her.

She was glad for the Knights of The Round. She could trust them to bail her out of Merlin's 'pranks'. Those days that were spent avoiding the incubus's pranks rather than fighting for their lives brought joy to her heart. They were like a big family.

A big family that would eventually tear itself apart.

Iriviel couldn't help but giggle at the face that Artoria was making as she reminsicined the countless shenanigans of the Magus of Flowers. It was such a breath of fresh air to see such emotion on the servant's face compared to the stone facade that she usually put up.

Standing from the couch, the albino homunculus was feeling much better about things, "Saber, I'll be going to Kiritsugu right now, can I ask you to patrol the castle to make sure everything is in top condition?"

The tuxedo clad servant nodded. "Very well then Irisviel, I wish you a good night's rest then." Turning around Saber shifted into her spirit form and vacated the room.

With a smile Irisviel soon followed as she left the room to where Kiritsugu was staying. They needed to be strong, for a world of peace to be born. As she walked through the halls of the Einzbern Castle, peacefully humming a tune to herself, if she had the curiosity to look outside the many windows of the castle.

Then just maybe she could've seen the perched body of Brador on the branch of the many trees that hid the castle. It was a longshot but maybe she could've seen Caster's familiar and warned them about the intrusion, but alas she continued onward without any worry.

With his reconnaissance complete, the beast garbed assassin began to ring his bell, the jingle enveloping him in a blood red hue as he vanished without a trace from the forest.

And in a mountain range not too far away from the Einzbern Castle, the Bloody Crow nodded his head in confirmation to Laurence. The Caster bringing up his hand and snapping his fingers together, the snap loudly heard throughout the forest.

And with it the forest suddenly teeming with activity.

"Kiritsugu are you okay?" Irisviel asked as she softly knocked on the door. She didn't want to spook her lover anymore than he already was.

"You can enter Irisviel." He called back in confirmation, letting Irisviel open the door to enter the room that he was occupying.

The wall opposite of the door was completely covered by a map of Fuyuki. The city map was filled with notes of anything that was useful to them. Notes ranging from where mysterious reports were being made, advantageous spots that he and Maiya could've had vantage points and assassinate their targets, even some possible locations to where the masters were staying as their base of operations.

The Matou and Tohsaka families were easy enough to locate, they were comfortable using their family estate as their headquarters. The ancient buildings had so many boundary fields defending their territory that it was easy to pinpoint their locations.

Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald was not so hard to locate either, it was just the simple task of following him back to the Hyatt Hotel where he turned the top floors into his personal fortress. Waver Velvet was much harder to find, favoring a more hidden location to set up base.

If his servant was as loud as he showed himself to be back at the docks then they would just need to wait until the King of Conquerors made a big enough racket to be followed from. Assassin's master was still under the protection of the Church so the only servant left was…

Caster.

It was impossible to discern where the blood hungry servant could've had his base set up in. Favoring teleportation as his method of getting from place to place you really couldn't track him very well.

But there was one flaw that all Caster's shared. That they favored large spaces for their workshops and there were only a few large locations in the city that could hide the magical signatures of a workshop. So it was only a matter of time until the location of Caster's workshop was discovered.

Irisviel spotted Kiritsugu looking at the wall with intent, scrutinizing every detail placed on the wall, ensuring that nothing was wrong or forgotten. Maiya's sudden disappearance had him on edge that he was ensuring nothing surprised him anymore.

"Iri I…" He began, not turning around to face her. He didn't wish for her to see how scared he was feeling right now as he clenched his fists to try and control his emotions.

Unfortunately Irisviel was able to see right through him. She silently approached him from behind and without hesitation slipped her arms through his and hugged him. She made no comment on how badly the Magus Killer was shaking.

Contrary to popular belief Kiritsugu was not a cold individual. Yes he might seem like that first glance but once you got to know him he was just very hesitant in opening up to others. He was a very kind man once you got past the mask that was known as the Magus Killer.

The act of having her arms wrapped around him set Kiritsugu off. "Iri what if I was to abandon everything and just run...would you come with me?"

Her voice was muffled as he buried her face in the back of his jacket. "And what about Illya? She's still stuck at the castle."

"Then I'll kill anyone in my path and rescue her." He coldly stated. He would gladly kill hundreds if that meant the two were safe. "And then...then I'll dedicate my life to caring for you two!" His voice was beginning to shake.

"Are you sure we can escape?" She asked, fully knowing what the answer was.

"Of course we can!" He argued as tried to deny the facts laid before him, his face quivering with barely controlled restraint. "It's not too late!"

"You're lying." Kiritsugu's eyes opened in shock as he felt himself getting turned around to face a teary eyed Irisviel. Even if he was taller than her and much stronger, she was someone that he couldn't resist.

"That's a lie," She pressed her face against his chest, the Magus Killer not minding the tears that were staining his chest. "You wouldn't turn your back on the Holy Grail. You would judge yourself for turning your back on the world and it would be the death of you." Gently moving his arms, he wrapped them around her as the two shared a moment of weakness together.

For each victory that they achieved did not mean one step closer to salvation.

It would mean their time together was coming to a close.

"I've already had to sacrifice you, but Maiya as well? How many more loved ones must die for my wish to come true?!" His mind drifted to all those that he lost, to the deaths that he could've prevented.

His hands were covered in blood, there was no denying that.

But for the sake of Illya, for the sake of Irisviel he had to push onward. He couldn't spit on the graves of the dead. He owed them that much at the very least.

"We believe in you, we believe in the world that you are trying to create." Reaching up Irisviel cupped Kiritsugu's face as she gave him a gentle smile. "You're not alone, please don't forget about that."

Kiritsugu smiled back as the two found solace within each other. The two would've loved nothing more than to spend the rest of their lives like this.

Alas fate comes knocking sooner or later.

A sudden jolt coursed through Irisviel, her face displaying her shock. Something that Kiritsugu picked up as he knew what it meant. "An attack?"

She nodded as the pair separated from each other. "This sensation, it's different from the other servants." While each servant incurred a different reaction from the Grail within her, only one servant had a reaction so different from the rest of the others.

"It's Caster!"

Kiritsugu's eyes opened in shock for a second before he steeled them. "Iri, get a long range crystal ball."

Saber soon burst into the room, already dressed in her armor as she had felt Caster approaching the castle grounds. As the servant burst into the room, the two had already begun preparing for battle.

Kiritsugu was checking all of his weapons. Ranging from automatics to his trump card, his Thompson Contender. It might prove ineffective against servants but it did not hurt to be prepared.

"There he is." Irisviel was concentrating in trying to locate the servant. Through the crystal ball the occupants of the room had a clear view of the forest.

Which was currently brimming with beasts of all shapes and sizes. From regular wolves to burly bone armored bears, all seemed to come right out of a horror story. The beasts marched on with purpose as salvia fell from their jaws, making their hunger known to them.

And in the middle of the pack, followed by a massive bipedal wolf-like creature, was the servant himself. A relaxed look was in his eyes as had both his arms behind his back. It seems that the loss of his arm the night before was just a minor hindrance.

Without skipping a beat he looked upward to one of the many branches overhead, an amused look in his eyes as he locked gazes with his target. His bladed tail rose up from underneath his cloak and began to wag behind its owner.

It did not take a genius to know who he was looking at.

"He knows we're watching him!" Irisviel called out in shock.

"Greetings Saber and company. It must be quite a shock to see me so soon but I simply had to return something that I believe that you have lost." Snapping his fingers, a chained Maiya was pushed harshly towards him by Brador.

The chains were only restraining her arms behind her back and it looked as if she had not been punished in Caster's captivity. But judging by the venom in her eyes her captivity was something that she did not enjoy.

"Maiya!" Kiritsugu grit his teeth together, resisting the urge to jump down there and save her.

"Does this not seem like a tale ripped straight out of the fairytales King of Knights? The dark lord and his army comes to attack the King with a hostage in order to declare victory." He reached out and harshly grabbed the chains of Maiya, bringing her closer to him.

"Irisviel!" Saber cried out in alarm.

"I must say that she is a fine woman." Cupping her chin with his clawed hand, making sure that his metal claws did not mar her face, he leaned in closer. "The Magus Killer certainly knows how to pick his company."

Kiritsugu clenched his fists in silent anger. He calmed himself before he did something wrong out of anger. If he wanted to get Maiya back he needed to think about this whole situation methodically.

Even if it meant playing this servant's sick game.

"But she does not interest me." Pushing the woman forward, Caster gripped the chains with a harder grip. "Say Saber, let's make this interesting for the both of us. A game only played by one player is drab and boring compared to one played by two."

"I free your little friend over here from her chains." With a strong grip, Caster tore through the iron chain that was bounding the mercenary, the destruction rippling up the chain and freeing Maiya from her restraints.

"And I give her let's say a minute to run as far as she can from here." To further show his willingness to go through with his plan, he motioned for the mercenary to run away. "For the duration of that one minute I will not do anything that will harm her."

"However…" The Cleric Beast that was standing passively behind Laurence stepped forward, leaning its head down to allow the servant to reach up and pet the beast's head, the blood hungry beast growling in affection.

"Once that one minute is up, then I'll have no choice to unleash my horde into the forest." At the mention of hunting, the beasts began to snarl viciously. "And I'll have you know that these beasts haven't been fed in quite a while."

The sudden change in atmosphere had Maiya backing up slowly as Caster bore his red eyes into her in sadistic glee. "Starting now," He brought a finger up to begin the count.

"One."

He brought up another finger.

"Two."

Taking the cue, Maiya began to run as fast as she could in the opposite direction. She was quite athletic, being a mercenary demanded that she be in top physical condition as humanly possible. She could give most professional athletes a run for their own money.

But animals could outrun normal humans with ease, and a magically enhanced one would probably outrun her without much trouble, so she needed to put as much distance as possible between her and Caster's beast army.

"Do hurry along Saber, it would be a shame if the knight in shining armor was too slow to save the damsel in distress from my beasts." Laurence taunted as he laughed in amusement.

"Irisviel." Saber turned to the homunculus for permission to go out.

"Go." Was all she said, and Saber did not need to hear anymore as she was already racing through the castle halls. With her speed it did not take her long to be running through the forest, her mind racing as she tried to locate Maiya before the minute was up.

Even with her senses as a servant, she did not have the capabilities to search out people with her senses alone. Assassins and Casters certainly could without trouble.

Unfortunately for her a loud bang resounded through the forest, which was then followed by a vicious shriek that ripped through the silence that was joined by lesser roars.

"It's already over." Artoria thought grimly before going faster. She could faintly hear the horde of beasts rushing towards the castle. The rumbling of the earth as the blood hungry beasts moved forward. She could only now hope that Maiya was past her now and not in between the servant and the encroaching beasts.

It did not take her long to meet her first opponent, or rather her first group of enemies.

A group of wolves had surrounded her, a textbook strategy. They had sprung out of nowhere, probably hiding in the shadows provided by the trees and the moon. The group of about eight wolves jumped her at the same time, fangs bared as they intended to rip into her.

She did not even break a sweat as she moved Excalibur with speed surpassing those of the wolves, not a single one of them got close to her as the divine blade made short work of them in a single stroke.

The wolves' fur offered no protection as they were ruthlessly slaughtered, their blood painting the trees around them. Without skipping a beat Saber pushed forward, any beasts that dared to be in her path meeting the same fate as their brethren.

It did not matter what beast she encountered, from monstrous bears with bone like plating, to snakes who could spit out acid, scourge beasts that could tear off trees with their paws.

They all met their end by Excalibur.

It did not matter what strategies they might've employed. Strategies meant for groups to easily destroy one opponent, strategies ranging from ambushes to coordinated attacks. Even flanking maneuvers crumbled under Artoria's strength.

Numbers meant nothing to a servant who could level a city if they so wished it.

She gave no remorse to the carnage that she left behind, she didn't become the King of Knights by being a pacifist. History often overlooked the hills of bodies that she left behind on the battlefield.

Her mind flashed back to the final battle of Camlann.

The once green pastures of Camlann were now painted with the blood of the dead. The once beautiful hills that covered the land could no longer be seen as the bodies of countless knights was so much that they covered anything as far as the eye can see.

She let out a tired, painful sigh as she slew another knight turned against her. She was standing on one of the few hills that wasn't completely covered in bodies, that didn't mean that the corpses weren't little as there was certainly enough to make one nauseous.

The King of Knights looked down to see the cause of such a slaughter, the reason why such violence needed to be inflicted on the lives of so many.

Her own Knight.

Her very own flesh and blood.

Mordred Pendragon.

The former Knight of the Round looked up at her, brandishing Clarent as she prepared to strike. However Artoria wasn't concerned about her son moving closer to her, preparing to strike her down.

She was struggling to wonder why the knight started this in the first place.

What possible reason could justify this carnage?

Why?

Her flashback was cut short by a pained female scream, her heart dropping as she recognized whose scream that was. "Maiya!" She shouted as she shot forward with astounding speed and in no time burst into a large clearing.

There in the middle of the clearing was Caster, who had a chokehold on Maiya and was lifting her up on the ground. The mercenary was doing her best to fight her way out of his grip, trying to beat the servant's arm from his grip and kicking as hard as she could against his chest.

Which was like the equivalent of throwing rocks at a wall.

"Let her go Caster!" She roared as she readied her invisible sword. Her feet ready to go if she needed to step in and save Maiya.

Laurence shifted his attention from Maiya to Artoria, his eyes staring into her, almost like he was thinking about something before he just shrugged his shoulders. "Sure why not."

And threw Maiya straight at Saber.

Reacting quickly Artoria moved forward and caught the flung Maiya. "Are you okay Maiya?" She carefully asked, her eyes never leaving Caster in fear that he would take advantage of Maiya still being in her hold.

However if her focus wasn't so directed on Caster then she would've noticed that the mercenary was being strangely quiet.

But Artoria didn't make that connection as she continued talking. "Get behind me and run straight as fast as you can, I've dealt with all the beasts so the path back to the castle should be clear."

However she was beginning to get wary when Maiya had yet to answer her. "Maiya?" She called out hesitatingly.

Just then Maiya's back began to rumble as something seemed to try and claw its way out of her back. Saber could only open her mouth before Maiya exploded in a gory shower of blood.

Artoria's eyes widened in horror as she witnessed her master's closest confidant just explode in a shower of blood. There was only blood, none of the clothes that the mercenary remained, not even bones could be seen.

Laurence smirked beneath his mask before throwing his hand out, snapping his fingers. On command the blood that had once been Maiya lashed out at Saber, forming a set of blood chains that latched themselves onto the servant.

Saber could do nothing as she found herself being bound by numerous sets of blood chains. The chains wrapped themselves tightly against her before anchoring themselves to the ground.

"Did you think that I would so easily give your beloved mercenary back so easily?" Laurence laughed as he made his way closer to the bound Saber. Said servant was currently glaring at Caster as she grit her teeth in anger.

Maybe he should've told her that Maiya wasn't actually dead, the Maiya that she had just held was just a dummy clone that he had prepared for this situation. The real Maiya was currently nearing the castle, having made a far enough gap that she would be safe before his beasts caught up.

But he wasn't going to reveal that useful bit of information to the servant. In order for his plan to work he needed to have this monster of a servant charging at him like a bull.

"Caster you-!" Saber glared hatefully at the servant, her form shaking as she radiated anger at how easily he laughed off the 'death' of Maiya. The grip on Excalibur tightened as her magical resistance skill came to life.

Sensing the sudden burst of energy, Laurence backed away right as a rippling gale was exuded from her figure. The force of it was strong enough to destroy the blood chains that had once bounded her.

"On this sword I promise," With her body being free, Artoria brandished Excalibur at Laurence. "That I will destroy you! You monster!"

Laurence broke into a laughing fit at hearing her words. "Monster? Oh how your words hurt me Saber." The moonlight illuminated his red eyes as he looked at the servant in front of him. "How strange you call me monster yet I have shown more humanity than you ever did as the King of Camelot."

His tail rose up as he reached down and drew his Chikage, the pristine steel already covered in red scarlet blood. A bloodthirsty look was in his eyes as he continued. "But I have embraced my humanity, becoming this so-called monster you see in front of you."

All was silent as the two warriors sized the other up, the moon serving as the witness to the inevitable battle of skill and morality.

"For it is in human nature to become the beast sleeping inside of them."

Police Captain Nijima was not having a great night. He was at home having a peaceful dinner with his family when he had been called in for an emergency. He had promised to be home that week for one dinner with his family and the looks that his two daughters had given him had hurt.

So it was safe to say that he was not in the greatest of moods when he drove up to the scene.

"Alright, one of you better have a great reason for me leaving my family's dinner in a hurry." The middle-aged man glared at the two officers that had called him in.

"Sorry sir, we really wish we didn't have to but…" The first officer's voice trailed off until the second officer picked up where he had left off.

"We don't know how to exactly approach this situation." He explained as Nijima cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"I think it's better if we showed you." The first officer stepped out of the way to show what he was talking about. Captain Nijima's eyes soon widened as he saw what the emergency was.

Fuyuki city was a lovely city to live in, one of the best places in Japan to live in. The Fuyuki bridge was a tourist attraction that many flocked to the city to see. Captain Nijima had lived his entire life in Fuyuki, rising up the ranks in police to where he is today, finding love and having a family.

But never in his entire life had he seen this.

Fuyuki City had two massive highways, one for each of the divided halves of the city. One for Miyama City and the other for Shinto City. Apart from the harbor and airport, this was one of the ways that people traveled in and out of Fuyuki City.

And the Shinto City highway was currently covered in the biggest landslide that he had ever seen.

This wasn't the case of wet mud blocking one part of the highway but it was like someone had shoveled a massive part of the mountain closest to the highway and dumped it on the roads. This was going to be a nightmare to clean up.

Shifting his attention, the captain noticed the rather massive traffic jam that had only been building up ever since the highway got blocked by the landslide.

"How long has this traffic been building up?" He asked his fellow officers.

"Just quite recently sir," The first officer answered. "If I had to guess probably an hour."

That was good, this disaster was fairly recent but that begged another problem on how to proceed. Normally he would've asked those stuck in traffic to please be patient and remain calm as they tried to figure out a solution.

But ever since the mysterious attack on the Mion Harbor, the captain wasn't so sure that leaving so many people stuck in one place was a good idea. He didn't want to think this was deliberate but a landslide of this magnitude didn't happen naturally, not without some serious rain.

Fuyuki City hadn't had a serious rain period in a while so this was beginning to get fishy.

"We need to move these people as fast as possible." The captain brought a hand to his chin in contemplation as he tried to figure out the best plan possible.

"Sir how about we use the Miyama highway?" The second officer asked. "I think there's a connecting highway not too far behind from here that we could use to redirect the traffic from here."

Now that...wasn't a bad idea at all. In fact it was the only plan that they could use. "Alright then, you two start pulling in all available police officers here. We're gonna need all the manpower available to have this run smoothly. As for me I'll be making some calls to Traffic Control before joining the effort."

The two officers nodded before moving to do their respective tasks. Captain Nijima pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing full well that this was going to be one long night.

In a mountain range responsible for the now ruined Shinto highway, Ryunnosuke whistled seeing the massive traffic pile up. The red headed master could be seen with a pile of explosives near him.

"Hey, I think we did a pretty good job here!" Turning around he saw that the Bloody Crow was already leaving, alongside the entourage of beasts that was meant to guard him.

"Hey wait for me!" He yelled before running to catch up with them. As he left the crime scene, there was only one thing that was bugging the serial killer master. Laurence had given what he considered the most important task of the plan but…

What was so important about causing a traffic jam?