Chapter 48: Double Tap
I do not own Fate/Stay Night and stuffs.
o. o. o.
Lorelei sat at her desk and went over the paperwork she had to deal with. Despite the mess in Fuyuki and the public mess that holding Waver Velvet was causing here, it still did not excuse her from her duties as Vice-Director of the Clocktower.
It was incredibly dull work, and often times she'd put it to the side to hunt Apostle Ancestors, but she nonetheless was used to it. Having been raised to exemplify perfection within her home's confines, petty things such as boredom posed no risk to the quality and efficiency of her work.
She didn't so much as flinch when the bounded fields informed her that she was about to have an unscheduled guest. Normally she'd debate for a moment whether or not the fool should even be graced with her attention, but given the current circumstances it was likely important.
The door opened to reveal one of the men that kept regular contact with the Overseer and cleanup crews in Fuyuki. Thaumaturgy was all and good, but finances also needed to be taken into account for an operation this big.
"Well?" Her lone word was not a question but an absolute order. There was a reason for him being here outside of the three hour interval she had established ever since word of the War's instability reached their ears. She wasn't supposed to hear from anyone for another hour and thirteen minutes.
"Solomon has reported that your dog is moving tonight." The man stood straight at attention.
Her eyes narrowed. Not only has this idiot brought up the mistake working for the Church, but he dared assume that she didn't know of this already. "For your sake, I do hope that you did not come here just to tell me that."
He shifted on his feet just slightly. "No, that was merely what took priority on the report ma'am. We've also been losing contact with our sources on the ground that were part of the cleanup crew."
That had her attention. "Go on."
"It started a few days ago. Slowly. We've lost nearly half our people. At first we thought that it might have been Caster and Assassin's doing since they seem to be targeted in certain areas near them, and silenced before any word reached us. However, the past night or two the rate's accelerated tremendously. Caster should be preparing for Emiya, not wasting time on the help."
"All the Servants are either with the boy or enslaved to Caster. They're too preoccupied with one another to waste time on the rabble." Her eyes narrowed. The crews in Fuyuki had been ordered to stay away from the fighting. An all-out battle involving eight Servants would yield tremendous destruction everywhere. Trying to observe the fight was pointless and lead to wasted resources. Anyone that even glimpsed at the management of the Grail knew that.
Caster shouldn't even care about the cleanup. Shirou and the Servants with him would be her greatest priority.
Even if Shirou did turn against the Association, she knew that he had a soft spot for those living there to cause such trouble for everyone. Killing the crews there was counterproductive to his goals, and it took too much time and focus to do while Caster was still about.
By process of elimination… it could only be a third party. Either Solomon, or something else.
Either way, there was something going on in Fuyuki other than the War.
Someone didn't want something to be seen there.
o. o. o.
"You know, it would be a lot easier for everyone if you simply submitted."
Rider panted under the strain of having another layer of commands imposed onto her. Her mind was her own, but body more or less belonged to Caster.
The Witch stood over the helpless woman with a mixed expression, as though she didn't know what she was supposed to feel. "Why do you hold out, Rider? You don't truly believe that the boy is going to go out of his way for you, a monster of all things, do you?"
Rider didn't really care how things ended up for her. She had given up on herself long before she had been summoned. Caster was far too late to claim that much.
Sakura reminded her so much of herself it was almost painful. An innocent child that did not deserve the fate she had received. Torture and misuse by those that condemned her. Almost predetermined to be a monster long before the transformation occurred. It was almost like looking in a mirror…
… Only. Only, there had been someone for Sakura. Someone who swore that she would not become a monster. Someone that didn't care what she was becoming, what had been done to here, and only saw the person that desperately needed help.
And that person, despite the impossible odds, had succeeded at great risk to himself, not once hesitating in the slightest.
And that person, had sworn to her that he would save her too. He didn't care if she was a Monster, or a tool, or a slave.
It didn't matter if she had given up on herself. Rider knew that the boy would go out of his way to help her whether she wanted it or not, or if it was the right thing to do, or the smart thing.
And the titans save those that got in his way, because the Gods sure as hell wouldn't.
He wasn't a hero that saves. You couldn't call someone irrational or single minded like that a hero, especially if the ones he is trying to rescue risk an absurd number of human lives. With tainted vampire blood and violent methods, it would be more accurate to consider him a monster that saves. A creature that goes out of his way to ensure the wellbeing of only those he considers worth his time, regardless of what they were.
A small part in her heart was somewhat angry that someone like him didn't exist back when she was alive. Perhaps if he had, she and her sisters would have not suffered as they had.
And yet, another part wondered what it was like to be saved in the first place. Perhaps that morbid curiosity was why she still provided as much resistance as she did.
"It doesn't matter." Rider rasped out, her throat healed enough from her yelling to give an answer. "He will do as he wishes regardless."
"Humph. So you've resigned yourself to playing to tool, the pet that goes with whoever the victor is. How disappointing. I expected more. No wonder this reminded me of nothing more than training an animal." The Witch seemed to have lost interest in her. "Go to Assassin. He won't last long without someone competent with him.
Wordlessly, Rider slightly reveled in the bindings around her body vanishing, the wounds and marks fading away thanks to her nature as a Servant. She wasted little time going to her station, if only to put more space between herself and her "Master".
Caster frowned. She had hoped to completely break in Rider in order to gain another mental advantage on her enemy when they saw her, but it was apparently harder to crush the spirit of an inhuman monster than she had anticipated. She would have done it to Assassin, but the fool was already broken by his own means. She was not one to beat a dead horse.
"Quite a conversationalist, that one." A new voice droned from the shadows of her Workshop.
"You are not much better. I should have sown your mouth shut once I was done with you." The Servant didn't bother didn't bother to turn around.
"That merely means that my services are still in need." The newcomer chuckled, amused. "How rude. You were far more eager for my aid not too long ago. Polite t-urk?!"
Caster didn't bother to turn around to know that the latest annoyance was being swallowed by a black cloud of corrupted power. "Tools are best silent and do as they're told. They have no other purpose, or need to speak for that matter."
Moments later her workshop was silent save for the faint hum of prana emanating from her encased Master.
She stared at the entrapped girl. She truly did sympathize for her. They both were ensnared by the machinations of others. Both had been ignorant of the ways of the world. Both deserved better.
For a moment, Caster made to speak to her captive, to start a one sided conversation that would no doubt serve as some feeble attempt to justify her actions and make herself feel better.
She stopped, rid herself of the notion, and then turned back to her work. There were more important things to do. She didn't need to prove herself to anyone. She didn't need anyone. People were just weaknesses. All she needed were tools.
She'd do this by herself, for herself. Just like always.
o. o. o.
"Rin."
Rin turned to look at Sakura as they all walked to the temple. Ever since leaving her home, not one person in their group had said a word. The two had been at the front near Shirou was for the most part, but they knew they'd be splitting up soon. "Mmm?"
She didn't fidget or show her nervousness, but the Sakura's eyes did flicker in a way that did betray her insecurities. "Why doesn't anyone talk to me about Archer?"
The elder sister held back a wince and held back the urge to see how everyone else reacted. It was no secret that Shirou was Sakura's mental crutch, her pillar of stability. Archer, in contrast, seemed to do nothing but make people argue and distrust one another every time he opened his mouth, intentionally or not. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that the Counter Guardian had actually failed and or abandoned everyone in his timeline. Having those two in particular hold any extended form of conversation could potentially devastate the fragile cohesion everyone's managed to scrounge together for that night.
It was a miracle that Sakura held off talking about the subject for so long. Everyone had been present in her home so Shirou could go over the plan, whether they liked it or not. It had been the first time Sakura had actually seen Archer, and it took only a fraction of an instant to tell who the Servant was. Thankfully she realized there must have been a reason why no one brought him up in conversation, but the girl's curiosity had no doubt been perpetually chipping away at her self-control since then.
"It's frustratingly complicated in a way only Shirou could manage," Rin answered in a halfhearted tone that woefully attempted to play down just how bad it was. Not that it would work. Sakura was far smarter than most assumed. "We'll talk about it later, ok? Just… just don't expect Archer to be the same. He's been through a lot."
Her sister nodded, barely managing to smile in understanding and let the subject drop. If Rin was uncomfortable with talking about it, then it wouldn't do to continue with the conversation until the time and place were right. Certainly not right before the final fight.
Shirou didn't say anything from a few steps ahead of them, but it was clear that he had paid attention to what they were talking about. Dressed in his coat, shroud, and combat clothes, he looked as cool and calm as could be with his hands in his pockets and eyes focused forward.
"Caster. Are we being watched yet?" He broke the silence without changing pace or looking back. They were close to the Temple now.
"From a distance. The birds I summoned have intercepted and destroyed any and all familiars that may have gotten close to us." The Princess admitted. "Rider's Bounded Field is a few blocks from here."
He nodded. "Start setting everything up. We won't have the time for it later."
She didn't bother to nod or do anything to confirm that she heard him. Instead she began to chant in a language that was unpronounceable by everyone else there.
"Is there anything inspiring you want to tell us before we split apart? Something to raise morale?" Illya asked curiously.
"This is going to suck and you should expect horrible things to happen to us at the very minimum so don't let your guard down," he answered flatly. If it wasn't probably true, one of them would have probably laughed at his response.
"Not what I was going for Onii-chan. I was looking for inspiring, not deadly warning," the albino grumbled.
"Inspiration leads to overconfidence." Luvia crossed her arms and looked ahead at their destination. This wasn't the first time she was walking to a hellish experience and it wouldn't be the last, but this no doubt would definitely rank on her top five once she made sure she died of old age. "It's better to be cool and patient in a situation like this than hyped up and liable to overlook critical details. While I would have chosen more tasteful words, it doesn't make him any less correct on the matter."
"Shit happens. No plan ever survives the enemy." Archer shrugged from the back. "Not that we should disregard this one. It actually has a chance of working."
Several people looked back at Archer with skeptical expressions. While he had been rude about it, the fact still stood that he had essentially given their plan of attack his seal of approval.
And given what the strategy was…
"Done. I'll now begin summoning." The Princess stopped her chanting, allowing a faint glow hover over all the humans there.
She wasted no time, as an intricate arcane circle etched in magma red power manifested below her. It would take her a minute or two to bring forth enough bulls to fulfil their needs, but there were enough Servants there to protect her in the meantime.
"We'll split up when she's done. The longer we wait, the more power Caster accumulates." Shirou had a point. Over the past couple of days, the number of people that had been drained dry by the Witch's concoctions had skyrocketed. The public believed there was a sudden contagious outbreak of some unknown virus going about, but the panic caused regardless was not something that would easily be managed if things went for much longer.
"I can feel the prana she has from here." Saber frowned as she looked at the mountain. "It's sickening."
Indeed, even though the natural bounded field of the Temple combined with the Servant's spells should have contained all the power she's stolen since she arrived there, it was clear to everyone that something was horrifyingly amiss with the location. The power itself has been clearly corrupted and stagnant, giving it almost a putrid sensation that had them reeling as if they were smelling the remains of a warzone.
"Just another reason why we should finish this as soon as possible." Illya remained impassive. She was used to the smells of death and decay. She had been exposed to more than a fair share of bodies while being experimented on by her mother's family.
It happened from so far away that no normal human would and should have been able to detect it.
Before Illya, Sakura, Rin, Caster, or Luvia knew better, every other Servant and Shirou had moved in front of Illya in an instant with weapons brandished.
Shirou, being the one out front, had a hand held out, and manifested one of the many shields he had seen from his battle with Gilgamesh. A colorless, almost invisible film that resembled more of a lens than an actual armament.
Not a moment later, the air shook as a bullet fired from over two kilometers away hammered into the nameless treasure, screeching loudly as metal attempted to drill into unknown material. The sound disrupted everyone's ears for only a few seconds as Shirou angled his projection at an angle, and deflected the attack harmlessly into the air as a result.
He could have used Rho Aias… he was going to, actually, but this shield was chosen at the last moment. It was easier to manifest, cheaper to maintain, and normally just a C ranked defense under normal circumstances. But, it a particular quirk that made it increasingly stronger when blocking things from longer distances.
At Assassin's current distance, the thing might as well have been Rho Aias without the feedback.
Gilgamesh once apparently used it to deflect a bolt of lightning capable of wasting the city he was in that originated from the capital of a neighboring kingdom. How the golden ass knew it was coming in the first place even Shirou didn't know, but the history of it being used was still in the thing so it had to be true.
"That… that was…" Illya couldn't find her voice as she realized just what had happened.
Assassin… Kiritsugu had just tried to kill her.
Before anyone could say another word, Shirou and the Servants tensed once again and another bullet hammered into his shield. This one far stronger than the last with more speed and power behind it. The shock that came from its impact against the shield felt like a sucker punch to the humans nearby.
It took only a glimpse for those there to tell that this bullet had been Broken and temporally modified. The drilling projectile glowed erratically, and the space around it was distorted and twisted by the mystery that enhanced its performance.
Still, as powerful as the strike was, it alone could not surmount the treasure. Even as the bullet lost stability from the prana it contained and exploded, the shield stood strong, barring only a few moderate scratches on the surface.
A good chunk of the road shattered, and shards of asphalt flew in nearly every direction, but those behind the shield were not even scratched by the assault.
To his credit, Shirou only grunted slightly under the strain of the attack before it let up.
"Confident, isn't she?" Merem broke the deadly silence from the back, not at all surprised by the turn of events. "I guess she doesn't mind if I join you after all seeing as she literally did fire the first and second shots."
"So long as you don't get in the way, you can do as you wish." Shirou blew off the Vampire's offer to help as if it didn't matter while dismissing his shield. He had managed to pinpoint where Kiritsugu had been just before the second shot, but the Assassin was no longer there. There was no point in continuing a game of long range warfare while they had Archer with them, who already had a bow in hand, an arrow nocked, and aimed for a counterattack. The initial strike had failed, so all that was left was for everyone to get closer in range for a better chance.
The Twentieth Apostle Ancestor's smile widened to just beyond what a human could accomplish, his teeth becoming sharper along with his gaze. "Heh. You've gotten quite cheeky over the past couple of weeks, brat."
"I'm still nowhere near as bad as you, old man." The younger of the two didn't look back, his gaze still focused on the area where Assassin had been. No doubt he had been compelled to attack by the Witch, though whether it was actually her decision or she was tricked to do so was another story entirely.
"Someday I'll get you to respect your elders," laughed the Ancestor, not at all bothered with the situation. Shaking his head, he began to walk down the street and head to an alleyway that ran parallel to the one they were on. "Very well. I'll leave you to your devices. I eagerly expect your victory."
And with that, Merem Solomon disappeared into the night on his merry way.
"Was it wise to let him go?" Saber asked, still on guard for any more potential attacks.
"Merem's not one to follow instructions unless he has to. This isn't his fight, so there's no point in forcing him to do anything. He claimed that he was obligated to be the Overseer once Kirei died, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was just a whim of his too." Shirou clearly was not as concerned as she was. If he sounded any calmer, those there would have accused him of being bored. "He knows what we are doing, and he's probably more experienced at this sort of thing than all of us. He'll help in his own way. It's better off like this. Probably."
"That makes me feel so much better," Rin grumbled as she tried to determine where Assassin had shot at them from. She wasn't too surprised that the Servants had all managed to react to it in time, but seeing Shirou react in time with them was definitely unexpected.
Even though the physical distance between them hadn't changed, he seemed so much farther ahead of her now than he had been earlier. His back looked larger too…
"Are you alright, Illya?" Sakura turned to the target of the attack, who only now seemed to be shaking off her surprise.
"… Shirou. Kill that bitch."
And apparently replaced it with pure rage. To force Kiritsugu to shoot at her of all people was a new low that only seemed to exemplify just how desperate the woman was.
"That's the plan. Calm down. You're not as cute when you swear. Dad would be pissed to hear you talk like that," her brother chided, his tone just a hair softer than it had been earlier.
"C-c-cute?" The offhand comment caught the homunculus off guard, turning her cheeks red with embarrassment. They deepened even further in hue when she realized that he was manipulating her. "Hey! Shirou! Don't play with an innocent girl's heart like that, you insensitive jerk!"
"I'm done." Caster interrupted the conversation before it could fall apart any more than it already had, now surrounded by a good two dozen plus fire breathing bulls each the size of small trucks.
Personally, Shirou would have preferred it if she had doubled the number, but then again sometimes too many was as bad as too few. "Mmm. Then this is where we split up."
Everyone grew quiet as they realized that this could very well be the last time many of them saw one another.
It only lasted for a few moments though, as Illya materialized Berserker and had him lift her onto the back of one of the Monstrous Beasts. "Hurry up. I want to get this over with as fast as everyone else."
Luvia and Sakura sighed as they also moved to bulls of their choice and, with a little boost from some self-reinforcement magecraft, jumped onto their backs and tried to get comfortable. Sadly there were some things that even mysteries of untold lore couldn't accomplish.
"Fair warning, Emiya, I may have canceled our contract, but I'll still take the credit if you do die." Luvia gave him a look that pretty much said "Don't give me that option."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Shirou's harder to kill than most Servants. He'll be fine." Sakura smiled confidently before looking at Rin. "Be safe, Rin. Shirou can handle a beating, but I'm not so sure about you."
Shirou debated on whether or not to ask Sakura to stop insinuating that he was going to get mauled tonight. Just because he didn't need a morale boost didn't mean he enjoyed having it impaled.
The elder sister huffed in mock irritation, knowing what the younger was doing. "Don't worry about me. I'm not like this idiot. I don't look for trouble just so I can dive headfirst into it."
"Please give my Master more credit than that," Saber chided. "He has the sense to jump feet first."
"I feel so appreciated. The love is so overwhelming it's suffocating." Shirou's dead even tone cause everyone's nerves to relax even more.
"Are you done wasting time?" Archer frowned from the back, the only one there other than Berserker not sharing warm vibes with everyone.
And like that the mood darkened once again.
Shirou looked back at everyone briefly, his silver eyes almost shining through the shroud covering his head. He looked at each and every person there in the eyes, nodded, then turned around and continued to walk.
There was no point in talking any more.
With a series of heavy claps, the small herd of bulls leapt in the air, boosted by Caster's enchantments, and began to jump across the rooftops of the buildings nearby, leaving the ground forces behind.
Rin let out a slow breath and reigned in her nerves as she followed Shirou on foot next to Saber, and ignoring the two others that were with them, silently trailing them in one way or another.
She had always wanted to see what it was like to work with him on a job firsthand.
She can't believe how stupid she was back then to think that.
o. o. o.
To their credit, the Witch's forces had waited for the Princess to nullify three of Rider's sigils before finally losing patience and attacked.
It started with blowing up the top of the building that they had been on.
Archer was the only one that reacted quick enough to deflect Assassin's sniper fire while everyone was distracted from running from the collapsing structure, moving in time to prevent Luvia from getting a lobotomy with Kanchou in hand.
"Keep moving around and don't drop your guard. There's no telling what lengths Caster will go to try to get an easy win," he ordered the girls without looking back at them as they landed. His focus instead was purely on where Assassin was, roughly three blocks away.
In a single movement, the Servant of the Bow materialized his trademark weapon, drawing and releasing it more than a dozen times before the Masters behind him registered what he had done. An instant later, what appeared to be the entire floor of the building Assassin had been on, three stories from the top, had erupted as if a series of bombs had gone off in it.
"Archer!" He ducked just an instant later on that one word, barely managing to avoid getting impaled by a familiar nail and chain in the process. Already moving he turned to unleash a fresh payload at his attacker, except several gouts of fire from multiple angles beat him to the punch and immolated Rider… or at least, the location that Rider had been.
EMIYA clicked his tongue in annoyance as his eyes darted about to look for Medusa, only to momentarily freeze when he did find her one building away.
His pause was understandable, as it was both reactionary and forced.
Rider didn't have her blindfold on.
"Right off the bat. Wonderful." He grunted and shook off the tingle in his nerves. He should have seen this coming. Hell, half the people in their group had suspected that this would likely happen when they reviewed what Rider could do in the first place. Still, as many times as he had encountered it, there was no getting used to the Mystic Eyes of Petrification.
… Even if the effects were heavily diluted thanks to the Princess' enchantments on everyone earlier.
Rider didn't respond as she landed on all fours and looked at him with an unreadable gaze. She was there for the grand total of two seconds before the rooftop was completely engulfed in flames.
"I'll hold off Rider!" Caster landed next to him on top her own mount, surrounded by dozens of floating fireballs that were practically burning him from where they were lingering. "You handle Assassin! I can't keep track of him at this range by myself!"
To his credit, Archer only wasted a full second looking at the Princess as if she had grown another head in response to her sudden assertiveness, before regaining control of himself, allowing an amused chuckle to escape his lips and complying with her orders. He was just about to set things up that way himself, but she had beaten him to the punch. "Understood."
It took him two seconds to reaffirm where Assassin was, during which he avoided three more bullets and deflected a fourth that would have killed Caster had he dodged.
Once that time had passed, Assassin could no longer afford to waste time focusing on the girls as he was too preoccupied with avoiding Archer's exploding arrows.
Rider on the other hand was proving to be much more difficult as she was one of the two fastest Servants in the war. Much like during their first encounter weeks ago at Sakura's home, the Gorgon wove in and out of the attacks, appearing as little more than a purple and black blur in contrast to the white and orange flames.
Even though she was fighting against her will, there was no point in taking it easy on Rider. If they let their guards down for even a moment, the beautiful woman could and likely would exploit the opening and kill them with little time to respond. They best they could do right now was expect their opponent's skills were high enough to keep them alive as they attacked with all their might and effort.
Even when the Servant leapt from rooftop to rooftop, leaving herself essentially helpless in the middle of the air, it was almost impossible to hit her. With every spell and gout of fire that approached, she shifted her weight and wove through the sky like a stray ribbon in the wind. It was a beautiful and almost alien performance that transcended what should be possible.
Still, despite her aptitude, it was impossible for Rider to get close to the Princess. The limited ground and the gouts of flame everywhere combined with the ancient spells around the Servant made it all but impossible for Rider to get in close as things were now.
That did not mean that there were no other targets though.
"She's coming," Illya noted with an emotionless tone as she observed Rider weave and zigzag to where she, Sakura, and Luvia were situated. They were some distance from Caster, as being close to the Princess would only cause them to constantly get in the way of the spellcaster and put them directly in the line of fire. Not that it was much better being this close to the fighting.
They could feel their bodies becoming stiff and unreliable as Rider came closer, her Mystic Eyes already working their magic, pun not intended, from well over fifty meters away.
"How unreasonable. To have such a potent ability and not even be a Noble Phantasm," Luvia complained as she reached into her pocket and took out a handful of prana saturated gems, courtsey of the Princess and the leyline under Rin's home.
With a single wave of her hand, the gems sprayed out in front of the girls and hovered as if they were on a sheet of paper. Not a moment later, Rider's nail attempted to pierce through the blonde's head, but failed to get past the bounded field that the gems were generating.
In retaliation, six of the jewels that made up the defense shot forward and chased after Rider, all glowing malevolently and charged with enough power that even the Servant didn't want to risk being hit by them despite having B ranked Magic Resistance.
Luvia wasted no time throwing more gems out to expand and improve her defenses as Rider went on the defensive, avoiding not only her counterattack, but also the flames and spells generated from Caster as well. Her body was already lethargic, and her clothes felt as if they were made out of lead. However that did little to slow her down. She had dealt with far worse before, and she would no doubt have to deal with worse soon enough.
Still, she somewhat wished that the worse part would come sooner rather than later, if only to know that they were making progress…
Sakura remained silent as the world around her burned and exploded, never taking her eyes off of Rider. It had felt like an eternity since she lost her Servant, and that time seemed to have only magnified upon seeing her again. Every instance Rider came close to them or tried to make a pass, their eyes met if only for an instant. Her body froze each time, be it from guilt or the Mystic eyes she couldn't tell, but the reaction was there regardless.
She didn't hold any grudge against Rider for fighting them. It was her and Shirou's fault Rider was in that situation in the first place, and she was certain that Rider would be freed by the end of the night. Still that didn't absolve them for screwing up as badly as they did.
Even without their connection, Sakura could tell that Rider was deeply uncomfortable with all of this and was trying to come up with a way to turn this to their advantage. Despite the impassive mask she wore, it could do little to hide that from her former Master. They were too similar for Sakura to miss something like that.
But… there was something else in Rider's body language as well. Something that Sakura didn't completely understand. Fear? Alarm? Concern? Something had unsettled her enough that every now and then the Servant actually seemed to attempt to say something, only to be forced to hold back just before the first syllable was uttered. Illya, Luvia, and Caster wouldn't be able to see it, not with how fast and hectic the fighting was, but she could see it as clear as day.
More importantly, it seemed to be directed at Sakura in particular.
She and everyone else were interrupted from their current actions as the rooftop the girls were on shook violently and smoke began to rise.
Apparently Assassin had rigged the empty office building to collapse at some point. Whether it was by chance or it was on purpose was anyone's guess.
"Move!" Luvia yelled while urging the bull she was on to jump to a nearby rooftop just as the world began to go sideways.
The building they leapt to was across the street below and about two stories shorter than the one that had just been decimated. All three girls' breaths hitched as the sensation of weightlessness accompanied the leap their mounts performed without any hesitation. While common sense told them not to look down, none of them could help but do so, if only to witness the peculiar view of the more rural part of Fuyuki from just above the skyline. Complete with lights, a handful of parked cars, and the explosions that they had just avoided.
Shortly behind them, Rider followed in pursuit, chain and nail already thrown to kill.
Had the nameless weapon been of normal metal, it would have melted and shattered upon being blasted off course by several bulls that had approached the group from the side.
The girls landed to find that the Princess and her own vanguard of infernal beasts were between them and the seemingly emotionless Rider. "Try to keep me between you two whenever possible, and never let your guard down. Attack if you have to, but remember that my bulls can still tire. The night has only just started."
The Masters looked at one another warily before the sounds of the building they had just run from collapsing momentarily distracted them from behind.
To their side, more bulls from another structure were immolating the one they were on, very likely in an attempt to burn Rider as she raced and scaled up from the vertical glass face. Each and every attack shaking their new landing and unsettling everyone there.
"Shirou was right." Illya grimaced, knowing full well the accuracy of Caster's words and this was only the beginning of their trial. "This does suck."
o. o. o.
"Assassin and Rider are fighting the others," Rin informed them as they finally approached the base of the mountain at a leisurely pace.
The explosions and fire behind them were a solid clue that Assassin was preoccupied, but knowing that Rider was also there was good to know.
"And yet Rider still hasn't activated her Noble Phantasm," Saber noted.
"And yet she hasn't." Shirou nodded. If Bloodfort Andromeda had been used, everyone would have been able to tell.
In addition to being an utter pain and time sink to set up, the Noble Phantasm had several more drawbacks to its use. The first was that Rider had to be inside its bounds in order to activate, alive or dead. So long as "Medusa resided within the Temple of Blood", its existence would continue to persist.
That being said, the second issue was, obviously, that she couldn't leave once activated for the same reasons.
The third was that it couldn't be activated on and off frequently as it damages the local leylines, and thus the stability of the bounded field. Activating it once was enough to horrifically mangle the land and foundation that it was situated on.
Bottom line, once it was turned on, no one was getting out, and no one can get in except for extreme measures. Everyone there would be trapped with the Gorgon Queen, and likewise, the Gorgon would not be able to leave her Temple.
Technically, the Witch could summon Rider outside of it after being activated, but that would only result in the field naturally falling apart on its own.
The fact that Rider didn't activate it yet despite having two enemy Servants and several Masters in its range meant that the Witch told her not to.
So, logically, it meant that the Witch was being greedy and was trying to get more fishes trapped in Rider's "net".
"Are you ok?" Shirou looked back at Rin, who admittedly was sweating slightly, although she wasn't breathing hard in the slightest.
"I'm fine," she grumbled. "It's not my fault that when you did this the process was twisted and done wrong on purpose. I can handle the load fine. It's just for one fight anyways."
He was grateful for that. Just another reason to be glad that he killed Zouken. The sadistic fuck.
"We should move forward. It would not do for the others to tire themselves while we meander." Saber advised.
"Mmm," Shirou agreed as he slightly increased his pace, followed closely by the others.
Less than a minute later, just before turning around the corner of a building that would have him in full view of the mountain, he paused and looked down.
"Is it a trap?" Rin tentatively examined the seemingly untouched space in front of them.
"Bounded field." Shirou frowned, lifted a hand in front of him, and attempted to project a tool… only for erratic shards of nameless metals to spray from his hand instead.
"A precaution against your magic." Saber skeptically looked at the failed attempt. "Caster must truly be wary of your abilities."
"I don't blame her." Rin crossed her arms with an almost wry smile as she watched him step back a few paces. "I'd have set up something similar at my place if I wasn't on such good terms with him. Not that it would work if I tried now anyways."
Having retreated far enough, Shirou manifested a copy of Rule Breaker without issue in his right hand. He stepped forward again to where he once was, noted that the copy itself was still intact, meaning that the field interfered with the Projection process and not the final products themselves. Without waiting, he stabbed the dagger into the ground, collapsing the bounded field in an instant.
He didn't say it, but he was somewhat disappointed by how easy it was. True, Caster couldn't put many high level bounded fields and traps around the entrance of the temple due to it being a major leyline path that she needed more than they did, but still.
"That was rather simple." Saber frowned.
"I didn't notice it until Shirou pointed it out." Rin shrugged. "Odds are I probably never would have unless I attempted projection myself. It was very well hidden and made. Shirou probably only found it because he's more sensitive to the effects than we are."
Actually he didn't. The Witch's work really was far above anything people in this era could come up with. He only noticed it because it forced the skin on his recently regenerated cheek and arm to revert back to blades, but no one noticed.
Hopefully if the enemy was watching, she wouldn't try to pull the same trick twice and write it off as a lost cause because there was no way he'd be able to find another one easily even if he was looking for it until it would be too late.
It was a habit that Kiritsugu, Sirius, and Waver all drilled into his head at a young age when it came to Magi. When in doubt, bluff like there's no tomorrow.
Sadly, that might actually be the case this time if they screw up.
"Who knows? You really should give yourself more credit, Rin. You're better than most Magi out there." He merely shrugged, slipping the dagger into a pocket in case he needed it again later. He looked around the corner for a quick few moments before stepping back and manifesting a bow and a blue sword-turned-arrow.
"What is that? It doesn't look very powerful." Saber asked skeptically as he shifted a few feet to the side so that he got a better view of the Mountain and readied his shot.
Forty-three targets identified. Positions saved. Uploading variable data into projection and internal function.
Ignoring the spectators, Shirou notched his projectile and aimed more to the sky than to the mountain, so much so that no one knew what he was actually targeting.
"Just clearing up a few distractions."
He released, firing the blade well over a hundred meters into the air.
A few instants before his shot reached the apex, it duplicated itself several dozen-fold with Gradient Parallel.
Each blade scattered in a different direction, cobalt streaks that danced as they fell but never clashing or interrupting one another's path. It was almost as if it was raining a glowing metallic blue substance instead of the mundane liquid that normally came from the skies.
And when each drop connected with the mountain and streets below they, or rather, the charges that Assassin had planted into the ground, exploded.
From the seemingly safe distance they were at, Rin and Shirou had to take a few steps back to make sure that no shrapnel or debris conveniently impaled or maimed them by accident. It wouldn't be beyond Assassin or Caster to modify the traps to be extremely vicious this time around. Even then the pair could practically feel the heat and shocks from chain explosions devastate everything.
"Impressive shot." Saber nodded with approval.
"I cheated. Basic water element arrows can be given predetermined targets if you use them right. They don't home in well on things that move faster than the average dog so I don't use them often." Shirou brushed off the compliment and blinked a few times to get his eyes to stop throbbing. Scanning the bulk of the mountainside for base information, even for a few seconds at most, had not been pleasant.
"If Issei ever finds out about this, he's going to kill you." Rin shook her head to clear out her ears and looked around the corner again to see the already devastated remains of the forest be reduced to a series of fires and craters. Barely even a third of the staircase up to the temple was useable now, let alone intact.
"Don't bother. We both know he'd blame you in the end," Shirou chided as he joined her and allowed himself to take in the sight, grimacing beneath the shroud. Saber took the lead now, being in front of the two Masters as they slowly made their way up the road that ran alongside the mountain and would lead them to the stairs.
This was way more hardware and product than what Assassin had used in his earlier fights. The Witch must have used a Command Seal or even two to have him vastly increase what was available for the night. If he hadn't been able to pinpoint everything with his Pure Eyes and clear it all out before things started over here, it would have been extremely problematic.
"Ngh. Fair point. He'd probably just try to run me out of town and claim I'm a demon." Rin pouted, though never letting her guard down. "Did you know he once tried to exorcise me back in middle school?"
No he didn't, although it did make sense considering how out of control she could be back then.
"You were thinking about how it made sense, weren't you?"
Just don't say anything and pretend to be impassive and in control, Shirou. She can't see your face. You're safe. It worked in the Clocktower and it'll work now.
"Fair warning, you tend to square your shoulders slightly whenever you're actively trying to pretend to ignore me."
Damn it.
"As entertaining as it is to embarrass Shirou, there are better times to do so." Saber came to a stop.
They were at the bottom of the stairs.
"You certainly know how to announce yourself, boy." Caster's impassive voice seemed to come from every angle. "I was expecting you to show up as soon as Assassin and Rider confronted your comrades. In a far more discrete fashion at that."
"They're big girls. They can handle themselves," Shirou replied evenly as if it really was just another conversation and ignoring the loud explosion that sounded off behind him. All of them had stopped, having not gone up a single step.
"So you say." The Witch sounded almost amused by his statement. "I see that Berserker's Master has humored you."
Shirou, Rin, and Saber didn't bother to act surprised. Even if he was in spiritual form, there was no way they'd be able to hide Berserker, who was right behind Rin and Shirou, from Caster.
"The idea of sending Berserker and Saber against anyone is admittedly a humorous idea. Even you seem to be entertained by it," Rin casually noted.
She had a point. Sending Berserker and Saber against almost anyone was a rather laughable concept. Laughably overkill.
Sadly, it had lost its impact on Shirou after it proved to not be that effective against Gilgamesh when he got wiped out with them at the same time.
"The girl's confident, I'll give her that much." Lancer joined the conversation, materializing two flights of stairs up and sitting as if he didn't have a care in the world. Or rather, his body portrayed as much, but his blood-seeped eyes told a different story. The Irishman was incredibly conflicted. On one hand he wanted to mutilate the bitch that was being a pain in everyone's ass. On the other, he was absolutely starving for a good fight, and his two ideal opponents were right in front of him and ready to go.
"Lancer." Saber nodded, being the only one of the group that was on somewhat decent terms with him.
"Yo, Saber. It's been a while. Wish it could be under better circumstances, but then again this isn't the first time either one of us has had to deal with a bitch with way too much power and time on their hands, is it? Actually it's pretty nostalgic." Lancer smirked, saluting with his spear as he greeted her. "Hope your Master comes up with some more good shit this time around. He's always good for a laugh. The Shrew up there's been going spare trying to figure out what he's gonna pull next."
"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest." Rin graced Shirou with a deadpan stare.
Shirou looked up at the Blue Servant with an unreadable expression, and Lancer returned with one of his own.
There was confidence, and then there was doing things on purpose. Had Shirou not already guessed Caster's trap in the first place, he definitely would have been on guard for one now with how at ease Lancer was. The Servant probably couldn't say or do anything to expose the setup, but there were some things that could easily slip through the cracks with just body language.
You really don't want to come up here and fight me kid.
Something powerful enough to force Saber and Berserker to bow to the influence of a curse would require several rules that had to be followed. Territory. Triggers. Power. Setup. Odds were likely that Lancer wouldn't be able to enact the curse unless more than one opponent attempted to charge forward on the Mountain or fight him at the same time, or at least, something along that train of thought. Even so, Caster had to be careful not to make anything potent enough to disrupt the leylines coming from the entrance of the temple, lest she ruin her chance to obtain the Grail. It was a delicate balance that needed to be maintained if she wanted anything to work.
Bottom line was that so long as Saber and Berserker didn't take a step on the Mountain, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, or attack them. And neither would Caster.
It was essentially a twisted Magical Mexican Standoff in Japan involving two Greeks, two Japanese, an Irishman and a Brit.
Saber broke the silence first.
She didn't charge forward, unleash her Noble Phantasm, or even attack. Instead, she poised the tip of her invisible sword onto the ground, lifted her armored right hand, pointed out her index finger…
… Focused prana into that finger, and casually began to etch a rune into the air right in front of her.
"… Eh?" Lancer blinked in genuine befuddlement as he recognized what Saber was doing, but at the same time had no clue what the hell she could do with it in their situation.
She was slow in her work, at least to him. He could finish entire chains of spells with just a swipe of his hand, where she was working on each individual line like a child. It was so laughable it was almost insulting.
Ansuz. The rune of communication.
Performing spells with Runes was a curious art. Boiled down to the simplest basics, one needed to apply power, inscription, form, interpretation, definition, and execution to get anything done. It was much like learning a written language. It didn't matter if you knew how to write the word if you didn't know how to read it. And even if you knew that, it would be just as pointless if you didn't know the rules behind how to read it.
"Lancer. What is she doing?" Caster demanded, her voice no longer confident and casual, but genuinely concerned. Normally the idea of Saber attempting to perform thaumaturgy outside of her natural abilities and Noble Phantasms would be laughable, but normal didn't even begin to cover the situation to begin with.
"A shit job," he answered honestly as Saber worked on her second letter. She was putting too much power into making the thing, causing the lines to be distorted in certain places. If Saber was planning on making anything consisting of six or more letters she could forget it. The thing would just fall apart in her face, or explode. He had enough experience with the latter when he was with Scathach when he first started learning.
Saber was not someone that knew how to "read and write" runecraft. He could tell with just one look at her work. Instead she was going through it as though she had only been practicing just this one "word" for the past couple of days. She didn't know the intricacies of what she was doing. She didn't know the deeper meanings of the letters or their histories.
Instead, she only knew the general meaning of this one chain of runes and the result that they were supposed to produce.
It was a sickeningly dangerous and stupid thing to do. If Lancer wasn't so curious as to what the hell Saber was trying to pull, he would have tried to kill her and the kid already for doing something so insulting.
Algiz. The rune of warding. Also ties together with other runes for fluidity.
"Be serious. Why would Saber bother to learn, let alone perform your craft here? What could she learn in such a short time that could be effective?" The witch was clearly losing her patience.
"Don't know, but it can't be much. I have B ranked Magic Resistance and your spells are miles above anything I can do. I can't think of any chain that a novice like Saber could use that could… be…" Lancer trailed off as Saber just barely finished off her third rune.
"Pfft. Snk. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Whatever Caster said next was drowned out by the man's uncontrollable laughter.
He laughed from the deepest parts of his lungs. He smiled and howled so much that his face should have been distorted from the action. His feet stomped hard on the steps. His eyes teared up. His head shook and his legs even lost any ability to hold his body up for a short period of time.
It was the laughter of a man that had just been caught off guard by horrendously good news. The laughter of a man that had just got the meaning of the most hilarious joke he had ever heard in his life. The laughter of a person that was absolutely elated about a surprise gift.
The laughter of a man that knew that he was really going to enjoy what was going to happen next.
Nauthiz. The rune of restriction.
"LANCER! WHAT IS SHE DOING?!" The Witch somehow managed to up the volume of her voice to surpass Lancer's bellowing.
Ansuz again.
"Pffftaaahahahaha!" Lancer barely managed to get his breathing under control, wiping the tears of pure joy and amusement from his eyes. Words still eluded him though.
Ingwaz. The rune of loyalty and ending cycles of events.
"Wait. That sequence… that can't be?!" Caster seemed to understand what Saber was doing just a moment too late to stop it.
"Lancer!" Saber stood proudly as the five runes floated in front of her. "I challenge you to…!"
"Lancer! No! Sto-!"
WHAM!
Before Saber could finish her sentence, she was already defending herself against Lancer's spear. The impact of the two weapons caused a shockwave that all but launched Rin and Shirou from where they were standing a meager distance from the epicenter of the small crater that had been made.
The letters glowed for a moment and then faded away.
Saber's Ath nGabla had been enacted.
Shirou was right. It really was a horrifically easy spell to use.
The extra Ansuz at the beginning was to turn it into a verbal Geass, a mutual contract that both parties had to agree to in order to activate. In fact, Ansuz was almost always the first one used whenever a Geass was being made due to being the Rune of Communication. It was a small and seemingly pointless addition, but contracts were funny things in that they could get around certain things that normal one sided curses couldn't.
Such as natural resistances to thaumaturgy.
How could Masters have managed to contract themselves to Servants otherwise? If a Servant such as Saber had A ranked magic resistance and was practically immune to thaumaturgy, how could she last half as long as she could without some sort of clearly thaumaturgical based connection to Shirou? How could she link herself to another Master without worrying about her resistance getting in the way?
The answer was the mutual contract established, agreed upon, supported, and enforced, between the two parties.
More important than Saber's and Lancer's Magic Resistance though, was the fact that one couldn't cast Ath n'Gabla over another. You could only build off of it or modify the already established curse.
Saber was a complete novice in runecraft and magecraft, but that didn't mean she was completely clueless, unlike certain alternate versions of Shirou. As the sworn enemy of Morgana, she had taken upon herself to learn at least some of the theory and foundations from Merlin in case there was something she could do with her absurdly powerful reserves of Prana against Morgana's own personal brand of sorcery. Learning how to actually etch the letters into the air, crude as it may have been, only took her a half an hour at most to figure out.
She barely knew the definitions and purposes of the runes, much less how they worked. Had any self-respecting magus saw what she had done, or that Shirou had purposefully taught her the way he did, they would have attempted to kill both Master and Servant out of sheer principle.
In fact, her work was so cringeworthy in the eyes of a professional such as Lancer that he couldn't build off of the spell or change it once activated, even if he wanted to.
But that did not change the outcome. Had Cu Culainn not attacked or agreed to her request, her incomplete spell would have wasted away in less than three seconds due to its instability.
But the blue man had known what she was trying to do at the third rune, and couldn't help but be amused by being saved by a half assed spell by a novice.
It was ironic. Caster had wanted to use the curse to lock tight the entrance to the temple, only for Saber to use the same mystery to wedge it wide open.
And now, Saber and Lancer were stuck in a one on one deathmatch. They couldn't be interrupted. They couldn't be distracted. And most importantly, they couldn't get in the way of anyone that wanted to get up to the temple.
And Caster couldn't do a damn thing about it. Not without exposing herself to virtually everyone else there.
"Kid, if we all make it out of this, first drink's on me." Lancer's grin was absolutely savage as the bulk of his attention was drawn to Saber, his spear pressing down on her sword so heavily that an endless stream of sparks and superheated flares of air sprayed where they were grinding.
"I'm underage." Shirou, despite being less than three meters away from where the two Servants had collided, seemed to be utterly undaunted by the display. "Have fun you two. I'll come by later when this mess is over with."
"Try not to take too long. You are rather helpless without me." Saber allowed herself to smile wryly. This was her only purpose for the night. She was to take Lancer out of the picture and keep the Temple's entrance open. It was an important task without a doubt, but it did not make her happy that she would essentially be forcing herself to be unable to help Shirou for the rest of the night.
"Ah Saber, your cruel words are hurting us both!" Lancer's grin turned even more rabid. "Let the kid have his fun tonight! Right now the only man you need to dance with is ME!"
This time, Shirou and Rin were pushed back a few steps as whatever held the two Servants in place seemed to finally snap, dissolving the two blue individuals into nothing but blurs that yielded cataclysmic explosions and collisions between one another with every passing instant they were near one another.
Holes, slashes, gouges, and chunks were made in abundance in a matter of moments. The cover of a manhole had been just a few centimeters too close to the fight, and ended up flying, embedding itself into the side of the building behind two Masters. Rin couldn't help but be somewhat humbled and unnerved at being so close to an all-out brawl between two of the most combat heavy Servants in the War…
… Shirou on the other hand had returned to impassively looking up the mountain, as if the fighting that he was still dangerously close to no longer interested him.
"You… you brat!" The Witch's voice was saturated in pure loathing. There was no doubt that he had planned this, and there was no telling just how viciously she would torture him if she ever had the opportunity.
"Berserker," Shirou replied not with any insult or words of advice, but a command that was accompanied by him pointing a finger up to the temple itself.
"_▄▄▄▄▄█████████!" His sister's Servant bellowed a war cry that seemed to suck away the life and attention of everyone and everything in the city. For just a moment it felt as if the fighting between Saber and Lancer, and the brawl taking place with the rest of the Servants and Masters had stopped to take in and comprehend that the Bastard of Zeus had finally made his appearance, declaring his unfiltered intention to absolutely mutilate whoever and whatever got in his way.
In his hand was once more his sickeningly crude, and just as massive, stone axe sword. It was just a copy of the original, but because the weapon itself was merely enchanted stone, fabricated in the modern era, it was vastly closer to the original in terms of quality than most of Shirou's more potent projections.
No one was able to see it, but everyone was pretty certain that Caster's face had just turned ash white as the situation at hand dawned upon her.
Rider was occupied. Assassin was occupied. Lancer was trapped with Saber in one on one combat.
Bloodfort Andromeda was behind them. Lancer's rune trap was no longer an issue.
All that was left were Caster and the traps she had set up.
It was a perfect setup for Berserker to tank and trigger every and anything the bitch could set up on his way to the boss's lair that Shirou hadn't set off already earlier.
Ideally, this would be the beginning of the end for the Witch.
If Shirou had been in a more relaxed state of mind, he would have laughed in the faces of anyone that assumed such.
The force from the Giant's hybrid charge leap to the temple matched the force of the heated clashes between Saber and Lancer just a short distance away. With the grace and the mindset of a charging bull, Berserker made way up the stairs, completely ignoring any and all bounded fields that here hastily being set up to deter his advance.
Before anyone could properly react, Berserker was already halfway up the mountain, leaving Shirou and Rin behind completely unprotected.
Normally, doing so would be suicide for them considering how many variables were at work, but at the moment that was a non-issue with almost every significant player currently being occupied with their own respective fights. The only ones that weren't were currently busy dealing with the recent sudden turn of events and about two metric tons of roaring Berserker rushing up to what appeared to be end things early.
"So, what will you do now?" Shirou muttered under his breath as his eyes narrowed in speculation.
This part was the most uncertain part of the overall plan. They had no way to determine just what other precautions the Witch may have set up, if any. Likewise, the woman may have an actual strategy in mind outside of the defensive setup she had already prepared, unlikely as it seemed.
Illya had managed to restore Berserker's God Hand all the way up to seven lives. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than hoped. Not only that, but after the previous battle at the Temple, Berserker had gained an immunity to Rider's strength and Assassin's explosives, reducing the effective options that Caster had available.
Off the top of his head, Shirou could count at least four to six ways that Caster could readily kill Heracles, and two of them were locked down thanks to Saber having Lancer all to herself. There were probably more, but in order to get even that high now the Witch would have to call back both Assassin and Rider, which would enable the rest of his group to approach unimpeded and more importantly, get out of Bloodfort Andromeda's domain, which ultimately would make things worse for Caster.
But then again, letting Heracles have free reign to go ballistic in her temple was just as bad seeing as her Master and valued mysteries were there. She could hold him off by herself in her Temple for a while, true, but sooner or later she would be overwhelmed. That much was guaranteed. The moment Berserker was past the main entrance to the Temple, her defenses would be compromised and she'd no longer be able to keep solid tabs on what everyone was doing. That and actually managing to get him out of the area again would be all but impossible.
In fact, if there was one place that Caster was bound to place a last ditch trap to take care of any number of enemies powerful enough to deal with Lancer, it would be…
o. o. o.
The Princess grimaced as another one of her bulls died, its throat slit so deeply that the only reason why it wasn't decapitated was due to the thick spine that got in the way.
The location served to be far more useful to Rider than Caster, the uneven tops of the buildings and the three dimensional warfare gave the Gorgon plenty to work with while restricting the movements of the bulls simultaneously. Well more than half of the original herd was still available, but the numbers were still cut down significantly.
Not that Rider was completely unharmed either.
The beautiful woman's outfit was burnt and torn in several locations where she had cut it a bit too close in avoiding the never ending flames that hounded her from all angles. She would have passed off as extremely erotic had the multiple cuts and burns not disfigured her image so much.
The greatest damage though was on her legs and thighs, a result of her attempting to repeat their first battle and hijack one of the bulls with Bellerophon early on. She had managed to get the chains on the beast well enough, but when she landed on its back, the hidden trap that the Princess had gone off instantly, setting Rider ablaze and forcing her off.
Ever since that mess up, Rider had been forced on the defensive, dodging and running as best as she could on her burnt legs which, for the record, still made her faster than most of the Servants in the War. Had she not fallen for it, it was likely that far more of the beasts attacking her would have fallen by now.
Caster let out a slow breath. Keeping up with Rider was an arduous task, and getting progressively harder as she had less bulls to work with. The Servant was constantly attempting to get close to the Masters, no doubt due to being commanded by her counterpart, and the terrain for the battle was not making things easier.
That wasn't to say that the girls weren't carrying their weight, as little as that was. Luvia's jewelcraft had protected them on more than one occasion when Rider got too close, and all three of them were progressively getting more coordinated with both their movements and attacks to steer Rider into directions that benefitted them.
Still, if there was any consolation, their fight was still leagues above what Assassin and Archer's. The two of them combined had done irreparable damage to at least five buildings by her count. Probably more. Three of which had at least four floors completely demolished, and one had simply collapsed under the strain of Assassin's explosives and Archer's projections.
It had gotten to the point that she, Luvia, and Sakura had at one point or another looked at Illya apologetically for being related to the two.
Illya responded with trying to torch Rider in a vain attempt to ignore said looks.