The rooftop of the lonely building.
Lelouch watched the fight between two magi.
Tokiomi used his stave and fired one fireball after another, while Kayneth used his mercury as a shield. The magus from the west tried to use his best to attack but Tokiomi wouldn't give him any openings. Kayneth was forced to use Volumen Hydrargyrum mainly as protection. A purpose it was fully designed for. But it didn't help that the blonde magus had no choice but to protect Lelouch as well, something master of Avenger wasn't proud of.
'Right now I'm a liability to Kayneth. He's being forced to use his all to protect me as well. If it wasn't for him, I would be dead by now.' Kayneth couldn't effectively defend and attack at the same time. Lelouch had realized that barely a minute into the fighting. Right now, the former emperor was starting to regret not having any magecraft to help his ally. 'I have regular weapons and explosions, but I doubt they can hurt this particular magus.'
Magic to him was full of uncertainty. Lelouch didn't know if his bullets would be able to pierce the wall of fire around Tokiomi. Explosions might work better, but he needed to get closer, dangerously so, just for it to reach the patriarch of the Tohsaka family.
Suddenly, an idea formed in his mind.
"Kayneth, can you distract him?" the man looked confused.
"I might have an idea that would work, but do what you have in mind, Lamperouge?"
Lelouch couldn't help but smirk. "You will see it soon, but first, can you create a smaller blob of your mercury?"
Now the magi looked even more puzzled but decided to go along with the plan of his ally without question.
Doubt was the last thing he needed to cloud his judgment. Though he may have been the prodigious heir to the Archibald household, he knew when to silence his pride.
Tokiomi continued his assault. While the fiery magus was confident in his abilities, the master of Lancer wasn't a greenhorn or a pushover either. Kirei provided him with all the information he might've needed in this war. Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald was a dangerous foe, but nothing he couldn't handle.
The master of Avenger next to him, on the other hand, seems to be inept in magecraft and shouldn't pose a threat. Maybe Tokiomi worried too much about it, surely Gilgamesh was making everything complicated for him but it wasn't an impossible task. His enemies were just one experienced magus and child, Tokiomi's lips curled up confidently. He could handle them.
However, while the master of Archer was occupied by his thoughts, his opponent switched tactics. This time Kayneth tried a different move. The half of his mercury shield changed into a long and thin ribbon in the shape of a whip that struck at the target, that being Tokiomi himself, with a whipping motion.
Tokiomi was able to react fast and quickly increased the flame wall around himself. It was enough to blast back the attempt, however, it wasn't able to entirely block out the attack of the alchemical whip. The master of Archer had no choice but to use some of his jewels, creating the small blasts with them. This managed to slow the tip of the whip, minimizing the damage to his person.
Tokiomi was forced to step back a little bit, his clothes were damaged, but he found that he'd been cut. It wasn't deep enough to kill him but shallow enough to be noticeable. He grunted and was about to use spiritual healing, but something caught his attention. From the corner of his eye, Tokiomi saw how a small silver ball managed to bypass his wall of fire. It must've slipped in while he'd been distracted by the whiplash.
Before he had time to do anything, though, the mercury around the ball opened up and revealed a small device. A small explosive device.
Tokiomi's eyes went wide, he had a moment to reinforce the shield around himself and even apply more reinforcement and impromptu defences to his body before it went off. But it still sent him flying off to the side.
Lelouch smirked when he saw how the body of Tokiomi Tohsaka hit one of the roof railings. Their enemy was looking beaten up but still ready to continue the fight. However, now that his defences were down and his concentration ruined, Lelouch had a clear line of sight of the man.
Without a second thought, the master of Avenger pulled out his handgun and shot. The usual calm expression of Tokiomi slowly disappeared, as his death was approaching him. However, before the bullet could have ended his life, a simple blade struck the floor before him, blocking the paltry metal in its flight path. Everyone froze before looking at the only Servant near them.
Gilgamesh was sitting on his throne, his expression was one of deep thought. The gold portal was near him, making it clear where the blade had come from. Archer slowly started to speak.
"This fight turned out to be less spectacular than I would have liked, but, nevertheless, I expected this result." As he spoke, his Vimana lowered itself closer to the roof. Archer rose up from his throne and walked closer to his master. "Let's go, Tokiomi. I have seen enough. Your performance was less than I hoped for but I suppose it is fine. At least, with this, I now have ascertained you aren't a total disappointment."
'Why interfere in the fight if you are the one who instigated it?' Lelouch was confused. Was Archer doing it for the sake of entertainment or Gilgamesh had other motives?
Tokiomi looked like wanted to argue or say something but decided to stay silent. Lelouch and Kayneth stayed silent, two masters were still at the complete mercy of Archer, and Gilgamesh knew it. However, the King of Uruk did nothing to harm them and only said.
"You two did well for a measly sideshow, mongrels. However, next time I would expect a better performance from both of you—!'
However, before Gilgamesh could continue, something unexpected happened. A dark figure jumped out of nowhere. Archer couldn't even react when an armoured fist hit nearly struck him in the face. A couple of portals opened up, calling upon blades and axes, the flats of which was struck by the mad dog instead, causing their owner protected by it to be sent flying away.
The other masters could only freeze as they recognized the Servant who'd just arrived.
"B—Berserker?!"
Tokiomi was already exhausted from his fight and didn't have the power to collect himself anymore. The black knight looked at the defeated man before focusing on two masters behind him. Lelouch didn't like this. Nobunaga was busy. He didn't want Kayneth to call back Lancer and leave her alone with Saber and Caster. However, his life was on the line. Archer was out of the picture at the moment but Berserker might prove even worse. The arrogant King of Heroes might've been a pain to deal with, but the was at least somewhat predictable.
The Demon Emperor didn't know what to expect from a wild Servant that took sanity as just an optional thing!
However, it wasn't the fearsome Heroic Spirit that had their attention. A new voice spoke, breaking the dead silence. "Tokiomi, at last! I found you!"
A hooded figure joined them on the roof. Lelouch couldn't see the face of the new person but from how relaxed he walked up to stand next to Berserker, the hooded figure was most likely the last master he'd yet to personally meet.
The master of the Makiri house had finally shown himself after all this time.
"Should we try to get rid of them?" Kayneth stepped closer to his ally and whispered. His eyes never left the Servant before them, but he didn't bother hiding the stare he had trained on its master before them.
Lelouch thought about it carefully.
'Tokiomi isn't in fighting condition and his Servant isn't here. Berserker and his master are clearly here for him, not us.' The person spoke with venom and fury in his voice, Lelouch suspected that he had a personal grudge against the master of Archer. Perhaps leaving them alone would be the best idea. The master of Avenger suspected that the new guy wouldn't like them meddling in their personal issues.
While he was thinking about the course of action, Tokiomi froze as he stuttered.
"K-Kariya? W-what happened to your face?"
The man now informally introduced laughed.
"Oh you know, I had a reunion with my family. And this?" he pointed at his face." Is the result of Matou family magecraft. Something your daughter experienced already." Kariya said before laughing like an insane person. That is until he eerily stopped to stare and speak monotonously. "Poor Sakura… she suffered because of you. What do you have to say for yourself?" The impassive tone turned into a maddened howl. "You sold your own daughter to that monster! For what, Tokiomi?!"
Lelouch raised an eyebrow, becoming more interested in the topic of their conversation. This Kariya was furious and the master of Avenger started to see why. However, Tokiomi had a different view on this. The master of Archer, recovering from his initial shock, let out a short laugh.
"Hah. So that's your concern, is it?" schooling his features and his posture, the man replied. "Sakura was given to Matou in order to secure her future. Both she and Rin had incredible potential but I couldn't raise both of them into proper magi. It was a hard choice but I did it for their future."
"Future?! Future?! Do you know what Sakura has to endure?! How she suffers! What does Zouken do with her in his worm pit?! She-"
"Just because you couldn't do it, doesn't mean Sakura can't either. I won't your jealousy ruin the future of my daughters."
Kariya froze. His body was writhing in anger. Either that or it was the worms that seemed to flow through his veins reacting to his raw emotions.
"Jealousy?! JEALOUSY?! Do you think I did all of this out of jealousy?! Tokiomi, you selfish heartless prick! Your daughter is being violated! Abused by my family's—Zouken's cursed magic! Open your fucking eyes and try to act like a parent for once! I don't care about the Grail. I don't care about this war or my family. I don't care about Aoi anymore or you!" All the man's energy seemed to dissipate from his person. For a moment, he remained a quiet husk, leaning slightly to the side as he stood on an injured leg. Then, the monotonous yet eerie tone of voice returned. "The only thing that matters to me is saving Sakura from that hell that you left her in. And I will save her… by killing you!"
Not a moment later, Kariya vomited. He retched vehemently and hard. However, instead of gross substance, what had come out of the deformed man was a pool of blood riddled with strange worms in it. Lelouch saw many terrible things in his life, but there was something definitely wrong about seeing a man spill out maggots from his innards while still being alive. More so with these worms.
Something about them made the Demon Emperor feel disgusted. His ally on another hand looked abhorred yet a bit fascinated by the little things. It didn't take long for Lelouch to realize why.
The worms in the blood pool started to gather. Then, as if on cue, they all started to pulsate, grow larger, expand. They reminded the boy of a horror show his friends used to watch. Before long, they started to twitch under their exoskeleton. Violently, their backs slit open with a spray of blood. Pairs of transparent wings and bonelike dragonfly-shaped abominations emerged like an ugly butterfly out of a wormy caterpillar's cocoon.
As if to moult at will, they changed from the tiny disgusting worms into some kind of flying insects with blades for wings and a tail. The swarm now started to surround Tokiomi.
"Behold! The magecraft of Matou family! This is what Sakura's fate will look like if I don't save her!" as he screamed, Kariya sent these bugs at Tokiomi. "This is what you've subjected your flesh and blood to!"
Before any of them could reach their target, several blades rained down from the sky, skewering if not outright obliterating all of them. Kariya panicked but he could only fall backwards from the blast as another blade entered his torso.
"RaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaggghhhh!"
Berserker seemed to take offence at that, roaring in unhinged fury as it sought out its master's attacker through its crimson-slitted helmet visor. He didn't have to look far as the maddened knight immediately tilted its body, ducking low as a wide-bladed axe that aimed to sever him at the waist flew overhead. The black knight reared its twitching gaze in the direction of the golden light.
Archer was standing on the treetops. An expression furious enough to freeze hell itself was trained solely on the wild Servant.
"Damn you, rabid mutt…" Though quite a fair distance away, neither Lelouch nor Kayneth was ignorant of the prideful king's rage. "To not only dare bring me low not once but twice… you would attempt to mar my face with your disgusting hands?!"
More weapons flew at Berserker. A bombardment of them rained on his position. In retaliation, the Servant of Insanity let out a howl as he leapt to the sky in an attempt to avoid the barrage of projectiles.
But if the number of weapons was impressive to the Demon Emperor, the fact that the medieval weapons snapped about in the air and flew at their target like heat-seeking missiles had Lelouch's eyes bulging right out of their sockets.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"
The black knight didn't care. Flailing in the air, he snagged one of the spears flying after him after momentarily knocking its aim to the side. Evil black and red cracks and veins overtook the weapon upon his grasping it. Not a moment later, he was using the newly acquired lance to swat every other Berserker-seeking swords and axes out of the sky!
"Your thievery knows no bounds!" The king shouted, sounding more like a petulant child than an angry monarch, as he avoided his own spear being thrown back at him. But his expression turned from livid to downright furious at Berserker's next move.
The knight roared again before jumping on top of Vimana. His shadowy noble phantasm overtook it all as Archer's aircraft changed its colours, turning from vibrant gold and green to a devilish black with red lines.
Lelouch was sure that Gilgamesh wasn't at all pleased with it and was right. Seconds later, several dozens of new weapons flew at Berserker, all from Gate of Babylon, However, now with Vimana, Berserker didn't have a problem dodging all of them midair.
The black knight zipped side to side in manoeuvres Lelouch knew would've had Suzaku sick to his core. After grabbing, swatting, and throwing back all of the fired weapons at him, Berserker then flew towards its primary target, forgetting about its wounded master.
While his Servant left to fight Archer, Kariya struggled to stand up, the blade had pierced his abdomen but he didn't die yet. No, something was keeping him alive.
"Lelouch, I think it is time for us to leave while we have a chance." Kayneth sounded worried. Not that he could blame the magi after witnessing the ludicrous moves of that maddened knight. But before Lelouch could say anything, once again someone decided to join their party on the roof. However, this time they knew this person.
"Kirei, finally." Tokiomi let out a sigh when his student appeared before him. The young priest stared at Lelouch and his ally. The master of Avenger finally decided that it was enough for one night.
'Berserker and Archer are no longer here but I don't think we can deal with the priest's son.' Kayneth looked exhausted. He was the only one who could successfully fight off Tokiomi, but the Demon Emperor wasn't sure if he could keep up with the fire magi's former student as well.
While they managed to catch the father off-guard, the same likely couldn't be said of the Kotomine son who was likely looking for revenge on them for patricide, if he was aware of it.
"I think you're right, Kayneth. It is time for us to leave." Lelouch nodded as Kayneth activated his Volumen Hydrargyrum one more time.
The mercury that was used for fighting never left its master. Ever since Berserker and his master appeared, Kayneth quietly called back every drop of his creation. The silvery liquid surrounded its master and his ally, waiting for an order to act. Once it received it, the mercury changed into a ball and surrounded both Kayneth and Lelouch. Kirei's black keys struck the liquid barrier, but the shield held like metal. Before either he or Tokiomi could do anything else, Lelouch took out a trigger and readied his escape plan.
Loathe as he was to leave without offing at least one of their foes, they'd overstayed their welcome enough already.
BOOOOM
An explosion rocked the building. Should they ever be forced to retreat, their vantage point itself would act as a distraction. Normally, he'd have reserved this strategy while in a Knightmare. But having a comfy ball of mercury act as their safety net would suffice.
Tokiomi didn't have time to say anything when Kirei ran up to him and took in his arms before jumping at the side. Both of them knew they were capable of manipulating air currents to land from a great height. However, the only remaining master of Berserker wasn't as lucky. Kariya was still wounded by the surprise attack of the priest and had no means of escaping.
The building collapsed with a crash. Only four men managed to escape it on time.