Matou residence.
If there was a word to describe Nobunaga's mood right now, it would be… 'tense'.
Even in her spirit form, Nobu could feel that something was wrong with this place. Merely stepping within the Matou's territory was enough to make her feel her skin crawl. Even as a Heroic Spirit, the underlying need to raise her guard was… palpable. Not even a magus, she could still feel the atmosphere, if not sniff it out of the stench, that enveloped the property. Any sense of comfort was void.
'This entire place gives the smell of a rotten corpse.' Well, far more than just 'rotten' if the husk of a man she was accompanying was to be believed. 'If he didn't make a request of me, I wouldn't even bother…'
Nobu kept that thought to herself as she stayed in spirit form. The limping man who led her remained oblivious to her would-be rude comments.
"Zouken should be either in his office or the basement." Matou Kariya mumbled to inform her. Although it was unnecessary to do so, it seemed he was trying to distract himself by making small talk. "This damn place—ng!"
The man stopped and took a deep breath. The moment they got close to the property line, the Master of Berserker seemed to feel the pressure Nobu had been familiarizing herself with for quite a while now. Being such an inexperienced magus, the worm likely couldn't sense a thing beyond his own skin… or what was left of it anyway.
Yet, despite the decaying-but-still-living Kariya's state, without a doubt, the Fool of Owari would hardly consider him more disgusting than the overgrowth-covered home exuding a vile air before them.
"This way," gathering his bearings, Kariya finally pushed on past the creaking gate. All the while, Nobu said nothing. For now, she would remain obedient and stay quiet. Still, that didn't mean the redheaded daimyo wouldn't feel a tad irritated by her current situation.
'Here I thought it'd be a fun fight I traded with a night to end that blathering Rider.' If her ethereal form had a mouth, it'd be clicking in frustration. 'I will get back at Lelouch for this!'
That she, the rightful conqueror of Japan, had to play the role of Kariya's Servant today riled her to no end. How shameful! The half-dead Master of Berserker could barely handle his own Servant, and yet Lelouch wanted her to feign it all for their plan? It was a blessing that they didn't even have the know-how to temporarily switch contracts to make her link to him more believable.
An irritating fool Lulu was to force her into a role she disliked, Nobu would still only regard him as her one and only Master. Not the walking bag of worms. The Demon Emperor wouldn't get away with this!
'Forget teasing, I won't stop until I have him strapped to a bed, face flaring as red as blood!' she seethed with anticipation in making him squirm even more frantically than their interrupted night fun.
All that could wait, however. She still had a role to play.
The plan was pretty simple. They couldn't just burst inside the magi residence muskets blazing because of the hostage. So, they needed to get inside close to Zouken without starting a fight from the get-go. However, the issue was that Kariya couldn't just forcibly enter his family home. He'd been forbidden to for the duration of the war. It was both to stop him from getting any ideas as well as keep the old worm's workshop from being targeted by other participants.
Therefore, to get inside the mansion and close enough to the true head of the Matou clan, they needed a very good excuse. And Lelouch so easily came up with one barely ending their conversation at the coffeehouse.
Taking note that he'd been fairly confident this plan would work because of several points he cared to share with her via their mental link, Nobunaga was fairly impressed, slight grievances aside.
The boy had taken into account everything Kariya had to say of the old crone. About Zouken's plan to sit out this entire war, choosing instead to spy and observe the happenings from the comfort of his own home. Had he decided to use this relative safety to contribute to his son's plight, she wouldn't think less of him.
But the cowardly worm seemed to have decided on this merely to speculate the horrors Kariya would have to go through alone. For Nobu, it was despicable, to say the least.
He had abandoned his pitiful son and only thought to lend the sickly Kariya some aid in the form of more painfully ravenous Crest worms and a small plan to lure out Caster. But soon after that failed, Zouken had gone silent, foregoing everything to cloister himself in this dingy hell-hole of a home. What he was doing was anyone's guess.
Nobu wouldn't call Kariya lucky for having escaped the man's grasp temporarily. Not when he'd already been broken into a subhuman state that could expire any day now. But in a way, he was for having Lulu be the one to save his hide.
Had it been anyone else, Matou Kariya and Berserker would've long been removed from the fight, neither revenge nor salvation of the child ever to take place.
That being said, for salvation to be wrought, this had to succeed. Zouken was in hiding, but Kariya was still wary of the ancient insect watching their movements. Being that he had bugs for familiars, the reach of his reconnaissance should be impressive. It'd make sense to assume he was at least generally informed of who had died and lived, who'd come to cross blades and who'd walk away victorious.
But for the fact Nobu hadn't sensed someone eyeing her or her Master much since last night's events, that meant he hadn't been paying much attention though.
Servants like her were highly attuned with sensing the barest changes in magical energy. Unless they were Assassin, they couldn't hide no matter how hard they tried. She'd have noticed if someone was using magecraft to spy on her or Lulu. Even better, she could kill those eyes by simply burning the air where they flew or crawled. No one would be privy to her or her partner's actions without her say.
But the same could not be said of Matou Kariya who carried what was essentially a parasitic nest in his gut.
"Are they squirming?" For the first time in a while, she made to ask the man who'd limped his way from the gate to the very porch of the mansion.
"Not at the moment, no." Kariya, despite agreeing to it all, still shuddered nervously as he mumbled. "But it's just a matter of time…"
He expected them to be riled awake soon. Knowing who it was they were to kill tonight, he'd have to expect the worst, of course.
"Don't you dare die, worm. Else my Master's efforts would've been in vain."
"… I know…"
She couldn't help but voice the threat one last time. Considering she'd been so quiet that she might've wordlessly convinced him of such, there was no harm in emphasizing her frustration.
Good news for him, he'd live a long life if he played his cards right. Aside from her not killing him for his mad knight's transgressions, the pompous baldie's fiancé was able to suppress the bugs inside him long enough to keep them from reporting Kariya's activities until now. Bad news though, they only had enough medicine to last Kariya a few days. Less than one should this plan fail horribly.
It was because of the man's time limit that Lelouch decided to push for this plan much to Nobu's hesitation. But on the very brink of carrying it out, Nobu wondered if the man would expire before it was done or soon after the girl was rescued.
Though, Lulu would likely argue that it was why she was there to prevent his untimely demise as best as she could. After all, tonight, Oda Nobunaga was—loathe as she was to think it—Kariya's 'new' Avenger Servant. She was to act as a 'supposed lucky break' after the 'successful defeat of Archer at the hand of both her and Berserker', but with the adage that 'both the mad Servant and her Master bit the dust' soon after winning against the smug bastard.
It was a fine ploy. One that incorporated both her power and Kariya's lack thereof.
No one would expect Kariya to win, much less survive the events of the night before without some luck. That the presumed losses were the uncontrollable mutt and an inexperienced child wouldn't be too unbelievable. More so when Kariya had almost always just ducked back and let Berserker do the fighting all this time. And, as she presumably lost Lulu, a Servant without Independent Action would just about vanish soon.
Thus, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that she and Kariya formed a new alliance out of necessity, a need to win this war yet.
But be that as it may, being a more competent Servant with far more tools, almost competing with Archer's arsenal in that regard, it would also imply that she needed a mana supply far greater than Kariya's current store. That being said, even if he was a lucky dog, it wouldn't do to suddenly just fizzle out in the middle of the next fight, no? So, under the guise of seeking more Crest worms at the risk of killing himself, they 'reluctantly returned' to the Matou estate to 'beg assistance' from Zouken.
In the eyes of Zouken, Kariya would be the weakling who won a one-in-a-million jackpot and, not only survived but attained a stronger, more capable Servant out of the ordeal.
It was interesting how Lelouch could've thought up the bait-and-switch. Yet, it was also alarming he'd put himself at a far graver risk than Kariya was in. 'Stupid… Wasn't there a better way?'
She would've voiced her complaints hadn't she already done so not a few hours earlier. She'd likely ranted his mind to death through their mental bond. There was nothing she could do to convince him to change the plan, though.
The husk of a worm hive could easily be extinguished by his own father without Nobunaga protecting him. Hence the need for a Servant to be present by his side at all times. Yet, being so desperate and weak, while Kariya may harbour thoughts of rebellion, even with her help it would still seem unlikely at this point. Betrayal in the face of such a power gap between himself and Zouken was irrational if not suicidal if his trauma was anything to go by.
That's not to forget the hostage in play either. And Lelouch stressed to her the importance of providing a convincing enough act lest the elder Matou realize the jig was up and immediately end them all on the spot, including the girl.
Such ruthless wickedness, Nobu was reminded of her own family. No, more than that, she was reminded of the lengths a certain rebel leader went through. Although, comparing this spiteful worm to her only accomplice was certainly no competition. One was a selfless human reviled as the world's greatest demon. The other was just a cruel monster playing human.
Still, Lelouch was playing a far more dangerous game choosing to have Berserker accompany him this time.
While Nobu and Kariya acted out on centre stage, Lelouch had his part behind the scenes. Namely, using the Fuyuki sewer system to bypass prying eyes and sneak inside the Matou residence via the basement.
Kariya knew little about the worm pit despite spending a good amount of his childhood in it. The man didn't know the inner structure of the place, as well as Lelouch, had hoped, But after quietly procuring the sewer system maps from the local city hall, the boy had all the pieces he needed.
Yet, instead of her, Lelouch then mentioned he'd be relying on Berserker of all people instead!
With Kariya and she to act as the bait, the boy and Berserker would then enact a distraction from within the home itself, prompting Zouken and Byakuya's immediate attention and allowing Kariya and her to secure the girl before obliterating all resistance.
Still, it need not be said how so against Nobu was with letting the least sane, yet most violent, of their group be alone with her Master.
'This drives me mad!' as they entered the halls of the chilling mansion, such thoughts ran rampant in her ethereal form. 'Even if it's merely a part of the plan, I don't like it. Lelouch is my partner! Only I can stand next to him... Berserker better not try anything… or else—!'
Else she'd convert to a different class than the one she was summoned as. Forget being an Archer or Avenger, she'd usurp the knight's role as the madman if he tried anything. She'd burn all with an indiscriminate and eternal hell.
Even if it meant stripping away all she had, be it the skin on her back or her very sanity, she wouldn't let anyone take away the man she made a promise with! This, Nobunaga swore!
And while any bystander would've attributed this possessiveness as simple jealousy from the young woman, never mind that the mad knight she envied was obviously a man far too insane to consider as a romantic rival, let it not be unsaid that Nobunaga didn't trust him with Lelouch.
Hell, she didn't trust anyone with Lelouch. Anyone.
Yet somehow, despite the irrationality of the thought, Nobu couldn't shake a different tingle down her spine induced by the threat the mad Servant posed. It was to be expected of a guard who didn't have a single Command Seal binding him to Lulu's safety. Even she would so easily snap Kariya's neck should he become a noticeable threat to them.
But despite that, why couldn't she help but feel Berserker was not a knight she could trust with royalty in a far more… different sense?
'… I must be losing my marbles if this is what I feel about that boy…' In the shadows of the seemingly empty manor, hidden away by her spirit form, the woman felt her cheeks burn with less fury as her noble phantasm but about the same passion when she murdered her enemies. 'I am so gonna take my time making Lulu squirm!'