The roof of the Community Centre.
Observing the night life of Fuyuki City from the top of the highest building currently, Nobunaga exhaled deeply, a wide smile plastered on the redhead's face.
The war's zenith was upon them. Just now, she'd received Lulu's report that he'd made contact with the Magus Killer. With his many contingencies in place, there was no way either of his hostages or their final foe himself would escape. Though, if they couldn't win but tried to bring her Master down with them, she was already prepared to swoop in and save him.
'I won't allow anyone to hurt you…'
She kept such thoughts to herself and out of their mental link. She need not distract him with her romantic musings when the boy already knew how she felt. As both of them had suffered when they were alive, now that the two Demons had sworn themselves together, neither would allow the other to be hurt. Not ever again.
Speaking of potential dangers to her significant other…
"My, oh my. And here I hoped the mad knight actually bested you, little girl." Nobu smirked when she felt the presence of the last servant behind her. Glee filled the Demon King's voice as she addressed the King of Knights herself. "Ara? You seem to have lost some of your drive, Saber! Has the meeting with Lancelot, your devoted-friend-turned-madman shocked you so?"
Arturia wasn't in the mood for any banter, teasing or otherwise. Her eyes were devoid of patience and amusement. The fight with her old friend and knight had seemingly drained her mentally. Her quiet stare back was cold, almost lifeless. But upon hearing Berserker's true name, she narrowed her gaze comparable to the point of her invisible blade.
"… You… You knew about Sir Lancelot?"
"Yes. During my Master's whimsical jaunt to assist his own, the chivalrous maniac revealed his sword and I, having been blessed with information from the Throne, instantly recognized it. So? Tell me! How did it feel, fighting an old comrade from the past?" Nobu couldn't help her expression turning a little sadistic as she could see her words ruffling more than a few feathers. "How does it feel to mete out justice upon one of your many traitors responsible for your downfall? Did you feel relief or satisfaction upon delivering divine punishment? Come now and share! I'm curious!"
For Nobunaga, killing traitors was a matter of necessity. Many times, she'd been betrayed and her dreams and goals crushed. It was only deserving she, the Demon that commanded her own Hell, would find enjoyment in fiving their just deserts.
However, she too was curious if others felt the same. Unlike Lelouch who took things in stride, betrayal and all, the idle curiosity concerning those not them still remained. So her assumptions said that it should be the same for the King of Knights whose own trusted circle, the great Round Table, shattered into civil war.
However, whereas Avenger who drew her power from a seeped-in desire for vengeance hence the name of the class, Saber was apparently different. The girl who pretended to be King glared hard at Nobunaga.
"Don't you dare compare me to yourself, Avenger!" she spat with a hint of venom. "I never once took pleasure in killing my enemies. And neither shall I find satisfaction in slaying my old friend, betrayer or not! Sir Lancelot… did as his chivalry dictated. Through dishonouring me, he'd fulfilled his duty as a knight. On his honour, an enemy in this conflict he may be, I will never look down on him for what he did to me. Nor will I stand for you to insult him further!"
Avenger's smile turned into a disappointed scowl. Her innocent, albeit not entirely so, the question was answered with the tip of a blade. "Ah, is that so? And here I thought you and I could've had something in common, King Arthur."
"You are wrong. We are nothing alike." Saber glared at her as she raised her blade near her face, readied for a swing. "We will never be alike!"
"So you may think, yes? Even though both of us sought to unify the bicker clans of our tiny island and create a prosperous nation that would've lasted for centuries, we are nothing alike!" Avenger laughed as she started to walk around the tiny knight, giggling mockingly every step of the way. "Both of us had been betrayed by our most trusted and died as a result of it. Both of us failed to carry out our greatest ambition for our people. Yes, in all respects, we are not alike."
"I will restate myself then." Visibly ticked, Saber replied. "In life, our actions and ambitions were somewhat alike. However, unlike yourself, I would never stoop as low as to desire vengeance upon another. I would never forego my ideals to become a spirit of vengeance like yourself, Avenger!"
"No, you wouldn't." Nobunaga shook her head as she agreed. "You're the idiotic type to do something more outlandish. Instead of mulling in hate and anger like any human being would, you'd go for something more… self-destructive! Yes, that's the word! Oh, how dramatic! The great King of Knights, the paragon of virtue, demanding to wish herself out of existence for the sake of people long gone!"
Arturia narrowed her eyes as she spits back. "And what of your wish, bastard woman?! Wishing to incarnate only to bring about death and destruction to the human realm once more?! Have you learned nothing during your life as a tyrant?"
"Tyrant? Oh please! I didn't have time to properly act like one! But that will change soon." Nobu giggled. "Japan and more will become mine. Soon, this world will be all of mine and Lelouch's to rule. Quite dramatic, don't you think? The best power couple of demons openly ruling over these foolish mortals."
This time Arturia actually stopped to stare inquisitively with widened eyes. "You… and Lelouch? Together?"
"What's the matter? Something wrong with two soulmates finding one another during wartime? Is it that hard to believe such an open proclamation? Or perhaps you're jealous of our bond? If fate does exist, then she is the one who allowed us to meet." Nobunaga's tone exuded childish glee, convincing Saber of her genuine emotions while also weirding out she who'd never once experienced actual love. "Ah, how so much of a trickster, fate is! To have my beloved's predecessor look so appalled that I've been proposed to by her descendant!"
"Is that an attempt to mock me, wench?!"
"Ahahaha! So my ancestor-in-law has really taken a dislike to me? The modern era's tropes for romantic drama is very much on point, isn't it?!"
The redhead's prattling not only caught Arturia off guard, but it had also infuriated her slightly. Though her Master-Servant relationship was kept a closely-guarded secret, the fact that many of the other participants in this war ranged from romantic to cordial to somewhat obedient had her a bit ticked off. Even Lancer, though not getting the best of the bunch, at least had a Master that ordered him to fight in his stead. Kiritsugu abandoning her to the wayside for most of the war annoyed her when the woman before her looked so much like a girl lost in love.
"Speaking about my future darling…" Nobunaga's expression was no different from fiancée who was about to walk to the altar, yet the air still sharpened as she materialized a katana and pointed it at Saber. "You might be the closest thing to a relative Lelouch has in this world. Though you aren't directly related, I would still demand tribute from you as a gift to our union."
"Even now, you'd dare to jest?!" Saber shifted her stance to a defensive one.
"On the contrary, no, my dear ancestor-in law! A dowry is no joke, especially in Japan. Well, not in my time, anyway." The air about Nobunaga sizzled and flared as a red aura akin to hellfire encompassed her. "Still, I shall forgive your tardiness if you'd surrender something worth the delay. Either your legendary sword or your head will suffice, King of Knights."
"Your marriage be damned, I will not surrender my wish, Avenger!" Excalibur flitted to view for but a second before a gale erupted, hiding the golden light of the holy sword. "Even if your intentions towards my progeny are anything but pure, I still have no choice but to ward off a deranged vixen such as yourself from a future king of Britain."
"Stop being so dramatic and give us your blessing, mother-in-law! Or should it be a father?!"
"Shut your trap already, loudmouthed tramp!"
Smiling gleefully that Saber finally gave in to bantering, even if it was just playing overly-resistant in-law trope, Nobunaga relented all she had. For the last battle between the last two Servants of the Fourth Holy Grail War, nothing would be held back. Not anymore.
But so lost were they to the heat of battle that neither noticed the trouble that befell either of their Masters in the floors below.