章 40: Oppressors.
"So...whats the plan?" Alex asked Ruler.
She looked around at the destruction the fight brought. Her 'luggage' had been destroyed in the ensuing battle. She wasn't summoned correctly, she had to inhabit a body that was close enough to her original form that it wouldn't reject her. Of course it was with the original bodies permission as when the war ends she would be returned to normal even if Ruler died without any memory of the war happening and even given compensation in some form. When ruler requested the use of her body she promised to siphon a small portion of the grail's residual power after the wish is made to increase the host's 'good fortune' for the remainder of her life after the war concluded. Such a thing was extremely easy with the grail's power and her authority as Ruler.
She needed this luggage because her body couldn't astralized so now she was down to one set of clothes that was banished when she summoned forth her servant attire. It was the school uniform of the girl she was inhabiting.
So at his question she could only sigh.
"I wanted to find a place to stay in the town as it was close to the castle of the black faction...…"
"And now you realize you have no money or any supplies." Alex finished. "Fret not master I am quite wealthy and can afford any supplies and accommodations you want."
"You have a way to pay for the items in this era?"
"I do."
"Wonderful! But I fear the reaction that may occur if they see an armed knight walking into the city. Such things are not common these days, I think it may be best if you astralized." Ruler stated.
"Unfortunately, I cannot astralize due to my circumstances master."
She just sighed. "It seems as though nothing is going to go smoothly."
Alex just smiled as he banished his own armor and weapon and was not wearing his regular clothes from the last time he was walking around as a civilian.
"It should no longer be an issue now master." Alex stated
She merely raised an eyebrow as she nodded in affirmation and they continued their way down the street to the town that lay in the distance.
The trek was relatively peaceful, neither really spoke until Alex took a good look at her and noticed something odd.
"Something on your mind Arthur?" She asked, noticing the glances he was taking.
"I just found it rather strange how closely we resemble one another in certain aspects. If I didn't know any better I would say we were related in some capacity." Alex replied. "Maybe we had a common ancestor or possibly you are the descendant of someone in my extended family."
"You know who I am?" She asked with a bit of surprise, its not that she was actually hiding it but she also never fully introduced herself and the vague way he spoke of her potential genetic tree eluded to the fact that he knew she came after him.
"Well it's not very hard to guess, being a ruler requires certain conditions in of itself and I can think of only one that wields a banner, Maiden of Orleans." Alex replied with a smirk.
"I apologize for not introducing myself before, I just….was a bit taken back by everything that has happened up until now."
"It's fine master, but we should think of a cover story while we stay in the town. I was thinking we could be siblings that are traveling the world."
"Siblings?"
"Yes, you shall be my little sister!" He said with an odd amount of glee.
Truthfully, he expected her to react similarly to Arturia. He mainly said this just to mess with the saint a bit as she seemed highly stressed at the moment. But to his surprise she smiled brightly at the thought. "I would like that."
"You're weird." He couldn't help but blurt out as he stared at her with a shocked expression. "I just showed up and you're even skeptical of my existence, yet you accept being my little sister so happily."
She looked a little embarrassed as she flushed a bit at his comment and turned her head away slightly. ".....i always wanted an older sibling I was the oldest in my family before I left to join the war…."
"I…..i can't even, that attack was too powerful." He muttered as he just stared dumbly at the flustered girl. "It's settled then! You shall hence forth be my little sister." He happily pulled along her as he picked up the pace to the town.
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It was basically a unanimous decision on every participants part not to engage during the daytime. Even the red faction that would actively go after Ruler's head wouldn't disobey this rule less they earn the ire of the counter force.
The dogs of Alaya would be deployed if the situation got too out of hand and the war got revealed on too large a scale. And when there are entities that can throw around the power to eviscerate mountains, that's a high possibility.
It also served to make the war more interesting. The average destructive level was leagues above that which was shown in the 5th holy grail war that Shirou and Arturia fought in. The forced retreat when the sun rose meant that a weaker side couldn't just be pushed into defeat in a single night. They would have time to regather their forces and plan strategies.
This also allowed the masters to catch a break. They were only human and couldn't very well keep up with the servants who would be more than willing to spends hours upon hours fighting.
For the neutral 'faction' they just had to find some way to entertain themselves.
"You don't have to do that Alex." A man wearing a priests clothing walked through the door.
Alex was currently cooking a large serving of dinner for all the residents of the building they were staying at.
The city of Trifas, it was the home of the Yggdmilliennia castle which was the headquarters for the black faction. It was the setting of the Grail War and it would be the best place to oversee the war as most fighting around happen around said city. The only issue is that the black faction had operated in this city for hundreds of years at this point and made an effort to make the town as uninteresting as possible to dissuade any kind of tourism so the chance of finding an 'inn' or hotel was close to zero. As who would open a business like that when a visitor to their town was rare? So, they were lucky to find a church that was allowing them to stay. It also doubled as an orphanage of sorts.
So, Alex wanted to lend a hand and was happily making dinner for all the residents who were mostly children below the age of 13.
"I insist, I would feel bad to impose on someone who was gracious enough to allow me and my sister to stay here under such short notice."
Father Ene was an older man. Probably in his 60s and he had a stern face yet almost always had a small smile when dealing with his residents.
"Would you care to join me at the table then?" Father Ene asked as Alex finished up.
They sat down on one of the tables outside as they overlooked the kids and Ruler playing. The kids had almost immediately taken her away to go play with them and she couldn't say no.
"The people of this town live in fear of the of those who inhabit the castle." Father Ene suddenly said.
Alex looked over to see the serious expression the man adopted as he spoke and looked off into the distance. It was at this point that Alex took a better look at the man he only glanced at a few times before. He noticed some things he didn't bother with the first time around.
Certain defined muscles, those usually forged from combat. His hands looked exceptionally strong, like he was used to holding a certain type of weapon. A few odd scars here and there that barely poked out from beneath his clothes. And on the hem of the white gloves he wore…..holy scripture was sewed in and barely noticeable.
"I apologize, I didn't realize earlier who you were. I can say that when we came here our intentions were pure and we truly sought out a place to stay." Alex stated.
Yes, it was a bit unlucky….to run into an executor of the church. The signs were all there and he barely noticed them until the man pretty much revealed himself. Executors were known to sew holy scripture in their clothing and their weapons of choice were usually black keys.
"I'm retired." The man replied, guessing what Alex was thinking. "I was also a bit surprised when you both showed up. Now I just humbly look after this church and in the town I grew up in. I have enough contacts still remaining to know the general idea of whats going on and I will admit I was worried when you two showed up. But seeing you both act so warm-heartedly, any despicable thoughts I thought you both may harbor had gone away."
"So you know what we are?" Alex asked.
"It's hard to miss when you can feel the power being released outside of town." The priest seemed to lighten up a bit after saying this, the tense atmosphere was gradually subsiding.
"Are you two with the ones who live in the castle?" Father Ene asked.
"No...we are here to make sure they don't cross any lines they shouldn't."
"I see, that does put my heart at ease a bit." I worry that my home may be a casualty in this war.
"I will do everything in my power to protect the innocents in this conflict." Alex stated.
The father had his normal smile on again as they both just watched the kids have fun playing with their newest guest.
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As the night settled, everyone prepared for battle.
It didn't take long for the fluctuations of energy to be felt by both sides and even Ruler and Alex.
"With the wanton use of power...I would guess that a berserker got loose." Alex stated.
Ruler could only nod her head, Berserkers weren't known for their subtlety. "Regardless, it is our duty to oversee the war, let us move."
At the yggdmillennia castle the black faction also was watching a scene unfold in the forests near their stronghold.
"It appears as though Berserker of Red is coming towards us." The man who spoke was Darnic Yggdmillennia, the master of Lancer of Black who sat on the throne that overlooked the hall.
"Our golems have been sent out to delay him." Caster of Black spoke. He wore a full body suite and a mask that covered his face.
"Any other servants in the vicinity?" Archer of Black asked.
"Our sentry golems were shot down by arrows so we are assuming atleast Archer of Red in present but we are assuming there are more." Roche Yggdmillenia replied as the Master of Caster.
"Yes~ Finally some action!" The Pink haired servant, Rider of Black, shouted in glee.
The man sitting on the throne finally stood up as he looked over the room.
"It seems that the red faction have made the first move. If that is the case, let us take the first piece off the board." He had a very commanding presence as all the other servants deterred to his commands. He was the Lancer of Black but to the world he was known as Vlad III the Lord Impaler. The origin from which the legend of Dracula sprung into existence.
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A maniacal laughter was heard in these otherwise peaceful woods, followed by the sound of golems being smashed into pieces.
A large man wearing a gladiator's outfit was mindlessly slaughtering all these constructs as he continued his way through the forest.
"Is there any way we can stop him?" A voice spoke quietly.
There were two figures in the nearby trees. One woman who had cat ears and a lion tail and wielded a bow. The other was a man in Greek armor with a long spear and spiky green hair.
The one who spoke was Archer of Red while her companion was Rider of red.
"Do you think he'll just walk away if we ask nicely, sister?" Rider replied.
"My name is Atalanta, don't call me that Achilles."
Rider just laughed at her annoyance as he eyed the battle. "It should be a good opportunity to see what the Black faction is capable of."
Their conversation was interrupted as Berserker seemed to become more excitable.
"OPPRESSORS!" He Yelled into the distance as he charged at another group of golems.
クリエイターの想い 
Coraulten
Coraulten Chapter for the day. Things are generally going according to plot, though some minor things may stick out here or there as a new element was introduced.
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