Chương 1690: 5
Chapter 5: Interlude 1 Day 2
ChapterText
Around half-way between church and battle site, the two Red Servants slow, and finally come to a stop in a small glade.
"So, that was fun. I didn't know people could still be on that level these days."
Atalanta grimaces.
"'On that level' nothing. That Master is absurd. He was faster than me, and the way he makes my arrows just miss-" Atlanta trails off as she notices Achilles' expression has turned teasing. Oh no. Atalanta can already feel a headache coming on.
Sure enough, the next words out of Achilles' mouth were what she expected, though there's an expression that flits across Achilles' face that doesn't match his teasing words. "Faster than you, Ane-san? If I remember right that'd mean-"
A sigh. "Enough. We should talk about the larger issue."
"You mean our Masters? Or the fact that we're being led by the ruler of a previous War? Or that a modern human has the capacities of a top-tier Servant while also summoning King Arthur, who turns out to be a pretty lady?"
Atalanta doesn't let the wince from Achilles the instant his last statement escapes his mouth distract her. "I meant the first one, obviously. How do we go about investigating this, and what do we do if it is true? If he is a Ruler and our Masters are out of the picture, his Command Seals mean we can't directly confront him, and if he isn't then killing him outright would break the Red Faction into pieces."
Achilles leans on his spear, pensive. "How about this? We go back to report about White- we'd do that normally anyway, right? We don't mention talking with White at all and just focus on the fighting. But before we let the Priest know about King Arthur or the capabilities of White's Master, we push to report directly to our Masters with the information; it's pretty important stuff, all things considered."
"And what if the priest, or our own Masters, say no and keep things as they are?"
"Then we let that happen. It isn't direct proof, but it does look suspicious. If that does happen though, when you get the chance, you go to find White's Master in Trifas like he suggested back there and get some more information. Stuff about the Priest's abilities, how many Command Seals he has, and so on."
Atalanta considers this, and nods. "Ok, but what about you?"
Achilles flashes her a grin. "Oh, I'll be covering for you. Wouldn't want the Priest to know about it, so I'll just have to work twice as hard on whatever mission we're sent on when you break off."
-
Back in the throne room of the Fortress of Millennia, the Masters and Servants of the Black Faction were gathered for the second strategy meeting in a short period of time. Upon Lancer's signal, Gordes stands and begins his presentation.
"I succeeded in making contact with the Ruler of this war, Jeanne d'Arc. She was under attack by Lancer of Red, an exceptionally powerful foe. Saber held him off until day broke, with no assistance from Ruler. However, immediately afterwards Ruler moved to investigate another battle happening nearby, between the White and Red factions."
Now Gordes had the utmost attention of everyone in the room.
"So, they're the White Faction are they? Appropriate enough, I suppose" mused Celenike.
Lancer leans forward in his throne "And what did you discover of the capabilities of White's Servant?"
Gordes puffs out his chest. "Saber of White is King Arthur, a woman, who revealed her identity when she used her Noble Phantasm to clash with Rider of Red."
The room doesn't quite erupt but there's a tension there that wasn't there before. King Arthur, of all possible Saber-class Servants. And a woman, too? But Gordes isn't finished there. "However, the identity of Saber of White is not the most shocking thing. Rather, it is the Master of White who is completely unprecedented!"
"Unprecedented? Compared to summoning King Arthur?" Fiore asks.
"Indeed. The White Faction were attacked by Rider and Archer of Red, and yet while Arthur fought off Rider, the Master of White defeated, though did not eliminate, Archer of Red!"
And the room erupts for an instant, though as Lancer speaks up, tone grave, the room deadens. "Saber, is this correct?"
Saber, still silent, nods again.
"Gordes, your hypothesis?"
"My current belief is that the Master of White is somehow himself a Servant. While Ruler said this was not the case, she also refused to provide another explanation, and went on to claim that the White Faction was not part of the War, despite visibly having a Servant and Command Seals. Ruler must either be mistaken or lying."
Darnic feels a flash of concern. The White Faction he had previously dismissed is looking more like a true threat than he had anticipated, and that was before the possibility of a biased Ruler. "And what else did you uncover?"
"In my battles, these were my observations; Lancer of Red is both skilled and powerful, with some connection to fire. White's Saber is King Arthur, wielding Excalibur. Red's Archer is a female bow-wielder with feline elements. Red's Rider is associated with Greece, fights with a spear and has a shield Noble Phantasm that blocked Excalibur. White's Master fights with a sheathed sword, can use multiple simultaneous high-powered invocationless spells up to A rank in power, is capable of briefly engaging my Saber in melee and has used up a single Command Spell in the battle."
Siegfried turns towards his Master, obviously asking permission to speak. Gordes meets his eyes, and nods, and Siegfried stands and speaks, just a single sentence, for the first time to the Black Faction.
"The Master of White has some connection to dragons. He may also have some capacity for True Name Discernment."
There's a pause as everyone waits to see if Saber has anything further to add. He doesn't, returning to his seat. When it's clear he has nothing else to say, Darnic focuses away from Saber and back to Gordes. "After having witnessed Saber of Red's battle earlier, as the member of Yggdmillennia most experienced with the opposing forces, how would you rate our opponents?"
Gordes puffs with pride. "I would say that Lancer of Red and Saber of White to be about equal to my Saber, with Rider of Red, White's Master and that thaumaturgical peddler's Saber below them and Archer of Red's Archer at the very bottom."
Yes, Darnic thought. This could definitely be more of a problem than first assumed.
-
Shirou felt a pang of aggravation that he tried to stifle. With White having formed themselves onto the stage, things had begun to go poorly. Both attempts at pre-empting problems this evening had failed; Karna had returned first, informing him that Ruler had survived due to the intervention of Saber of Black. This had been compounded by Rider and Archer's return shortly after Lancer, reporting similar failures.
At first Shirou had been in disbelief- two heroes of Rider and Archer's calibre could hardly have failed to eliminate a Master guarded only by one Servant, but both Rider and Archer had sworn up and down that not only was the singular Servant King Arthur but that somehow, the Master of White had demonstrated the combat capabilities of a Servant himself. The attack had been carried out as planned, but the two-on-two fight had drawn out long enough for Saber of Black and Ruler to arrive on the scene. Witnessing so many potential foes, and with the original mission a bust, Archer had felt it best to pull back to deliver what they had found- especially the information on the Master of White, and so the chance was lost.
It had taken some effort to get this information from the two Servants, too. Both had been quite insistent on reporting these discoveries directly to their Masters. Thankfully, Shakespeare's attempt at adding sudden swerves to the "plot" had wound up being useful- as Berserker drew ever closer to Trifas, the Black Faction was sure to intercept. Shirou had conveyed to Archer and Rider that time was of the essence- to make their report to him, and he would convey it to their Masters. They had, eventually, agreed after hearing that their Masters were a considerable distance away, not able to be contacted before Berserker had advanced too far to be supported.
Unfortunately, with the reports of Ruler and the White Faction being left alone, Shirou had to assume that Ruler had been informed about the situation of the Red Faction. Regrettably, Semiramis had been unable to confirm this, with the Master of White making his ability to detect and eliminate her familiars known fairly bluntly. As much as he prayed the abnormality of White convinced Ruler to consider them a threat to the War, it was not something that could just be assumed. Well, Ruler always was going to be in opposition and need to be eliminated, this just made the issue even more pressing, and made the need to save Command Seals to counter Ruler's more crucial than ever. With the possibility of White and Ruler working together to thwart Shirou's wish, measures had been taken to cover tracks- Sighisoara's Church was now abandoned, and Shirou, Semiramis and the insensate Masters were now based in the as-of-yet-unlaunched Garden, with all possible anti-clairvoyance measures active and in place.
This...cowering had not sat well with Semiarmis, who had begun to be somewhat...tetchy. Losing her eyes over an opponent had not done her mood any favors, nor had Shirou's decision, based on the reveal of King Arthur's Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm, that launching the Garden as planned would be too risky- rather than an untouchable fortress it could become a collateral-free target. Semiramis had offered some objection, but White had already made it clear that they were not to be underestimated, and so the plan would have to be shelved. The Garden's triumphant launch would have to wait until White was dealt with, or until it was desperately needed as a trump card. Instead, all efforts had been focused to covering tracks.
Speaking of dealing with White, he should let Red Saber's Master know of White in an effort to head off any potential dialogue on that front. That, and letting Red Saber and their Master know of King Arthur and the danger posed by White might stress the importance of the Red Faction working together and allow for Saber to be brought onto the team more directly.
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