Fate/Grand Order Alternative

Chapter 5: First Encounter

"And there, ritual complete… phew… yeah I'm feeling that already." Eil let out a sigh as he felt a sudden pull on him as the glow from his Command Spells finally died down, Jeanne standing straight up. The full party was now gathered in the war room of the fortress, and Jeanne forming a contract with Eil had been the first priority before the night was to end. "Ahhh… I knew contracting with a Ruler would be draining, but even in your weakened state I'm feeling that one."

"I do apologize for that, but, if it helps, I feel stronger already." Jeanne nodded as she closed a hand, looking up at the boy who was now her Master. "I know it's unorthodox for sure, but, thank you Master."

"No worries… now, maybe we should get some rest before anything else." Eil muttered, rolling a shoulder.

"I agree. Us Servants will be fine, but, you and Ritsuka are human, rest would do you well." Jeanne said.

"We can plan early in the morning before making our move. We may not know much but the best we can do is figure things out. Lady Anastasia, I assume this fortress has some kind of apparatus we can use for scouting?" Artoria said, Anastasia nodding as she fiddled with her doll.

"Of course. The armory should be fully stocked. There might be some binoculars in there that could be useful to us. We don't need the weapons anyway. Guns being toted around in this era would also just throw too many things out of whack." Anastasia added, then humming. "Well… more than already has been anyway."

"Sounds good to me! All that walking's worn me right out." Ritsuka added. "I hope the beds are soft!"

"Hmhm… this may be a military fort but I promise the accommodations will be welcoming." Anastasia said, Eil and Ritsuka nodding to her.

Five months ago…

"Annnd there… eesh, I know she's on edge, but Marie is working me like a damn slave horse… y'd think she'd respect her dad's wishes to give me a bit more leeway bit I guess not!"

Eil flopped down onto the soft carpet of the library as he finished stowing away an entire cart full of books, then sitting back up and giving a sigh as he folded his arms over his chest. He'd only been in Chaldea for a month now, and despite things he'd basically been running around doing nothing but busywork… not like there was much to do while other Master Candidates were being gathered and all. Though the top picks had already arrived not long after he did… as for how well Eil got along with most of them, well… that varied.

"Haaagh… good thing nobody here knows who I am… if they did it'd be a shit storm." Eil stretched his arms and stood up, nabbing a few books from other shelves he went through as he headed for one of the seating areas in the library. He spent a good deal of his time here, he'd basically made it a little getaway.

"Now which Servants to read up on this time… Le Morte de Arthur? Nah, read it hundreds of times… Codex Regias? Nope… Divine Spirits are a no go for me… historical records… hm? Things on the Romanovas huh… I think my great-granddad worked with them."

"Huh… thought I'd find you here. You're almost always under a pile of books."

Eil looked up from the records he was flipping through, coming eye to eye with a young man likely his age. The young man's skin was pale and his hair as well, both like snow, though heavy, notable bags were under tired looking grey eyes. Unlike how Eil was wearing MOST of the basic Chaldea Master uniform, this young man was in different clothes, which were primarily grey and black… all in all he fit the image of being sort of shifty, or at least someone who'd draw suspicion.

"Oh, hey there Kadoc. How was the Rayshift testing?" But, Eil's response was friendly. He actually liked Kadoc. Despite his tired, dreary looks Kadoc wasn't too bad a person, and the two of them were able to get along surprisingly easily.

"Exhausting as usual." Kadoc flopped down in another chair with a tired sigh, earning a chuckle from Eil was he flipped a page. "Thankfully these chairs are soft as hell."

"And now you know why I hang out here all the time." Eil mused. "Hmm… yeah, that's about right… the Romanovas passed down a familiar from heir to heir instead of magic crests. Viy huh? Neat name… isn't that from a story book?"

"Do you always think out loud?"

"Only when I'm reading."

"What are you even reading about?"

"I just kinda read whatever. I'm mostly doing research on Servants. Gotta have this stuff planned in advanced. Of course we've got the luck that Chaldea has an absurd amount of catalysts to use." Eil said, closing the book and replacing it with another. "I'm trying to pick one that'd be a good fit for me."

"Ah right. The Director mentioned that. Tch, I've got no idea what kind of Servant I should summon. I'm not like you or Wodime with those ridiculous mana reserves that can handle seemingly anything." Kadoc's tone was a bit bitter. Despite having been handpicked to be a master, the young man wasn't quite what one could call an exceptional magus at all. He just got lucky and had incredibly high compatibility with Servants was all.

"Hmm… I'd suggest a Caster for someone like you." Eil said, Kadoc looking at him with a raised brow. "Casters tend to be pretty self-sufficient. They've all universally got abilities like Territory Creation or Item Creation, with some variance here or there, and because they're Servant particular abilities they don't need to rely on mana from the Master to use them. What'd be an example I could use… hmm… ah, I know. Solomon ibn Gabirol…"

"You said that too easily."

"Lemme finish. Otherwise known as Avicebron. The man who basically created the Kabbalah school of Thaumaturgy and also a master of making Golems. As a Servant, a Master who can provide the proper resources wouldn't have to waste a bit of mana for that to work out. In short though, in general a Caster won't be much of a drain on you, so I think a Caster would suit you best… of course the problem is among all the Servant Classes, after maybe Saber, Caster has way too many Servants in it. Spirits who don't tend to fit into other Classes have a weird habit of being slapped into Caster without a care. Did ya' know the Class is full of writers?"

"What."

"Yeup. Shakespeare, Hans Christensen Andersen, H.P Lovecraft might be in there… that's actually scary to think about."

"Huh… you know for some guy the old director apparently just picked up out of nowhere like me, you know way more about Servants than you'd think… I actually think you know the most about Servants out of anyone here." Kadoc said, Eil slapping his book shut and giving a chuckle. "Who are you anyway huh Eil? I can't shake the feeling you're hiding something."

"Well, I guess you could say it's part of the family business. And aren't we all hiding something in the end?" Eil remarked, Kadoc just humming as he pulled a book off of the stack. "So, how about it? Wanna look through and see if I can help you pick out a Servant?"

"Ah what the hell. Better to ask you than one of the others."

"Okay so… summary of the knowledge we do have about the situation can be summed up pretty succulently as "jack fucking shit." All we know is this singularity's root likely has to do with this other Jeanne who can summon wyverns of all ruddy things, and that the pivotal event of this era hasn't come to pass because that Jeanne took over Orleans."

It was the next morning and the entire group had gathered up in the fortress's war room, Eil standing with his hands on the table, which conveniently was a map of the current region, likely a quirk of the Noble Phantasm itself, while everybody else in the party was seated in the various chairs.

"As well as that this other "me's" existence is no doubt the cause for my weakened state." Jeanne said, Eil nodding in confirmation. "Our best bet would be to return to Orleans and face her, but, that sounds far more like an end goal than an immediate action."

"Our best course would be to survey the surrounding area." Artoria spoke up next, standing up and going next to Eil, pointing at different spots on the map. "There are plenty of towns that we can go to on the way to Orleans. If Ruler was already summoned here on her own, then the odds we can meet up and ally with other Servants is high. As Ruler said, Orleans is the end goal, not what we should go too immediately. We don't know what kind of forces will be waiting in store for us. Be it monsters or other Servants, we need to be prepared for anything."

"Spoken like a true warlord. You'd fit in pretty well in my era." Cu Chullain said, folding his arms as he gave an amused hum, and Artoria chuckled herself.

"I led my knights into many a battle, and I had a good teacher who instructed me on battle strategy. At the least I can assist with this much." Artoria said, a hint of pride to her voice, though she suddenly looked trouble when she saw how Lily was looking at her with awe. No doubt the younger version of this person thought her future self was incredible.

"So that at least has that settled." Eil said, a hand to his chin, then pulling his sleeve back and tapping his wrist band. "Director? Anything you wanna add? I know you're listening."

"Of course I am." Marie's voice came over the line, a holographic projection of the girl appearing over the war table. "It's as you all said. For now, gather information and try to find more allies. If luck is on our side perhaps we'll meet someone who knows more about this other Jeanne than we do."

"Also, how's the analysis about any time dilation between the Singularity and Chaldea gone?" Eil asked, Mashu and Ritsuka leaning in next to him as he brought that up, while Romani popped into view as well.

"I just finished it last night. There's no dilation between us and you guys. Time is passing here as it does there. Though I don't think we can expect it to be the same each time." Romani remarked, tapping at the tablet he was holding. "Also as for that other Jeanne-perhaps we'll call her Dark Jeanne?-I'd like to learn more about her too, see if we can gather data on what kind of Servant she is. FATE is a more unique system, since it can record and draw on Heroes who wouldn't normally be able to manifest even under proper circumstances. With the right records from the singularities you two could potentially summon Servants never seen before! How's about that huh?"

"Not the time for this kind of speculation Romani." Marie said, the man moving back out of view. "Anyway, we'll cut contact for now. Call again once you've gotten somewhere. Director out."

"Alright, so that's that. Where should we go first?" Eil murmured, then Jeanne stepped up and pointed at the map. "La Charite?"

"It's the closest town from this forest after all." Jeanne remarked, folding her arms. "It's the best I say we can do for now. We need as much information about the state of Orleans as we can get, and for now we should avoid being close to Orleans as much as possible."

"Would also likely be a good idea you not show your face much." Anastasia added, finally speaking up after having not said a word. "I mean no offense by that, simply that, if the way those soldiers reacted is anything to go buy, then your presence could easily lead us to conflict we don't need."

"I can agree there." Jeanne admitted. "It may pain me but we must do as needed. Though I do worry about the state of some towns… with those wyverns about who knows what kind of destruction they've caused already? The other "me" cannot be in her right mind. Admittedly I feel rather panicked about this. Overwhelming power and hatred can easily destroy a person, no matter how noble they are."

"Well, no time to waste then, let's get moving!" Ritsuka declared, throwing a fist up as she gave a cheer.

"That is… not good."

"Eil don't look nonchalant about this!"

"It… the entire town is on fire." Mashu spoke aloud about what was happening, Fou on her head as the Masters stared on with the Servants.

It had been a few hours since the party concluded their strategy meeting. They had left the forest, with Anastasia conveniently revealing she could unsummon the fort as she pleased and would be able to call it up again when needed without issue, and made their way forward while continuing to discuss what to do next.

Only to find their destination, La Charite, up in flames. Buildings smoldering down to their frames, smoke billowing into the air that on the open grasslands it would no doubt be seen for miles all around. And while this was a horrible sight for all of them to see, there was no doubt Jeanne was the most immediately affected by this sudden development.

"Let's hurry!" Jeanne shot off immediately, nobody else even giving another thought before they rushed off after the Ruler-class Servant and into the town. It was nothing but flames as the party entered the burning streets, and aside from the crackling of the flames nothing could be heard at all. "It can't be!"

"Uhhh… this is reminding me of Fuyuki." Ritsuka murmured, rolling one of her wrists.

"This isn't a good sign. Roman, life signs!" Eil said, listening as the line crackled on.

"It's no use! There's nothing alive in the town." Romani said, Eil clicking his tongue. And that was when something carried through the air, a series of noises… shuffling and groaning.

"That's not good." Eil muttered, a sword and spear flashing into form in his hands.

"It could be a survivor!" Jeanne said, already starting to move.

"Wait a minute, that's-" Mashu shouted, and as soon as something lunged for Jeanne, it was slammed away by a blast of fire, Cu lowering his staff, the Caster giving a click of the tongue.

"I wouldn't rush like that little lady. Like the doctor said, there ain't anything alive here." Cu stated, everyone immediately standing around in a circle as more figures rose out of the ruins, shuffling excuses for corpses, the burned remains of the villagers with no doubt.

"What are these things?" Anastasia muttered, a hand raised at the approaching foes. "Living dead? Is there a word for those…?"

"Zombies." Eil affirmed, the cold girl giving a hum in response. "It's just a bunch of shambling corpses. Put 'em down!"

On that order, aside from the less combat capable Ritsuka, the party lunged at the zombies as they came at them. Going by the size of the town this had to be quite the horde to deal with, and cutting through the things was going to be a slog. Only a few minutes in and the town was covered in corpses with severed body parts of several varieties, more flames than before, and ice spikes that jutted all around. But that still wasn't stopping them.

"And I thought the skeletons were persistent!" Ritsuka said, her head popping out from behind Mashu's shield. "How big is this town?! There can't be that many can there?"

"We should go the first chance we get." Artoria said, though attention turned upwards when screeching came from above. "Though it seems like something more concerning has arrived. Wyverns!"

In lieu with that, at least five wyverns crashed down to the ground. And almost immediately, one of them snatched up one of the zombies, it's jaws turning the body into nothing but bloody chunks in an instant.

"That's just wrong… though I guess wyverns don't care what they eat." Eil grumbled, giving a groan at the sight. "But ya' know what, fuck it! Kill the things!"

And a short time later, the wyverns now all stood dead, and no new enemies showed any sign of arriving at all. As the Servants all stood down and Ritsuka took a seat on some rubble, Eil meanwhile, went over to one of the dead wyverns with a dagger in hand. He took the weapon as he pried open the mouth of one of the wyverns, starting to dig it into the gums of the creature and pry out its fangs.

"What are you doing that for?" Ritsuka asked, swinging her legs back and forth, Eil also tugging some scales off the creature as well.

"I can probably make use of 'em. Wyverns are a breed of phantasmal beasts, so that means pieces of them are useful for thaumaturgical processes." Eil said, Ritsuka tilting her head.

"Uhm..."

"Basically, I can use their fangs and scales for spells and the like."

"Oh."

Ritsuka just hummed as Eil continued building the pile of fangs and scales next to him, Anastasia stepping over and watching the process.

"Do we really need those?" Anastasia asked, Eil wiping his hands off from the blood that got on them.

"I believe in it being better to have something and not need it, than to need it and not have it." Eil remarked, a snap of his fingers causing the collected items to vanish.

And he immediately got a call on his communicator.

"ZVEZDAAA!" Cue Marie shouting at the top of her lungs, Eil smirking. "Why did a pile of fangs and scales just drop all over the Rayshift chamber?!"

"Those're for Da Vinci. I plucked them from some of the wyverns we just fought, maybe she can use them for something."

"What FOR?!"

"I don't know! Maybe they can help her improve Saint Graphs or something. Doesn't the FATE system do that?"

"It does yes, but it's a damned mess!" Marie just sighed and hung her head, pulling a hand down her face. "So what happened?"

"We got to the outside of this place and just found it on fire!" Ritsuka said, appearing behind Eil. "We had to fight a bunch of zombies and then the wyverns showed up."

"Well there goes that avenue then." Marie muttered, biting her thumbnail as she grumbled. "Then we'll have to move on from here. I'll contact you again in several hours for a status update. Out."

The call ended with that, Eil sighing as he lowered his arm, looking over as he noticed Jeanne staring out over the now smoldering ruins with a melancholy expression.

"It was most likely "me" who was behind this." The saint said, gripping her banner's pole tightly.

"Are you sure? It's probably too soon to conclude that." Mashu said, Jeanne shaking her head.

"No, I'm sure of this, I can tell. There's just one thing I don't understand…" Jeanne murmured, a sigh leaving her as she turned towards the direction Orleans was no doubt in. "How much do you have to hate others to wreak such havoc? I can't understand it…"

"Some people don't do it out of hate." Eil stated, scanning the ruins before him. "Some people do it out of boredom, or because their minds are so broken it's the only thing that brings them joy. Some out of madness, and others desperation. But hate is a special kind of emotion… it's consuming, like a monster with an unending hunger. A bottomless void with no way to be filled."

"And there's some people who simply desire destruction above all else. People who only wish to see the world burn." Artoria added, and she was notably still at the ready. "Master, we should prepare: There's Servants closing in on us."

"Well that was certainly fast!" Eil grumbled, opening up the comm line again. "Director, we got trouble! Servants are on the way. Can you narrow down how many there are?"

"Let me… what the… five?! Yes… five Servants are heading for your location. What is… they're so fast! Are they Riders? I would suggest running, but it's not like we're lacking for numbers ourselves after all. But… damn, would it be wise?" Marie's face was troubled, but, opposed to the more cautious view, the Servants didn't look ready to run at all.

"I won't run! Even I fighting is unwise, I at least want to find out their intentions!" Jeanne said, and Eil nodded.

"I agree with that. We need information right? And the enemy is coming right to it. That's as good an information source as any!" Eil said, cracking his knuckles, earning a sigh from Marie.

"Fine! But be cautious!"

Eil and Ritsuka nodded at that and the line cut. It only took a few more minutes of waiting for them to show up. Five figures all in quick succession to one another: A man garbed in black with hair and skin like chalk carrying a spear. A woman with silver hair and a mask concealing part of her face garbed in red. A young woman dressed like a saint herself with violet hair, carrying a staff with a prominent cross atop it. An elegantly dressed individual with a rapier in hand, who's looks were androgynous. And leading them, was a girl the spitting image of Jeanne, only garbed in pure black attire, with skin pale as snow, off-white hair, and eyes that glared a sinister shade of gold.

"Ugh…" Jeanne gasped, and the other her looked mildly surprised.

"What on earth… who knew? Who knew such a thing could happen?" The dark Jeanne murmured, Jeanne tensely quiet, the other one scanning over the crowd before her, and a smirk broke out on the dark girl's face as she gave a chuckle. "Could someone pour some water on me? This is bad. It's awful. I think I'm really going to lose it. It's so funny I might die from laughing!"

"Let's see the lineup here…" Eil thought, images going across his vision as he scanned the Servants in front of him while Dark Jeanne spoke. "Berserker-Lancer huh? Modified Class due to an altered summoning… same for the rest too. Assassin, Rider, and Saber in order… and as for the other Jeanne, Ruler, of course… huh, weirdly I was expecting an Avenger."

"Take a look Gilles!" Dark Jeanne laughed, Eil raising a brow. "Look at that pathetic girl! What is she a wimp? A mouse? A worm!" then the dark girl's look changed to one of disgust. "Either way they're all the same! So puny I can't even muster any sympathy! Ah – truly a country that can only cling to "me"… comparing them to mice is an insult to mice."

"Hey we already beat one of these Singularities! Who're you calling less than mice?!" Ritsuka snapped, Eil promptly holding her back by her cloak's hood.

"Down puppy, no need to get steamed. She's just blowing hot air." Eil said, a smirk on, which immediately earned him a glare from Dark Jeanne.

"I don't like you." Dark Jeanne growled. "Hey Gilles, what do… oh, right we didn't bring him. My bad."

"You… who are you?" Jeanne murmured, her other self scoffing.

"I could be asking you the same thing!" The other said, sighing. "Right, as a leader, let me answer that. I am Jeanne d'Arc, the saint devoted to France. The other "me." Good enough?"

"What? That's nonsense! You're no saint, just as I'm no saint! But… that is already a thing of the past." Jeanne murmured, though the grip on her flag was still tight. "More importantly – why did you attack this town?"

"Why you ask? As the same Jeanne d'Arc I thought for sure you would understand. Are you stupid now that your alignment has changed?" Dark Jeanne asked, a mocking smirk coming to her face. "The reason I attacked this city? What a foolish question. It's obvious isn't it? It is for the sole purpose of destroying France. I am, after all, a Servant. Politically, economically, all these methods take too long. Is it not better to simply physically crush everything?"

"Such foolishness!" Jeanne snapped, the other her scoffing.

"Such foolishness? The foolish ones are us, Jeanne d'Arc. Why did you want to save this country? Why did you want to bring salvation to these people? All the while knowing they were the ones who spit on and betrayed us?!" The other Jeanne's expression turned to rage.

"That is…"

"I will be fooled no longer! I will be betrayed no longer! I no longer hear the voice of the Lord." Dark Jeanne growled. "The fact that I can no longer hear His voice, means that He no longer blesses this country. So, I will destroy it in accordance with the Lord's grief. I will cut away all the bad seeds at the roots. So long as-"

"Okay I'mma step in here." Eil said, clearing his throat, drawing the glare of Dark Jeanne to him. "All this talk is plenty amusing and while I'd love to see two sides of Jeanne d'Arc argue about things, and I can tell you have quite a lot to say… I think I can affirm we have business."

"And just who are you huh?" Dark Jeanne demanded, aiming her own banner at Eil, who chuckled as he shut an eye.

"Eilwyn Zima la Zvezda, at your service mademoiselle. All kidding aside, I'm one of the last Masters remaining. And to be incredibly blunt your actions here are part of the reason the Greater History of Man is currently, pardon my French, extremely fucked." Eil stated, Dark Jeanne just glaring at him.

"And I should care because? That sounds exactly like the kind of thing I want to happen." The girl said, Eil nodding as he folded his arms.

"Agreed… but that is why we're here right now. You wanna destroy man, and it's my job to save them. Fundamentally speaking my goal and yours aren't aligned. Now I would ask you to just hand over the Holy Grail you have so we can be done with this but of course it ain't gonna that easy now." Eil's tone was remarkably blasé despite the situation at hand. Maybe it was because he knew he had enough Servants at his back, but Ritsuka was also tugging at his shirt and wordlessly trying to get him to stop.

"I'm wondering if I should just kill this noisy bug…" Dark Jeanne muttered, Eil moving back as flames suddenly licked up near him, Ritsuka yelping.

"What the heck?! How did that happen?! Is that something she did!?" Ritsuka yelled, Eil only chuckling in amusement. "Eil you're taking this way too well!"

"I'm used to things being this way." Eil murmured, though Jeanne looked a lot more concerned about matters, and from the attempted move on their Master, Eil's own Servants were ready to get fighting themselves as well.

"Are you really "me"?" Jeanne asked, her Dark Self scoffing again.

"I've played my part so well for you so clearly, but you still have doubts?" Dark Jeanne scoffed again, a twisted laugh coming from her. "This rage is an ugly justice. It's not that you cannot understand, you just don't even have the will to try."

"Ah that word. I love hearing people throw the word justice around." Eil sniped, getting glared at again. "Justice is fun, isn't it? You can bend it, twist it, even pound it into dust but it takes whatever form you want it to. It's probably the greatest question of humanity, or at least one of them: What is justice?... Personally speaking I find justice to be a bunch of shit. Just a word people throw around to try and make themselves seem like the moral victor."

"Now I know I don't like you." Dark Jeanne muttered, though by now Eil had also dropped whatever blasé affability he'd been projecting up to now. "Well, it doesn't matter. I've seen "myself" and now know the nature of what she is. Neither a Ruler or Jeanne d'Arc, just some leftover residue that I threw away. If you were the same existence and Class such as I, I should have felt something. But you are worthless, little more than a ghost with a misguided effort to recreate history."

"Are you just here to throw around insults, are for an actual battle?" Artoria said, speaking up and stepping forward. "I've heard about enough from you. You say Ruler is but a ghost, but then what are you? You're certainly no proper Servant either, that much I can tell. You're tainted, a Servant of an irregular kind. Perhaps a more accurate thing to call you would be Jeanne Alter perhaps?"

"Alter?" Ritsuka murmured, then her eyes went wide. "Wait, so is she like the Saber Mashu and I fought in Fubuki?"

"Tch… I'm getting sick of hearing you people. Berserk Lancer, Berserk Assassin, why not fight them huh? They have numbers but your Berserk states should cover that." Jeanne Alter seemed all too confident in that as the black garbed man and the masked woman stepped forward. Eil however was thinking this was a stupid idea for her to suddenly execute. "You're getting tired of small prey aren't you? Rejoice, they are strong. Among all the Servants I summoned, your lust for blood is the strongest. You exist to crush the brave. Devour them to your heart's content."

"Very well." The Lancer spoke as he spun his spear into a readied grip. "Now I will have your blood."

"Not so fast "my king." I would like to partake of their flesh and blood, as well as their insides." Assassin said, Lancer chuckling.

"And their souls? Who would get their souls?"

"How about none of the above? Anastasia!" Eil shouted, and immediately on command as Eil and Ritsuka shot back behind the Servants, Lancer and Assassin were forced to move back as a gust of icy wind came forth from Viy as Anastasia held the doll out. Cu was quick to follow the lead with bursts of fire coming from runes he had formed prior, separating Lancer and Assassin from one another.

"So how do we run this now?" Ritsuka asked, Eil humming as he quickly scanned the situation, then snapping his fingers as it came to mind.

"Got it! Artoria, Jeanne, take Lancer! Mashu, Lily, go for Assassin! Anastasia, Cu, keep the pressure on from here!" Eil ordered, the Servants giving affirmatives and splitting off to take their ordered opponents. Artoria's hidden sword lunged for Lancer, who narrowly managed to dodge the hidden blade, his coat taking the damage instead, his spear meeting the spear-tip of Jeanne's flag as she stabbed it forward. Assassin was quicker to try and retreat as Lily, while less skilled than her elder-self no doubt, managed to quickly come close to making clear shots, and the retaliation from Assassin was quickly blocked by Mashu, who's shield wasn't a slouch of a weapon either. "Peh… I really don't like having to sit back, but there's not much more we as Masters can do but support."

"Yeah." Ritsuka murmured, gripping her left wrist. "But, that doesn't mean there's nothing we can do!"

As the fight continued on, it became readily apparent that perhaps it had indeed been a bad idea for Jeanne Alter to pit two Servants against six. Artoria's fast sword was keeping Lancer on the defensive, and Jeanne's own strikes didn't leave much room for him to retaliate either even when he lashed out with spikes produced merely from jabbing his spear into the dirt. A quick flash of Artoria's sword was narrowly dodged, but Lancer took a cut across the face for the effort, and Anasatasia and Cu continuing to support with their attacks from the back only added to the pressure.

Assassin wasn't any better off either. No doubt thanks to her Class not being well geared for a direct fight. Attacking with waves of blood, slashing with the claw like nails of her hand, of all things summoning an iron maiden to charge her enemies. Lily was nimble enough to avoid most of those attacks, and with Mashu helping her, there was a solid defensive wall that blocked the ones that came out as Lily dodged. The assault also forced Assassin back, she and Lancer moving away from the relentless Servants.

"Hahahaha! Seems we have some powerful foes against us!" Lancer laughed, looking thrilled by things, though Assassin seemed far less impressed, despite arguably looking the more wounded of the two.

"You couldn't even finish off a weak girl?" Assassin scoffed. "I wonder if you felt sympathy for her. Kindness doesn't suit you. It's not very monster-like, Dracul."

"Huh? Wait, like Dracula?" Ritsuka asked, Eil nodding.

"To be more accurate, Lancer's identity is Vlad Tepes III, the legendary king of Wallachia, modern day Romania. Or as the legends go, Dracul, the Lord Impaler." Eil stated.

"Who knew you'd reveal my True Name in front of others. I'm extremely disappointed." Vlad stated, a subtle glare being aimed at Assassin.

"I actually had those figured out ages ago." Eil said, tugging open his right eye, revealing it had taken on a new look, an intricate pattern like a bloomed flower in the iris. "Mystic Eyes of Revelation, handy thing I got from my mom. The Assassin's True Name is Elisabeth Bathory, though as Carmilla instead, another person whose legends began attributing her to vampires. Rider is Saint Martha, and the Saber with you is Chevalier d'Eon… not saying that full name."

"A Master who can identify Servants? What a curious case… ah wait, something about you is familiar." Vlad said, humming, then chuckling again. "Ah I see now! Yes, I know those eyes well! The eyes of those Stargazers who seem to dig their heels in wherever they go. I believe quite the troublesome individual has shown up in this battle."

"Ehhh?! He knows who you are?!" Ritsuka yelped, Eil chuckling himself.

"I'd be more surprised if he didn't. Quite the honor then, to know my bloodline is recognized by King Vlad himself!" Eil then lurched as something suddenly hit the back of his head, and the sudden chill down his back from it clued him in to who it was. "Ana! What was that for?!"

"Don't go praising the foe's approval." Anastasia coolly said, Eil just blinking before clearing his throat to get his composure back.

"Tch, so the rats actually have some bite to them do they?" Jeanne Alter grumbled, an annoyed scowl present on her face. "Well, no matter. There's still plenty of ways to deal with you now. I wonder though, how long can you Masters keep your Servants going before they fizzle out? Should we by chance show how far that…" and then suddenly, she was cut off by, of all things, a crystal rose flying through the air and embedding itself in the ground between the two forces. "What?"

"My question exactly." Eil muttered. "Now I'm wondering how much weirder this is all going to get…"

A/N

So I am going through a process of figuring out how to chop things in the Singularities down to streamline the process more cause… damn some of them can feel padded out at times. I also got some idea to make things more interesting with the Masters as well… but that'll come about during London. Hehehehe.