A woman could be seen concealing her entire body, with only one blue eye visible. She was in the city of England, gazing at the clock tower.
She knew she shouldn't act, as there were several Servants nearby who could attack, not to mention it was daytime.
She didn't have the strength to attack the tower, much less alone; she would have to wait for an opportunity.
Inside the tower, Bazett could be seen with several bandages covering her body. Caster's attack, even though it was just one blow, had caused her considerable damage.
"Here you are, Master," Archer said, offering Bazett a cup of tea.
"You don't have to do this," Bazett remarked, accepting the tea.
"I failed you by protecting you, and I can't eliminate the Servant who did this to you; this is my way of apologizing," Archer explained, sitting down across from his master. She simply sighed.
At that moment, I glanced out the window and saw Berserker playing with some children on the clock tower in the courtyard.
He was flexing his muscles as he carried several children, who were laughing and excited.
Despite being quite injured, he was still able to do those things.
"He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but that doesn't mean he isn't a good person." I tried to praise my fellow Servant, but the way I said it, so listless and emotionless, it sounded more like a strange remark.
"I've heard the stories of Kintoki, the golden boy, so I can say that even if he's a bit of a scatterbrain, he's a good person and someone you can trust," Bazett added, sipping her tea.
I was still a little surprised that Berserker had appeared as a stowaway in the summoning ritual she'd performed to bring Archer to this war.
For security reasons, and because if they manage to win the conflict with the true ancestors, she doesn't know the identities of her allies' Servants in this war.
"According to what they said, this time it's our turn to guard the base, while Reines watches the catacombs and Marem searches for a fallen Apostle or, if she's lucky, an ancestor with a Servant," Bazett said, finishing her tea.
"Do you think they'll attack the catacombs again?" Archer asked.
"Maybe yes, maybe no. I still don't know why they only sent those two or why they did it, but now they must suspect there will always be some master there, and the superiors said it was necessary to guard the place, since there's a possibility they might try to tamper with the artifact," Bazett explained seriously as Archer nodded.
"It's a possibility. We don't know what kind of Servants they summoned, and one of them might have the ability or power to do that," Archer deduced, which, in a way, wasn't wrong, since they had a Servant who could do something like that, and on the other hand, they had a cat.
"I only know that Reines must be prepared for one or more attacks; at least they're already filling the forest surrounding the catacombs with traps, either to make it easier for them to fight or as a way to escape in case of emergency," Bazett said.
...
Marisbury was working on his research when a Servant materialized. He was an old man with a long beard, a presence that felt like standing before a wall, a wooden leg, and a scar on his head that ran down his neck.
"Quite the hard worker, huh, Master?" the man said.
"Rider, what brings you here?" Maris asked, his gaze fixed on what was in front of him.
"I just came here to see what you were doing, especially since we didn't catch a single thing yesterday, and when we did find one, it got away like a sailfish," the man, now known as Rider, remarked, sitting down in the armchair.
"Why don't you go to the port or something?" the white-haired man suggested.
"I already went, and I would have stayed if you could have used my boat or one of the others there. I also thought about fishing, but I'm only excited about catching huge prey, nothing else," Rider explained.
Marisburi stopped what he was doing as he went to his office, took out a large sum of money, and threw it at Rider.
"Rent a boat and come back tomorrow before nightfall. Caster and I were working on something important, and I'd prefer you didn't interrupt us," the master said rather coldly before returning to his work.
Rider simply chuckled inwardly.
"What a two-faced master I have, but I'll take his offer; I hope you don't regret leaving me out tonight." With that, Rider disappeared, leaving Marisburi unfazed by his servant's words, and he continued working.
...
"The traps are ready," someone said from the clock tower.
Reine simply nodded as she watched the sun begin to set.
"Nervous?" Saber asked, appearing beside her, her armor already at the ready.
"No, not really, but not knowing what will happen tonight has me somewhat intrigued," she replied honestly.
After all, Reines considered herself one of the best mages and the heir to the title of lord; she had won this position of master over Rin, who was one of the top candidates, whether for experience or combat prowess.
"I'm excited," Lancer said, materializing. "Tonight I can fulfill my duty as a knight; it reminds me of when I stood guard at Camelot Palace. That's what this place gives me—a bad feeling."
"That's normal. We're spirits, and we're in catacombs; we're more susceptible to supernatural things," Saber replied.
"Is this how it is?" Lacner asked curiously.
"Honestly, I don't know," the sword knight replied honestly, his shoulders slumping. "I'm just going by my gut feeling."
Both Servants looked at Reines, who raised his arms in defeat.
"No idea. I don't look into that side of sorcery, so I'm not entirely sure if that's the case either." Reines's answer left the situation unresolved, and unfortunately for him, there was no one else around who could resolve it.
...
"So, what do you plan to do?" Rizo asked Altouge.
"Honestly, I don't really know," she replied honestly. "The idea was for the war to be between us, to obtain the Grail, make our wishes, and then go our separate ways, but things are as they are."
"Hmm, do you think...?" Rizo suggested.
Altoruge remained silent at the idea. She simply gazed at the sky; a disquiet stirred within her.
"Assassin," Altouge demanded.
At that moment, Carmilla materialized, a little more clothed but still showing skin, though not as much as before.
"Yes, Master," Carmilla replied.
"Take care of this office; Vlov will stay here while Chaos goes to survey the city to see if he can find out anything about the Servants in the Clock Tower. I'm going to see an old acquaintance," the vampire princess informed her.
"Yes, sir," the vampire countess said.
"Yes, sir." At that moment, Altrouge left the office, followed by Rizo and the Primare Murder.
Carmilla just watched this and sighed. She glanced to the side of the room.
"What do you think about this?" asked the adult Elizabeth Báthory.
Caster materialized in that corner, still in cat form.
"I think it'll be a very interesting family reunion, meow," Caster replied.
"If that's the case, I wonder why you didn't follow them to see this special reunion," Carmilla said unpleasantly as she sat down in Altrouge's chair.
"Something tells me it'll be more interesting to see what happens here," Caster remarked, alerting Carmilla.
"What do you mean?" she asked, becoming agitated and getting up from the chair.
"Oh, right, I'm a cat; I can only meow, meow," Caster exclaimed mockingly as he jumped out of the office window.
"Come back here and explain yourself," the countess demanded.
"You must really want to know; you must know that curiosity killed the cat, meow," Caster said cheerfully, leaping and disappearing as Carmilla looked outside and couldn't see him anywhere.
"That damned boy," the countess muttered under her breath.
...
Altrouge walked on, followed by Rizo and Primate Murder, arriving at a place that technically looked empty.
It was full of ruins and desolate. But it wasn't so desolate, since in the middle of it all stood a woman.
She wore a white shirt and a long skirt, had short blonde hair, and had red eyes.
The one standing before Altrouge, Rizo, and Primate Murder was none other than Arcuied.
"It's been years since we last saw each other, hasn't it?" Arcuied said.
"This is something that should be framed so we never forget it," an old man's voice said.
From the middle of the ruins appeared Zelrecht himself.
Altrouge narrowed her eyes at the sight of these two.
"Hmm, you knew I'd come here, huh?" Altrouge concluded with a smile. "For me, it's better to be able to eliminate you both right here and for good."
...
In the middle of a desolate place, filled with barriers that made it impossible to know where you were, the young Ruler was lost, not knowing where to go.
"AAHHH, this place is driving me crazy," she said, clutching her head as the burly man stared at her, motionless. "Ugh, if only I knew how to deactivate these barriers."
"It's not necessary to deactivate them to pass through here," a voice said.
The young woman and the man glanced to the side to see a black cat with red eyes staring at them.
"Caster, Dante Manmayer," Ruler declared, bracing herself for an attack.
"And you, Ruler, Little Red Riding Hood and..." Caster drew out the syllables, looking at the burly man. "The hunter, huh?" he added mockingly.
Ruler felt uneasy that this Servant had so easily discovered their identities.
"Have you come to stop us?" Ruler asked.
"No, that would be boring. I'm just waiting for this to end. I could sit in a corner waiting for the two factions to quietly destroy each other, or..." He trailed off, looking directly at Ruler. "I could accelerate the war as quickly as possible."
"So, will you tell us how to get past these barriers?" Ruler asked.
"Starting from that rock," Caster said, pointing with his paw at a specific stone, "take four steps forward, two to the right, three forward, four to the left, and one more step forward, and you'll have passed the barrier."
"Are you sure you're not leading us into a trap?" Ruler questioned.
"Does it matter if I lead you into a trap? Would I have to leave the barrier for that, or not?" Caster asked.
Ruler remained silent, beginning to grasp the logic.
"In gratitude for your help, I'll tell you something I discovered yesterday." I spoke to the cat, the ruler.
...
The city was completely deserted, with no one in the streets.
"I thought there might be someone here," Rider said, looking around to see if there were any people or dead apostles.
"A barrier was placed in England that made everyone instinctively go home to sleep when night fell," his master replied telepathically.
"I see," said the rider simply, dressed in classical Greek armor. He carried a distinctive shield, a sickle strapped to his hip next to a pouch, a peculiar helmet, and, last but not least, boots with wings on the sides.
"Master, you are not a true ancestor, so couldn't you sense when someone of your race is nearby?" Rider asked.
"What are you supposed to believe?" his master countered.
"To be honest, I have no idea," Rider said sincerely.
The servant was about to continue speaking when he sensed a presence in the distance.
"Master," Rider exclaimed.
"If I sensed it, go investigate," his master told him.
Wearing his Hermes boots, Rider quickly arrived at an abandoned factory. He frowned as soon as he got there, since someone was standing in the entrance.
This person was dressed strangely. He was dressed like a soldier. He had a helmet, a green uniform, and a gas mask, which made it a little difficult to discern his identity.
"I see you've arrived," said the Servant, dressed as if he were ready for a real war. "What a peculiar victim has just arrived: Hermes boots, the shield of Athena; I imagine the helmet is Hades's; you must be Perseus."
Rider simply clicked his tongue, realizing that his legend was too famous and too easily recognizable.
"It would be impolite not to reveal yours when you already know mine," Rider said, trying to extract information from the Servant before him.
"I can't say my name, but you can call me Assassin." With that, the aforementioned man entered the factory.
Rider hesitated, wondering whether to enter or not.
"Master, I feel this is a trap. Should I go in?" There was no response to his question.
Elsewhere, Solomon Merem could be seen being escorted by Berserker as he watched Nrvnqsr Chaos attack him head-on, while Tatari stood behind him. At the same time, he was surrounded by hundreds of dead apostles.
"Berserker, take care of the dead apostles while I deal with these two," Merem ordered his servant, who nodded.
"You think you can beat us together? Don't get so cocky," Chaos mocked.
"This will be your grave, Merem," Tatari declared.
"Let's see if he can back up those words," Merem replied simply, knowing that all he had to do was hold out.
Back with Rider. He hovered in the air, staring at the factory. Receiving no response from his master, he simply adjusted his helmet and became invisible, entering the factory.
Not far away, Archer, or rather Paris, could be seen with a bow ready to support Assassin if necessary. In a one-on-one fight, Assassin had no way of killing Rider, but a direct confrontation wasn't necessary in this instance.
...
In the Clock Tower, Bazett looked rather agitated. To be honest, she didn't much like just sitting there doing nothing.
"I'm going to patrol the place," she declared, standing up, only for Archer to force her to sit down.
"No, I'll send Berserker to do that, not to mention that no one in their right mind would attack the Clock Tower," Archer argued.
Bazett remained in the armchair, still impatient. She didn't like simply resting. She always had something to do.
"No, I can't just sit here doing nothing; I have to do something, anything," she exclaimed, abruptly getting up to go open the door, only to be stopped short by Archer.
"You're hurt and—" Her words died as she saw an arrow whizz past Bazett, grazing her nose.
If Archer hadn't stopped her, his master's head would have been destroyed, and the Holy Grail War would have been over for him and Berserker.
"But what…," she couldn't finish her outburst, as Archer grabbed her roughly and dragged them both out of the office, only for him to be riddled with arrows moments later, destroying the place where he and his Servant had been resting.
"Alright, Master," Archer asked, to which Bazett nodded. "Good, I'll go and stop her; tell Marisbury to send Caster or Rider to help me, since Berserker isn't well enough to fight yet."
At Archer's words, Bazett simply nodded, since if anyone was sent to this place, it was most likely two Servants, and no matter how strong Archer was, with two opponents, and one of them having something to neutralize him, defeat was practically guaranteed.
Bazett quickly got up to go to her faction partner's office to get help for her servant, while Archer changed his clothes into combat attire and moved to where the attacker(s) were.
Once outside, she felt a sense of danger, only to see thousands of arrows flying in her direction.
Summoning her bow, she drew it and fired several spectacular arrows that neutralized the enemy attack, but to her horror, the arrows kept coming, creating multiple explosions from the Archer's position and that of his attacker.
With Bazett, she arrived at Marisbury's office.
"Is Animusphere there?" she pounded on the door, only to find that each time she knocked, a spell appeared that neutralized the blow. "Animusphere, this is an emergency; answer me!!!" Bazett began to shout, but not a sound came from the other side.
In her frenzy, Bazett rolled up her sleeves and pounded with all her might at the aberration, but nothing happened.
Faced with this, she considered using Fragarach against Marisbury's door, but she didn't know if she could break it down.
Meanwhile, she could already hear several explosions outside the tower, which startled her.
"Master, what's happening?" came Berserker's voice, Sakata Kintoki appearing beside her.
"Berserker, help us get everyone to safety and then assist Archer in his battle," Bazett ordered.
"What will you do, Master?" Berserker questioned.
"Do my duty as a Holy Grail mage," she replied firmly, returning to the destroyed office where she had been before.
...
Ruler arrived at the base of the true Ancestors, finding it almost teeming with dead apostles. Most likely, this was a way to delay the invaders and allow them to prepare for battle; that was his conclusion.
"Wait for my call," Ruler ordered the burly man, who didn't move from where he stood as he also took the axe.
With that said, Ruler leaped onto the roof to infiltrate the massive building.
As he moved from room to room, he searched for any Servants to investigate, to learn what the true Ancestors really wanted, since he was breaking the rules by involving beings other than Masters or Servants in the war.
Each faction had its allies, but unlike those in the Clock Tower, they weren't using their sorcerers to obtain unlimited mana for their Servants, as the true Ancestors were doing, using dead apostles to kill and drain the mana of civilians and other mages.
At that moment, Vlov sensed someone approaching.
"Hey," Rita said.
"Yes, I know," replied the ice vampire, looking at Lancer, who nodded and vanished.
Back with Ruler, she held her shotgun, aiming down the next corridor, only to be struck by a spear that sent her reeling backward, dropping the weapon.
"I'm sorry, miss, but I've been sent to eliminate you; you can only curse your bad luck for crossing me," said Lancer, dressed in Roman garb, his expression grim.
"Lancer, Lucius Longinus," Ruler said, seeing the servant before her.
"Hmm, you know who I am. You must be the Ruler who warned Caster," Lancer concluded.
"Then you can spare me and answer the questions I want to ask," Ruler suggested.
"Negative. As much as I dislike killing a girl as young as you, I have an order to carry out, whoever it may be," Lancer declared, pointing his red spear at Ruler.
"No. Ruler cursed inwardly when she saw that Lancer wouldn't back down.
The truth was, Ruler wasn't very strong, at least not like her or him. She only had one way to get rid of Lancer, even if it was an option she didn't like.
"Let's play in the woods while the wolf isn't here! Is the wolf here?" Ruler sang.
Lancer didn't understand what Ruler was doing, only for the sky to go dark for a few seconds; out of nowhere, he felt a presence behind him.
"Yes, I'm going to eat you!" he heard behind him say.
The moment he turned around, he saw a burly man and punched him so hard he crashed through several walls and out of the building.
Lancer spat out a little blood, the attack having come out of nowhere. He then saw that the burly man was not far from him.
The man started walking toward him.
Lancer watched in horror as the man began to disfigure himself.
First his hair fell out, then his arms began to lengthen, followed by his legs; his skin became covered in hair, his jaw began to resemble that of a canine, wide open, as if it were about to split in two, and from this opening emerged rows of sharp teeth, and four eyes appeared instead of two.
The burly man transformed into a deformed and distorted wolf in an instant, staring at Lancer as if he were prey.
At that moment, he realized he was no longer in the building but in a dark and endless forest.
"The wolf came to play," said the wolf in a voice that, upon hearing it, seemed both human and not.
The truth is, Caster had said it was Little Red Riding Hood and the hunter, but that wasn't reality. And Caster knew it, hence the mockery in her voice when she said it.
Ruler wasn't Little Red Riding Hood and the hunter, but Little Red Riding Hood, the hunter, and the wolf. The girl was the fusion of Little Red Riding Hood and the hunter, while the wolf hid within the hunter's body.
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For a better idea, imagine a Lovecraftian wolf, or a wolf described by H.P. Lovecraft; that's the description of the wolf, something indescribable that can somehow be described.
Now I'll update the Servants section of the Holy Grail War auxiliary, but I won't add the wolf so it remains a surprise.
I also want to apologize, as this chapter was supposed to be released yesterday, but due to personal reasons I couldn't write anything yesterday. My sincerest apologies. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Best regards.