- Tatsuki -
She felt the tremors from the fight outside and clenched her fists.
Ikki was fighting that monster of a man, holding him back from coming here.
She then looked at Ishida and Ichigo who were unconscious.
They had already used the potion which Ikki had got from Silas on them and while their wounds were healed, they were still unconscious.
They had to hold on until Ichigo woke up.
Until then, she would have to do something.
A while ago, she had looked outside and it didn't look like Ikki was faring well against that monster.
Suddenly, she felt a huge sense of dread and the next moment an enormous pressure fell on her, almost as if trying to crush her.
Next moment, she felt Ikki's power swell to an incredible extent and quickly ran out to check, just in time to see Ikki and that monster slashing dashing towards each other,
They clashed and ground, the buildings, everything was divided in two.
At the next moment Ikki fell.
She found her heart skipping a beat in dread.
The next moment, a large slash appeared on the monster's chest and blood spurted out like crazy, falling everywhere but the monster himself stood straight. His face morphed into a smile and then he began to laugh loudly.
"Hahahahahaha that was great! That was great, Ryoka! Come, get up! Give me more! I haven't felt this rush in a long time! Get up. Fight me!" He shouted but Ikki remained unmoving.
Tatsuki quickly thought of something and summoned her device and punched the building beside her to buff herself up. This was a trick she had discovered to her device. It increased the strength of the user as long as the combo went on, with no upper cap except how much her body could handle.
She was going to put everything in this one charge. Ikki had bought them some time, and she couldn't let his efforts go to waste.
With that in mind, she kept charging.
The building however crashed and that made the monster notice her but she didn't stop and kept charging until her body was pushed to the limit. Pain shot through her body and it seemed as if her bones were creaking but at the same time, the pressure from around her seemed to have gone.
No.
It wasn't gone.
It was still there.
It was just that she had grown strong enough to ignore the pressure now.
"Oh… another one. Although not on the level of this one, I can see that you are strong too. Good, I am excited. Come, fight me."
Without any more words, the monster kicked the ground and charged towards her.
Tatsuki also took her stance and faced him head on.
He slashed down with that jagged blade of his and she spun around to dodge and punched into his side. His steps faltered but before she could take another hit, she felt the blade coming for her neck and quickly stepped back.
"Yes. That one hurt. You are not bad either. Come! Fight me! Let's kill each other." He laughed madly and charged at her.
Very soon, Tatsuki understood that this man has had no formal training and yet his attacks were always meant to kill.
She was barely able to save herself from losing a limb due to her martial arts training all these years.
But as time closed in, she realised that she was getting nowhere.
He was still fighting as if he had no care in the world while she only had a few seconds left.
Finally deciding to risk it all, she made a bold move and rushed forward to directly kick his head with all her remaining power.
His smile widened and she understood that he had her where he wanted. The next moment, a sharp pain erupted in her guts however at the same time, her kick landed on him too and he was sent flying into a building, collapsing it.
She clutched her gut and fell to her knees, the world around her seemed to shake as an intense feeling of dizziness passed over her.
In the next moment, she vomited and felt light as her body started falling… only to be caught by someone.
She looked up to see a familiar head of orange hair and felt something wet wash over her injured gut and a cooling sensation passed over her. She realised that it was the potion from Silas.
"You are late, you idiot." She managed to whisper.
"Sorry about that. Now take some rest. I will take care of the rest." He replied but his eyes were still on the building where a cloud of dust had gathered.
Moments later, a burst of energy rose from the cloud, dispersing everything around the place and revealing the figure of the monster beneath.
"Hahahaha, that was good. I think I had a concussion from that kick. You are good, girl." He laughed madly.
She gritted her teeth in frustration. All that power and it didn't do anything to him.
Just how were they going to beat this guy?
As she was thinking this, Ichigo held his zanpakutō in front of him and took a stance and the next moment, his spiritual pressure started to rise too.
Her eyes widened at the power and she heard him speak, "Go and take care of Ishida and Ikki."
"Y-yes." She replied and somehow picked up Ikki and moved back to the place Ishida was hidden.
Behind her, clashes started again.
- Rin -
She sat in her room, holding her head in her hands, trying to figure out when things had gone so wrong.
Her father had given Sakura into the Matou custody to help her realise her talents as a magus.
They were supposed to train her into a suitable heir.
But they… Zouken Matou… and Shinji…
She gritted her teeth.
Her sister went through all that while she was deliberately keeping her distance.
No wonder she was so angry. Anyone would be resentful of that.
"Master." Saber spoke from beside her.
"Saber. We need to find Shinji Matou… and kill him."
"I understand your worries master and I agree with them too. Such vile creatures must be destroyed for good… but losing reason, especially during an event as big as the Holy Grail War… is not wise. There are still other masters and servants eying us. Even that Caster… she was the servant of one of the people from that place. You need to tread carefully at such times lest you fall into a trap."
The words made her pause.
Yes.
The other masters.
Right now she only knew of two others but both were more troublesome than the other.
First was that Einzbern bitch and her overpowered servant.
She didn't think it was dead even after that attack. After all, just moments before, it had healed from having half his body being completely obliterated.
Rin could bet an arm that she would still encounter that monster again.
Next was that Caster servant.
She knew that someone inside the Restaurant was her master but had no idea who it was. In her shock of learning about the place and then talking to Sakura, she had completely missed asking who the master of the Caster servant was.
If it was someone normal, it wouldn't matter but if it was something like that Lich or any of those dragons… yes… they probably wouldn't even need to use their servants to fight in the Holy Grail War.
"Saber, do you think you can fight those people from the Restaurant?" She asked.
On her question, Saber looked pensive. "I am not sure, Master. That place… it is completely out of my comprehension. There were actual Gods in that place. You should never underestimate Gods, no matter who they are. As for the dragons… the ones I sensed in that place… they were very strong."
Rin bit her tongue in frustration.
Those people… that place… how could such a place even exist?
Different worlds… completely different magic systems, gods…
In normal times, she would have happily dove into the place to explore its mysteries but now it was standing as the biggest competitor for the Holy Grail War… and Sakura was with them.
After hearing her story, Rin knew why Sakura was so close to that playboy and why she had snapped at her for accusing him
He, with just a few months of friendship, saw through her pain and actually lent a helping hand.
While she, her own sister, had not only been oblivious to her suffering and had actively ignored her for years.
This brought another thought to her mind.
If the people from that place were to participate, whom would Sakura side with?
The thought only served to depress her more.
"No. We cannot sit idly by. We need to plan and we will win the Holy Grail War. I am not giving up so easily." She got up. "Let's scout for other masters, Saber… and keep an eye out for Shinji Matou. I will strangle him with my own hands."
"Yes Master."