The tension was palpable.
Caster looked at Saber, who wielded her sacred sword, polished silver armor, and a shield whose symbols she couldn't quite recognize, but she could infer it was from ancient Camelot. Finally, there was her stance.
A stance with almost no openings, and where there were, the sword was poised to respond and counterattack.
At this, Caster offered her a knowing smile, to which Saber only frowned.
Extending her hand, she drew a 1.90-meter staff, adorned with a ram's skull and leather wrapped from back to front.
"I don't use this type of weapon much; I'm more of a swordsman, but I think I can force you back," Caster said, throwing it forward.
Unlike other mages or sorcerers who use their staves as catalysts for their spells and to enhance them, Caster wields his sorcerer's staff as if it were a spear or a normal walking stick.
Swords and staff clashed simultaneously, creating a small shockwave that shattered some nearby glass.
Both opponents began to grapple with each other, but neither could gain an advantage, demonstrating that they were momentarily evenly matched.
Caster was the first to move backward, turning to try and strike Saber, but Saber reacted immediately, blocking with his sword.
Caster's aggression caused Saber to begin backing away while protecting herself with her sword and shield.
Taking advantage of his staff's design, he grabbed Lancer's holy sword, pinning it to the ground and leaving Saber open to a counterattack. Caster conjured a magic bullet, ready to fire.
But Saber didn't panic, so, using her shield, she struck Caster's hand, sending the magic bullet flying to the ground and destroying it. This allowed Saber to free her sword and deliver a horizontal slash to her opponent.
Caster moved his body to the side, avoiding the slash that traveled the length of the corridor, cutting even through the air.
"How frightening," Caster remarked, seeing this, before lifting his staff with his foot and imbuing it with Conqueror's Haki, unleashing a vertical strike.
Saber didn't take any chances and decided to block the attack with his spit, but that didn't save him from the internal destruction caused by the Conqueror's Haki infusion, which struck both his armor and his own body.
The knight in shining armor watched as his armor fractured and a trickle of blood escaped his mouth.
The former king of Calemot took several steps back, as this kind of power was beyond his comprehension, and he couldn't continue to receive this kind of damage so easily.
But luck wasn't on his side, as his attempt at combat caused him to glance to the side only to see an arrow hurtling toward him.
Acting swiftly, he blocked the arrow with his shield, creating a massive explosion.
Caster just stared at this, thinking that perhaps he should have attacked to see what Avenger preferred: defending against his attack or Avenger's arrow.
From the anthem, several crimson beams cleared the entire area, revealing Saber, wielding his sword with pure magical energy, ready to strike.
Caster didn't hesitate and, using the Dark Fruit, created a singularity not far away. Just as Saber attacked, the red-eyed blond teleported away.
Saber's attack destroyed the entire corridor, but that was fine, as it achieved its goal: to make Caster leave. His plan was already in place, and that was to identify Avenger.
Looking to the side where the arrow had come from, he saw several blue dots heading in his direction. Using Mana Burst, he launched himself forward, dodging all the arrows coming his way.
"So I was your target, huh?" Avenger remarked seriously, watching Saber speed towards him. "Let's see if she can play the waiting game."
*Flashback*
As the attack began and multiple explosions rippled through the clock tower, Saber could be seen running, searching for the servants who were attacking. He saw a young boy, about 13 years old, appear before him, filled with fear and panic, holding a cell phone.
"Um... I... the marshal... phone," the boy began to stammer, trembling from everything that was happening and afraid that the place he was standing on might suddenly explode.
When Saber heard the word "marshal," he immediately understood who was being referred to, so he took the phone, which was already on a call.
"What's going on, Zelrecht?" Saber asked, wanting to know what this mage wanted.
"We're being attacked by three Servants; my family has already confirmed it, so it's your sniper, but I don't know exactly where he is, so you'll have to find him, even if it means facing Caster. Once you find him, distract him long enough to make him move; I'll take care of the rest," the wielder of the second true magic said.
"Where are you hiding, mage?" he asked, somewhat annoyed that Zelrecht was hiding and hadn't yet appeared.
"In a separate dimension. We need Caster to think I'm not there; that way he won't be as prepared when he attacks," he replied, and with that, the call ended.
Saber stared at the phone, which had just been disconnected, and at the young man who looked like he was about to faint at any moment.
"It's not safe here. Hide and survive," Saber told the young man, handing him back the phone as if hiding and surviving in this situation were easy.
With that said, he ran off, looking around to see if he could find the Servant who was also attacking in the shadows.
*End of flashback*
Saber dodged and destroyed all the arrows aimed at him, gathering mana in his sword and unleashing a slash of pure power in the direction the arrows had come from.
Averger had no defense against Saber's attack, so he had to leap out of his hiding place, revealing himself with a jump and landing on one of the buildings farthest from the center of the main tower.
The knight wasted no time and, walking along the walls, quickly reached Avenger.
"What an annoying man," Avenger grumbled, drawing his bow and firing a mana-infused arrow, which was stopped by his opponent's shield.
Using his bow, Avenger stopped Saber's attack, which shattered the ceiling beneath them.
Saber stared at his opponent for a few seconds. Black clothing, one red eye and one blue eye, wielding a bow and ten bracelets: This was Avenger, whom Archer had mentioned when she attacked the clock tower earlier, so she had to be careful.
Avenger stared at Saber, only to dodge a precise cut meant to sever her opponent's head, who then launched an attack with a mana buster.
The crouching dark-haired woman threw a kick, which was blocked by Saber's holy sword, sending her flying backward.
Taking advantage of the distance, Avenger, using the 10 rings, launched them in quick succession to test Saber's counterattack.
The former king managed to deflect the 10 bracelets the Avenger fired in a very short time, only to see his opponent extend his arms and the bracelets return to his forearms.
"It's been a while since I've faced someone with that level of reaction time, so let's see how far you can go, former king of Camelot," Avenger declared.
Saber could only sigh upon hearing that.
"From what I can see, everyone knows who I am, but I'm not so sure who I'm facing," he remarked, positioning himself for the fight.
"Heh, I don't think your intelligence network is very good," Avenger mocked.
"Don't get so arrogant, Artemis's hunter; I only meant it in the sense of a gentleman having the honor of naming his opponents in battle, something that, from what I can see, Greek heroes don't have," Saber retorted to the taunts.
"Oh, I see you do have balls, but let's see if you can withstand the beating I'm going to give you," Avenger exclaimed with a sinister smile, hidden by his mask.
But for some reason, Saber was able to deduce her opponent's expression, so she simply remained silent and prepared for the collision.
...
Caster had teleported using a stealthy maneuver, performing it as quickly as possible to avoid Saber's burst.
He thought his opponent would come running towards him, but to his surprise, she headed in Avenger's direction.
For some reason, he felt tricked, so he was about to follow the knight, but out of nowhere, he heard someone shout nearby.
"Dante-dono," those words stopped Caster in his tracks, as they were a voice he recognized.
When he looked toward the voice, he saw an old acquaintance he had mentioned more than once.
This was Svin Glascheit, a student of Waver's, or better known as Chien, or Dog, or at least that's what he and Flat called him.
"The fact that you're still in the clock tower in this kind of situation worries me, especially that you didn't hide," Dante remarked.
"I don't see anywhere safe to hide, so I'd rather see how strong you are, Professor Dante," another voice called from the opposite side of the corridor.
Caster looked over only to see Flat Escardos scanning the area as if searching for something interesting before turning back to him.
"Four against one, don't you think that's unfair?" Caster declared, smiling at Svin.
Svin tensed, while Flat simply gaped in astonishment.
"I expected nothing less from Professor Dante. He saw through the ambush immediately," Flat remarked, just as the ceiling shattered, and Gray appeared, wielding her mystic code in the form of a scythe, attacking him.
"Forgive me, Professor Dante," Gray said. She tried to sever Caster's arm, but he stopped the attack with his hand, causing her eyes to widen in horror.
"What did I say about calling me 'professor'? My name is more than enough; besides, you lacked power and gravitational force in this attack, not to mention I don't see any real intent here. This could cost you your life in a life-or-death confrontation," Dante corrected, kicking Gray and sending her flying.
"Damn it," Svin was heard saying as he charged at Caster on all fours, easily dodging his attack.
"You guys have a lot of talent," the redhead declared, dodging as the floor opened to reveal a spike made with Flat's magic. "But you're missing something," he finished, forming a magic circle beside him using mana to hold it in place, "combat experience."
With that, he dodged another of Svin's attacks, only to grab him by the neck and throw him against the portal, causing it to vanish.
...
Somewhere in India, there was a cow shrine where the cows were venerated and protected. Then, a magic circle appeared on a wall, and out of nowhere, Svin emerged from it, casually falling into a pile of dung.
The caretakers of the shrine, seeing a young man appear out of nowhere just to look at the wall with the magic circle,
"एक जादुई मुहर?" one of them asked.
"मुझे लगता है कि यह कोई टेपेल होगा," said the other.
Svin could only get up from the pile of cow dung; He lamented his bad luck.
...
"Oh, a teleportation spell, I see you succeeded, Professor," Flat exclaimed euphorically, forgetting she was fighting an enemy.
At that moment, Rin Tohsaka appeared at the window with several gems ready, launching them at Caster.
Knowing Rin was about to attack, Caster simply transmuted the hallway and created a wall between the two women, leaving only himself and Flat.
"That's right, she managed to create one shortly before I left," Caster commented, firing a magic bullet, interpreting Flat's attack, while creating another magic circle with her other hand.
"I see, you use a complicated magic formula, which can bend space into a coordinate space, but that doesn't show how space and time aren't affected by doing so," Dante began, deciphering Caster's sorcery in record time but making a mistake that Caster immediately criticized.
"Don't waste money in the middle of a fight," Caster said, appearing behind Flat.
Flat barely had time to react before being launched by one leg into the magic circle, disappearing.
...
Somewhere in Qatar, a millionaire could be seen in his multi-million-dollar penthouse with his three wives.
They were on the terrace, in beach chairs, enjoying the sun by a pool.
Just as the millionaire was about to suggest they get up and go back to the living room, a young man screamed, and someone fell from the sky into their pool.
The man and his wives watched in panic.
""مستحيل، لديّ حواجز مضادة للتسلل؛ لا ينبغي لأحد أن يتمكن من الدخول إلى هنا. لقد خدعني ذلك الساحر اللعين في برج الساعة.", the millionaire complained as Flat surfaced to breathe.
Flat looked up at the sky, watching the magic circle vanish, leaving him alone with a wealthy man and his two wives.
"So that's how it works," Flat remarked simply.
...
The wall Caster had created was destroyed by Gray, and Rin emerged, firing several filled gems, which exploded, leaving traps all around Caster.
"Oh, this is new," Caster commented upon seeing this.
"I came up with this thinking about monsters like you," Rin explained, proud of her accomplishment, only to watch in panic as Caster was sucked into a singularity, escaping her trap.
"I think you still have some rough edges." Caster's voice came from behind her, grabbing her and placing her between Gray and her, causing Gray to halt his attack, as it could hurt Rin.
"Are you using me as a hostage?" Rin asked indignantly, seeing that she was being used as a human shield, preventing Gray from attacking.
"Yes, now tell me, who organized this? It sounds very suspicious to me that the four of you, in the middle of the case, would organize yourselves like this to attack me," Caster questioned.
"I won't tell you anything," Rin declared as she prepared her gems to attack.
"Then you're useless to me," Caster said, causing Rin to open her eyes and be thrown into a magic circle the servant had already prepared.
...
Somewhere in the United States, a magic circle appeared, from which Rin emerged, crashing into a pile of trash and empty boxes.
At this, Rin could only watch, cursing inwardly as she was covered in filth, jumping up in pure rage.
"You won't get away with this; I swear I'll get my revenge, Dante!!" Rin exclaimed to the heavens. Luckily for her, there was no one in the corridor where she was sent to witness one of her most pitiful moments.
...
After sending Rin to another continent, just like the other two, Caster stared at a hesitant Gray.
"Aren't you going to fight?" Caster asked, looking at the girl she had taught to use that mystical code.
Upon hearing Caster's words, Gray was filled with determination and launched herself at her former combat teacher.
She was the only one left to stop Caster, or at least that's what Rin had told her—that the four of them were the last hope to stop him, so everything depended on her, which filled her with both inspiration and fear.
Caster, without much difficulty, dodged Gray's attacks, finishing her off with a vertical slash. At that moment, she took advantage of the situation to tap the floor and, using her alchemy-powered fruit, reshaped it so that one floor warped, causing Gray to momentarily lose her balance.
"What?" she exclaimed, looking at the floor, making a mistake.
The redhead took advantage of this to punch Gray in the stomach, causing him to vomit blood and sending him sprawling backward, sliding across the ground.
Gray got up, using her weapon like a cane, spitting out a little blood. She saw Caster calmly watching her, gesturing with his hand, urging her to attack, which only made her hesitate again.
"You're going to let his lack of confidence and your doubts decide for you forever, brat?" Caster said.
Gray felt unconsciously irritated at the word "brat," as she wanted him to see that she wasn't the little girl she once was, but no matter what she did, she could never stop Dante from calling her that.
"Dante is right," the mystic code said.
At this, Gray gripped the scythe tightly and charged at full speed toward Caster, intending to defeat him. But Caster simply moved aside, tripping her, causing her to stumble and fall into a magic circle, vanishing.
"I see that word 'brat' clouded his judgment again; at least it got me out of here before things got worse," Caster remarked, watching the magic circle disappear.
Caster stared for a few seconds at Gray's disappearance before turning and heading toward where she saw Saber fighting. She stopped abruptly, her body enveloped in Haki and the power of darkness.
The moment she turned, a wave of pure ether struck her face, obliterating the path she had been on.
Once the attack subsided, a somewhat injured Caster stared at the destruction, frowning at the person in front of her.
"I see that seeing those youngsters made you lower your guard," Zelrecht said, holding his Jeweled Sword.
"So you made those four attack me at once?" Caster concluded.
"I wanted to see your decision-making and see if you weren't distorted or altered, like that daughter of yours you're helping. I also wanted to create an opening and let the next ones take their toll, to gain an advantage. But from what I can see, it didn't do much good; I only hit you superficially," Zelrecht replied seriously.
"I see. With you here, that means it was the guard weapon of the clock tower, so we must move on to the next stage of this," Caster declared, creating a flare gun.
--------------------------------------------
Question: Are you interested in seeing the fight between Assassin and Lancer and Avenger and Saber, or should we go straight to the fight between Dante and Kiss-shot against the true ancestor Zelrecht?