Archer jumped away with Rin in his arms, eyes wide at the tall hulking mass of nothing but pure muscle growling at them with red eyes burning in pure unwarranted rage, "Come on." He complained pointlessly, slightly annoyed by how hectic the night was turning out to be.
First they ran into the absurd completely monstrous slaughterer passing as a knight and now they had to face a literal DEMIGOD, the son of Almighty Zeus who had performed twelve labours for the Gods of Olympus, the mighty Greek Hero of legend, Heracles, enhanced by Madness Enhancement granted by his Berserker Class.
"Grr..." The massive servant growled at them, bringing the shocked Rin out of her thoughtful state.
"Isn't this too unfair?!" Rin Tohsaka couldn't help but complain at the unfairness of the situation, "Where do people keep getting these monsters?!" Was it her fault? She was stuck with a stingy amnesiac when others were out there getting servants like.. Well, the one in front of them right now!
Archer took a step back as Heracles took one forward, "I think we should retreat."
Deja vu?
Was the world out to get him more than usual today?
"Ah jeez!" Rin threw her hands up in the air, grumbling, "What makes you think that? We could TOTALLY win alone!" She shouted sarcastically, reminding him of the arrogance and jeer he'd shown when she summoned him.
Of course the situation only became worse and Archer couldn't help but question if Fate had taken his thoughts personally when the very familiar clanging of metal greaves against the cold hard ground re-entered his ears.
He turned around quickly to confirm it and pursed his lips when a knight with one side of his body covered by a cloak came into sight, "Wow.." He brought up his hands and clapped them together slowly, "And I thought I was tall, you sir.." He put a hand over his chest and lowered his head ever so slightly, "Deserve my crown."
Aston smiled under his helmet, feeling a bit fidgety with how great his day had been going, "A Knight of the Round Table, Aston." He left out the Knight of Atrocity bit, feeling it redundant.
"What do you want?" Rin spoke with narrowed eyes, jumping off Archer as she spoke, she didn't like how he was announcing his name so casually but knew the situation was too unfavourable to be nitpicky.
"Young miss, I do believe I've done naught to incur your ire." Aston put a hand to his mouth, "Are you perhaps one of those who are simply annoyed with everything their gazes land on?" He'd met his fair share of those.
To the servants it was apparent that Aston wasn't even looking at Rin as he spoke, his cautious gaze fixed on the unmoving Berserker as he inched closer and closer.
Aston drew his spear, warned by his sixth-sense-like instincts against the unidentified servant, it had to be someone completely absurd, so he believed.
"W-What?" Rin found herself at a loss for words. Insulted with such polite words, she couldn't formulate a response.
Following her question, a prolonged silence descended on the vacant road.
Lights blared overhead, crickets clicked in the forest to the side and the moon solemnly observed the confrontation between two, perhaps three, figures of legend.
And then, it started.
The ground split behind Aston as he shot at the Berserker, spear held out to the side in his left hand as he smashed down a foot to throw himself into the air, leaving a gaping in the ground. He twisted his body midair, forcing it into a spin of sorts before throwing his jagged spear at a roaring Berserker.
In response, Heracles didn't even budge and let the spear make contact with his bare, bulging reddish chest.
"-What?" Aston appeared in his original position, his voice carrying a hint of surprise, "What a splendid defence, if only it carried to those dear as well. I suppose now we know who does the impaling." If it was a powerful well-known hero then the background HAD to be tragic, Aston had observed stories of that kind were the most remembered.
His eternal companion had simply bumped off the Berserker's chest, leaving not even a scratch much less a bruise on the servant.
"He's Greek." Archer folded his arms, amused with the situation and addressed Rin through their connection, "You're about to witness a battle between two monsters." This would teach her of the possible damage a Grail War could cause.
"Oh he's Greek? I have heard some unsavoury rumours between uhm.." Aston stood straight, a hand on his chin, "About relationships between old men and boys." The Greeks were a strange lot, nothing would convince him otherwise.
The Lancer found himself cut off by Heracles appearing right by him and swinging a massive weapon best described as a jagged cleaver at his head. He tilted his body to the side, avoiding the hit with minimal difficulty.
Of course Berserker didn't stop there and continued to slash, swinging the weapon up, down, left, right, horizontally, vertically, diagonally and in a number of ways humanly impossible at speeds one would never expect from someone of his size.
"...He's fast." Rin stared at the exchange in awe, commenting not about the Berserker's agility but the Lancer's.
Not one strike had made contact with Aston who tilted and swerved his body accordingly, "Speed is my strongest aspect." He pointed out, vanishing and appearing behind the Berserker before smashing his armoured fist into his back, blowing open a hole far larger than what his fist realistically could have allowed. Seared flesh fell onto his chestplate and helmet but that didn't seem to bother him one bit.
"Great, a fist-fighting Lancer." Archer whispered under his breath. The Lancer had vibrated his entire arm at a speed where it remained but a blur before striking and so, delivered immense damage.
It was at this moment that Fate decided it didn't even like the Archer servant even opening his mouth and Artoria arrived at the scene, followed by a serious Shirou and annoyed Bazett.
"Emiya?" Rin didn't try to hide her face, knowing it was a little too late for that and noticed Bazett, "What are you doing with her?!" This seemed to look like an alliance of sorts, and the servant, the servant was gripping at air? The blonde woman didn't even register her presence, instantly giving the ensuing battle here undivided attention.
"Sir Aston! Are you not going to use your spear?" Artoria addressed her knight, tightly gripping the Sword of Promised Victory. She was ready for an immensely tough battle and she'd be getting one if she was reading the situation right.
Bazett on the other hand, felt a sense of oppression from the raging Berserker and worriedly observed her servant, "Lancer! What are you doing? Take this seriously!" She readied her command seals just in case she had to support him.
"He is taking this seriously." Artoria corrected her, "Sir Aston's skill with the spear is undeniable yes but it is not his greatest weapon." She moved in front of Shirou to stop him from charging into the fray, "What are you doing, Master?" He couldn't possibly be thinking of joining a fight between servants right?
"They're..." Shirou didn't speak further, distracted by a sudden discharge of blue lightning scorching an entire section of the forest nearby. The tall trees that remained standing caught fire right the next second and the forest floor was reduced to ash.
That didn't even manage to hinder Berserker though and he hulked through, running forward while rooting up the burning trees and throwing them at Aston who seemed to be completely imperceptible, the only things that let them know he was there were the constant veiled insults and craters being blown into the Earth each time he used it to shoot forward.
"Hey Archer! Let us ally temporarily in the face of this greater foe." Aston shouted mid-movement, realising that if he started moving any faster, the collateral damage when he was done would be too great. He could try using the force he generated when he moved to hold it away but a disturbance in concentration during that could be fatal.
"Sure, I don't mind." Archer shrugged, raising his hands in surrender as he faded away into his spiritual form. It wasn't like they could escape anymore, Aston would hunt him down if Artoria's words held even a bit of truth. It was better then to work together to be rid of a mutual enemy. Not that that enemy would die to them here.
"The accounts might have done something to the truth over the passage of time." Artoria slightly smiled, pleased to see her strongest knight reinforce just why he could hold that position, "But Sir Aston can move fast enough to see darkness, so he claims." That was why Agravain had dubbed the ability as he had.
Bazett had realisation cross her face at the revelation, "I see.." So this blue lightning they were seeing now was related to his highest ranked noble phantasm.
"Master, cease this foolishness for your own sake." Artoria spoke out of instinct when Shirou suddenly moved but ended up confusing the teen instead.
"I'm not trying to join them." Shirou denied her worry, it wasn't like they were fighting for him or in a populated area, he was just worried about them taking it into the city.
Rin stomped up to him, "Emiya, what the hell are you doing here?!" He wasn't supposed to be a part of this!
"T-Tohsaka." Shirou was startled by her sudden appearance but then smiled, "I see you're one of the Masters."
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You can find +7 chapters ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap, I'll start reposting once I've filled this up. Should be soon considering I'm no longer sick.