Aston observed his newest adversary in silence, his posture unusually erect and alert as he let go of his spear and unhooked the cloak covering half his form, letting it fall to the side to reveal his armour in it's full glory.
This strange behaviour didn't go unnoticed by Bazett who easily picked up on the fact that despite the servant's apparent lower parameters, her own servant recognised him as a powerful foe, "What do you need from me?" She spoke through their mental connection, maintaining a calm demeanour on the outside even if Aston taking an Assassin seriously somewhat took her off-guard.
Bazett turned to address the enemy servant, "I was of the belief summoning servants native to the region wasn't permitted?"
This entire situation reeked of foul play, civilians being attacked was against the rules, summoning servants like the one in front of them was against the rules, the overseer attacking Masters was against the rules, so on and so forth.
Was it alright then to fight foul play with foul play?
The enforcer's command seals gave off a barely noticeable hue as she mentally prepared herself to use her command seals to support her servant. Assassin, Sasaki Kojirou, had the land boosting his prowess and magical energy from a leyline, it made sense then that Aston was so on-guard against him.
"As are a number of things my current Master has done, I am not ashamed of my disgust and disapproval of such things." Sasaki shrugged, keeping an eye on the unmoving Aston even when addressing his Master, "In the end however, I am but a guard ordered to hinder you." She didn't even believe in his victory against this knight, and ordered him to stall them long enough for her to prepare, "How frustrating."
"How frustrating indeed." Aston put his right hand over the hilt of his sheathed sword and firmly gripped his spear with his left, "I do believe I would fail at such a demeaning task." He knew full well the only reason he'd driven the Assassin back was that the sword at his side had remained hidden until now, "However, I proclaim a certain level of respect for you, even as you are."
Sasaki chuckled at his words, "Well thank you for that." He answered sarcastically, having grasped his opponent's fighting style to some extent. The Assassin raised a hand, beckoning the Lancer to come at him.
"One would think a Lancer would find an Assassin easy pickings." Aston took a step forward, leaving behind a trail of blue lightning as he shot at Sasaki, grabbing his spear by the blunt end and smashing it down like a mace.
"Your words do me great honour." Sasaki instantly reacted to his insane speed, predicting his trajectory by instinct and swinging his blade in a horizontal arc forcing Aston's spear to slide to the right by holding the blade at an angle right as the two weapons collided.
His sword slid off and in a display of mastery over his preferred weapon, changed grips, swinging it diagonally down to the left ONLY, Aston had started making use of his speed.
The Knight of Atrocity smashed his foot into the ground, generating a shockwave that disoriented Sasaki long enough for him to let go of his spear and aim his fist at the man's chin only to jump away with surprised eyes a moment before it connected.
"My, women don't seem to like men that are too persistent you know?" The Knight of Atrocity released a sigh, this battle was going to be a tough one. He outclassed his opponent physically but the gap wasn't wide enough to be game-changing, he also fell behind in terms of skill and had almost lost his shoulder there.
With no access to his noble phantasm and no permission to go wild, this was indeed tough.
"Are you implying an overly feminine disposition?" Sasaki smirked coyly, "I don't hold anything against those unnaturally inclined." Even as he joked away though, he had now fully grasped that their supernatural instincts and perceptions, their sixth senses, were perhaps completely on par with one another.
If that wasn't the case, Aston couldn't have backed away unharmed just then.
The Knight of Atrocity seemed taken aback, "What? No, what?" But then smiled gently, "The fact that your thoughts went that way however, mhm, is it not you who possesses the very disposition you see in me?"
"Can you two stop throwing jabs and actually fight?" Bazett interrupted them with a deadpan, finding their actions to be incredibly childish for people revered by the masses.
"I reassert, your lack of culture disturbs me." Sasaki narrowed his gaze, aware that she'd been unable to follow the prior exchange.
Aston stood up straight and rubbed his chin in thought, his fighting style was being seen through with each single exchange and countered more than effectively, a massive feat considering the identity of the one who trained him OR, he was just underestimating himself.
He was brought out of his thoughts by Sasaki Kojirou calmly walking down the steps and standing to his side, a distance not greater than four metres between them. The Assassin tilted his head and grasped his blade, "Let us fight equally." The higher ground held the undeniable advantage but, he wasn't interested in using circumstantial advantages, he would best this skilled opponent in a fair one on one.
"Putting oneself at a disadvantage, truly a luxury afforded to the strong.." Aston thrust his spear, expecting it to be deflected and unsheathed his sword, swinging it in a horizontal arc as lightning danced across the metal, travelling across Sasaki's blade when he met the swing with one of his own and scorching his arm, "Or the foolish."
Assassin seemed genuinely surprised, "Splendid." He praised, observing his blistered smoking flesh. He wasn't expected to have predicted that right? No way could he have known that his opponent could command an element that tore the very heavens apart, "How much can you employ?"
Aston could only shrug in response, as a knight he wasn't willing to bluff dishonestly, "I am unaware." And so he spoke truth, taking another stance but then stopping midway and returning to his original, erect posture.
As someone with unnatural instinct for fighting, the Knight of Atrocity had grasped onto a truth that had eluded him for days.
A way of fighting that could work solely because he wasn't true flesh but servant.
"It seems you've discovered something, can you perhaps read my movements?" Then it would truly be a battle to relish.
Aston smiled gently, letting go of his weapons and armour in favour of his casual clothes, a black form fitting shirt, grey trousers and his bare hands. He fixed his grey hair with his hands, moving it out of his eyes and slicking it to the back before finally facing his foe again.
Bazett observed in silence, trusting her servant to come through.
"Hmm?" Sasaki smiled widely, readying himself for whatever was coming, "It seems you yet have something left."
"Indeed." In a flash of lightning, Aston lunged for Sasaki and lowered himself before swing his fist upwards, right at the man's chin and it went as predicted with Assassin swinging for his neck except at the last moment, Aston's gauntlets formed over his fist and he opened it, grabbing onto the sword in a show of endurance and agility far greater than before.
If it was a battle of endurance, few could even hope to match the Knight of Atrocity.
He used the opportunity made to swing his other free hand in an arc, sheer momentum and speed making it far sharper than any blade could have been, and cut open a gash in the Assassin's chest that, thanks to the latter's quick thinking, wasn't completely fatal.
"Huh.." Assassin stepped back, a hand over his chest as he stared up at Aston, "A new way of combat entirely, is it? How brutal, did people ever call you a monster?" He stared down at the burnt wound with a small smile on his lips, this was getting better and better!
A method of fighting relying on the fact that they were servants that could discard and equip armour with a simple thought.
The Knight of Atrocity stared at his injured hand, "Quite the ironic question my honourable foe." To think an Assassin Class servant would be so amazing, legends truly couldn't be underestimated. It also seemed that speed was an even greater weapon than he gave it credit for, "Would you consider simply stepping aside? I do not wish to kill someone like you." It annoyed him that if he discarded reason, he'd have discovered such a method moments after his summoning.
"Oh?" Sasaki tilted his head, "Are you that confident?"
His technique could most certainly surpass this savagery.
BUT, that would mean employing something similar to a noble phantasm against someone who had no intention of using his.
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This one needs a bit of an explanation for some people,
Short version,
A classic example of the technicality of Fate.
Simply being stronger or better doesn't mean you're guaranteed to win when the odds are stacked against you or affinity is trash.
Long version,
Sasaki Kojirou, as some of you may know, can grasp the opponent's way of fighting in a few exchanges and possesses immense mastery over his sword, to the point it can reach the level of a Noble Phantasm.
In a fair field, Aston would win earlier than right however, this is anything but a fight on equal grounds.
Assassin's Master supplies mana directly from a leyline, giving him access to insane amounts of magical energy and on top of that, Japan is his native land, boosting him even further. The homefield advantage is a very real thing in Grail Wars.
His speed is A+ naturally and while his strength is C, Aston's is B+. If all this gives him even one rank up on parameters, they're equally matched in strength until the latter uses the +.
On top of that, Aston can significantly boost himself, as he's said, by abandoning reason but that's something he doesn't want to do unless ordered to and also can't deploy his noble phantasm with the level of magical energy Bazett can supply. Assassin can't exactly kill him easily though Aston's endurance is A++.
You could say the odds are against him here but he's turning it around.
One method of combat here is just accelerating and crashing down but Bazett's right there which limits him further and there's no guarantee that would work either.
Oh and, Aston IS skilled with the spear just that it pales in comparison to Sasaki Kojirou's skill with a sword.
This was all in the text but can easily be missed so I'm putting it here.
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