Preparing to face the two fully armoured knights ready to face her, Medusa couldn't help the small barely noticeable sigh that escaped her lips.
She was probably going to die here, wasn't she?
Summoned as a Rider Class servant in an entirely different time period by a girl, Sakura Matou, whose life was nothing but suffering, Medusa had resolved herself to look after the child, even if she would never admit that fact.
How could she not?
The girl had been sold off, tortured, manipulated, deprived of the small pleasures of life and far far worse.
Through the use of some sort of magecraft, her contract had been handed over to her older brother, Shinji Matou, and most certainly NOT because of the girl's adamant refusal to take part in a bloody conflict.
Medusa found him to be an insufferable and pathetic man, even calling him a man was distasteful and never would be normal, no matter how many she met with the same nature as him.
His rather pathetic reserves of mana meant he failed at adequately supporting her and true to his nature, he sought to solve that problem by feeding her the souls of innocent children.
It was cruel but that wasn't even the worst part of it, he was practically asking to be found and gutted by the more moral servants in the war, like the ones in front of her right now.
Ah, right now.
Medusa found herself speechless at his reasoning for sending her here.
The utter STUPIDITY of the bumbling buffoon astounded even her, and she'd met her fair share of idiots. He ordered her to hunt down and punish(?) the auburn haired teenager, Shirou Emiya, because the latter had found Shinji engaging in, less than acceptable, activities and apparently that had been more than enough for the idiot to conclude he was being looked down and armed with some degree of power, enough to validate him being maimed.
It possibly had something to do with the brown haired magus Shirou had been conversing with during the day.
Sure, there had to have been reasons for his nature but Medusa didn't ultimately care, his actions simply couldn't be justified.
Back to the matter at hand however, Medusa wondered if she should simply run away but then realised it wasn't feasible at all.
The lance wielding servant, possibly Lancer, had earlier smashed her into the ground faster than her senses could follow which even if considerably dulled because of her master's incompetence, were still far superior to the average man.
It appeared that this would indeed be the end of the line for her, not that it was truly bothersome.
Shinji Matou could never have won the Holy Grail War and Medusa's only regret would be her failure to aid Sakura even slightly.
For now though, it appeared as though the two enemy servants were more concerned with their own exchange.
"Nothing to be concerned with, I assure you." Aston reaffirmed, scrutinising the purple haired servant for even the slightest of movements. He was confident he was far faster than her and wanted nothing more than to make her regret harming his King.
Not that that was why Aston had come here. He hoped to employ one of his skills related to the legendary King Arthur in order to face the sudden predicament he'd found himself in.
Artoria, trusting him to react to any sudden attacks, narrowed her gaze, "I've found that translates to something being wrong." It was one of Aston's more admirable yet annoying qualities, he kept problems to himself.
Usually his fellow knights picked up on it and forced him to confess either way, "So again, what is the matter? Speak lest I begin questionin-.."
"Hostages, children, hasty master." Aston fired off instantaneously, Artoria's newfound concern made him feel a certain type of way, "I happen to be a knight." He confessed with a sigh prompting a small smile from Artoria.
"I see.." The British King was no fool and pieced together what had happened within moments. The answer to the predicament was a rather simple one.
Her own regrets and wrongdoings aside, Artoria had no doubts in her mind when it came to the Knight of Atrocity, she trusted his decisions and actions as much as he did hers, "I doubt I could find true fault in your decisions, do as you believe is right." Artoria nodded at Aston with a smile.
"You are a splendid knight." She reassured, lodging Excalibur into the ground and placing both hands atop it's hilt, "I know of your compassion far better than many." Of course she did, she had used it to get the better of him, regretful as it was. Artoria once more fell into thought, questioning if she deserved such loyalty.
A small distance away, Medusa maintained her posture, fully aware that if she were to attack, her head would once again end up buried in the cold hard ground.
So, she decided it was far better to bide her time and gather any information she could just in case.
Artoria failed to notice her whisper-like vocal admittance of her questions and ended up confused when Aston heaved a tired sigh, "My King's stubbornness astounds me."
Hadn't he perfectly explained why there was no need for her to regret her decisions?
The British King scrutinised her knight, slightly irked by how he hadn't addressed her by name and further irked by him kneeling on the ground with a hand over his chest, "My King, you delivered all you promised and much much more, I swear that. Why would so many die for your cause if that wasn't the case? Why did so many follow you until the bitter end? Your rule would have never started if you weren't what the people desired." Somehow, Aston felt that this wasn't what he'd expected when coming here.
Artoria slightly trembled, her knight had a thing for doing things that should be done in private in public with not an ounce of shame but that didn't mean his words failed to work or make them untrue.
"Do you believe I would follow you if your cause was unjust?" Aston sighed as one of his abilities was activated, creating an unnatural influx of magical energy in the environment (Which in this case, was the Emiya Residence).
As was his tale, the Knight of Atrocity was extremely, perhaps obsessively loyal, it made sense then that he possessed a skill pertaining to a situation in which he ended up in the company of King Arthur Pendragon.
With a smile, he continued, "I've done things many knights would find deplorable, ordered by you and I can not say I do not regret them at all." This made Artoria flinch, recalling just what he was addressing, "But I do accept them. My honour and morals lie in my pledge and loyalty to you."
An Oath to the King.
In the presence of King Arthur, any and all forms of interference be they physical or mental would be rendered completely ineffective for any command the monstrous Knight of Atrocity would heed would be that of his King.
"What.. for?" Artoria was reminded of the fact that there was a massive difference in knowing something and it being put into practise which in this case, was Aston vocally sharing his aspirations, aspirations she knew of, with her.
Aston felt his actions were a bit uncharacteristic but so be it, he'd made up his mind now, "I would say my inability to help as many as you did.." He smiled when a flash of disappointment crossed his King's eyes, "But it happens to be my perhaps blinding adoration for you." Aston closed his eyes, proud of himself for finally speaking his heart.
Such things wouldn't be possible in their lifetime, of course, but he'd spent a life fighting for the people, it was his time to be selfish, Britain was prosperous. He had Medea to thank for finally pushing him over the obstacle that was his hesitation to accept that even if it would end with her being slain for it.
Though, if asked, the Knight of Atrocity, summoned as a Lancer under the Mage's Association Enforcer, Bazett Fraga McRemitz, would shamelessly admit that his King, perhaps expressing her answer in the only way she could think of (flustered as she was), pressing her soft lips against his rough ones in an almost awkward way shocked him to the point where he ended up falling over.
"Ummm excuse me but, have you no shame?" Medusa stood up straight, completely fed up with the storybook scene playing out in front of her.
From the way the two Masters were staring at their servants, it seemed like it had happened before.
The magenta haired woman had covered her flustered face with her hands but was watching through open fingers. Medusa couldn't help but approve of how Shirou averted his gaze completely, intending on giving the two as much privacy as he could.
Still, by Zeus, had they no shame?!
* * *
How was it?
For a first time writer, I think it was nice? I didn't cringe while writing but then again, I'm the one writing.
Edit 2: Fixed the few grammar errors here and there.
This edit was mostly for this though,
This is all stuff that's already in the story, taken out and put together to clarify for some people.
Aston's skills revealed so far have been Battle Continuation A (Somewhat observed in Assassin vs Lancer, born from a life spent on the battlefield), Madness Enhancement A/ The Knight of Atrocity (This one is gonna be put on display soon and was used to intimidate Medea. A product of his legend and reputation as a ruthless, slaughtering monster AND the his brutal way of combat. He had this in his life to some extent.), Roman Scourge EX (Obvious considering his most notable feat was the Roman Slaughter, giving him unprecedented advantage over Romans and boosting his power against them), Mind's Eye (Fake) B (Evident in his sixth-sense like battle instinct, insane perception and reaction times. He's also mentioned he feels something is off with the Grail War), and the one revealed here, Oath to the King (By-product as well as reason for him possessing Roman Scourge and Madness Enhancement) once he declares his oath and loyalty to King Arthur, all forms of interference and orders are rendered completely useless. This includes command seals. In your face those who think he panicked.
I'll put out a complete character sheet at the end of Volume 1.
Aston's obviously a top-class servant but that's to be expected, he's a knight from the Round Table. The guys thought to be la crème de la crème, cream of the crop when it comes to servants and Bazett can't hope to fully power him. His speed is from his lifetime and explains his feats when coupled with the Jagged Spear granted by Morgan le Fae.
Actually, you'll find the number of skills he has to be in the lesser than certain servants with insane amounts of them.
Finally, remember he's competing with a guy that can counter any attack who happens to be the most skilled with whatever weapon he has in any era he's in, a guy who has a sword that replicates the power of the Sun, a guy who has a shield that will block attacks so long as he has the will to defend, a guy using a part of the spear that pierced Christ to name some.
You can entirely disregard this if it's a headache, it's more for people like me who like their details.
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You can find up to 7 advanced chapters at patre0n.com/Bleap
I suggest not joining now cause I'm behind what with fasting and me getting a little sick afterwards. I do plan on doing a mass release or two to compensate though.