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Seraphiel quickly considered the situation. Whoever had struck at Luthien had wasted no time, so the whole thing was pre-planned. She’d been here for less than a minute. Someone had executed a surgical strike in the brief window she’d been pulled away by one of the few powers capable of restraining her for any period of time, no matter how short.
“I’m afraid, Mr. Solomon” Not King Solomon anymore. “That I’m going to have to break this little world you’ve created. You really should’ve known better than to bring someone like me into such a Mana-rich environment. Means I don't have to hold back. At all. I do wonder if you'll ever be able to reconstruct it again. If not, that shall be your punishment for this transgression."
Solomon’s eyes grew large as nearly all of the Mana in his reality marble was suddenly taken over and consumed.
She lifted a hand and pointed at the man. “[Day of Judgement] [Original Slayer of Gods] Let there be light.”
On the outside, the battle suddenly came to a momentary pause as everyone present felt it. Two powers that could not be measured and should not be unleashed clashing directly, before one overpowered the other. The skies above seemed to crack for a moment before the battlefield was filled with a pure white light so bright everyone was momentarily blinded. For several seconds, nobody could act as the light seemed to be everywhere, blinding not only their sight but even their supernatural senses. Those with precognitive powers, for a brief moment, couldn’t see anything but the end of everything.
The moment passed and clarity returned to the field once more. While the fighting had paused for a time, it had not ended, and many tried to take advantage of the momentary distraction. To highlight this transition back to violence, the large Dragon that had been fighting in the skies, fell to the ground, wounded but not dead, as he’d been one of the worst affected.
Standing in the skies above the battle, Seraphiel quickly searched for Luthien and found her among the mixed melee between Masters. Even though she was barely able to defend herself currently, she’d lost her arm from the elbow down, and the Command Seals with it. When a Master lost their Command Seals, be it through giving up, spending them all, or as in this case physically losing them, they lost their rights as a Master. Even if she regained the Seals somehow, it was doubtful she would be able to take back her spot as a Master, because losing the Seals was tantamount to forfeiting.
The wound had been dressed, but it didn’t look good. Any healing had been done in a hurry. Alarmingly, there was no sign of the missing arm, or who’d taken it. That was worrisome, because as long as Luthien lived, the Seals, and her mastery, could be transferred over to someone else. So, unless the hand had been annihilated somehow, and Command Seals were a real bugger to try and destroy, someone was running around with the potential to become her new Master.
With a frown, she lifted a hand with the intention of taking out the Masters attacking Luthien, Barthomeloi, and Luvia, but was interrupted by a haughty male voice. "Surely you don't plan on sinking to the level of an Assassin? That would be such a disappointment after finally finding someone who might be a worthy rival."
She turned around to find a Servant in intricate golden armor and golden hair standing close by, with a small smirk on his perfectly sculpted face. “King of Heroes.” She said simply in greeting, while just erecting a telekinetic wall between the Masters fighting below, ensuring that Luthien would not perish.
A quick search with her senses discovered that The Lion King had retreated, and the powerful Servant that had been her ally had vanished, likely defeated. Karna, who’d also been part of that fight was currently fighting Arjuna, the old rivals facing off once again. It seemed Arjuna was winning, likely due to Karna’s strain from the earlier battle.
“Firstborn of All Creation. Proclaimed thus by a god no less.” Gilgamesh stated, with an amused tone. “And here I was supposed to be the mankind’s first hero.” As he spoke, golden portals appeared in the air, as if small ponds of water, with weapons protruding out of them. A single one of the weapons was shot at her, more as a greeting and a warning shot than a serious attempt to hurt her.
A golden wing appeared from her back and batted aside the projectile. “That’s the error in your assumptions. Mankind’s.”
A pleased grin spread on his face. "So I see. I was correct. You are a worthy foe. We shall resolve this little war between us and that goddess hiding within a mortal frame. It shall be a battle worth my attention." He referred to The Lion King. "Until then." He simply vanished, having said what he wanted to.
Gilgamesh was a smug prick, but he had enough power to back up his attitude, and he likely wasn’t entirely wrong. He was also among the most powerful Champions of the gods, albeit his power was curtailed by the Grail War. It was almost too bad he hadn't wanted to fight because she had a perfect plan against him. A plan that required quite a bit of Mana, unfortunately.
She looked down again, seeing her previous Master momentarily safe, and allowed her senses to take a better look at the rest of the battlefield, and all of those still on it. It seemed the Black team would finally be eliminated when the three Elven heroes finally defeated Neltharion, but they had not gone down without a fight.
She could sense that all the Berserkers had been eliminated. The giant Medusa was gone, as were both Artoria and her 'son' Mordred. That fight would've been interesting to witness. As far as she could tell, the Gold team had two Servants left, Karna and Gilgamesh, and Karna was locked in a fight with Arjuna at the moment. Purple still had The Lion King and Cú Chulainn. Green team…she couldn't sense any of them, but their Assassin seemed to be a slippery one. The white team still had the three Elven Servants fighting Neltharion, who was the last of the Black team. She could sense Haqim still out there, hunting. That left their team. Herself, Arjuna, and…
She turned just as the chariot of Rider stopped next to her. “I like the wings. Unexpected, yet at the same time not. You made a bit of an entrance as well.” The man’s voice was clearly excited by the battle, which it should be, considering he’d just fought and for all intents and purposes won against Neltharion. Not a bad feat.
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“Rider. Who attacked my Master?” She asked, not amused.
“I don’t know. I was a little busy, in case you didn’t notice.” He pointed at the Dragon, who in his final moments managed to drag the Elven Saber with him to death, by collapsing an entire building on him, before his claws finished the job. An opening which the Elven Lancer used to finally slay the Dragon.
“I didn’t notice, because I was dragged off the battlefield. Damn reality marbles.” She cursed lightly. “And that’s the final Saber gone. Where did you and your master vanish?”
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say.” Rider declined to answer.
“I don’t think that is going to cut it at this point.” She almost growled.
“And yet, that is all the answer I can give. And I don’t think you have the Mana to spare to strike at one of the last allies you have, even if you’d win.” He was right too. She didn’t. Even if most of the Mana for breaking both Solomon and his reality marble had come from inside the dimension, she wasn’t regenerating any without a Master. In fact, without a Master, she was slowly bleeding Mana instead. And she still had bigger battles to fight.
So, she decided to focus on solving the mystery instead. She slowly floated down towards Luthien and the others. She noted that the Masters attacking them were Elven in heritage, so likely the Masters of the White team. The two Elven Servants, both ragged after the fight with the Dragon, quickly made their way over to protect their Masters. Not that it would do any good if she wanted them dead.
"Caster," Luvia said with a breath of relief.
Seraphiel looked at Luthien. "Who did this?" The light of healing fell on her previous Master, sealing the wounds, even if she wasn't able to regenerate a missing arm. The downside of her healing Skills still being at a lower level and so universal. Limb recovery was a bit too specific.
Luthien shook her head. “I don’t know. Someone took me by surprise and was gone before I could see them through the pain.”
After a moment of consideration, Seraphiel turned towards the Elven team. “You were busy attacking them, and I’m well aware of the Elven Perception. Tell me who did this, and I’ll let you leave here alive.”
The Elven Caster, a gorgeous woman dressed in all white hesitated a brief moment before nodding. “The Assassin of Green.”
That was not at all what Seraphiel had expected. “The Assassin of Green? He willingly maimed a person? That doesn't fit his character at all.” She was almost certain the Servant's identity was Batman.
The Elven Servant could only shrug at that. "I can only tell you what I saw. As you asked. Will you keep your word?"
Seraphiel waved her hand at the woman. "Of course. Although, as a word of advice, I would suggest trying to save your Masters instead of aiming for victory. This whole thing will only get worse soon." She knew they would not abide by her advice, but she gave it anyway.
As she turned back to the Red Masters, Barthomeloi stepped forward. "I'm simply going to point out that I just lost my Servant, and your Master no longer qualifies. It would be beneficial for us to join forces. There’s no point in you fighting alone."
Seraphiel shook her head. "I believe you already know this, but while it is true that Luthien is no longer my Master, I'm not an orphaned Servant yet either. As long as she's alive and her arm is out there, I'm still tied to the Command Seals on the hand, wherever it is. And whoever has it, might become my new Master if they so choose. I cannot take a new Master before that issue is resolved, even if I wanted to." It was actually a good plan. While the hand existed and Luthien lived, she'd slowly grow weaker. If Luthien had been killed, she could’ve just taken a new Master, as distasteful as that might be. There were plenty of takers after all.
"Can you not track the Seals?" Luviagelita asked.
"Well, here we come to an interesting little conundrum. I'm not exactly your standard Caster. While my abilities and existence consume Mana due to my status as a Servant, I'm not actually a mage. I can do things other Casters cannot. However, while stuck in this legend, I also have some limitations other Casters might not have. I’m good at tracking people. Not so great at tracking magical signatures." She revealed. She hadn’t had any of her magical or anti-magic skills during her time as an Aeldari. The knowledge wasn’t gone, but access to the abilities was extremely limited.
The battle between Karna and Arjuna abruptly ended, inconclusively, as the two Servants chose not to battle to the death just yet. While rivals, they didn't hate each other, so a temporary ceasefire once everything else was calm wasn't too out of the ordinary for them. As Arjuna landed next to them, he was clearly exhausted. After catching his breath, he had more bad news. "I tried to track the arm, but Assassins by the nature of their Class can avoid any notice." He admitted as well.
That left her in a bit of a pickle. Not for long though.
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Haqim looked at the immobile Servant standing in the middle of the city, staring at empty air. The man was dressed in a funny costume, but his countenance was serious enough that Haqim could've considered turning him had this been the distant past. Currently, he had no interest, as the man was frozen in place, his eyes unfocused. If nothing happened, the Servant would likely stand there until starving to death. Such was the insidious nature of the Domination powers of the Kindred. It looked like one of his previous teammates had Dominated the mind of the man at some point earlier, assigning him some kind of tasks. Now the man had either completed his assignment or couldn't proceed further.
Haqim didn’t hold much regard towards the Kindred that had tried to use him, but they were capable in a couple of ways. He’d observed as they’d early on taken control of the other Assassins and turned them on the most dangerous target in this Grail War without even fully realizing why. After that had failed, they’d obviously reconsidered and targeted the Master instead. Even in death, their powers and commands persisted.
Seeing the hand bearing Command Seals in the incapacitated Assassin’s arms presented an interesting opportunity and dilemma. Taking it was easy, and he would obviously do that. The question was, what to do with it? He was nominally allied with the Red team and Selessa, as he knew the woman, and if he had to pick someone to win this war, then she would be his first choice by a wide margin. If the hand was returned as is, it was extremely likely, Selessa would be the victor. That had been rather obvious straight from the beginning. Even Haqim knew better than to pick a direct fight with her.
That said, it’s not like he couldn’t mess with Selessa a bit. He’d messed with her before, and messing with her was great fun. She was great fun, and didn’t carry much in the way of grudges. He knew better than anyone how she’d been treated on his world, and she still didn’t hold a grudge. It would be such a shame to let her waste away due to lack of Mana, as she obviously couldn’t use the same method of sustaining herself as he did, but at least he could have some fun with it. And he knew just how to do it too.
With a quick twist of his hand, he snapped the neck of the Assassin and picked up the arm with the Command Seals. He couldn't become her Master, as he barely had enough Mana to sustain himself for a brief time. He knew just the person to give the arm to though. Someone who’d annoy her as much as possible as a Master. His own time was running out, the blood no longer enough to sustain him. Might as well observe the fun as long as he was able.
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The Trambelio heir couldn’t believe his luck. At first, he’d been freaked out about a severed hand in his bed. That was not a sight anyone wanted to wake up to. Yet, it took him only a short time to realize the significance. Someone had done him a huge favor. And he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If someone wanted to hand him the keys to winning this whole thing, he certainly wouldn’t reject it. And to be able to do it by using the exact same method he’d been denied earlier made it even sweeter.
He knew he had made an error with his own Servant earlier, but it wasn’t like he could be blamed for getting caught in a huge explosion that took out most of the city. And it wasn’t like that bitch Luthien had gotten this far due to any tactical acumen. She’d simply managed to summon the most powerful Servant. That’s it. Now, credit where it was due. Summoning a powerful Servant like Caster meant that they’d all underestimated her, and for that, she had earned at least some respect. But it wasn’t like she’d done anything useful since then. It had been completely unilateral domination by Caster. At least he’d almost entirely destroyed the White team by himself by best utilizing his own Servant. And now he’d be able to do it again. Maybe he’d even let that ungrateful bint live as a reward for securing him the keys to victory.
With a grin, he grabbed the hand, and chanted the perquisite spell, and the two Command Seals transferred to his hand instead, bringing up the number of Seals to four. He also felt the connection form with his new Servant, along with the basic knowledge of her. “A Godslayer? Really? No wonder she’s so grossly overpowered.”
He idly wondered how long it would take his new Servant to realize. As it happened, not very long, as she appeared in the room only seconds later, stepping through a gash in reality. “Well, I have to admit. This I did not see coming. Maybe I should’ve.” The eerie voice of the woman came through the filters of the mask.