Ren’s sleep had already been restless, with him constantly waking up and trying to fall back asleep. He didn’t think he slept this badly ever since the start of the third semester, when everything seemed out of place and he was driving himself insane trying to figure out what was going on. It certainly didn’t help that he didn’t have Morgana’s usual comforting warmth on his lap as he slept (and like hell he was going to let the human Morgana share the bed – that was too much even for him).
Now, it was just vague nightmares of his hands covered in blood, seeing the bodies in Massilia and France, and – most disturbingly of all – seeing his friends, but all of them without their faces. That last part worried him the most, despite all his attempts to push it aside as some meaningless nightmare. He hadn’t been at Chaldea long, yet already it felt like some part of it was overwriting his time in Tokyo.
Well, not overwriting. It was merely leaving a stronger impression right now. Still, it wasn’t like human minds and feelings were ever straightforward. He knew that better than anyone. He felt like he had finally fallen properly asleep when-
“ WAKE UP!!”
The Phantom Thief’s eyes shot open as Joan’s roar – just as something crashed right outside his house, setting his window blinders on fire. With a curse, he leaped out of bed, quickly grabbing the armor and sliding it over his head before racing out the door as smoke filled his room. As he raced downstairs, lacing up his armor as he did, he quickly reached out to Joan. “ What’s going on?” he demanded.
“ Alexander’s forces are attacking again, ” Joan briefed. “ But this isn’t like a coordinated attack like yesterday – they’re practically swarming like ants and charging head on. They’re also firing their onagers constantly. I don’t know what the hell happened on their end but they seem more intent on destroying this time rather than capturing or diplomacy.” As Ren listened, he stepped out of the house – and his eyes widened in horror at what he saw.
The city was on fire. Green flames mixed with orange as buildings and streets were set ablaze. Bodies lined the streets and rooftops, either burning or filled with arrows. Ren blinked as another salvo of flaming pots soared through the early morning skies and crashed into the city. The acrid smell of chemical flames and burning flesh filled the air, almost making him vomit. “ Yeah, I can see that ,” Ren murmured, reeling from the sight. He quickly contacted Loki. “ Any idea why they’re attacking this fiercely?” he asked.
“ Who knows?” Loki replied. “ Perhaps they found something worth gunning for in this city and decided to step up their plans. It certainly was enough to begin such a savage attack so early in the morning, though. ”
The casual tone Loki responded with immediately caught Ren’s attention as his instincts flared up. “ Loki, ”
he asked, an edge in his voice. “ What did you do? ”
There was a moment of silence from the Avenger. “ I made sure we could win, ” they replied simply. “ Right now, estimated URE casualties are about a third, maybe more or so, and rapidly increasing. It helps that Lu Bu is front and center, milling through their forces like a scythe through so much wheat.”
“ And what of Roman casualties? ” Ren countered tersely.
Once more, silence. “ An acceptable number thus far,” they replied flatly. “ Although that might change depending on our interference – or lack thereof. Especially as we’re wasting time here with this discussion. Now, are there any more questions or shall we get to work? ”
Ren had to bite back a large number of curses and arguments towards the trickster god. As much as he wanted to get to the bottom of what they did to rile up the URE so much, he had to fully agree that this wasn’t the time for it. The siege was currently in full swing and Roman soldiers were dying in droves. Nero was probably handling herself, but there was much he needed to do.
“ We’re talking about this later,” he growled. “ Work on dealing with the siege weapons and officers as much as you can. ” Loki simply silently agreed through their mental link before cutting it off. Once more, he contacted Joan as he stepped back into the house to avoid a rain of arrows. “ How’s it going on your end, Joan?” he asked.
“ Working on defense here,” she reported back. “ The URE soldiers have already filled the ditch with their own bodies and are practically trying to swarm up the walls. No ladders or anything. They’ve got a lot more onagers just lobbing stuff too. They’re really damn focused on either getting in or destroying the city – they’re practically charging right past Lu Bu no matter how many he’s mowing down.”
A pot crashed right outside the door, setting the ground on fire with green flames. With a quick summon of Lachesis and her ice, it was rapidly extinguished. “ That… sounds a bit weird, compared to the siege yesterday,” he mused. “ Any sign of Alexander or Waver? ”
“ Dunno, not at the wall,” Joan growled. “ But not important right now – the gates are on fire and those damn URE soldiers are battering themselves against it – they’re gonna give any minute!”
Ren blinked in surprise. “ Got it, on my way,” he quickly replied, cutting off the link just as the Lancer began protesting. Dashing out, he summoned Cerberus once more and mounted the persona, taking off toward the gates. As he approached the western wall, the flames got fiercer and the number of corpses sharply increased. Smoke filled the air, causing his eyes to water. He had to force his head down, almost burying his face in Cerberus’s mane unless he wanted to choke.
Glancing up, he could see more soldiers running to and fro as they shouted panicked reports and commands to one another. Many of them carried buckets of dirt and rubble to extinguish as much of the fire as they could. There was a shout of warning as another hail of arrows descended. Cerberus quickly dashed into a mostly intact building. Ren listened as the projectiles thudded futilely against the masonry – and watched in horror as many of them found their mark among the soldiers. They fell screaming in droves.
“Damnit!” Ren cursed as Cerberus vanished. As much as he wanted to get a move on, he couldn’t just abandon the soldiers here. Rapidly switching masks, he cried out, “Atropos!” The Cutter of the Thead appeared once more. With a wave of her shears, many of the soldiers around glowed with a green light as the arrows popped out of their healing wounds.
Watching in awe and surprise as their wounds sealed up, they quickly got to their feet and saluted Ren. “Thank you, centurion!” one cried out. “There’s likely to be more casualties and trouble near the wall. Please, help them!”
Ren nodded. “Was heading there for that anyway!” he replied with a forced ease as he summoned Cerberus once more. Though he could feel how warm his circuits were, they were dwarfed by the flames that still surrounded them. And even now, he couldn’t escape the sight of the fresh corpses – those who died almost immediately from that salvo, with no chance for him to heal them. Forcing his eyes away, he once more dashed toward the wall.
As he approached, he saw the gate blazing like a bonfire. Scowling, Cerberus vanished underneath him as he rolled to lessen the impact of the rapid dismount. He switched masks and prepared Lachesis to douse the flames but it was too little, too late – with a loud crash, the gate collapsed into splinters and red-hot metal pieces. As it did so, an outlandish yet terrifying sight greeted Ren: countless URE soldiers stacked up like ants, all collapsing inward in a flood of iron and flesh.
Ren could only gape at the sight for a brief second before regaining his senses. Joan had told him about this but seeing it for himself was a different matter entirely. The Roman soldiers had similar reactions, taking a moment to pick their respective jaws off the floor before charging in, stabbing down at the URE troops before they could retaliate. However, it wasn’t long before they were silently picking themselves up. Unsheathing their swords and grabbing their shields, they marched fearlessly against the Roman army, quickly pushing them back as more of them began swarming in.
“ Joan!”
“ I see them!”
The Lancer’s arrival was heralded by a storm of flaming spears thudding right into the mass of URE soldiers. Landing among them, she rapidly scattered them with a wave of her banner before summoning more spears and sending them darting towards the oncoming horde. “ I got things here!” she called out. “ Get to the wall, Master! They’re getting overwhelmed!”
“ Gotcha!” Ren acknowledged. He considered summoning Cerberus, but decided there was a faster method. Running forward, he aimed for the wall and fired his grappling hook. Latching onto the masonry, it rapidly reeled him in, sending him flying through the air. As he approached, he disengaged the hook and rolled onto the wall to dissipate the inertia.
Looking at the situation, his eyes narrowed as he scowled. The URE soldiers had piled themselves against the wall, using themselves as ladders for their compatriots to scale the wall. While they weren’t rushing through, it was clear that there were simply too many for the sparse Roman soldiers to handle – every URE soldier killed was immediately replaced with another, while every Roman killed left a nigh-unrecoverable gap in the defense. The walls were already lined with countless corpses of both URE and Roman alike.
Ren scowled as he switched personas – then stopped. He was up here on the wall, in clear view of everyone. And just as he thought that, he dove for cover as another salvo of arrows flew over his head. There was a chance that Waver Velvet was watching, and frankly he’d rather not give him any information about his magecraft and personas if he can help it.
Pulling out his Chaldean Arms, he switched it to its pistol mode and fired. The URE soldiers began dropping as each shot hit their mark, yet more came up to replace them. Still, it worked wonders in getting the Roman soldiers to rally after a quick glance back to see who or what covered them. Keeping his head down, he kept firing as arrows soared over his head. None of the URE soldiers seemed to be paying attention to him as they were busy with the Roman soldier defenders.
As he lined up another shot, he was roughly pushed down, sending him sprawling. Quickly getting up and turning, he blinked in surprise as he saw Jing Ke, her blade buried in a URE soldier’s chest before kicking him away. “Remember to keep an eye on your surroundings,” the Assassin reminded him with a grin before jumping and kicking another soldier that had been scaling the wall behind Ren.
Ren blinked with surprise before returning a grin of his own. “Heh, sorry about that!” he replied easily before firing again, taking down another URE soldier that was sneaking up behind a Roman. “You have any idea what’s going on? This is way different from yesterday’s attack!”
Jing Ke frowned, casually flicking her blade to swat away an arrow. “Apparently something happened to Waver,” she explained. “As well as a good portion of the officers. They’re all jumpy and paranoid, like they know someone’s going to stab them as soon as their back is turned.”
She paused for a second. “Someone besides me,” she amended, dodging a gladius from a URE soldier before stabbing it in the chest and pushing it back over the wall. “And even then, whatever common sense they had left has been completely overridden by Alexander.”
The Phantom Thief blinked in surprise as he kept firing with unerring accuracy. “What do you mean, ‘overridden by Alexander’?” he asked with trepidation.
The Assassin’s lips pressed together into a grim line. “Something happened to completely piss him off,” she explained seriously. “Whatever you do, if you find him, don’t engage him by yourself. Use your command seal to summon a Servant to your side if you must. Otherwise, he’ll kill you without holding back. This isn’t like that time with Leonidas. He’s out for blood.”
Ren scowled. Someone or something had taken out Waver and set Alexander on a warpath, to the point of forgoing strategy and just outright swarming them. With their massive numbers and the capabilities of the URE soldiers, it was brutally effective despite the massive casualties they were sustaining. They were fighting with all their might just to hold back the tide. And he had a feeling he knew precisely who to blame for this. “Noted,” he grunted. “Thanks for the warning.”
Jing Ke nodded. “I’ll try to take out more of the onagers,” she said. “The emperor’s on the other side of the gatehouse if you wanted to meet up with her. Otherwise, good luck.”
“You too,” Ren called back as Jing Ke jumped off the wall and vanished – and more URE soldiers began pushing in from behind. Ren scowled as he shot another crawling up. As he lined up a shot –
“All forces, fall back! Retreat from the wall! FALL BACK!”
Ren blinked in surprise – and barely dodged another URE soldier, its sword scraping against his armor. Right, Waver was out of the picture here – why was he hesitating still? He switched his masks within his mind once more. It was time to pull out the big guns.
“Hecatoncheires!” he roared.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
In a burst of blue flame, the hundred-handed giant appeared once more with a mighty roar. Still kneeling, it reached down past the wall and swatted the pile of URE soldiers, sending them flying through the air. Ren had to admit, despite the seriousness of the situation, it was a rather ridiculous sight. He had to crack a smile.
“Oi!”
At the shout, he glanced back down to see Glauca grinning up at him. “Why the hell didn’t you lead with that?” he barked, staring up at Hecatoncheires.
Ren chuckled. “Well, you know me, I like to be fashionably late,” he replied easily. “Serious answer though: it seems Waver is out of commission so I don’t have to worry about him. I'll go clear off these soldiers as much as I can!”
The newly promoted centurion nodded. “Alright!” he acknowledged. “I’ll go rally the others. Shouldn’t be too hard – just need to tell them to run towards the giant!”
“And how many times have you ordered that?” Ren asked with a wry grin.
“With how everything’s going, it’s gonna be a lot!” Glauca replied with a laugh. With that, he dashed off as Ren stood back up. Issuing a mental command, the persona leaned over with its arm over the side of the wall and moved. As it did, it swept away the URE soldiers crawling on the wall like a windshield wiper getting rid of bugs.
However, peeking over the wall before ducking for cover again, the comparison to ants was all too appropriate: The UE soldiers simply began clambering up again and would overtake the wall once more in minutes. He had bought them some time, but that was it. He could already feel his circuits burning in his body as he kept moving, maintaining Hecatocheires’s form. However, he still had other matters to deal with.
“ Loki!” he roared out mentally. “ What did you do to Waver and the officers of the URE?!”
“ Exactly what I said,” Loki replied again in a cold tone. “ I arranged things so we have a better chance to win. The situation is more dire, yes, but the enemy is rapidly exhausting their strength. We simply need to hold out, then strike back while they’re disorganized.”
Ren ground his teeth. Granted, this madness was probably preferable compared to letting whatever Waver kept planning, but it didn’t remove the sour taste in his mouth nor the feeling that Loki had done far more than simply ‘securing their victory’. Still, this wasn’t the time to interrogate him. “ We’re speaking about this later, ” he growled.
“ Of course, of course,” Loki replied lackadaisically before cutting off contact. Speaking of which, where even were they right now? He forgot to ask with everything going on, but even he knew the Avenger wasn’t the type to shirk their job. Perhaps he was busy assisting-
“YOU!”
At the wild cry, Ren whipped around – and his eyes widened as he beheld a black stallion soaring through the skies toward him. As he dived out of the way, it crashed down on the wall, cracking the masonry underneath its hooves. Although Ren had seen horses in media or as personas before, this horse was something different entirely. Its sleek fur was black as night, each motion bespoke power, and even a casual move from it bespoke of grace. While Ren could understand why people called horses ‘beautiful,’ this was probably the first time, even compared to his personas, that he truly knew why.
The beauty of the steed stood in stark contrast, however, to its Rider. Alexander was disheveled, with bags under his swollen eyes and pale skin. His brilliant red hair was matted, and his skin covered with grime from riding and combat. Instead of his usual smile, his expression was so fierce that Ren couldn’t help but feel shivers down his spine from his sheer wrath. Despite his tawdry appearance, his gaze was powerful as he sat upright in his saddle, his blade grasped tightly in one hand and the reins of his horse in the other.
What the hell caused the cheerful young conqueror he met before to become the incarnation of rage he saw before him?
Alexander lifted his sword and pointed directly at Ren. “Where is your Servant?” he demanded.
Ren blinked in surprise at the question. “Well, hello to you too,” he quipped, forcing a grin to his face and an ease to his tone. “Glad to see you’re visiting again. Sorry I can’t repay you for the wine and food – the latter was especially good, and I’ll take Nero’s word that the liquor was excellent. Didn’t think we’d be meeting again like this though.”
“I am not here to bandy words,” the young conqueror spat. “Nor is my quarrel with you. Call forth your Servant, Ren Amamiya! Do not try my patience!”
The Phantom Thief dropped his smile. “Dunno where they are right now,” he admitted. “Exactly what did they do to you? Whatever it is must be bad, and I want to hear it myself for when I need to deal with them later.”
The young conqueror glared down at Ren with venomous hate. “Your Servant,” he snarled. “Used some… ability or magecraft on my retainer. It drove him utterly mad. He could not be reasoned with, nor could I hold back against him. I had no choice but to kill him by my own hand.”
He held up his sword. “I was forced to stain my blade with my retainer’s blood,” he ground out as tears spilled from his eyes. “Only with your Servant’s blood coating it will I be appeased.”
Ren’s eyes widened in horror as Alexander described what had happened. Loki drove Waver mad? And it resulted in him attacking the young conqueror? That sounded like… no. No, no, no, no, no. He couldn’t have possibly –
“Tell me,” he inquired, forcing as much calm as he could into his voice. “Did his eyes roll back into his head and black… stuff come out of his eyes and mouth?”
Alexander’s glare intensified. “You knew of this?” he hissed. “You knew of this ability? It would seem you are as guilty as your Servant then. I shouldn’t be surprised – Master and Servants are linked, after all.”
He raised his blade and pointed directly at Ren. “If you want any sort of mercy,” he snarled. “You will use your command seal. Summon your Servant here so that I may sate my vengeance. I will give you until the count of three.”
The Phantom Thief’s eyes widened at the ultimatum. Frankly, he was tempted to do exactly that just so he could get some answers out of Loki himself. He shot a mental connection to Loki. “ Did you drive Waver psychotic?!”
“One.”
“ And what if I did? ” Loki replied. Ren could practically hear the sneer in the Avenger’s words.
“Two.”
That was basically all the confirmation Ren needed. His mind scrambled as to what he needed or could do. At minimum, Loki needed to be held accountable, both by Alexander and by him. “ Alexander’s here right now-!”
“Three!”
“Chimera!” Ren roared.
Just as Alexander charged, another persona burst into being – a large, monstrous lion, with a second goat’s head, and a long, serpent tail. The Rider yelled in surprise and tried to redirect himself, but the persona simply snarled and swiped at him with a large claw. It struck true, and both mount and rider were flung into empty space as they were swatted into the city proper as they screamed in shock and rage. As they landed, they collided through multiple buildings, reducing them to rubble.
The Rider growled as he stood back up, glaring up at Ren and his creature. Under normal circumstances, he would have relished fighting against Ren, especially when he had the power of the mythical Chimera at his side. It would have felt like a trial in his favorite legends. However, as it is, all he saw was an enemy, and most importantly, someone who was at least partially responsible for the death of his retainer.
With a scowl, he remounted his beloved Bucephalus as he considered. As much as he wished to deal with the Master, he knew it was more likely his Servant had done this on their own initiative. He didn’t miss that look of horror on his face as he described what had happened to Waver. Besides, if he killed Ren here, then that would mean all the Servants here would be unsummoned – including the one who caused this in the first place.
That wouldn’t be enough. He wouldn’t be satisfied until his own blade met the Servant’s flesh.
“Summon your Servant, Ren Amamiya!” he roared as Bucephalus pawed the ground, ready to leap into action as it stared down the Chimera without any fear. Ren scowled, considering his options as Chimera in turn growled in defiance. While he couldn’t just toss Loki to the conqueror, he could still deeply sympathize with Alexander about what had happened to Waver.
His vision flashed back to Destinyland, as he and his friends watched on their phones Kunikazu Okumura succumbing to a mental shutdown. It had been terrifying to witness – his face went from a healthy pallor to ashen-grey, his eyes rolled back into their sockets as black ichor spilled from his eyes and mouth. It was a scene straight from a horror film, only it was all too real.
But what he remembered most wasn’t his horrific fate, but Haru Okumura – their newfound comrade, friend, and Kunikazu’s daughter. He remembered her shock, grief, her distraught expression, and when she vanished for a time to grieve. She reassured them she was managing and doing okay, but nobody was fooled. That was what stuck with him the most, more than anything else. He couldn’t ever forget that.
As Ren looked closely, while Alexander focused more on rage and hatred, he could still see the same things he had seen that day from Haru: Grief, shock, and sadness. They were enemies, sure, but Alexander was a victim too. The young man had treated them honorably, more akin to friends who were on the other side in a simple game than someone to eliminate. He didn’t deserve this. What Loki had done was something he would never have asked him, nor would he ever condone it. But what was done was done.
And now, just like before, they were all dealing with the consequences.
“Well now, I hadn’t expected such a demand for my presence in quite some time. It almost makes me nostalgic.”
Both Ren and Alexander whirled about at the voice – and Loki was there as if they had always been. Dressed now in their black and blue combat uniform, they sat perched on a pile of rubble above Alexander. They hadn’t donned their helmet, leaving their sardonic amusement visible. “But you do know how to throw a return party,” they remarked. “I take it you enjoyed my gifts greatly, then.”
The young conqueror’s response was far less measured: His eyes almost bulging out of sheer rage, he could only snarl. “ You.”
“Me,” the Avenger confirmed, their smirk widening.
With a wild scream of rage, Alexander charged forth as his horse whinnied. The rubble crumbled underneath their might as Loki casually fell backward, laughing madly. Drawing a hand over their face, their beak-like helmet reappeared on their head, concealing their features and making him resemble a crow.
Ren gritted his teeth. Leave it to Loki to make things even worse. Sure, now Alexander was no longer targeting him, but the two were going to cause a huge mess in the city, disrupting the defense. “ Get Alexander away from the front lines!” he commanded the Avenger. “ We can’t have him screwing up the others! Joan, can you hold the front?”
“Always a killjoy,” Loki sighed dramatically. Regardless, the trickster god had already been doing so, luring the maddened Rider away from the site of battle.
“ They’re just pushing in but that’s it,” Joan growled in response. “ This is honestly like the battle in the pass all over again. Me and Lu Bu will hold – just deal with Rider.”
The Phantom Thief nodded and was about to move – then his instincts flared up. He rolled to the side, just in time to avoid a gladius to the gut from a URE soldier. Great. They were still climbing up. And the appearance of Alexander had delayed any reinforcements. “ Loki, I need to cover the walls here,” he growled to the Avenger. “ Hold out as long as you can.”
“ A rather optimistic way of saying ‘you’re on your own’,” they snarked. “ I’ll deal with it.”
He bit back a retort before turning toward the oncoming soldiers. Everyone had their battle, and this was his. And he wasn’t about to let the URE swarm the walls like ants if he could help it. “Chimera!” Ren cried. At his command, the mythological beast once more appeared, its roar overshadowing the din of war.
And moments later, the walls were set ablaze.
----------------------------------------
Alexander charged forth, Bucephalus easily blowing through the weakened structures of Massilia. His maddened eyes looked all around him for that accursed Servant, and yet they were everywhere yet nowhere. What could have been a hint of their dark outfit had been nothing more than a shadow. What seemed to be a gleam from their red eyes was nothing more than a glowing ember.
Suddenly, Bucephalus cried out in pain. Looking over in shock, Alexander saw blood weeping from a gash on his flank that hadn’t been there a moment before. A loud explosion rang out behind him. He turned – and something cut his cheek, weeping blood as a projectile impacted the wall behind him.
“My, I thought Riders were supposed to be fast,” Loki called out, sitting on the rafter in a neighboring ruined house. “I was here hoping for a fun chase but honestly, I’m starting to get bored here. Perhaps I should call you Alexander the Mediocre instead.”
The young conqueror roared as he spurred Bucephalus. With a whinny, the horse jumped up high into the air and crashed down where Loki had been in a burst of rubble and flame. Everything collapsed around them into nothing but ruin, covering both rider and horse in thick dust.
“But then, mediocre would be an apt descriptor,” they continued. Alexander whirled about to see Loki behind them leaning against a bit of wall still intact and examining their fingernails (which were covered by his black clawed gauntlets). “After all, you did lose your strategist and your officers. You’re losing no small number of your men. And now, you’re well on your way to losing your first major battle in this campaign of yours.”
Loki grinned. “Apologies, perhaps ‘mediocre’ is the wrong word to use here,” they amended. “All hail Alexander the Pathetic!”
“ You-!” Alexander spluttered. He began gathering prana as Bucephalus started glowing. This wretch had been mocking him again and again and again, yet they were far too cowardly to even try facing him head on. “I am a son of Zeus and one who would conquer all of the known world, you craven! I am Alexander the Great!” he snarled. “It is about time you know your place!”
“ BUCEPHALUS!” he roared.
Bucephalus whinnied as the fires all around them intensified. The skies above them darkened and boomed with thunder. As Alexander raised his sword, lightning struck down and caught on the blade, leaving it crackling with divine might. With a roar, Alexander charged forth, lightning flashing from Bucephalus’s hooves. Lightning flashed and boomed, destroying everything around him in his wrath and reducing it to cinder as the storm rode with him.
Buildings collapsed, fires started and scattered with each bolt of lightning. Wherever Bucephalus and Alexander charged, there was only destruction and devastation. And as he rode, he glowed with power and divinity. He was nothing less than the mighty Alexander the Great – and he would carve this lesson and reminder onto the Servant’s flesh, no matter what.
As the dust settled, Alexander panted as he looked around him, lightning still sparkling from him and Bucephalus. There was nowhere that Servant could hide, nowhere he could run to. Now they could face each other in combat, and he would enact his vengeance. But still, where were they? Did they turn tail and hide…?
“ By my words, destiny is set in motion. By my hand, blood will inevitably flow.”
Alexander whirled about once more. There stood the Servant, a gun in hand. No, not a gun. It glowed as it changed shape, lengthening and thinning into a javelin-esque shape. In the end, what they held in their hand looked to be a dark, crude, wooden spear.
Without further waiting, Alexander and Bucephalus charged as the former brandished his blade, crackling with lightning as thunder boomed underneath the latter’s hooves. Whatever the Servant’s Noble Phantasm, they would run them down before they could have a chance to use it. As they approached, the Servant raised the spear in their hand.
“ Mistilteinn.”
The spear was thrown and sped towards Alexander. The Rider scowled. With his momentum and speed, he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time, but that didn’t matter. He moved his blade to swat aside the spear. Even if he couldn’t, Bucephalus would run down the Servant and he would still have his vengeance. The spear met his sword…
And his blade shattered as the spear continued unopposed. In the next moment, he was on the ground, gasping and grasping at the spear that had impaled him through his chest, sticking out to the other side. He coughed up blood as he pulled, but it didn’t budge. Then he remembered – Mistilteinn. The spear made of mistletoe wood that ended the life of the otherwise invincible Baldr. It was thrown by his brother, but he had been tricked into doing so by another.
As his vision dimmed and his body began disappearing into golden particles, he saw the Servant casually walk up to him, brushing dust off themselves as they did, their helmet once more gone. “You… fiend…” he gasped.
The Servant smirked down at them. “Farewell, Alexander the Pathetic,” they murmured. “This is where your dream ends.”
Alexander opened his mouth to curse him one last time, yet all that came out was a choked gurgle. Then his vision failed him, and he knew no more.