41 Shields and Spears.

"Are you alright master?"

"Yes…it's just hard to keep up with my lowered parameters." Ruler said as the duo made their way through the forest.

"We're only going there to watch, correct?" Alex asked.

"Yes, it is our duty to oversee the battles that happen to make sure that no rules are broken."

"But what if multiple battles take place in different areas..?"

"…..I don't know." She replied. "The instructions the grail imparted were rather vague in some of my duties." A little bit of embarrassment showed as she explained.

"Well, lets hurry I can feel the magical energy flaring up deeper in the forest, it seems as though multiple servants are going to do battle."

***

At the Castle Yggdamillennia, the black faction were overlooking what was to be the battlefield. A large forest that separated the Berserker and his target.

They could see the dust clouds being kicked up in the distance as the insane servant knocked down any obstacle in his path.

"It's kinda weird that he can talk." Rider of Black stated. "Maybe we can convince him to join our side?"

"Unlikely, he merely sees us as the enemy and no words will get through to him. Although we may be able to forcibly add him to our side." Darnic spoke as he eyed Caster who game him a small nod.

Darnic could be considered the second in command during this war, even though he is the current head of the Yggdamillennia family and set this whole war into motion, he deferred leadership over to his servant, Lancer of Black.

"Let us crush that rebellious fool." Lancer of Red spoke. "Rider, you go first."

"Go Rider, show them the might of Charlemagne's Paladins" Rider's master, Celenike, declared.

"Ugggg, I hate these kinds of jobs." He said with relative boredom as he materialized his weapon, an ornate lance.

With a burst of speed, he ran into the forest after his target. As he was making his way there, he felt two mana signatures in the distance, neither of them was the berserker he was heading towards.

"Rider, don't be alarmed it seems Ruler and her servant have also arrived in the area. Stick to the plan as long as they don't make a move we won't." Archer of Black stated telepathically.

The Yggdamillennia had set up a telepathic network between all the masters and servants for the sake of coordination.

"Roger~"

It didn't take long for Rider to eventually meet the hulking Berserker.

"Hey there big fella." He cheerily said as the Berserker turned around and cut down the tree next to him.

"OPPRESSOR! MY MIGHT WILL WREAK HAVOC UPON YOUR ARROGANCE"

"Jeese...Alright..." He recovered as he stood up on the now stump.

"Let those afar off listen and those close can see. I am one of Charlemagne's Paladi-" Rider was cut off quite literally as Berserker swung his blade and the force of the wind knocked Rider back.

"HEY! Atleast let me finish I havn't gotten to do that in so long" Rider wined.

Berserker laughed maniacally as he charged the black servant.

"Fine if that's how you want to do it...."

"[Trap of Argalia]"

Rider activated his noble phantasm and charged at the rampaging berserker. He dodged a swing of his blade as he stabbed his leg with his lance.

The part where the lance met Berserker's flesh began to dissipate as his leg disappeared.

"How do you like that? Anything my trap of Argalia hits is returned to it's spiritual form."

A fair distance away, Ruler and Alex settled into a spot to watch the conflict. They made it just in time to watch Rider activate his noble phantasm.

They were far away enough to not be caught up in the fight but close enough to be sensed by the other servants in the area. While it was a bit risky on Ruler's part to want to come in this close when the Red faction was openly hostile, it was a part of her duties.

Rider's noble phantasm was interesting. Alex was curious how it would affect Ruler with her possessing a real body…and then the thought cross his mind. How would it affect him as a Heroic Spirit? Probably better to not be on the receiving end of it just in case.

"Can you sense all the servants present?" Alex asked his companion.

"I sense three on Red's side while black has six present with what appears to be Archer on the castle walls." She replied. Her authority as ruler allows her a much better sense of enemy servants than a normal one, even if they are astralized.

Alex took a moment to mentally recall the information regarding this war and who was participating. The only servant missing should be Assassin and that was something they needed to deal with sooner rather than later. The only issue was convincing Ruler to go to the nearby town where Assassin was located. He didn't quite remember why Assassin was away from their home base, maybe The black faction was using her to spy on the red? It had been years since he'd seen the series so some details were bound to be lost.

The duo watched the Black faction walk up and incapacitate Berserker of Red. Several spike impaled him, curtesy of Lancer and he was then encased in stone by Caster.

"Seems like-" Alex didn't finish he sentence as he felt a large amount of mana build up in the distance at the opposite end of the Black Faction.

He wasn't the only one that noticed, the Black faction turned to look in their direction.

They could all feel it, it wasn't a noble phantasm but it was an attack that was charged with a lot of prana. The end of the forest was dyed with emerald energy as a projectile was launched in their direction.

***

"Hey sis it looks like the Black Faction is finally making a move." Rider of Red casually stated as they watched the figure of Rider of Black heading towards Berserker.

"Achilles...I already said it once, don't make me shoot you." She hissed.

"Oh come on, this is just some sibling bonding." He replied with a cheeky smile as he saw her ears twitching. "Ooh, I felt a spike in energy, did someone activate their noble phantasm?"

"If you were paying attention you would have noticed Rider of Black activating their Noble Phantasm to disable berserker."

Archers were given an increase in their sight with their class abilities, but even normal servants could perceive things much further than a normal person. While Achilles couldn't physically see the two combatants, he could get a good idea of what was going on with his beyond-human senses.

Their little spat continued for a few more moments until they both suddenly stopped and look towards a specific direction.

"Oi…..do you sense them too?" Achilles asked.

"Yes, it appears that Ruler and her servant are nearby as well." Atalanta replied.

Servants have an innate ability to sense each other when they aren't hiding. The fact that Ruler and Alex were just sitting in the open a fair distance away meant that all the servants in the area could pick up on them.

"Should we make a move? We were told to take out Ruler if given the chance….." He stated as he twirled his spear.

"…..My master has given no such order it was only the master of caster that has been directing us." She said.

"True, I havn't spoken to my master and only have directions relayed though that priest as well. It seems our masters are hiding in the shadows."

"It's in the nature of the magi to hide and shy away from direct confrontation." Atalanta stated.

Achilles sighed as he tightened his grip on his spear. "We already swore our allegiance though, so may as well follow through with it."

"What are you doing?" She asked in surprise as she felt his prana explode out.

"I'm curious to see what that servant of hers is capable of. Even I heard of his legend, he's almost as famous as I am." He said with a smirk.

"Idiot, just don't go crazy, we don't need another berserker to make a mess."

"You wound me sis." He said with a chuckle as he took a stance.

He heard a faint growl of displeasure as he held back a laugh. He started to focus on his spear as he held it in a throwing motion.

The magical energy around him erupted as the area started to glow bright green.

It wasn't a noble phantasm activation in of itself, but he was channeling a lot of power into this attack. The spear itself was a spear meant to be thrown, but he rarely used it as such.

With a roar he threw the spear in the direction of his target.

The force blew away all trees standing in the way and every servant and master on the battlefield stopped to look at what was happening.

Archer of Black was telepathically giving a debrief on what had just occurred as he had sight over the entire battlefield.

Atalanta also was watching the path of the spear. Most everyone present were curious about this servant that had been summoned by Ruler.

Both Atalanta and Archer of Black had their eyes widened as they witnessed what happened next and what everyone else felt.

The knight that stood next to Ruler held out a hand as a golden ripple appeared in the space infront and he finally spoke.

" The seven rings that cover the fiery heavens...."

" [RHO AIAS] "

His words echoed across the battlefield as the collision of the spear met with a purple-flower barrier that sprang up with seven layers of barriers infront of it.

The spear collided and the sky turned different shades of purple and green as the maelstrom of energy was cascading in all directions.

The first layer of the shield cracked and shattered as the spear finally had all its momentum diminish and fall to the ground.

When used properly against a thrown projectile, the conceptual shield shows its maximum effect as a 7 layered shield with each layer equaling the strength of a fortress wall.

The spear disappeared as it returned to its owner and no follow up was made as everyone stared at the event that had just transpired.

The Greek heroes present were the ones that were most confused while the others were merely surprised at the situation. There were thousands of heroic spirits in the throne and many more noble phantasms, it wasn't all too surprising that not all of them were memorized and even more so for the lesser known ones like the original wielder of the shield.

But the Greeks knew him. Especially the one who had just thrown the spear.

He knew the original owner of that shield.

He fought alongside the owner.

He was friends with him as they stormed the beaches of Troy together.

Aias the great. The only one to have stopped a throw by his rival, Hector.

The silent battlefield was suddenly disturbed again as a roar and burst of power shot forth again from the direction of the Red faction towards Ruler and Alex.

It wasn't a spear this time as the man himself burst forward at full speed and arrived at their front.

He gripped his spear as energy crackled around him, his playful expression gone and now full of anger.

"You Bastard...where did you get that shield?" He spit out. The anger was palpable to the duo who stood in his line of sight.

Alex felt his blood boiling as he eyed the man infront of him. He knew the Lancer's identity, he couldn't lie to himself as say he wasn't looking forward to a battle with this legendary figure.

He took out his invisible blade as he stared at him with a smirk.

"You could say….it was a spoil of war." Alex replied.

The audible sound of bones cracking as the man gripped his spear tighter.

Rider took a loose stance as his eyes never left the knight in front of him, he was angry but that wouldn't cloud the judgement of such a renown figure.

Alex took a breath as he readied himself in a stance and unraveled the invisible air from his blade.

He knew the man in front of him. The demi-god Achilles.

His mother gave him an almost invulnerable body minus his heel. The only way to harm him without hitting his weak spot was with a high enough divinity rating. Alex was a human and thus had no divinity but there was an exception. Divine constructs could bypass the effect as well depending on their rank.

The blade he wielded was the last phantasm. The strongest holy sword that was forged in the heart of the planet. It was a divine construct strong enough to take his head, given the chance.

And so, the two fighters stared at one another and at the sound of a branch falling in the distance, they both moved.