196 Laughter In The Dark

The walk was eerie. They already went farther than what Mordred used to during her patrols, and that was clearly shown in the atmosphere. There was a certain sense of silent danger around them that could be felt even among the most inexperienced of them.

Something was coming, of that they were sure. The perpetual night was doing nothing but throw signals at them of what was to come.

Ironically, they haven't encountered anyone—be it Automata or Helter Skelter or any other types of enemies for the matter. And yet, they could be sure that something, or rather, someone, was not far from them, watching their every move.

"Senpai, please stay close to me." It was nothing more than a hushed whisper, but Fujimaru heard her all the same. He didn't offer any verbal answer, but his body did move a bit closer to her. The other Servants made sure to watch every corner for any sudden movement.

Some people might consider it a sort of paranoia, but the unsettling surroundings helped little in not being wary. Still, as Servants, they wouldn't go as far as to panic. After all, keeping a level head was essential in these types of cases.

Everyone was like that, except, well, Mordred of course. "Tch. This is getting hella frustrating. HEY! WHOEVER YOU ARE COME OUTTA THERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS!"

A collective facepalm ensued after her declaration. Some of the most daring ones already had plans to shut her mouth with tape the next time they had to go somewhere together with her. Safe to say, stealth missions would be a failure if they tagged along with Saber.

"Ehehe... ehehehe... ehehehehe! Daring! So! Daring!" A burst of laughter that couldn't fit any other description than psychotic echoed around them shortly after her declaration. The group immediately stopped in their tracks; watching the surroundings with rapt attention in case of a possible ambush.

Their gazes soon found themselves on a corner of the street. There, an Automaton was revealing itself with an unsteady walk. If Fujimaru had to find a comparison, then it would be like those toy robots that could move by themselves. They were able to, yes, but it was incredibly stiff.

As if that weren't enough, the sounds that accompanied its movements made it seem like it hadn't been oiled for a long time.

'Something is wrong...' The Master knew it was not just what he was seeing. It was... more. Maybe the bizarreness of the situation, he couldn't tell. But one thing he was sure of, this was not as simple as it seemed at first sight.

True to his thoughts, similar Automata started appearing from other corners, all with the same slow walk.

The numbers were nowhere near what they had fought before, but even so, they refused to let their guard down. There was no way that those machines known for their speed would all approach that slowly. It screamed 'trap' all over.

Unfortunately, they seemed to be in an impasse. They couldn't recklessly attack, but they also could not let them approach their group any farther either.

That left Fujimaru with only one choice. 'I wish we had an Archer with us... Something to take note of for the future. I could try to use that, but I don't know if I will succeed; not to mention it is a bit costly. The next best option would be...'

The youth turned his head to Medea. Caster, sensing his gaze, also did the same. He gave a firm nod—something she reciprocated as if understanding his intentions.

While it was true that they lacked a ranged specialist, they weren't helpless enough to make them easy targets. The Witch of Betrayal was about to prove just that.

With her staff ready, she raised it to the sky as Magical Energy began to converge at fast speeds. There were no doubts in her movements as numerous Magic Circles formed above the enemies before swiftly striking them down with a rain of lightning.

Contrary to their thinking, but aligned with their expectations, as soon as they were hit by Medea's attack, the Automata immediately exploded, creating a chain reaction that threatened with engulfing them.

"Wha—?!" Mash exclaimed in surprise, clearly caught off guard by the magnitude of it all. Thankfully, she managed to quickly pull herself together just as the others decided to move as well.

"Tsk. Should've seen this shit coming...!" Mordred complained, yet she immediately got to work. Her helmet rearranged and covered her face once again while her sword burst with lightning. The Mana levels on her persona began to raise, and not long after it did, she released all the accumulated energy through a horizontal slash.

Wind and lightning managed to create a barrier of pressure that stopped the explosion in its tracks. Unfortunately, as it was coming from all sides, it wasn't enough.

That was where the rest came in. Mash immediately opted for using her Noble Phantasm, understanding that the magnitude of the incoming fiery flames wouldn't allow for anything else.

"Ahhh!" The pink-haired girl's yell was accompanied by the slam of her shield into the cold surface. Immediately, Lord Chaldeas; a green barrier with the shape of her bulwark formed in anticipation of the incoming assault.

"Behind me, Master." Medea, as the one responsible for this incident in the first place, took it upon herself to cover the remaining space, forming so a triangular formation between Mordred, Mash, and her. She then user a water spell to combat the incoming flames.

Although it looked like a considerable — for the situation — amount of time had passed; in reality, only a few seconds did.

Vlad and Carmilla stayed in the center of the formation since they didn't have something that could potentially help for now. What they could do, however, was paying attention to their surroundings in search of their assailant. And yet, no matter where they looked, they came away empty-handed.

Not only that; the deranged laugh continued ringing in their ears without pause as if to mock them for their attempt.

As if that weren't enough, Fujimaru felt a strange sensation coursing through his body the more he heard it. He couldn't describe it in detail, but if he had to make a comparison, then he would say his body felt like it had gone through a marathon and was in the process of shutting down.

His... feeling proved to be more than a hunch when the flames finally reached Mash's shield. It was then that his situation got even worse. Some wisps of fire managed to slip by the pink-haired girl's Noble Phantasm, as well as Medea's water spell and Mordred's elemental-powered slash.

Coincidentally, all were directed to the youth as if a magnet was drawing them in.

"Master, be careful!" Vlad's words were accompanied by actions. Without hesitation, he grabbed him and used his body to shield Ritsuka from the impending danger.

The other two were alarmed by this, but not anyone more than Mash, who had the feeling she had failed at her only job, which was to protect her Senpai from harm. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on the point of view - she couldn't focus her thinking on that matter since she still had to maintain her Noble Phantasm.

Berserker grunted from the residual heat, but as it was only that: just what was left of the explosion colliding with their defenses, he didn't suffer any damage aside from some reddening of his pale skin along with burnt clothes.

Carmilla also decided to help - as little as she could - by smashing her staff into the ground and making blood surge like a small current, thus calming the flames that were threatening the safety of her Master.

A few seconds like that passed before everything returned to normal, yet when it did, no one sighed in relief or let their guard down. Fujimaru in particular was struggling a bit with his breathing after being released by Vlad. A problem he didn't attribute to suffocation or anything related to it.

"Hehehe! Having troubles with your luck, Ma~s~ter~san? Ehehehahaha!" There it was again, that laugh. However, this time it wasn't coming from all around them, but from the front.

Everyone's eyes were drawn there, where a single man stood. He possessed a strange set of clothes straight out of a children's show. His violet hair paired with his face painted in white gave him the look of a clown and going by his twisted smile of glee, it was not the type that enjoyed entertaining people. The gigantic scissors in his hands did nothing but emphasize that line of thinking.

Medea frowned at the new arrival before glancing at her Master on the corner of her eyes as her frown deepened. 'No doubt about it... I can't tell with detail, but the thing that is affecting him is definitely a curse... We better be careful around this clown.'

Caster would like to help his Master with his problem, but that would require an analysis of the curse beforehand as to not mess up with the 'treatment'. The time needed to do that wasn't going to be provided by their enemy, that much was obvious.

As for using her Noble Phantasm, she didn't think it was dangerous enough to call for it and giving their opponent a free ticket to watch how it worked. For now, her Master would have to pull through it. The determination visible on his face to prevent showing weakness to his opponent was already a good start.

Just in case, she would stay relatively close to him. You never know when things could take a turn for the worse. Although... There was something strange about all of this.

She, better than anyone, knew how looks could be deceiving. Even so, nothing about the clown in front of them screamed danger. However, it didn't elicit any positive reaction either. It was like... a false sense of security. Not a threat, but close.

"So you are the one who is trying to mess with us, huh?!" Mordred's sudden inquire pulled Medea back to reality. It was not only the Saber Servant that was preparing to fight; all the others were shifting themselves into a combat-ready stance with their eyes completely set on the clown.

"Hehehehe. Ding, ding! That's the correct answer. I am a Caster Class Servant; Mephistopheles, at your service!" He dramatically bowed, finally making them notice how he was floating a few centimeters above the ground, adding a more bizarre tone to his already bizarre figure.

"I wouldn't have let you be a jester even for free in my castle, so please drop the unfunny comments lest you find your body filled with holes." If there was one thing that could be said about Carmilla, then it was that she absolutely abhorred 'flashy' Servants. They were a constant reminder of her younger self, which, fortunately, haven't arrived at Chaldea... yet.

"I agree with the hag—" Assassin's face lips and eyes twitched tremendously. "—on that. You are going to get a sword up your ass before you can even say abracadabra."

"...I think you are mistaking him with another profession entirely..." Mash's mutter went unheard by Mordred, who was simply smirking fiercely, itching for a good fight after days of just crushing tinmen to pieces.

"Be that as it may, you should be careful. I don't think any Servant would be so daring to fight one versus five unless they were confident on themselves or had something planned. I will keep monitoring Fujimaru's readings throughout the fight and inform you if things get bad. For now, aside from a slight oddity, there is nothing noteworthy, so go ahead without worry." Romani, who had just returned from his search for information on the mysterious Servant that was summoned previously appeared briefly on Mash's watch to give his input.

He was surprised at the fact that they encountered an enemy Servant out of nowhere, but he supposed the fog allowed them to pass undetected and that's why Da Vinci couldn't inform them just in time.

Another thing that surprised Dr. Roman was the human Master's condition. It was the first time he had suffered an "unnatural" shift in his overall health. Unfortunately, he couldn't do much right now to help. Even so, if there was something positive to get out of this then that would be the fact that it happened under manageable circumstances. Not to mention that it was better sooner than later. This way they could have more preparation ahead.

After Ritsuka offered his thanks to the Doctor, he focused his gaze on Caster. Despite the Servant still having his head lowered in a mocking bow, the youth could feel his eyes focusing sorely on him. It didn't help that despite being seemingly fine, the feeling of having his energy drained off of him still remained.

It unnerved him.

"Well then." Mephistopheles finally returned his posture to normal while his grin widened inhumanly. "Let the show begin."