Chapter 158

"Well, isn't this just lovely?" Almost immediately as I walked into the Cemetery, I triggered the Bounded Fields around the place. They weren't... entirely defensive in nature, at least not to another Magus. They were mainly used to keep away the mundane people.

An illusion formed rather quickly, noticeably darkening the entire area. then a fog rolled in, sparsely covering the ground.

Raikou was in spirit form, walking close to me, and Sir Wiggles was running around just outside the graveyard.

I looked around, noticing many odd and hidden things. The creator of this little trap was quite ingenious. At first, I thought the outer defenses were made to scare away mundane people, but the more I walked, I realized this was just another layer of the trap.

{Master, we've been walking in circles.} Raikou called out in my mind.

{I know, don't worry about it.} I replied, as I continued my steady pace.

Several illusions layered on top of each other. It wasn't particularly hard to discover, even an average Magus would realize what was going on after a little time. A genius though, one of the higher ups of a long lineage? They would notice quickly, and what would someone with such an arrogant attitude and inflated ego think about such an idiotic little 'trap'?

Either have their Servant destroy it or do it themselves.

I mentally chuckled, looking through Sir Wiggle's eyes to see Spell Circles carved on many tombstones that were facing away from the path. If the Bounded Fields were disrupted, I was almost certain they would go off.

"Cause it's a Thriller." I hummed, continuing my pace without a care. "Really sets the ambience." I glanced to the left, at what should have been an empty space distorted.

There was a man now standing there, leaning against a tombstone, wearing black leather and smoking a cigarette. "Not many people appreciate the effort." He chuckled. "What gave me away?"

Kind of hoped for some dancing zombies.

I wasn't taken by his lackadaisical attitude; he was clearly still on guard. I could imagine his Servant was nearby as well. "There was only one spot without any traps, wasn't too hard to figure out." I shrugged.

"Hoh, you were able to see through everything then?" He took a drag of his cigarette. "You're pretty talented then, huh?" He flicked his cigarette on the ground before stepping on it. "Here's a question, how come I've never seen your face before?"

"Have you tried not wearing sunglasses at night?" I asked, surprisingly he didn't make it look douchey.

He just started laughing. "Alright, you aren't as bad as those stuffy brats from the Association." He noticeably looked down at my hand with the command seals. "So, what're you doing here?"

"Oh well, you know. It was a lovely night, I thought 'why not go for a walk in the local cemetery'?"

"Wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've heard from another Magus."

I let out a sigh. "Me too, unfortunately. So, I'm guessing you're a Master of Red?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." He crossed his arms, but I noticed his fingers almost instinctively edged towards the Sawed-off Shotgun at his hip.

"I'm guessing you haven't reached out to the others then, considering you're still up and about." He was silent, staring at me from behind his sunglass what I was starting to assume were a Mystic Code. "Oh come one, work with me here." I flung my arms up. "I walked right into your seat of power, at least give me the courtesy. It's not like you showed yourself to stroke your own ego. You want some information, I want some information."

"If it's that simple, why don't I just force you to give me answers then?" He cocked his head.

I let out a long sigh. "Really, you want to keep doing this song and dance?" I held out my finger, pointing to a tombstone in the distance and fired off a lightning bolt, shattering it and the illusion around us flickered before it completely dissipated.

Though, this man didn't look perturbed in the slightest, it didn't even register on his face. "So, you found the anchor, you want a medal?"

I looked at him again, before pursing my lips. "You're doing this on purpose to get a reaction out of me." I grumbled. "Well, I can't fault you. How many Magi are just bat shit insane and hide it behind a thin veil of civility."

"Hmph." He didn't comment one way or the other. Atleast this man wasn't throwing red flags like that priest was. "Alright, I'll hear you out—"

"Finally."

"—But I want to hear about what you said of the other Red members first."

"That's fair, I suppose. I was the one who came to you." I just nodded. "Well, I approached a Priest at the Church in the city, his name was Shirou Kotomine." I spoke, watching for a reaction.

"That name is familiar, but I can't place it." He grunted. "Go on."

"He seemed quite insist on getting me under his thumb and wasn't slow to 'remove me' when I wasn't being cooperative. Fought with Archer and Rider, and one more Servant I couldn't identify made an appearance, and the Priest was calling the shots."

He didn't respond again, opting to reach into his pocket and take out another cigarette. "Well, shit." He ran a hand through his hair. "Guess it was a good thing we held off on reaching out. Something felt off when I got a message from my supposed 'ally' that was going to meet me here."

"I'm surprised you believe me."

"I'd like to think I'm good at reading people. Not that I'm not going to confirm things myself, later." He shrugged. "So what you want, an alliance?"

"I wouldn't be against it."

"And how do you expect to split the wish at the end, or are you going to give me some trite like 'we won't fight until only we're left and settle it then'? Cause that's just asking for a back stab." He snorted.

"That depends, what's your wish, maybe I can grant it without the Grail?" I offered.

"Don't recognize you, so I doubt it. Unless you're some hidden super child of some renown family."

"You never know." I grinned.

"I guess I got nothin to lose. I want what most Magus families want, Prosperity for my family." He said almost lazily.

"I could make sure your family is supported and has ample resources without them being attacked for several generals." I offered.

"Yeah right, pull the other one, brat." He snorted. "But an alliance isn't a bad idea." He looked to the side and his Servant Materialized. "But you see, my Saber over here thinks we can take on everyone ourselves." At his words, the Servant slammed their sword into the ground.

The Servant wore full bodied armor, silver with red decorations. A Regal Silver sword in their hand,and their helmet had horns protruding from the side that made them appear a bit more intimidating.

"Oh, shorty over there thinks they can solo all the other Servants?" I pointed towards the Saber servant.

"Shorty!?" The Servant spoke for the first time, something garbled their voice that made it impossible to identify their gender. "You wanna say that to my face you limey bean pole?"

"Take off your helmet and I will." I smirked.

"Saber." The Master spoke up, calming his servant down.

"Tsk." The Saber servant clicked their tongue in annoyance but didn't argue.

"Well you seem so confident, I'll just leave then, let you get on with your business" I threw my arms up in 'defeat'. "Though, one quick question. How are you going to deal with Rider's invincibility to anyone not possessing Divinity?"

He was obviously being difficult to eek out an advantage in this 'alliance' I came here to maybe establish. To 'show' that we needed him more than he needed us. It was also a way to get a clue to his servant's identity.

"God dammit." The Master grunted, face palming. "Seriously?"

"Yup." I nodded. "Achilles." A little bit of good will, and it would hurt that priest's plans in the long run if I revealed his identity.

"Fuck."

"Alright, you ready to talk for real?" I offered. His weakness was obvious, the body part was even named after him. But that didn't really diminish him much in my eyes, the Servant was obscenely fast and very skilled. Once you started aiming for his heel, he would know right away and be able to counter.

"Survived two Servants and one of them was Achilles, your Servant must be pretty damn strong then." His hinting was obvious.

"Well, you showed me yours, I'll show you mine." I gestured for Raikou to come out as she appeared right next to me. "Meet Saber." I Introduced.

"You fucking what?" The 'real' Saber blurted out. As their master just raised an eyebrow.

"Insects shouldn't speak unless they want to be stepped upon." Raikou looked at Saber darkly.

"Bitch, you wanna go!?" The Saber Servant grabbed their sword, pointing it at Raikou.

"Saber." Their Master sighed, placing a hand on their armor before looking at me again. "I'm sure I have the only Saber Servant for the Red faction."

"Really? Let's compare the two. My Saber is so refined, elegant, beautiful. She carries herself with such tact and regality, while yours just struts around like a brute. Clearly you must have summoned Berserker."

Want to jerk me around in a conversation? Turnabout is fair play.

"Master." Raikou turned red, smiling happily.

I think I heard Saber growl from this far enough, and surprisingly, Red Lightning began to crackle around them.

"See? Getting mad at some little words." I gestured towards the Servant

Saber's master face palmed.

Hehe.

"Hmph." Saber reined herself in, the Lightning dissipating and sword returning to the ground. "I'm the Greatest Knight, I won't be goaded by some two-bit flamboyant spellcaster."

I ignored her attempts at insults. "Greatest knight, huh? Should I call you Lancelot then?" I hazarded a guess, but I didn't find it likely.

The Armor around her helmet shifted and churned. It adjusted itself as the Helmet moved away from her face, revealing what was underneath. "What part of me looks like that disloyal, philandering, adultering bastard!?" She suddenly shouted.

"Artoria?" I suddenly blurted out as I saw her face for the first time, ignoring her outburst.

Her head snapped at me, eyes meeting mine. "The fuck did you just call me?"

***

A wild Mordred appears.

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