The thoughts of a professor

Auhtor note:

Just in case, Dio has a lot of respect for Kayneth. I am pretty sure that I have already said that but just in case I am repeating it here. Also, keep in mind that Kayneth is actually a pretty cool dude, in fate zero he was an asshole because Kiritsugu kept doing sh*t that pissed him off, if you think you wouldn't be angry then imagine fighting a camper from cod in real life over and over again as the guy keeps insulting everything you stand for.

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[ Kayneth pov ]

As we made our way across the empty streets, I couldn't help but wonder why my student had come to this war. Perhaps, just like me, he wished to prove that we could conquer this without much trouble.

"So?" asked Sola-Ui, looking at me with a serious expression. "Have you finally decided what to do with the brat?"

"I already told you not to call him a brat." I tell her with a slightly annoyed expression. "He is a proper magus already and a true genius. At the very least give him the respect he deserves."

Sola-Ui looked away, making me sigh. "I will fight him." I say. "If he came to the war, then he came prepared to die as well."

"But when?" she asked. "Will you leave him for last or are you planning on fighting him first? Whatever you decide will affect our plans for this war, the same plans we have already changed because of him."

I looked at the ring in my finger, my sight getting momentarily lost in the brightness of the red stone. "What a shame." I mutter under my breath. "Before we fight I will give him the option to surrender and leave, he has no chance of defeating Rider after all so it is for the best."

"And what will you do when he rejects that offer?" asked Sola-Ui once more. "Because he will undoubtedly reject it."

"Then I will fight him, like a proper magus should." I say with a serious expression.

"I don't think you should take him so lightly." said Rider as he materialised. "He does have two servants and those rings that give him extra lives."

"I know." I tell Rider. "But he still doesn't stand a chance against you noble phantasm."

Rider sighed. "We don't know much about his servants. Lancer is clearly an excellent warrior who held his own against the king of knights without any trouble, and Caster is still a mystery."

I nodded at his words. "I already know that, but even then, three people can't defeat an army."

He shook his head. "If I can summon an army, it is not impossible for them to have something similar." he explained while putting his hand on the hilt of his sword and looking around. "You shouldn't underestimate your opponents. We already found traces of a fight between him and the king of knights, and it looks like he won, so-"

Rider suddenly went silent and looked on a specific direction.

"They are here." he said with a surprised yet happy expression.

I quickly grabbed Sola-Ui before getting behind Rider. "Who is here?" I ask him.

"Your student." he said.

From the side of the road came Dio, his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. Next to him was Saber, Caster and Lancer, though both Lancer and Saber looked very, very different.

"So the king of knights has allied with you?" asked Rider with the same smile on his face.

"Did you ally yourself with the magus killer?" I ask while shaking my head.

"Come on professor." he said with a sad expression. "I most certainly did not ally myself with that idiot."

I raised my eyebrow a his answer. "Then why are you with Saber?" I asked.

"Well, she chose to follow me out of her own free will, didn't you my dear?" he said while looking at Saber, to which she nodded.

"Well, this is certainly unexpected." said Rider. "King of knights, I thought you told me you wouldn't lower yourself and become someone else's subordinate."

"I am his wife." replied Saber with the same serious expression. "And I am no longer a king."

Both Rider and me looked surprised at her words and looked in Dio's direction simultaneously. Dio however continued smiling as if there was nothing weird about the situation.

"Anyway, we didn't come here to discus our relationship status." he said while shrugging his shoulders, dismissing our stares as if they were nothing. "We came here for a proper fight between real magus."

There was a moment of silence before Dio broke it. "I, Dio Salvatore, heir of house Salvatore challenge you to a duel to death."

I nodded at his words before looking at Sola-Ui. "It seems our fight came sooner than expected. Very well then, I, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald accept your challenge. May the best magus win."

"May the best magus win." he replied.

Silence once again covered the streets as no one moved a muscle. On one side stood my student with his three servants, Lancer and Saber holding their own weapons tightly while Caster stood behind them, next to Diol himself. On the other side was me, with Rider and Sola-Ui.

After seconds that felt like an eternity, I lighted up my command seals and decided to end this from the beginning, if he was any weaker I wouldn't go all out from the start, however I knew my student well enough to understand that he was strong, much stronger than others thought him to be.

"Rider, use your Noble Phantasm to defeat them!" I said loudly.

Rider crossed his arms while intense pressure was felt. Winds made his cape flutter and a smile appeared on his face.

"IOINOI HETAIROI!" he screamed loudly.

Neither Dio nor his servants moved as they were pulled into Rider's reality marble, making me raise an eyebrow. It was a common mistake to wait for the opponents to finish chanting or finish preparing, one that always costed dearly.

In an instant, the empty streets we where at were replaced by a desert, in front of us stood Lancer and Saber, both with wide eyes as they looked in our direction. Dio's face remained unfazed, the same smile he had been wearing this time with no trace of surprise in his expression. Caster had her face covered by a hood, however it was clear that she didn't enjoy what she was seeing.

All around us, an army of thousands materialised, each soldier pointing their weapons at the small group.

Rider smiled while looking at the surprise in Saber's and Lancer's faces. "What do you think?" he asked amused. "This is what being a king means!"

At his words, the entire army began clamouring, screaming loudly in support while raising their swords and spears.

"Amazing." said Dio, staring at the army with respect evident in his face. "You are truly an amazing individual, Iskandar. Someone worthy of the title of the king of conquerors."

"Surrender." I said, though I wasn't expecting him to agree. While it is true that this army should be enough to make any sane person want to stop fighting, I knew perfectly well that my student wouldn't. He was a magus after all, a finer magus than most others, he wouldn't go down without a fight because his pride wouldn't allow him to... still, I had to try. "Give up this war and go back to the clocktower, it is way too soon for you to die."

A kinder smile appeared on his face. "I appreciate it, professor." he said. "But we both know that I won't be surrendering. We made this a duel to the death, so my pride wouldn't allow me to give up without even trying to win."

I nodded at his words.

"However, that doesn't mean that we don't stand a chance!" he said loudly as his smile grew.

As soon as he finished speaking, both Lancer and Saber jumped forward, rushing in Rider's direction. Caster remained at his side momentarily before flying above, several purple portals opening around her.

Lancer went directly at Rider, clashing his spears with Rider's sword. Saber on the other hand took a stance in front of the incoming army and breathed deeply before her sword turned into plasma, giving it a strange appearance. Raising her sword, she brought it down while screaming.

"EX.... CALIBUR!" she said loudly, and in an instant at least five percent of the army disappeared under the black and red light, making my eyes widen.

The army around us moved forward and began attacking, making their best effort to take Saber out before she could re-charge her attack, however they were not faring up so well, since Caster was annihilating the soldiers that came close to Saber with the beams form her portals.

Dio moved forward, walking slowly in our direction while snapping his fingers. From his hands, trails of fire flew out and hit the soldiers that went near him, making explosions all around him.

I saw Rider fighting Lancer and his armies focused on getting to Saber, who released her plasma attack for the second time, taking out another large percentage of the army. Breathing deeply, I understood that it was up to me to fight Dio, a real duel between magus, a real duel between masters...

"Very well." I said aloud, pulling out a small tube from my jacket and pouring its contents on the floor. "I will be your opponent." I said as my mystic code, Volumen Hydrargyrum, surrounded me and Sola-Ui, blocking the incoming explosion that was rushing in our direction form Dio's fingers.

The mercury blocked the explosion efficiently before releasing its automatic defence function, making me able to see Dio, who now was relatively close to us.

"Let me show you, professor." he said. "The moment where the student surpasses the master."

A smile appeared on my face as I looked at the determination in his eyes. "Unfortunately, you are still too early for that."

[ Dio pov ]

I looked at my professor in front of me with a smile. In truth, he doesn't stand a chance in this fight. I could literally kill him with a single look, however I don't really want to do that. I believe he deserves a proper death, he deserves to die proudly.

*Snap*

With another snap of my fingers, a trial of fire left my hand and moved in his direction, only to be blocked once again by his mystic code.

"An amazing mystic code." I praise.

"Indeed." he replied while nodding. "That is a very fascinating spell you have there as well, are the gloves mystic codes perhaps?"

My eyes widened for a moment at his words. "No, it is alchemy. However the idea of creating a pair of gloves as mystic codes truly is great..."

He chuckled at my words. "Well, I have never seen anyone use alchemy so proficiently to attack. Good work."

A moment of silence followed as we finished talking, our expressions growing more serious as we concluded the small talk before the actual battle. I saw his fiancé behind him, but ignored her.

As the battle around us raged on, we continued to focus on each other. The soldiers of Iskandar stopped coming in our direction, focusing instead on my servants.

"It has been a pleasure being your student." I said with firm eyes.

Kayneth nodded, his expression growing equally firm. "Likewise, it has been a pleasure being your teacher."

*Snap* *Snap* *Snap* *Snap*

Snapping my fingers repeatedly, I began attacking him with my alchemy in an attempt to find a weakness in his defence, however it proved to be flawless. He moved his hand forward and the mercury rushed in my direction, forcing me to dodge by jumping to the side.

Taking advantage of the opening, I removed the glove of my left hand and turned my fingers into claws which rushed in his direction and pierced him. I didn't want him to suffer, so I made sure to aim for his heart, granting him a relatively quick death.

It didn't matter however, since he was wearing the ring I gave him. I was planning on only using my claws and my fire alchemy on this fight so that we fought on equal foot. I would still win in the end, but this would be an honourable duel between people that respect each other. Now I took the extra life from him, but also showed him all my cards for this fight, so it means our real fight would begin now, once he wakes up.

I watched him cough blood and fall lifeless to the ground, however the ring I gave him didn't glow and turn grey like it was supposed to. Moving in his direction, I furrowed my eyebrows while grabbing the ring in his hand before rage grew inside of me.

"A fake..." I muttered under my breath as my eyes glowed red for a second.

This didn't make any sense, I gave him a ring, an actual ring. I delivered it personally so there is no way someone swapped it in the process, which means someone must have swapped it afterwards...

"You..." I say, raising my eyes to look at Sola-Ui. "What have you done?!"

Panic became clear in her face as she stared at me and Kayneth's corpse.

"What are you talking about?" she asked while sweat trailed down her neck.

"You took his ring, didn't you?" I asked, my tone becoming cold.

"O-Of course not, maybe you just made one that didn't work." she refused while taking a step back.

Jumping forward and closing the distance between us in an instant, I grabbed her left arm and raised it, removing the glove she had in it.

A ring was there in her hand, a ring that didn't belong to her.

I stared into her eyes as sweat continued to trail down through her neck. She struggled, trying to break free from my grasp, however it was to no avail.

I wanted to fight my professor longer, I wanted to let him know that no one had ever taught me as much as him, I wanted to let him know that I would make sure his name was known throughout history as the man who gave me the information I needed to craft god's gem... but she took that away from me. I was indeed going to kill him, but I would give him a glorious death in return for everything he had done for me.

"How dare you..." I muttered, looking into her very soul with unrestrained rage. "You fucking worm, how dare you take this away form me..."