Finis Chaldea

[Bloodedge]

A presence within? There was something inside, and there was presumably the Grail itself. Perhaps Caster had been mistaken about something. Alternatively, this was all some strange plan to throw him off and take advantage of the moment. "Yeah yeah, that sounds terrifying and all, but I've got a thing about trusting women who throw shit at me as a hello!" he griped. The memories being triggered in Caster's mind were not at all pleasant, and in fact... they were quite traumatizing. Worse yet, was the reveal of Archer's lack of burning.

Oh... damn. Suddenly, Caster's movements came to a screeching halt. One additional arrow swept by his face, dealing him no injury, but cutting through his hair en route to the ground. Why did this have to be his luck? "You... don't burn," he said. A sigh was the next thing to pass his lips, followed quickly by a more upbeat tone thrown Archer's way. "So! You not being burnable makes us a perfect pair to team up, doesn't it?" he asked, even with a bright smile on his face. It seemed the only guaranteed way he had to deal with this one was to let her be eliminated along the way. Otherwise, he wouldn't be touching that cup regardless. "Whaddaya say, huh? Pretty girl like you has to see the benefits, right? Besides, I hate fighting girls in general~" In actuality, Caster spoke truth. His master was a woman, but her training didn't exactly allow much "fighting" her per se. If he could kill two birds with one stone, he'd do so without a second thought. An epic battle was happening not far from their location as well, by the sound of things. Maybe he could let her be worn down over the duration of the war, and get himself a cheeky victory in the end?

[Apollymi]

Artoria was still sitting on that one spot, that ornate dagger dancing over her fingers as she absently waited for her challengers to appear. Why wasn't she moving? The answer was simple, if she ended up having to kill everyone here, she'd rather take it one at a time without revealing fully how it occurred. Beyond that, she'd already laid claims to this cup, so she'd take on the challengers who came for her directly, as they were the ones most likely to sate her desire for battle. Besides that, her ability to feel energy relative to herself would allow her better general strategizing. Patience was not often practiced by Saber, but today... for complete victory she'd sit. Not hiding but hording her specific treasure waiting for the potential thieves to show up. Perhaps, if she'd had less concentration, she would realize that she seemed a lot like the King of Heroes in this moment, but she was focused and not on him. Well, that wasn't entirely true, the dagger in her hand was an ornate one, given to her as a gift a decade ago by that very man. She hadn't been able to part with it since getting it for reasons she didn't properly understand yet.

"I also do not like being trapped in places without my consent. Especially not with people who are trying to kill me to gain a blessed cup," she said as if this was a perfectly normal conversation to have. The last arrow loosed by Archer slid past the face of the man who was Caster. It appeared he was stunned to find she wouldn't be set on fire. She wondered now if he was one of those mages who specialized in a specific kind of magic, and it would seem the answer was yes... though he didn't say so. Even so, she confirmed it by his sudden tone switch and his desire to be partners. "You cannot win in a fight against me," she said as an observation. "I would not mind a partner, it would make my tasks easier. But... if you truly do not like fighting women you are going to have to do some more thinking. The one in this castle is definitely a woman and she by power alone is frightening." Archer's statements were factual. By her own account there were three women in this area and two of them overpowered her by quite a bit.

[Bloodedge]

Caster wasn't trying to kill any specific person for a cup. It was more like... he was trying to wipe out everyone necessary for a cup, which would then give him a leg up over his master. Sadly, Archer came to realize the true reason he offered a partnership. It was true that he had no way of defeating her, at least while they were both at their best. His best hope of besting her in combat would be tiring her out first. Besides, there was no telling what else she had in her arsenal. If she only had arrows, they'd be at a lengthy stalemate. If she had anything with some decent spread to it, however, he was in quite a bit of danger in a proper fight. "Uh, well... no. No I can't. I wouldn't even be a Caster if my damn mentor didn't toss me out here without my spe─" Wait, what did she say? There was a woman here, and she was frightening? Only one woman he'd ever seen registered as such, and it was the very master he spoke of. Oh... Caster had best shut his mouth then, eh? Panic overtook him, the light leaving his eyes and a shiver passing through his every fiber. "I... I... no. Please no. Please stop following me places," he chanted as if from memory. It would have been no surprise to him if his master sent him to this wretched place, only to follow and become his final obstacle. The thought alone was enough to make him think of resigning this war. "Can I quit if it's her? Would she kill me if I quit because it's her? It can't be her, right? There's another monster woman in the world somewhere. . ."

[Apollymi]

Archer was soon made privy to the fact that Caster could not best her as he was. Apparently, he was not normally a magic user, that explained quite a bit. But at the mention of the strong woman within the castle, he immediately went into a panic she had never had the privilege of witnessing before. Whatever his 'master' was she was a scary strong woman that Caster didn't want following him around. He wanted to know if he could quit if she was the one in the castle, that did not bode well. "I mean, I have heard it is possible to bow out of a Holy Grail War, but I do not know what is required to do so..." she said carefully. Poor lad. "We do not know it is her, so please calm down. The one inside is Saber from what I can tell, is your master a sword user of some sort?" It would seem that this Archer was a fairly caring individual, she didn't wish this man any undue distress. She was only involved as it was trying to find her husband, everything else she did not truly care for. "Regardless, if we are going to be partnered you will need to pull yourself together," she said giving the man a curt nod which made those pigtails of hers swing in the breeze. For two people who had been fighting a few seconds ago, they'd calmed down quite a bit. "Your territory, what were you planning to do with it?" she asked calmly. Perhaps if it was built well, she could abuse it to avoid wearing herself out and in turn get them both closer to their goals. She was fairly vigilant regardless, keeping an eye on everyone around them knowing the locations of the other individuals relative to their current position. Whatever they decided to do, they would need to be ready by the time the two big men finished fighting each other.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course you don't. I wouldn't be surprised if she made it impossible to quit anyway, just for me," Caster rambled. There was no end to the troubles in this lad's mind. If his master was anywhere near this war, everything was over. Maybe someone could take her down, but certainly not him or anyone he was capable of fighting! Ah, but there was a shining beacon of hope on the horizon. By Archer's words, the woman inside was deemed Saber. A sigh of relief came from Caster; he knew that abominable woman would not spawn as such. Her own power would go against even her parameters, even if the Grail tried. "Whew! No... definitely not her. She'd be Lancer, maybe even Assassin if she felt extra murder-y. But... what if she's just been hiding stuff this whole time─"

Right out of a spiral, and right back in. Caster's master was one of the most problematic women in this world, by his standards and the standards of many others. He officially wasn't worried about anyone else could appear; that was the extent of her torment. Nevertheless, he did have to calm down. Slapping his own cheeks, Caster squinted. Archer wanted to know about his territory. So, she was agreeing to the partnership after all? Good! "Right, right. OK! I'm calm, I'm cool, everything's gonna be fine! The plan is to funnel. Since I'm stuck being Caster, I don't want to go around dealing with too many problems at once. This territory is one I've been trying to work on for a while now, as opposed to the one I can pull off easily. It should be a misty labyrinth that keeps everybody separate by the time they reach this castle. Here... Kenaz." With this chant, Caster carefully raised a finger to point at the red-haired woman's forehead. She would be granted a superior form of sight by rune, allowing her to see beyond the intricacies of his territory without any additional input on her part.

[Apollymi]

"That seems extreme for training," Archer mentioned. Just because she wasn't sure how it was possible, didn't mean someone's mentor had the power to just change how the Holy Grail worked. It was practically a magical entity unto itself. Still it was fine, apparently his master couldn't be a Saber so all was fine... or not. Actually, it was definitely not. The Caster immediately fell into another depression about the things that his master could have hidden from him. Still if Lancer or Assassin were the best options they were mostly safe. "You are very easily worked up, you know..." she said carefully. It was no wonder he was afraid of his training. But he also seemed to bounce back pretty quickly. As far as she could tell both of these were pretty good skills to have.

How did he bounce back? By explaining what it was he was trying to do, and offering her a rune which allowed her to see within the territory he was creating. This was very good. She'd been a bit worried initially about losing her line of slight. She needed it to be useful as an Archer. But if she could see regardless of the space he put up, she could still be useful and they might have a more reasonable shot at working down the competition. "Yes, now that I can see I don't mind this territory. I am still wary of Saber though... maybe it will be possible to catch her off-guard at some point. Or maybe wait out one of the other strong ones to distract her," she offered as the best possible strategy. Her charged shots could be extremely strong with magical fire behind them, but... getting a clear shot and the time necessary to charge it was dangerous. She'd rather not risk it not working before she could use it properly. Thus their partnership was mutually beneficial.

[Bloodedge]

"Everything she does is extreme." These words left Caster's mouth with a great lack of energy, as if it had been sapped from him by the thought alone. It was no lie that the lad was easily worked-up. In his defense, however, it was also no lie that his master was an absolute menace. Assuming his master had nothing to do with this Holy Grail War was the best route to take, so Caster tried his hardest to do just that. He shared his rune with the Archer, as well as the idea he was working on. They could both benefit from funneling and/or separating the opponents, though she had a point about Saber being an issue. Maybe they could even use the other combatants to have her dealt with, or weakened? If she was such a threat, perhaps Archer could be Saber's final opponent, and he could deal with the weakened winner? "Hmm. Should we take the wait-and-see approach?" he asked while returning to the work on his labyrinth.

Meanwhile, the battle of Rider and Berserker was taking a turn at last. Berserker's undead army was no true necromancy; they were not being restored fully each time they fell. This little war was becoming more one-sided by the moment; few undead warriors remained. Berserker occasionally attempted to reduce the size of his war elephant to bolster the army's numbers, but Rider's soldiers were already in high spirits; those numbers would dwindle quickly again. Between these two, the victor was likely clear already to any who happened to know who they were by this display of overwhelming might.

[Apollymi]

Caster's master was apparently just extreme, Archer could agree, if only because he didn't even have his usual weapon on him in the middle of a Holy Grail War. He went back to work, asking her thoughts on the wait and see approach and she turned her eyes back towards the battlefield. Saber was a frightening power, There were two irregular classed individuals and the pair of them who couldn't easily fight each other either way. "Waiting it out for at least a little while seems like the best option. I think one of the irregular classes might give us a hint about Saber, but I couldn't decide a target when I first drew my bow and that hasn't changed yet," Archer said. Her analysis was astute. Though she'd spawned close to Saber, she was innately worried about revealing her position to someone so strong, no other potential targets even looked like the sorts she'd want to fight. They could wait, she could maybe pick off a few of the others in an opportune moment or two, that seemed like the best strategy for them.

Foreigner stood on the sidelines watching the outcome of the battle between Berserker and Rider. The longer that display carried on, the more obvious the winner became, "Hmpf" just that little noise was enough and rather suddenly that tanned body began moving forward. Red eyes were narrowing as she took steps forward at the edge of the battlefield on the way she picked up a spear. That spear, transformed in her hands, taking on a strange quality only to be thrown immediately through a man that belonged to Berserker and into the one that belonged to Rider. They were in her way and she wouldn't tolerate it. She jumped over a large collection of individuals, those crests lining her body glowing as she landed in the middle of the battlefield. Every person she encountered was killed by her along the way, each time she stopped she picked up a new weapon used it and discarded it as if it were nothing. All the while she was headed for Berserker, if Rider wouldn't put him out of his misery she would so they could continue on towards a more proper battle. What would she do? Well, she'd have to reach him first.

[Bloodedge]

Saber was nothing he wanted to hear about now. If she was such a problem, Caster was content to leave her inside the castle; she could be someone else's problem. Then again, he didn't want much to do with any of the others in this battle either. The only thing that could make him properly interested in this Holy Grail War would be having his spear, and there was no such thing in sight. Worse yet, his parameters were geared toward Caster, so he couldn't even get away with picking one up. With that same Kenaz rune applied to his own sights, Caster took the time to inspect the others outside. Something was off. There was himself, Archer, obviously Rider and Berserker locked in combat, and some strange and weaponless woman approaching the latter two. Saber was inside, but there was one irregular unaccounted for. "Huh? Keep your guard up," he said. "I'm almost done here. Can you see the seventh person?"

Rider's victory was in sight. Sadly, that very victory had a chance of being taken from him by the sudden appearance of a woman. She was not herself armed, taking up weapons from fallen soldiers and plowing her way through Berserker's minions... but also his own soldiers. For a moment, he wasn't sure what to think of this. An enemy was an enemy, but what was this madwoman's intention? "This is beyond absurd! Wait your turn girl; I'll have your head next!" Rider yelled across the battlefield. In the meantime, Berserker's rage enhanced by the appearance of another foe. A mighty roar left the near-mindless male, and the same came from the war elephant beneath him. Corpses and skeletons were launched forth in two waves, both targeting Foreigner and a great deal of Rider's forces. First came the skeletal army wielding bladed weapons, moving as a stream with their blades pointed forward. Behind them was a mass of corpses moving as a wave, hellbent on consuming Foreigner, Rider and his army, and even Berserker's own servants in their path.

[Apollymi]

Ah, there was a question on the table and it was one Archer was not prepared to answer. She'd never actually let her guard down, it was part of her overall strategy to know where every individual was, and pick off the one she thought to take in direct combat. That'd been thrown out the window the moment Caster had started work on his territory but now that they were past that little hiccup everything should be fine right. "I do not want to alarm you but..." she knew exactly where the others were. Clairvoyance along with Kenaz as a rune meant she had literally expanded her own vision by a great deal. But where was Avenger? "I am fairly certain he is above us, do not lift your head though... perhaps we can get away with ignoring him for now..." she said this but she was still charging an arrow, best case scenario she wouldn't need it, worst case scenario she'd need to shoot off an entire shot as quickly as possible in a single moment because Avenger didn't like being observed.

At the same time, more dead began moving straight for Foreigner. Though she had a weapon in hand now it seemed that her pair of opponents did not wish for interruption. For that to be the case they sure were taking a long time to finish each other off. But there was no fairness in war, only death. "I will kill you both," she said as if this was a certainty in her life. She carried on from there, a large group swarming her, would only give her more weapons to take. Those skeletal beings were easy to shatter apart, she could do so even with just her fists and their weapons were easy to handle. A wave or two would be no real hinderance as she approached Berserker and given his roar he was easy to pick out. She stood before him and his war elephant. That short broad sword currently in her hand had at its tip a charging energy blast, one which counted as her Omega Skill. "Scourge." It would release in a beam that would aim to encompass both Berserker and his elephant as well as a great deal of the battlefield behind him, leaving nothing but charred remains and scattered body parts in their wake. Admittedly, doing such a thing would completely shatter this weapon but that didn't matter, she'd simply toss it aside afterwards.

[Bloodedge]

Apparently, neither of them had an eye on the one called Avenger. Archer, however, had an idea as to that one's location, though she warned against looking. Fair enough. She had her arrow at the ready, and he could sense incoming projectiles if they were a danger. Their best bet was to remain where they were, avoiding too much conflict. Soon enough, Caster's territory was complete. A dense mana-induced fog covered the area immediately around the castle. None who entered would see, and all would ideally be led astray by shifting mana signatures within. With this, multiple enemies could approach the castle, and all would be led on a roundabout trip into others who did the same. The competition could potentially pick themselves apart while victors were picked off by Archer and Caster. "Alright, we're good to go here. I can set some traps as well, I think─" he said, not entirely sure of the functionality he could manage with those particular runes.

Foreigner made one hell of a proclamation. She'd kill them both? Fat chance, thought Rider. Even as she mounted an assault on Berserker, Rider watched her form. How would she be dealing with what he knew to be Berserker's ultimate attack? Well, she'd use a mighty force of her own, even with a pilfered weapon. No, that wasn't even the truth of it. Foreigner's defense was in place long before she even began her attack; she seemed even more unbothered by Berserker's abilities than Rider himself did. From the looks of things, she was going to be a very interesting opponent indeed. A beam the likes of which Rider expected of a mage erupted from the tip of a stolen blade with enough power to shatter the weapon itself. How strange. Rider knew that sword; it belonged to one of his men, and was made of Magisteel. How she managed to put forth enough power to destroy it was a mystery, though the potency of her attack couldn't be argued with. The hill Berserker descended from was gone. The war elephant Berserker rode was gone. The undead army following Berserker, or at least the few who remained from the elephant's collapse, were floundering about with little energy to support them. Berserker himself was nowhere to be seen, though it could be surmised that some small amount of life remained in him yet. Seeing all this, Rider could do naught but whistle. "Your bite matches the bark then, does it? I was having fun trampling that guy's army again!"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that they were going to take Archer's advice today. Good. She didn't want to deal with Avenger either, considering she had never even heard of his particular classing before. This was a strange Holy Grail War but if this is what these instances were like, she imagined her husband would have had a much easier time of the whole situation. "Traps, would be nice. I am pretty comfortable within this space but I am very worried. If we could take out a person or two without putting ourselves in direct risk that would be the best possible outcome," she murmured seeming to be rather carefully. That shot was still charged. She was just waiting for a bit too much movement above them to release that arrow up into the air. If she had to risk it, she could then run afterwards, that would be fine for keeping them relatively safe.

Berserker had been maimed at the very least, shot to the far side of this barrier. Foreigner now simply had Rider and potentially his men to deal with. She was currently unarmed again, but he'd already seen how she was, it was obvious to all after even just a few moments, that she didn't need a weapon in her hand to harm anyone else. "You were taking too long." There was a simplicity to Foreigner that couldn't really be grasped by the average person. She was here to fight so she would fight. She turned unarmed and launched herself at Rider, even with nothing in her hands she aimed an empowered kick at his chariot. Launching it by spinning her body in a circle before lifting her left foot in the faces of the beasts who pulled his rig. There was enough force in such a kick to blow a hole in the body of a lesser being, but here and now it was a greeting. A simple manner of testing his defense and mettle before she figured out if this was to be a proper mercy killing or not. That as an aside, she didn't need him having the ability to flee her once he realized how powerful she was, a simple tactic but potentially very effective.

[Bloodedge]

"Gotcha. Traps... hopefully," Caster stated. With a simple nod offered to the Archer-Class woman, he began to move. Those runes of his had to be planted directly; he wasn't very good at utilizing most of them yet. He could at least plant a few magical mines with use of runes, scattering them along paths that would be taken by any who sought entry or exit to/from the castle. "So when do we talk about a win condition here? What made you decide to work as a team at all?"

Of all the things Rider had ever heard about himself, the idea that he took "too long" with anything was ridiculous. He was the great conqueror who never stayed in a single place for very long at all, always moving on to the next land that would become his. Now, he sought the Holy Grail and ascension to the mythical place in the sky. If he could conquer those lands, his legend would never die! "Too long for fun? That's just─" What did he intend to say? Apparently, it didn't matter. This woman may as well have been marked Berserker, quick as she was to kick his chariot with surprisingly monstrous strength. With wide eyes, Rider leapt from the flying chariot, holding his weaponless hand out beneath him. "Bucephalus!" he called out. While Foreigner was busy apparently murdering his bulls for no good reason, Rider was descending on a newly-summoned charger. His sword charged with mana of the lightning attribute while mounted, and with that, he swung down. If Foreigner was not struck over the head with his blade, he would not be surprised given her earlier movements. However, he took that into account. Lightning would arc from his blade during the swing, striking the area immediately around himself and the horse, each bolt spreading outward. "Oi! Got something against cows, do ya'?"

[Apollymi]

Hopefully, they would have traps. Archer couldn't even really be upset with this potential not outcome, considering they were working together solely because their differences made it impossible for the pair to commit to proper combat. As for real questions presented by the lad she was currently partnered with, Archer had a very simple set of answers to present. "I figured the win condition would come up if we got closer to the goal of actually winning. Until then, it's a matter of strategy and survival," she said seeming to understand the basics. "I agreed for the sake of strategy. It is difficult to work alone without being amazing at base. In a straightforward combat situation I am in danger of being overpowered, unless there is fire. So... it is easy to pair up and try and whittle down the competition before committing to anything too strenuous," she mentioned simply. "Besides I am more used to working with someone than going against a slew of monster people," she finished. True enough before they got separation she and her husband were having a pretty good time of this adventure filled lifestyle.

Foreigner was acting like a Berserker in the mind of Rider? He was misinterpreting things, but he'd learn that lesson soon enough and take it with him into the afterlife. He had been aiming for fun in his fight against Berserker, meanwhile she was aiming to win. Whatever the case, her destruction of his bulls and chariots seemed to go according to plan, though much to her general discontent he summoned another steed just in the nick of time. She gave a casual eye roll as her hand rose above her head and she held onto that blade even with the lightning coming from it. Her own body was reinforced in this moment that arms tattoos glowing a bit brighter than the norm. "Dominion." A different skill use which she'd aim to enact while she had him pinned in place hanging on to his weapon above her head. What did it do? Well, any of the men across this battlefield still capable of fighting that she'd personally subdued were now slated to be under her control. They would aim to fight against Rider, injure and help take him down while Foreigner aimed to claim victory in this way. It couldn't even be said who all would swarm, she'd personally gone through quite a few men on her way to this spot, and even Berserker had technically been beaten back by her use of her other skill. Would she be able to capture him with it too? Well it didn't really matter, she could always kill that one outright by her own approximation. This veritable battle would range on...

[Bloodedge]

While two participants discussed their approach to victory, two others locked themselves in glorious combat. Much to Rider's surprise, the unarmed woman had a hand upon his sword to halt its momentum. More to his surprise, the electric current in his blade did nothing to her either. Oh. This was fine; he'd just encountered some sort of freak. It wasn't as if her passive approach to a magnificent battle was weird enough already, but alas, things would only become stranger yet from there. One word turned a collection of his own men against him. Many soldiers charged inward, though a single wave fell to no additional effort of Rider's, all within the arcs of lightning. Still, his gaze shifted about briefly to witness the dissent and fall of his own men, and he retracted his sword.

A jerk to the reigns of Rider's charger had him riding in a growing circle around Foreigner. More of his own units continued to hunt after him, while more still were forming a phalanx around Foreigner. "I'm no stranger to traitors, but this is extreme," he mused. If his army would turn against him, he would banish them all in an instant, bar the steed he rode. Even that, though, would soon be dismounted. The type of victory sought by this woman was more absolute than even his own, and perhaps unconnected to the glory of it all. In keeping with what he presumed was both of their preferences, Rider decided to face this woman directly. "I am Iskandar, the great conqueror. Who are you to be capable of taking my men?"