7

Chapter 7

'How much mana does this man possess!? If this version of mine can use Mana Burst this casually!?' Artoria looked at the darkened version of herself.

She could see an abundance of power rolling from this one. It's like this version of her has been augmenting to some extent.

The King of Knights looked at her hand which was shaking from pain. She only had a few exchanges with this new enemy but it's already taking a toll on her body!

"I see… you are a very early version of chivalrous version of mine. You can't use 'Shinning Path' can't you?" The darker version said while shaking her head from disappointment.

"...What you are talking about!?" Artoria asked with a confused face. What is she talking about!?

"So you don't know… its one of your Skills you develop as Servant. According to my Master, you develop it when you don't have attached anymore to your past.

It's most likely you still have your Instinct A." Saber Alter said while putting her sword on her shoulder. This reminded Saber of Mordred for some reason…

"So what if I dont have it!?"

"Your Noble Phantasm charging speed is slower and your fighting strength is lower. It's quite obvious, isn't it? Your Instinct A is good but it's no match for Shining Path which is an EX skill. There is a reason why you are my Master's favourite Saber after all!" As the darkened version said that, Artoria could tell that her opponent got frustrated for some reason.

That moment black and red miasma surrounded the Alter version. There was an increase in Mana in the air.

'Did she just activate some sort of skill!? Or its…'

Artoria that moment saw her death as she saw the dark blade was about to skewer her head off!

Her eyes widened as she quickly moved her head aside and released the wind from her blade.

This way she was able to block and send this darkened version of King of Knights away from herself.

"Not bad. Your ability to dodge death is still solid even though you didn't experience all those adventures we went through." The darker version quite casually said that as she cleaned herself all the dust from her clothes with her spare hand. There was not a single scratch mark on her clothes!

'What are those clothes made off!?' Artoria thought with a sweaty forehead. Her Strike Air is ranked at B as Noble Phantasm!!!

"I thought Servants remain as they are since they were recorded in the Throne of Heroes!" Artoria asked with a frown. Do these Servants she is facing are different from her?

"Yes and no. I suppose I could entertain you since you are not a true Servant yet." Saber Alter said with a knowing look.

'She knows about my situation! Did she already experience this on her end!?' Artoria wanted to ask if this Alter form went through this war she was in!

"When my Master summons his Servants they are with him forever after that. However, the system he uses can't use Catalyst so his summoning is… random to a certain extent."

"...Does this means… you have been with him for a long time?" Artoria asked after realising what this means!

"For a few years…yes…this is why…" As she said more black miasma surrounded this darker form of King of Knights once more. Making her aura magnify a few more times.

"Master! Permission to…Kill!" Artoria Alter asked with a chilly tone. Making this war's Saber to realise what this was! This Alter used some sort of skill to kick start her Noble Phantasm charging!

Artoria quickly took her stance and started charging her sword as well. Thankfully for her, she has permission to use her Noble Phantasm.

"Very well! Use Excalibur Morgan."

"With pleasure!"

That moment Artoria Alter grabbed her sword with both hands.

"N-No way…"

King of Knights's eyes widened as she saw that the dark blade was already pumped full of mana and ready to be used!

"EX-CALIBUR MORGAN!"

With a simple swing of her blade, a torrent of black miasma energy rushed towards dumbstruck Saber.

…

…

However that moment clap of thunder and a sound chariot…certain someone grabbed Artoria before she was disintegrated.

"Hmm?"

"So I missed…"

Artoria Alter said that as she looked at the sky where a chariot pulled by bulls rushed away.

"Rider saved her skin. I was wondering when he is going to join. He was here early." Raynor said that as both of his hands were in his pockets he looked at the sky just like his Servant was doing.

"I see… So this is Rider. I assume we are in Grail war." Saber Alter said that as a fact. She then recalled her sword and walked over to her Master.

"My battle with her is not over. I would like to finish her off myself." She said that very bluntly.

"Oh? Strange, Lion King didn't bother with this but you want to fight her again." Raynor said that with a curious look, he was wondering what's the difference in the views on this Saber for these two.

"I have this certain urge to do that to this one. I have no qualms with the one you are contracted. The one you have already got over her past. But this one… this one is not." She said with quite a serious tone. One could see that she even loathes the Saber of this war.

"Very well. You can fight her then." Raynor said it with a nod. He agreed with her request.

For a second Saber Alter smiled for a bit. Before walking over closer to her Master.

"My thanks, Master."

He smiled back at her before putting his hand on her head. He stroked her hair gently. This made the fallen King of Knights blush immediately. She wasn't expecting such actions from Raynor like this!

Then her blush grew even more when she felt his hand move down as he stroked the cheek of the pale blond girl.

"Ma-Master?"

"Did I ever tell you that you look even more beautiful in those clothes?" He asked her. His question made her get even more self-conscious!

However, this made her much more elated as well!

"No, but I knew. There is a reason why you altered my Spirit Origin to make these clothes my 'official' battle gear." She said that with quite a smug tone.

"Hmm…good that you know this kind of thing." He said that as he went lower towards her waist and pulled her closer.

"...I don't mind this Master…but we are in the middle of a street." Artoria Alter said while enjoying his heat. She wouldn't mind if this would escalate to the next level. But the place for this was wrong.

"Hmm, true. We might continue this at later date."

"Of course. I am all up to keep you company." The fallen King of Knights said with a knowing look. She knows that if this progresses further she will be at the front in the race of being her Master's favourite Saber!

~~~~~~Somewhere Else~~~~~~

"That was a close one Saber. That inverted version of yours is quite dangerous." Rider said to Saber as they were rushing away from the battlefield.

It took some time for Saber to realise what was going on. She was just saved by a fellow Servant and now they were running away.

"...My thanks Rider. I won't going to forget this favour." Saber said that with a slightly relieved tone. She was almost killed off by that dark version of her sword!

"Don't mention it. At the moment were are on the same side." Rider said that with a smirk as they continue to move away from the place where the battle just happened.

"Saber, did you witness the battle between Archer and the mysterious black-haired girl? She had two swords."

"...No. Archer fought someone?" Artoria asked with a slightly shocked look. How did she miss this fight!?

"It was very powerful Servant. At least three parameters were at EX. One of them being the Noble Phantasm category. Not only that but it appears she has some sort of impervious skill to negate any damage. She almost killed Archer right there." Rider quite seriously said that as he continued to look forward.

Saber's eyes widened when she heard that. She did see a girl standing next to Raynor before he recalled her. Was this girl that strong!?

"...How much do you know of her?"

"Nothing solid. Only her parameters and that her Noble Phantasm is Anti-Star classification."

The King of Knights looked with disbelief at Rider. Anti-Star? What nonsense is this! Raynor can summon Servants with this kind of abilities!?

Then…

Rider started to do evasive actions!

The chariot had to dodge a huge blast of pure magic energy followed by multiple arrows.

"He is chasing us!?" Saber said that as he looked behind her.

She needed to focus her gaze on the highest skyscraper where three archers were standing!

'He summoned several Archers!?'

The blonde King saw a white-robed man with light chocolate skin and pitch-black hair the most striking thing about him was he had a white bow with blue flame for bowstring, next to him was another man with tanned skin and white hair.

And next to them was a female with blond greenish hair with pair of cat ears…

All these were… Servants of Archer class…

Sure enough… more arrows started raining down on Rider and his chariot.

"Rider! We must land quickly to take cover!"

"Way ahead of you Saber!"

There is no way in hell he will risk his Chariot this early in war!

~~~~~~On The Skyscraper~~~~~~

"My apologies Master. It appears this chariot is quite nimble." Arjuna said respectfully as he lowered his bow. The demigod from India's myth is known for his humble attitude toward his Master.

"It is a chariot pulled by bulls from Heaven," Emiya said with a sigh as he lowered his bow. While the counter guardian is much more relaxed on his attitude towards his Master.

"While I did hit it. It's far too durable and a simple arrow won't going to destroy it. Do you want me to continue pursuing it, Master?" Atalante said while lowering her bow. The Chaste Huntress has the most professional attitude towards her Master even though she is one of his oldest Archers.

"Bah! You three didn't hit hard enough!!!" The one who complained was at this moment hugging their Master from behind.

This Archer was dressed in very revealing clothes and she was… floating. This was Ishtar, a Divine Spirit possessing adults Rin Tohsaka's body.

"Apologies Goddess Ishtar, but we don't have a huge Divine Construct which can shoot blasts of pure energy," Arjuna said with a tone that he didn't mind her attitude.

"Besides our Master doesn't want the chariot to be destroyed in the first place. I am right?" Emiya said quite smugly with crossed arms.

"Right on that one. I only wanted to show to those that I can have a group of true Archers who can snipe from long range.

Gilgamesh 'ambush' was quite annoying." Raynor said that as he was leaning into the Goddess who was hugging him from behind.

"As expected from the goldie. He isn't known for his patience!" Ishtar said with a grin. She was excited to hear that there is a goldie who is not on their side and she could nuke him!

"I see. So what is our next objective?" Atalante asked him as she looked where the chariot has landed. She is wondering if this rider will try to counter her group.

"The war is moving towards what I wanted. They will band together to some extent. While I can't expect that from Gilgamesh…" There was a snort from the goddess behind him who was snuggling with him. She is pretending that she could, but that is just an excuse to snuggle…

"But, the rest. Like Rider and Saber, they might work together. If Lancer was alive he would have most likely joined too."