Chapter: 21

"What now? Are we going in or not?" Saber of Red asked with an irritated expression. She was annoyed that whoever the fuck this Ichimaru Gin was, he disturbed her fun. She didn't like it.

First, she was stuck in a cemetery with her Master for days, then her fight with the Assassin of Black was interrupted by the Archer of Black who managed to not only wound her but also ran away after doing so!

If she could, she really wanted to impale that piece of shit with her sword.

Then, the war all of sudden accelerated without them even knowing. And when they finally reached the damned place with the now destroyed car, that unknown Merchant suddenly popped out of nowhere and took control of the whole War as if he owned it!

What bullshit plot was this?! Mordred really wanted to stab the grinning face of that bastard Merchant! It annoyed her!

She looked toward her Master as, with a click, Kairi lit up his cigarette and took a deep puff. He released the smoke a second later before starting to rub the back of his head.

"This has even exceeded the amount of shit I was willing to take in a Grail War. There is no response from the church either, so it is safe to assume that either the connection has been cut off or even they have no fucking idea what is going on anymore. In simple terms, it's each individual on its own from this point onwards."

Taking another puff from his cigarette, Kairi looked toward Saber with a serious gaze and asked.

"You do understand what that means, right?"

"Of course!" With a grin, Mordred clashed her fists together and said. "And that is to beat the shitty grinning face of that annoying Merchant and reclaim the Grail from his hands!"

"..." Kairi blinked blankly before a huge sigh left his mouth. He started to rub the back of his head once more before shrugging his shoulders in resignation.

"Well, that's about it. I doubt I would be of any use if I entered the territory with you—knowing he challenged only the Servants and all—so I will leave everything to you, Saber."

"Yeah, Master! Fret not. I shall return victor! I am burning with fire. I shall smack that grinning face for sure!"

'Does she have some PTSD from people with grinning faces or something?'

Not that he was going to ask.

"Anyway, I'll see if I can do anything about other Masters meanwhile. You focus on taking care of him."

"Yeah. Let's do it." She turned around to face Gin's territory and said. "Take care of yourself, shitty Master!"

The ground below her cracked and Mordred vanished, becoming but a flying crimson blur, and entered the territory created by Gin.

The moment she stepped into it, her perception started to get distorted. Even with her Saber Class Magical Resistance, she could only wait helplessly for whatever was happening within the dimensions to be finished.

And she didn't get to wait for long as her perception finally became clear.

But the moment it did so, her face distorted into anger and fury as she stared at the huge castle in front of her—Camelot!

It was a castle built up on top of a hill, a very strategic point for a castle; made up of white bricks, it stood tall to its mastery.

Yet, to Mordred, it looked nothing like a majestic castle. All she saw was the never-ending burning flames of revolt, the dead bodies of soldiers, and the face of her Father staring at her emotionlessly.

Unconscious of her, crimson mana, like electricity, started to come out of her body; responding to its Master, it roared with anger and fury as the long-forgotten memories and regrets filled her being.

The ground around her shattered as a vein popped over Mordred's forehead.

'Saber, what happened? Is everything alright?'

The sudden call from her Master brought a wisp of clearance within her mind, which soon spread all over as she took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Nothing." She answered, her voice uncharacteristically calm and emotionless. "Just some motherfucker who has a death wish."

'I see… Be careful. I am still waiting for others to start sending Servants, so I won't be moving for now. If you need me to use Command Spell, be sure to warn me.'

"Understood."

She silently stared at the castle for some time before taking a deep breath, she started to walk toward it.

Each step sunk the ground beneath her, her footprint acting as proof of her anger.

The moment she entered the castle, a wave of nostalgia—stronger than before—hit her.

It was so familiar yet it felt so distant. Like a feeling at the back of one head, you can always stare at it but never really touch it.

Familiar hallway, familiar walls, familiar pathway, even the portraits on the walls were copied to their finest!

This was the place where she once was a glorious knight of the Round Table who served the King of Knights. The same place where she was given the title of Traitorous Knight as she killed the people that she had sworn to protect.

'All because of him!'

The more time she spent walking these hallways, the more emotionally unstable she became.

Finally, after going through the nostalgic trip, she finally reached the end—the Throne Room!

The throne where once her father used to sit and give orders to his subjects looked desolate and lonely today.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

The sudden voice of a man snapped her out of revere as she looked at the young man, the real source of her anger.

"You once glorified this place, the same place that is now a source of nothing but anguish." He walked around the throne, his finger gently caressing it. "One was born to be a witch while the other the King. A child between the two should have been condemned and abhorred, while the anguished King had other thoughts. A cry for glory, a cry that soured. Mordred, was this the end you really adored?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"... Ahem. Anyways." All he wanted was to write a poem, but it seemed that he didn't have any talent for it. He could only cough to hide the embarrassment of Mordred's genuine confusion and bafflement.

The smirk that was, at this point, his trademark returned to his face. He sat over the throne and looked down at Mordred, whose gaze, the moment she saw him sitting on that throne, burned with untold fury.

"Welcome to the Castle of Camelot. I hope you find your stay pleasant enough here."

"You don't deserve it…"

"Yes?" Gin tilted his head with genuine curiosity.

"Don't you fucking DARE TO SIT ON THAT THRONE!"

A beam of crimson light rose from her sword, lightning crackling around it; she swung it down at Gin, who seemed to not care about the fact that it could very well kill him.

"Come, Cor Tauri-Sucinum."

Titanic energy broke through Gin's body before taking the shape of a ten meters high human shape familiar with an ox head. His body burned with amber flames. He held a battle axe even larger than him, which he swung at the coming crimson beam.

Both the axe and the crimson beam colloid, and the contact between them created a defending boom that shook the very roots of the mountain on which the castle was built!

The ground between Gin and Mordred was shattered into mere rubles of the now destroyed landscape. In a second, the glorified throne room seemed to show an image of a site that had just a bomb blast there.

As the dust settled and everything became clear once more, Mordred stood still at her place. There was no damage on her armor as she stared at the familiar in front of her with caution.

The amount of energy it was radiating was just mind blogging! She couldn't think of anyone who could radiate so much energy.

'Maybe Father when he was at his peak but still, this is just absurd! Who is he really?!'

"Rude… All I wanted was to have a civil talk too."

"By throwing your challenge on the face of everyone participating in the War? I must say, even I am astonished by what you define as talk."

"What can I say, I am just that special."

"... Has anyone ever told you how obnoxiously annoying you and your face are?"

"You definitely aren't the first one for sure." Gin smiled. "In fact, the last person to say that was me, myself."

Mordred snorted before turning her attention toward the ox head that stared down at her with disdain as if finding this fight with her a disgrace. That sure made a fuse turn on within her mind.

'Is this the familiar he was talking about before? If that is the case, and if he really does control 12 of these monsters, I guess I understand where his confidence was coming from. With twelve of these, he sure can win this War alone.'

"Strong, right?" As if knowing what she was thinking, Gin's smirk enlarged. "What you see is his restricted form. If I let it go wild, it would definitely shatter this feeble illusion. Even though it was cheap, I still paid for it, you know."

'It is restricted even yet!?'

She almost screamed. This familiar of his already was radiating magical energy beyond even that of a Caster Class Servant powered by a Command Seal, and he was saying that it was still restricted!

'What an absurd claim! He might as well say that these families were straight out the manifestation of the Grail, at this point.'

"Well, I am sure you aren't here for a talk." He said as the magical energy around Gin became active, making Mordred smirk as she raised her sword and placed it over her shoulder.

"Ah, yes. I almost forgot. I was here to punch that smirking face of yours!"

"Wait!" The moment she was about to attack, Gin stopped her, confusing her. "Even though you don't want to talk, that doesn't mean I have nothing to say. For someone who wants to be a King, you sure have a short fuse."

"Are you saying I am not worthy of becoming a King?' Magical energy roared with her anger as Grin added.

"I am calling you impatient, girl."

"I am not a girl!"

Suddenly, the familiar raised his axe and swung it down at her. Mordred's eyes widened as she hurriedly raised her sword to block it, yet she was thrown backward with huge momentum.

Her body bounced off the ground, shattering it with each hit, before finally hitting the wall at the other end of the throne hall. She was inserted into it.

"Didn't… you say you HAD SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT!?" Her shout of anger broke through the wall as she blinked in front of the familiar and slashed vertically down at it, which was blocked easily by him.

"Ah, did I? Well, I changed my mind. What are you going to do? Cry about it?"

"I knew it…" She landed firmly on the ground and created two new holes in it as her armor clattered loudly. "You piece of shit Merchant, I really do HATE you!"

"I am scared, fingers crossed…" Gin responded with a slight increase in his smile.

He sure was enjoying playing with her.

This was going to be a fun fight it seems.

Support me at: patr eon.com/meatball_chan 

Your support is highly appreciated!

AN: Hello~ Ahem! Anyways, for those still reading it, I'm really sorry for the late update. My new semester started and I was given the shittiest timetable of all time… And since I also do Freelancing, I barely get time to write. So expect slow updates from now on.