[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/G70pU5v.png[/img] [color=a2d39c][h2]Carly-Beth[/h2][/color][i][h3]Za Boat, Harbor[/h3][/i][/center] 
In response to her Servant's concern, the homunculus shrugged lazily in reply. [color=a2d39c]"Not from P.P., nah. Looks like we're getting invited to a big meeting. I'll send Mary. They'll all love her. Can't wait for them to throw a party in our honor for getting rid of that tree and stopping it from fucking up everything."[/color] She hummed out.

Kneeling down a bit towards the penguin, she offered a warm smile. [color=a2d39c]"Hey, little guy, how'd you like to put on a mas-"[/color]

"Don't touch me, motherfucker. Get out."

[color=a2d39c]"..."[/color]

...well then.

It seemed that the penguin wasn't very friendly.

Well, regardless, with Strategist's preparations done and her own auxiliaries finished, it was time to turn her attention to something infinitely more pressing.

[color=a2d39c]"Elena, keep building the simulation. Anna, Harvey, Shaytanea, and Phil, come with me. Joseph, start work on what we discussed."[/color]

Yes, after all, Carly-Beth was not here to fight for the Holy Grail, to defeat the other Servants, or anything so ridiculous as that. No...

-She just wanted to make cool masks.

And make cool masks she would.

[hr]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/m4dsWXq.png[/img][color=d9869f][h2]Lucius Tiberius[/h2][/color][i][h3]Red Dragon Round Two, Einzbern Forest[/h3][/i] [@Cu Chulainn][/center]
...it was only reasonable. 

Even if they fought differently, even if they were different existences, they were the same sort of being. 

A swordsman with the nature of a dragon, a human king who cut down such dragons, a peerless warrior blessed with instinct that entered the realm of precognition. 

Was his sight of the man before him overlapping with the vision of that fight? Surely not, but there was something there. 

Ah, the mount was getting closer. Not here yet, but closer. 

And so, as Dietrich struggled to weather those blows, [i]something[/i] was being pulled into Lucius’s form. 

Yes, his opponent had assumed that his strikes were random, bestial, tactless. This could not be further from the truth. While the strikes were a flurry of blows that rained down on Dietrich, they were not random. He could not afford to toy with an enemy such as this. 

This is a digression, but for one such as Dietrich, whose instincts were equivalent to precognition, defeating him in combat was nearly impossible. One would need to significantly outclass him to do so, a notion that was not a simple one given his abilities. 

...however, even instincts could be fooled.

Yes, with eyes that could understand one's abilities and mesh them into a cohesive flow with others, with combat skill that was suited for overwhelming such absurd figures as the one before him, it was already decided.

When Dietrich leapt backwards to slash out, the Sword Emperor only felt dismay. But this was not dismay at the risk of being defeated.

[color=d9869f]"...not enough."[/color]

-Because, after all, Lucius's combat style possessed two tools that were of particular use against an enemy such as Dietrich, who relied on his instincts in order to cope with a stronger enemy.

First, instincts that were [i]not one whit inferior to Dietrich's own[/i].

[color=d9869f][b][center]Check failure: met.[/center][/b][/color]
And second...

Against an enemy of superior speed, whose instincts equaled Dietrich's own, had he truly thought he would be able to put distance between them? Surely not, and yet his instincts had told him that this was what he ought to do to take advantage of an opening. This was the natural result, given that bestial nature of his attacks, which Dietrich had no doubt taken into account. 

This was the second component. A battle methodology that grasped the flow of battle and induced a check failure for the opponent, carefully calculated to form a momentary chance of victory. Something further augmented by Saber's own instincts and observational talent.

And it was thus that, at the same moment that Dietrich leapt back-

Lucius’s will reached inwards, and [i]imposed on himself[/i]. 

[color=d9869f]“Burst.”[/color]

There was no time to react. As if propelled by a Command Seal, the Saber shot forwards with a speed that far and away eclipsed even his initial charge. If it was not for his dominion over the land’s spiritual pulse, something like that would have likely killed his Vassal on the spot from exertion. 

Even his baseline ability was enough to overwhelm Dietrich in a matter of speed, but this was something else entirely. A calculated opening done by understanding Dietrich’s abilities, slotting them into the ‘whole’ of the battle, using his instinct against him, exploiting the instincts Lucius himself had, and accomplishing a feat that only he had the aptitude for.

Even then, even though Dietrich was occupied with already moving and lacked the capacity to stop this blow, Lucius did not let his guard down for even a moment. He would never assume such things against an [b]Arturus[/b]. Perhaps that horse would suddenly become capable of spatial transference. Perhaps Dietrich was hiding his own true speed. Perhaps there was an undetectable Servant with a knife at his throat. 

...Nonetheless, that excess caution wouldn’t matter, in the end. 

Before Falke had even reached the battlefield, the Rider’s heart would be cut open by Florent.