[h2][center]Jason Liu[/center][/h2]
The homunculus girl's words were not lost upon the young man, and the least he could do was glance towards the ground in a mix of disappointment and embarrassment. Even if he was a Master, to have used two Command Seals and yet still have failed to affect the Berserker in any meaningful way... In summary, it felt as if all of those mocking words had been right this entire time. With that in mind, though, Jason knew that this was no time to wallow in any amount of self-pity. Before he could try and do anything to stop the Servant otherwise, though, the other Master had approached and threatened to take take his life to force the Berserker to stand down.

"Wait, what are you..."

It didn't take long for him to realize that there was a garrote around his neck, indescribably thin as it was. The thin streams of blood that were falling down his neck didn't particularly help matters much, but as far as he could tell, the girl was [i]dead[/i] serious about this threat.

"Ah? You think I care about that stupid—" the Berserker began to say mid-combat as he blocked and parried Altera's sword before suddenly stopping in his tracks. He was, up until now, on the defensive, and the brief pause came after he had clashed directly with Altera's sword.

Then, as if all at once, a surge of mana filled the air around Hijikata before concentrating wholly upon him. It was almost as if the energy from the Command Seals from earlier had found themselves turned into pure magical energy rather than a command, and the results spoke for themselves. With a cry of anger, the reason in the Berserker's eyes seemed to dissipate entirely, and he began a frenzied assault upon the Saber blocking his path ahead.

[@Raineh Daze]

[h2][center]Alter Ego — Meltryllis[/center][/h2]
"Disgusting. A creature like you shouldn't have the right to exist in front of me like this."

The remark that slipped out of Meltryllis' mouth was so tinted with disgust that the Servant herself couldn't help but react in turn. As things were now, whatever [i]this[/i] was would continue to heal, and ultimately eviscerating such an enemy would take far longer that she would like... Assuming that she continued fighting as she was now.

"Tch. Regenerating from a wound like that... Just stay dead, you vile lump of flesh," she continued, taking a step forward with the intent to kill their enemy, only to turn her head in an instant once she heard the sound of arrows whizzing by. Without wasting a single movement, the Alter Ego dashed forward and, with a spinning pirouette kick, launched the shadow-like enemy she had been facing directly within the line of fire of the arrows.

"Honestly, that damn Archer... Once this ball of meat stays down, I'm going to take my [i]sweet[/i] time draining you of everything you're worth..."

[@VitaVitaAR]

[h2][center]Ruler — Sherlock Holmes[/center][/h2]
"Now, at that point, Miss Obberhausen, I would be more willing to request a private contractor to bring us out to sea instead. If such a scenario laid itself out for us like an invitation, it would have been no more than a fool's errand to pursue as we were," the Ruler replied in turn, tidying up his outfit as the pair exited the vehicle. "In any case, we would not gain anything more by loitering about. Let us be off."

The pier itself seemed to be fairly busy—busier than the detective had expected; not only that, but it seemed as if there were far more people talking about the structure that they had desired to look into than they had previously expected—and something more, it seemed.

"I heard that there was a monster attack when people tried diving down..."

"What, you mean... In the water?"

"No, like... [i]Inside[/i] the thing."

"Wait, seriously?"

Similar conversations seemed to pop up all around the area, and it seemed that there were more than a few boats already bringing people out.

"Hm... Now this... This is a development I did not expect," Holmes said, nodding his head before noticing an all-too familiar old man waiting outside the administrative office. "Miss Obberhausen, please, do remain on guard. He is not a person who is all too inclined to show his face in public, after all..."

[@KoL][@DocRock]

[h3]At the Arena[/h3]
The sudden bombardment of questions and requests caused Bradamante to fumble for a moment, and the barely-concealed smile at being able to talk in-depth with her idols as she was now was unmistakably causing her behavior to become somewhat erratic. The mix of excitement, awe, and embarrassment was incredibly self-evident, especially as Chiron directed them off to the exhibition combat area.

"Ah, you mean Asty? He's always been a bit of a... Wait a second, Asty's here? I still need to ask him about my hippo—A-ah... Erm... A-about Merlin? Well, um, he helped me a lot on my journey to find Ruggiero, and, um... Well, on occasion, he talks to me from Avalon, I think?" she said, scratching the back of her head nervously. "It's almost like he knows exactly when I need help sometimes, and his advice is really useful..." she rambled on as the group walked past a few other sub-arenas on their way to their destination. That, itself, did not take too long, even though the arena was [i]far[/i] more spacious than it might have seemed otherwise.

"We've arrived. May I ask if the Masters could please be seated over this way? Being caught in the crossfire of combat is not something that I wish to see. As for the pairings for combat proper... Sir Lancelot, could I ask if you could instruct her as I match Sir Mordred?" Chiron asked, causing Bradamante to tremble for a moment.

"M-me? A-against Sir Lancelot?"

"Are you against that?"

"N-no! In fact, I would be very grateful for a chance to face off against the Knight of the Lake!"

With a smile and another bow, Bradamante rushed off to the combat field, excited for the duel to begin proper. After watching her run off, Chiron smiled and turned back towards the knights present.

"Then I shall take my leave as well. If there are any final preparations to be had, please, do so now. I shall look forward to seeing how your skills match up against my own disciples," he said, nodding his head as he left to follow after Bradamante.