[h2][center]Jason Liu[/center][/h2]
The tension that hung in the air as the Berserker faced the sole exit to the alcove that he had stationed himself in was oppressive to the young man who was, by now, at a complete loss for words. It was not as if he had lost consciousness; no, nothing of the sort. But the fact that he had been lead to believe that he had finally managed to prove all of those naysayers wrong, that he could finally stop be treated as nothing more that a third-rate existence——

It all meant nothing when even a Servant declared him as unfit to be a Master on a fundamental level.

The words of the Saber as she confronted Hijikata fell on deaf ears, as did her reassurance towards the young man behind him. While the latter was still struggling to come to terms with the whole ordeal, the Servant in front of him simply scoffed and readied his katana.

"Surrender? So long as I live, the Shinsengumi will never surrender!" he declared. Despite the amount of blood dripping from his injuries, the Berserker seemed thoroughly unfazed as he rushed forward, katana drawn in an attempt to cut down the one in front of him.

Despite knowing full well, of course, that it was nothing more than a futile last attempt at survival on his own terms.

[@VitaVitaAR]

[h2][center]Alter Ego — Meltryllis[/center][/h2]
Given everything that had just transpired, the Alter Ego found it somewhat irritating that this was what BB had sent them out to handle. Meltryllis herself had no clue what the point of these [i]things[/i] were in the first place, nor did she have any particular desire to remain as BB's errand girl...

But given the circumstances, that particular problem couldn't exactly be helped. Not like it was any easier with the half-conscious Master that she had at her side, though; ideally, this situation could have waited a day so that she could have an obedient helper and not a half-conscious human to escort around, but this was also a situation that she had brought on herself. All things considered, she couldn't exactly [i]complain[/i] without being hypocritical, and that was more than unbecoming of someone of her stature.

So, as the only thing left to do was report back, Meltryllis quietly walked behind Nanako as they made their way back to the apartment, making sure to poke the girl with her heel every time she seemed to be on the cusp of falling over onto her face. If anything, the pain would keep her conscious until they reached a bed for her to sleep on instead.

[h3]The Arena[/h3]
Chiron let a sigh slip past his lips as he heard Mordred's rebuttal, though that was as short-lived as his leeway before one of the arrows that he had fired made their swift return. Though he was barely able to react in time, the Archer still found himself grazed by his own arrow, and a gash made itself prominently visible on his right arm despite his own attempts to avoid the attack outright.

"My, my, you really do live up to your name. Maybe I should ask Achilles to train with you one of these days; he's gotten far too lax without his usual practice," he remarked, dusting himself off as he watched the mana flare up around his opponent. By now, the centaur was far too used to seeing Sabers who fired beams, and so he promptly prepared himself for the usual countermeasures... 

Only to find himself caught off guard by Mordred's alternative avenue of attack. Despite the situation he found himself in, though, Chiron could not help but smile.

"Well done!" the teacher responded, deliberately kicking the ground and forcing himself to fall as he attempted to deflect the attack with his left arm. His right, of course, had discarded the bow and was now aiming to strike Mordred's chin as she passed by overhead.

[@KoL]