[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/611725206779592705/881037250245308426/Screen_Shot_2021-08-28_at_1.47.18_AM.png[/img][/center] [h3][center][i]Riverside Workshop, Southern Moor[/i][/center][/h3] [center][@hatakekuro][/center] [hr] [color=aad9f2][i]Oh. My hands aren't shaking anymore.[/i][/color] Thinking back, Fiore wasn't sure they had been shaking since she had arrived in Fuyuki, or even before that. She was sure they had used to, but that was a different time, now. Things were finally in motion. She and Caster had already made their opening moves, as small as they might have been. Yggdmillennia's last fighter knelt in the yardspace behind the building she had appropriated for her base. Through the handful of trees that grew on this side of the river, she could vaguely see and hear rushing water. The stream that divided this battlefield in two. The division between Shinto and the area firmly controlled by [i]them.[/i] In the air around her, she could faintly feel the presence of her Servant's magical energy permeating. That man wasn't a real magus, but he had still created a workshop for himself, in a manner of speaking. Her power, meanwhile, radiated in the ground beneath them. Burying spells into the ground and calling spirits to dwell there marked the beginnings of her fortifications. It was better to be ready for anything. Now that the sun had set, anyone could pay them a visit. They had to be sure there was a solid welcome in store. [color=aad9f2][i]"Caster, please join me in the yard."[/i][/color] She communicated through their mental link. Even though he was her Servant, it seemed she tended to be polite. He was older than her, after all. [color=aad9f2][i]"That's enough writing for the moment. I'm really happy with the progress you've made so far."[/i][/color] While she waited for Carroll, Fiore unconsciously fingered the glasses in her breast pocket. It hadn't been long enough for any real new information to be recorded in them, but she wanted to wear them again. By the time she had found it, the spirit inside had already been past the point of communication, but it was still... Something pointless to think about. There were things they needed to take care of. Once Caster was with her, they could start work on the yard. More pressing than that, in a way, was the other matter she needed to ask him. [color=aad9f2]"I have priorities in this war. There are people who need to pay for what they've done... But if we make it to the end and win for real."[/color] She hoped this was a tactful way to ask. [color=aad9f2]"Well, what would you ask the Holy Grail for?"[/color] [hr] [center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/611725206779592705/881738175301693490/img_1672.jpg[/img][/center] [h3][center][i]On a Walk Through Miyama[/i][/center][/h3] [center][@Turboshitter][@Yukitamas][@Raijinslayer][/center] [hr] By the time their circuit of the Eastern side of Fuyuki was finished, it was finally night. Raiden was someone who could respect rules and wait his turn, but all the same, he had been eager for things to finally get rolling. [color=fad54d][i][b]"Perfect survival machine, huh? Not sure why you'd want to turn into something like that, but it's working for you style-wise."[/b][/i][/color] The ginger afro was another matter, but mentioning that now could throw off the energy of their whole night. Still invisible, he drifted alongside the magus and spoke noiselessly to him. If nothing else, all that business about being an unkillable reptile meant Berzinsky was a Master who could watch his own back. That meant Lancer was free to, as ordered, 'hunt' for opponents in the surrounding area. There were the echoes of a few Servants' presences in the districts they had passed through... But it seemed someone else had made the choice for them! Raiden could feel the magical energy hurtling towards them. It was a long-range attack from someone he could barely see. A Heroic Spirit who was hiding herself in the distance. There was no telling what bizarre powers the projectile might have been harbouring, but it didn't exactly have the 'vibe' of a kill-shot. Maybe whoever fired it wasn't so bad! [color=fad54d][i][b]"Better stand back, boss!"[/b][/i][/color] Telepathically, he spoke once more. There was no telling if Berzinsky was aware of what was coming, but the Servant was the first to react. There was the electric shimmer of a Servant's body materializing on the sidewalk. A flawless body with tense, bent legs. Raiden jumped, leaving an explosion of shredded concrete in his wake. He didn't finish materializing until he was already tearing into the sky. Golden hair whipped in the overwhelming wind as Lancer flew on a direct path to meet the projectile. Rather than just leaping, he was [i]spinning[/i]. A thunderbolt had been let loose in the sky over Miyama. As the distance between the two flying objects decreased, those eyes could properly make visual contact with it. [color=fad54d][i][b]Oh! That's a--[/b][/i][/color] Didn't people in the West have a name for this sort of thing? It was on the tip of his tongue. Well, whatever. An enormous length of platinum-white metal materialized in his hand, crackling with magical energy, its massive double-edged blade gleaming in the starlight. The feeling was new, but familiar. Raiden gripped his spear loosely as the distance between himself and the stone approached zero, preparing to swing. Or rather, he had already swung. Even if Caster's Clairvoyant eyes were watching with anticipation of the moment Lancer would collide with her ball, they may still have been surprised to find that a nigh-imperceptible strike from the spear had reached it while there were still more than two metres between them. Even if it couldn't be registered until after the fact, there was no mistaking that the spearman had released a first-rate attack, slamming the haft of the spear into the stone. It wasn't as though Lancer was clueless when it came to this sort of magecraft. The runes on the rock could have meant anything--an explosion of fire, tendrils of mud, waves of ice. It could have been called foolish to face an unknown magical attack head-on, but if he knocked it hundreds of metres away before it had the chance to be triggered, then it wouldn't be a problem. Like the clear ringing of a bell, a metallic sound echoed over Miyama. The rune-ball was sent flying back in the general direction of Shinto. There didn't seem to be much effort to aim it back at Caster specifically in this case. Rather, he was focused on knocking it out of the park. Barring any surprising developments, Lancer let the rapid rotation of his body unwind, landing stylishly on a drug store rooftop a few blocks from the spot where he and Berzinsky had been standing. He twirled his polearm in one hand, letting it diffuse back into a transient blaze of magical energy before putting a palm on his hip and raising his other hand to shade his eyes a bit, squinting into the distant sky above Shinto town. When under attack from an enemy with such power and range, the smart thing to do was try to close the distance and quickly and safely as possible, or, failing that, take cover and hope they lose interest. Raiden did neither, taking a stance on the roof where he had landed, tilting his head as if to say [color=fad54d][i][b]what was that all about?[/b][/i][/color] Really, he was inviting her to come over, or at least throw him something cooler. If the enemy had attacked them from Shinto, they must have had great eyesight, right? If they could see his face, then they could see him winking.