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"Let's form an alliance."
"...Sure."
It wasn't a heartfelt agreement from either side. But standing on top of a castle in the middle of a flooded Fuyuki City with no weapons and no better options, the math was the math.
Maverick and Dai exchanged a glance. Neither of them was going to pretend this was permanent.
A slightly dirty hand appeared from behind Dai.
David Chen's voice came through the ship-to-castle communication: "I should probably explain my full plan, since you two are part of it now whether you want to be."
He turned to his own camera and began.
"The flooding was step one. Step two is this: I've left the tips of the tallest buildings above the waterline. Deliberate. Every other Master needs somewhere to stand while their Servant fights — they won't put their Master on the Golden Hind's deck because that puts them directly in my range. So they'll leave their Masters on those spire-tips. Which means every Master in the city is now stranded and isolated, separated from their Servant, with no ability to retreat."
[Chat]: ...
[Chat]: ...
[Chat]: BROTHER CHEN
[Technical_Appreciation]: he flooded the city and then LEFT HANDHOLDS. he planned the handholds.
[More_Appreciation]: the Masters go to the handholds. the Servants come to fight Drake. the Masters are alone on building tips.
[Completing_The_Logic]: which means Assassin, who can't fight Servants directly, can harvest stranded Masters freely while everyone else is distracted by the ship
[Realization]: and David summoned Drake with Drake's specific Holy Relic because Drake already has a Caster connection to Poseidon which is why the Trident anchored the ocean concept—
[Chat]: THIS WAS ALL PLANNED
"The one complication," David continued, "is controlling when the Assassin stops. And making sure Drake gets a shot at them before they disappear."
[Worry_Chat]: this plan is perfect against normal opponents
[Also_Worry]: but the five people currently in this stream have records on this platform
[Specific_Worry]: if the Assassin group is one of those five, "Life of Pi" situation incoming
[Donation_Anxiety]: these are the platform coins I saved being frugal for two months. Brother Chen please don't let me lose them entirely.
David hadn't considered one thing. The Archer class in Holy Grail War was, on average, not particularly ranged — most of them couldn't reliably use a bow in combat. The exceptions were rare enough that he'd mentally filed "Archer" under "close combat with a different label."
Three kilometers away, at the spire of a distant tower, an Archer with very different capabilities had already drawn his bowstring.
He lowered it again.
The moment wasn't right. Wait for more people on the deck. Then one arrow, maximum damage. The cicada doesn't see the mantis behind it.
On the Golden Hind: Drake slammed the rudder.
The ship executed a 90-degree turn at speed. David's feet left the deck briefly before the wood came back up to meet them.
"Master — you need sea legs! But hide — enemy incoming! Hard to port, fire!"
Charging across the water toward them: Nero. Golden armor flashing, crimson sword raised, running on the surface of the flood at a speed that generated its own wake.
[Chat]: SHE'S RUNNING ON THE WATER
[Lore]: Emperor's Privilege EX. Nero can temporarily acquire skills that don't belong to her through sheer assertion of imperial authority. Water-walking requires B-rank divine protection. Nero's EX-rank skill covers it.
[Watching]: Drake is not panicking
[Nero_Closing]: she's covering a hundred meters per second
Drake adjusted position, called the fire order. The ship's cannons opened up.
Nero ran through the smoke without breaking stride, sword splitting cannonballs mid-flight. The golden armor rang like a bell in the open air.
"How is that possible?!"
"Of course it's possible — because I am the woman who makes the impossible possible!"
The pistols came out of Drake's holsters. Two shots. Nero tilted her head, sword angling to deflect.
Then Drake's boot connected with Nero's midsection.
The Emperor of Rome became briefly airborne.
Drake's pre-set hard turn brought the cannons to bear. The volley followed Nero's arc through the air with the attentiveness of someone who had done this to armadas.
Nero hit the water surface with significant force, rolled several times, and stood back up — skirt destroyed, arm coverings shredded, a cut along one arm leaving blood in the water below her feet.
[Chat]: BATTLE DAMAGE
[Chat]: DRAKE YOU LEGEND
[Statistics]: Drake's base stats: Strength D, Endurance C, Agility B, Magic E. Nero's: Strength D, Endurance D, Agility A, Magic B. By raw numbers, 4:6 disadvantage for Drake.
[Counter_Statistics]: Drake's Stormy Voyage passive increases all combat stats on ocean or ship. Drake's Luck is EX, Nero's is A. Drake is on a ship in an ocean she created.
[Summary]: this is Drake's optimal environment and Nero walked into it.
Nero's eyes hadn't changed. The fight had barely started.
Then the silvery tentacles wrapped around her ankles — from the water below, moving fast — and her next step faltered.
The cannons and pistols were already cycling.
No time to move. No way to dodge from a standing start.
The corner of Nero's mouth curved.
The Primordial Flame erupted from her sword — the blade she'd forged herself from Star's Tear meteoric iron, the material that Attila's weapon had also been shaped from. The blade that carried whatever hope its wielder envisioned.
The explosion detonated the incoming ammunition mid-flight. Shockwave in every direction. The smoke cleared and Nero was still standing.
Then she looked across the water toward the deck and called:
"Master — I require permission. Let me use my Noble Ph—"
David's response died before it formed.
Because across the castle battlements, visible from the ship: two figures running at full speed. Emiya Kiritsugu character models. No equipment. White mist and nothing else.
Behind them, moving fast through the castle's corridors: black-robed figures in pursuit. Many black-robed figures.
[Chat]: IS THAT
[Chat]: IS THAT MAVERICK AND DAI
[Watching]: they are running for their lives through a castle with no clothes and no weapons
[Also_Watching]: being chased by what appears to be an army of Assassin Hassans
[David_Update]: David and Drake have both stopped moving. they are watching this.
[Nero_Update]: Nero has also stopped moving. she is watching this.
[Chat]: everyone stopped the battle to watch Maverick and Dai do performance art on a castle
[Chat]: this is Holy Grail War
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