Feet Warm, Head Cool

[Lempicialynn Edelfelt]

Day 1, 0005

Where I come from, there's an old proverb used by soldiers and outdoorsmen. "Jalat lämpiminä, pää kylmänä". Feet warm, head cool. To say that this proverb has a double meaning is to say the obvious. On one hand, it's used to remind people of the proper sleeping position when camping near a fire - I don't need to tell it to you straight, do I? You would have to be a complete simpleton not to understand what it means in that particular context. On the other hand, it's used to remind soldiers how they should be at all times: ready for action, but never escalating a situation to require action. Or something like that.

I don’t particularly adhere to the idea, considering that I am always one to enjoy taking action, or should I say, relishing it? However I do adhere to the principle in the case of the actual fighting. That is to say, me fighting with all the ferocity of a lion, but while maintaining a presence of mind, which I must emphasise, is the most important part of it all.

From atop my perch on the office building, I felt like I could see the whole city. Every angle that steel and glass bent to, every little slab of concrete, every single person walking down the street at this hour, was visible to me. Or at least it felt that way. Lempicialynn Edelfelt was no Archer, to be able to see all the little details from so high up. Lempicialynn Edelfelt, however, did have opera glasses helping her see everything from this excellent vantage point. No, this is not a change of narrative voice. What’s the matter, you never heard somebody refer to herself in third person before? Try it sometime; it’ll boost your self-confidence nicely.

[red]“They look like ants from up here.”[/red] I wasn’t talking about the people, of course. I knew too well how it felt to be spoken of, and to be spoken to, in a condescending manner. The paranoia that someone was always whispering things behind your back, the seething throb of one’s insulted pride… those were feelings that I did not take too kindly to. No, it wasn’t people I was calling ants. It was, well, a group of ants. Or at least something that looked like ants, if you squinted: six legs, mandibles, and an insectoid appearance. What they lacked as a set of three discernable body segments, and instead looked like oversized heads sitting on top of four legs – the other two legs were more like forelegs, for stabbing things, and emerged from next to the mandibles.

[red]“Giant ants. Just like the Greek myth of Achilles’ army.”[/red] Well not exactly just like the Greek myth. Achilles’ army of myrmidons were people who grew from ants, rather than actual giant ants. Still, it was perhaps the best name to give such creatures. An army of ants. They were most definitely a fitting appetiser for the sisters of the great Edelfelt House. I turned to my siskoni standing next to me – that’s the Finnish word for ‘big sister’, in case you didn’t know – with a big smirk on my face. [red]“How about if we joined their little picnic as a little warm up? The night is young, and there doesn’t seem to be anybody else around to fight. These little myrmidons would certainly make up for the lack of any real opponents.”[/red]

I wasn’t asking for her permission. Whether or not siskoni said yes, I’d probably go anyway. The issue, of course, was that if she disagreed with my suggestion, would she be able to catch me in time? Probably not. Lempycialynn Edelfelt was called the “Red Comet” for quite a few reasons, and one of those reasons, was that I tended to be faster than somebody’s mouth whenever it came to getting into trouble. Sorry, I meant getting into fights. The ones in trouble were these little ants.

The creatures were busy raiding a butcher’s store, apparently content with dead meat instead of live prey. For shame, I would say. Something like that was too easy to do, especially with a size like that. What’s more, it seemed to contradict our observations of similar monsters that had been appearing earlier. They usually attacked people or magi, not cold, dead meat. Perhaps the butcher was a magus, and his meat on display was reinforced? It was the only way this ridiculous situation would make even the slightest lick of sense. I counted the monsters to see if there were enough for us to share. Yes, that would be just right.

[red]“There’s maybe two dozen of them down there. We can easily split them evenly between us.”[/red] Yes, that sounded like a plan. Already, I was nodding to myself without really listening to what siskoni was saying in response. [red]Saber. I’ll trust you to do the rest. [/red]

With nary another word, I reinforced my legs and hopped over the rails of the building. Other people would probably consider that suicide, given how we were about ten stories up, but other people didn’t normally have Servants to catch them when they fell. My hair and bright red jacket fluttered against the air resistance as I made my descent. I trust Saber to do the rest.

[Lumivellamo Luvia Edelfelt]

The night was as one would expect during this time of the year relatively fresh, but even then it was nothing compared to the climate the Edelfelt sisters were used to and both dressed without much concern for an eventual cold. But it was an actually nice night, when you could see the Stars.

This was uncommon in cities, and only the highest of buildings allowed a free sight on the Star Ocean above. A frog would undeniable not mistake this appearance with the ocean, but being encircled by high buildings on the ground would feel similar. If not for that saying about frogs being the child of frogs and in this sense the two sisters being quite similar, their appearance could hardly be anymore distinct from each other, albeit being born as twins.

This fact still seemed to remain a heavy burden on Lempicialynn, and the older sister of the two could hear this out of her comment about ants. Hardly noticable, only someone who knew Lempi as well as Lumivellamo would be able to understand, and she did just too well. Some generations before the Edelfelt sisters were not nearly as close as this pair of siblings, and maybe this was because they were twins, or they were just both hopelessly naive in that sense.

Nevertheless, they were magi, holding their pride high towards the sky, like Battle Valkyries, ready to dive down on their prey. In this sense really like crushing ants from above, and the comparison was probably really the best. Their annoying noises disturbed the silence and Lumivellamo, sharing the appearance of her deceased aunts to a shocking degree felt clearly insulted and annoyed that they dared to make an appearance. Just like the sisters were similar in some ways they were also different, just like human beings were supposed to be individuals.

Lumivellamo Luviagelita Edelfelt was as eager for a duel as anyone else, but those mindless and dirty beasts were just too much below a worthy opponent to spark the fire inside her. Lempi on the other hand seemed more eager to participate in a little warm up, while Luvia for a brief moment worried about making her gloves dirty with worthless insects.

Well, the sisters would definitely not argue about the value of those monsters. The blonde magus also did not see it in herself to play the hero of the poor and savior of some butcher, but even if this was not her role nor their territory, an Edelfelt never ran away from a Battlefield, and this was a Battlefield filled with... ants. Luvia only frowned as her younger sister jumped straight into the horde.

"Very well, Archer. We will provide fire support and head down right thereafter."

What Saber could, Archer could do as well, but she was not a fool to use her servant in a wrong way, and he was clearly not designed to fight on the front. Maybe a bit of jealousy had showed itself for a brief moment when Lempi, the little Lemp, who was still in the backside of her head a cry baby that needed protection, summoned a Saber, known as the greatest Class for a magus. But this was soon forgotten, after her bond with Archer was formed.

Yes, she oddly enough trusted him as a fellow warrior and ally, which was strange in many ways. For one, she hardly knew him and for another a servant was supposed to be a tool and not a partner. Luvia just did not wish to see someone who had managed to be a respected hero in this light, and robbing a servant off their self-autonomous abilities would only reduce their battle strength. There was always a chance for an unfavourable situation and a sneak attack from behind. A tool would not cover her, this was as clear as the current night sky.

The older sister of the Edelfelt Duo walked to the edge of the building and took aim. "Kotka Laukaus
..." she said almost silently and a burst of prana easily found its target and killing one of the creatures almost instantly. Luvia had quite early decided to increase her range of distance spells after realizing that some opponents, were too eager to stay out of her grasp, when some nicknames about her strength and violent melee abilities began to make their rounds.

Now this just come in handy, as she did not wish to use any of her more battle proven skills on those lousy monstrosities. Even if it was not any better than one of those shabby guns, the spell was efficient, and certainly had a desirable effect on those ants. In fact, she doubted that modern firearms would have much of an effect on those creatures.

Calmly she took aim again and charged for the next shot, during the descent. The Team with her sister would likely land before her next shot reached its target, but that was none of her concern. There was no doubt that those fiends stood no chance against two experienced magi, less when they also had Heroic Spirits on their side. Having already given Archer his commands, she also was about to Reinforce herself for the approaching descent.

[Charlemagne]

The view is actually quite extravagant from up here.

From a long time ago, mankind was always fascinated by the view of everything from a sufficiently high vantage point. Yet that viewpoint often only enjoyed by men and women that were of ‘higher standing’ than those of the ground. Indeed, countless tales of wise men of the mountain, scholars sealing themselves on their tower, royalties watching over their subject in their castle. They were all unsubtle hints in order to paint those sorts of people as ‘superior’.

This tall building he is standing on reminded him of a palisade that his men used to construct in the battlefield. It allows him to monitor the battlefield, to see every movements of both armies, and of course, as a platform for the troops to see just who it is they’re serving. Leaders are very good for morale, visible leaders that is. Soldiers fight better if they can see their commander, even not in the frontline, watching them. Even if push comes to shove, at least the commander is there as the head. Cut off the head and the whole thing crumbles. Even more so if the head is not there in the first place.

Strange and Foreign? Perhaps. But if you look at it more closely you will start to see the resemblance. It’s some kind of pattern that governs the creation of mankind. War is no difference. The trappings are not at all familiar for a man who essentially lived 1000 years in the past just a few days ago, but the more he ponders at this new situation the more he realized that this feels a bit familiar under the surface. While it takes a bit of time to adapt in this new situation, there is this strange otherworldly guidance that fills his head with new knowledge.

This Grail.

He heard of it before in stories at first. Of how a mighty king failed to obtain the goal, a tale of ruin and betrayal and those who would uphold the ideals of chivalry and honor even in the face of human folly. They were fantastic stories to be sure. His story is no less fantastical, but it was not about hunting for an ambiguous goal. No, for him there was another, more corporeal enemies that needed to be defeated. Though many quests he had undertaken and many goals accomplished, he had no ‘ultimate goal’ that lies in the end of the journey, for perhaps there was no way to save everyone.

Yet here he is, the ‘Grail’ called him here, for a purpose he doesn’t fully understand yet. If it is truly the Grail of legend, he would confirm it with his own eyes first.

He glances at his newfound ‘master’. Numerous magi he met in the past, but the girl itself is quite an unusual prospect for him. He could tell that she has the knowledge, but perhaps not the experience. She’s like an up-and-coming talented squire looking for that one deed that would earn her place among the greats. Magi were always an interesting subject for him. Their constant prattle of the ‘source of all’ seems very much attuned to his belief, yet some of them would reject the concept of God so vehemently. Doesn’t help that most of them were Pagan, they constrained their way to the truth by relying on spirits that were at best only one or two steps ahead of them. A pity.

While the girl doesn’t look quite as misguided as them, he can see the signs of wavering thoughts about this so-called ‘source’. Still, the girl is interesting, and he’s bound to her in the meantime, a fact that he will and should take advantage of. At least for the time being.

After his master, he glances at the veritable battalion of giant creatures on the ground below. Orderly creatures, even their raid is executed in a systematic one-two-three fashion. Myrmidons. Legendary soldiers known for their orderly, ant-like behavior. It’s both an appropriate comparison and a misnomer; soldiers have their own free will after all.

Of course master.

They said that they were from the North. It’s easy to see why it is. The people of the North were proud people who enjoy their battles. That particular element seems to survive just fine in the current time.

As the girl hopped over the rails of the building, Saber followed suit. The wind resists the descent and the surroundings become a blur as the two falls towards the streets below. Acting as the cushion of the fall, Saber cradled the girl’s form as the jump is complete and the two of them landed on the rock-solid ground below. With the grace of a nobleman on a dance ball, Saber let the two feet of his master touch the ground once the initial shockwave died down.

“Two in the front, three on our flank master.” His right hand glow bright for a moment before a peculiarly ornate sword still in its sheath materializes at that same place. Advancing forward with a great overhead slash, Saber brings the still-sheathed sword down on the closest ant, crushing its head with a crunching sound.

[Emiya]

The Holy Grail War.A battle royale between different magi to the death while utilizing Heroic Spirits at their command. Like Siegfried, Cyrus the Great or Cu Chulainn. Or anti-heroes like Vlad the Impaler, Sulla or Medusa. Good or evil, they are aces whose legendary feats inspired reverence and worship.That's what set them apart from the masses. But the heroic spirit covered in the crimson garb standing next to his Master is anything but legendary. Just a nameless soldier that would do you no good even if you know his true name.

To be honest, he couldn't be more surprised. His Master is none other than an Edelfelt, one that has a striking resemblance with the one he's engaged to no less. The only difference is that she wasn't wearing that ring....why would she be? No matter how much similar she look to her, she is not his fiancee. However, deep inside he was grateful. Being told to do this and that just because one is a servant can be quite grating at times. But he wouldn't mind if it's her. Her personality reminds him too much of his fiancee for him to be his moody self.

The other surprise he had in this war was his Master's twin who reminds him of a certain tsundere girl who becomes fast friend with him during the course of the Fifth Grail war. An oddity by itself may be a coincidence but two? There must be some reason for that. At least she manage to summon a Saber this time. But right now, he's at no position to ask. Yes, right now he need to focus on his job. And his job is...

...to exterminate the insect that's now butchering the butcher's shop.

He let out a loud sigh inwardly. When he heard of Grail Beast he expected them to be beast....rather than insects. Giant insects but insects nevertheless. Perhaps he should trace a giant insectide to match their size and spray them with it.
But before he could suggest such a thing, Saber's Master had flung herself into the horde. Ah, of course. The first chance to jump into trouble she would do so with no hesitation. The only thing he couldn't fault is her confidence, he would prefer luring them to his sniping shot, which not only provide excellent terrain position but hide him from other's view. Peopple don't normally look up while they walk afterall. Thankfully his own Master shared his sentiment. Perhaps to balance the hotheadedness of her twin, she suggested a more elegant approach of taking them out from range.

"Understood milady."

A black nameless bow formed on his left hand and an arrow laced with reinforcement magic on his right. He took a second to aim before unleashes it. But he doesn't stop at one arrow. For the next few seconds he had fired at least 30 arrows on them. One with military experience would compare his bow and arrows to a 20mm rotary cannons. As his Master clears the landing zone for the assault team, he cuts off their retreat path. This way, they would be forced to face Saber and his Master at close range. And since Saber is an expert at melee combat, he estimated this "battle" should be over in less than 2 minutes at most.

[Lempicialynn Edelfelt]

Before I even came close to landing, some of the ants started exploding from the impact of a dark bolt, a curse that manifested as a physical malady to destroy objects instead of merely curse them. Fin. It was just like siskoni to save her true capabilities for foes. And of course there were also those arrows care of her Servant, Archer. I would have to guess their destructive capacity equaled that of one of those big guns the army put on those track-wheeled vehicles... a tank, was it? That sounded about right. And yes, I was well aware that these ants weren't foes. Didn't I say there was going to be some warm-up in lieu of real opponents? Although I might have overestimated their value. They were, quite simply, just bugs. Big bugs, but bugs nonetheless. No, this wasn't even an activity you could call 'warm-up'. This was more like pest control.

And when you think about it, it would be the most strategically sound thing to clear them out from a distance. That's no fun at all. But can one consider it fun to exterminate some bugs? Back home, I never really thought the servant walking around the mansion armed with a can of bug spray was having fun. Of course, that was because the servant in question was going about it the wrong way. You don't use lame chemicals to kill bugs. You use your shoes and step on them! That's what makes it fun!

As expected of the best class of Saber, I was quickly intercepted in mid-air, and the landing was cushioned most elegantly by his excellent reflexes. Another bunch of points I'd give to Saber. He truly knew how to treat a lady, with how he let me down afterward. No sooner had he given me the positions of the closer ants - great warrior king that he was - did I point a finger at the nearest one and activate my circuits.

It was a familiar sensation, like an arrow being strung onto a bow, if I were to visualise it. Of course different magi have different mental images of activating circuits. And just like an arrow, a bolt shot forth from my finger to splatter that bug in front of me. Saber also had his day to strike down another to the side, just as siskoni's second shot hit the second flanker.

This left me clear to do what I wanted.

This was the start of our little extermination, the test to see whether or not it was actually something you could have fun over. Reinforcing the rest of my body, I dropped and slid feet-first underneath the last frontal bug - before it even knew what was happening, of course - past its spiny, spear-like legs and underneath its thorax, where I fired my second shot, splattering its insides into a messy greenish pulp, like the kind you would see when you ground up broccoli. Before it could even collapse on top of me, I was out of there, having rolled over, and was already on the way to taking down the next one.

"Jalat lämpiminä, pää kylmänä". Try to have fun, and crush the 'opposition', but make sure to keep an eye out for the next target and to ensure the last one was dead. There was no mistake about how we should be going about this. The next one had just noticed the commotion, and had dropped its pathetic dinner of meat to come my way. Who left their meat exposed like that when their shop was closed anyway? Not that I cared for the butcher, who was most certainly going to have a bad day tomorrow, but surely, the Italian people couldn't be so stupid, right?

Well, that didn't really matter right now anyhow. He could solve his own headaches tomorrow. Siskoni would be here soon. I could feel it. And that fact only made me so much more eager to warm up. Yes, believe it or not, extermination can be fun too, even if most people in our class would consider it something only servants should be doing.

I shouted a brief battle cry as I planted my palms into the ground and used them to catapult me up from my lying position on the ground, keeping my boots tightly together. I flew like an arrow, straight into the ant's lower mandible at an angle, the impact penetrating its thick carapace and no doubt rupturing whatever muscle was inside, or... well if not muscle, whatever it was that bugs had inside their exoskeletons.

To add insult to injury, I landed on my palms again and split my legs, spinning around in a helicopter kick that struck those spiny, bladed legs and knocked the creature off balance and sending it facedown onto the pavement. Just enough time to... [red]"HAH!"[/red] finish it off with a Fin shot to the face. Before its head exploded, I was back on my feet, dusting myself off to find the next one.

[red]"Might be a bit too easy, but I'm really not complaining right now..."[/red] I looked around to see what Saber was up to. [red]"What do you think?"[/red]

[Lumivellamo Luvia Edelfelt]

Bug exterminating.... Luvia despised the idea of laying hands on such unworthy creatures, but seeing her sister enjoying herself was somehow lighting her inner fire, and this while being actually named after the cruel and cold goddess of the Sea.

They were not sharing an empathic bond, but no matter how noble either of those Edelfelt sisters wanted themselves make out to be, they were most of all warriors, who also did not shy away to get dirty in combat. The idea of bathing in bug blood worked a bit like Luvia repellent in the favor for those odd monstrosities, but all of that aside, she did not want to lose out on the fun ... and jumped.

Her target was chosen before the fall, the young magus using herself, a very combat advanced form of reinforcement and the force of gravity as a combined weapon. Missing it would be quite painful, but she had tried to be careful in her attack and plan to abuse the enemy as a cushion, while piercing through it like an arrow. Maybe she was a bit too enhusiastic in changing her mind and forgetting her servant, who could have reduced the Risk of getting injured to Zero.

-WHAM-

The projectile, called Luvia Mk.I successfully hit the target, and obliterated it with sheer destructive force, as well as anything below it, leaving some unfavorable work for the city behind. It was then, that she had realized that her dress was not meant for such long falls and almost yelped out in surprise. It was not her plan to give those in the nearby surroundings some fanservice and she immediately put haste into fixing her revealing attire into a proper state.

Uhum.. a minor miscalculation.... Just like the little additional feedback shooting up into her right leg, like when someone accidently hit something the wrong way. The cushion had not been big enough or Luvia Mk. I was a bit too devastating for it. She jumped a few times, while tears shot up in her eyes and cursed under her breath. Couldn't those things be tougher!! AND SOFTER! ..Well, both was not really possible in combination, but something should have happened to prevent her from almost breaking a leg, hmph.

"H-hmph... you are too weak," she complained to an ant which seemed to have been waiting for her to finish her little comedy adjunct, despite just having approached Luvia a bit slower because it had witnessed the destruction of one of its allies. It served no purpose other than collecting herself and getting rid of her flushed cheeks. In less than a second, everything was fine enough for her to use the very same leg for a horizontal strike at the left side of the ant's temple to disbalance it enough for a deadly grapple.

The blonde haired woman regretted once again that it was just an insect with a lack of joints to provide a proper candidate for letting off some of her accumulated anger on it, but grabbing a leg and using it to toss the punching bag into the nearby building was at least enough to conjure a small smile on her face, after seeing the result and another one leaving this World.

"OHOHOHOHO!! Superb flying abilities." The night was really not so bad after all. There were no magi, nor servants to beat down, but somehow this was not a bad thing. They were warriors and had steeled themselves, prepared to take lives and eventually lose their own, albeit not expecting the last bit to be possible. Although this did not make them prepared killers, and it was a bit sad that a Grail War was not only testing the Skills of an opponent, but commonly saw it a necessary to finish them off as well.

..........Don't think like that. That makes you soft, Lumivellamo. She just had to reprimand herself and bring her attention back into the current encounter, or she would fall into a melancholy about the decline of magic in this World and that this Grail War with its Victims would cause an acceleration of this dilemma. On the other hand, the sisters were ready to win this War and staying Victorious could grant them a wish to counter this. Reviving all those who had lost their life in this War, after showing them their strength? ...She had honestly not thought about it, but it seemed worth considering.

Anyhow. There is not much left. Luvia did not know how many bugs had fallen to Archer, but she assumed that Team Lumi and Team Lempi had about an equal count of kills. This was not unimportant because even if they had not spoken about it, they were still competing at times, and it also did not matter that they might not even speak about it. Lumivellamo at least, would remain quiet this time, because she forgot to count. Having ordered her servant to take down bugs from afar, rather than supporting her descend might have been a great idea for the final count, though. JUST AS PLANNED!! The other people did not need to know that it was just by pure chance.... that her actions might be in her favor.

[Charlemagne]

The projectiles descended upon the giant ants like a shower of arrows and artilleries, scattering the numbers of the ants and causing a few deaths here and there. It’s just like the olden days of siege weapons, where just one barrage of them would create mass confusion in poorly-trained base defenses. Seeing even these ants can feel the danger of them and scatters to the wind, that reaction is perfectly natural even among soldiers. Self-preservation’s the basest instinct anyone would have, and those affected by it will prioritize their own being, often in expense of other situations nearby.

Which is why the best thing to do right now is to hit them while they’re panicking; it’s one of the most fundamental thing to do in order to win battles. Ambushes and razes are valuable not only because their ability to cause massive amounts of damage on the enemy’s forces, but also their ability to instill fear and panic among the enemy soldiers. Even though this is just a minor skirmish, it’s still on their best interest to finish these enemies as soon as possible, lest they attract unwanted attention from the public.

Immediately turning his attention towards the other ants besides the initial one who got its head caved in for its trouble, Saber gripped his ornate sword firmly with two hands while the crowd advances towards his position. In the blink of an eye, the crowd’s formation is in shambles. Some of the ants are missing their feelers, some are cleaved in twain, and some find that a hole had unfortunately been opened in their midriff. Within a few seconds, the lines of the soldier ants have been scattered, even more so with the projectile bombardment that came from their long-range support, but a significant number of them were sliced clean and not a byproduct of the bombardment. Feeling satisfied about his own work, Saber turns his attention towards his master, currently occupied in taking down another gathered crowd of those ants.

Observing his master’s aggressive, if quite reckless, fighting style, he can’t help to compare the magi of his days to these two sisters from the North. While he has quite an extensive experience magi in combat, most of them are content to not let their hands dirty, and while some of them do have experiences in sword combat they prefer to engage enemies indirectly. In contrast with these magi, they seemed to posses’ almost warrior-like tendency to be up close and personal, enjoying the thrill of battle in the thick of it. It’s a rare mentality among the scholarly magi of his generation.

Of course, like almost every aggressive fighting style, they’re prone to cause situations where the fighter’s caught off-guard with some cowardly opponent sneaking up behind them and delivering a devastating blow. Luckily, she has a guardian spirit watching over her, literally. Maybe that’s why she thinks she can throw herself into the fray just like that. But no matter, it’s his duty now to preserve his master’s well-being, even though the ants are unlikely to cause that much damage to his master. Complacency’s a dangerous trap to fall into though.

With a swift stroke, an advancing ant’s head is separated from its body, making sure that it goes neither close enough of aware enough of his master. While the girl’s busy exploding ants’ guts, Saber continues hacking and slashing advancing enemies, guarding his master’s flank. As the girl dusted herself up after her latest kill, Saber has finished crushing the latest ant brave enough to approach him into fine paste.

“Might be a bit too easy, but I’m not really complaining right now…What do you think?”

As the last of the ant battalion around them was killed, Saber turns to face his master, his expression a mixture of relax and someone deep in thought. “It is a bit effortless, yes, but I’m afraid this is just the advance forces. These familiars are perhaps nothing more than disposable minions designed to gauge our fighting prowess, perhaps belonging to a Caster.” He looks at the other pair, finishing up on their own portion of the fight. “When Archer and your sister’s finished with their opponents, I’d suggest tracking the source of these ants.”

[Emiya]

Perhaps it's because he was too focus on raining death from above. Or that he give too much credit to his Master. Any or both combination was possible as the next thing he knew, she had leap off from the building without warning. The turret stop spitting out arrows as soon as he realized this and time seems to crawl down to a standstill. His mouth was suddenly dry, his stomach was in knots, his heart was racing as his vision focus even more than before. Thanks to her suicidal act, it's like watching a normal video which heighten in quality halfway through. Judging the arc from which she jumped, it becomes all too clear that her intention was to use the giant ant as cushion for her fall. And like a shell shot by the Bofors autocannon, the projectile that is his Master pulverizes the ant thoroughly. He do not know where to call her suicidal or lucky.

Maybe both.

Mentally groaning, he breathes our air that he didn't know he was holding in, as he runs his hands across his silver hair a bit, confirming there was no more hostile in their surrounding.

Lapsi, kuin kirves pitää olkapäällä kantaa vaikka kuin painava.

Which means a child is like an axe; even if it hurts, you still carry them over your shoulders. Or in this case, a Master.

Milady, if you do that one more time and I'll have you on house arrest for the rest of the war.

He said this with a very stern tone, like a father berrating his child. No doubt there will be a lengthy lecture following after this tonight. After double checking that nobody else is there with them, he leap down slightly beside her with grace just in time to hear.

“When Archer and your sister’s finished with their opponents, I’d suggest tracking the source of these ants.”

To which he nods in agreement and added,

"If nothing else we should familiarize with the battlefield."

[Lempicialynn Edelfelt]

It was a fairly equal division of score. As far as I could tell, anyway. Give or take an ant or two, we crushed them pretty evenly, between two teams. Now siskoni and I, as siblings, would naturally have some form of competition or another. Equal share of the family legacy and my own personal efforts aside, it is a misconception to say that we always get along. That's one of the things you should expect from siblings, and especially in magus families. Just because we both get our own copy of the Crest doesn't mean we never fight.

Well this isn't really so much of a fight as it is a contest, and ultimately, the principle has some form of deviation, but I guess what I mean to say is that conflict is unavoidable. Admittedly, I was more concerned about pest control than actually keeping track of the score, but I'm not all too shabby when it comes to estimates. We killed roughly half of this little army per pair. I have to say, though, that siskoni seemed to be more vocal about how she felt than I was. I grunted and shouted, but I don't actually recall laughing during the whole skirmish.

That only meant one thing: I wanted more. A pity, though. It had ended as quickly as it had begun.

Seeing as there was nothing left to happen, except for that butcher to wake up in the morning to see this mess, I began to do some stretching exercises as Saber answered my question. Siskoni's Archer turned up at that moment and added to our list of options. Needless to say, I liked the first idea better, since recon, while I agree on its importance, is not exactly what needs to be done right now. Not to mention he was just offering it as an alternative, and seemed to have the same idea as Saber.

We should find the Queen ant or Caster or magus or... well whatever it was that was summoning these bugs. Then maybe, just maybe, we could have a real battle. Actually, scratch that, even a real warm-up will do for me at this point. It's like running the first 500 meters of a half marathon and then sitting down for a break. You're bound to be heated up, pumping, and still energetic, but for some obscure reason, you decide to take a break. What happens then is frustration at the fact that no, no you're resting, stopping, your half marathon run arbitrarily.

To be fair, the situations are inherently different, and it's an imperfect analogy. The death risks of marathon running are significantly lower than the death risks of a war, after all. Carelessness might get you injured in a race, even seriously so, but in a war, that kind of reckless demeanour will do worse and get you killed. I continued to debate the issue with myself. The keyword being myself, of course.

On one hand, we can play it smart and safe by scouting the area to get a better feel of it. We might even find some clues (bah! Clues! Investigation! Yawn!) while we look around. On the other hand, we can just follow the trail of proverbial breadcrumbs and maybe stumble upon whoever was responsible for this attack, the dastardly fiend who clearly thinks meat, delicious, protein-rich meat, is only good enough for a bunch of ants.

Of course a good compromise would be not just to simply scout the area and hopefully stumble on clues, but rather to actively set the focus of our search to investigation. But then that takes too much time, so no, I think we should go follow the ants to their origin instead. And just in case you're thinking, this has nothing to do with the fact that Saber is my servant. The three of us just happen to have similar mindsets, that's all.

I finished my stretching with an enthusiastic shout, expelling the used air from my lungs and inhaling a fresh breath. I was just like someone who had run the first 500 metres of a half Marathon and taken a meaningless break, energetic and more than eager to continue the race. [red]"Siskoni, what's your say on this? Personally, and yes, I know it's really stupid, but I'm with these two guys in preferring to track down those ants to their source. Like Saber said, it could be our first Master or his Caster who's behind it."[/red]

[Lumivellamo Luvia Edelfelt]

Lumivellamo remained silent throughout most of the conversation. She approved of certain notions, but felt a strong urge to lash out at her servant for berating her. It was true that some small kind of miscalculation might have happened, but even those misses are a part of the greater plan. The heir to Luviagelita I's will remained equal in her point of view and will to win, even if it was a bit dangerous. All that mattered was elegance and efficiency. However... there was no room for long winded complains when Lempi and her servant were also around.

Luvia managed to keep her composure for the time being, only not deigning to look at Archer. At least he had enough manners to inform her in private. Everything else would have been unforgivable. Casting pride and a small amount of stubbornness aside, she absorbed the valuable information and started to take their opinions into consideration. There was really nothing speaking against tracking them down.

A wise magus might have even prepared those weak ants to lure them all into a trap, but while she was not the kind to just rush in blindly, there was also no great need to be overly cautious, or worse cowardly when it came to fight a magus, who had to rely on such cheap means. The Edelfelts would crush him with sheer superiority.

"Of course! We will find the source and get rid of it. None of those beasts should remain to ruin our march to Victory."

Yet, there seemed to be more behind it. She could feel it in those hands that had held unto one of those creatures, probably closer and more intent than anyone else in this team. Was it really something in the service of a master? They were weak and Luvia all worries aside was certain to slay even more of them with ease, but they were also quite different from the regular familiars. The opponent was a coward for using them, and cowards were weak.

But getting such a great number of creatures out on the field and they somehow disgusted her beyond their form, the owner might actually have some interesting abilities him, or herself. Something was terrible wrong. While her pride forced her forward, her instincts suggested caution. The conflict was won like so often for a Noble of her standing by the former, but not entirely without giving at least a little dent into that pride of hers, and bashing some sense into the young magus.

"I am still not sure about those creatures though. Something felt different when I touched it... but I can't explain it well. Archer! You will approach the location from the top of the buildings as a scout. The rest of us will take the direct route. They don't need to know that there are two masters and two servants. If it is a trap they don't deserve to receive a proper duel, and if not... we can change the formation any time. Any complains?"

Although she was willing to ask, her actions spoke otherwise, already beginning to take the first steps towards the assumed source of the Ant Infestation.

Hmm... it seems that I hurt my right leg a bit.

[Charlemagne]

It only took around a few minutes, not even the length of the usual short skirmish of a battlefield, but the giant ants are all dispatched and taken care of. The encounter was hardly something to worry too much, but the implication that someone would let loose those monsters in a highly populated area like this city still greatly concerns Saber. The way his master briefed him earlier, the Grail War’s rules are designed to minimize casualties, and these minions’ activities are nothing like the cautioned approach he seemed to think this game entails. The sisters seemed to think that this is an unusual action as well, but they seem to approach this so-called war as contest of strength more than anything else, so all sort of underhanded action would probably be deemed unfair by them.

He could respect that attitude, even in the same time he can dismiss it as perhaps a bit naïve.

Regardless, they have done a good job at thwarting the advance forces. A bit too much so, perhaps, considering that they have thoroughly routed the ants so much so that there’s hardly anything left that might lead them to the source of the beasts. Perhaps if they had left even an ant alive it could lead them to the source, but that doesn’t seem to be the case right now as not even a corpse of those things remained at the street. Their best bet seems to be going at the direction where the ants came from, which could be a wild goose chase at the worst possible situation. Archer’s suggestion seems to be more and more attractive by the minute.

Speaking of Archer, he seems like a capable enough person to trust with your back. His skill in skirmishing seems to be adequate enough to provide excellent cover fire at advancing forces in the distance from the way he observed. If nothing else, he’s also a man that thinks in advance, which Saber can always respect. However, he also give a vibe of a somewhat headstrong person, one that wouldn’t stray off from his path no matter what. He reminds Saber of Rinaldo in that aspect…one that he would do well to watch for, yes.

Whatever it is, the matter at hand remains that the ants should have a source. There’s no smoke without the fire, even if the smoke’s source is obscured by a thick forest. Regardless if they’re going with the slower route of scouting first or tracking the source head on, getting into the bottom of this problem seems like the logical course of action to take.

“What Lady Lumi says is wise. There should be at least another backup for us if we would engage in tracking those monstrosities and found an ambush. It’s the skirmisher’s job to support us should the need arise.”

Not that it would do much to air his opinions if it doesn’t add anything too relevant to the table. The elder sister seems to not want to take a ‘no’ for an answer, so it would be pointless to try and argue a point if it’s a plausible course of action. His master seems to be eager for the idea as well, no matter what calculated response came out from her mouth. The tone of her voice seems to suggest otherwise.

[Emiya]

The Crimson Knight remain quiet during the whole discussion, giving only the slightest of nod when he was addressed. Frankly, he would rather investigate the scene instead of following through with this wild goose chase. Had they left a single ant for him to track, he would be more enthusiastic but now they're going to track the source of the ant blindly, in a city where they barely know one corner from another looking for an enemy, who they know absolutely nothing about, not even their general direction. Though he would generally scoff at that, he at least agree on his Master's plan to split them up so that the enemy won't be able to tell their numbers at first glance. He takes a couple of steps forward, making sure it's safe to leave his Master side.

"Then I'll be going on ahead."

With that he dematerialize, leaving them on their own as he take the rooftop approach. Even without his help, his Master would be able to hold on her own, if she keep her head cool. Her twin sister is there as well and so is Saber to back them up so he shouldn't have to worry too much. That reckless act she did earlier however...

Bah, if only the command seal can be rigged so that it can go both ways. I would certainly use one to make her behave herself.

That was his thought as he scanned the unfamiliar city below him.

[Lempicialynn Edelfelt]

About the only things everybody else said that clicked for me was how yes, we were now going to go after the source… that is, wherever that source happened to be, anyway. There was a spring in my step as I followed siskoni, who seemed to know the way, somehow. Well surely, as she had sensed something wrong with the ant familiars, having touched them directly and all, she would be able to tell what that feeling was, and, more importantly, whenever it happened to manifest nearby. Archer disappeared, fading into spirit form, no doubt, and went ahead to perform advanced scouting… again, in which direction, I wasn’t quite sure.

Still, how hard could it be to find another column of giant bugs – we just called them ants for convenience, they looked more like those disposable alien soldiers from an old over-the-top sci-fi action comedy movie. In fact, while I’ve only seen a couple of movies, I was very sure that they looked exactly like those bugs in that one movie from the late 90’s. Well, that was hilarious. Did that mean the Master or Servant behind this was uncreative, or did that mean he or she liked watching stupid movies? Well in the end, that didn’t matter, especially after we showed that naughty, irresponsible summoner how stupid and idea it was to send his bugs to snatch meat!

Glorious meat!

Protein to build your muscles and assist you in building a strong constitution! If he wanted to get meat, why couldn’t he just buy it, or even snatch it himself? Well of course he wouldn’t want to be found, so maybe the answer was just too obvious. I coughed after taking a deep breath. As it turned out, the stench of this strange ant blood was extremely acrid, and made the harshest bug sprays used by the maids back home seem like all-natural air-fresheners in comparison. I can’t believe I only noticed this now. Well, obviously that was the result of letting my adrenaline do the breathing for me, so to speak. When you have all that in your body, you tend to not notice minor details like this bad smell.

[red]”Go, go, go!”[/red] I gently pushed at siskoni’s back to hurry her along. Before I had to start looking for an open health shop and order an extra-large protein shake to drown the disgusting sensation now clinging to my palate. They said that most of taste consists of smell, which is why when you have a clogged nose, food tends to taste blander. I can’t really remember a time when I was that sick, but it suddenly makes sense to order that extra-large protein shake and enjoy the pleasant choco-vanilla smell that it imparted. Just imagining that scent wafting up my nose was enough to make me lick my lips in anticipation.

After this, we were getting milk shakes.

****

Interlude 01-01

Several blocks away, another meat shop was not as fortunate to have a Master-Servant Team watching the area nearby. The proprietor having had more common sense to keep his meat locked inside and refrigerated or frozen, there was now a gaping hole in the front of his store, with the accordion-like metal shutters torn open with incredible precision. Indeed, once again marching like an army of oversized ants, the creatures smashed glass, bored holes in heavy metal freezer doors, and poured in to raid this delicious meat.

They worked quickly, stripping everything down to the bone, as they carried the meat away, down into a hole they had also dug up in front of the store. Why? Why did they want this meat? Was it because they were hungry? Was it because it was how they were programmed? To act like ants? One couldn’t really tell. And that was a mystery that had to be solved by whoever happened to stumble on this organized little insectoid affair.

The alarm was blaring loudly now, and the owner had gotten out of bed to save his livelihood, again, with the common sense to have a fully loaded shotgun on hand to go with his firearms license. Telling the wife and kids to stay in bed, he locked the door behind him as he proceeded downstairs after dialling (somebody had to arrest those pesky thieves) to deal with the idiotic stragglers who dared to break into his illustrious meat shop in the middle of the night. Well, his story ended the same way one might expect to happen to the first victim of a horror movie.

By the time anybody arrived on the scene, they would only find a shotgun with two shells expended, held by a partially clothed skeleton that had been picked completely clean. Need we say it? Down to the bone. This was the night of the marching ants.

[Lumivellamo Luvia Edelfelt]

The young Househead to be, simply because she was the older one, albeit likely to end up in some mild quarrel when the time for this was actually ripe, tried to keep up and stubbornly refused to slow down too much, albeit preferring a slowly shorter approach to the target before her sister pushed her along. It seemed better than showing that one of the legs was not able to be used to 100%.

But this was natural in a battle and she had already gotten hurt more during some training than this. Pain was normal in the Ring, and her opponents more often than not just not capable to stand up to her, Luvia still was playing in accordance to the rules. She could easily best anyone as a Magus, but that was not just unfair yet also totally unnecessary. The magus with long blonde hair stood her own ground not just as a user of magic, but also a Wrestler. Her nickname, albeit quite a bequest of her late aunt, just like her real name, spoke lengths about her combat abilities.

The small jolts shooting up in her brain to signal the defect were slightly uncomfortable, and Lumivellamo was not a masochist in any way, but it also managed to keep her awake, her interest in the nightly adventure declining after not finding a suitable target for her skills. Indeed, the next meeting did not make her too happy. Instead of some kind of trap, she really had anticipated one, or even better a proper challenge, the ground was just again filled with disgustingly deformed abominations.

One could really assume that those beasts were hungry, the biomass they needed exceeded what this District had to offer and it was likely just a matter of time until they would spread all over the City to run either into another well aligned master or ended up consuming everything in Lucca. She did not know how it would end, having yet to meet one of the other participants, but the Lady of the Edelfelt House knew of the improper mislead souls that too often manifested themselves in the magi one could find in the World, corrupted thoroughly by power.

Lumivellamo, the seemingly cold hearted cruel goddess of the sea, as much as names were to be taken into account was aware of her own shortcomings and that she was probably a bit too arrogant for her own good, but nobody could really say that she had the heart on the wrong place, albeit many likely stating this anyway. Especially Nobles were just not popular among the Commoners and while there was certainly a reason for this, she found it a bit disheartening and yet funny that those 'so badly treated' Individuals were doing the very same by placing all Nobles into the same shelf.

Edelfelts were apparently a bit different... although many could probably see this by just looking at them. Only the disdain for the fallen Tohsakas was still in the family, albeit probably stronger in Lempi than Luvia. There were too many riddles concerning them and one could not blame Asians to be inferior if the very own sister showed some significant features stemming from the part of mankind that had settled in the Eastern Regions of the World, namely Japan in the case of Tohsaka.

Well, quite honestly that was something she never really understood. It was true that Western Magic was as much suggested the name alone not spread properly in the East, but enthusiasm and hard work were more important than just heritage. Naturally, this was easy to say if you were gifted and coming with proper background alike. Luvia understood the jealousy well, but paid it no heed, it was a sign of weakness that was unbecoming of a proper warrior. At least she wished to stay to this, no matter how much it was more of an Ideal than something a human being could really uphold. A magus was by some Standards Super Human, and yet still a human. Far from Invulnerable.

Although they obviously needed no such ability against some puny insects.. well, puny in terms of abilities, as their size was far from average and made her understand their dire need for food just too well. But there was one thing that bothered her extremely. That was for one where they actually headed to, making them most likely much more dangerous underground and what was worse..... they were ants, and every child knew about them... and their queen.

"I can't quite see where they are going, but could they bring all of that to some kind of Ant Queen?"

Ants were split into the Queen, the Aggressive Soldiers and the Workers. As far as she could recall something about those insects, and there were definitely more important things on her schedule than the studies of this type of insect, and even then it was not a given that those lookalikes would really be completely identical to the normal ones. She could only hope that their 'summoner' was not some kind of creepy, overenthusiastic Bug Master.

Lumivellamo Luviagelita Edelfelt placed herself cautiously between herself and the main body of the ants, blocking her overenthusiastic sister from performing something stupid, albeit having acted even more unconcerned for her own safety in the previous skirmish, her worries growing. She was still young and in terms of fighting a real battle against monsters extremely inexperienced, well who would not, but her Instincts were still warning her about those oddities who were still busy to collect some meat. They were not dangerous themselves, but whatever brought them forth was not to be underestimated... this was Luvia's thought.

"Proceed with caution, we cannot be sure what might break out of under the ground...."

They could probably feel the tremors when such big creatures were trying to force themselves through the solid asphalt under their feet, but the risk of suddenly ending up surrounded or worse breaking in into some cave filled with worse life forms existed without doubt. Luvia started to reinforce herself once again.

[Charlemagne]

[OCC: So I am taking over for the old Charlemagne. I just took over his avie, in order to fit in as good as possible. If there are any complaints about my post just tell me, I will work on erasing my mistakes]

Marching right into the enemy’s territory, the way of an army marching towards their destiny. Even though this situation was a little bit different than to the things Saber had experienced during his lifetime the base was still the same. They were an army, consisting out of powerful warriors, just walking towards the next battle, as the last one was already won. Yet this battle should only be one of many to come. Who knew what would await them afterwards? Who knew what would be ahead of them?
Archer disappeared, just like it was planned, in order to take his position, that of the man shooting down all enemies that would pose a greater danger to the group by ambushing, or to even turn into the necessary ambush, since their number was smaller than that of those ants, these lower creatures. However numbers didn’t really matter for their plan at all, not in this war. There were only a few soldiers, compared to the numbers the armies back in his time had, while those few were all considered to actually have the strength of such an army. So obviously numbers were only a fact, yet not a real influence on the outcome of the battle and to be honest Charles didn’t expect loss in such an early state of this whole event.

Still, it was a very unusual feeling not to actually lead the group but to follow, not after this long time of being the ruler of such a big empire as his. Now though he was only someone’s Servant and not even following their command at the moment, but following the command of her elder sister, that blonde women, that not only had the idea of splitting the group a little, but was also leading their whole attack force right into the direction of their enemies. All of this wasn’t wrong in his eyes, he understood the idea of those two working together and of course the older one leading the younger one, since she was more experienced. All in all he even admired such teamwork between siblings and so he would just follow the elder sister’s lead, until Lempicialynn would change her mind.
The ground trembling at some point was nothing too impressive. It only made sense that those bugs would make themselves a home within earth, underneath those streets of the silent city. Whoever, though, would just decide to set such things free during a war, which should stay hidden, was the worst kind of person. Those rules he learned about were just broken by that action, maybe even with the intention to really do so in order to gain an advantage. So whoever would be behind this thing, would be punished, that’s what Saber really wished for, from the deepest part of his heart. He, the emperor would never allow someone to break the laws or rules and then just escape justice.
Surprise hit Saber for a second, when the elder sister spoke out one of her thoughts. A queen? Of course, why didn’t he come up with that idea? ”So you are saying that an ant queen may cross our path sooner or later?” You didn’t need to be a genius to figure out something that was as trivial as this. What else would lead ants, than a real queen? Even though there could be another person behind all of this, ants that acted like that would most definitely have a queen. Who else could need meat like that? No ordinary human being would enjoy such an amount of meat in any kind of feast.

”Do not worry, my sword is prepared to face whatever may come at us.” It was a classic line spoken by a knight that was serving his lord or – in this case – lady. He didn’t want to let her down, not even a second. The only thing he wished for was, well, for his Master to build trust towards him, even though words like that could always be spoken, when a warrior felt like it. Saber however believed in every word he said, as every of his words was spoken in a honest way, filled with the important weight of, chivalry of course. And well, it wasn’t like he considered her or her sister weak at all. Those two – to be honest - already prove that they were most definitely capable warriors and by that the best lords a man like Charles could wish for.

So those miserable creatures should come if they wanted to, none of them would survive.

[Emiya]

[OOC: Unlike Charle-Bro-magne there, I am changing my avy, Ohohoho *master-like laugh*]

The monsters, or ants as the reckless twins preferred to call these creatures have been routed back to their nest through the team effort, following the monsters trail was easy, given the size of the 'crumbles' they left behind and it loudness as well, somewhat of a double edged advantage as this commotion would gather the attention of unwanted individuals like the police force, adding an unnecessary time limit to this hunting game. Of course this would not make Archer's master and her sister even ponder about taking care of the situation at the surface before heading down the enemy base, what a troublesome pair. With Saber being with them, Archer could rush ahead to the source of the alarm inside the shop and turn it off, not to buy time for the team Edelfelt but to prevent curious neighbors from becoming 'ant meat' as well.

Messing with anything else at the crime scene would only cause further problems on their side, even if it is a cold decision to leave the corpse of the owner of this place like that, Archer priorities were with the ones still alive. While waiting for his master to catch up to his position, Archer was ready to snipe down any ants that may decide to return to the surface through the same hole used to escape, that probability was very unlikely, these ants displayed some degree of coordination in their movements after all, Archer action may be meaningless but this was a risk he wasn't willing to take. Of course, the most likely course of action that the ants could take would also need to be taken into account and so Archer did, with his positioning atop the destroyed store, Archer had the vantage point of noticing any nearby exit holes the ants may make.

"Master, the ants have fled into their nest, we will be in disadvantage if we follow them down there, I recommend we deal with the mess they left behind, close the hole and then we deal with these insects."

Archer knew this would be a fruitless attempt, letting out a inner sigh as he finish his report, hoping that her injury may knock some common sense into her hot blooded head and consequently also into her sister, knowing this to be too much to hope for, Archer prepared himself mentally to go down the cursed rabbit hole after his master and her sister.

[Lempicialynn Edelfelt]

"And taking out the queen is like chopping off somebody's head. The whole colony will die," That is, however, not taking into account the possibility of the summoner calling upon another queen. "And then we'll beat the tar out of whoever summoned them." So that he could, you now, no longer summon a new queen, if he somehow had the prana left to do so, considering how much it would take to call upon such familiars.

I imagine it would be a very high-maintenance colony. The other possibility was that it was the queen that soaked up most of the power, and these babies were lightweight, so to speak. But these imaginary musings will remain speculations until we actually go down to the nest and face off with the queen herself. That is, if Siskoni considered it worth the risk. A few workers was little more than a brief warmup exercise. A whole colony, soldiers and all, was was going to be an exhausting chore.

My excitement waned slightly as I relaxed my step. I didn't want to spend the rest of the night doing chores. But surely, if we were lucky, there would be some real fighting to be had in those tunnels? Maybe these were just the workers toiling to get the food, while the real soldiers guarded the entrance to the nest - and certainly the tunnels themselves.

But what if they weren't like normal ants? What if they were homogenous in their features, and did multipurpose work? One size fits all? A terrible thought! Then it would surely become nothing more than a chore, of stomping them - proverbially - until all were dead. And the queen would likely be this bloated immobile thing that could barely defend herself.

The more I thought about it, the less appealing this became. Still, I steeled myself. If anything else, we have to kill them, if only to make sure nobody got hurt. I take a moment and a breath. That's what I should think about - how we will be helping others. Not about how I would be bored out of my skull if there were no real soldiers to fight.

We follow on until we reach another hole in the ground, in front of another butchery. They must really like meat. "Time to take the fight back to them."

***

About a hundred metres into that hole, a defense was being raised. Rocks were rolled into position, warriors took place to block the path inward, and just in case someone got through there, a Tanker was lurking just under the rubble to spring into action.

Workers, meanwhile, were hard at work preparing to collapse the tunnel and block access to the colony. They had their meat. They would not surrender it to some interloper who just happened to inconveniently fall down a hole. But if somebody did do something as stupid as fall down a hole, they would find this very well-equipped welcoming committee to make sure that they really felt unwelcome.

[Lumivellamo Luvia Edelfelt]

And leave their nest unattended? They will just come out through another hole. We will wipe them out tonight. Every single one of them!

Luvia believed herself to be the more reasonable one of the sisters, albeit of course only other people able to form a proper evaluation, but she was also too far ahead and already steeling her mind for the final battle of the night to simply back down. An Edelfelt would not ignore a challenge and those ants no matter their size had to be placed back into their proper place. Magi were no heroes and the blonde master of Archer did not hold any interest in such a position either. However they were at the right place at the right time and those creatures were just hindering a smooth progress of the Grail War. It was unlikely that a master or servant would fall for them, but what if the chance of a glorious battle was lost because of this?

....Although officially not willing to think about it, she was also not willing to sacrifice people when it was not absolutely necessary. It remained unclear if the Grail War was the trigger for the odd phenomena that caused problems in Lucca, but her instincts were insistent on the rising possibility that it was indeed the sole reason that this ants came into existence and claimed one life after the other. It was the responsibility of a magus to stop this heresy from growing out of proportions. The pride of magi was on stake. How could she just back down? Unfortunately, Luvia would from her very own estimation lose this little duel with Lempi, because her servant would lose his major advantage in the depth of the monster nest, his range. Without the slightest shred of fear or caution, Lumivellamo advanced into the enemy's lair.

It is quite dark down here... Reinforcement was giving many advantages but even 'Super Humans' would not be able to see without light. She could barely fathom how deep this nest actually reached down into the midst of the earth. Sooner than later she would be completely shrouded in darkness, blind to all dangers and an easy prey. Well, her routine included to fight without seeing as well, but it seemed unwise to apply to count on it under the current circumstances. Nevertheless, magi were commonly not used to fighting and their skills included a wide range of spells for various tasks, and the Edelfelts might have more combat skills than most Others, they were still staying true to the curriculum the clock tower lectures brought with it.

The battlehungry lady briefly stopped her advance and began a standard chant for an extra light source. By the time she was done the rest of the Exterminators would also already have closed up on her. Well, it was unfair to begin with a quickstart anyway. When the orb illuminated the cave like structure Lumivellamo for the first time during their hunt was openly surprised.

"Hnnn? Those hideous monstrosities apparently make use of their increased brain size. Call me amazed."

And also slightly worried. The day an Edelfelt would call an ant a suitable opponent rather than just some warmup fodder would still take some generations to come and if things worked out properly this decline would actually never appear, but it became increasingly clear that it would not go as easy as they had planned. Their very entrance point would soon be sealed off completely and a bombardment could cause an collapse. Those things would not even need to put any effort in their run. They really needed to hurry.

...they are awfully well prepared.

[Charlemagne]

Entering the cave, Charles realized what he should have expected all the way. They would enter a realm of darkness, a territory where they were given a bad disadvantage, as well as some more of that kind. The problem of sight and the problem of entering foreign grounds were things even he did not enjoy that much. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to face disadvantages of the bad king, yet it always meant trouble in battle. Sometimes that kind of trouble wasn’t that bad, as it would make things more entertaining, but more risky.
Another surprise was given to the small group just after the blonde sister decided to clear up the darkness by using a spell. Nothing unexpected to Saber. Now the things hidden were uncovered and so they would gain some insight into their own situation, an insight that was quiet surprising. Listening to his Master’s sister’s words he felt the same way she did, just taking a concentrated look around, analysing everything he could see. A lot was hidden, the shadows were reeking around them, one source of light would never be able to dispel all of this caves natural darkness.
Walls were build around them, blocking all paths. Something like this could be seen as the beginning of a trap. Nevertheless it was impressive. Who would have thought that such creatures would be able to perform preparations of this magnitude in order to prevent their enemies from entering their hideout? Maybe they weren’t as much of a challenge in direct combat as a Servant, yet they were able to at least use their brains to come up with something that would fill a gap like this.

Silently Charles readied his sword. Slaying those monsters was still their objective, an objective he would follow no matter what they would come up with next. They didn’t deserve to be on this earth. Nothing more than demons, that’s what they were in his eyes, monsters born as the shame of this world, low creatures not even worthy of existence. No matter how smart they could have been, no matter how big their brains were, they were still only meant to die by his hands, to be cut down by his blade. That’s what their only purpose was right now.
”I doubt that it would be the best idea to directly charge through their walls or to strike, at least not as long as we haven’t got a strategy. Those things are not as dumb as we expected them to be, after all. So maybe they even decided to prepare something for us, if we continue our march deeper into their territory.” Talking about it right now didn’t seem reckless, at least at first. Ants couldn’t understand human language after all, could they? So why not talk about it as long as there was time left to do so. The rocks surrounding them and the long tunnels wouldn’t allow someone to understand their exact words spoken anyway. Sound could get lost just too easily.

In the end, waiting for commands, Saber turned towards his Master. She was the one to decide what he would do. No matter what he thought about or what he wanted to do, if it wasn’t allowed then he wouldn’t do it.

[Emiya]

*Sigh*

The expected answer from his master came back as swiftly as her arrival and eagerness to jump into the hole together with her sister before even ascertaining the situation and formulating a plan of attack into the enemy headquarters so of course, Archer kept that sigh to himself, his vantage point was now useless and he had no other option aside following his 'brave' master into the monsters den, the close range wasn't Archer's specialty but it hardly was the field where his weak point laid at and the time to show that to his master came in a way he wasn't expecting to.

"Allow me to take point master, you and your sister should stay between me and Saber at all times inside this cave."

Jumping down to join his master side, Archer fared better than the blonde drills at seeing in the dark but her spell to bring light to the cave was most welcomed since unlike them, the giAnts could attack them from all sides now, not just from underground and this would require for the servants to be at the edges of their formation in order to feel any movements or tremors first and react accordingly.

"They are trying to stop us from chasing them master, if we force our way through here, we could end up burying ourselves."

For those monsters, sacrificing a single route that was created just to scavenge food was nothing for them but for the Edelfelt team, that could spell early death however, Archer knew well that his master and her sister won't give up 'just' because of that, thus Archer need to make a new proposition of how to best attack these ants.

"Given their numbers and size, I assume they would require a nest much larger than just a house or a few meters of cave dug into one night, specially when there already is an exquisite and complex man-made maze under the city, big enough for those monsters to fit in and use as their nest. The sewers."

With this much said, Archer believe his master and her sister will catch up on what he means, of course, he have no proof that these monsters are following the same pattern as ants do and if they are being controlled by a magus, moving through the already existing tunnels under the city, digging only a few necessary ones like the tunnel they are in right now wouldn't take much time much less be noticed by the few common people that work down here and not attract any attention from the city above. It would be a huge problem if this plan were to be in preparation in months prior the Grail War. All nothing more than guesses based on Archer's knowledge of the current age and culture and guerrilla tactics experiences through his life.

"The lines of the sewer should be sturdy enough to withstand some of our attacks onto those monsters, unlike this tunnel, we will have the advantage of knowing to where it goes and which paths they take to move from place to place."

"What do you think master?"

Archer knew his idea was better than venturing through tunnels that were being closed off by their enemies when they had no clean means to open up the path without risking a cave-in but it is out of courtesy and respect that he ask for his master opinion on the matter, the fact that his master remind his loved one plays only a small role in the usual sarcasm in his voice, as for once, he is the one lecturing 'Luvia' and not the other way around.

(OOC: A quick Google search shows that Lucca has no subway since it is a small town so unless we are in cbox Lucca, we can only go to the smelly place~ if Archer's suggestion is taken, that is it)

[Lempicialynn Edelfelt]

To think that these bugs were smart enough to have some kind of organized tactic like this was strangely amusing. I remember some satirical talk show discussion that ended with a nerdy egghead type mouthing the one-liner "Brain Bugs? Frankly, I find the idea of a bug that thinks offensive". I'm pretty sure he ate his words by the end of the movie.

But then this is real life, and one can only assume that if they are as ant-like as they appear to be acting (because they don't exactly look like ants), then they certainly show some kind of cohesiveness. Of course, one cannot underestimate the intelligence of a superorganism like a bug colony. Several species of ants build nests out of leaves, and others additionally use leaves the same way farmers use soil. Yes, there are farmer ants.

I'm not quite sure I remember why I know this, but perhaps it had something to do with mandatory lessons from that stupid bug professor back at the Tower. Archer gave his assessment, and it certainly proved to be a very forward-thinking one that I would never have considered. Rather than blasting a hole through that barricade and potentially collapsing this dug-up tunnel - which I was very ready to do, actually... he suggested looking through the sewers. They were lower down, I assume?

More importantly, I should consider Saber's words. Archer, the stuff coming from his mouth makes sense but I don't even know who he's supposed to be. Saber, on the other hand, being a great military leader, it is obvious that his words hold a lot of weight.

And he was also essentially against blowing a hole through this pile of rubble with two ants standing guard in front of it. I crack my knuckles. "Can I at least whack those two guards?"

***

If one were to follow that long tunnel beyond the barricade, it would be apparent that the red knight was correct. This would lead down to the sewers, which in a span of the past few days, had a large section converted into a nest. One that still allowed sewage to flow freely beneath it, so as to not cause a ruckus. Such attention to detail only meant that something intelligent was behind this...

And this intelligence, directing this hive, was gathering meat from all over the city, for not quite known purposes. But what was this intelligence, exactly? Whatever it was, it no doubt dwelt in the heart of the hive, where all the meat was being brought.

[Lumivellamo Luvia Edelfelt]

"And what if it does not?"

It was a very well thought of idea and she also believed the possibility that it might connect to some other area. However this small factor of uncertainty made her reluctant about just leaving this place and going for a potential cold scent. Going from their ability to make tunnels all by themselves they did not have to rely on premade tunnels and could as well completely ignore the sewers. Ants would usually try to avoid water and Lumi could also think about a couple of more suitable places for a Lady, although she was quite ready to jump and take a dive into that stench hole if it would prove her worth as a warrior. Being a noble was more than simply having a title and money, especially when one stemmed from the Warrior Aristocracy.

"They blocked us because we are getting close to something important, otherwise they could have just sent their troops. We might lose a great chance when we retreat now."

She also prepared her gloves to risk death at the side of her sister in a frontal assault rather than taking the careful Approach. The young woman was not exactly the most patient of individuals and wandering the canalisations for days just to eventually find something was extremely unappealing. Luvia wanted to settle it as fast as possible and at best right away. What better way was there than bravely advancing? NONE OF COURSE! Without waiting for anyone else or giving a proper reply to her sister, she proceeded in rushing ahead and 'whacked' one of the guards straight into the Other. Although the intelligence for some ants was impressive, their lack of honor or bravery was quite the opposite, Anger building up within the Pro Wrestler and Magus of Noble Blood.

"Let us kill them here and now!"

[Charlemagne]

He remained silent. Saber’s thoughts circled around the words that were said. Archer’s assumptions seemed correct. If the following tunnel really was man-made they would take away a small part of the enemy’s advantage. And if fighting was possible under these conditions, they could stand a chance to go forth. Considering the words of his Master’s sister, Saber realized what was before them. Victory could be taken, or they would just walk into the beast’s trap.

”I believe that Lady Lumi’s words are the ones to follow. What ever may lay ahead of us, it can be considered the beast’s heart. Piercing right through it, would be an opportunity for us not to miss. Retreat may be the way to save strength, yet it is not worth wasting the taste of victory.


I could never deny my Master such pleasure.” He agreed. Of course he did. He knew what it meant to someone, to enjoy an earned victory. Even though this wasn’t an all deciding battle, it was a battle worth enough to pass on motivation for the battles that had yet to come towards them. Both, his Master and her sister should gain this experience. Such a feeling couldn’t be denied to warriors anyway.

”As Archer said, it would be the best for both of you to stay between us. However I believe that it is not my right to deny you the joy of taking an opponents life.” Feel free to take their lives, that’s what he meant. This sudden change of mind shouldn’t seem all too weird, should it? The words spoken alone, as well as the thoughts spent were enough to convince him to unsheathe his sword and march towards the field of battle.


After the final words of motivation were spoken, Saber felt prepared for this battle against these bugs. Eradicating from this world in his Master’s name, was the only right thing to do. So he would grab his sword with strength, ready for fulfilling his task.

[Emiya]

The result of the battle against the GiAnts was still unknown but their victory would be a matter of time, however, the battle to keep the advantage on the side of the pair of sisters and servants was a lost one already, Archer was alone at the side that wished to proceed with caution, not even Saber would side with him on this, instead he sided with his master, loyal to the end. Archer on the other hand could only shrug under the pressure of the majority.

"Fine, since I am the only one that wish to save us the trouble of taking the long route, I won't object to plowing our way through these guards and the 'door' they protect."

Archer isn't a overly strong hero but he still made into the Throne of Heroes because of his own weapons that are sharper than any blade that he can trace, determination and witty thinking, of course those two traits come along with sarcasm and cynicism as well, which Archer made full use of at the moment. The sister that resembled Tohsaka Rin was one thing but Archer's master, Luvia, is a perfect 'copy', not only in appearance but in personality as well, of the very same Luvia he fell in love with when he was only a kid, like his master right now.

Although Archer knew very well to not expect better of a Edelfelt than shooting first, asking questions second, this scene brought back memories from the time when Archer was known as Emiya Shirou but those memories were out of place at the moment and Archer would not bring that up with the wrong person, even if they look the same but a smile showed up on Archer's face for a brief moment, hopefully hidden by the darkness of this tunnel.

"We shall let the ladies lead the attack while we cover the other angles which aren't the front, Saber."

A bow and arrows wouldn't be of so much use in this closed space and thus Archer had let go of his weapon that, on a first glance, designed him as a Archer class to replace them with a pair of twin small swords in black and white color, clearly made for close combat, regardless of what the rest of the team would think of him or what else would he be hiding from them. As for the suggestion of the two sisters, Archer now wants to let them see for themselves how rough the choice they made is, of course, as her servant, Archer won't let anything happen to Luvia and believes that Saber will do the same for his own master.

[Lempicialynn Edelfelt]

Sense! Common sense! If the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, then the simplest way to move is in a straight line! Though persuasive was one way to describe Archer, it would take more than cool logic to stop the boiling of blood in my veins. A lot more.

Seeing my big sister jumping in to take the first hit was a real eye opener. For one, it showed that was I had let my guard down. Were it up, I would have beaten her to that first punch. To make up for it that little oversight, I switched on the reinforcement and quickly followed suit. "Saber, handle the rest!"

My elbow slammed hard into one ant before I landed on my palms and spun my legs, hitting another two that came too close. For another, it showed that she was obviously more in agreement than me than with her own Servant. Which is heartwarming, or something like that. Couldn't be bothered to think too much about it, since I was too busy trying to get more kills than her.

Why? Because competitive sport should be the only kind of sport. The competition drives you to excel, to push yourself above others, to stand out and raise yourself to meet your full potential. But all such things aside, the real reason I went ahead was because the shortest distance to a point is a straight line.

And whatever was at the end of this tunnel was, as Siskoni had mentioned, important enough to warrant blocking the path to. And if that important thing was bigger and nastier than these, then I say bring it on.

A red flash went by the side, and I saw enough just to shake my head. Archer was doing the strangest thing, really. "What kind of an Archer swings a pair of swords around?"

***

More... it needed more... the meat was filling up, but there were disturbances up in that tunnel that needed to be stopped. This disturbance was interrupting the gathering... disrupting the process. At this rate, even more meat was going to be needed. This could not be allowed to pass.

Warriors rose from the murky depths and crawled up into the besieged tunnel. Not merely warriors, though, as their bright plating denoted. No. More like... Royal Guards. Not that much larger, but definitely tougher, and three times faster. If the warriors couldn't stop them, then the Royal Guard would. They just had to.