Oath in the garden renewed [/fin]

[Yang huang Long]

One day before day 1 at Midnight

The Universita Degli Studi di Lucca really lived up to its reputation. A massive complex that covers a good part of Torre Alta filled with curriculums and teachers that could scare the crap out off any students that slack off. Because of that the night life tended to be in a word animated around here, especially Sunday nights. Well normally, the problem about tonight was:

"Seems like tonight is going to be a pretty quiet night, Its so quiet that its actually a little bit too quiet."

Yang Huang Long has been attending the Universita Degli Studi di Lucca for about 1 month now as part of an international student exchange program funded by his family. As a result the University temporarily gave him a pretty spacious and comfortable little apartment on school grounds for him to live in. Right now he was standing in his bedroom; suit up in a green business suit and a big red and black coat.

"I guess this is what they call the calm before the storm."He then turns to his side. "Hey Bai Hu, are the preparations ready?" Behind him stood a figure that’s easily 2 heads taller than him dressed in a black coat with a hood and a white mask. The figure nodded affermatively at his question. "Good, let’s begin."

Huang Long took the objet he held in a bundle in his hands and put it in the middle of what appear to be a magic circle freshly drawn with a mysterious grey and gooey material. The objet in question was a normal peach picked from a very specific tree in a very specific garden in China in a very specific time of the year. He know that he could find a more impressive catalyst if he tried to find one but, well he’s lazy and a part of him is telling him that this is the catalyst that he needs to use. It made him feel bad, using this specific catalyst to summon the one he wanted. It made Huang Long feel guilty, to use the symbol of that man’s legendary oath and loyalty for such a purpose. "I wonder if he’ll forgive me if he find out about this." But even has he thought about that, he knew that there was no room for hesitations now, no way of turning back and to forget all of this. For the sake of all those years of preparations and for the sake of his goals, he needed to do this.

And thus he began to chant

[glow=silver,2,300]"Ye first! O silver, O iron! O Archduke of the contract!"[/glow]
As soon as the first words left his mouth he felt his prana getting drained by the circle.

[glow=silver,2,300]"Hear me in the name of our great teacher, the Archmagus, Schweinorg. Let the descending winds be as a wall!"[/glow]
Appropriately, large burst of wind slammed his windows open and started to pour into his room in earnest, but he paid it no mind, there was nothing else inside the room besides him and the right now. Though, he did dimly wonder why it felt so cold all of a sudden.

[glow=silver,2,300]"Let the gates in all directions be shut, rising above the crown, and let the three-forked roads to the Kingdom revolve!"[/glow]

Disappointedly, there was no door open at the time, so they couldn’t be shut for the dramatic sound and visual effects.

He snapped his fingers producing a *snap* from them [glow=silver,2,300]"ShutEquot;[/glow]
Another *snap* [glow=silver,2,300]"shutEquot;[/glow] an rhythm was set

*Snap* [glow=silver,2,300]"shutEquot;[/glow]
*Snap* [glow=silver,2,300]"shut... "[/glow]
*Snap* [glow=silver,2,300]"shut! "[/glow]
He gestured his right hand toward the now glowing circle and gripped his left fist in concentration.

[glow=silver,2,300]"Five perfections for each repetition! And now let the sigils be annihilated in my stead!" [/glow]
Sweats of exhaustions started to form on his body.

[glow=silver,2,300]"Let thy body rest under my dominion. Let my fate rest in thy blade! If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail, and if thou wilt obey this mind... this reason... then thou shalt respond!"[/glow]
The circle’s glow became even more bright and the room was lit up. One could see the energy that was flowing into the circle and the catalyst.

He lifted his fingers toward the celling.

[glow=silver,2,300]"I make my oath here! I am the person who is to become the virtue of all Heaven!"[/glow]
At least he hoped he will, and he’ll definitely try.

[glow=silver,2,300]"I am the person who is covered with the evil of all Hades!" [/glow]
For him this was true, in a way. If everything goes like he want them to go then he’ll be considered to be evil and branded as a wanted man by two of the world’s most powerful organizations. But then again if everything goes all right for him, then by the time they find out, they wouldn’t be able to do a thing.
He gathered his will and utterd the last verse of th ritual.

[glow=silver,2,300]"Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words, come past thy restraining rings and be thou the hands that protect the balance!"[/glow]

As the last words escaped his mouth the room exploded in a green light.

[Guan Yu]

There was no scent, no theatrics apart from the burst of green light, which was simply a by-product of the summoning.

Guan Yu was not a theatric man, he tried his best to be practical. He was in a battle-ready stance at the moment of summoning, in case his Master had been forced to summon him in a combat situation.

It was not to be, which he had to admit was a pity. It would have been enjoyable to have a battle right off the bat. Still, it did give time for preparation and planning.

Still, if there was no immediate danger, it was probably time to give his Master attention and exchange pleasentries.

Now Guan Yu got into a slightly more relaxed position, weapon by his side, eyes looking down upon the man that was in front of him, most likely his Master, with a critical eye. He was no warrior, that was for certain. The outfit was impractical, and seem to take appearance more into account then anything. But then again he was suppose to be a Magus, so it was understandable. The only other Magus he had known well was Zhuge Liang. That man had been no warrior, had worn strange robes that had afforded little protection and slight hindering of movement, and was always planning anyway.

Somehow in the space of a second, this man had reminded him of Zhuge Liang. Were all Magus like that man? It mattered little, they had their place, he had his. They could understand each other to a degree, but never completely.

'I am Servant Rider, responding to the summoning. Are you my Master?' Such pleasantries had to be made, to complete the contract. Guan Yu didn't mind, he understood traditions had to be followed in some cases.

[Yang huang Long]

"Okay I finished the ritual now wh-Ah my eyes!! The glasses are not doing anything!!!" Would describe Huang Long's thoughts as he was blinded by the lights in a disturbingly accurate way.

When the light cleared away, it took a few moments for Huang Long to be able to see clearly again. Because really, receiving a face full of eyeballs blinding light is not pleasant even for someone wearing glasses made from magecraft. That and he was filled with glee at having successfully completed the summon Despite the fact that he was disoriented he could still heard his Servant's question clearly

"I am Servant Rider, are you my master?" The voice held an instantly recognizable air of confidence, pride and power.

Recovering his senses, Huang Long took a look at his Servant. The man looked exactly like the way that the records told. A ridiculously tall warrior, no general would be the more appropriate term, the green robes, the concealed armor, a red face, oh and the extremely badass full beard. Now that he think about it, the green robes + armor combination looked kind of silly.
But the most striking thing about Rider was that one could tell just from a glance that yes, he truly is someone worthy of being called a hero, he has deserved the positions of god of war and loyalty. No wonder this guy is worshiped by a good chunk of the underworld.

Calm down, he told himself, honestly get a hold of yourself. I mean its not like you're meeting one of the most popular hero in China. When meeting someone like this, the best way to go for the first impressions is to be natural. He straighten himself and answered "Yes, I am your master, Servant Rider" Thankfully, he thought, he was good at staying calm, he then added "and thanks for responding to my summoning so fast." and with that the contract was sealed.

To gain his trust I'll have to show him my willingness to trust first was the first idea to cross Huang Long's mind, and who knows? If it works, he may even make himself a new friend.

He smiled and said "Now that we've finished with the pleasantries, how about we introduce ourselves for real?" he asked and then he held his right hand open toward the Heroic spirit "I'm Huang Long, full name Yang Huang Long." He gestured to his left "The mister you see by my side is Bai Hu, my assistant." "So may I humbly ask you for your true name Rider? Or would you rather we talk about the war?" he offered.

[Guan Yu]

Well, that was certainly a good start. The man in front of him had indeed confirmed his mastership. The rush of prana after the words were uttered confirmed it even without having to see the command seals, but he glanced at them anyway. Yes, they were there.

"and thanks for responding to my summoning so fast."

An odd choice of babble, he hadn't a choice on the speed. Was he slightly foolish, or simply stunned at his presence?

"The mister you see by my side is Bai Hu, my assistant."

Guan Yu glanced over to where his Master was gesturing. A man concealed in black with a white mask. Weren't Assassin Servants suppose to look like that?

He detected no killing intent, or indeed much at all from them. Even if he did, the man was closer and could probably kill his Master before Guan Yu could do anything if they were a Servant with decent speed. So he decided to let it slide for now, but in private he may question his Master on their companion.

"So may I humbly ask you for your true name Rider? Or would you rather we talk about the war?"

Guan Yu was about to answer, but paused as he noticed something. Peaches... He could smell peaches.

He glanced down. The Summoning Circle seemed to have been smeared on the floor.

A catalyst, they could use catalysts. Was the oath he made in the peach garden well known? Was this peach what he had used?

It was a big coincidence if it was otherwise. But that raised the question of why they asked. Mere confirmation? Something more sinister?

...No

Guan Yu silenced these foolish thoughts with one word. How could he be so paranoid? Probably something to do with how his life had ended, the memories somehow still fresh in his mind. But it mattered not.

No, in the end this is one of the simpler things he had to do. A clear goal of victory. He didn't have to convince armies to follow him, or anything like that. No, this was what he had been born to do. Fight for a cause. He will fight for the Grail, he may die for the Grail. But in the end, it is a cause worth fighting for and he will not let doubt of his Master cloud this. Believe in him because all hope is lost without him.

'I am Guan Yu, well known for my following of the code of brotherhood and righteousness to the point where some believed me to be a god of those things.' Guan Yu gave a wry smile as the information flowed into his head from the connection to the Grail. The people flatter him, despite he and his brother's failure in succeeding. They did not die for nothing then, some seeds of it must still exist. 'Now that our names are settled Yan Huang Long, I do believe we should discuss tactics. Did you have plans for the war already? Shall we scout the surrounding area?'

Guan Yu simply waited for an answer, his eyes watching for any subtle movements on his Master's face. Just how much of a tactician is he? That is what Guan Yu wanted to figure out first.

[Yang huang Long]

He noticed the look Rider sent to his assistant. Hum, I guess the getup worked like I hoped, I should tell him the truth, that Bai Hu wasn’t a Servant but, was actually a familiar. He decided to tell him after he sees how long the disguise on Bai Hu will last under the close inspection of a Heroic Spirit.

He then saw Rider starting to answer and then pause at his inquiry, Huang Long flinched mentally.

Crap, he must have noticed the catalyst. That means his asked for the sake of politeness must have backfired and made him look suspicious. He berated himself. Nice going me, not even a few minutes in this partnership and you already made him doubt you."

His worries were put into the depths of his mind when he heard Rider’s answer

'I am Guan Yu, well known for my following of the code of brotherhood and righteousness to the point where some believed me to be a god of those things.'

He noticed the ironic smile on his face when he said that. Now that confirmed it, he successfully summoned the legend that he wanted.

'Now that our names are settled Yan Huang Long, I do believe we should discuss tactics. Did you have plans for the war already? Shall we scout the surrounding area?'
He closed his eyes, lifted his left hand to his chin and rubbed it thoughtfully. After a few seconds he spoke up.

"Well, to answer your second question first, no you don’t need to scout the area, Bai Hu will do it, its safer for him." At that statement the person in question nodded and then tried to jump out of the window. Huang Long grabbed him by the sleeve and took a long look at him and pointed at the door on the other side of the room and said with an amused smile on his face, "There is a door over there you know." At that, the figure’s body language gave a thank you and walked out of the door.
After scratching his head, while muttering wryly, "That guy, I swear sometimes I can’t tell whether he’ being serious or that he’s joking."

He concentrated his attention back on Guan Yu.

"And to answer your fist question, yes I do already have some ideas that might give us a few edges in this war. One of which is to have you stay put and maintain a low profile for a few days. As for the other ideas, well…"He started to walk towards the door, "Come on, let’s go somewhere where we can sit down so that we can discuss this subject more comfortably and before I collapse from exhaustion." and headed for his workshop room that he set up in his apartment.

[Guan Yu]

Guan Yu was relieved to hear that his master had already started planning. Clearly the decision to join this war hadn't been spur-of-the-moment.

The other person, the suspected Assassin, just left. Probably not a Servant then, to lose the advantage he had. Or perhaps one under his Master's control. It was pointless to ask, in any case.

At the words "Stay put" and "low profile", the smile he had wavered. It wasn't only that he preffered action to waiting around, but if his Master's height was anything to go by the average height in the current era, then he would be rather easy to notice. And spirit form could be detected by enemy Servants, so it seemed like an assumption that he may be staying in this... abode for a while.

Not that he had anything against it, Guan Yu had slept in tents and massive dwellings that were almost a land within themself. In the end rest was rest, where you performed the vital function, be it the earth or in a bed, mattered little.

"Come on, let’s go somewhere where we can sit down so that we can discuss this subject more comfortably and before I collapse from exhaustion."

Aahh yes, the ritual could be... Draining. Guan Yu didn't see himself sitting down, but he still followed his Master, being careful to mind his head at the doorway. It will be interesting to hear his Master's plans, hopefully there was a good reason behind the waiting for combat.

He said nothing, simply waiting for the explanation.

[Yang huang Long]

The ‘’workshop’’ was a pretty large room with no windows, a desk with a portable computer on top, a small library whose shelves were full of books and two large chairs, there were a few books scattered on the floor and the desk and laying everywhere around the room were concept art of various weapons, coats and robots.

Huang Long put his coat on the desk, sat down on one chair and looked up at Guan Yu and asked:

"I suppose you want to know why I want you to stay out of the war for the moment." The Servant didn’t answer most likely because he had no need to respond to such a question. Huang Long cleared his throat and began.

"Well there are a few reasons." He lifted one finger, "For one, by staying put during the beginning of the war we can conserve our strength and let the strongest of our enemies kill each other off, this leaves us with either the really weak teams or the exhausted teams, both of which are pretty easy pickings, normally at least. By waiting we can chose fights that are more advantageous to us, also if we wait and we increase our chances of survival and of victory since we’ll be less obvious targets, that and running out to do battles without the necessary info is plain suicidal."

Starting to get sleepy.

He lifted two fingers. "Second, we can observe our enemies rather safely thanks to Bai Hu, the news and the internet. These will give us information on the abilities and possibly clues for the identities of both the masters and the Servants. This knowledge can then be used to find their weakness, like, limitations of their powers, where they live, work, love ones all of which could be used against with great effect." He grimaced "However, I’ll admit that what I just suggested was despicable still, this is a war and if we’re ever forced to do those kinds of stuff. We’ll need to minimise the damages to those that will be involved and don’t worry about not getting any action. Giving the nature of this war we’ll have to eventually face someone that we never saw coming."

Damn, he was tired.

He lifted three fingers this time. "My third reason is a bit more personal." He paused and scratched the back of his head. You see, I’m more of a defensive, negotiation, diplomacy and deception kind of guy. So I’m hoping to avoid any fight that can be avoid and maybe get some allies, all the while I’m playing the moron."

So tired

He snapped his fingers "That reminds me, Rider, when we’ll have to join the fray personally I’d like for you to treat me respectfully as an incompetent and ignorant master who can’t do anything by himself. To help you with that act when out in the open I’ll act like an airheaded, obnoxious and childish person who’ll talk for hours about nothing. Hopefully we can fool the enemy into believing that we don’t work well as a team and is thus no threat for the stronger master and an easy prey for the weaker more desperate master." He gave a predatory smile. "Which means of course that they’ll underestimate us and fell right into our trap, who knows, we might be able to get a few masters to abandon their command spells a get some new Servants?"

He wanted to go to bed so badly right now; actually the chair and the desk may make a pretty decent bed. But if he made them into beds then why would he need to buy beds in the first place. Well, he’d be missing a chair and a desk so he could change the bed into those objects. Yes that sounded about right, but waht about the amount of sleep time he'd lose if transformed those objects. He'll just have to go steal some clocks, or build some, and get the extra time out of those things. Wait that didn't make any sense.

"As for the rest, well," He shrugged "there’s still too many unknown factors that may derails any attempt at formulating ansd executing complex plans and may end up killing us. So I think you’ll agree that for now we’ll just stay with these admittedly simple but, flexible tactics that we can easily adapt to most situations"

He fought back a yawn.

"So," he pull open the top left drawer reached inside and out took a bottle of water, "Got any more questions?" He asked and then drank a big gulp out of the bottle.

[Guan Yu]

"For one, by staying put during the beginning of the war we can conserve our strength and let the strongest of our enemies kill each other off, this leaves us with either the really weak teams or the exhausted teams, both of which are pretty easy pickings, normally at least. By waiting we can chose fights that are more advantageous to us, also if we wait and we increase our chances of survival and of victory since we’ll be less obvious targets, that and running out to do battles without the necessary info is plain suicidal."

He had suspected such reasoning. Another strike to the "like Zhuge Liang" list. Indeed, the man had almost echoed him word for word. That time, he had followed those words grudgingly. Now...

Well, he would do so without any petty negative emotions, but with simple acceptance.

"Second, we can observe our enemies rather safely thanks to Bai Hu, the news and the internet. These will give us information on the abilities and possibly clues for the identities of both the masters and the Servants. This knowledge can then be used to find their weakness, like, limitations of their powers, where they live, work, love ones all of which could be used against with great effect."

Guan Yu didn't like the sound of the last one, it sounded a little too much like how Zhou Yu had used a woman to try and get to Liu Bei, not the same thing perhaps, but still dangerously close.

It was understandable to find weaknesses in battle form, but those could be found in battle, he had a knack for finding those sort of things as he fought. You could learn a lot about a person through combat, physical strengths and weaknesses only the tip of the iceberg. Still, it made sense, as irritating sense it was.

My third reason is a bit more personal." He paused and scratched the back of his head. You see, I’m more of a defensive, negotiation, diplomacy and deception kind of guy. So I’m hoping to avoid any fight that can be avoid and maybe get some allies, all the while I’m playing the moron."

...Another tick for the "like Zhuge Liang", then. The man must be popular, perhaps his teachings had spread along with Liu Bei's desire for peace. Perhaps he may even have to fight the man, it was possible he would also be summoned. It was a frightening thought causing a shudder even in Guan Yu.

"That reminds me, Rider, when we’ll have to join the fray personally I’d like for you to treat me respectfully as an incompetent and ignorant master who can’t do anything by himself."

It went against most of Guan Yu's code, and yet he didn't find himself feeling against the idea. Really, he didn't feel too attached to the Master fate had thrown at him.

But he would make the best of it. And if a man who he cared little for wanted to be insulted when in company. Well, why not? He would have almost jumped at the chance to do the same thing to Zhuge Liang.

"Got any more questions?"

'The plan is sound, Master. I only hope that other Masters don't have the same idea, or this war will be going nowhere fast.'

Guan Yu hadn't moved from the spot since his Master had begun speaking, what was he suppose to do? The dwelling had little to investigate, and it was unlikely there was anything here his Master didn't know of.

It wouldn't be long, Guan Yu thought, until boredness set in. He should probably ask for a game of Go later, he did so enjoy that game...

But of course, he should probably let his Master rest. He looked like he would collapse at any moment.

'If you wish, I can dematerialize and allow you to obtain rest. I assume you have done the neccesary precautions to prevent opposition from detecting the summoning. If not, I can remain active and on guard while you rest.

[Yang huang Long]

'The plan is sound, Master. I only hope that other Masters don't have the same idea, or this war will be going nowhere fast.'

Yeah, that was the bad things about this plan. One had to wait for the others to act first and it can get quite boring if all the masters did this.

'If you wish, I can dematerialize and allow you to obtain rest. I assume you have done the necessary precautions to prevent opposition from detecting the summoning. If not, I can remain active and on guard while you rest.' During the entirety of this conversation he had been monitoring the surroundings by sharing Bai Hu’s senses and it seems that he’s field worked since there’s no sign of any enemy just deserted streets, the pale moonlight, the empty looking buildings and someone getting chased by the suspicious shadows. So there was no need for him to be on guard.

"Don’t worry about getting detected; I’ve set an energy concealing bounded field here a few days ago."

Sharing senses with his familiar was both always weird and cool , that and its a very pratical way to scout. What with the feeling everything the other felt physically and constantly feeling like you’ve got an extra head, an extra pair of arms and legs. It always leaves him disappointed when he cuts the connection. Seriously think of all the things that he could do with those limbs in extra, he’d be twice as strong, twice as fast and twice as smart. The possibilities are endless!!!

He’s not making sense again. Okay that’s clearly a sign that he’s going crazy from all this talking. He should just go to sleep and tell Bai Hu to come back.

"But," He said as he started to get up from the chair. "You’re right I should go to sleep." Wait, someone being hunted down by suspicious shadows? Huh "Wait a second." He sat back down and concentrated on the connection.

Now he could see what his familiar saw more clearly. He was on the top of a small apartement building and right now he could see what was happening on the streets below. The someone was a guy and he was getting cornered by, some vaguely humanoid monsters like zombies that can run very fast on their four limbs. Ah well, it’s not really his problem so he can just ignore it. Just then, the guy stop and picked up something from the ground and turned back toward the beasts and try to fight back. What a moron, he thought then he got a close look at him. Wait that guy seemed strangely familiar let’s see, average height, blonde hair, wears a yellow scarf and his face. Wait…

AH CRAP, CARLOS!!!*

Oh cruel fate, that bitch did she deliberately set it up so that it’s going to be a friend of his that’s going to get killed? Just so that she can stop him from sleeping, it’s a freaking conspiracy that exists only to torment him. Okay, maybe he can ignore this, they've only been friends for two weeks now and it’s not like they’re even good friends either. Winning the war is more important right now. He didn’t have time to help him and this could very well be a trap. He saw him trip while ducking a tackle from the biggest of the monsters and then falling on the ground face first. He scowled. He then mentally gave himself a punch for the action that he’s about to take.

He gave his instructions to the familiar and let the combat unit to its job just as Bai Hu jumped from the top of the building and landed right between Carlos and his attackers, driving his feet right in the back of the lead creature and reducing it to pulp. He then pulled out his Usword and took a swing at the closest monster to the left.

Tch, like he could really abandon a friend.

He opened his eyes, looked up at Guan Yu and pratically shouted:

"Rider, there’s been a change of plans." Hurry. He quickly pulled out his sword slid in a black sheath from underneath the desk and put on his combat coat. HURRY " One of my friends is going to get killed by some sort of shadowy creatures" THERE'S NO TIME He then started to run toward the front door and said, "But, I want you to stay on your guard, just in case that this is an ambush and there’s another Servant there." GOTTA SAVE HIM!!!

During the entire process he insulted himself for his idiocity.

*I’ll put him in the Npc list tomorrow.

[Guan Yu]

"HURRY! One of my friends is going to get killed by some sort of shadowy creatures."

Well, this was an interesting turn of events. And here Guan Yu was thinking that combat was a distant dream. He felt somewhat guilty for the relief that he was going to be able to fight so soon.

He began moving. Unsure of where to go, he was forced to go at his Master's tantalizingly slow pace.

Shadowy creatures... A Caster-class Servant quickly sprang to mind, the one most commonly involved with summoning creatures to fight for them. They were probably gathering prana, or hoping a Master and Servant would interfere to either gain intelligence, or to lure them into a trap.

But it was unlikely a Caster Servant knew of his Master's identity, as far as he knew, anyway. Best not to assume. So he resolved to not do anything fancy, don't give any watchers more information then necessary. Throw in some moves that you don't normally do, even.

His Master probably knew this was most likely a trap, but Guan Yu understood that he had no real choice. He would do the same for a friend in danger.

No, all they could do was run and hope to get to his friend on time.

His weapon glowed softly, as if knowing the battle that lay ahead. It was a pity he couldn't deactivate the weapon's natural ability to expel Prana, it would take time for it to regenerate the strikes. Although perhaps it would allow him to roughly guess the capability of his Master by the time it takes for the weapon to regenerate the strikes.

He mentally shrugged. Why all this thinking, anyway? Now was the time for action, sometimes he wished he was more like Zhang Fei. Less thinking and more action.

[Yang huang Long]

Adrenaline flowed into his nervous system. All the traces of fatigue and thoughts of rest were banished, at least temporarily.

Even as they were racing to get to Carlos, Huang Long’s mind went into overdrive.

Damn it why him? and why tonight? Was it because his bounded field failed? No, now is not the time to be thinking about details. For now, all he had to do was to get there in time and make sure they all get out alive. Consequences, be damned. With that decided, he ran like a raging lunatic.

Soon they could hear the sound of battle. Howls of pain that were not human, sounds of flesh getting reduced to mush, the stench of dead and the sound of metal clanking, all that was synchronised in a symphony of chaos.

Just as they arrived on the scene, Huang Long saw that Carlos was lying on the ground, unmoving. He rang even faster. He saw that Bai Hu was getting overwhelm, four were attacking him from his back side as he struggled against ten that were attacking him from the front.

He turned to his Servant, gestured toward the battle and yelled, "Rider! Go help him!"

He ran toward Carlos’s corpse like body. Just as he closed in on him, he saw more monsters emerge from the shadows. One of them went running straight his friend. Oh no you don’t, you bastard.

He began to concentrate and whispered "Assemble: Dragon Eater" As response, a flash of pain erupted from his circuits, his prana having still not recovered from the summoning. He did not acknowledge the pain. He willed his LM on his left hand and shaped it into a large knife. He threw the knife at the monster. . At the same time a burst of prana began to leak out of the weapon, giving it enough speed to close the distance between it and its target . The spell landed right on the creature’s head. The monster was killed in mid-air by the kinetic force and dropped like a sack, right onto two of its brethren, pining both of them down.

During that time, Huang long managed to get to Carlos’s side. He then pulled out his blade and finished those two. One beasts tried to take advantage of his attack and tried to flank the magus from behind. As a reward he was cut in half by Huang Long. As he did that another one came and managed to bite at his right arm, fortunately thanks to his enchanted coat, he managed to shrug of the attack and in retaliation, he punched the aggressor in the back of the head, killing it instantly.

With the last foe in proximity killed, Huang Long checked at his surroundings. There were dozens of those things that were coming out, an army of rotting humanoids, twisted mockeries of the human form giving razors like teeth and claws.

He quickly checked Carlos's state. He still had a pulse, a rather strong one in fact, and he was breathing. Huang Long sighed in relief. Well, now it’s all up to Guan Yu to get them out of here alive.

[Guan Yu]

"Rider! Go help him!"

It was clear who he meant to help, his Master was already going to help one of those in trouble, his friend. The other one, the one had had previously suspected the be an Assassin, Bai Hui, was fighting the monsters.

And what monsters they were.

"Shadowy creatures" his Master had called them, and it wasn't far off. They were vaguely humanoid with animalistic teeth and claws. Their bodies looked corpselike, rotting humanoid, the vague outline of glowing red eyes could be seen in their empty eye sockets as well.

Guan Yu acted instantly, with no pause to be revulsed by the horrific figures. Dismissing his weapon, in case an opposing Servant was watching, he struck one of the creatures at Bai Hui's back with a single punch.

He met far less resistance then expected, the punch tore through the thing's stomach, and his face struck the creature's face with a sickening *squelch*.

Spitting out a mouthful of gore, he wiped his eyes and immediately leapt back as the other three noticed him and lunged forward, clawed hands outstreched.

'I best keep my full strength in any blow, not doing so could leave a limb trapped and give them a chance to counterattack.'

The creatures once again struck, this time Guan Yu put his armour to good use and blocked with his forearms. The claws scraped off and Guan Yu acted, throwing both fists forward.

Once again, his fists tore through the body. Unfortunately, it seemed they hadn't any vital organs in the chest, for their glowing red eyes remained and with a snarl lashed out towards his face.

All they managed to do was trim a few beard hairs, however, as Guan Yu brough his head back and slammed it into the creature on the right, his free arm quickly taking advantage to free the other one by striking what he perceived to be the head.

'Destroying the head or bisection would be the most effective method to kill them.'

Once again gore covered his eyes, but it didn't stop him from guessing how the fourth one would strike, attempt to impale his head from the left. Ducking under an unseen blow, he charged forward, crash-tackling the thing down, bringing his fists up and finally smashing them down on what he guessed to be the stunned monster's head.

Wiping his eyes, he noted with irritation that it had been the chest he had blown apart with the combined might of his fists rather then the head. He'll have to be more careful next time.

But back to buisness. Bai Hui had taken down two more, but that left eight. And it was easy to tell they were getting weary. His movements were slowing down, it wouldn't be long before the creatures got a solid hit, and that could be the end of it.

There were more, but Guan Yu was learning more efficient ways of taking them down as well.

Once again, he caught the first one unaware with a burst of speed, this time he karate chopped, slicing through the creature diagonally as well as any sword.

And at this point, it became too easily. The creatures were animalistic, predictable, and not particularly synchronized in any way that could have allowed them to protect each other. Now he had figured them out. His speed far outstripped theirs, he would simple step back to avoid any lunge, slash, or bite, then lunge forward himself and karate chop them in half as he saw fit.

It was over in about half a minute. Blood and gore covered the ground and the two fighters. The stench of rotting corpses was stronger then ever, causing Guan Yu to wrinkle his nose in distaste.

But there was no time, he could sense his Master in danger. Bolting over, he saw the dozen creatures, allbearing down on them. His Master had reached his friend. But he was now surrounded.

Well, was, in a blur one of the creatures was once again dead, head blown apart by a swift momentum-filled punch.

The two creatures next to the one whose head had vanished into a pink mist noticed, performing the predictable lunge forward.

Feeling a bit creative, he took a step back, allowing them to strike eachother. Then grabbed both of them by the head and thrust them together.

The one on the left turned out to have a softer head, as it caved in from the impact. Dropping the other one down, Guan Yu gave the head a quick stomp, then side-stepped the next one's attack and grabbed him also by the head, swinging him into the rest of the group that was attacking him from the right.

It wasn't enough to kill any of them, but it was still forceful enough to knock them all to the earth. With all the creatures clumped together, Guan Yu smirked. He could imagine Zhang Fei cracking his knuckles menacingly in this situation.

And then, Guan Yu struck.

Blow after blow of his combined fists. Tearing through several at once in a single blow, they rained down upon them until all that was left was scraps of flesh and organs.

Finsihed, Guan Yu inspected what he could see of himself. Blood and gore splattered almost every inch of his armour, and some of it had invaded his beard, to his displeasure.

Still, he had enjoyed every moment of it. To fight again truly made him ecstatic.

He turned over to his master, careful to hide the enjoyment from his face. 'What now?'

He honestly had no idea what those things were, Caster's summonings or not. He couldn't be sure if a Servant could be on their way now, or just more of those things. It was probably best to get a move on, but he would wait until he was instructed what to do.

[Yang huang Long]

Damn...

Just, Damn...

A few minute ago the place was filled to the brim with abominations born from nightmares. Huang Long was busy beheading one creature while giving a kick in the guts to another.
Then, Servant Rider came and now, the space once occupied by monsters was now covered in torn limbs, pieces of guts and blood. The Servant, covered in gore, just tore through the creatures’ ranks and began to reduce them to scrap. Under the moonlight, such a scene was actually quite beautiful, how efficient Guan Yu was in this task and how helpless the beasts were.

And now the bloody red warrior was looking at him.

'What now?'

Guan Yu’s question brought him back to his senses. Right, now is not the time to stare in wonder and shock. He looked at Carlos, " Rider, carry him and follow me". He then turn to his familiar, "Bai Hu, try to dispose of the remains as fast as you can and then resume you patrol." The assistant nodded.

When he got back to his home, he told Rider to put Carlos in the bed in the guest room. He patched him up as he could. Then he started to work on his friend’s memories of the event. He didn’t like to do this, but it’s safer for him in the long run. He crafted a basic story of getting attack by some men in black. With that done, he then went to reinforce his Bounded Field adding some physical defenses.

When that was finished, he waited and pondered.

Half-an hour later, Carlos woke up "Ahhh, my head" he lamented. "Nice of you to wake up, miss sleeping beauty. " came the reply. He turn his head towards the voice " Huh, Huang Long? The hell are you doing here? " He looked around "And where am I? and more importantly what happened to me? "

The magus reassured him " Easy there, you got ambushed by a bunch of punks dressed in black remember? I stumbled upon them and found you lying on the ground, so out of the goodness of my heart, I took back to my place to treat you"

AT that explanation Carlos suddenly narrowed his eyes in confusion. Damn, did my spell fail? But then he said, "Yeah, your right that’s what happened. Thanks" That was close. "Don’t mention it. Anyway, you can stay here for the night. " He went out of the room "Well, I have to sleep too so goodnight. " And with that the master finally collapsed from the effort, his mind trying to make sense of everything even in sleep.