"Let go! I said let go of—agh!"
"Silence, child!" Illya's attempts to bite down on her savior's arm were met with a slap to the back of her head. It failed to knock her out, however, the threat was clear with the heterochromatic woman throwing her into the back of a chariot with spatha drawn that she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. "Lest you wish to return in pieces, I suggest you stay quiet and still!"
The girl knew better than to fight back, thankfully. It didn't stop her demanding answers, much to Faker's displeasure. "Who sent you? Grandfather?"
"Indeed. Now shut up and behave!" There was no relief in the child's eyes. In fact, she looked panicked instead. T'was akin to a prisoner's hope of escape being dashed yet again. She'd seen her fair share from interrogated prisoners, undercover foes of her King that she personally captured, to know a helpless lamb at a glance. Curious, but not her concern. What was thought was getting the hell out of here as fast as—
"And who said I'd let you leave with her, interloper?!"
An explosion rocked the treeline as the trees next to her bony wyvern mounts suddenly burst into flame. The smell of sulfur suffused the air as the green canopy of the forest turned black with smoke.
"Kuh," sending a glance behind her, the metal warrior was making a mad dash for her and her charge. In a jogging gait that was seemingly able to keep up with her chariot, no less! "Armored titans and seeming favoritism for fiery entrances… you wouldn't happen to be a partner of that damned devil Lucifer, aren't you?"
The masked rider knelt on the titan's shoulder and didn't reply. What he did do though was wave his hand. Suddenly, the iron giant's lance was reeled back and held aloft. Rider saw the attack coming and tried to maneuver to avoid it. Keyword: tried.
BOOM
From a distance, she heard the trigger before the resulting explosion impacted the clump of trees ahead of her. Flaming trunks and branches managed to block her vision for a second, but it was that precious second that cost her the chariot as she instinctively felt the lance flying at her back.
"Not once, but twice?!" pushing pride aside, she snatched the child from the vehicle's floor and tossed her ahead—atop one of her skeleton steeds. Immediately after, she cracked the reins to send a quiet order to the other wyvern, quickly cutting the harnesses and hopping off to narrowly avoid getting skewered. Mid Flight, she rode the lightning to dash over to the child before she could leap off. "If you want my chariot so bad, have it!"
"KUH—Damn you!"
She heard the masked man's curse before her second wyvern, still driving the lance-impaled chariot, immediately ground to a stop and smashed into the charging titan behind it. The diversion resulted in her chaser getting knocked off his ridiculously nimble steed and tumbling down the woodland earth.
'Heh, a free shot!' she eyed the man, aiming directly for the center of his mask as she summoned a crimson bolt—only to miss when the child suddenly screamed and yanked her arm sideways.
"Tch!" Down but alive, the masked kidnapper could only reach his hand out helplessly. "Illyasviel!"
"Zero! Zero, save me—! Gah!"
Striking the child a second time, she managed to knock her out. But even then, she couldn't drop her guard as she sped through the forest. As soon as she broke the treeline, empty bone-framed wings spread out and magically induced lift, carrying her and her reluctant charge into the air, far away from the dilapidated mansion and burning forest.
"Hmmm… Master," Not sensing her pursuer's nor any threats within a three-mile radius, she dared open a mental link. "I retrieved the girl. We're flying to your location now."
"How's her condition?" the monotonous Doctor responded fairly cheerily but very much emotionally empty.
"Safe and in one piece."
"And her kidnapper?"
"Failed to eliminate nor identify them. But it seems like another Master was behind all this."
"Did you confirm their Command Seals?"
"Nay." Faker sighed, having a moment to consider. "The one I fought felt human. He commanded iron golems, but beyond that, mere mortal hiding behind a cape and mask."
"Hm. An unknown caped crusader, is it? Amusing and interesting, but their survival is… a disappointment." The former adjectives were attributed to her Master's quirky nature. The latter though wasn't really meant for her nor the heartless doctor. It was more for the elder she could hear throwing a tantrum through the mental link. Still, though, they now owed her Master a favor. "In any case, we'll go over the rest of the details as soon as we rendezvous."
"Understood."
With that, she caressed the back of her single wyvern's spine, urging it on. With the loss of its brother and her chariot, she lost some maneuverability. But in the skies, guarded by storm clouds arching with crimson lightning, she feared no one.
Certainly not the devil bitch and her Master that both cost her the same chariot in but a single day.
***
"Hmph… well, isn't this a predicament…"
Left alive in the middle of a smoking forest, Zero starred up into the cloud-covered skies. No doubt the runaway Servant was using the storm to cover their tracks. Even if he had the confidence to make a chase, he highly doubted he'd be able to catch up to them considering his ride wasn't designed for all-terrain. Not yet anyway.
"P-1, repair and recover for now. P-2, rendezvous at my position."
The orders were accepted and acknowledged. Being able to command them mentally was a given considering his creating and manipulating them at will. But saying the orders aloud were often what he defaulted to out of habit. Yet, just the same out of habit, he punched the nearby tree in frustration.
"Dammit, I was so close…"
Close to securing another pawn. Close to attaining access to the Grail's secrets. Either, or, he didn't know. What he did know was that he offered the child a promise and by her insistence she saves him, she was readily accepting of his offer.
The child—nay, Illyasviel von Einzbern was now to be designated as the princess who wanted to be rescued. But at the same time, she was a victim who sought revenge on the same enemy he held the most apprehension and caution for. Therefore, the next time they meet, the chances of them being foes was less than when he came here to be rid of their clan.
In and of itself, it was somewhat of a win. Albeit a very hollow victory for someone who prided themselves in absolute domination of the battlefield.
'Heh, look at me. Demoted to the position of a playwright and not the grand actor of this farce…' he scoffed at the failed attempt to move the act past the prelude. 'Well, whatever. In any case, the pieces have been readied. The seeds of an alliance have been planted. As for reaping the fruits of such… It should be left for the future.'
With the new Servant's interference, there was little he could do. And, considering that he and Nobu likely failed with their Einzbern elimination plan, seeing as they fled not to the castle but away from it, then the Einzbern Master-Servant pair was still in play.
In total, seven would-be foes were bound to oppose them yet again. But one might be on their side.
'Ah… I can't wait to see the expression on that blasted Magus Killer's face.' A side-revenge with very little merit, it was not. But for the sake of success, using whatever tools he could to finish the job was very much true to his nature. And he couldn't very well rule out that man's participation until he saw him dead before the war even began. 'Investing into your daughter as your foil… finally, a weakness to the most deterring force.'
As a mere mortal, he stood no chance against the perfect assassin. As a Servant, he still could be caught off-guard. Immortality notwithstanding, he could still be bound and trapped like any mere man with his meagre stats. But be that as it may, he never once got by using brawn alone.
The Demon Emperor chuckled before turning away and marching towards their camp outside the forest. This little jaunt of theirs had a few setbacks, namely failing to outright vanquish the entire Einzbern clan, but they gained quite the valuable insight into their predicament. Namely the appearance of a new Servant so early into the game. Zero pulled out a phone and speed-dialled his underlings.
"It's me. Send in the M-units and search the ruins of the castle. Take anything and everything of value and whatever can be salvaged, and retrieve them as well. After? Oh," he spared a glance at the smoking remains. The explosions had stopped. A sign that Nobu must've thought she was done. And if the Demon Lord Oda Nobunaga thought she was through, then it must be true. "Glass the place. Leave nothing but dirt and rubble. Also, contact my wife. We're to meet back at the hotel in Frankfurt. Yes. Yes, she will be in a bad mood. But tell her I have good news for her. That should prevent her from taking it out of the car."
With the casualness of a businessman phoning ahead for the sake of appeasing his abusive and needy wife, he sauntered off the battlefield atop the shoulder of a shoddily self-repaired Knightmare.
***
Author's note:
And here we're! Nobu finally destroyed Germany! Well, a small part of it anyway. This isn't LB so Germany can continue to exist ;3. Our couple of demonic dorks met the new enemy and new ally. Since Gil is out of the picture, Nobunaga needs her own Faker to deal with and I doubt she will have issues with Shirou as Gilgamesh had. So why not give her a literal Faker? Considering her rivalry with Iskandar, it fits.
Now onto more interesting parts. First, Lelouch's power to command Knightmares. Lelouch can control at once only 16, similar to one side in chess. Also, the Knightmare model must be equivalent in value to chess pieces: units like Glausters can be only pawns while Guren can be only queen. In other words, only eight pawns, two bishops, one king and one queen etc. Also, Lelouch can't make eight pawns of Lancelot. No, it should be related to Knightmare's legend. Lancelot can be only a Knight, Guren can be only Queen, etc. Pawns are made of regular mass-produced Knightmares. As said in previous chapters, I had an idea for Lelouch as Ruler Servant and I plan to use some skills from there in chapters. Not everything tho, as some reviews pointed out putting + next EX is useless and made too much focused on World C.
Now about Illyasviel, she won't be joining Lelouch and Nobu's side, yet. While the idea of them adopting her might sound fun, especially to torment Kiritsugu, I think her remaining with her clan until the war starts is a better idea. But now the little German princess has a goal and an ally who might help her in the future. Although Herc might not like either Lulu or Nobu.
Special thanks to ReavesTheReader as usual!
(no omake this time, sorry)