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Fate/Ancillary (Revelations and The Count of Chaos)

Revelations

Revelations

He'll smite you with metaphor fists!
Staff member
Administrator
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Location
US
Mystery had surged into the world once again. This was not a terrible thing - at least depending on your point of view. While Mystery had always been an ambient thing since the Age of Gods, the waning of that age had caused Mystery to slowly seep from the world, leaving science and reason to overcome magecraft and the supernatural. If you were a practitioner of the craft, the sudden unleashing of this once nearly lost law of the world was not an immediately bad thing - though it did necessitate many changes. Few knew the reason why a magical Renaissance had begun, but it was clear to many that this was a new age, and a new time - and even those who had no natural gift in magic and magecraft were suddenly finding themselves with magical circruits, bursting with potential. The entire world had changed nearly overnight. Perhaps there were many reasons to celebrate, and many did - at the start at least.

But with upheaval came drastic change. Humans were not the only ones to be uplifted. At the edge of a small rural town, a child saw a strange wolflike beast with the loping gait of a man. In the inner city, men and women went missing downtown after midnight, never to be seen again. At the shore of a beach in Japan, a man was enticed by lovely women with the lower half of a fish, with the photographs reaching viral status. Phantasmal beasts and magical creatures were coming into the realm of man once more, and not all of them were friendly. Reports of magical creatures were steadily growing by the day, and if the surge in magic wasn't already straining the Mage's Association's ability to keep magic a secret, than the incursions of Phantasmal beast shattered their masquerade. Magic was real, monsters were no longer a bed time story, and they found themselves at the forefront of the new world.

It was hasty, and was initially seen as a mistake, but the Association quickly thought of a solution to both the incursion of magic users, and the invasion of dangerous beasts. A special branch of the Association was quickly formed - dubbed 'Chalice'. Chalice was a special task force meant to train promising mages, but likewise deal with the incursions of magical beasts by Magecraft user/Servant pairings. While Servants were normally only able to be summoned in the event of a Grail War with the aid of a Grail, the surge of magic made it far easier for talented individuals to keep a hold of and maintain a Servant through the now risen ambient levels of magic.

One such pairing is where we begin the story.

The Chalice organization building was a rather urbane and well furnished building, recently built and meant to accommodate what was meant to be both an Academy and Barracks. Each mage had their own room, comfortable if a little too clinical without personal touches, and almost looking like a school dorm room in the end. Jason had been a member of Chalice for nearly two weeks now - the basics were simple so far, as he was a skilled magecraft user and capable of holding his own. This morning did not start like any other however, as the sound of a klaxon not unlike a fire-alarm went off through the dorm rooms, waking most students up from their sleep. A Klaxon like this only went off in more serious emergencies, and was meant to signal an incursion that members of Chalice were meant to deal with. The protocol for all magi was to head towards the emergency briefing room, where the situation would be given a proper briefing.
 
Jason was a rather tall man, standing about roughly six feet and three inches, his hair was as dark and black as obsidian and his irises were a steel-grey shade. He wore black and grey uniform, that honestly looked like some sort of soldier's uniform. He had a preference for it, to its utility, but also he just thought it looked pretty good on him. He was quite skilled with magic, most of his power was in enhancements, but he was capable of casting other spells as well. So he kept some components of his spells in the pouches that came with the standard uniform. Jason made his way to the briefing room. Jason had been in the middle of a morning workout when the klaxon had interrupted him. So he showered quickly and made his way to the briefing room.

Jason wasn't a mage before whatever caused the return of magic. Sure magic had existed in the world before, that much the Mage's Association made clear, especially as when magic became common place. Jason himself though was not a mage by family or even by someone making him into one. He was one of the many people who now had magic circuits where they never had, and would have likely never had if Mystery had not return. This New Age of Gods was an exciting one, but it was not without it's stresses. While there was much instruction that popped up in the wake of magic's return. To him the only place that made any sense was going to Chalice. There he was sure he would learn the skills he needed to, to become a mage, and it would also mean he could protect people. With the return of magical creatures, and magic that meant monsters, and now it was a ever present threat. Chalice did a good job of beating it back, along with a couple of independent groups and individuals, but they couldn't always account for everything, and so eventually things would slip through the cracks.

Soon Jason had made his way to the emergency briefing room, finding himself a place where he could listen, wondering if some threat larger than normal was coming their way. Perhaps a mage went rogue, there were a million possibilities, and Jason stifled them as he calmed down. He looked about and listened, awaiting the briefing.
 
Standing in the center of the Emergency briefing room was a pale skinned, blonde haired woman dressed in a business style suit. Briefly checking her watch as numerous Chalice organization members poured into the room, her icy eyes looked across the standing and seated crowd as her arms folded just below her chest. Clearing her throat, she spoke with an authoritative, if cold voice.

"Approximately 2 hours ago we received a distress call from a small town in England, with reports of numerous phantasmal beasts within the area that were innately hostile to humans and killed as they moved for the town. The British Armed Forces are barely able to deal with Phantasmal beasts as it is - modern arms and weaponry will at best stall or drive phantasmal beats back, magical weapons or familiars are the only real way to deal with them. As such -they reached out to Chalice for help. We already have a team Shifted over there." She paused, looking among the new recruits and younger members of Chalice. "But we've received additional intelligence about the nature of the monsters attacking the town. Werebeasts - werewolves primarily. However, there have been reports of flying creatures that haven't attacked the town yet.We're not sure what they are, but they are likely to be Wyverns, given the location."

She paused, reading over a small clipboard. "Mr. Blackwell, Ms. Shabaan. Mr. Fujimara. All three of you lack Servants - but we'll be giving you a catalyst to test your capabilities. Assuming you're able to summon a servant you'll be part of an assisting squad we shift over to help the main team assess the threat and help with getting Civilians to safety. You're not expected to deal with combat just yet, but in case you are forced into a dangerous situation, you'll have a servant at your command to do so. Now." She paused once more, her eyes narrowing. "Are there any questions?"
 
"No questions, let's get started," Jason said. His eyes had narrowed as he listened to the Director. Great another magical beast attack, these were always an unfortunate regularity in this new world of magic. The average person might be able to use a weapon to beat them back, but magic and magecraft was usually better at dealing with these monsters, and while the world was adapting, most societies weren't adapting fast enough. There were multiple things to consider, given that this was a town, there would likely be civilians there, so they would need to be careful to make sure that they were safe and would not be dragged into the fighting. The next thing to consider would be the nature of the beasts, werebeasts and wyverns weren't a particularly great combination. His eyes opened up a little bit in surprise as his name was called. While he wasn't a bad mage, he didn't have as much experience as the other mages did, and so he figured it would still be a long while off before he was given even the chance to summon a Servant of the Grail.

He stepped forward ready to receive the catalyst they would be giving him to summon the Servant. He wondered who they would be giving him, while he studied a variety of the magical relics that Chalice kept, and let their members know. He also knew that the more powerful the relic, the more important the catalyst the less likely they were to just give out that information. A curious mind, he ran into repeat roadblocks where his clearance was not enough to discover more about what Chalice had available. He was definitely a little excited to summon a Servant, but another part of him knew that if they were going to properly assist the team the Director was sending them out to help, then they needed to get through these summonings of the Servants, and get to the town in England as quickly as possible. Hence why even if he had any questions, he would hold them until after their mission was done in this case. Civilians were at risk, and the threat of the supernatural beasts needed to be beat back.
 
As the director gave a nod to Jason, he and the two others who had been called out directly were soon led off into a trio of private rooms, each for a member of Chalice. Within the room it was almost sterile white, save for elaborate runes drawn on the walls and floors with a series of interlocking circles drawn upon the floor itself. While he was alone at first, there was a brief knock on the door, followed by it soon sliding open as a young man approached, holding out a cloth wrapped object. "Your catalyst. May it see you through the summoning successfully." He spoke, soon leaving. It was a small object, perhaps a bit larger than his hand, and unwrapping the item from the cloth revealed an old, rusted, and time worn blade of some sort. The item was light despite being wrought metal, as the wear and tear of time had gotten even to it. This was to be his catalyst for the summoning, a simple blade - non descript, faded, and worn. What kind of servant could come from such a humble tool?
 
Given that the blade he was given was small, and worn down, he wondered as to the nature of his servant. Was it an Assassin? Assassin's were known to favor blades like these. Then again with it so rusted it could be another class. Perhaps he would be dealing with a Berserker, those were always servants that were difficult to control. Very fun masters could either work something out or get their servants to listen. Usually it require a very accomplished mage to make sure that a Servant that was a Berserker was actually kept under firm control. It could be the blade of a Saber class Servant. Perhaps it was a Servant that used a long blade and a short blade. Again it seemed so seemingly nondescript, so he was unable to pinpoint what kind of Servant he would be summoning exactly.

He took the blade from the cloth, gently setting it down in the middle of the summoning circle that had been drawn. He gingerly stepped back careful to not smudge any lines as he stood back from the summoning circle just a little bit. He took a few deep breaths, slowly concentrating, drawing in all the mana he would need for this summoning. He clasped his hands together, and his mouth opened, as each word left his tongue. The strangest thing he found was that these words were just coming to him, he had never practiced them, never considered this for a summoning in his life and yet, with each word. His voice kept rising until it reached a crescendo.

“Iron is the foundation, and fire is the catalyst.

O’ hero of old, lost to time and judged by history, heed my call.

From ages past to a new dawn, I call you from your eternal rest and bind your fate with mine.

Come forth! I summon you with the aid of the Grail, I summon you as my sword and saber in this war, O’ ancient hero.

Heed this call and come forth, accept this offered sacrifice and arise into the world of men once more!”

The runes, everything grew with that peculiar deep blue shade, that shade of sapphire grew stronger, until the light filled every corner of the room. With that last part of his voice reached it's peak. He could feel his magical circuits light up, energy burning through him. It was a feeling as if some force was pulling him, he kept his feet planted. He could see the glow so bright, that it was starting to become blinding. He covered his eyes with one arm. The other hand still there, the summoning was done, soon the magic had reached its climax. The air practically was crackling with mana, magic flooded the room, all the mana it drew from him. It was almost like an explosion going off, and the light nearly blinded him despite covering his eyes. Standing in the center of the circle was someone, his Servant.
 
As the light coalesced and surged into the room - the sensation of mana being drained from him was an intense one. He'd been told that actually summoning a servant would be a draining experience, but this seemed to go beyond mere tiring. Jason's mana circuits flared up, glowing faintly across his body in intricate, elaborate lines - each of them glowing with the same crackling energy that swirled into the room. It was hard to tell how long the affair lasted, as it could have been merely moments through the chant, or nearly an eternity... But slowly, the haze solidified, and the crackling energy began to take shape. Distinctly humanoid in nature, the figure was small, less than five feet in total - but slender and feminine as well. Glowing for a moent, the glowing gradually subsided as its essence continued to take shape, flaring out into what could be best described as a raiment of sorts, solidifying and steadily shaping into clothing that covered the figure. Doll-like at first, the changes happened with alarming quickness, and soon enough the glowing figure was no longer pure magic, but appeared to be made of flesh and blood.

She was small still however, and Jason dwarfed the figure by well over a foot. Her blonde hair was done in an intricate bun with bangs hanging on the sides of her face, Eyes that were as green as polished emeralds slowly opened, and a smile formed quickly on her soft lips. Dressed in a dress that was rose-red in color with gold and white trimmings, she was a beautiful woman - ethereally so. Curiously - part of the dresses skirt was translucent, showing off her shapely legs and even what looked to be snow-white undergarments beneath. Finally, in her right hand, was a jagged red and black sword, the make of the blade near supernatural in quality.

Silence filled the air for a moment as the young looking woman first looked to her hands and then her clothing, spinning around for a moment before her eyes soon fell on the only other inhabitant in the room - Jason. A pleasant and lyrical voice filled the air thereafter as she deigned fit to speak.

"Umu! Servant, Saber. Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus!". Giving a small cursy, the enthusiasm in her voice was palpable. "But please master - just call me Nero! You have not chosen wrong in your summoning."
 
"Nero?" Jason said, somewhat flabbergasted that he summoned Nero, let alone a Saber Servant. All from some rusted dagger, though with his interest in history the significance of that dagger was clear in his mind. He frowned for a second, then that meant the dagger was the one this woman had taken her own life with. What an awful way to go, even for her historical flaws she did not deserve that. Still seeing her chipper despite this, helped to put those feelings and thoughts away for now. She seemed to radiate light, and she was more beautiful than any woman he had ever met in his life up till now. Everything about her seemed to radiate beauty. Perhaps all Servants had a sort of energy like this about them, that either made them more beautiful or more terrifying than anything ever could be. Jason had lost his train of thought for a second, but finally was able to respond.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Nero. I must admit that I was quite surprised that it would the Roman Emperor Nero. My organization did not tell me who I was summoning. Still I am very happy to be working with someone of your stature." Jason said with a smile and bowed respectfully. She may have been the Heroic Spirit that he had summoned a Servant but that didn't mean he couldn't treat her with the proper respect.

"My organization, Chalice has given me a mission to aid another team in Great Britain. So we have summoned Heroic Spirits to aid us. I will be able to supply you as much mana as you need and then some I believe." He said, sighing slightly, he would have liked to get to know his partner better, but time was of the essence and they would likely need to be off to the site. That town could not wait on them forever. Perhaps after that she would remain as his Servant. It would be interesting to know her better.
 
The woman who declared herself as Nero looked to Jason, giving a quiet nod. "Yes! You are in the presence of a Roman Emperor. You had best behave yourself." Among the servant classes, Sabers were usually one of the strongest, and most well rounded. While they usually lacked the long range of an Archer, or the sheer speed of a Lancer, they were optimized for combat, and had no particular weak spots aside from having to be close to their enemy. And while it was hard to judge just how strong a recently summoned Servant was, a roman Emperor who was wlel known, would certainly carry some power among themselves.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, my Master!" Bowing her head faintly, her bangs framed her face as they fell forward, the rest of her sun colored hair resting in a bun againts the back of her head. "I see... So this world is in danger. Of course you would only summon the best servant for that." As she extended one of her hands to shake Jason's, the other soon held a jagged red and black blade that appeared from... Nowhere in particular, and she moved to shake his hand. "If we are to be somewhere, we shouldn't dally, umu. Please, lead the way and soon enough I shall show you the might of an Emperor should battle be necessary. Though I know not your name, Master. If you wish to keep it a secret, I shall only refer to you as Master from here on out!" She was an excited woman, and animated as she moved. Standing significantly shorter than Jason, the red dressed woman didn't seem to mind, instead striding forward with the confidence of a giant.
 
"My name is Jason Blackwell, you can refer to me by name if you wish. The current incursion that we're dealing with in England. That said I'll let you know when you need to refer to me as Master and me referring to you as Saber." He shook Nero's hand, his hand shake was firm, but not excessively so. That and he was sure if did something as boorish as clenching her hand too tight, she would have likely crushed his hand in either surprise or anger. The last thing he wanted was a difficult relationship with his servant. The blade she carried really was something else, and Nero definitely carried an air of regal power around her.

"Alright follow me to the room where they will Shift us over to England. Our transportation should be relatively instantaneous when they use the device to get us there." He said, as he lead Nero down towards the room. Chalice used the Rayshift more of a way of instantaneous travel, essentially a way of making a teleportation more reliable and much safer to use. This would allow them to reach the area they need to. Chalice had branches everywhere though, in a way of keeping this world under control, they needed to be an international organization. If they only really had one base it would not just left them vulnerable, but it would also left them unable to aid others. He was looking forward to this action, if but a little bit, it would be exciting to see in Nero in action, that and he wanted to test his own skills out there. He had been stuck in training for a while, and he really wanted to get started on being an actual field agent for Chalice.
 
“Jason Blackwell...” Nero repeated to herself quietly, a finger tapping against her chin. However, just as fluidly she then beamed, looking up to her (much) taller master. “It suits you well, umu! Yes, I see no problem with you being my master at all.” She seemed excited if anything, and once they were beginning to walk, she walked alongside him with a spring to her step – it was a dangerous situation they were about to embark on, but she seemed to hold no fear whatsoever. The halls of Chalice HQ were busy however, agents moving to and from and while they were the only master & servant there at the moment it seemed, others were use to strangely dressed servants to a degree that those around them merely moved to give them space.

The room they kept the Shifting dives in was a large, laboratorical looking room, a number of lab coat wearing men and women tending to the devices. “Jason, good to see you.” One of the older scientists looked to the man, moving to tap at a console next to one of the coffin like devices. Slowly and almost ominously, it began to slide open as he then turned to the one next to it, the device likewise shifting open. “Both of you, get inside. Jason, since this is your first time using the device… I will warn you, it’s a bit… Well, you’ll get use to it but I hope you didn’t have a big lunch before this went down.” There was a hint of humor in his words, but he seemed quite serious about that. “Step in, and you’ll be in the hot zone before you know it.”
 
Jason was happy that Nero had seemed to like him so far, it would make them working together far easier. There definitely wasn't time to dally. They need to get to England as soon as possible, and while he understood they would be on the backup teams because he was a new recruit, he felt that given Nero's power, and his exemplary abilities at enhancement magic, meant that perhaps they would serve better on a team on the front lines. However, he kept such opinions to himself at the moment, he didn't have the credibility of far more experienced members of Chalice had, and those were pretty much all the people on the main teams.

"I understand that machines might induce nausea or dizziness, however I should be able to deal with it." Jason stepped inside of the "coffin", the door closing on him. He knew it they would be firing up the rayshift soon, and just like that, they would be in England, in the spot where they would be aiding the team against the "werewolves", either way it was going to be an interesting first day out on the job. He hoped he and Nero would survive it, and also hoped that he would be able to reflect how good of a mage and master he was while out on the mission today.
 
As Nero looked back to Jason, she gave a small shrug and began to enter one of the rayshifting devices.. Once she was in, it looked as if she were laying in it, though standing upright. Suddenly however, the doors to it slid shut with a mechanical hiss, and lines and symbols around the device began to hum with a light crackle of energy and a blue glow to them. Once Jason began to step into his as well, it was similar. From the glass window of his device, he could see the various technicians and mages working on some sort of terminal, before a sudden and intense flash of light assaulted his sight and blinded him of everything else. At the same time, there was a falling sensation, as if he had been pushed off a precipice and into the abyss.

Whether it was moments or hours, it was hard to say in that expanse of time. However, just as suddenly as the bright light surrounded him, so too did it fade. Suddenly Jason found himself surrounded by trees, with thickets of grass around him. Standing not far from him was Nero, her jagged blade gripped in her hand as she gave out a small humming noise until she noticed she was no longer alone,. “Ah, Master! There you are. We shifted at the same time, though I do not know why I appeared first here…” Beaming with a smile, the blonde haired empress then turned to a more pressing matter. Smoke could be seen in the distance, alongside fire from a nearby town. “I’d guess that’s our destination, we should get going!”
 
As the light faded, Jason blinked a few times, and took a few breaths getting his bearings. It seemed that they had landed on a hill, not too far away from the town. It was a little strange that Nero had shifted here first. Then again, given Nero's nature as a Servant, perhaps it was easier for her to teleport with the Rayshift. Then again it would be something to consider, still it wasn't that big of a deal. It was nice to work with a woman that always seemed to have a smile on her face, even if she were to get grim, it was probably sure not to last long with her. Jason did hope that he could have that kind of optimism and focus as well. Seeing the smoke in the distance. "Agreed, we should reach the town and rendezvous with the larger team as soon as possible."

Jason began the trek to the nearby town, seeing fire rising the closer that they got, as well as smoke. It was clear as they approached that the fire wasn't a single one, there was many blazes going. Jason of course kept looking around for other mages, though keeping an offensive and defensive spell in mind, in case he and Saber were attacked. He could definitely sense some magic, but unfortunately was not able to make out whether it was friend or foe. Still he was hoping it hadn't gotten too far out of hand, before him and Saber had gotten there.
 
As the two got closer, it seemed they were the only mage and servant around – there was ambient magic, but it was hard to tell just what was going on. At least, until they saw figures in the town. Ahead of them, people were running, or in a few cases cars were wildly driving out of the town, and it was easy to see why. Beasts were flying in the air, each the size of a large car at the least, with long and wicked looking wings, alongside scaled skin. “Ah.” Nero spoke, her jagged blade in both hands now as she interposed herself between her Master and the town. “Wyverns.” The blonde Empress then spoke, her tone taking a slightly more serious tone. “Master, the town is under attack! We need to do something!”They were told only to observe, yet it seemed Nero at least had a different idea in mind.

Not that they had a chance to immediately act on it. As one of the large beasts flew through the air, it seemed to go higher above the village… Only to soon begin flying in Jason and Nero’s direction! Swiftly it flew through the air, and it was clear its trajectory was to divebomb the two, evidently it seemed to see them - and thought them as easy prey as the villagers were, likely isolated and easy to strike down.
 
"That's I'll draw them over to us, hopefully they'll swing in low and focus on us. I'm confident you should be able to handle them once they're within range." Jason said, his tone switching from that of a friendly yet focused mage to now something akin to a soldier, or potentially a Commander. Wyverns could be a threat, but those dragon types often responded to aggressive, so he prepared one spell, enhancing his Saber's strength. Nero would likely feel a rush, not like the normal rush that one got from a typical master. It was almost as if she had been granted a greater powerful boon, and her master had seemed to not notice, he seemed to not be winded. Indeed Jason was completely unaware of how much magic he had enhanced Nero with, he just wanted her to be able to dispatch these monsters quickly. Additionally while he understood they were supposed to support and observe. It was clear that the main team was not around right now and the others hadn't arrive yet or were otherwise occupied.

One of his hands pointed out towards another group of wyverns, and he called the magic within him against, letting out a shot. The spell was Gandr, a spell he spent time learning when he started working for Chalice and for the most part it had been pretty powerful, but this was the first time he had really tested it against a monster. Well the results were rather surprising as the shot screamed through the air, punching right through one wyvern causing it to plummet to the Earth below. The larger group now saw the young man, this Mage of Chalice as a threat, and soon more than just one wyvern was making their way to attack them. Which while he was thankfully they were directed off the civilians, he was now wondering if they were biting off more than they could chew.
 
Nero remained mostly silent as she looked back to her master, ready to defend him to the ends of the earth. While she had no true ranged weapon to deal with them at a distance she knew that from above their flames would be imprecise and easily dodged – forcing them to come lower to use tooth and talon against the two. However, what happened next came as a surprise to the red clad empress as she looked back towards her master and saw him preparing a simple spell that should have had enough force in it to batter one of the wyverns out of the sky. Instead, her partners strike went right through one of the wyverns wings with a powerful motion, causing Nero to gasp out as the beast soon fell through the sky during its attempt to stabilize itself. If Nero felt a little guilty about running for the downed Wyvern as it plummeted to the earth as an easy target – she certainly did not show it as her blade plunged into the beast and skewered it, pulling it out elegantly as the beast roared out in pain!

The remaining wyverns began to circle around the three, with the grounded one rearing back in an attempt to bite into Nero, its teeth each the size of a dagger and with far more force behing it. Nero dodged with practiced ease, her jagged blade slashing deep into the monsters stomach as she darted back, and closer to her master. “There’s move above us, Master! This one won’t be a problem… But can you ground the oth-” She soon bit her tongue as one of the beasts breathed out a gout of flame, with her taking her master in her hands and rolling out of the way with him as the area they were once in was soon bathed in fire!
 
Jason was about to respond, when Nero had grabbed him, and rolled them both out of the way. The inferno had consumed the small stretch of land, leaving smoking and charred grass. He was glad for Saber's reaction time. As good as his reactions were, her's were even higher. That might have been a result of her being a servant, or that she was naturally gifted in life. There wasn't much time to muse on these thoughts though. As when they had finished rolling, Jason quickly helped Nero to her feet, as he did. He started training his eyes on the wyverns that were now attacking them. Making the gesture again, he started firing away at the draconic beasts with his Gandr spell again. Hit hit the wings of two and the third he had hit in the face, stunning it for a short time.

"Thank you Saber, I'll continue to provide cover! Focus on dispatching the beasts that I ground for you." Jason said. While many mages had spells in order to aid them, the reality was also that mages like Jason also worked on their physique, given the situations that Chalice got involved in, it behooved them to have mages would not run out of breath easily or couldn't defend themselves. Jason continued to fire off Gandr shots at the wyverns, hopefully giving Nero more time to finish off the dangerous dragons.
 
To say that Nero was quick was an understatement. In the blink of an eye she covered the distance between her master and herself, and with a free hand lifted him up with practiced ease before the two tumbled. Once they were safe, Nero let Jason down on his feet once more, surging back into battle in a blur of red and white. Even her skill in violence was something - her blade carved through both air and wyvern as if she were hewing through nothing at all, blood spilling on the ground as one felled wyvern became two, and as a third wyvern plummeted from the sky thanks to Jason's Gandr magic, became three as her jagged sword skewered the neck of it and left it bleeding out on the floor, fire erupting from the wound on its neck as it vainly tried to exhale a gout.

Before long, they were no longer harassed. Nero flicked her blade away from her, crimson liquid staining the grass as she then turned to Jason. "Let's go, Master! There's still more!" With that she waited for Jason to come to a respectable distance and began to sprint, though slow enough that the mortal would be able to follow her. It was easy to tell that Servants were far stronger than humans, as even with the Empresses' petite size, she had handled the dragons with both vicious grace and stunning ease. Gunfire could be heard in the distance, but even the nit seemed firearms were woefully insufficient against the beasts.
 
While Nero was most known for her state affairs as Emperor (or more appropriately Empress) of Rome, it extremely clear that she was a talented swordswoman as well. The way she tore through the wyverns' flesh, the way she renderd the flesh and bone of the beasts before her was art in motion, if one was in love with carnage. Sure nearly all Servants were powerful in some degree or another, but Nero was simply on another level, she was clearly among the best of the Sabers. He respected her talent, her skill, and ability, but he was shook out of this temporary stupor by his Servant's words.

He kept pace with Nero, trailing slightly behind her, while she was a Servant and thus stronger, faster, and had a much greater endurance than he had. He had no issues with that, such was nature of a Servant. She was his protector, his sword and his shield. He was her support, her healer, her commander. He existed to aid, and while he could defend himself, it would be Nero that whose purpose was to excel on the battlefield. Closer and closer the town came into view, gunfire echoed through the air. Either the local police force, some army elements, or much more likely, the less magically capable elements of Chalice, thanks to the event that happened some years everyone was a mage on some level, but that didn't mean everyone was necessarily equally capable. "Ready yourself Saber, seems we are still due for more battles, I'll support you all the way." He said, his voice stern and focused.
 
The empress moved swiftly, in truth she could move faster than this but she didn’t wish to leave Jason open to attack. Rather, she moved slightly faster than he could, her blade held off to the side as she ran for a slimmer profile. While the more astute civilians running away may have noticed the two running towards the danger, few thought to try and correct them. Instead, they were too focused on survival, as from above the wyvern beasts clamored across the rooftops, clawing at buildings to see if there were any inside that they could feast on. For now the monsters seemed content to terrorize rather than actually murder, as they could have easily breathed flames against the running townsfolk, but elected to instead lash out with sword like talons and razory teeth instead.

“Hrmph!” As Nero entered the town alongside Jason, one wyvern swooped between buildings to try and attack a fleeing woman with her child. Instead, the beasts chest was skewered by the Empress’ flame like blade, the woman carving her sword deep into her opponent before thrusting the blade out and rolling during her fall, avoiding being crushed by the fallen beast, and allowing the mother and child to flee unmolested.

“Master!” She spoke, looking around. “We’ll try to cover the peoples escape as we go deeper, yes!” She seemed content with that plan. “These wyverns are doing this deliberately, they aren’t just randomly attacked… But why?” She asked herself, taking a few steps further into the town even as chaos was erupting within it.

However, for Jason there was another oddity to feel. Within the town, there seemed to be strong, ambient magic within. Something that called to the magus’ senses, and crept up his arms steadily and towards his back as they moved deeper within the town.
 
"It's possible that they are being directed." Jason answered, keeping a steady pace trailing Nero. It was definitely possible they were still looking for a meal, but still wyverns weren't exactly picky eaters from the reports he had read about the beasts. Assuredly they were still definite threats, and there were also variations each potentially being more deadly than last. It seemed as if they got their chance at a meal they would, however it seemed like with them being more content to terrorize that would mean they were being directed, and that in itself was a disturbing implication. Still it was merely an assumption, he would need to see more signs that proved they were either given orders or directly controlled by another.

Jason's use of Gandr kept bringing down the winged beasts, and some of them even managed to be kill shots, all the way Nero was still proving that she was the more effective combatant, Jason was her mage, both a source of man, and someone that could provide aid. He focused on magics that would strength her power, making the already powerful Empress a little more powerful. Sure it might not be a massive change, but it would make cleaving through the wyverns all the easier for Nero.

However something else was starting to concern Jason. As they strove ever deeper into the town, drawing every bit closer towards the center. There was a strong, ambient magic radiating out, touching his senses. This drove him to be even more alert, and now be looking for another threat or another point of interest. What was the cause, was it some magical portal, or was something else going on. Either way it was inevitable, as he could sense the strength of that magic's presence growing stronger. Soon Nero and Jason would be upon it, facing it directly, he steeled himself, attempting to be ready for whatever was causing it.
 
“Umu! Yes, it’s possible that there’s a higher power guiding them!” Even with Nero’s quicker than human pace in battle she was able to understand her master. Still, her primary focus was on saving others, and making sure that the Wyverns were focused on her instead of others or her master. To that end she was doing quite well, carving a path through them and focusing down whatever Wyvern was struck by Jason’s Gandr spells. Her blade cut deep, and as more of the Wyverns fell, she felt emboldened by the moment. “Hah! They’re no match for us, Master!” By now it seemed they had the attention of most of the wyverns, a few attempting to circle around and surround them only for the empowered Nero to cut down another wyvern infront of them as she grabbed her master, making sure that he was with her as she ran towards the town center. “They want to cut us off! I’m not having any of that.”

As they reached the town center a large fountain waited for them, with a few bloody stains on the ground, likely from those who had been cut down before they could escape. It was here that Jason felt the pinnacle of this magical sensation calling out to him, he wasn’t sure what it was from – only that it virtually hummed around him, steadily overpowering most of his senses with the ambient magic… It was almost the same sort of magic that was called upon by the summoning that gave him Nero. Was this fountain perhaps a catalyst for a servant, or was there something more at work here? No matter the reason, it was a steadily growing sensation, one that couldn’t be ignored for long. Another gout of flame was lashed out against Nero – and while she narrowly escape it, her dress was not as fortunate as part of it caught on fire, some of it having burned off before she moved for the fountain and leapt into it, the hem of her dress saved for the most part.
 
With Nero's expert swordplay and Jason's advanced Gandr spell was making skillful work of the wyverns that had been assaulting the town. He was wondering why he hadn't happened across any other members of Chalice, or the local police force, however he tried not to think too much on that. Right now that was useless information, it would provide him no help, unless they could aid him in taking down the monsters that had been damaging the town and attacking the citizenry. Nero was an extremely capable partner anyways. Slashing away at any wyverns that had gotten too close. That and she would quickly move to finish off any that had fallen and hadn't be killed off by his curses cast on them. The benefit of his empowerment spells might not have mattered much to the already powerful Nero, but these cost-effective spells mean she would expend a lot less of his mana. However he did notice it felt like it had been twenty minutes that they had been running and fighting and yet he did not feel tired in the slightest and/or drained of his Mana. Then again he had always been a rather fit and skillful mage, so perhaps he simply had decent magic circuits to draw Mana through. He decided not to muse on those thoughts any longer, he needed to keep his mind in the present.

"I suppose this is where we will make our stand Saber," Jason said, casting a Gandr shot at the beast that had lashed out at Nero. He could see that her dress had been partially licked by the flames, but her jumping into the fountain, had seemed to prevent any further damage. He supposed it was much like armor to her, or just simply it was a dress for the Empress to wear. Regardless Jason mused on that energy, he did wonder if it was drawing these monsters or if it was spawning them. Still the energy output was much akin to what a Mage might sense when a servant was being prepared to be summoned. He wondered if he could draw on it, perhaps cut off this magical energy by using it, if that was what drawing the wyverns, but considering the fact the beasts were attacking them, they would likely need to keep their focus on the monsters, before any proper investigation could be done.
 
“Well then! If this is to be our stand, it is a glorious stage!” The blonde haired woman spoke, and despite the exertion of her body her words were uttered without a hint of exhaustion from the woman. With her blade carving deep into another Wyvern, she barely dodged its retaliatory bite, the teeth gnashing against the sleeve of her crimson dress as her bare arm was soon revealed. In turn, the beast was skewered in the chest by her jagged sword, and the monstrosity soon fell limp to the ground as she darted about, striking yet another Gandr’d Wyvern. They were definitely making a dent, with at least half a dozen injured or dead beasts in their wake.

Still, it was two against many, and Nero had a master to protect. She couldn’t stray far from him, and the beasts seemed to take advantage of this fact. As one swooped in from above, another sought to perch against a building as its talons dug deep into the crumbling stone, and gave out a sudden cry as flames burst from its mouth and lashed out against the Empress as she was busy with one Wyvern. “Ah!” She cried out as she was struck in the back, her beautiful dress singed in spots as she rolled forward from the impact of the flames.

At the same time however, there was an irrevocable pull to Jason, not unlike that of his initial summoning of Nero. Magic flowed freely in this town, and with the right concentration it could be woven and shaped into a proper summoning ritual. It was a strange feeling to know this already, but it tugged at his circuits and sought to open them once more, almost as if the magic was trying to force its way into Jason, rather than remain ambient and let him call upon it willingly. And whatever magic this belonged to, now may as well have been a perfect time to use it, given that another wyvern snapped its jaws in Jason’s direction, trying to clamor through the narrow streets to tear the man asunder. Nero was busy with two wyverns, doing her best to fend them off as the strain of battle slowly got to her - her hair which was once more tightly woven was coming loose, strands of her sun colored hair framing her emerald eyes as she focused on the fight.
 
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