Jalter couldn't wrap her head around just why she couldn't seem to land a hit on this girl. It seemed that she was able to see the moves Jalter would pull off before Jalter had even thought to strike. Sadly, Jalter knew her limits, and fighting this way wouldn't get her much further, regardless of the girl's damage output being essentially null and void against her. It was more so like her strength was being sapped. As Jalter began to stand on her feet once again, using one of her swords to hold her up as little flecks of blood dripped from her mouth Jess just laughed. "So have you figured it out yet, why you can't win that is? It's simple really, I already know every move in that arsenal of yours that's a perk to my mystic eyes," the girl said going off on a small monologue.
Jalter couldn't help but ask, "What?" Jess' smile only widened seeing Jalter's interest. "Well yes, I have a fairly rare mystic eye if I'd dare say so. Mystic Eyes of the Stradegem, allows me to perfectly predict every movement and action of people I study for 5 minutes uninterrupted. I am quite familiar with you and Harrison, so good luck landing a hit on me Jeanne," the girl remarked snarkily. Jalter was torn on what to do, she really needed more information. "So if that's the case how'd you know you'd be fighting us at some point," Jalter asked with feigned strength as she straightened herself putting on her normal bravado.
"Oh I didn't," the girl said simply shocking Jalter slightly. "Especially because you can only watch one replay per round it was going to be hard collecting adequate information for each round. However, I found out that if you ask a master to watch a replay with them it doesn't use up yours, and well with enough questions asked and enough replays gone through, I have basically mapped out every master and servant. THIS GAME IS AS GOOD AS WON," she cackled with newfound spite. "Oh and one more thing, I'm sure you've noticed your strength being sapped that black smoke from earlier wasn't just to obscure your vision, but it also attacks and damages familiars based on magic circuit density making it especially potent against servants," Jess added. This made Jalter's eyes go wide as a normal master may not be affected too much by something like this but Harrison who had magic circuits that put some servants to shame would be affected really badly.
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Harrison felt his entire body killing itself as he ducked behind a tree coughing up blood. He had tried to activate his strengthing magecraft to give him more of a chance in fighting Shiki but now his circuits seemed to be spasming. "I don't have time for this come on," he called out internally as he heard the footsteps of Shiki in the distance getting closer. THE TREE. His mind screamed at him causing him to roll forward as the tree exploded into splinters Shiki was much closer than Harrison thought. The knife she held obliterating the tree easily.
Harrison threw a sloppy heal kick as a counter but it was easily blocked. He just couldn't get a hang of himself. Panic reached its pinnacle as he locked eyes with Shiki. The blue and pink jewels she had for eyes seemed to see right through him. The entire world faded to slow motion, as Harrison could feel death approaching him, the end of all things yet the beginning.
Perhaps what Harrison realized was how familiar the sensation was. It seemed to be the backtrack to his entire life, the sensation not alien to him, but the first time he felt comfortable. Staring death in the face and Harrison realized what he had been missing, why things seemed so wrong sometimes. No, it was not that he wanted to die, that he accepted death, or that he even wanted to cause such an outcome for others. It was that he walked the same line of the brink of death, that is what Harrison understood for the first time as he looked at Shiki, the knife mere inches from his face.
Shiki hesitated for a moment, and Harrison took full advantage of that moment, with a simple spin and flourish he slapped the knife away and rolled to the ground successfully dodging. However, he coughed up globs of blood as all of his circuits shut off, causing his body's pain to spike one last time.
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Jalter no longer had time to mess around, with this information she knew her master was on a strict time limit. She looked at Jess with newfound determination and the way she glared at her sent shivers down the girl's spine. Jalter seemed to grow a few extra feet as she straightened, the hiss of the sword against its sheath rang out through the silence like a bell. Though Jalter wasn't unsheathing the swords, instead she put them both away, without taking her eyes from the girl.
In a flash Jalter was before Jess her fist pulled back as she ground her teeth in rage and focus. Unleashing a punch with all the force Jalter could muster she sent Jess flying through a handful of trees. However, Jess was fast to her feet and wouldn't be caught off guard again as she got back into her stance readying for another blow from Jalter. Despite what it seemed Jalter sent flurry of blows after flurry. She knew she could win this the last strike was a testament to that, however she was caught on something Harrison had said in an earlier match. "Also don't reveal anything too early who knows who might be watching," were his words, and Jalter didn't want to go against him even if made sense for his concern now. If only Harrison was there with her she could have made a much quicker decision but now it seemed like she was quickly running out of steam. 'Damn that witch is the thinker why do I have to be in this situation,' Jalter cursed internally.
YOU ARE READING
The King of the Grail's Fate (Fate/Nasuverse)
FanfictionHarrison is your average Fate fan with a "light" obsession with FGO. However with a Holy Grail of his own can he survive? See if he can become one of the seven core masters, with his first of many servants Artoria Pendragon (Alter), or will his name...
