Fate/ Grand Crypter

Chapter 16

"This is the Sir Gilles De Rais, the Dragonslayer."

Leo felt himself freeze with shock. This was far beyond his expectations. The original story had dragonslayer servants, something that came part and parcel of a chapter with dragons as the main antagonist. St Georgios, the dragonslayer saint, and Siegfried, the German hero who defeated Fafnir, both had come to mind when the soldier had been speaking of the Dragonslayer. Gilles De Rais did feature in the story, but he had never expected him to be called a dragonslayer.

"You are mages?" Gilles raised an eyebrow at them. "I thought all the mage families in France had already fled."

"We are not from France, sir." Ophelia stepped forward, giving a slight bow as Leo recovered.

"We have heard of France's plight, and wish to lend our aid. We have Servants with us as well."

Gilles looked behind her at the Heroic Spirits. Sigurd stood still, remaining impassive and assessing the situation, whereas Oberon was sitting on a cloud of butterflies, watching the events with interest.

"I have seen firsthand the abilities of Servants," he said calmly. "If you are truly willing to join our fight to save France, then we will be glad to have you. However, I must question why you have chosen to come here."

"It is difficult to explain," Ophelia said. "In simple terms, should France fall we would soon follow."

"So it's self-interest," Gilles's mouth twisted up slightly, but nodded. "That, at least, I can understand. How much of our situation do you understand?"

"We-" Before Ophelia could finish, the sound of bells ringing began to ring throughout the city. Gilles and the soldier stiffened and looked outside, and Leo heard a clamour of cries and screams from the city. The doors were pushed open by a soldier who ran inside, panting.

"Sir De Rais," he gasped. "Dragons have been sighted!"

"An attack," the eyepatch-wearing soldier hissed, "Now?"

Gilles turned his eyes impassively to Leo and Ophelia.

"Did you encounter any dragonkin on the way here?"

"Yes," Leo said, glancing outside.

"Then your timing is either poor or excellent," he replied. "Their numbers?"

"We couldn't count them, sir! They blotted out the sky!"

"A large assault then. Emile, see to the defences. The mages and I shall take on the role of offence."

"Sir," the eyepatch-wearing soldier, Emile, saluted then ran out of the church, the messenger following behind him.

"You would have us fight?" Ophelia frowned.

"This is why you have come is it not? To help protect France?" Gilles moved towards the entrance, not even sparing them a glance.

"You can hide if you wish. But if you cannot help on the battlefield here, then you are no use to me further down the line."

"We will help," Leo said, ignoring Ophelia's reaction. "But we will need to know about the situation."

"It's very simple," Gilles said. "We are under assault from a horde of dragons and an immortal Dragon Witch. Try your best not to die."

The knight left, heading towards the walls. Leo watched him leave, frowning. There was something familiar about the two swords he wielded. He was certain that they were not the sword originally associated with Gilles, but he did know them from somewhere.

"Are you mad?" Ophelia's words shook Leo out of his thoughts. "There is no telling what is coming, and we don't have anyone else with us? We need to find Kirschtaria and the rest and re-establish communication with Chaldea before anything else."