Perceptible tension hung in the air as Skylar, Neo, and Pretender regrouped at the cliff's edge, their defenses raised after the failed assault. It was genuinely surprising how perceptive the opposing Caster proved to be, predicting not only their location but also anticipating Skylar's quick surprise attack while dealing with the rest of her group. Now, Saber stood poised below them, his sword unsheathed, vigilant and ready for the next engagement.
Inside the battered house opposite them, Ruby aids Weiss to regain her footing amidst the aftermath while Caster stood steadfastly by their side, his imposing presence demanding respect. Meanwhile, Lancer assumed a vigilant stance, guarding the sizable breach in the house with unwavering attention.
Skylar analyzed the situation before sharing a resolute look with Neo and Pretender. "Me and Saber will be the distraction, Pretender you will support the three of us, and Neo, focus on the girl in white; her servant will be the most troublesome," Skylar declared, her voice unwavering.
Neo, acknowledging the plan with a nod, gestured for Pretender to accompany her as they shifted to a more strategic position, preparing to execute their respective roles as Saber, kept his gaze fixed on the threats ahead, readying himself for the next move to make from his master
As Skylar observed the opposing team, a smirk played on her lips, drawing a scowl from Caster below. Swiftly, Skylar stowed her bow into a peculiar portal, which transformed it into a wakizashi. In a seamless motion, a second portal opened on the other side, from which she retrieved another wakizashi.
With one foot confidently placed on the edge of the cliff, Skylar unfurled her draconic wings, their majestic form expanding which she then, in a graceful yet fierce movement, propelled herself forward, ready to execute the next phase.
Inside the compromised structure, Ruby and Weiss exchanged a rapid glance before swiftly advancing to join Lancer at the forefront of the house while Caster surveyed the surroundings with a blend of arrogance and curiosity, his attention undivided.
As they moved, Weiss attempted to contact Jack through her earpiece. "Jack, this is Weiss. We've been ambushed." she inquired urgently, but only the cacophony of combat echoed in response.
"Jack are you there? What's happening?" Weiss repeated, her worry deepening as the silence persisted, leaving a palpable sense of unease in the midst of the ongoing battle.
Concern etched on her face, as she shared this information with Ruby. "Something's not right, Jack isn't responding."
Ruby, her eyes narrowing in concern, swiftly called Izuku. "Izuku, some of Blue team got through! What happened?" she urgently called, but like before, their attempts yielded only the continued sounds of battle, heightening the tension as they stood outside the battered house.
The unexpected radio silence left them unsettled. "Something's gone wrong, Weiss what are we going to do?!" Ruby said, her voice tense.
Despite their brief conversation, Skylar, who had propelled herself from the cliff's edge, swiftly closed the distance with a maniacal smile while Lancer moved with equal speed to bring her down, but his strike was intercepted by Saber who skillfully deflected Lancer, while causing his stance to shift in another direction and swiftly retaliated with a slicing attack on the now vulnerable enemy.
However, it proved inconsequential, as Lancer effortlessly recovered and countered Saber with precision striking each hit with his fists. While In the midst of their struggle, Skylar found herself impeded by a Black Glyph, slowing her movements as she descended from the sky.
Seizing the opportunity, Ruby moved in for an attack however, Skylar, with a single flap of her wings, effortlessly shattered the Glyph, propelling herself upwards and evading the strike from the Red hooded girl.
Witnessing the unfolding situation, Pretender amplified the abilities of her allies which in turn allowed Saber to gain the upper hand in the power struggle against Lancer. Sensing the opportunity, Skylar closed her wings and aimed herself straight down, descending like a missile.
The unexpected maneuver left Lancer, Ruby, and Weiss bewildered as Skylar and Saber seemingly split into five entities, creating added on confusion to the battlefield. But the illusions were short lived and shattered once again, courtesy of Caster.
Swiftly, he shot out staffs in the direction of both the Master and Servant of the Blue Team, attempting to disrupt their coordination however, the second master of the Blue Team had already achieved her objective.
Weiss found herself dragged aside by Neo, who taunted and baited her away. Caster scoffed at the situation but refused to let himself be taken out due to his master's misstep so he moved to aid but instead he smoothly dodged to the side as Skylar soared by him at high velocity.
Narrowing his eyes at the girl's crazed smile, he took quick glances at his master, then at the hooded girl and her own servant, before focusing back on Skylar with a raised head and a cocky smile.
The two prepared for a confrontation, while Ruby did her best to aid Lancer against Saber with Pretender supplying a boost for of her team, to each separate ongoing skirmish.
Lancer and Saber fought face to face while Ruby tried her best to chip away at him. Weiss fought one on one with Neo, finding the illusion was of the most difficult thing to fight against when not knowing which is the true body, Pretender supported each of those from her side given them boosts to fight evenly with the enemy.
All while The Master of Blue Team stood resolute before Caster of the Red. A momentary silence hung in the air between them, until it was shattered as Skylar propelled herself forward once again, utilizing her wings with graceful abandon.
Unperturbed by the impending threat, Gilgamesh summoned his axe, which he held in one hand and at the top half in an open section which the large metal blade wraps over. Simultaneously, he held a stone tomb in the other, his eyes narrowing as he prepared for the impending clash.
Skylar, armed with a wakizashi in both hands, began to spin as the blades emitted a soft blue glow. Then in a powerful collision, the two met, causing the ground to slightly shatter beneath them as a small layer of frost crept over Gilgamesh's axe. Caster responded swiftly, pushing Skylar back and shooting out staffs from his gates.
However, Skylar, seemingly undeterred, was already on top of him once again. They engaged in a rapid, face-to-face clash, with neither combatant yielding ground.
But a swift kick to his stomach, followed by a whip to the face from her tail, pushed Caster back momentarily. However, he retaliated swiftly with a golden gate opening just before him, launching a shotgun of staffs that sent Skylar tumbling backward, causing the battlefield fell into a momentary silence as the two adversaries silently locked eyes.
The stillness was broken by Skylar's laughter, a sound that seemed to confused Caster slightly but nevertheless, he maintained his cocky smirk. "You know, King of Heroes, you truly are great," Skylar remarked. "Only a small handful from where I'm from are able to keep up with me but let's see if you are truly as powerful as the legends say."
The peculiar portals from before reappeared as Skylar dropped her wakizashi into them. Then she reached into a third by her side and pulled out a handle, from which a strange black goopy substance dripped out.
Gilgamesh, his expression revealing a mixture of curiosity and arrogance, questioned Skylar about her choice as the strange black goopy substance dripped from the handle. So with a raised brow and a confident tone, he inquired, "What pitiful trinket have you traded your weapons for, Mongrel?"
"This was a gift from Calista; she found promise in my abilities... after pummeling me into the ground," Skylar explained, the memory leaving only a smile on her face. "At first, I was like you, oh arrogant king, questioning what this thing was. Though after using it once..." With a flick of her wrist, the black goopy substance formed into a large sharp blade. "I found that it was perfect for someone like me." Once again, she flicked her wrist, the shape shifting into one a spear, with the handle now at the center. "But even with the new addition, I couldn't place a scratch on Calista... So let's see how you will do, Golden King." Skylar's tone held a challenge.
But Gilgamesh was more intrigued by the knowledge Skylar seemed to posses along with partially revealing that she was from another world "How do you know so much? When you seem to hold no knowledge of my legend through normal means?" His tone carried a hint of interest as he probs into the mystery of Skylar's... Calista's garden.
Skylar, however, laughed off the inquiry. "Right, I forgot about that... This may be a battlefield, King, but you pissed off the Maestra, and she has placed a hit on your head. Besides, I still got a debt to pay for receiving this neat gift." With a swift motion, she flicked her wrist, transforming the spear into a scythe as her smile faded, "So enough talk."
In an instant, Skylar was before Gilgamesh with her scythe's blade aimed at his neck. he blocked with his axe, but Skylar proved relentless as she forced him to began to step back, first one step and then another, further fueling his frustration.
In response, he opened gates all around him, sending out numerus staffs while pouring more effort into the fight. The clash between them resumed with Skylar emerging as a much formidable opponent then before. The mysterious black weapon continued to change forms – First from a scythe to a dagger as she attack low from the ground, then into a large axe which sent his own into the air but he retained his grip, and then into a towering shield as Gilgamesh used the height to delving a powerful blow, followed by a thick blade which she used to push the king back.
Skylar's attacks continued to change, She wasn't like his old self who utilized multiple weapons at once through his Gate's or the Fake his Archer Version faced that could copy any of his treasure. No she was an endless dance of weapons, with each step perfectly timed to the song of battle.
Frustration fueled King into a mighty strike that managed to send Skylar back, granting him a momentary respite. However, his attention quickly shifted as he noticed magic accumulating around his opponent which suddenly left as it came.
Look at his opponent it seemed like Skylar was communicating with someone through the earpiece given to the masters, with her expression that of displeasure. Before he could react, she turned back to face him.
"Seems like we have to cut this date short, Gil. But don't worry; this isn't the last you've seen of me. Besides, I've got to take you out unless I face punishment from the Maestra," she declared. With that, Skylar began to retreat back towards the cliff. Gilgamesh moved to follow, but Skylar spoke once more, "Oh, and don't forget about your master~"
Instantly, he turned to see Weiss being teamed up on by Neo and Dabi, with Archer looked his way smiling while preparing to take a shot. With a frustrated click of his tongue, he abandoned the pursuit of Skylar and moved to Weiss's aid, determined to protect his master from the impending threat so that he could kill her himself.
Chaos unfolded on multiple fronts from the intense clash between Weiss and Neo which now had the addition of Dabi, who brought his fiery assaults to the mix, along with Archer, who assessed the situation with a gun aimed at the Schnee princess.
Meanwhile, at the closest point of the cliffs, Ruby and Lancer continued to face off against Saber, with the support of Pretender. The two fights seemed to be going in different directions, as Lancer managed to keep the empowered Saber at bay with the support of Ruby, while Pretender enhanced not only Saber but Neo and Skylar in their separate battles.
The main shift of the battles were centered on Weiss, who now faced not only one master from the Blue Team but two, along with a Servant who observed from the cliffs above with a gun aimed directly at her.
Even with Aura aiding in her protection and the Schnee glyphs to assist her, Weiss was quickly being drained by Neo alone, and she struggled to evade the assaults when Dabi joined the fray. Luckily, Gilgamesh managed to come to her aid just in time when the cliff was suddenly brought down upon them all.
Once the dust from the rockslide cleared, only Ruby, Weiss, Gilgamesh, and Lancer were left, with any members of the Blue Team gone from sight. Following this aftermath Izuku, Toga and their their Servants arrived and found Weiss, Ruby, Gilgamesh, and Lancer still standing but in various states of condition.
Ruby was in the best condition, Lancer just laughed anything off, Gilgamesh looked upset and frustrated but Weiss was the worst off. Thanks to her aura she had to wounds but it had been Drained down to 15%, a bit more and the situation would have become a dire one.
Ruby helped Weiss to stand as they all began to crowed around one spot but before any further discussion could unfold, their earpieces sparked to life, and Jack's voice resonated through them. "I apologize for not being able to respond but I was in the middle of a fight with one of the Masters of Blue, though he managed to escape back up the mountain."
Weiss responded with a rude yet justified tone, "I noticed! He was helping Neo against me. A bit more, and I would have been finished." Gilgamesh chimed in with his usual confident demeanor, "That would show how capable you are," earning him a glare from Weiss.
Izuku intervened, attempting to diffuse the tension. "Let's calm down. We were all in our own fights, so me and Toga also couldn't come to your aid either. Let's leave it for now."
Jack's voice echoed through the earpieces once more, "Izuku is right. Besides, I just got news about something important from Bakugo, so meet us at the tunnel's entrance."
Izuku affirmed, "Got it, we'll be there soon." With that, the four Servants and four Masters of the Red Team set off to meet with Jack and Bakugo, their thoughts lingering on a question never asked: "What about Sun?"