𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖉𝖊𝖆'𝖘 𝖀𝖑𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗

Two: Caster

"There are only flames as far as the eye can see," Mash commented as they went. "It's nothing like the Fuyuki in our data."

"The grail war went off the rails, but this is far worse than what had actually occurred," Aleksei remarked in return, causing the two to glance at him.

"What do you mean by that?" Fujimaru questioned.

"I witnessed the end of the grail war, both of them, in Fuyuki, so I would know," He answered without taking his eyes off their surroundings.

"Wait, but wouldn't you have been just a kid?"

"How old do you think I am?" Aleksei inquired, curious as to their answers.

"19?"

"23?" The two put in their guesses, and he shook his head.

"Neither."

"Older or younger?" Fujimaru looked intent on finding out, which just led to a raised eyebrow.

"Older. But you can guess more later, when we get out of here-"

"KYAAAAAAAAA!"

"What was that scream?" The other male asked, his eyes wide.

"It was a woman's scream for sure. Let's hurry over, Senpai! Vasiliev!" Mash said, bolting in the direction of the scream with Aleksei and Fujimaru following behind her.

"Wh-who are these guys anyway? Why do these things keep happening to me?" The woman who had screamed-the director of Chaldea, Olga Marie-asked herself as she attempted to fend for herself and was not succeeding. "I can't take it anymore! Come save me, Lev! You were always there for me right?"

"Oh look, another dead person," Aleksei stopped in his tracks. "Splendid."

"What are you doing?!" Fujimaru demanded. "We need to go save her!"

"Forget it, it's a waste of energy and time to save someone who's already dead," Aleksei shook his head. "Go ahead, Hero Complex. I'll go off on my own and actually get something done."

"W-wait!" He yelled after him, but the Russian was already long gone.

"You're so mean, Master," Medusa mumbled as the two servants walked beside said person.

"We were going the wrong way, anyways," He shrugged, feeling the grail's tug on his heart. Making their way towards where it was leading him, Aleksei suddenly deadpanned as a knife was thrown at him. Medusa immediately blocked it with her chains.

"What do we have here?" A corrupted servant jumped down in front of him, another down behind him.

"Annoying," Aleksei scowled.

"Leave these small fry to me," Iskandar grinned deviously, unsheathing his sword.

"Fine, do what you want. Medi, let's go."

"Yes, Master!" She followed, blocking another knife thrown at them.

"You won't get away!" One of the rouge servants yelled, running after the two, only for Iskandar to cut it down.

"Weak!" He laughed. "How dare you sully my master with you feeble presence!"

"Good god he's loud," Aleksei rubbed his temples.

"Damn, you really put them in their place," A voice came from beside him, which was definitely not Medusa. Not sensing hostility, Aleksei turned to see that it was another servant, not corrupted this time. Medusa stepped in front of him, her chains ready in case the person decided to attack.

"I don't like leaving things that may come back to bite me in the ass," the master responded.

"Efficient, I like it," He grinned. "Why don't you relax, missy? I'm not here to fight you."

"How do we know that?" She demanded, her stance lowering in preperation.

"Would a contract help?" He offered, cocking his head with a friendly smile on his face.

"It's okay, Medi," Aleksei put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to flinch, then move to the side with a sigh. The two men stepped towards each other, shaking hands. "My name is Aleksei Vasiliev, a master."

"I am Cu Chulainn, a Caster Class servant," The caster introduced himself, and thus the pact was set. "Take care of me."

"Since you're a caster, I'll leave long range to you and I'll focus on close combat," Aleksei instructed, the other nodding.

"Fair enough. I can lead you to where the others are, if you want," Chulainn offered.

"Sure," He agreed.

"What's this? We got a new recruit?" Iskandar showed up just then, standing behind Chulainn. "Nice to meet cha!" He slapped him on the back, causing him to wince.

"Haha, yeah, right back atcha..." He grimaced before the four started moving. Right before they could come into viewing range of where the other servants were located, Mash, Fujimaru and Olga Marie showed up.

"Hey! You! You four!" Olga shouted, waving and stalking towards them like an angry karen. Aleksei deadpanned as Chulainn sort of hid behind him. The other two seems much more willing to guard his front as they stepped in front of him.

"You--you, who are you?" Olga demanded as she pointed a finger at him. "How do you have so many servants?"

"My nomenclature is Aleksei Vasiliev," He stated, causing her eyes to widen and Chulainn to snort. Looking him up and down, he could see she was trying to make sense of the situation.

"Wait, but, you're--"

"Director," He kept the greeting short. "I don't have time for a lecture, nor do I have time for a chat. Give me a brief report," He commanded, leaving her stunned.

"We just finished clearing the area over there," Mash was the one to speak that time. "What about you?"

"I've contracted this Servant for the time being, he's guiding me to the other servants and to the main screw up of this grail war," He replied.

"Is that young lady a servant?" Chulainn questioned, now standing beside Aleksei rather than behind him.

"Uh, yes!" Mash bowed. "I'm a demi-servant, nice to meet you!"

"Sure," He narrowed his eyes. "How interesting.."

"We don't have time for idle chatter, like I already said," Aleksei barely held back from pinching the bridge of his nose from frustration. "Caster, Rider, let's go."

"Ah, you're so cold, master~" the caster joked, but did as told and started walking with the rest of them.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Olga gasped, running after them with Fujimaru and Mash bringing up the rear.

"Berserker and Archer are the only ones left?" Aleksei repeated what Chulainn had just said. "Give me a run down."

"Archer can be dealt with with ease with our numbers, but Berserker is the problem. His noble phantasm makes it so he can't die. He won't attack unless you get too close, so ignoring him is an option."

"Like I said earlier, I don't leave things that can come back to bite me in the ass," He reminded him sternly. "Besides, as you said, with these numbers, it shouldn't be difficult."

"Is that so?" The caster chuckled. "Very well master. What's the plan, then?"

"I'll leave Archer to you and Mash, as long as Fujimaru agrees. I'll go do reconnaissance with Rider and will decide if we can take him by ourselves or if I'll need help. I'll use a command seal to summon you if I need help, understood?"

"Got it," he nodded. Once Fujimaru agreed and they left to go take care of the corrupted Archer class, Aleksei headed to where Chulainn had said Berserker would be.