Fate Chapter 108-110: Only One Condition

“A party behind Master’s back, that too hidden behind the privacy of a Bounded Field. I smell treachery. Don’t you too, Heracles?”

Jason's exuberant confidence had expanded hugely with Heracles standing by his side. He wasn't afraid to stand up to the servants, firmly believing the demigod would protect him from any threat.

Nobunaga narrowed her eyes, her lips pressed together into a thin line. She never liked Jason, but she never thought he would rightfully accuse her of treachery.

“You are damn right, knucklehead bitch,” Nobunaga growled. “Accuse me of treachery again, and I’ll smash your face. You lowly narcissist scumbag of Greece.”

Jason bristled and his face contorted with rage. “Everyone deserves a chance to explain themselves, but this kind of hostility is forbidden! Figures that it'd come from the likes of you, a foolish servant from the fallen era?”

“Violence is the only language I know,” Nobunaga roared. “I’ll write down my preferred language on his shit face.”

“Calm down both of you!” Kagetora stepped between them, back straight and voice firm. “Jason, we were just having a private conversation with King Solomon. You are out of bounds for treating it as an act of treachery.”

Nobunaga nudged Solomon. “Ou Solomon, this guy called you a traitor. Would you let him taint your dignity without any consequences?!”

The chaos lover tried to fuel the fire. If it was any other king, they may have been raged beyond belief. But it was Solomon, the most unkingly demeanor in the shell of the most dignified ruler.

Solomon waved his hands, his expression grim in the face of unwanted conflict. “Rider, think twice before throwing such serious accusations.”

The seemingly simple gesture left Jason in shivers. Solomon’s dignified aura was nothing to scoff at. Even Jason, the leader of Argonauts, couldn’t stand defiantly in his presence.

“Bah, I don’t care.” He shrugged and nudged Heracles. “Solomon, come with us. I need your expertise in finding our Master’s location.”

Even though they were Angra Mainyu’s servants, there was no spiritual bond between them; in other words, they couldn’t contact her through telepathy or sense her general location.

Solomon anxiously shifted his gaze to Nobunaga, who was shaking her head. Her eyes implored him to slip away quietly. She needed his help to escape their master, but she knew it would be far too risky to break the contract while Jason was around.

Kagetora watched her hope of freedom leave with Jason. “Nobu, I want to fight Heracles once we split up. Heracles and Cu Chulainn. I’ll take them both.”

Her fighting spirit was overflowing like a torrent.

Nobunaga crossed her arms. “I’m known for my surprise attack but my real strength was in making sure all my bases were covered. Winning the battle before it started. That kinda thing. When I couldn’t win a frontal fight, it was a matter of talking it up and waiting for them to drop their guard.”

Their current trouble couldn’t be dealt with brute power. She had to make adjustments on the fly.

“So that’s why you so obviously tried to butter me up in those letters you sent.”

“Haha, that’s another battle I won without any casualty… once we get rid of these shackles, we’re gonna need a Master.”

“A Master?” Kagetora showed a bright smile. “Do you want to meet him?”

“Him?”

“The mage standing against our Master. I've been curious about him since we were summoned. He seems powerful, otherwise, Master wouldn’t send Assassin on a suicide mission.”

She clearly had an ulterior motive in meeting the said master’s servants and challenging them for her enjoyment.

“Me too, but don’t get your hopes high. He already has multiple servants by his side. He can’t afford to keep us afloat in this plane.”

Kagetora rubbed the back of her head. “I wasn’t telling you to contract him. Maybe he has contacts with other mages who can become our master.”

“That sounds like a decent start. We can’t go to him until Solomon ends our contract. He’ll take us for spies from this side… and fight us.”

Even she wasn’t foolish enough to fight six servants on her own.

“Fighting six powerful warriors…”

Her friend was already lost in her fantasy of clashing her sword and spear against six servants. Kagetora’s spine tingled with pleasure. “I must live up to my legacy as Echigo’s God of War.”

Nobunaga bared an evil smile. “Fighting an army by this crazy woman’s side ain’t that bad of an idea.”

Kagetora’s expression suddenly became solemn. “Listen, Nobunaga. We have to end this quickly. I don’t want the weak to suffer because of Angra Mainyu. It isn’t my era… or perhaps the people of this era are more helpless against Angra Mainyu’s chaotic surges, we have to protect everyone.”

“I don’t know about protecting everyone, but I ain’t letting that golden asshole get the sweet taste of victory. Not on my watch, son. Never.”

After setting their determination, the two set out to their usual place of drinking and relaxing.

…

Nobunaga and Kagetora sprinted along the Central Building, the highest building in Fuyuki City. Their feet barely touched the walls as they scaled up as if gravity was nothing more than an afterthought.

Kagetora leaped on the roof and froze.

Two strangers, a man and woman, sat on the edge of the roof, their backs to her. Though she was a servant, she registered the vast magical energy radiating from the man like an infinite ocean. By contrast, the black-haired woman’s aura was wispy and blended into the background like a ghost.

They were no ordinary people.

“Assassin,” Nobunaga spat. “The heck are you doing here? It’s our place. Move or get your ass kicked.”

Haruki stopped gazing at the beautiful night view of Fubuki City and climbed down the ledge, facing the servants he came out to meet. His gaze immediately went to Kagetora, who somehow managed to make stoic Artoria look like a bright person. Kagetora’s smile lacked the genuinity, coming off as a fake attempt to mix in.

‘What’s with the saber faces and their love for apathy?’

“Step up and make her feel something,” Arch advised. “You can do it, my dragon boy.”

He shook his head, unable to mask his disbelief at Arch's outrageous suggestion. “Oda Nobunaga, Uesugi Kenshin, I'm here with a proposal.”

Nobunaga’s lips lifted up in an amused smirk. She could see the young man carried himself with maturity and grace unlike his age.

‘Let’s put him through a wringer.’

“You aren’t the first one to woo this Demon King. Get in line and wait for your chance. You might get your turn in a couple of centuries. Wahahahaha.”

Kagetora chuckled. “She can never be serious.”

Nobunaga ignited a spark of fury in Semiramis. She stepped down from the perch and gripped Haruki’s spear tightly in her hands as if she was a medieval warrior. Her gaze rested on Nobunaga’s chest as a smirk curled across her lips. “You don’t possess the qualities my master desires in a woman.”

Nobunaga revealed an amused smile. “Don’t need me those airbags. They get in the way of fighting.”

Kagetora reached up to touch her chest, feeling the weight of her breasts. “Now that you say it, these do get in my way sometimes. Perhaps it’s wiser to wrap them in sarashi before I go to battle.”

Out of all the opening conversations, he never expected them to talk about tits or the lack of it on Nobunaga.

Haruki sighed. “We have a misunderstanding here. Nobunaga, can I call you Nobu?”

“Nope. Only my friends can call me that.”

“I’ll stick with Oda then.” Haruki smiled, the type of smile that disarmed people’s guards and his gentle voice was the sort that could bring people around to his point of view. “I’m Haruki, the mage opposing the destruction your master so desires.” His eyes glinted as his hand swept in Semiramis's direction in a courteous gesture. “And this is Semiramis.”

He disclosed Semiramis’s true name since Angra Mainyu, the manifestation of Grail, already knew the names of every servant on his side.

“Ahahaha, sweet introduction. You can call me Otora.”

Nobunaga narrowed her eyes, a surge of killing intent surrounding her, yet his smile remained picture perfect. “You just brought Assassin. Are you not afraid of losing your life at our hands?”

Kagetora shook Nobunaga’s shoulders. “Nobu, he said he came to talk. We shouldn’t fight him!”

“The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven and Echigo’s God of War. He thinks he can waltz in our place and negotiate with just a weak-ass servant by his side.”

“Nobunaga, you’re overthinking this. Look here.” He pulled his sleeve to reveal an astonishing number of Command Spells. “I can summon everyone in an instant. And besides, there is no reward in life without risk. I don’t think I can bring you two to my side without taking a great risk.”

Kagetora’s eyes lit up. “I wasn’t mistaken! You have so much magical energy in your body that it can sustain numerous dozens of servants at the same time.”

“I absolutely can. Having a partially magical race also helps.”

“Part human race?” Kagetora narrowed her eyes like a hawk. “Are you saying you’re a monster?”

“It’s complicated, but yes.”

Kagetora’s eyes gleamed, showing excitement as though someone challenged her to a battle. Smiling, she turned to Nobunaga. “Nobu, say y–”

Nobunaga placed a firm but gentle hand on Kagetora’s mouth, signaling her to stop talking. She wasn’t as gullible as her friend. And just giving into others wasn’t her forte. She had a golden chance to use her negotiation skill for more favorable conditions.

“Don’t think we’ll betray our master!”

Haruki raised a single, amused eyebrow. “Stop acting ignorant. I know your gripe with your master. Two heroes like you absolutely won’t get along with Gilgamesh and Angra Mainyu, and especially not that fake priest.”

“That phony priest is the worst!” Nobunaga blurted out before quickly realizing her mistake and deflating with an exasperated sigh. “Fine. You got me there. I admit I don’t enjoy my current position.”

Kagetora couldn’t contain his snickering at Nobunaga’s defeated posture. “She hates Kirei Kotomine and Gilgamesh. Haruki, we’d be happy to enter into a temporary contract with you. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Why?” he asked, unable to hide his frustration. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, so he could get to know every servant under the command of Angra Mainyu.

“The contract,” Nobunaga groaned. “We need our Caster to destroy it first.”

Haruki paused for a moment. ‘A Caster who can destroy servant contracts? Did they summon Medea? Or is it someone else?’

He couldn't believe how ridiculous the notion was. There must be another Caster out there who could temper with a Servant’s contract on a whim.

‘Then why would it serve Angra Mainyu? Is it evil?’

His mind raced with unanswered queries, but he pushed them aside, not wanting to give too much thought to the issue at the time. “So, about your contract…”

He held out his hand toward Semiramis, who reached behind her and grabbed the hilt of the legendary Rule Breaker. With a gentle pull and a soft clink, she removed it from its scabbard and placed the powerful Noble Phantasm in his upturned palm.

“Here, my master.”

He nodded. “This Noble Phantasm can destroy any magecraft.”

“Sweet. What should I do now?”

“Stand still.” Haruki gripped the dagger in a reverse grip. “I’ll stab your chest to destroy the contract.”

He carefully laid everything out to avoid any misunderstanding.

“Wha?! I knew it was a ploy to assassinate us out of this war.”

Nobunaga still made a big deal out of it. He held back the urge to facepalm.

Semiramis rolled her eyes. “You numbskull. Why in the world will we assassinate you?”

Nobunaga blinked her eyes innocently. “Huh? Isn’t that obvious? You want to get rid of two super-powerful servants. It’s the famous seduction and strike honey trap.”

“Look. Having two allies is—” Haruki paused as he noticed her lips twitching, just short of breaking into a smirk. “Stop acting like a fool.”

Her eyes widened. “You saw through my Fool of Owari act. Even my relatives fell for it for years. You passed my intelligence test… for now,” she said, a sly smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Entertain me, okay?”

Haruki felt like he picked up a troublesome woman. Nobunaga was the type to blow up the Holy Grail just because it was something new. Then again, his house needed that type of liveliness. Everyone was either stoic like Medusa, reserved like Medea, or meek like Sakura and his new servant Serenity. Nobunaga’s chaotic energy will keep things lively if not fun.

“I’ll entertain you. If I’m not busy getting attacked, then sure.”

After qualifying to be her “master”, he stabbed her with the Rule Breaker and ended her contract.

She stretched her arms with a grin. “The taste of freedom. Ahhnn~, I feel like unifying the world again.”

“Do that after we take care of Angra Mainyu. Here, let’s form a new contract.”

“Wait,” Arch interrupted the process. “Check this out.”

Task #23: New Servant

Objective: Forming a contract with Archer, Oda Nobunaga.

Difficulty: A-Rank

Rewards: 3 X Premium-Tier Gacha Coupon

His eyes widened in shock as he read the system window. The mission’s difficulty was on the same level as his first task, which involved the resurrection of his mother. It had to be an error since getting Oda Nobunaga to agree was far easier than convincing Medea to become his lover.

‘There are consequences of this decision… Big consequences.’

“You catch on quick. Yes. There are major repercussions. The lively chick comes with her toll of problems.”

‘You know what? Screw the consequences. I am not afraid.’

He was getting more powerful with every day. What was a threat today would become a minor annoyance tomorrow. There was no reason to hold back.

He set his mind and continued the pact. Nobunaga surprisingly followed his directions without any diversions and became his servant.

Task completed. Well done!

3 x Premium-Tier Gacha rewarded.

Task #24: New Servant

Objective: Forming a contract with Lancer, Nagao Kagetora.

Difficulty: B-Rank

Rewards: 1 X Premium-Tier Gacha Coupon

He stepped closer to Kagetora and brought his arm up, the Rule Breaker clenched between his fingers. But before the blade could meet her chest, her fingers curled around his wrist and he felt a strange warmth emanating from her. She stared at him with a confident smirk, an eerie glow in her eyes.

“I have one test for you as well. A different test. Let us have a friendly battle to test if our souls are compatible.”

The battle maniac finally showed her true colors.