"So you are the one sent to kill us?" Seth readied his spear, while the others did the same with their respective weapons. They doubted she was here just to exchange pleasantries, so they weren't the least sorry about their preparations.
"I was merely sent to find you and then report back, but the remaining of my sanity is telling me to fight you." Her voice was calm and somehow clear; something that was strange considering the condition affecting her mind.
"If your remaining sanity is telling you to fight us instead of going back, I don't want to know what kind of person you are without Madness Enhancement cast on you. Honestly, humans are strange — read filthy— creatures." Amadeus said and Seth had to agree on the first part.
Seth didn't know if it was Madness Enhancement or just her personality, but he noticed she gave Amadeus a glare that promised pain and many horrible things more.
"If you want to fight the Dragon Witch, you need to defeat me first, otherwise you won't stand a chance against her." She did her own preparation by cracking her knuckles like an actual thug.
Seeing this scene, a distant memory from a long distant past resurfaced in the black-haired man's mind. "Martha..."
'Huh? How do I know who she is?' It was a strange moment that he didn't know how to process. He even unconsciously muttered her name, and seeing how her eyes widened by a fraction, he was right in his pseudo-guess.
"You know my True Name? No matter; the thing you have to do remains the same." She seemed a little surprised to have her True Name revealed that easily but she didn't give it much thought. It wasn't something to freak out about since there were many ways one could find the real identity of an enemy Servant.
"I'm Rider, Saint Martha. Despite being a Saint, I am now maddened by the hands of another one. Your true objective? To defeat me. However, if you will be able to, that remains to be seen. Come forth, Iron Dragon Tarasque!" At her call, from the shadows of the forest, two red circles began to near the group.
A black turtle-like dragon with many protrusions in its body, six legs, and a lion mane made its appearance bit by bit in front of everyone present. It was certainly a bizarre creature, but that didn't stop Martha from jumping on top of it like a common mount.
"A Dragon Rider, same as the black Jeanne!" Mash's exclamation brought strange eyes to her persona. They were trying really hard to picture that thing as a Dragon, something that was proving to be difficult. That said, anyone that knew Saint Martha's legend, one way or another, had to accept that Tarasque was indeed one such legendary beast.
"Now I understand what she meant by having to defeat her to stand a chance. Guys, be careful!" Dr. Roman warned them before the incoming battle.
They all took their positions, ready to face the enemy in front of them.
The first to make a move was Martha. Pointing her cross at the group, she released blue beams of light at them. Mash tried to cover for Amadeus and her Master as they were the weakest physically speaking so they couldn't dodge all the hits.
They did their best to evade but was proven difficult as some of the beams spawned beneath their feet.
Saber, Jeanne, and Seth tried to hit Martha to stop her from releasing more beams but Tarasque got in the way every time. He wasn't turtle-like in appearance only, his defense was nothing to scoff at.
Marie and Amadeus were the only ones who could do ranged attacks the normal way but they didn't leave a scratch on Tarasque's skin. Amadeus could do something with his Noble Phantasm to Martha but Tarasque wouldn't allow it.
If he couldn't use his body to block attacks he would breathe fire. Truly a troublesome creature to fight against.
"Mash, cover Saber from Tarasque's fire while she prepares her Noble Phantasm!" Fujimaru ordered and the Servant with the shield nodded.
"Jeanne, you and I are going to pressure him so he can't use his body to attack. Let's buy some time." This time it was Seth who ordered Ruler, Mash may have a chance against a fire breath but against a charge from him, it will be impossible.
Tarasque spat fire at Saber while Martha followed up with a light beam. Seeing as it was not working, Martha commanded Tarasque to pierce them with his horns.
Seth proceeded to stand in its way, his arms caught on black fire and positioned them in front of him. When Tarasque was centimeters from him he grabbed his snout after he was pushed back a few meters he was able to stop his charge.
- Flames Of The Evil God: E+ → Damage against enemies with Good Alignment is increased. Defense against enemies with Evil Alignment is increased. Can rise parameters at the cost of health [Demerit].
This ability was the one he used when he was unconscious. Judging by the extremely low-rank Seth deduced it might be related to his Divinity. Meaning that the higher it is, the higher the rank of the skill will be and the effects will be greater. It's an assumption, though. He will know when he breaks another chain.
Martha who was on top of the Iron Dragon's head was surprised but soon recomposed herself, pointing her cross at him she tried to attack but Jeanne interrupted her.
"Tarasque, scorch them!" Martha commanded once more having no option left.
The Dragon's mouth was filled with flames, ready to burn everything.
Having gained enough time, Seth let go of Tarasque's snout and jumped to the side just in time to hear Saber's voice.
『 Cry out. It is time to fall to the ground.
Hammer of the Vile King.
Overturn the aurora.
Swallow the light!
"Excalibur Morgan"! 』
A violet beam of light shot toward the Dragon at high speed. Martha, sensing the incoming danger, decided to also use her Noble Phantasm.
Jumping from Tarasque's head, she started to chant.
『Pitiful Dragon that doesn't know love...
Here. Like the stars!
"Tarasque!"』
Lightning started covering Tarasque, hitting his head, Martha sent him spinning to meet the incoming attack.
The two Noble Phantasms clashed, releasing a shockwave that pushed back the rest a bit.
Sometimes Excalibur Morgan gained the advantage and sometimes Tarasque did. This situation was kept for some seconds but they could see the spinning speed of the Dragon was getting slower and slower with each passing moment.
Eventually, Saber's Noble Phantasm prevailed over Martha's. When Tarasque's spinning stopped, he received a large wound from his shoulder all the way to his belly under him. Sadly, his extremely strong defense prevented any further damage.
Once it was over, Martha jumped again on top of Tarasque and they regrouped, returning to the same positions they had at the start of the battle. The only difference was the bleeding body of the Iron Dragon who had trouble keeping standing.
Fortunately for the side of Humanity, Tarasque wouldn't be able to move as easily as before meaning that now they could start landing more hits on Martha.
"Excalibur? The Sword of Promised Victory? So that means you are King Arthur. Heh, funny. It seems we are not the only ones who got corrupted. However, you are gonna receive the fist of God for harming Tarasque." Martha said after seeing the state of her companion. It seemed her personality before she became a saint was resurfacing.
Jeanne, Marie, and Amadeus were surprised, this was the first time they knew of Saber's identity which she always tried to keep hidden. Although this situation forced her to reveal her True Name.
"If you want to see me as a corrupted Servant, go ahead. It won't change the fact that you are no longer that much of a threat without your Dragon." Artoria coldly stated, she was really pissed at the moment.
"And if you underestimate me just because Tarasque is wounded you are going to regret it." Martha appeared to be unnaturally at ease. As if what she was doing was nothing more than a walk in the park.
Those were not empty words, although the Iron Dragon was wounded, it didn't mean he suddenly became useless. He could still breathe fire and impale someone to death with its horns. He just had difficulty moving. Besides, it was not like Martha was nothing without Taraseque, she was a pretty capable Servant herself.
Finishing their little chat, the battle resumed. Saber jumped on top of the Dragon to fight Martha one versus one while the rest stayed on the ground hitting Tarasque on his wound to bring him down faster.
Amadeus and Marie were giving support, Mash was blocking any fire attacks released from his mouth while Seth and Jeanne were the ones attacking.
Thankfully his mobility was very limited. Due to that, he didn't have much time to attack and only concentrated on defending his injured shoulder as much as possible.
On top of his back, Martha was using her cross-shaped staff to block Saber's sword. They clashed many times but Martha chose to dodge the majority of the blows, her strength didn't lie in how hard she could swing her staff after all.
To Artoria's surprise, Martha didn't only use her staff to fight her, she used her fists and sometimes her knees to hit her. It would be a lie to say Saber thought she was joking when she said the fist of God part. She was nimbler than she had given her credit for.
The blue-haired woman was managing to keep up with the King of Knights that way. "Come on, come on. You are not going to win with such half-assed resolve."
Her taunt was followed by an elbow to her chest, a punch to her solar plexus, and finally a cross to the head. The blonde-haired woman lost her footing from the constant barrage of attacks as well as the thrashing of the monster below her. However, just as the Saint was about to stab Saber with the butt-end of her staff, the pained roar of Tarasque made her halt her motion.
Jeanne had used her flag to pierce the wounded flesh of the Dragon, bringing him to his knees. Seth took advantage of this opportunity and stabbed his spear through the eyes of the beast, reaching his brain in the process.
As its life was fading away, the Dragon fell to the ground, looking up to Martha one last time before fading in motes of light.