The Avenger class is characterized by resentment, hatred, or some kind of vengeance on the part of the Servant. This is reflected in the life, a significant event, or the simple death of the hero.
Libra was a woman who lived in Anakosmos and on Olympus, surrounded by mythological beings and heroes, only to reject them. She tried to live a normal life and died because of the gods, poisoned by something that was never her fault. In her last moments, she destroyed the place where the gods lived. If that's resentment or some kind of vengeance, then I don't know what it is.
These were Caster's thoughts as she watched the confrontation between Archer, better known as Arjuna, and the Avenger, better known as Libra.
Caster looked at her son, dressed in a huntress outfit, with black hair, one red eye that came from her blood, and one blue eye, the Eye of Horus, which she had taken from the god when she killed him and given to her.
Avenger moved through the air as if bouncing, dodging several arrows effortlessly while Archer frowned.
Using one of her bracelets and Haki, Avenger launched it at her enemy. Archer deflected it with his bow, but the force of the attack was enough to knock him back, sending him crashing to the ground.
The Greek heroine seized the opportunity and launched seven bracelets in quick succession. Archer reacted swiftly, dodging the attack by practically crawling, as standing still wouldn't have given him enough time to avoid the blow.
Taking advantage of the bracelets being stacked together, Avenger, using only the ones she was wearing, used them like a rope. The eight bracelets on the ground automatically aligned and pulled in the direction of the ones on her arms.
Archer quickly used his bow to block the attack, being sent flying and crashing into several buildings; he was outside the clock tower.
With a swift gesture, all the bracelets returned to Avenger's forearm as he summoned his bow once more.
...
Marisbury was using an alchemical device designed to view the constellations without looking outside.
He was writing something on a scroll while a rather incomplete summoning circle lay beside him.
"Shouldn't we help?" someone asked from behind him.
"Will the clock tower be destroyed?" Marisbury asked.
"No," the person behind him replied.
"Will many people die?" the master asked again.
"Not many, since Saber will arrive, causing Avenger to retreat and escape, preventing the clock tower's destruction," explained the person accompanying him.
"Then there's no need to act, just carry on with what you're doing, Caster," the white-haired master said.
Caster stood there, staring at the chaos, something Marisbury seemed to notice, stopping what he was doing to look at his servant.
"Why are you hesitating? We don't have time. We have to complete the summoning circle to prevent the end of the world you saw in the future," the white-haired master began seriously.
Caster looked at his servant.
"That only happens if he's there, but I haven't seen him since this second night of the Holy Grail War," he stated. "If for some reason he isn't summoned, everything we're doing will be pointless."
Marisbury grimaced.
"Didn't you have clairvoyance, or was that my understanding?" he complained.
"Only the past and the future, and being quite limited in certain aspects, so I can't see everything; besides, the future can change if another clairvoyant alters it," the servant explained.
"You worry too much; besides, it's you we're talking about. I don't think anyone can defeat the king of magic," the master dismissed as he returned to his work.
Caster, a tall, dark-haired man with white hair, curiously sporting a braid just like his master, simply closed his eyes and sighed as he dematerialized, leaving Marisbury alone at his work. Marisbury intentionally chose to ignore all the chaos outside, all for the greater good, or at least that's what he thought.
But what he didn't know was that the situation he was in was a paradox that Caster, better known as Solomon, did understand; hence his concern, since he had seen an incomplete future, which was why he accepted the summoning, but now he saw more of that future, and he didn't like it.
...
Archer emerged from the rubble to find Avenger holding a large amount of mana, ready to channel it into an arrow. He drew it and strung his bow.
"Πολλαπλότητα," Avenger said, firing the arrow and splitting it into thousands of smaller, but equally powerful, projectiles.
Archer quickly created an arrow, drew his bow, and fired it, using as much mana as possible.
The collision of the two attacks created a massive explosion, but several projectiles still managed to land.
Avenger glanced at Archer's head, where a target appeared.
The Indian man quickly moved to another location, only to see the projectiles magically deflect and continue on his path.
Seeing this, he could only click his tongue, draw his bow, and fire several arrows in quick succession, attempting to destroy the projectiles.
Meanwhile, Avenger was watching this while channeling more magical energy to finish this off in an attack when she sensed a presence beside her.
Out of nowhere, a man in armor appeared with a holy sword and attempted to attack Avenger, but she easily dodged the attack, having seen it coming with the help of her Haki.
Avenger considered her options. She had no master, so she couldn't wait any longer until she got one, and the attack she had planned would leave her almost depleted of her current reserves, making her vulnerable to being killed.
With this thought, she leaped into the air several times and vanished with a swift movement.
Saber watched this and sighed.
Archer continued moving, destroying the projectiles, but quickly realized they were no longer tracking him. He shifted his position, avoiding the damage, to look at where Avenger had been, only to see Saber standing there.
"I thought you were in the catacombs?" Archer asked.
"They didn't say the clock tower was under attack, and my master suspected that only Bazett would be fighting, which I see is true," Saber replied, and Bazett appeared not far away.
She had her weapon ready to fire; she was going to do so while Avenger was attacking, but unfortunately for her, Saber arrived and scared her off.
"I had her in my sights," Bazett complained.
"Perhaps it's for the best; I was moving in a way that kept her from seeing me, and she still dodged me. She must have very refined battle instincts," she told Bazett.
"Not to mention she could see through all those gaps and know what you were doing, so she must have clairvoyance stronger than the average Archer, along with incredible perception. It's highly likely she knew you were there doing that," Archer added, making Bazett pale slightly.
Realizing that Avenger could have killed her but hadn't, for some reason, she decided to change the subject.
"And where's Reines?" she asked.
"In the catacombs with Lancer. I was moving faster, so I came here while the little one—my granddaughter—was looking after the little one," Saber replied.
"Granddaughter? Little one?" Bazett questioned.
"Oh, my thoughts just slipped out; forget them; when I was alive, I had a tendency to say what I thought about people, and that came with my summoning," Saber explained, starting to head towards the clock tower to assess the situation, leaving Bazett and Archer alone.
"And what happened to the reinforcements inside the tower?" Archer asked.
"That bastard Animusphere didn't respond for anything," Bazett complained, clenching her fists. "I'm going to complain to the others about this later; let's see how they defend themselves."
Archer just nodded.
"I imagine Berserker's out there doing who knows what," Archer commented.
"I sent him to guard the shelter in case the roof collapsed or the enemy invaded, but I never expected it to be just one," the purple-haired woman said, beginning to holster her weapon.
"Most likely, he's not one of the true ancestors, or at least that's how it seems for now," Archer thought.
"What do you mean?" Bazett asked.
"The Avenger class is an anomalous class; it most likely appeared due to the manipulation of the Holy Grail, and since it's an anomaly, it appeared out of nowhere without anyone summoning it, so it has no master. But if it attacked the Clock Tower, then it must have something against us, so it will probably end up allying with them," he explained, outlining the logical sequence of events and what might happen, leaving Bazett thoughtful.
"I'll have to inform the lords about this," Bazett said simply, following Saber to the Clock Tower, Archer following behind.
...
Avenger looked somewhat tired from the fight. She had avoided fighting Ruler; she tried to quickly eliminate Archer but couldn't.
The Avenger class has the unique ability to regenerate mana when damaged, but she hadn't even cut her pinky finger, so she was already running out of mana.
"The fight wasn't bad, but it could have been better; you made a lot of unnecessary moves that made you tire yourself out more than usual," a voice said.
Avenger quickly summoned her bow and looked toward the source of the voice, only to see a black cat with red eyes.
She didn't understand at first, but after a couple of seconds, she felt the dots.
"Father?" she asked.
"The most magnanimous of all," the cat replied, puffing out its chest, which made Avenger relax.
"What a time you decided to come looking for me, especially since you can technically see the future," Avenger complained.
"I didn't use my eyes much, just noticed a few small details and nothing more; I didn't know you'd been summoned, or I would have come to check on you from the start," Caster explained, leaping in front of Avenger.
"So what now?" she asked.
"Hmm, Ruler must have had a chance to kill Saber or Lancer, which gives you the opportunity to make a contract with Vlov so you can have a regular supply of magic," Caster concluded.
Avenger just sighed.
"Lead the way," Avenger said.
The cat quickly transformed into a hawk and perched on Avenger's shoulder.
"Look, you go straight ahead, turn right, keep going straight, turn left, walk a little further, turn right, and..." Caster instructed.
"And?" Avenger questioned.
"And you crash," Caster concluded, flying away to avoid her daughter's collision.
"Ridiculous," Avenger's voice sounded angry, but she was smiling mockingly.
"Just follow me, grumpy one, ko-ko! *cough* sorry, that's not how hawks do it, kek-kek-kek!" Caster instructed, flying forward, followed by Avenger.
...
Ruler was being carried by Wolf, now in his hunter form, walking through the forest, away from the lair of the true ancestors.
The servants weren't capable of fighting that kind of race, especially someone like them who came from a children's story. Their inability wasn't a huge problem, but they could do something for one reason.
The fused entity, whom we'll now simply call Little Red Riding Hood, looked at the wolf transformed into a hunter.
Besides the book Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf possessed abilities related to two other children's books about wolves, as well as a children's game. These four things made the wolf incredibly versatile, and the fact that he ate the Spear of Longinus imbued Ruler's claws and weapons with sacred properties related to the blood of Jesus.
This is why he was able to face a true ancestor and live to tell the tale, despite the fact that Ruler must have lost his fight against Rita.
Little Red Riding Hood just sighed as she noticed she was missing a foot.
"Let's go to the clock tower."
...
Altrouge returned, carrying a weary Primete Murder and a badly injured curl. At the same time, he was missing an arm and an eye.
"That damned Zelrecht will pay for this," the vampire princess cursed.
What bothered her most was the presence of the clock tower marshal, since he usually did nothing, but this time he decided to act alongside Arcuid, and she didn't know why.
But what she did know was that she would do something to get revenge.
At that moment, she looked around and saw an annoyed Vlov, Chaos sleeping, and Rita with three claw-like wounds and a nasty cut on her shoulder that, for some reason, hadn't yet healed.
"How exciting, the boss has arrived," Rita said wearily, looking at her with empty eyes.
"What happened here?" she asked the vampire princess, prompting Carmilla to appear at her side.
"The base was attacked by a Ruler-class Servant, who killed Lancer, weakening our side. But the good news is that Assassin and Archer killed one of the other side's Riders, Perseus, so we're somewhat evenly matched, but not by much," Carmilla explained.
It might seem like a one-to-one split, but that doesn't change the fact that this group is still outnumbered, and that could definitely have an impact, not to mention that they have a Servant who isn't participating.
"Now that I think about it, where is that loser?" Altroge asked.
"No idea," Carmilla replied. "He disappeared before the Ruler arrived, so I suspect he was the one who let her in."
"Guilty of the charges," a man was heard saying as he entered the room; he wore a simple mage's cloak, had red eyes, and had long blond hair. This was Caster, not transformed, smoking a cigar.
"You..." he gritted his teeth at the sight of Caster, who remained unfazed by everyone's stares. "What are you doing here?"
He finally asked, because, despite his anger, Caster had been slacking off and avoiding interacting with them as much as possible, but now he'd come here willingly, and, moreover, he'd come in his original form.
"To win the war, isn't it obvious? Yes, long live Team Vampire!" Caster announced as two small flags appeared in his hands, one bearing Altrouge's face and the other a party whistle.
Everyone stared at him, a little taken aback.
At that moment, Assassin materialized, looking at Aster.
"How did you make that thing appear out of thin air in less than a second?" he asked with genuine curiosity.
"A true mage never reveals their secrets," Caster replied, puffing out his chest with pride at what he had done.
"Why?" Altrouge's voice echoed.
"How?" Caster questioned.
"Why is he deciding to act now and not before?" he rephrased the question.
"Because now I have a reason to fight," Caster explained, glancing at the door he had just passed through. "My princess is coming in."
At the blond man's exclamation, a figure, somewhat embarrassed by Caster's words, entered the room, startling everyone present as they quickly recognized her as a Servant.
She seemed about to attack, only to feel a pressure in the air that instantly stopped them.
"I think you should calm down a bit, don't you?" Caster spoke calmly, but there was no good intention in her eyes. Lightning crackled from the Servant's body as if it were a powerful attack, but so far it was only compressing everyone's spectral auras.
But at least she achieved her goal of stopping everyone.
...
Vlov lowered his hand, sensing the connection with Caster's daughter, now Avenger, becoming part of the True Ancestors' factions.
Caster had recounted everything that had happened from the moment she encountered Ruler until she arrived here with Avenger.
More than one person might want to punch him for bringing up Ruler, but this led to Avenger joining the group.
"So, what do you know about the war, their Servant masters, that sort of thing? Do you know anything?" Venegr asked, causing everyone to fall silent.
"We know about some houses, some confirmed, others just suspicions," Calhin said, turning away from his computer.
"There are 16 Servants summoned in this war," Caster said, drawing everyone's attention. "Right now, 6 are from our faction, while the other faction has 7 and a Ruler who's still around."
"Do you know who they are?" Avenger asked.
"On our side we have Paris of the Trojan War; the vampire Countess Carmilla; Baldwin IV, the leper king; we had Lucius Longinus of the Lance of Longinus, but he died. There's also Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of Archduke Francis, who started World War I, and finally, you, Libra Manyamer, and I, Dante Manyamer," Caster, one of the servants on the side of the true ancestors, revealed.
"From the clock tower side, we have Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur; Gareth, a knight of the Round Table; and Arjuna, one of the heroes of the Mahabharata. interestingly, he's the third one I know of; there was Persero, but he died. Also, there's Captain Ahab from Moby Dick, Solomon, the king of magic, Sakata Kintoki, the golden child, and Asterius, the minotaur from the labyrinth," Caster announced, finishing his cigarette.
Calhin dropped whatever he was holding upon hearing that.
"The king of magic? We're screwed," he commented, realizing that such a powerful entity was on the other side.
Altrouge grabbed Caster by the neck and began shaking him.
"You knew all this and never told me, you useless piece of trash?" she demanded angrily.
"I only found this out today; otherwise, I had planned to participate in this war until I saw Libra was here. Until then, I didn't care who you were or who was in the other faction," he replied, feeling as if his neck were about to snap from Altroge's rough movements.
She released him abruptly, causing him to hit his head on the sofa.
"I'm going to get some air," Altroge said, leaving the room, the place falling silent.
Caster looked at the other ancestors.
"I'm surprised you're not saying anything?" Caster asked.
"I'm too tired and injured to do anything," Chaos replied.
"I agree with him," Rita added.