Piercing Fate

Skadi watched the fight unfold before her in the arena of the underground complex Silva had constructed with mixed feelings. The Celtic immortal god-slayer, Scáthach, was facing the Demon King of Japan, Silva Branwen, in a fierce sparring match. On the one hand, she was happy for her former Master to have a worthy opponent to sharpen his martial skills against, but on the other hand, Silva looked far too happy for her liking to be clashing against the god-slayer. The bride of the gods sighed as she decided to just watch the spar take place with the others.

Silva swung his weapon overhead, and Scáthach raised her red spear in a tilted fashion to make Snærkló slide against the shaft of her polearm. The Witch of Dún Scáith immediately twirled her red spear to slice the warrior before her but was met with a powerful and swift front kick that made her skid back. Silva quickly adjusted his grip on his weapon to maximize his reach and swung his polearm in a wide arc which Scáthach bent back to avoid, then flowed into a backflip after the blade passed and immediately leaped toward her opponent.

The god-slayer thrusts her spear as she closes the distance as the warrior before her overcommits his previous strike. Scáthach was met with empty air as Silva vanished from her sight, and her instincts told her to evade immediately. She tumbled to the side and saw the strange polearm of her opponent create a crater where she formerly was and regained her balance to observe the giant before her as she could not tell for sure how he disappeared from her sight in the first place.

Silva vanished once more and reappeared in front of Scáthach as he closed the distance and thrusts Snærkló at her. The witch parried the strike on instinct, then brought out another one of her red spears to pierce her opponent. Silva countered by swiping his left disguises claw at the second spear, then went into a full-body tackle that knocked away Scáthach. The Witch of Dún Scáith started to grin as she realized that the warrior before her was a beast that was faster and stronger than her with superior reach as well.

Scáthach could only best Silva in technique, finesse, and experience which made her relish the spar. The god-slayer called forth six more spears and launched them like missiles at the Master, then moved to attack his flank. Silva's next action stunned Scáthach; he dropped his polearm and used his disguised claws to bat away the flying spears while shifting his body to avoid the remaining two. The witch saw her opportunity and drew out another spear to slash with two weapons.

While Scáthach's attacks connected, they did no damage to Silva; it felt like her spears were met with a powerful reflective force that prevented the god-slayer from drawing blood. The Master grabbed one of the spears of the Witch of Dún Scáith and pulled the Lancer toward him to strike with his claws. Scáthach's bodysuit protected her from Silva's disguised claws, but she was still forced back by the strength he had. Snærkló returned to its owner's paws, and he swung his polearm to test the witch's durability.

Scáthach planted her spear into the ground and pulled her body upward to pole vault over the attack, then took a step as she landed to thrust her spears at Silva. The Master quickly raised his weapon and deflected the red spears with the shaft of his polearm, then pushed back against the god-slayer and swung his weapon again in a wide arc. Scáthach evaded the attack acrobatically and sent away her other spear, and then her remaining spear lit up with a dangerous red light as she prepared to throw it but was stopped.

" ENOUGH, YOU BATTLE-HUNGRY WOMAN!"

Skadi was all too ready to use her Command Seals to stop Scáthach from unleashing her Noble Phantasm, but thankfully the god-slayer managed to catch herself as using Gáe Bolg Alternative would be excessive in a sparring match. The god-slayer eyed Silva as she may have found the one to give her a warrior's end, and he just needed to be polished. Scáthach was already thinking of a training program for Silva to bring out his full potential as a warrior. Considering his already monstrous physical abilities, she needed to make it far more challenging than anything her previous students could handle, including Cú Chulainn, her greatest student.

The other newly summoned Servants and Rin were stunned to see a Master face a top-class Servant on Scáthach's level, as only one other Heroic Spirit could be called a God-Slayer. Artoria clenched her fists in frustration as the only way to gain the Grail for her wish was by going through Silva first. Ishtar noticed the Spark of Divinity within the Master and was curious about him. Rin realized that she truly never ever stood a chance against Silva and counted her lucky stars to be on the same side as him.

Berserker looked at Silva passively with no indication of what her thoughts were. Medusa was thoroughly shocked at these events and looked toward her Master with curiosity. Tamamo no Mae looked at her Master with renewed interest, then eyed Skadi with narrowed eyes that labeled the woman as competition for her Master's affections, along with most of the women she sees here. Silva walked over to Scáthach and extended his disguised paw toward her, and said with a smile.

" That was a good fight."

The god-slayer smirked as she took his hand and said.

" Shame it had to end early."

" True; I was curious if your Noble Phantasm could bypass my defenses, but I would rather not try my luck."

" Oh? You seem quite confident in your endurance."

The Master shrugged as he was not sure how a Noble Phantasm that manipulated cause and effect would react to his immaterial defense of Aura that derives from his Soul. Regardless, Scáthach, to him, is one of the Servants with a troublesome Noble Phantasm he was not sure he could evade or counter as easily like Artoria's Excalibur or Iskandar's Army. Immaterial abstract or unique offensive Noble Phantasms are the ones he worries the most about, as those have the highest chance of killing him even if he goes all out.

Silva wondered who would be the Masters of Red from the Mage Association outside of one person he was certain would do everything in their power to participate in the Holy Grail War.

***

At the Clock Tower in London or, more specifically, the Vice Director's office resided, a 5'4" tall woman with long brown hair tied back in a neat ponytail with sharp brown eyes. As she stared at the Mage, she considered an insect as he bargained.

" So we have an accord, Lord?"

" Very well. You will receive your payment as promised."

The woman got up and took off the metal gauntlet covering her right hand and placed her hand on a magic circle along with the Mage. On the back of the Mage's hand were Command Seals, and as the magic circle lit up the Command Seals disappeared and reappeared on the woman's hand. She examined the Command Seals with a bored look and said coldly.

" You are dismissed."

The Mage quickly left, and the woman said, with disdain.

" Patheric Neutral Faction bottom feeder."

She then smiled as she held up her hand and said to no one in particular.

" You won't be slipping through my fingers this time."