6 Second Second Night

*Clang!* *Clang!*

"This is why I agreed to participate in this war!" Lancer said as he backed up. "Don't you also feel your blood boil? Saber?!"

"Not really to be honest. I am not much of a battle maniac. Well, if I were summoned as a certain class, that would have been a different story though." Evander said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"No matter. My cowardly master says that I should kill anyone who discovered my real identity. It's a pity but let's end this here yeah?" Lancer said as mana gathered in his body and flowed through the red spear, making it shine in an ominous color.

'This much mana!' Rin thought. "Archer! Be careful he is going to use his Noble Phantasm." Then she yelled anxiously.

"Oh, thanks for stating the obvious Rin." Evander replied as he also started gathering mana.

The ground started disintegrating from the mana that was flowing in the area.

"Alright! Here we go! Gae—" Lancer was about to say when footsteps coming from the school distracted him. "Who's there!"

'There shouldn't've been any students at school at this hour dammit!' Rin cursed in her mind. She couldn't see who it was but from the uniform, it was obvious that he was a student in the school.

But unlike Rin, Evander could clearly see the student. He had a short auburn hair with golden eyes, and was looking towards them with a terror stricken expression.

But what picked Evander's interest was the ability possessed by the boy. 'So, that's the mortal they gave it to.' The boy possessed the Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, in him. But it was in a dormant condition. 'Interesting.' He thought. He almost couldn't contain his curiosity and took a peek into the kid's future but then gave up on the thought. He didn't want to kill the surprise.

As they were in thought, the student, Shirou Emiya, turned around and ran away.

"Tch!" Following that Lancer also disappeared.

"No! Archer! Stop him!" Rin yelled anxiously as she started running.

***

Shirou ran and ran, as far as he could, as far as his body allowed him to until he had to stop because he was at his limits.

'I will die!' He thought.

Whatever he saw back there, two people fighting, one with swords and the other with a spear. And just this morning he heard of a murder that was committed by either a sword or a different sharp object.

He instantly knew that he saw something he shouldn't. Those people were doing stuff way above what a normal human could.

Then he looked back as he felt a gust of wind. But there was nothing there. The corridor was empty.

He was relieved that he managed to get away, but as he turned to look at his front, a man with blue hair and red eyes in a blue skin tight wear was standing before him with a red spear in his hand. "Yo." Lancer said. "Sorry about this kiddo." Then he stabbed his heart.

*Clang!*

At least he tried to. A random sword that appeared out of nowhere blocked Lancer's spear from piercing Shirou's heart.

"Hey. That's just a kid." Evander said as he stood right next to Lancer and slashed with Bakuya.

Lancer of course dodged the strike easily and put some distance between them.

"Do you think I would attack an unarmed opponent? How would I call myself a hero then? Blame my coward master." Lancer said as he got into his stance.

"…Damnit!" Then he cursed as if he heard some bad news. "We'll have to continue next time Saber. Don't get killed before that eh." Lancer said as he jumped out the window and disappeared.

'That speed is no joke.' Evander thought as he watched Lancer run. He couldn't catch up to him if Lancer wanted to get away, and he also knew that arrows were useless against the Child of Light. Being able to gain all the information about your enemy with a single look at their weapon had great advantages after all.

Then Evander turned to look at the kid, who was looking at him from the ground with his back to the wall. "You alright boy?"

But Shirou was too tongue tied to speak. The only thing he could do was stare at the man who somehow felt familiar to him.

Then, footsteps echoed in the corridor as Rin appeared from the corner. She first noticed her servant Archer, and then noticed the boy who was stupidly looking at them.

'Why is it him?!' Rin thought. And then heaved a sigh of relief because Archer was successful in his mission. Shirou wasn't killed. How could she look Sakura in the eye otherwise.

"T-Tohsaka?" Shirou asked as he was finally able to speak.

"You will not speak of what happened here to anyone do you understand Emiya? Otherwise I will kill you." Rin said coldly as she turned to Evander. "Let's go Archer. We'll give chase." The jumped out the window without listening to the questions of Shirou.

Upon seeing the antics of Rin, "Oh boy. A peculiar woman indeed." Evander said as he disappeared without talking to the boy as well.

He had a master to catch before she broke her bones from the fall.

He once again caught Rin in a princess carry and followed the trail of the Lancer from the rooftops.

***

"People will misunderstand you if you continue like that you know?" Evander said as he carried Rin while traversing through the rooftops.

"…" Rin was silent upon hearing Evander. "It's none of your business." Then replied while looking away from Evander's face.

"If you say so. But hear my words. There is nothing wrong with being honest. If you have something to say, just say it. Don't bottle it up and keep to yourself. You will be left alone."

"What do you know? That's how I got so far in life. I don't need your pity."

"That may be so until today. But you have me now don't you?"

Rin turned to look at Evander with countless thoughts in her mind. Then looked away once again.

"You won't be here forever. Don't forget who you are. You are a servant, summoned to participate in the war. You will disappear once the war ends."

"I won't if you wish for me to stay, you know?" Evander said with a small smile on his face.

"Hah! You think that I will waste my wish on something like that?" Rin said as some humor returned to her face.

"Who knows." Evander said while keeping the small smile on his face.

***

The duo continued their search for Lancer but came up empty. Their target was long gone.

"Sigh let's go back Archer." Rin said as they couldn't even find a clue to the whereabouts of Lancer.

"Gotcha. But Rin, aren't you forgetting something?" Evander said as he changed his direction to Tohsaka manor.

"Hmm? Like what?"

"Do think that Lancer's master will let an eyewitness go?"

"Wha?! Why didn't you say that sooner?! Go back now! We need to stop Lancer!" Rin hastily said.

"Yes yes."

***

"Honestly. How can I call myself a hero after this?" Lancer said as he found the house of the boy he previously failed to kill.

He didn't want to kill an unarmed person but what could he do? His orders were to erase all eyewitnesses.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the boy was actually a magus himself and could defend against his half assed attacks with some luck.

'He would've made a worthy opponent if he could've grown a bit more but alas, it is a pity.' He thought as he chased the boy into a storage.

Just as he was about to deliver the finishing blow, a bright light burst out of the deepest part of the storage.

***

"What's that light? A summoning?! Emiya was a master too?!" Rin shouted as she saw the light coming from the Emiya residence.

"Looks like it. And his servant is approaching, so you better get back Rin." Evander said as he shrugged his shoulders and projected Kanshou and Bakuya as he waited for his opponent to arrive.

"I leave it to you Archer." Rin nodded. With the previous fight against Lancer, her trust in her servant had grown.

Evander, as he was called, wasn't a no name heroic spirit as she had thought at first and even if his opponent was a Saber, she believed that he could at least hold his ground.

*Clang!*

Just as she was about to get behind him, she heard a clang and when she turned her head, she saw a blonde woman with a blue battle dress holding an invisible sword that was blocked by Evander before it could reach her.

"Attacking the master from the get go? A little bit too over the top don't you think?" Evander said as he kicked the Saber away from Rin.

"This is a war. And all is fair in a war." Saber replied as she readied her stance.

"Love too. Don't forget love." Evander replied as he also readied himself but then the swords in his hands cracked and fell apart. "Oh wow, that's a nice sword you've got there." He was a little surprised at first. To destroy his projections after a single exchange was something worthy of praise. And that made him praise the invisible sword in the female servant's hands. 'A shame I can't see it.' He thought.

*Clang!* *Clang!*

Thinking that he was disarmed, Saber didn't miss her chance and went for the attack but was blocked by another pair of swords in Evander's hands.

He locked the invisible sword with Kanshou and Bakuya, and just when his opponent was distracted with his swords, he headbutted Saber.

Saber clutched her head as she backed off and glared at her opponent.

"A cut is powerful, a thrust is elegant. But sometimes, a headbutt is the answer." Evander said as he shrugged off the glare, and blocked another attack coming from his opponent.

Each time he defended against the invisible sword, his projections were destroyed, leading to be forced on the defensive. But with each exchange, Evander realized something about the Saber class servant before him, 'She's weak.' He thought.

If not for the extraordinary sword in her hand, she wouldn't be too much of an opponent for him.

But getting his projections destroyed every time was also getting a little annoying for him. "I am the bone of my swo-" Just as Evander was about the chant the first line of his aria to strengthen his projections, the boy he rescued earlier came running.

"Stop!! Saber!!" Shirou yelled as he unconsciously activated one of the command seals in his hands.

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