CHAPTER 2.8 - NIGHT FEAST

An entity prowled under the moonlight illumination. Jumping from building to building, lurking from alley to alley. Their steps were silent, using the dimmed night they hide their presence.

They were Servant's Mockery, but nowadays they just called themselves Mockery.

Their task were simple, harvest as much magical energy as they could. Human were the prime source of it. They would drag their prey, kill it, and drain their energy.

Rinse and repeat.

Only one problem, the human started became wary of them. The bodies they left behind seemed to scared a good chunk of the entire city population. It was getting a bit harder to jump on unsuspecting victims now. They really need to be more low profile and get rid of the bodies from now.

In an abandoned factory with barely any of lighting, Mockery stood illuminated by strands of moonlight. A frightened woman was sprawled on the floor, frantically trying to run. Tears flowed from the woman's eyes, her uneven breathes being the only sound heard in the room. She stared at the horror of what Mockery was currently holding in their hand.

Her daughter.... or, to be more precise, her daughter's severed head.

Mockery threw the head towards the woman. She wanted to scream, but a black, shadow-like thing gagged her mouth. As Mockery slowly walked toward the woman, her face grew more and more pale.

Mockery grabbed her head.

There was no help, no salvation. There was no... God.

With one tug, Mockery ripped her head apart from her body. Her spine dangled, still attached to her head. Blood showered the dimly lighted room red.

Mockery hummed, another work done. Then they raised their hand and simultaneously all the blood moved towards them, seeping into their body.

Mockery was about to leave but sensed someone walking towards them. They stared at the newcomer.

A man, donned in a plated blue bodysuit and holding a red spear dripping with menace. His face was neutral, his red eyes stared at their prey's lifeless bodies. He clicked his tongue, visibly frowned.

"Damn, I was too late, huh?"

The man glared at Mockery, a feral grin rose on his face. He readied his spear.

"Your work?"

Mockery didn't answer; they just kept standing silently.

The man scoffed. "Not very talkative, aren't you? Well..."

He flexed his body, and in one fluid motion that seemed to defy the laws of physics, he was instantenously right in front of Mockery. The air crackled with anticipation as the man's spear descended with incredible speed and precision.

"...Fine by me," the man uttered, his voice filled with confidence and determination.

BOOM!

The impact of the clash sent shockwaves rippling through the area. Mockery was forcefully propelled backward, crashing through walls and debris. The room they had occupied was reduced to ruins in the aftermath. Grunts of pain escaped Mockery's lips as they assessed the damage. If it hadn't been for their last second conjured shield, they would have been utterly obliterated.

Without wasting a moment, a blue blur streaked towards them. The man, his red spear gleaming with a wicked aura, launched another assault.

CLANG!

Mockery swiftly countered the attack, manipulating their shadow to parry the spear's deadly trajectory. However, the man refused to relent. With a flurry of swift and relentless strikes, he thrust, swung, and swiped his weapon in a mesmerizing dance of battle. Mockery found themselves trapped in a defensive posture, desperately fending off the unyielding onslaught.

Growing increasingly furious, Mockery tapped into their shadow, summoning shadowy spikes from the very ground beneath them. A tremor reverberated through the area, and several colossal spikes emerged menacingly, threatening to impale the man. But in a display of extraordinary agility, the man leaped backward, evading the deadly assault with an uncanny grace.

As the dust settled, the man looked down upon Mockery, a smirk etched on his face. "...It seems I overestimated you," he taunted.

Mockery's eyes burned with rage. They locked their gaze upon the man, their resolve unwavering.

"No grace, no skill, no techniques..." the man continued, his words laced with dissapointment. "...you have nothing."

He dared!

Mockery glowered, refusing to accept this challenge. The man before them was clearly no ordinary person. Mockery opened their mouth, a hoarse voice emanating from within.

"̵̛W̸͖͝h̷̭̀ō̵̺ ̵̣̆a̵̩͑r̶̲͛ĕ̵͙ ̶̰͋y̶͚͊o̵͍͌ụ̷̆?̴̱̏"̵͓͝ they demanded, their voice filled with an otherworldly rasp.

The man raised an eyebrow before breaking into a wide grin. "Servant, Lancer. Nice to meet you, shadowy bastard."

Servant? The realization hit Mockery like a lightning bolt. A servant! How foolish they had been to overlook the signs—the man's strength and his formidable spear. Their focus had been clouded, but it was crystal clear now.

But what was a servant doing here? As far as they knew, there were no servants remaining, except for one, and this servant standing before them was not him.

Curiosity gnawed at Mockery. A servant summoned after the war? This was information they needed to report later. For now, they had a servant to eliminate.

Servant's Mockery—their full name spoke volumes. They were created to taunt and mock the very existence of servants.

Mockery's body began to undergo a grotesque transformation. It melted and bubbled before reforming into a new figure—a figure clothed in a sleek black suit adorned with veins of crimson streaks. Their eyes became black pools with ominous red orbs, and in their hands, a twisting, ebony spear materialized, tightly gripped.

"Oi, oi, seriously?" the servant in front of them remarked. "What are you, my fan?"

Mockery smirked, their new form mimicking the man's appearance.

"Cool, you copy my style. Now what?" the servant taunted.

Mockery grinned, a wicked glint in their eyes. They transformed into a blur of darkness, moving with incredible speed. In a single fluid motion, they twisted their spear and thrust it towards the man. Caught off guard by the sudden increase in Mockery's speed, he managed to raise a hasty guard, but just barely.

BOOM!

Another powerful shockwave reverberated through the surroundings as Mockery observed the servant being forcefully launched backward.

They were even.