For a moment, you're tempted to act on what you've just seen. Matsuda and Harris could form a powerful team, and your best chance of defeating them will likely be before they've had the opportunity to discuss their tactics. You suppress the hasty impulse, though; the prudent side of you still wants to have a complete picture of tonight's events before taking any action, and you're confident there's no enemy so powerful that you have no choice but to attack them while they're unready.

There's one more party you need to check on in order to complete your night's reconnaissance: Emiya Shirou and his compatriots. You haven't heard from them since you and Emiya were wounded by the collision of your weapons the night before last, and with a human constitution you expect Emiya will still be incapable of fighting. All the same, it's worth checking on them. Although his wife, with the power of a Lesser Grail, was the center of your attention, you haven't forgotten that Emiya himself also has a bizarrely heavy magical presence. After seeing him warp reality around you, there's nothing you can rule out when dealing with Emiya.

"Stop, stop," As Kōrakuhime's smoke fades, you promptly contradict yourself. "Don't remove it, actually. I'm not yet finished with your divination. Next I want you to show me Emiya Shirou."

Kōrakuhime gives you a quizzical look, and the smoke stops in mid-motion, pausing in the act of being sucked back into the flower that disgorged it, so that it now forms the shape of a hazy white funnel in the center of the room. If she has an issue with your sudden shift, though, she doesn't mention it; but only waves a hand, reversing the smoke's movement to once again form a cloud large enough to survey its divinations.

"Emiya? Shouldn't he be out of the fight now, though? There was that explosion." Your Master isn't as restrained as Kōrakuhime, or perhaps her confusion is greater. Whichever the reason is, she gives you a confused look, tilting her head to the side as she asks for your reason.

"Emiya Shirou is not an enemy we can afford to make any assumptions about," you answer gravely, wagging a finger as you caution the girl. "He has survived one Holy Grail War, as I have, and has powerful allies as well. After his lackluster performance against Berserker I never would have expected him to be so powerful, but," you shake your head. "At any rate, there are too many unknowns where he's concerned."

"I guess it can't hurt to check," Ayaka admits. She still sounds doubtful, however. "I hope we can get that family out of town in the War somehow. It really bothers me that they set up here without contacting us, you know? I don't even know if it was while our parents were alive or during Nii-san's time that they came here."

"Don't worry, Miss Ayaka." You lay a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Whether during the War or after, we'll make certain that there are no magi in Tokyo who ignore the Second Owner from now on."

You cut off the conversation there, as the image of Emiya's living room begins to take form within Kōrakuhime's smoke. The sight before you is more shocking than anything you could have guessed at from Emiya. The only reason it doesn't stagger you completely is the fact that you've already weathered the storm of simultaneously discovering Circe's survival and her betrayal. Emiya and his family are sitting around the table and enjoying a lively, completely peaceful-looking dinner at home. There's no trace of any wounds on Emiya, and no sign in their trivial conversation or cheery expressions that there's anything more going on than a happy family gathering with a visiting relative.

From the other side of the cloud of smoke comes the sigh of an utterly shocked, totally disappointed girl. "Are they... sane?" Kōrakuhime asks nobody in particular. It's a question you're inclined to wonder about yourself.

"I don't understand it," you say. Your head slumps down into the cradle of your hand as you find yourself unable to keep looking at that bizarre sight. "It would be one thing if Emiya were too weak to move, but with him healthy, why? They should have fled, surely; found somewhere to hide in the city. They've made an enemy of someone who knows where they live, and they're just waiting there?"

"Maybe they gave up after fighting you, and decided not to interfere with the Grail War anymore," Ayaka suggests brightly. "It sure looks like they'd prefer peace, doesn't it?"

"I don't think that's it, Miss Ayaka," you quickly reply, quashing the notion as gently as possible. Even in a situation as bizarre as this, that's a height of optimism you can't credit.

"Perhaps they are... maintaining a facade of normalcy... for the sake of their children," says Kōrakuhime. "If they are confident... that they can fight you off at their home, perhaps... they place more importance on preserving their mundane lives than... on improved security."

"That could be. Now that I think of it, Emiya did tell me he was raising his son and daughter without knowledge of magic." You nod, recalling the conversation and trying to understand the choice to preserve that ignorance over practical safety. It seems completely insane at first, but as you ponder more and more deeply on it, the idea does begin to make an odd kind of sense. Your last battle probably did give Emiya some confidence about dealing with you, and it's possible that he'll be able to draw on his wife's mysterious abilities as well by staying close to her. Perhaps this is a way of closing ranks while doing the best they can to care for the children's mental states as well as their physical situation.

Then a new idea strikes. Suppose Emiya is doing more than just bringing his family together for defense. Maybe, by staying in a place you're familiar with, he's actually daring you to attack and hoping to finish you off on his home territory. You didn't notice any real magical fortification when you visited his house before, but as a magus he no doubt has access to all manner of subtle techniques for defending his home. There's the strange manner of his recovery to consider as well, and the bizarre magic that Liliesviel called a Reality Marble. There are simply too many unknowns to consider, and you find your thoughts running in circles as you stare at the prosaic dinner scene, trying to intuit the intentions of your adversary.

After a prolonged silence, staring at the Emiya family as they dine, you find that there's another thought intruding on your musing: the realization that you haven't eaten since breakfast. They're not discussing anything significant right now, with the children at the table restricting them to mundane topics. Perhaps you could rest your mind for a while and have some dinner; see if anything new occurs to you after eating. By then, the Emiyas may be discussing their plans to dismantle the War again.

>[ ] That would be for the best. Even if a Servant doesn't need to eat, physically, meals remain important to your mental health. (Self-Preservation)

>[ ] No, you don't want to miss anything. As long as you have a supply of magical energy, meals are only a matter of taste; a frivolity. Keep watching the Emiyas until they give you some information regarding their plans for the War. (Duty)

>[ ] Dinner would be a waste of time, but so would watching the Emiyas. There's something else more important right now. (Write in details. Attack Archer, attack Harris, return to interrogating Arturia, or etc.)

>>3870513
>[ ] Dinner would be a waste of time, but so would watching the Emiyas. There's something else more important right now. (Attack Archer)

Ok, that's enough scrying for tonight, I believe it's time we do something about the major fuckfest that tonight is going to turn out to be.

>>3870522
>>3870513
This. The Emiyas are a problem for another day, while the "traitor" and the priest are a more pressing concern.

>>3870513
>[ ] Dinner would be a waste of time, but so would watching the Emiyas. There's something else more important right now. (Write in details. Attack Archer, attack Harris, return to interrogating Arturia, or etc.)
Go visit Circe.
Archer could become an ally if we meet up with her, so attacking him would be foolish. Also if he kills antaglio then that's even better.
We were unable to defeat Matsuda and Harris, and still haven't come up with any countermeasures against either of them.
Reuniting with Circe or at least figuring out her plan, and whether or not she's betrayed us, will do wonders for our psyche and a clear mind is necessary. Also she would be a valuable ally.
We could probably alter Saber tonight if we really wanted to. But with Circe on board we would have an extra safeguard to ensure that it goes smoothly.

>>3870513
>[X] Dinner would be a waste of time, but so would watching the Emiyas. There's something else more important right now. (Write in details. Attack Archer)

>>3870556
Letting Antaglio die would mean having him be replaced by somebody more competent; I'm not sure if we really want that.

>>3870513
>[ ] Dinner would be a waste of time, but so would watching the Emiyas. There's something else more important right now. (Attack Archer)

>>3870564
What if he was replaced by someone who didn't know about all of the added servants? Antaglio might not have reported us to the church, he'd have some serious egg on his face if he revealed what a shitshow this War has become.

What's the strategy behind attacking Archer? I'm not seeing it apart from "we were going to fight him already". That was before we knew he was Circe's servant, which changes everything.

>>3870602
>What if he was replaced by someone who didn't know about all of the added servants?
One would expect a person in such an important role to be well-informed.
>Antaglio might not have reported us to the church, he'd have some serious egg on his face if he revealed what a shitshow this War has become.
Why so? He wasn't responsible for any of it, and even used the resources he had to deal with it in the best way he could.
>What's the strategy behind attacking Archer?
Remember how Circe said she would come if Archer had trouble? Like I said twice My strategy is to engage Archer in CQC, pray that we don't job again, and force Circe's hand. Then we take off the helmet. imagine the look on her face

>>3870602
>Sk8888
Nice ID by the way.
Yeah, him being Circe's servant changes things.
Doesn't mean we shouldn't gib him though.

I mean fuck, do you really want to let Circe's Ex hang around?
Also
Do you really think that Matsuda and Harris (if the fucker isn't Odin) will be an issue against a further powered up Alberich as well as Circe AND Kourakuhime?

>>3870618
>I mean fuck, do you really want to let Circe's Ex hang around?
I dunno, cucking him would really appease my schadenfreude.

>>3870629
I'd prefer absorbing a part of his soul and hopefully grabbing a bullshit upgrade, personally.
NTR is shit.

>>3870629
>cucking him
Not quite. He may have been shocked by the fact that Circe finally gave up on him, but he was still the one who dumped her, back when they were alive. Even to the point of dying rather than being with her, you'll recall from the dream cycle.
It's not like he's pining away for her.

>>3870618
>Do you really think that Matsuda and Harris (if the fucker isn't Odin) will be an issue against a further powered up Alberich as well as Circe AND Kourakuhime?
Anon, I...
But now seriously, I get it, you want to see the waifu so badly that you forgot about this being a story. Matsuda WILL become our allie (not probable) or a powerful enemy with a pretext to fight us and put a more than decent fight, then we'll get Assasin'd after the fight (when we are weakened) or he will attack our home and put our family in danger. If we chase Matsuda, we can kill Harris and link our shitty "brother" to a leyline, then we seek archer and call him to duel us (with our helmet removed, but being alert so he doesn't snipe us), then we meet Circe and she helps us find Assasin.
I know that this plan, like every not-short term plan we do, won't survive the enemy, but at least we make sure that Harris won't get a powerful servant he can use in order to free his other powerful Servant and suddenly become the hardest enemy we have ever faced.

>>3870672
>going after Harris
>one night after the last
>without any physical improvement or any insight on what he did to us
Sounds like an easy Dead End to me.

>>3870672
>F9ag
Your ID aside, Matsuda should get fucking destroyed by any halfway competent Caster.
He pretty much hard-counters Alberich and Alberich alone.
Circe could very likely easily use her binding spell on him.

And if this fight against Archer goes well, there's nothing stopping us from dropping in on Matsuda afterwards and kicking his fucking teeth in.

Also, somebody mentioned it last thread, but Antaglio has a crucifix linked directly to Matsuda, there's very likely some bullshit that a Caster can pull off with something like that.

Listen lets just go after Archer. If we reveal who we are we are most likely to get Circe back and if she really wants to join us and say "Fuck Archer" she can just command seal him to be absorbed.

>>3870685
You have a point, if Matsuda doesn't train his weakpoints with Harris and keeps the thing linking him to Antaglio we are fine. Also:
>Sk8888
Nice ID by the way.
>F9ag
Your ID aside.
You really like reading other people's IDs in your free time right? Well, not everyone has a life I suppose...

>>3870672
>>3870750
Any particular reason you two aren't voting?

>[ ] Dinner would be a waste of time, but so would watching the Emiyas. There's something else more important right now. Attack Archer.

"Whatever Emiya's reasoning is," you finally declare, "that family is not an immediate threat. Kōrakuhime, you can clear away your divination. I believe I've reached a conclusion regarding our course of action for tonight."

"Really, now?" As the smoke drains away, you can see Kōrakuhime's expressionless face again, regarding you with blank expectation. "What would... that be?"

Before you can answer Kōrakuhime; almost at the same time as she speaks, in fact; your Master says, "That's great, Saber-san? What do you think we should do?" Kōrakuhime shoots the girl a glare, pursing her lips in a moue of displeasure, but Ayaka firmly ignores her. You decide to follow her example, and let the awkward moment pass.

"This is a golden opportunity to deal with Archer," you say. "Last night he was firmly ensconced on a tower, able to leverage his advantage at range to the fullest. Even had we not been distracted by other foes, reaching him would have been a difficult task. Tonight is different. Right now he is in transit, making his way towards the home of an enemy. If I attack him promptly, closing within his range should be a simple matter."

"You aren't... worried about intervention by his Master?" Kōrakuhime asks.

You shake your head. "I remember how well she fought against Servants with Magic Resistance in the Akeldama. She doesn't pose a significant threat to me."

"I see..." Kōrakuhime thinks for a moment, setting her chin in her hand. "Do I... have a role in this battle plan of... yours? Or... shall I remain here?"

>[ ] "You'll be coming with me, of course. I expect your aid to be of particular use against Archer if he should be able to keep his distance." (Duty)

>[ ] "You'll remain here, of course. I need you to keep the house well defended, and to be here to receive Futodoki's report." (Pride)

>[ ] Say something else (Write in)

Just a short update, since I need a clarifying vote from you folks on whether to leave your sister at home or take her along.

>>3871037
>[ ] "You'll remain here, of course. I need you to keep the house well defended, and to be here to receive Futodoki's report." (Pride)
You've done enough.

>>3871037

>[ ] "You'll remain here, of course. I need you to keep the house well defended, and to be here to receive Futodoki's report." (Pride)
She'll fuck up the encounter, whether knowingly (antagonizing Circe to keep her place with "her" brother) or unknowingly (wow, Rushorou sure was quick go replace me with another qt inhuman caster). Also, somebody needs to keep the WIP that is worst Saber contained.

>>3871037
>>[ ] "You'll remain here, of course. I need you to keep the house well defended, and to be here to receive Futodoki's report." (Pride)

Tsubaki stop being a shit. Take a time out.

>>3871037
>You'll remain here

>>3871037
>>[ ] "You'll remain here, of course. I need you to keep the house well defended, and to be here to receive Futodoki's report." (Pride)

Show trust and praise best little sister.

>>3871187
Liliesviel isn't here.

>>3871187
That's why we didn't scry Liliesviel, remember? I trust her.

>>3871187
>Trust and Praise
Not sure that's how she's gonna take it since she's the one that wanted to come with us to take on Archer in the first place but it's whatever.
She does need to be here for Futodoki's report at the very least and i'm sure she'll come to appreciate the rest.

>>3871302
Well we can phrase it better and seal the deal with a head pat. Something like we trust her to guard the house.

Though in reality she is being a huge shit.

>>3871037
>[ ] "You'll remain here, of course. I need you to keep the house well defended, and to be here to receive Futodoki's report." (Pride)
>>3871198
Well, that and Odin would've shown us old moobs

>>3871387
>Odin would've shown us old moobs

Oh no, I have a C U R S E D image in my head, oh god why.

"You'll remain here, of course," you say. "I need you to keep the house well defended, to keep a watch over our prisoner, and to be here to receive Futodoki's report." She might be useful in battle, but there are enough risks to leaving the house empty that you can't justify inviting your sister along to face an enemy you're confident in your ability to defeat alone.

"You... don't want me with you... after my failure against that human magus," Kōrakuhime says, looking crestfallen. It doesn't sound like a question.

"No," you say, walking over to her to reassure the downcast girl, "that's not it at all. I've seen your magic at work, I understand how powerful it is; but suppose Harris were to try an attack while we were all away, and succeed in freeing Arturia. It would be a disaster. Tonight we must have someone to guard the manor, and there's no-one who can do that but you."

"Is that really... true?" Kōrakuhime still looks set on falling into a depression. "Are you not only... using kind words for my sake?"

"Of course it's true!" Getting a bit angry now, you take her by the shoulders, feeling the slim frame quail at your touch beneath her silk furisode. For once, though, you aren't lying when reassuring someone. You really do need a guard here, or you'll have no peace of mind. "I need you to stay here and make certain that there are no problems with the prisoner. It's your bounded field that's restraining her, and of the three of us you're the best suited to defense!"

After a long pause, during which she looks down and refuses to meet your eyes, Kōrakuhime finally says, "Very well, Ani-ue," and looks up to give you a tiny smile. "Thank you for being... so understanding of my failure. I will do my... utmost to keep the manor entirely secure tonight."

"There's a good girl," you say, stroking her hair without thinking. Fortunately, she doesn't complain. "Now, where is this church we'll be protecting from Archer?"

"Ah, here, Ani-ue." Kōrakuhime startles slightly at the return to the topic at hand, then draws one of her talismans out of her sleeve. This one, though, has an address written on it rather than illegibly archaic script. "I divined the... priest's location separately, while you were watching... the Emiyas' dinner. If you... go there, you will most likely find Archer... attacking him."

"Excellent, thank you," you say, and turn to go. "Miss Ayaka, let's be on our way."

"Alright." Despite that assent being her only input on the night's plan of action, Ayaka gives you a smile as the two of you walk to the car. Despite the setbacks you've faced, your Master still seems content to follow your lead. Without exchanging another word, the two of you walk to the car, you walk around to get the door for her and let her in, then take your own place as the driver. Once you're behind the wheel, though, it gives you pause: how naturally you carried that out. Acting as Ayaka's butler was originally only a cover story for her mundane students, but you've settled into the role of chauffeur quite unconsciously. You'll have to be more careful not to pick up any other servile habits in the future.

As you pull out of the garage and drive through the suburbs, things seem normal enough. Once you get downtown, though, the change that's come over Tokyo becomes more obvious. You noticed last night that the streets weren't as full as you'd expect, but tonight a shadow seems to have fallen over the city. It's not very late, yet, only nine, but the city streets are empty. Very few cars are on the road; shops, restaurants, and even bars are more often closed up than open; pedestrians are almost nonexistent. It's one thing to hear rumors about illness from an officious student, and quite another to see for yourself what this "epidemic" has done to Tokyo's night life.

Soon your drive takes you out of the city's commercial zones, though, and back into a suburb. In face, as you draw closer and closer to the address Kōrakuhime gave you, the surroundings begin to seem quite odd. You've always pictured churches as being in high-class districts, or separated from the populace on hilltops as shrines often are, and the church in the Akeldama where you summoned Circe held true to that expectation. This area, however, is not just a suburb, but a distinctly lower-middle-class one. Not poor, exactly, but certainly a step down the socioeconomic ladder from the environment in which Yumigawa Rushorou was raised.

You must have made better time than you thought, because you're quite near the church now and still feel no trace of an enemy Servant's presence. There's still no church in sight, though, so although the addresses of the homes on either side of you make it seem you're almost there, you continue in the car; unafraid of a long-distance attack. Judging from the addresses, it shouldn't be farther than-

Wait, now that you look again it seems you've overshot it! There are only houses on the street, though. Craning your head around to look behind, you confirm your memory's accuracy. It's nothing but cheaply built two-story houses on tiny plots of land for blocks around. You reverse back up the street, keeping careful track of the addresses as you pass, and finally it's in front of you. Not a church.

The address written on the paper Kōrakuhime gave you points to a grey house in a state of poor repair. Neither abandoned nor well-maintained, it exudes the impression of housing a family too harried and busy to keep up the place any better. If you stared at the building for a thousand years, the notion of an Italian priest living there would never come to your mind. Yet this, according to Kōrakuhime, is where Antaglio is. Not only that, you've arrived in advance of Archer.

"Saber-san, why are we stopped? This isn't the place, right?" Ayaka sounds as confused and dismayed at the location as you feel.

"This is where Kōrakuhime suggested we'd find Antaglio," you answer with a shrug. "There's no mistake about the address. This, it would seem, is the place."

>[ ] While you have the extra time, go in and confront Antaglio about sending Matsuda after you. Demand an apology. (Pride)

>[ ] Wait outside the house until you sense the approaching presence of a Servant, then attack Archer the moment he arrives. (Duty)

>[ ] Do something else (Write in)

>>3871543
>>[ ] Wait outside the house until you sense the approaching presence of a Servant, then attack Archer the moment he arrives. (Duty)


We don't need an apology from the priest. No, he deserves undying loyalty by brainwashing.

>>3871543
>[ ] Wait outside the house until you sense the approaching presence of a Servant, then attack Archer the moment he arrives. (Duty)

>>3871543
>[ ] Wait outside the house until you sense the approaching presence of a Servant, then attack Archer the moment he arrives. (Duty)

>>3871543
>>[ ] Wait outside the house until you sense the approaching presence of a Servant, then attack Archer the moment he arrives. (Duty)

>>3871543
>[ ] Wait outside the house until you sense the approaching presence of a Servant, then attack Archer the moment he arrives. (Duty)

>>3871543
>[ ] Wait outside the house until you sense the approaching presence of a Servant, then attack Archer the moment he arrives. (Duty)

>>3871543
>>[X] Wait outside the house until you sense the approaching presence of a Servant, then attack Archer the moment he arrives. (Duty)

Although you're interested in what sort of environment the priest might have as his living space in this odd place, you eventually decide against entering. Better to remain focused on your aim here than to be distracted by the same bait that's drawing Archer to you. You scan your eyes over the skyline around you, looking for any sign of motion, any trace of a presence. There's nothing. You still have some time, then.

You drive a short distance farther, parking the car three blocks from the house and getting out to make the return trip on foot. Better to have your vehicle well out of the potential area of destruction. You briefly consider leaving Ayaka with the car, to keep her safe as well, but dismiss the notion. You'll need her present to conduct the sacrificial ritual, after all. In fact, the thought occurs to you as you conduct her out of the car that you don't actually know the details of the ritual. Considering the importance it plays in your battle strategy, it's not something you should leave unknown. As the two of you walk through the darkened neighborhood, you decide to ask.

"Miss Ayaka, how is it that you go about preparing the sacrifice of our enemies?"

"Huh?" Ayaka had evidently been lost in thought, for she now looks up at you startled. "Oh, well, there are two ways of doing it, actually. Why do you ask, Saber-san?"

"Your sacrificial ritual is a crucial part of our combat strategy, as I have said before. If there are any logistical elements of its success that can be provided for, I must be aware of them. Frankly," you continue, raising an eyebrow in suggestion of humor, "I'm rather surprised at myself for not having asked you before."

"I see." Ayaka thinks for a moment, composing her words. "Well, like I said there are two ways. First is the traditional way of doing it. For that, I would prepare a surface with a magic circle and formulae inscribed on it to capture the spirit of the sacrificed creature. Anything that died within that circle would be sacrificed, and you could use it as many times as you want, with no incantation necessary; only the Shijou crest. That's how we generally did the animal sacrifice at home that I told you about before."

"Interesting. And the second way?" Certainly Ayaka hasn't been inscribing circles in the ground below your foes up until now.

"It's something my mother, actually. She didn't like to use it much, because she didn't have a lot of confidence in her own ability to add to the family legacy, but I think it's really amazing!" Ayaka breaks into a smile, and her tone brightens noticeably as she mentions this. It's an odd change from the girl who's usually been subdued when talking about her parents, but you suppose that the memory of learning this ritual must be a particularly happy one. "If I only need to sacrifice one thing, and it isn't in a prepared circle, I can use only my crest and a short incantation. So long as I focus my eyes on the target for the duration of the chant, a kind of one-party version of the circle's binding will be set up. Then, as long as it dies in the next hour or so, part of the target's spirit will be drawn in!"

"So that's how it is," you muse. "I suppose, then, that the most significant challenge for you is in dealing with high-mobility foes."

"That's right. So far they've always stopped long enough for me to focus on them and chant at some point, but if you cut up a Servant that had been moving too fast for me to see the whole time, I couldn't do it."

"I'll bear it in mind." That resolves the question of how best to orchestrate Ayaka's sacrifice, at least for the most part. One thing does stick out to you, though. "Why would your mother dislike that iteration of the ritual?" you ask. "It seems entirely superior to me."

"She said the efficiency was lower than the original version, and that because it didn't use the traditional tools it was disrespectful to our ancestors." She pauses for a moment, then shrugs. "Honestly, though, I think she just wasn't very confident. Even though she was an amazing magus, my mother was very negative about her own abilities, and said it was all she could do to follow in my grandfather's footsteps."

By now you've arrived in front of the house that apparently contains Antaglio again. There's still no sign of an enemy presence, though, so you don't see any harm in making conversation while keeping an eye out for Archer. As a precaution, though, you manifest your armor before replying, "Is that so? What was your opinion of the man?"

Ayaka's grandfather should be the one who arranged for the Shijou to host the Holy Grail War, you recall. Learning more about him would be interesting. Your Master's answer disappoints you, however. "He died before I was born," she says, "so I really don't know. Mother said he was one of the greatest magi in the family's history, but she's the only one I ever heard about him from."

"You never tried to learn more about him from the records of his time as head of the family?" From the way Ayaka speaks about him, you'd have expected her to want to know more.

"I didn't have time," she says, dismissing the idea. "I always had something more important to do than read in the family archives. Once I stopped practicing magic, I didn't really ever go near the library. I guess that's changed now, though. Maybe tomorrow I'll start by trying to find his journals..." The conversation lapses into silence for a moment as Ayaka considers the idea, and in the absence of speech you hear a strange noise break the night's stillness: a hum of reverberating air, only there for a moment, but drawing closer, and-

Your arm is already moving even as Heiligöffnungschwert materializes, and you cut the arrow out of the air just in time to save Ayaka's life. It hammers into the blade with the same intensity you remember from that other night, and even the cloven halves of the projectile put craters into the pavement where they land, but you find that it's easier to bear now. You've grown much stronger since the night you battled Rider. Enough, you think, that you could face Blackbeard's fusillade of cannon yourself if you had the chance again, instead of sending Servants to do it for you. A man who strikes with the same power as those shots, and only one arrow at a time, is no longer an enemy you have to fear.

"Hya!" Ayaka lets out a little shriek at the sudden attack, and take her shoulder in your free hand, guiding her back.

"Miss Ayaka," you say quietly, reassuring her with a calm, level tone, "Get behind me."

Another arrow comes humming through the darkness, this time aimed at your eye, but again you can read the trajectory and cut it down before it does its work. The timing between the shots is strange, though; it seems too slow, somehow. Is Archer moving between his attacks, or perhaps slowing himself intentionally to mislead you about his capabilities? Of course, you've never fought a man with a bow before. Perhaps you're overestimating what his speed should be.

What's more important for the moment is determining his location. There's still no trace of a Servant's presence anywhere nearby. Archer's range of attack is apparently greater than the distance at which you can detect magic. Fortunately the direction from which the arrows came can function as a guide. Following them to the horizon with your eyes, you can faintly make out the distant gleam of bronze on a rooftop. He's almost too far away for you to see at all, nothing more than an indistinct shape, but you don't doubt it's Archer. He must have been making his way here when he saw you and stopped to make his assault from the greatest possible distance.

>[ ] Leap up to the rooftops yourself and go on the attack, closing range while deflecting his shots with your blade and cloak.

>[ ] Approach Archer on the street, using the buildings for cover and staying out of sight when possible.

>[ ] Pit ranged attacks against each other by sending a portal at Archer from here with Heiligöffnungschwert.

>[ ] Remain where you are now and keep up the defense, forcing Archer to alter his strategy.

>[ ] Do something else (Write in)

>>3872032
>[ ] Leap up to the rooftops yourself and go on the attack, closing range while deflecting his shots with your blade and cloak.
Close distance as quickly as possible.
When we get close we should immediately attack with HGS. Read the situation and when he tries to dodge, use the swing he dodged to send a void slash right to where we predict that he'll dodge to.

>>3872032
>[ ] Remain where you are now and keep up the defense, forcing Archer to alter his strategy.
Come on then you shit.

Are we doing multiple updates today?
If so can we keep them short and frequent to keep up the pace of combat? Just a suggestion. Feel free to disregard.

>>3872051
>Are we doing multiple updates today?
If there are more than a couple of you folks online, yes! I know I won't get votes from all of you at this hour, but I'd like to wait for at least 4.
>If so can we keep them short and frequent to keep up the pace of combat?
Definitely. I don't have time to do multiple full-length updates today.

>>3872032
>[ ] Approach Archer on the street, using the buildings for cover and staying out of sight when possible.
A- Agility here we go!
>>3872037
Don't forget that this is Archer and that's the option that gives him the highest chance to hit us.

Ok but what about Ayaka guys?
We can't really just leave her here and not expect it to bite us in the ass this time.

>>3872079
I just know that letting an Archer attack us from range with impunity is a bad idea. Have her hide for now I suppose.

>>3872032
>Take a broader loop towards Archer, focusing on defensibility (of Master) over quickness of approach
I just KNOW we'll be punished for letting him let loose with impunity, but I also know we'll be punished for approaching him without care.

Here's another issue, can we really leave Ayaka here right next to where Antaglio and his men might be?

>>3872164
Oh, I guess I didn't mention it but Ayaka should follow Alberich closely in my write-in

>>3872146
Alright I'll back this. She can't exactly follow us closely with our speed but she should at least follow. Maybe mix up our approach by cloaking through the walls of the nearest building to him while leaping toward him, should catch him off guard.

>>3872032
>Take a broader loop towards Archer, focusing on defensibility (of Master) over quickness of approach.
As long as we approach as fast as we can without making any opening I'm fine with the plan. We should cover ourselves with the buildings and kenotis, also wrap Ayaka to our breastplate with a tendril (not a sharp one, neither thight enough to harm her) so we can move better and faster. Another advantage is having both of our arms free to parry with Heiling or shoout him IN shit as a distraction.

>>3872259
>Make a baby carrier out of nothingness for Ayaka
Worth a kek, but not actually the worst idea to speed up movement

File: 1571093018771.png (291 KB, 2518x1024)

291 KB PNG

Fate/Overgrowth is bullying us again...

>>3872274
>Implying any protagonist written with such mediocrity can be a chad
Kek

Unfortunately, aside from the suckerpunching one that's a lot of valid hits on our boy. How the times have changed...

>>3872274
Well, yeah. Alberich is written to be a massively flawed character, not Hiro de Protagonista.

>>3872292
The issue at hand isn't being flawed, it's being a virgin or a chad. Sadly, Alberich is firmly on the virgin side of the continuum these days.

>>3872274
That's the difference between this quest and Overgrowth: We spend our time making memes of our character and barely acknowledging their exsistence. They spend their time making offensive and uncalled for memes comparing their "chad" protagonist to Alberich so they can draw some attention to their quest. Pathetic.

>>3872308
>unironically getting angry over a meme
Well I thought it was pretty funny.

>>3872314
>Angry
>Implying this isn't just anon's /pride/ coming out
Like MC like playerbase

>>3872302
He's been jobbing like a motherfucker, but saying Edgar a chad and dismissing every absolute fucking bullshit that Alberich has dealt with is absurd. I mean, it's not a bad meme, the part where they say that Edgar doesn't need Servant tier stats to fight Servants made me laugh, mainly because he has a Servant to protect him.

>>3872302
Well, if you don't like the way the character is going, you folks can always put your heads together to form a plan for altering characterization via write-in decisions.
Back in Gulag's abortive version of Akeldama, pretty much every action Rushorou took was a write-in.
The virgin/chad meme just seems kind of ridiculous to me.

>>3872330
>The virgin/chad meme just seems kind of ridiculous to me.
Isn't that the whole point of the meme though?

>>3872325
That was the idea. I though the PATHETIC at the end made it clear enough.

>>3872337
I would assume so, but some folks do seem to take it oddly seriously.
>>3872308
>We spend our time making memes of our character
I haven't seen many of those recently. Maybe the guy who was making them defected to Overgrowth.

>>3872349
I don't know if Alberich has really done anything meme-worthy recently though.
As far as I can tell, that Overgrowth meme was made in response to them actually getting a Fade to Black.
Some anon even wrote an H-scene.

>>3872330
You can't vote your way out of cutscenes

>>3872349
>Defecting to overgrowth
What a disgusting concept.

>>3872355
>Having sex
>Not being a singular superentity, surpassing the biological necessity of reproduction
Sad!

... who did they do tho?

>>3872349
I definitely took that as a funny joke. I wasn't trying to stir the pot. Everyone needs to chill out

>>3872359
Seibah.

>>3872368
>Going with first girl
A pleb-tier decision.

... who is first girl, Kōrakuhime or Circe?

>>3872384
Circe 100%. Ogawara was second boy.

>>3872355
>I don't know if Alberich has really done anything meme-worthy recently though.
orz. It's such a slippery thing, writing interesting scenes.

>>3872359
>You can't vote your way out of cutscenes
I do my best to respond to you folks' discussions as well as direct votes.

>>3872363
>Everyone needs to chill out
I'd rather people rage than abandon the quest. It's good to read any kind of feedback, even the most negative.
I know you folks are frustrated by the feeling of jobbing recently, but I promise it isn't going to be failure forever.

>>3872384
Technically Taiga, but I think of Circe as being the first heroine.

>>3872146
Calling this vote and writing.

>>3872389
>I know you folks are frustrated by the feeling of jobbing recently
It's not even so much on you when it comes to /pride/ posting these days.

>Spend a whole day having voyeurish fun with a loli
>Go limp-dicked into the Matsuda encounter
>Completely fail at interrogating or intimidating our prisoner, and probably look like shinji while we're at it
>Roll like Cu Chulainn or Justinian on the gacha
>Choose probably the worst research direction possible
For a quest whose primary memery has been about the absolute superiority and supremacy of its protaganist, we sure haven't been providing material as of late.

>>3872032
>>[ ] Remain where you are now and keep up the defense, forcing Archer to alter his strategy.

>>3872411
>voyeurish fun with a loli
What do you mean? You weren't particularly watching anyone during your date with Liliesviel.

>>3872481
I mean, the fun of the day was in watching Lily.

>>3872486
Yeah, that's true. In retrospect, a theme park was probably Alberich to look for fun. Rides fall kind of flat for someone used to Servant battles.

Concerning the issues of writing how HGS could work in combat, what's so bad it causing about minor cuts, limb injuries, limb dismemberment, weapon damage/destruction, etc.? Just because it can cut anything doesn't mean it's a one-hit kill. The enemies can partially dodge and specific injuries can make them change their tactics. I guess I'm confused about what the issue is on your end that makes you think you can't write it as a satisfying weapon to use.

>>3872494
>minor cuts, limb injuries, limb dismemberment, weapon damage/destruction
Lets go through, shall we?
>minor cuts
Fine
>limb injuries
Now this is something that could easily turn the tide of a battle, or turn into a stomp.
>dismemberment
battle is over
>weapon destruction
battle is over

>>3872494
Mostly the answer is just that it doesn't occur to me when I'm writing fight scenes. I have tried to do it a bit, like when Kenotis cut open Matsuda's legs, or when Heiligöffnungschwert destroyed Invisible Air.

>>3872500
I'm just pointing out that there's different outcomes that could be used other than the sword being useless in combat and the sword one-shotting whoever we swing it at.

>>3872506
We did slice up Medusa a bit, for all the good it did.

>>3872504
>when Heiligöffnungschwert destroyed Invisible Air
Speaking of this, why did Invisible Air completely explode? It survived cuts from Gae Dearg, didn't it?

>>3872514
We were able to cut all the layers of pressurized wind, creating an opening for the pressure to be released

>>3872506
The problem is, the sword forces combat scenes to be written so fucking unorthodoxly.
Alberich basically has a lightsaber and nobody else does, so he can't actually fight people like a normal person. He can't clash with his enemies swords at all.
So he has to be dodged every time, and your opponents completely dodging your every attack every time just makes you look weak.

>>3872514
Just chalk it up to Anti-World bullshit.

>>3872514
Gae Dearg only does rinky-dink little nicks, while Heiligöffnungschwert fully severs

>>3872514
I don't have an explanation for Fate/Zero, but my thinking there was that it's essentially a boundary made out of extremely compressed wind magic, sealed together as a self-contained bubble.
Heiligöffnungschwert cut through that boundary, and the pressure could no longer be sustained. The wind consequently exploded outwards.

Now that I think about it, should Excalibur even still be called "Unknown Holy Sword on the Status page?
I mean.
It should be pretty obvious what damn sword it is.

>>3872544
Oh thanks, I forgot to update that. Fixed now.

"Miss Ayaka," you say, "take shelter under my cloak, and hold on to my shoulders. I need to close in on Archer faster than you can move, so I'll have to carry you."

"O-on your back?" Ayaka sounds highly nervous about the idea. "Are you sure? Maybe I could just stay here, or hide in the house there."

"Are you mad?" you snap. "Archer would kill you as soon as we separated! Furthermore, you told me only a short time ago that you had to be looking at the target in order to prepare your sacrificial magic! Just grab on."

"Alright..." She still sounds reluctant, but after a few moments you feel her arms going around your neck and the light weight of her body clinging to your back. With only her arms, though, Ayaka's hold on you is tenuous; and you can hardly reach behind yourself to support her. Then inspiration strikes. You open the door within you, pouring magical energy into your circuits and materializing it as a tendril of Nothingness, softer than the bladed appendages you've manifested up until now. You slip it around Ayaka's legs and torso, to hold her firmly in place under your cloak.

"Kyan!" Ayaka lets out an odd cry as the silky ribbon wraps around her. "Saber-san, what are you-"

"It's only magic to hold you in place, nothing to be worried about," you reassure her. "Now, let's go. Hold on!"

With that, you dart off to the right, moving into the darkness under the eves of houses to cut off Archer's vision of you. No further arrows pursue you as you go; perhaps he's reluctant to damage the houses? After you've gone three blocks that way, you turn left again, moving as quickly as you can while keeping yourself out of sight from above. From your original position, you'd estimated it was about 20 blocks straight to Archer, so you have some range to cover yet.

You've made four more blocks this way, frequently hopping over garden walls, shrubs, and fences to stay under cover and in the residents' yards, when an arrow suddenly shoots out of the darkness straight before you. You don't miss a beat, cutting it out of the air and looking for the enemy. He can't be on the roofs now, from the shot's angle, but there's still no presence to be found, only an empty garden in front of you. Before you can find a solution, though, you hear more arrows from behind! You spin on your heel to stop three attacks with quick cuts. Like the first, these came as if shot from your eye-level, but there's only a wall and small stretch of lawn behind. There's nowhere he could have shot from, even if Archer could have gotten behind you so quickly. As a chill breeze stirs your cloak, your mind races.

>[ ] However it is that Archer's moving his arrows, they're still attacks you can handle easily. Keep going according to your initial plan, heading for his last seen position. (Pride)

>[ ] It's possible that your initial premises were wrong. Maybe you're under attack from multiple enemies, agents of the Church such as the hidden figure that Matsuda dispatched. It could even be Assassin attacking you, rather than Archer. Get up to the rooftop and try to get a better idea of what's going on. (Self-Preservation)

>[ ] If Archer can outmaneuver you this easily, he's probably already heading for Antaglio. Head back to the address Kōrakuhime gave you and intercept him. (Duty)

>[ ] Do something else (Write in)

>>3872596
>[ ] If Archer can outmaneuver you this easily, he's probably already heading for Antaglio. Head back to the address Kōrakuhime gave you and intercept him. (Duty)
Fuck do I hate Archers.

>>3872596
>[ ] If Archer can outmaneuver you this easily, he's probably already heading for Antaglio. Head back to the address Kōrakuhime gave you and intercept him. (Duty)

>>3872603
Such faggots, honestly.

>>3872596
>[ ] If Archer can outmaneuver you this easily, he's probably already heading for Antaglio. Head back to the address Kōrakuhime gave you and intercept him. (Duty)
So he can move his shots around somehow to surprise people. It makes sense that something like that wouldn't work against Artoria.

>>3872603
I feel like I'd be doing the franchise a disservice if I wrote an Archer you didn't hate.
It's the designated smug asshole class, really.

>>3872614
What would you have done if "Rushorou" became an Archer then? Made everyone detest him?

>>3872384
Anon most things never go with the first girl.

>>3872618
Hey, EMIYA has fans. So does Gilgamesh. There's a market for the smug jerk archetype.
Honestly, with Pride as the primary emotional trait Archer was the class I was most hoping you'd pick for Rushorou. I botched it with my presentation of the power forms, though.

>>3872621
That's the problem that arises from having incredibly important votes be incredibly vague.

It was effectively impossible to discern which was Archer and which was Lancer.

>>3872632
It was a catch-22. I wanted it to be a surprise that you were turning into Vaisset's Servant, so I couldn't be too obvious; but I also wanted to make it a meaningful choice. Ah, well. We live and learn.

>>3872637
But the sword option gave the game away anyway.

Archer is Odysseus, and his bow was known for being immensely powerful and difficult to string, which accounts for his shots hitting as hard as Blackbeard's cannons.
The bow probably also has some ability relating to the twelve axes. At a guess...

>>3872645
>At a guess...
ok what the fuck happened
At a guess, the arrows bypass obstacles to reach their target.

>>3872596
Fuck, we should never have taken our eyes off of him. Jump up to the rooftops to locate him.

>>3872596
>[ ] However it is that Archer's moving his arrows, they're still attacks you can handle easily. Keep going according to your initial plan, heading for his last seen position. (Pride)

>>3872611
If he's moving his shots around instead of outmaneuvering us then what makes you think that he's headed to attack Antaglio while he should be focusing on the greater threat, which is us?

>>3872682
Because he's probably under the effects of a command spell.

>>3872686
We didn't see anything that suggested that Circe used a command spell when scrying her

>>3872596
>[ ] However it is that Archer's moving his arrows, they're still attacks you can handle easily. Keep going according to your initial plan, heading for his last seen position. (Pride)
He's using some weird archery skill to make us think he's changed location. Turning back is probably exactly what he wants us to do.

>>3872694
Well, we didn't pick up on her having what, five command spells?

>>3872704
Not that I recall. That was just in the interlude.

>>3872725
Yeah that's my point.

>>3872730
That still doesn't mean he's compelled by a command spell right now.

Alright, I'm fairly confident he's hiding behind cover and his shots are bypassing the obstacles.
>>3872596
Switching from >>3872611 to
>[ ] It's possible that your initial premises were wrong. Maybe you're under attack from multiple enemies, agents of the Church such as the hidden figure that Matsuda dispatched. It could even be Assassin attacking you, rather than Archer. Get up to the rooftop and try to get a better idea of what's going on. (Self-Preservation)

Circe mentioned luring Assassin out
>>3872596
>[X] However it is that Archer's moving his arrows, they're still attacks you can handle easily. Keep going according to your initial plan, heading for his last seen position. (Pride)

Man, I don't feel good about any of these options and can't think of one without downsides myself. We don't have enough information to make an educated decision.

>>3872763
Challenging situation, isn't it?

>>3872694
I'll give you this one, since you were watching and could have seen clearly. When Circe and Archer appeared in the divination, Circe had the normal three marks of a command spell on her hand from beginning to end.

>>3872786
Based on the info we know (nothing), any of these options could be right or wrong. It's almost like we're rolling dice

He's not outmaneuvering us. There's no way he could have traveled 20 blocks in the time it took us to travel 7, especially not without getting close enough to us to sense his presence.
Also who cares if he kills Antaglio? We're not here to save Antaglio, we're just here to kill Archer.
Either Archer is trying to make us think he's behind us in the most half-assed way possible (from eye level and through a wall), or he just wanted to try his weird arrow teleportation skill since normal arrows weren't cutting it.
I think the latter is more likely. So we should confirm his current location and then continue closing distance.

>>3872825
Then vote.

Looks like we've got 2 for turning back, 2 for getting up to the rooftop, and 3 for staying the course. Any further thoughts, anyone?

>>3872596
>>[ ] However it is that Archer's moving his arrows, they're still attacks you can handle easily. Keep going according to your initial plan, heading for his last seen position. (Pride)

Archer, you decide, is trying to confuse you. Whatever means he has of striking at you from various angles, the seemingly inexplicable origin of the shots combined with their ineffectiveness as attacks leads you to the sole conclusion that his purpose is to stop your progress by rendering you indecisive, and causing you to worry about his position. The best thing to do, then, is to keep on as you have been going and close in on the place where you last saw Archer.

You've hardly gone another step, though, when your progress is arrested by a further hail of arrows. First one from above, aimed straight at your head; then from before you, striking for your knee; then an arrow from behind, and low; then two more from the front, coming for your eyes; an arrow from your right, going for your heel; on and on, they come from all directions, so that you're forced to advance gradually, a step at a time, constantly watching your surroundings and cutting down the oncoming projectiles.

As you vault over the next garden wall, raising your blade as you do so to stop an arrow intended for your throat, the arduousness of closing the distance against Archer becomes clear. Even with perfect accuracy in deflecting his arrows, you're being run ragged by keeping up the defense! Just crossing this yard has taken as long as it previously took you to cover an entire city block, and there's still plenty of distance for Archer to continue draining your stamina as you make the approach. It's clear to see why Arturia was unable to do more than fight Archer to a stalemate.

Fortunately, you have more abilities at your disposal than Arturia. You draw your cloak close about you, to cover every part of your body below the neck, and materialize your helmet. Thus garbed you need only worry about arrows aimed at your eyes. You quickly dart back out into the middle of the street, prepare to run, and, call, "Kenótis!"

You sprint down the street at full speed as arrows rain down on you from all sides. A few miss entirely due to your heightened speed, gouging out craters like shell-holes in the blacktop behind you. Most vanish helplessly into your cloak, aimed more accurately but countered by your defense. Those that are aimed at your head, which increase in number as Archer apparently recognizes the Kenótis' power, can be escaped simply by rolling your head on your shoulders, or swaying to the left or to the right. You don't avoid them entirely, of course, but only move as much as is necessary to ensure the arrows strike glancing blows against your helmet and leave no more than a scratch behind them.

In this way you sprint down another fifteen blocks of road, drawing near enough to feel Archer's unmoving presence as you do so. There are only three blocks left between you now, and you can sense his location clearly enough, on the roof of one of the homes to your left and down the road. Line of sight, however, remains obscured as ever by the buildings.

>[ ] Get on the rooftop and close the final stretch directly before bringing the fight into close combat. (Pride)

>[ ] Maintain your current strategy of closing distance while on the street, until you've reached the house where Archer is waiting. (Duty)

>[ ] Give Archer a taste of his own medicine by using a portal to strike at the location where you can feel his presence. (Self-Preservation)

>[ ] Do something else (Write in)

Alright, here's my third and last update of the evening. Are you starting to formulate a strategy to put an end to Archer?

>>3873011
>[ ] Give Archer a taste of his own medicine by using a portal to strike at the location where you can feel his presence. (Self-Preservation)
Should prevent him attacking during our approach.

>>3873011
>[ ] Get on the rooftop and close the final stretch directly before bringing the fight into close combat. (Pride)
We should save the portal strike as a surprise for
>>3872037
This plan.

>>3873011
>[ ] Give Archer a taste of his own medicine by using a portal to strike at the location where you can feel his presence. (Self-Preservation)
Then
>[ ] Get on the rooftop and close the final stretch directly before bringing the fight into close combat. (Pride)

>>3873011
>>[ ] Give Archer a taste of his own medicine by using a portal to strike at the location where you can feel his presence. (Self-Preservation)

>>3873011
>[ ] Get on the rooftop and close the final stretch directly before bringing the fight into close combat. (Pride)

I'm getting the distinct feeling that Circe isn't watching for some reason. If she was then she would've seen our face and done something.

>>3873094
We're wearing a helmet right now.
Though she should probably be suspicious of Kenotis.
That is if she isn't already aware of us.
I can't imagine why she wouldn't have shown up if she was though.

That motherfucking true Rushorou is involved I'll bet.
We could've avoided this all if we just took on a new name within Akeldama.

>>3873101
>We're wearing a helmet right now.
We weren't wearing a helmet for a good while.
>That is if she isn't already aware of us.
>I can't imagine why she wouldn't have shown up if she was though.
Off the top of my head: this is some kind of test because she thinks we might be Assassin in disguise, or Assassin didn't take her bait and instead managed to find her temple.

>You slip it around Ayaka's legs and torso, to hold her firmly in place under your cloak.
>"Kyan!" Ayaka lets out an odd cry as the silky ribbon wraps around her. "Saber-san, what are you-"
Ayaka's gonna have dreams about this one, eh? The tendrils ability and Alberich's general sadism would make for some terrible doujins in another world where this is an official franchise.

>>3873222
>The tendrils ability and Alberich's general sadism would make for some terrible doujins in another world where this is an official franchise.
imagine the discussion on /a/ about the fate/awakening mirror anime

>>3873230
>Too much gore in City/Akeldama, so Nasu cucked Alberich and gave him a useless lightsaber
How would /a/ take Kōrakuhime? Also, just I M A G I N E /pol/ latching onto the franchise because of Adelheid. It'd be an unmitigated Success

>>3873230
>imagine the discussion on /a/
Allow me to give you the full experience.
>SABERFAGS BTFO
>RINFAGS BTFO
>HEAVENS FEEL IS CANON
for all eternity.

>>3873222
Some great doujins, I think you mean.

>>3873230
I want to see /a/'s reaction to:
>an entire episode devoted to Alberich's date with Liliesviel
>a main heroine who eats people
>Alberich capturing Saber and then proceeding to repeatedly insist she get his identity right, rather than really torturing her
>Emiya's kids
>Fate protagonist who's a total lolicon
>The Judas reveal, and then the second Judas reveal
Just everything, really. It'd be so great.

>>3873261
Oh man the second Judas reveal would be at the end of a episode to be a total cliffhanger. Just having Judas introduce himself or even saying hello with Judas's VA would be so good.

>>3873330
Oh man, that really would be perfect.
Ayaka: "By my command, Servant Saber, tell me the truth about your identity!"
Judas' voice, from Alberich: "Ah, the truth. The real truth. It is difficult to lay hands on, is it not?"
>Strings of Futatabi cut in as the scene fades into the ED
I love it. Cliffhangers are one thing I've really missed out on, since the quest format compels me to always stop at an action by the protagonist.

>>3873385
Hmm.
You could always attempt to put cliffhangers at the end of a thread.
That requires crazy planning though.

In a hypothetical AM anime, I always imagined that after the credits you would see either a dead end we ran into that time or a little clip of lore exposition handled by Circe for the things Alberich couldn't learn by himself.
For example, fight with Achilles:
>end credits
>See Achilles fight dead end
>Achilles kicks a hole in Shirou's stomach and tears off his head
>then punches Medusa's face into a pulp and rips off her head
>Then Alberich tries to take him on alone, gets outmaneuvered by the kenyan fast hero and (wait for it) loses his head as well

>>3873446
I like it. Dead ends in place of next episode previews are a nice callback to Carnival Phantasm, and Oshiete! Kiruke-sensei! sounds like a great segment.

By the way, we're tied. 2 for getting to the rooftop then attacking, 2 for using a portal from below, and 1 for chaining a portal into an attack from the rooftop.

>>3873504
Switch me to the pride option then.
Inb4 dead end.

>>3873504
say, sweets-dono, would alberich's stage 1 fgo card art be him with full armor?

>>3873515
When we were talking about the hypothetical lostbelt where he's the king/resistance leader, I was thinking stage 1 would be him in the suit, stage 2 would be armor, and 3 would be armor with no helmet.
It could be interesting to do the Mordred-style "strip off more armor as you ascend him" approach, though. What did you have in mind?

>>3873521
just for a bit of drawfagging. after the mashing sprites together and meme pics i thought id try my hand at somethin more serious like

File: HPD3AR.jpg (148 KB, 1300x847)

148 KB JPG

>>3873577
Nice! If you draw his helmet, remember to use Hellenic depictions of lions like this one for the reference.

>>3873521
Or do a Salieri and have Stage 1 be full armor, Stage 2 be suit and Stage 3 be armor with no helmet. I mean I already kinda pictured Alberich as Salieri but with shorter hair.

"I've had enough of dealing with an invisible foe," you mutter irritably. "Ayaka, hold tightly to me. I'm going to face him on his own ground."

With that, you leap up to the roof of the first house on your left, shattering roofing tiles as your armored bulk slams into the building. The sudden movement evidently catches Archer off guard, as six arrows slam near-simultaneously into the street where you'd been a moment before, putting another ragged pit into the war-torn street.

A moment after you reach the roof, though, everything changes. Without warning, the ever-present cool autumn breeze accelerates into a howling gale that slams into your chest like one of Berserker's fists, sending you sliding back off the roof, your heels mangling the gutter as you go down. It's only by last-minute reflex that you turn a somersault in the air to land on your feet, rather than crushing Ayaka under your back.

"Saber-san, what just happened?" Ayaka asks fearfully, her voice muffled by your armor. Buried as she is under Kenótis, she of course wouldn't be able to see what's been going on.

"It seems we're beginning to discover what else Archer is capable of," you explain. "I was knocked off that roof by a wind out of a hurricane."

Not to be discouraged, you make a second attempt to gain the rooftop, this time grabbing the edge and swinging yourself up while crouched, rather than jumping and giving the air maximal power over your momentum. It goes better. With the peak of the roof before you, and your own body lowered, the screaming tempest that crapes over the neighborhood can only inhibit you, rather than throwing you back down. Up here, though, the storm of projectiles has, if anything, worsened. Archer's arrows are all coming from ahead now, but what he lacks in variety of direction he's making up for in number, and with your enforced posture you find yourself having to fend them off with Heiligöffnungschwert once again. Each arrow hammers into the sword, sending reverberations up your arm that make your muscles begin to feel the strain. Worse still, the projectiles' fragments are tearing away at the roof below you, potentially jeopardizing your position rather than leaving behind harmless craters as they did when you were on the street.

There are still three city blocks between you and Archer, but at this level it seems you'll never make it. Just moving forward atop this roof is a trial, and you fear that once you crest the peak of it and actually manage to catch sight of your foe you'll be thrown back again, caught by a renewed blast of frigid air. Even if you are able to cover this roof, what follows would be a leap to the next building: surely a doomed enterprise. You must think of another way to approach Archer.

>[ ] Give up on the rooftop and return to the street to follow more effective methods.

>[ ] If Archer won't permit you to approach, you have no choice but to face him at his own range. Unleash your own counter-bombardment by attacking him with a portal.

>[ ] Closing distance against Archer seems impossible, but the distance remains too great for a ranged battle to be feasible. You still have one more ability at your disposal, however. Call on Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle and summon a phantasmal beast to aid you.

>[ ] Perhaps this gale isn't an insurmountable foe after all. Hang Kenótis before you like a curtain as you charge, so that the force is channeled into its portal and no part of your body is exposed.

>[ ] Do something else (Write in)

>>3873716
>[ ] Perhaps this gale isn't an insurmountable foe after all. Hang Kenótis before you like a curtain as you charge, so that the force is channeled into its portal and no part of your body is exposed.
I was actually gonna write this in! Just make sure Ayaka isn't vulnerable.

>>3873716
>>[ ] Closing distance against Archer seems impossible, but the distance remains too great for a ranged battle to be feasible. You still have one more ability at your disposal, however. Call on Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle and summon a phantasmal beast to aid you.

Lets roll the Gacha in our time of need. Maybe we will have more luck.

>>3873724
Yeah, supporting this with the stipulation that Ayaka be kept safe.

Rolled 358 (1d1000)

>>3873728
If I roll 950+
Maybe.

>>3873724
>Just make sure Ayaka isn't vulnerable
>>3873731
>Ayaka be kept safe.
You want to give any specifics on that? Right now you're carrying her on your back, and using Kenótis here entails taking it off your shoulders and holding it out in front of you instead. Like a matador's cloth, or a guy hiding behind a curtain.

>>3873736
Can we like
Switch to carrying her with the arm we are currently holding Heilig with?
Like have her pressed against our chest?

We'll need to bind Archer anyway.

>>3873765
You'll have to use both hands to carry Kenótis, otherwise it would just dangle and not block the wind.

>>3873771
Ok then, can we just switch her position to our front with the ribbons then?

>>3873736
Drop her off into the nearest building first then, and tell her to get somewhere safe and out of sight until our say so, when we're finishing archer off

>>3873781
>letting her out of sight when we know Circe is watching
>also she needs to see Archer for the ritual.
Ahaha
Are we certain that's a good idea?

>>3873788
She can't stay in sight of him because he'll see her too. And shoot her. And we can't fight with her on our back either. So she has to hide until we're about to finish him off. We have no choice.

>>3873790
Yes, but what about the immensely powerful Caster watching the fight that can teleport?

>>3873792
Still less dangerous than being on our back in the midst of close quarters servant vs servant combat.

>>3873795
No.
No it's really not.

You're suggesting we leave her undefended against one of the greatest magi to ever exist, who has reason to hate/kill her.

Ayaka will be fine if we reposition her.

Archer is fucked close up no matter what.

>>3873716
>[ ] Perhaps this gale isn't an insurmountable foe after all. Hang Kenótis before you like a curtain as you charge, so that the force is channeled into its portal and no part of your body is exposed.

>>3873781
This.

>>3873800
Circe can kill Ayaka as she pleases. If she attacks us with Ayaka on our back, she dies. If she attacks her away from us, she dies. You assume Circe is paying attention, when we know that she probably isn't yet. Approaching Archer with Ayaka on our back is a certain death sentence, however.

>>3873818
Good point.

>>3873781
This

>>3873818
>>3873823
No. Bad point.
That's a terrible assumption to be making.
Circe almost certainly is watching, she only said she would get involved if Archer was in trouble.
Right now, Ayaka is on our back covered by our cloak.
Circe can't do anything to Ayaka right now because she's cloaked behind a nigh absolute defence.

>>3873848
>>3873848
>Circe fires magic lasers at Alberich
>Archer fires arrows at Alberich
>Nothing happens?
Also, I don't want Ayaka to get blasted by hurricane force winds, collateraled by an Arrow, slammed into the wall and/or the ground, get her brains liquified by accelerating at the speed of an A- agility servant...

>>3873866
Yes, nothing happens in either of those cases because Ayaka would be round our front and protected from it completely in my plan.

She's been fine being carried so far.

Do you not understand the horrible danger represented by a Caster like Circe approaching an unprotected master?

>>3873873
We have a more immediate threat to Ayakas safety that we have to deal with.

>>3873875
Ever heard of the phrase "out of the frying pan and into the fire?"

>>3873873
Do you not understand how fucked we will be if Alberich is literally fighting Archer with such a fragile and important grill strapped to his BACK? If Circe comes, our Alberich is neutered in combat anyways.

>>3873873
Do you not understand how fucked we will be if Alberich is literally fighting Archer with such a fragile and important grill strapped to his BACK? If Circe comes, our Alberich is neutered in combat anyways.

>>3873880
Well in this case it's more like going from the fire to the frying pan. Still an improvement.

>>3873881
>>3873882
Interedasting....

>>3873881
Holy shit.
Reading comprehension.
I'm suggesting we switch her to our front for now.

Unless you genuinely believe letting a fucking Archer take potshots at her is a good idea.
In addition to Circe.

>>3873883
No.
It's not.
She's going from a controlled position where we can protect her to being sniped by Archer and destroyed by Circe.

There's probably a reason there's no "set Ayaka down" option.

What do you think Archer does when he realises he can't stop us through our defence?

>>3873887
We're so close to Archer now that if he spends a second to shoot at our master we'll cut him down.

>>3873896
>What do you think Archer does when he realises he can't stop us through our defence?
He activates Alberich-cucking NP/Skill # 6 or fukken dies

>>3873901
>we're so close
>There are still three city blocks between you and Archer
No. We aren't.
>or fukken dies.
Or he just snipes Ayaka
Where the fuck is she going to hide on a fucking rooftop?

Are we reading the same story here?

>>3873911
>Drop her off into the nearest building first
Really making me think here anon. Do you read the options you piss in the wind against?

>>3873917
It's a really shitty write-in that's going to get us killed.
So the plan is to let Archer reposition as he wants.
Maybe get Ayaka shot too?

>>3873924
Ah, compared to the genius plan of charging at a servant with our master suspended before us like soviet reactive armor the idea of retreating for a few seconds and putting down the precious cargo must seem quite mad eh?

>>3873927
Far better plan than letting a hyper accurate sniper take potshots at her when he realises what we're up to or just leaving her undefended despite knowing we're up against a teleporting enemy that said she was going to be scrying Archer just in case.

So am I correct in interpreting that we have 2 of you folks supporting the plan of hiding Ayaka in a nearby building and then using Kenótis to shield yourself from the wind while attacking Archer on the rooftop; 1 person voting to approach with Kenótis as a shield while keeping Ayaka strapped to your front; and 1 person voting to summon a phantasmal beast to assist you? Am I missing anyone?

>>3873977
I'm not calling the vote yet, to be clear. Just wanted to make sure I had it right, since not all of you linked to the update.

>>3873977
Looks right to me.

>>3873716
>[ ] Perhaps this gale isn't an insurmountable foe after all. Hang Kenótis before you like a curtain as you charge, so that the force is channeled into its portal and no part of your body is exposed.

My ID probably changed so I'm >>3872846.

>>3873716
>[X] Perhaps this gale isn't an insurmountable foe after all. Hang Kenótis before you like a curtain as you charge, so that the force is channeled into its portal and no part of your body is exposed

>>3874059
>>3874096
And what is your opinion on what to do with Ayaka?

>>3874146
Shift her to the front under Kenótis.

>>3874146
I'll be honest, I don't care anymore and I'll back whichever needs an extra vote to get the writing started

>>3874192
Ah, well. About that. It is Tuesday, you know? You folks can take all the time you need to discuss the right choice.

>>3873716
>[ ] If Archer won't permit you to approach, you have no choice but to face him at his own range. Unleash your own counter-bombardment by attacking him with a portal.
Any Phantasmal creature we summon is at risk of being blown away unless it's huge enough or powerful enough to stand up to an NP like the three winds. Furthermore, I don't want to expose Ayaka to a possible backstab because who knows if Circe'swatching or not.

Actually, wait a second.
The legend behind the bag of winds was that Odysseus was told not to open the bag completely, but his men did so and let all the winds out. That means his use of the winds may be limited, and he may be unable to shut them off until they're used.
Unfortunately, the update doesn't say if Archer stopped blasting when we fell off.

And I can see why Archer was so confident hanging out on top of Tocho would've let him kill Saber.
Imagine trying to scale the outside of the building with a hurricane pushing you around and arrows coming at you from every side, or trying to go through the cramped inside with those arrows from every side. Even Instinct wouldn't let Saber cope with that, because she would simply be unable to act on her visions well enough.

>>3874605
Oh yeah, Saber would've gotten absolutely screwed on that climb. Pulling out an excalibeam would've been her only way to survive.
>>3874592
The wind did slacken when you went down, but didn't cut off entirely.

>>3874707
>The wind did slacken when you went down
So he can control how hard the wind blows, but he can't shut it off. If he could stop it then he would've.

>>3873716
>[ ] If Archer won't permit you to approach, you have no choice but to face him at his own range. Unleash your own counter-bombardment by attacking him with a portal.

>>3874707
>Oh yeah, Saber would've gotten absolutely screwed on that climb. Pulling out an excalibeam would've been her only way to survive.
Couldn't she have just used invisible air to put a barrier around herself?

>>3874146
Strap her to your back using the tendrils, eyes behind you. This way she can warn you if something shows up.

>>3874887
Invisible Air can't block a barrage of shots that each hit as hard as a cannonball from QAR.
>>3874895
And those shots are faster than Ayaka can track, so if she's even slightly exposed at any point it's instant death for her.

>>3874887
Invisible Air is bound around Excalibur. She can use it as a projectile, but there it's a one-use explosion. She might have mitigated the wind for a moment, but couldn't set up a sustained barrier around herself with it.

>>3875002
But doesn't she do exactly that in Hollow Ataraxia?
Around an entire building, actually.
For multiple minutes.

>>3875007
God damn it. My mistake then, let me refresh my memory.

>>3875014
Easy out: just say that Avenger's shades are so shitty compared to Archer's shots that they can be blocked by Invisible Air.

>>3875022
I'm talking about the wind here, you do realize this right?

>>3875030
I... actually don't remember Hollow Ataraxia all that well. I took a shot in the dark and assumed that she would've done that to defend against Avenger's shades.
Wiki gives that claim, that she shielded a building, but it's uncited.

>>3875057
My feelings exactly. It's been a long time since I played F/HA.
What I'll say is this. The result would've been conflicting winds, and if Saber surrounded herself with a barrier that could move along with her, then she (along with the barrier) would still be susceptible to outside force as a unit, just as Excalibur is when it's surrounded by Invisible Air.
Consequently, Archer still could've used his own gales to inhibit her climb.

Block the wind with Kenótis
>>3873724
>>3873818
>>3874059
>>3874096
>>3873731

Gacha
>>3873728

Portal Slash
>>3874561
>>3874799

Shift Ayaka to your front
>>3873775
>>3874180

Hide Ayaka in a building
>>3873781
>>3873847
>>3873866

Keep Ayaka on your back
>>3874895

Alright, looks like you folks are hiding Ayaka, then attacking Archer with Kenótis as a windscreen.

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>>3875138
>Hide Ayaka in a building
>this actually won

>>3875168
>anons are retarded
This surprises you?

>>3875168
>t. Person who did not vote
Why?

>>3875171
Oh well if we get a dead end we can choose something else. Hopefully the gacha just to see what shit we can pull out.

>>3875171
The anons in this quest are so fucking stupid they actually make me feel like dropping the quest sometimes.

>>3875168
Let's hope Archer doesn't just fire an arrow into the building and Ayaka dies to shrapnel.

>>3875193
Or you know.

Fucking Circe.

Who even if she's totally aware of everything that's going on, will want Ayaka dealt with.

>>3875199
Circe still loves Alberich, so it wouldn't be a bad end. We might lose Ayaka, but we wouldn't die.

>>3875203
Could be a non-standard bad end.

My point is that I hope we die.
If there's a single moment that justifies our jobbing.
It's this absolutely brainless decision.

>>3875172
But I did: >>3874180

>>3875206
Ah. An anon of many IDs, I see.

>>3875205
I'm still mad that we're leaving a defenseless person behind in the midst of not only an Archer with teleporting arrow, not only a Caster who could see where we dropped her off, but also an Assassin that has yet to be found.

You raise your head above the peak of the roof, searching for your enemy, and the wind howls at you like some enormous dying beast, screaming its resentment at that which dealt it a mortal blow. It freezes the night as it does so; November nights are never warm, but in the chill of this blast you seem to have been transported to some frozen northern clime. Winter in Russia, perhaps, or the arctic. Frost creeps across the steel of your armor and the rooftop alike, and the steam of your breath forms a cloud of ice crystals that are tossed back to scrape and sting as soon as you exhale. Nor is vapor the only projectile carried by this tempest: Archer's shots move in concert with the air, as if they and the wind are components of some bizarre warlike weather, a rain of blows from on high. Their accuracy is reduced, you note dryly as one arrow gouges out a great chuck of rooftop a foot to your left, but the power they transmit up your blade when you are called to cut them out of the air is far greater than that which you felt at ground level.

Dismayed, you lower yourself again to crouch there, pressed into the lee of the roof so that you may avoid the wind; still fending off the unceasing barrage of arrows with an blade that seems to grow heavier with each deflected strike. As things are now, pressing your attack via the rooftops seems hopeless. It's taking all you have to maintain your current position; how can you cover three more blocks in the face of this pressure?

Then an idea strikes. The assault Archer levels at you comes only from the fore; if you remove your cloak and drape it in front of you, it could serve as mobile cover, shielding you from the gale and guiding both it and Archer's devastating arrows into the oblivion of Imaginary Number Space. You'd be moving blind, but it could work; better still, it's a completely unorthodox method, well-suited to catch Archer by surprise.

Your mind is called away from the contemplation of your new plan, though, as you take note of the shivering presence against your back. Ayaka is tolerating the cold well, remaining silent in spite of conditions far harsher on her than you, but between the inhuman force of Archer's barrage and the freezing teeth of the wind, the danger to her only seems to be increasing as you draw closer to Archer. If you're still carrying her with you when you finally do close the distance, she'll almost certainly be killed. You'll have to leave her behind if you hope to get any closer to Archer.

Not losing any time, you slip back from the roof's peak and drop to the yard below, quickly sidling around to the back door before Archer's next cluster of arrows can follow you to your new location. Fortunately for you, the inhabitants of this house are apparently either extremely trusting of their neighbors or totally incapacitated by the epidemic; there's a large sliding glass door that opens from the house into the yard, which is completely unlocked.

After stepping into the family's living room and darting a quick look around to confirm that the place is dark and seemingly empty, you say, "Miss Ayaka, I'll need you to wait here." With that, you carry her off your back, wrapping each limb carefully in ribbons of Nothingness to spare her any weight, before pulling them back into your shadow as you set her down in a nearby chair.

"Huh? Hy- Nh?! W-why's that, S-saber-san?" Chattering teeth put a stutter into Ayaka's voice, and she has a few false starts as she speaks, even though you've gotten her out of the wind now. Her face is flushed, too. The cold must have affected her more than you thought; you'll have to hope there's no serious harm done.

"Come now, Miss Ayaka," you chide, "I can see you shaking like a leaf. If I'd carried you any farther into that gale, I believe you would have frozen."

"I-I guess you're right." The girl smiles weakly. "Sorry I'm not stronger, Saber-san."

You shake your head. "For the umpteenth time, Miss Ayaka, it isn't something to be apologized for. Just leave the fighting to me; and be certain to call me if anything dangerous approaches you!"

Then you're back out the door, leaping up to the roof again. You undo the wing-shaped pin, now an unwelcome reminder of Circe's betrayal, that holds Kenótis fast at your shoulder and whip the cloak out before you, taking a corner of the garment in each hand to spread it out, a great rectangle of darkness obscuring your vision of what lies ahead. Even blind, though, with this shield before you you're confident of closing the distance to Archer.

"Kenótis!"

As the cloak activates, you spring forward at your full speed, no longer hampered by consideration of the arrows, the wind, or Ayaka's safety. The ground and buildings blur below you as you shoot forward like an arrow yourself, shattering whatever foothold you find in the mad dash to keep up your momentum and reach Archer before he can realize what you're doing and counter it. Then it's over. After a sprint that seems compressed almost down to one insane instant of hurtling speed, destroyed homes, and wind all around the pocket of stillness you carry, Archer's presence is right in front of you, motionless. The wind all around you has died down and returned to the faint breeze that stirred the air on the street below. You toss Kenótis around your shoulders and pin it once more its ordinary position, fastened about your neck.

Before you stands Archer, the adversary who fought so hard to keep you at bay until now, standing without any sign of animosity. In one hand, a bow the length of a man is lowered and without an arrow, and his other hand is empty at his side. Beneath one sandaled foot, Archer holds down the neck of a large leather bag, tied shut with heavy rope but not wholly secure. You can hear a low whistle as air rushes out of it in a thin stream which flows into the breeze stirring your cloak and Archer's hair. For a moment, he only stares at you in mute astonishment. Then the black mass of hair that surrounds the craggy face breaks open, cracked by a wide, pearly grin, and Archer lets out a hearty guffaw.

"Amazing!" he exclaims, once his laughter has subsided. "And I thought any Servant tied to a magus would be more careful about the surroundings! That's great. I couldn't have done much better if I'd been trying to ruin these houses. Take a look at what your sprint did to those stepping stones you used!" He sweeps his free hand out in a gesture to indicate the area behind you.

"I'll keep my eyes on the armed man, thank you," you answer coldly. If he's trying to catch you off guard with guilt, it won't be effective.

"Alright, fine," Archer says with a shrug and a smile that seem to call you a fool for missing the fun to be had. "So what was so important about keeping the overseer alive, that it was worth attracting all this attention, huh? You're not his Servant, he's only supposed to have a handful of fighting clergymen with him."

>[ ] "I'm here for you, Archer. You gave me the opportunity to kill you, so I took it. The priest doesn't matter." (Pride)

>[ ] "If Antaglio dies, the Church could decide this whole War needs to be shut down and flood the city with their men. Harming the overseer is a bad idea, Archer." (Self-Preservation)

>[ ] Say something else, or ask a question of your own (Write in the details)

>[ ] Dispense with conversation and cut him down. (Duty)

>[ ] Do something else (Write in)

>>3875448

>[ ] "I'm here for you, Archer. You gave me the opportunity to kill you, so I took it. The priest doesn't matter." (Pride)

>>3875448
>[ ] Dispense with conversation and cut him down. (Duty)
There's no reason to talk to him. I'm sure he has some smoothtalking charismatic trickery skill.

>>3875468
How will we dramatically reveal us being Alberich without an appropriate pre-battle chat?

>>3875448
>[ ] Say something else, or ask a question of your own (Write in the details)
What's so important about killing him? Or is it just a whim of Circe's?

>>3875477
Holy shit, this would be a spicy one.
Support.

>>3875477
>>3875448
Actually, this. A bit a playful banter.

>>3875448
>>3875477
Very Slick.

>>3875205
Sorry, anon. I had a really great Dead End planned for if you brought Ayaka with you to face Archer, but this way you made it to the confrontation alive.

File: fuck this shit.gif (2.23 MB, 314x176)

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>>3875547
>Ayaka would've died of hypothermia
Huh, well...

>>3875547
That's unfortunate.
Combat still feels horribly random.

>>3875553
>A human dying horribly while directly immersed in servant combat is random
Hmm.....

>>3875557
>>3875560
Whoops, wrong link.

>>3875560
>letting an Archer who has shown the willingness to attack Masters shoot at our master hiding behind the defensive fortress of a low quality japanese house is a good idea
>letting our master get ganked by Circe who we know is watching/Assassin is a good idea
Archers are stupid and bullshit. This combat feels silly.
I still say that Saber should slap Odysseus the moment she decided to play smart with Invisible Air too.

I guess the only reasonable explanation is that Circe planned this?
Maybe?
All girls worst girl now. Fantastic.
Ayaka wins by default.

>>3875553
>>3875557
Oh come on now, surely it isn't so ridiculous to conclude that bringing your fleshy human Master into close-quarters combat with someone who can control the wind would get her killed. It's not a simple ability to stand between them and shield her from.

>>3875560
Thank you, anon. Neither choice was safe, but this is the lesser of two evils.

>>3875572
>I still say that Saber should slap Odysseus the moment she decided to play smart with Invisible Air too.
How do you feel like that'd work? We know from the example of Excalibur clad in Invisible Air that a mobile object wrapped in the barrier is still vulnerable to outside forces. Putting a barrier around herself might make her invisible, but it wouldn't work as an all-purpose shield to stop an external force. If it did, she would've been using it all the time in F/SN.

>All girls worst girl now
Why?

>>3875572
>Still being wrong
>Archers are stupid and bullshit.
Good thing we're about to absolutely dab on this homo. Unless, as I said earlier, he has Alberich cucking ability #1000.

>I still say that Saber should slap Odysseus the moment she decided to play smart with Invisible Air too.
Saber would be dead if she tried to replicate what we just did with Invisible Air and Instinct. Worst saber indeed...

>letting our master get ganked by Circe who we know is watching/Assassin is a good idea
Ah, because actively arguing in favor of killing her is so much better. You do know that Archer actually has senses, and can't just aimbot everything in existence? I don't know what the trick was with the curving arrows exactly, but it evidently isn't a perfectly applicable autohit.

>>3875587
>How do you feel like that'd work?
Because I feel like trying to apply wind to break through a wind barrier isn't going to really be effective.
Also, it literally can work as a barrier.
>she would've been using it all the time in F/SN.
I mean, would she have? Fate route Saber hasn't got the mana to expend for that sort of thing. UBW Saber doesn't really have a need to do something like that after she's contracted with Rin and Saber Alter only needs to Excaliblast.
>Why?
Kourakuhime is incredibly grating, Circe and Adelheid have been irrelevant for so long I stopped caring about them, but on the contrary Lily was introduced way too late for me to care about her.
>>3875590
>Saber would be dead if she tried to replicate what we just did
I mean, I myself doubt that, but OK. It's a disagreement me and Sweets will probably always have on the mechanics of Invisible Air
>can't just aimbot everything in existence.
When your opponent can accurately make shots from kilometers away (unless he's a really really shitty Archer) and can hit a house with the force of a super cannon, hiding a girl in a flimsy house isn't a great idea.

>>3875448
I'm going with >>3875477

>>3875604
Well, shit. I hope there's something you still enjoy about the quest, anon.

>>3875611
I mean, I still enjoy the quest. I just probably would've done things differently if I was the one running it.

Forcibly separating the chosen waifus from the players for 5/8ths of the quest's runtime was prrrobably a bad idea. I mean, narratively, it might've been the only way to go about things. But actually attempting to introduce new love interests at that point definitely was not going to work, why the hell would it?

I mean, there was probably always going to be player dropoff from the whole "now you're a servant" thing, which changed up the quest way too much for what everyone signed up for originally. But I imagine some anons eventually got fed up of waiting for Circe or Adelheid to appear too.
Then you got the powerlevelfag anons that probably would've left from the amount of perceived jobbing going on.

Obviously, we can't really ask the anons that dropped the quest why they dropped the quest, so this is all just speculation on my part.
I can't imagine that Volks' effect being explained was helpful for player population either.

It's not really about what I enjoy personally about the quest at this point. I feel like you need to read your audience to make sure they are actually happy with the developments of the quest.
Or at least invested.

>>3875448
>[ ] Dispense with conversation and cut him down. (Duty)
Letting Odysseus talk is almost as bad as chatting with Loki. The faster we bisect the guy, the safer we are.

>>3875629
>But actually attempting to introduce new love interests at that point definitely was not going to work, why the hell would it?
I feel like there was a generally positive response at the time that I actually introduced them, though. I've only started hearing complaints about it in the last 2 threads, which I find odd.
>Then you got the powerlevelfag anons that probably would've left from the amount of perceived jobbing going on.
This is an acknowledged problem, and one I've been thinking about since the last fight. I was attempting to factor in the complaints and advice I've had from you folks in this fight against Archer, but apparently that hasn't been satisfying either.
>Volks' effect
There was at least one person who found it way more unpleasant than I would've expected. I still don't really see why, unless anons had really wanted to use it as a generalized powerup.
>I feel like you need to read your audience.
I do my best. Not sure how I can do more, when so many people drop out silently.

>>3875640
I'm enjoying this fight so far, this anons just mad that he was wrong about what would happen in the last vote.

>>3875640
I've been liking this fight sweets. It's nice to feel like our abilities work and not get repeatedly cucked once in a while,

>>3875448
>[ ] Dispense with conversation and cut him down. (Duty)
I prefer cutting to the chase.

>>3875647
>>3875648
That's heartening. Thanks, anons.
>>3875651
>spoiler
ARGH

>>3875647
I mean, there's nothing to suggest Circe isn't going to do anything.
In fact there's a lot to suggest she is going to attempt to do something.

A big personal complain of mine is that this quest suffers a very bad case of talking being a free action sometimes.
The conclusion to the Achilles fight being an absolutely awful example of this, where Lumenza, a supposedly hyper-competent combat-magus just gawks like a retard instead of using a command spell while we conversed with Odin and Lily.
Also it was a little bit evident earlier here, where we spent time talking to Ayaka while Archer apparently does fucking nothing.

I've been enjoying this fight though. Whatever.

Generally, if it feels like you only won a fight because your opponent suddenly quartered their IQ or they just got unlucky, it's going to be distinctly unsatisfying.

>>3875640
>I still don't really see why
I don't think it's that complicated

>I've only started hearing complaints about it in the last 2 threads, which I find odd.
Probably has something to do with Alberich's immediate assumption that Circe is an enemy, meanwhile, he plays funfair with a girl he literally knows is anenemy who he will have to betray (and by lying, technically already is). Anyway anon might not have been actually complaining about them outwardly, but I don't think anyone ever really saw them as legitimate love interests either, not after Akeldama.

Third (Fourth?) wheels at best.

>>3875658
>I don't think anyone ever really saw them as legitimate love interests either, not after Akeldama
Anyone else want to weigh in on this? Are the people who were exclaiming over how cute Liliesviel was after her first interlude and when her character art was finished still around? Or do you all share the sentiment that the newer heroines were introduced too late to make an impact?

>>3875668
I'm still here.

>>3875682
Do you feel like the new heroines are legitimate love interests?

>>3875668
The fact that Circe was pursued and we knew wasnt completely impossible to meet again, with Adalheid being grudgingly accepted by her...I dont see any way to have expected new romance?

>>3875668
It's not that the new heroines don't have an impact, and it's not like I dislike them otherwise I never would've spent all that time editing Lily's portrait. but it just feels like, after Akeldama, Alberich should basically be done with romance.
Maybe not forever, but he probably shouldn't be acting the way he is so soon after a loss.
Or at least not feeling sad about the loss of the two people he cared about most in the world like a grand total of one time before apparently moving on.

Sidelining the original heroines to give the new ones time is.
Well, sorta lame.

>>3875688
Lily is a genuine best girl contender but, like >>3875690 said, I don't see a romantic relationship working out ever since we raised the yandere flag.

>>3875668
>>3875688

Sweets, my poor sweet boy. You can't expect people to go for a shiny new girl when they already have a waifu they're really attached to. Sure, they'll croon and praise a cute new girl but they're not going to commit to them if there's a chance they can get their old girl back. The only time I've seen a qst protag try to commit to a new girl is when Hecate fucking died.

>>3875688
They would if we didn't have an entire season with the original waifus before we met them

>>3875688
No
I think Liliesviel is cute as fuck.
I think Ayaka is a sweetheart that needs several hugs.
I think Kōrakuhime is a pretty great little sister.
It doesn't change how most of us feel about Circe and Adelheid.
I keep trying to tell you every time you ask.
It's not that the new girls aren't well-written and interesting characters, but we played a whole quest with Circe by our side.
The idea that anyone would just jump ships after a whole quest of emotional commitment (as much commitment as an emotional cripple like Rush could give anyway) has been and always will be silly.
I know what you're going for.
We all know because we had this conversation before.
Nothing has changed, you need to drop it and save the idea for something else cause it's not gonna work here.