Battle at Mion Bridge

Yui heaved a sigh of relief and smiled.  Berserker shuffled the woman into one arm, trying to hold her steady, but she stumbled into her, seemingly unable to stand on her own two feet.

Then Yui squinted as she looked down at Lancer's body.  It wasn't dissipating like a Servant's body should when defeated.  Then one of her arms twitched.

[[Skill: Battle Continuation]]

Lancer pushed herself up with one arm, blood pouring out of her mouth.  "To think...  That I'd be defeated in such a cowardly way..."

Berserker turned around to see Lancer stirring and took a step back.  The woman in her arms opened her eyes and blinked up at the Servant holding her.

Then she opened her gaping maw wide and clamped down on Berserker's neck.  Berserker let out a blood curdling scream as her teeth sank in deep, spurting blood over the woman's face and down her dress.

Berserker
HP: 350/400
MP: 200/200

Lazarus began his spell over again like some asshole said he had to. [Firesprint, Rank A]

Caster gasped and started mixing bottles from his robes. After concentrating on the result for a short time, the liquid inside became pourable flame, lingering on the glass walls. He aimed carefully, and threw the bottle over the edge and towards Lancer.

[PYROSPITE: RANK C]

fuyumin carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

[[Skill: Battle Continuation]]

"Oh, no!" Lancer said as she saw Caster mixing the bottles.  "I'm not going to sit here and die like some old dog!"

Her form shimmered and turned to its Spiritual Form, and she disappeared from view.

Then the form of her Master twitched.  His spine realigned itself and his ribs popped back into place.  Then he rose and looked up at where Caster, Lazarus, and Yui now stood.

"Fooound you~!" he sang.

He started sprinting toward the building, far far faster than human being should be able to, his toes barely touching the ground.  When he reached the building, he jumped to land on the wall. Before he could make, it though, he hit the Bounded Field and bounced off of it.

He jumped back and skidded to a halt. "Well that was unexpected..."

Berserker, meanwhile, struggled to pry the woman off her neck.

(BERSERKER)
Damascus carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

(CRAZY WOMAN)
Damascus carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

Berserker managed to rip the woman off, but not without her taking another chunk of flesh out.

Berserker
HP: 320/400
MP: 200/200

Berserker stumbled back, putting one hand to her bleeding neck. The woman just stood there, mouth lolling open, staring blankly at the Servant.

"Berserker! Come back up right now!!" Caster started blending another alchemical grenade, flames sloshing in the bottle once again, in case of emergency.

Berserker wasted no time, as the pale woman was stumbling toward her again for another attack.

She launched into the air, passing harmlessly through Caster's Bounded Field and landing on the roof.

Malphas looked up at them and frowned, knowing he couldn't get through the barrier.

"I see how it is," he taunted them. "You don't want to play! Be that way then! But, I promise I'll be back to play with you some other day!"

He laughed, before his form darkened and dissolved. His body burst into a flock of crows that took off into the night.

Yui stared down at where he had stood, mouth hanging agape.

Lazarus once again ssnuffed his flames. "OH, why do I even bother?!" He watched the Master go with irritation, though he was mostly irritated that he had no idea what the crow man had just done. If it was a spell it was very complicated. Perhaps it was the sacrifice of the humans that was giving him such power. He tried his best to contemplate what to do about the situation.

Yui was speechless, but looked down at the street below. The woman was stare there, gaping up at them. It seemed to want to make its way up to them, but couldn't figure out how.

She raised one hand and pointed at the woman, chanting under her breath. After a minute of chanting, several vines sprouted out of the ground and wrapped around the woman, holding her in place.

"We should go look at her."

"Agreed." Lazarus feather fell down to the woman, though with plenty of space between her and himself. He didn't want to risk a bite.

After casting a spell to heal up Berserker, the two of them jumped down after him.

The woman stood in place, struggling weakly against the vines, fixated on trying to get close to them.  When they came closer to her, they were able to inspect her more closely.

Her skin was beyond pale, and stretched so tightly over her bones that she looked like a mummy.  The wound in her neck had not healed over, but had stopped bleeding.  Her eyes glowed a dull red.

Yui recognized all of these traits, though she had only ever read about them before.

"Jesus christ," she gasped.  "I think this is shisa... the Dead.  A dead body turned into a familiar.  That's impossible.  No way.  Shit."

She swallowed hard as the possibilities spun in her head.

"If that's true, that would make that Master a Dead Apostle.  A vampire. Oh my god."

Caster crossed his arms. "What on Earth is that? Some kind of sorcerer?"

"Vampires can be sorcerers, but they're closer to demons." Lazarus stated, a slightly worried look on his face. "I can't tell how he came about, either a very powerful mage can become one, or very rarely, someone bitten by a vampire can in turn also become a vampire. This woman will not though. She is nowhere near powerful enough." Lazarus turned to Yui. "We have three options. We can notify the church, we can directly notify the Burial Agency, or we can hunt and kill him ourselves."

Lazarus lit the woman aflame. It burned hot and fast, quickly incinerating her and putting her out of her misery.

Caster covered his nose with a loose sleeve to avoid the smell of burning hair. "Yes, yes, but what is a vampire? What makes it so dangerous? Besides the obvious, of course."

"They're basically humans turned into undead monsters. They have to suck human blood to stay alive. Not only are they ridiculously strong, but they regenerate fast." Yui frowned worriedly.  "Honestly, he could be tougher to kill then his Servant.  I think we should notify the Church.  They're the ones who usually take care of Dead Apostles, AND they're the mediators of the Grail War.  They may help coordinate efforts against him."

"More importantly, though," she sighed and rubbed her arms.  "Why the HELL was he selected as a Master?!  I know that sometimes the Grail chooses non-magi but this is total lunacy!"

Lazarus shook his head. "I can't say. However I am still going to send word to the Burial Agency. At the very least, more people involved will make it harder for him to roam about, and give us an advantage." The grail had given them quite a test this round. As worried as he was, he was still energized by the prospect of such a challenge. What an unusual grail war he had landed in! He felt lucky to get to take part in it. "Meanwhile, I will also spend some time devising a spell. Perhaps I can locate him, or even harm him from a distance." he already had a couple ideas in the works, it's just that, of course, they would take time. He was alright however, stepping to the side of the war for now and observing. "You may continue to look for enemies if you wish, Miss Yui, but I am going to focus on retaliating against the vampire. I will begin fortifications on your mansion tonight, and I will be needing to take up a room as close to the leyline as possible. Do you have a basement? And if not, may I make one?"

"I have a basement," Yui answered. "There's a lot of sensitive magical equipment in there, but I can clear it out. Hopefully we can do something against him. That reminds me."

She turned toward Caster. "I was going to mention this after our fight with Archer, and it seems now we need even more help. If you'd like, you can create a Territory around the mansion. I have a feeling we're going to need as many defenses as possible there before the War's over."

She turned back to Lazarus. "Should we head to the Church now, or wait until morning?"

Make a - how does one simply make a basement over - ah. Silly questions. Lazarus had, after all, opened and closed a chasm in open ground.

"If he's making fortifications, I'll gladly make dinner. I'd like to have the opportunity anyways, and it was something I enjoyed when I was able to, and I'll happily make a Territory as well. We'll all need rest, no sense in delaying anything that would keep us from resting easily."

"Indeed! but we can rest after we've gotten the ball rolling on our plans. I can give you the coordinates of the nearest Burial Order member, Yui. You should send a familiar bearing a message of mine, which I will write when we return home. You should also send a familiar to the church and tell them what is going on. Let them know that the vampire is behind the mysterious murders that have been taking place. After the letters are sent, I will create a moat. That should block the vampire from entering the mansion. Caster can set up the territory and perhaps Berserker can help you move your magical equipment to a safer place. Also, if anyone is a virgin, please correct the situation as soon as possible." Lazarus was already heading back to the mansion as he spoke, rattling off their plan on the way. There was no time to waste! He also whipped out a piece of paper and began to write his letter to the Burial Order. He knew at least two of the member personally. Hopefully one of them was close by.

"A vir -" Caster's cheeks turned pink. It had been a few centuries, but surely he was in the clear... right? He sighed and followed close behind Lazarus. At least he knew what he was doing.

V... Virgin? Yui stared blankly into space, then followed behind both of them wordlessly.

This was the worst.