Fate: Edmund

The astonishment at Edmund's magic had been overwhelming, but what he saw next shocked him even more.

Edmund, with a relaxed expression and that smile that suddenly seemed unpleasant to the eye, was holding a kitchen knife and bringing it dangerously close to the woman in white, Irisviel.

Waver felt a shiver run down his spine. This couldn't be true! Throughout all the time he had known him, Edmund had never struck him as someone violent or sadistic. Was it possible that he had simply never truly known him? The idea disturbed him more than he would like to admit.

"This is wrong..." he murmured to himself, feeling his thoughts swirling in his mind. What was happening? Had Edmund always been like this, or was it something else?

But when he tried to react, the situation escalated even further. He heard Kiritsugu firmly uttering a command spell.

The red symbol on his hand glowed intensely.

"Saber, come to my side and eliminate this enemy."

The magical bond between Master and Servant activated, and Waver felt a shiver of alert run through his body. He knew what that meant. Saber was about to be teleported directly to Kiritsugu's location.

He couldn't stay still.

Quickly, he contacted his own Servant.

"Rider, return right now. Kiritsugu is using a command spell to bring Saber here!"

From the other side of the forest, Rider, who was still in the midst of confronting Saber, heard his Master's order and his expression turned serious.

"Understood. I'm on my way."

Without wasting another second, he turned around without even paying attention to Saber, who was still on guard against him.

Saber furrowed her brow at his sudden escape. Why was he leaving so abruptly? But before she could follow him, she felt her vision blur.

The energy of the command spell enveloped her, and in an instant, she vanished from her position.

Waver, impatiently, waited for Rider's arrival.

......….

Present.

Edmund knew that the situation had changed drastically with the arrival of Saber and Rider.

While covering his wound with one hand and casting a healing spell with the other, he sighed heavily.

"One more centimeter and it would have pierced an organ... It would have been annoying to have to regenerate something like that" he commented with an ironic smile as his skin began to slowly close.

His gaze swept over the scene. Rider was the first to move, attacking Saber with speed and strength. Edmund, instead of joining the fight, shifted his attention to Kiritsugu, who had managed to escape from his projections along with Maiya. The assassin was carrying Irisviel, who was beginning to recover from her injuries.

Without Avalon, her death would have been certain, but Saber's arrival had changed everything. The Noble Phantasm began to take effect, closing the wounds on her abdomen. Still, Kiritsugu didn't take any risks and chose to create distance, retreating to regroup.

"Tsk... I don't like this" thought the assassin, his brow furrowed.

He knew his conventional firearms would be ineffective against Edmund. He had seen him slice a bullet mid-flight with a simple kitchen knife. No, if he wanted to take down that mage, he needed something more lethal.

Quickly, he drew his Thompson Contender. If he managed to hit him with one of his Origin bullets, Edmund would be permanently damaged, unable to use magic ever again.

However, Kiritsugu paused for a second.

Edmund was staring straight at him.

He knew what he was planning!

The mage had sensed the danger his weapon posed, because the moment Kiritsugu drew it, Edmund summoned those grotesque, small, green, and deformed creatures again. Kiritsugu clenched his teeth.

"Is it possible that he figured out what this weapon can do...? Or am I taking my paranoia too far?" he thought.

But Edmund was not someone to underestimate. Kiritsugu knew that. He had already classified him as a high-level threat, but now he was moving up another notch. He didn't have enough information about his abilities or what he might be capable of in the future. The uncertainty frustrated him.

"This isn't going as I expected" he thought with contained anger.

With no other options available and the certainty that prolonging the confrontation would only put them in more danger, Kiritsugu made an immediate decision.

"We're leaving" he ordered coldly.

Maiya nodded without question. With Irisviel now stable in his arms, Kiritsugu quickened his escape, disappearing into the thick of the forest. He knew that tonight, he had lost.

Edmund silently watched as Kiritsugu, Irisviel, and Maiya retreated, vanishing among the trees of the forest. His eyes narrowed slightly as he pondered the situation, but after a few seconds, he simply shrugged.

"Meh, they're gone. It wasn't that fun chasing them anyway" he murmured with disinterest.

As the tension dissipated, he turned his attention to the fierce battle unfolding nearby. Saber and Rider were clashing intensely, their weapons colliding with such force that the noise echoed throughout the forest. Each impact tore chunks of bark from the nearby trees and left deep scars in the ground.

Edmund, with a relaxed smile, calmly approached Waver, who was still sitting on the ground, dazed by everything that had happened.

"Hey, Waver" Edmund greeted, as if nothing had happened.

Waver blinked, startled by his friend's sudden return to normalcy. "Edmund?! W-what you did back there... those green creatures! How on earth did you pull that off?!"

Edmund let out a small chuckle. "Trade secret."

"But... that's not fair! That wasn't normal magic!" Waver got up from the ground, his frustration evident. "That looked like something out of a nightmare!"

"Exactly why it works so well" Edmund replied with a wink.

Waver brought a hand to his forehead, frustrated but also resigned.

As the conversation unfolded, the clamor of the battle continued to intensify. Branches fell from the trees as Saber and Rider exchanged devastating blows. Discretion had already been thrown aside, and it didn't take long before the energy released by the fight attracted the attention of other Masters.

From another part of the city, Kayneth, who was recovering from his wound inflicted by Kiritsugu, sensed the magical disturbance in the air. Although he was still resentful about the previous ambush, his calculating mind decided he couldn't ignore such an opportunity.

"Hector, go and investigate. If you can intervene, do so," he ordered coldly.

Lancer, the hero of Troy, obeyed silently. With a light but firm step, he slipped through the shadows of the forest, discreetly approaching the site of the confrontation. He didn't need to get too close to see the silhouettes of the two Servants locked in fierce combat.

From his position, Hector observed the scene. The brutal dance between Saber and Rider was impressive, but it also made it clear that both were too focused on their duel to notice any external threats.

"What a pair of idiots... completely exposed," he muttered in his carefree tone.

It was then that he noticed Edmund watching from a distance, alongside Waver. Hector raised an eyebrow, recognizing his master Kayneth's student.

"Tch... he's mixed up in this too."

For a moment, he hesitated to attack, but his practical side prevailed. Without wasting any more time, he activated his Noble Phantasm.

"Durindana," he whispered, and his spear glowed with a golden light.

He took a firm stance and raised the spear above his head, preparing to hurl it with devastating force. His target was clear: to take out both Servants in a single move.

The spear gathered energy, vibrating in his hands, as Hector fine-tuned his aim. The tension in the air grew thicker.

"Let's see if they can dodge this," he said before releasing the spear, which shot through the sky like a golden bolt toward Saber and Rider.

.....................

to start the first day of the week well...