Non-Canon Omake: The Little Dragons, Part 5 (Patreon)

It was odd for several of them.

Despite this suppose to being an all out war between different Masters and Servants, they were all watching two ‘Servants’ fight while waiting patiently at the side.

If anyone cared to take measures, it very well could have ranked among the most peaceful and polite Grail Wars ever to happen so far.

Two knights were fighting beneath the night sky, under the gazes of many other historical figures.

Gwydre was doing his best as he deflected a consecutive spear, but he couldn’t get close to his opponent.

Contrary to his struggle, his opponent was genuinely surprised.

“Is it your class that has your abilities limited, or was this just a consequence of your life?” Lancer spoke as he thrust his spear, hitting the flat of Gwydre’s blade, pushing him back. “For a fellow servant, your strength and speed are lacking.”

“Apologies, it would be the latter.” Gwydre answered without any shame.

Lancer frowned, because he was intentionally trying to rile up his opponent. "Honorable" didn’t mean that you didn’t invoke tactics during fights.

If a few rightly placed words caused your opponent to leave an opening due to anger, then that was a failing on their part.

However, what made Lancer frown even more was that despite the fact that he was clearly superior to his opponent in both strength and speed, he was able to keep up.

It was like his opponent was exceedingly experienced with dealing with spearmen. Which, while not impossible, was odd because the vast majority of knights did not use a spear as their main weapon like he did.

It contradicted his instincts right now. As someone as experienced as him, he felt something was very off.

For some reason, his opponent felt…young. Skilled, but young. Yet he should be a servant, and even if a servant were summoned in their youth, their skills imparted over years wouldn’t have disappeared.

But at the same time, he seemed extremely capable against him specifically.

He couldn’t recall a knight—specifically one that could be summoned as a Caster of all things—that was so trained to counter spearmen.

There were two inviolable facts that all spearmen must adhere to.

Swiftness and precision.

A Spearman who was flat on their feet was dead.

And a Spearman who lacked precision was even worse.

A spear was longer, heavier, and more unwieldy than a sword. It required a different set of principles and understanding. Every time you thrust out, it was an opening that your opponent could take advantage of.

Therefore, every thrust had to be absolutely precise. Be it aiming for a killing blow or doing your best to create an opening. Whatever the reason for your thrust, if it failed, it meant you were a breath away from dying.

Likewise, if you lacked the swiftness in any action to be able to utilize your spear properly.

So it made him furrow his brow how, every time he went for a killing blow, his opponent almost instinctively knew how to defend himself.

A thrust to the heart? It was like his opponent was reading his mind. His neck? His eyes? His Lungs? His legs?

He was starting to think his opponent had either some kind of battle awareness that transcended martial prowess or… he had spent years training against a skilled spearman that constantly tried to take his life.

Lancer had changed his tactic rather quickly. He wouldn’t get thrown off his own momentum and tempo just because his opponent was more fickle than he realized.

Instead, he just leveraged his superior physical ability and slowly began to grind away at his opponent’s stamina.

The clashing of steel continued to ring out, but gradually small wounds began to appear on Gwydre. Small cuts on his arms, his legs, and his chest grew as time passed.

Each one was infantile, but together, they started to take their toll in gradual increments.

Up above, Gyneth clicked her tongue.

“Hmm, your Servant is going to lose.” Rider spoke up.

“What? How do you know? The fight is still going!?” Waver blurted out in confusion.

“Don’t speak nonsense; even the girl realized it. You’re still too green.” Rider grabbed Waver’s head, giving it a little shake. “The fact that as a Caster Servant he was able to keep up with a Lancer this long is impressive.” Rider rubbed his chin and then looked over at Gyneth. “Unless he isn’t a Caster at all?”

“What do you mean by that?” Waver blinked. “Her servant isn’t a caster? Then what servant is he?”

“Who knows.” Rider’s lips curled up.

He had some guesses at what was going on, but he kept them to himself. He found the situation more than amusing enough to watch silently.

Gyneth wasn’t one to take a loss. Technically it would be her brother losing, but her brother was acting as her servant; therefore, it would count as her loss, and that was unacceptable. 

She took a big breath before shouting. “Lancer, where’s your master? Is he too much of a coward to come out here? I bet he has a small dick! Small dick master!" 

Waver let out a noise of startlement while Rider just laughed boisterously.

She learned this from her Aunt Rias. It was easy to piss up the ‘noble types’ like this.

It even caused Lancer to pause in his fight as everyone, even Saber and her master, looked at Gyneth blinking in surprise.

“H-how dare you insult my master!” Lancer pointed his spear up at Gyneth. “I’ll have you know, that my Master isn’t –”

“Isn’t small dicked? Did you check, huh? That’s pretty weird.” Gyneth grinned.

Lancer’s eye twitched.

Rider just laughed even harder as Gyneth jumped off the chariot, landing on the ground.

“Wanna have a dick measuring contest, huh? I’m giving him a handicap already by being a woman, but frankly, I still think he’s going to lose.” She continued to mock.

Lancer gaped at the shameless taunts while Gwydre sighed under his helmet.

“....how uncouth…” Saber whispered next to her own master.

Lancer’s face twitched before he turned his head.

“Who dares insult the Lord of the Archibald Family!?” Some came all but stomping out of the nearby buildings. Slicked-back blonde hair, a blue trench coat, and a posture and expression that all but scream that he felt like he was above everyone present.

“Sup.” Gyneth threw up a peace sign. “Smalldicksayswhat.”

“What!?” The man questioned in confusion.

It took him a moment and Gyneth snickering before he realized.

His face turned red. “You petulant brat! Name yourself, and I will know which arrogant child I trash before demanding that your family head come and beg me for your life!”

“Oh wow, no wonder Waver fucked off from your classes. Talk about small dick energy.” Gyneth was unperturbed.

His eye twitched, and he looked like he was going to erupt again, but he swallowed down his anger as his gaze turned towards Waver.

Waver, up above, swallowed himself as that intense gaze landed on him;

“My former student.” The venom was clear in his voice. “Prancing around with the servant you stole from me.”

“Oho? Was I supposed to be your servant?" Rider rubbed his chin. “Seems like I got the better end of the deal here.”

The Lord of the Archibald Family’s jaw clenched. “It is beneath me to argue with a mere familiar.”

“Haaah.” Rider let out a long sigh, his expression changing. “Lancer, you should warn your master about running his mouth.”

“Master, please let me handle this; I will defend your honor.” Lancer all but pleaded.

“I am Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald; I do not need you to defend my honor.” He scoffed in response. "Come, girl, you wished to insult me, so I will teach you the difference between our noble bloodlines.”

Gyneth had to hold back her own snort and laugh.

“Alright, Caster, keep playing with Lancer. I’ll deal with this boomer and send him back to his old folk’s home.” Gyneth casually waved towards her brother.

The Archibald Lord harumphed. “The only praise is that you did not run away. At least you have some smidgen of noble virtue in your dirty blood.”

“Tweet tweet, mother fucker.” Gyneth snapped her fingers, and a bird flew down from the sky.

It, ever so briefly hovered infront of Kayneth before exploding.

Saber instinctively stood infront of Irisiviel at the side while Lancer’s eyes widened, almost trying to run towards his Master before Gwydre intercepted him.

“Is that all?” A sharp, condescending voice cut through the smoke before a hand did.

Wrapped around Kayneth was a metal-like material substance acting as a shield.

“Scalp.”

The metal around him was actually mercury, as it deformed and reshaped into a tentacle-like appendage, lashing out towards Gyneth.

Gyneth let out a scoff of her own; she slammed the butt of her staff onto the ground, and the concrete under her feet alighted with a purple grid-like pattern. “Ἀσπίς, ὦ σῶσόν με."

A purple shimmering shield surrounded her as the whip of mercury, strong enough to slash through steel, collided with it, only making it vibrate intensely.

Kyneth raised an eyebrow. “So…you have some skill.”

Gyneth twirled her spear and gestured at him with a ‘come at me’ motion.

“Fervor, Mei Sanguis. Scalp! Scalp!”

Several more appendages slashed at her like knives. Gyneth was already prepared as she slid one leg across the ground, ducking under the first, and in her free hand, a spell circle appeared. “Ice Storm.” 

The next appendages that came at her were enveloped in a sweeping cloud of frozen air that burst outward from her hand.

It froze almost completely, coming to a stop before it could hit her. But that didn’t stop the third or fourth.

Despite this, Gyneth didn’t look at all flustered. She rasped her hand against the ice, using it as a basis for her next spell. “Conjure – Frost Atronach.”

The ice twisted to answer her summons, taking shape into two large frozen golems.

The Mercury tendrils collided with the newly summoned missions. The first golem was pierced right through but warded off the attack. The second had fended off the tendril but got cleaved in half for its effort.

Her staff waved through the air, and there was a faint sound of bells that followed it. An ethereal chime transformed into a hazy image around her staff, as if it took on a completely different appearance. "Order," Gyneth whispered, but loud enough that everyone heard it. She slammed her staff onto the ground, forming a pentagram. "Heaven and Earth, be purified. Yin and Yang return to One. Purge the impurity. By decree." 

With a wave of light, the outstretched tendrils were enveloped.

For the first time, Lord Achibald’s eyes widened in horror as he recalled them immediately.

His eyes were now transfixed, even as the extended tendrils returned to his person—the Mystic Code he created.

It was because there were now puddles of mercury on the ground that were once pieces of his mystic code.

It wasn’t simply severed. If that were so, he could reclaim the pieces easily, as his Mystic Code, Volumen Hydrargyrum, was made of liquid, of mercury. He could easily reintegrate discarded pieces.

However, that was in the assumption that they were still parts of his Mystic Code.

No, the pieces now discarded had been utterly removed, severed on a conceptual level.

They lost all mystery within them, and it was just now a puddle of mundane mercury.

While Onmyodo wasn’t Gyneth’s favorite branch of spellcasting, it wasn’t that she was unfamiliar with it or unpracticed. She had some talents in it, even if it wasn’t something she focused on.

And just like her father, she took bits and pieces of it and used them in her normal repertoire when needed.

"How…" Lord Archibald forced out. “Did you sever the connection to my Supreme Mystic Code!?”

“Is that really the question you should be asking? I think you have other concerns.” Gyneth pointed at the Mystic Code of his, and his eyes traveled to the spot she was noting.

There was a piece of paper that had been attached to one of his tendrils that he didn’t notice when it was recalled.

Gyneth snapped her finger, and the corner of the paper sizzled, then ignited before it erupted in another explosion.

The dust cleared again, and Kayneth was breathing a tad heavier; his clothes were singed and ruffled, his face slightly pale and a bit rough, but beyond wiping some blood from his mouth, he still stood tall.

“Did you think that would work a second time!?” He yelled arrogantly.

It had almost worked, to his anger, but he quickly found his pride again, only to see some strange orange sparks in the air take the form of some magic circle he didn’t deduce immediately.

In the blink of an eye it had shapeshifted into the form of a whip, or perhaps a sling; it had grabbed a piece of concrete off the ground and flung it at him.

Archibald was slightly out of breath as it came at him; that and he was utterly taken aback. It made it so his reaction was slower than normal, and before he could utter any word, the rock smacked him in the head.

“Boom, headshot."

Archibalt stumbled backwards a step or two, but he didn’t fall over. His head had snapped back, but it slowly returned to its normal position.

His expression was one of serenity, perhaps emotionlessness. The anger had boiled over completely as blood flowed down from his forhead.

“By the power of this command seal, Lancer, kill this woman with your full strength." He held his hand up as the Command Seal glowed beneath his glove.

Lancer hadn’t been standing around; he had been fighting with Gwydre this entire time, doing his best to try and keep an eye on things, which made the fight carry on much longer than he would have liked.

However, as soon as the command was issued, his body was forced to react.

“Don’t you dare!” Gwydre yelled out, but Lancer moved far quicker than the younger boy anticipated.

Boosted by the power of a Command Seal, his spear came flying over towards Gyneth.

“Lancer, are you going to kill a master so shamelessly?" Saber found the action utterly honorless.

Yes, it was a command seal, but he didn’t even try to resist it.

Rider hesitated for a moment before he was about to intervene as well.

He had been enjoying the little fight between the two Masters. It had been much more enjoyable than he had thought. Usually, fights between Magi were boring to the ancient king, but for some reason, it had grabbed his attention.

Rider paused, though, surprising him.

Even Saber looked bewildered.

Gyneth’s whole body tilted backwards as the spear narrowly missed her head; a few stray strands of blond hair drifted off into the wind after being severed, and her hood was now shredded from the top.

But she was unharmed from Lancer’s proper attack.

A Master had just dodged the attack of a Servant, a young Master. Perhaps if it had been someone more experienced, older, and trained in the ways of martial arts, it wouldn’t have struck them so startlingly.

But she was, to their eyes, a proper Magus.

Gwyneth's whole body fell backwards in that same action, her legs flipping over her head as she cartwheeled backwards to avoid the blow.

Her leg twisted around the shaft of his extended spear; using her momentum, Lancer realized what she was doing and snapped out of his shock. He had to abandon a follow-up attack because she was about to rip his spear from his grasp and fling it away.

Lancer had to adjust his grip, using both hands to hold it firmly, which gave her the opportunity to escape his range.

“You dodged my–” Lancer was about to voice his own disbelief until Gyneth interrupted him.

“Man, you guys really should pay more attention to where I put my hands.”

Lancer looked down.

Right at the spot where she used her hands to press against the ground to cartwheel away, there was now a Talisman left in that spot.

Another explosion erupted with Lancer at the focal point.

From the dust cloud, everyone could see the Servant skid across the ground as he used his spear to keep himself upright.

He wasn’t really harmed, just a bit scuffed, as his magic resistance was more than enough to stop any real damage. But sometimes, damage to pride was more significant.

“Don’t touch my sister!”

Before Lancer could recover, he saw a wave of red and black fill his vision as Gwydre slashed out with a wave of destruction.

Lancer was forced to summon his second spear, using both to block the attack and being pushed back once more.

“Sister?” Rider voiced curiously.

But most didn’t linger on that specifically, because Gyneth’s ripped hood blew back, revealing her face completely.

There were continued looks of surprise and confusion as they looked at her, and then they looked at Saber.

“W-Why do you look like me!?” Saber shouted.

Because from where everyone was standing, she looked like a nearly perfect twin for Saber.

“Ah shit.” Gyneth awkwardly scratched her cheek. "Um…would you believe me if I said it’s an illusion?"

They did not in fact believe her.

@***@

A/N

Gyneth gets her moment to show she’s actually competent, even when she’s being a menace.