Chevaleresse

Karsten and Assassin Keep searching near the trail. The Master's got to be close; that thing, whatever it is, it can't be easy to maintain at a distance. 'Less it's not as powerful as it looks, and instead they decided to leave this trail deliberately. . . Karsten double-checked a couple places he wasn't sure he'd searched, and then carefully headed out of the building, making his own way along the trail. He tried to keep to the edge of it, staying behind cover in the like; the thought that this might be a trap had him at high alert. He wasn't picking up any other signs that it might be such, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

"Are we talking 'slight jolt,' or 'will echo in your nightmares for decades to come' levels of pain bolts here? At least give me an idea of how hot it is before I go sticking my hands into fire."

"You're not doing a very good job of selling me on this," Kusuke said rather bluntly. Magical pain bolts and probably not exploding?

"I can. Just uh, how far ahead are we talking here? If that's a risk, I need a general idea of the timeframe you need." "Pretty sure" and "shouldn't" were not things he wanted to hear, but he did want to do something productive here. Worst case scenario, he burned more energy than he wanted to by jumping back after it blew up. Assuming it didn't kill him on the spot, of course, but that was unlikely. . . . Not impossible, but unlikely.

"Probably, yeah. As much as I love being harassed by random strange men - really, it's a great hobby of mine - it does tend to put a damper on conversations." She was still resisting the urge to giggle at Isobel's reactions; it was strange, but in a good way. Usually, if she was flirting with somebody, it was because she wanted to get something accomplished; she wasn't one for trysts for the most part, a mixture of caution and trust issues from previous experience prevented most of those. This, though, was mostly just for fun, and she was quite enjoying herself. "This place have a library? Gotta have a library, every self-respecting noble keep has one."

A broad grin grew on Marisa's face at Isobel's response; that particular comment had been a shot in the dark, but apparently it'd hit the figurative goblin right between the eyes. The grin was the result of her trying hard not to laugh at Isobel's consternation; evidently the witch was better at guessing people's preferences than she thought. She nodded her head once Isobel regained her capacity for speech. "Yep. I can do all sorts of things," she repeated back at the herbalist, with a touch of added emphasis. "You tell me. I have my own memory, I feel pain and pleasure, I can be happy or sad and as far as I can tell those aren't just constructs. Or am I just programmed to tell you so? Either way, to be a Servant is to be defined by your past. It cannot be helped! However, that doesn't mean I'm not real. Aren't you affected by your past, too?" She gave Magna a moment to ponder this. "Besides, it's not as if I'm the same kind of being as the original Oda Nobunaga. I certainly couldn't transform myself or summon an entire firing line at will on my own. It would have been incredibly useful, though!"

"Nothing in particular. Could probably speed that project of yours up, if you can promise me it won't explode or set me on fire." Evidently Kusuke isn't a fan of the attacks of his allies going off in his face. Who knew?

Kuske, for his part, had mostly been wandering around trying to remember how to be alive for the day. He wasn't a morning person, and usually didn't get to sleep until far later than he really should. Combining that with a dearth of caffeine meant the time traveler was fighting off an unfortunate combination of early-morning tiredness and a headache. Then, the guy with the golems showed up. Leo, was it? . . . The guy who insisted on setting everyone on fire. Nice. "Uh, yeah, what's up?" he said, rather guardedly.

"Simply a few people here to dispose of trash." Mask wasn't going to make the first move; if anyone was going to initiate things, it would be Jill or one of their foes. Still, the swordsman planned on making the final move. Get ready to chokeslam a bitch if one of them attacks me.

Kyou's response was rather lacking, mostly consisting of another squawk of pain over their comms channel. She knew it was VR, and even without that the Eva getting hurt, but having someone straddle you with a knife wasn't exactly the most pleasant thing, let alone having that person kick you across the ground. Eva Unit 19 simply curled up and minimized the amount of area it was taking up; whether it was a deliberate move to make it easier to dodge or simply a reflexive response to being struck painfully again was up to interpretation.

The shouting spooked Lucine more than a little bit, though fortunately not enough to prompt her to actually transform Opal into active mode (which might've also been restraint on the imitation Kaleidostick's part, anyway.) She calmed down fairly quickly, though, once it was clear nothing was going to come of it. "I'm not a witch, actually. I don't even know any curses. . ." she said, though likely not loud enough for whatever villager that had shouted the initial accusation (description?) to actually hear her. "Um, looking at scrolls sounds fun. I could try and learn the enchantment."

"Well, that's taken care of. I'll have to threaten him with impotence or something later. Actually, I think I might remember some of the components to that one, I remember reading up on it for fun. . ." She took on a pensive look for a moment, before shaking her head slightly. "Anyway. I wouldn't worry too much about him whether Lexiel was here or not. As you saw earlier, I do know my way around bindings." Her expression stayed on the vague amusement it had already had, save for a quick wink with that last.

"Well, let me put it to you this way. You're not really talking to Heroic Spirit, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, Unifier of Japan, the great Oda Nobunaga! A Servant container couldn't hold that many titles anyway. No, technically I'm just a copy of the original shoved into a magical vessel of a sort. I would advise you talk to a mage, if you want all of the specific nonsense that goes into it." She nodded. "It's not like I can't learn anything new, now, though; in fact, maybe I should try my hand at magery. Or not, multiclassing doesn't always work that well. Anyway, if you were to summon me again, I may well remember nothing of the previous war. So, if your question is whether our capabilities are defined by summoning or if we can learn new ones, the answer is yes." Marisa, for her part, seemed to take the comments in stride; a flash of irritation in her eyes showed, but she laughed the commentary off. And then resisted the urge to giggle even further at Lexiel's support. She watched the interaction, elbowing Isobel a bit as she commented. "You think I should threaten to curse him, too? I mean, I can't, really, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to spook people by just waving your arms around and mumbling."

Mitsurugi was quiet for several moments. Would it be rude or uncouth? No, she doubted the man would take offense. "I am sorry, Navin," she said softly. The man was clearly unhappy with his supposed destiny. If he was right, if he was truly fated to be in this situation instead of it being a result of unfortunate coincidence, she wondered at what possible motivation his gods would have for tormenting the man so. She took a step forward, hesitated for a moment, and then continued, dropping to a seated position next to Navin lightly, but without another word.

"Wahahaha! Because you can't corrupt someone who's already the Demon King!" The only warning anyone had of the Servant's reappearance was a brief blue shimmer in the air that rapidly coalesced into the Japanese warlord. "It will take more than a little mud to get me to bend my knee to some cup. Though, truth be told, I'm not sure if it was actually my Skill. Maybe it was just a plot device!" She shrugged. "Strange to me that the saint is like that, though, aren't they supposed to be incorruptible? Especially her, she seemed like the kind of person that would try to pray for the mud after she washed it off."

The girl shrugged. "Kinda since we got here. It's Lucine Nadine Einzbern Yggdmillenia." She had her hands in her pockets, presumably to ward off the chill of the area, but didn't seem particularly bothered by the climate otherwise. "I still don't know anyone here that well." "So you just followed an almost-stranger around town without saying anything." "Yes." Her expression took on a far more irritable cast as soon as Opal spoke up. "You don't see what's wrong with that?" "If you had a better idea, why didn't you speak up?" "I'm a talking box and these are smelly peasants." "So why are you talking now!?"

Kyou grunted in pain - why did that hurt? - as Asuka's kick impacted her Eva's belly. Something that had probably caused a lot of damage, if what she was feeling at the moment was any indication. It was almost enough to make her nauseous. Still, she wasn't going to let it stop her from retaliating entirely: she tried to grab at her foe's throat with one hand, while the other swung her knife, not trying to get it anywhere in particular except generally into Asuka's Eva.

Karsten and Assassin "Tell you what. You're faster than me, so you check along this path of destruction. I'll sweep this building, see if the Master's still hiding in here. You find another servant, you book it. You see anyone actually following that? Knock 'em out, and bring them to me." Karsten picked up his pace, hurrying into the building where the trail of smashed pavement and masonry began. A restaurant, looked like? Either he was chasing an amateur, or someone who had known that they were about to summon a force of destruction. The man wasn't sure which he preferred. Regardless, it didn't take him long to clear the building; unless said Master was also a master of bounded fields and stealth to a level unheard of, there was no reason to believe there was anyone remaining inside the building. A few minutes after his initial instruction, he turned to face the direction he'd sent Liliya. Find anything? Ruler and Erica The link was silent again, Ruler's thoughts unknown to anyone but herself. She'd have to watch Erica, she supposed, see how genuine her sentiments were. Maybe ask for a tour of her laboratory, or something, if she delayed or made excuses then she wasn't trustworthy. After an uncomfortably long wait, another question. Why do you say he deserves it?

Marisa had idly been watching the rest of the party go about their business, content to sit back and observe for once. She had places to be, yes, but also ready excuses for lingering as long as she wanted. Plus, it wasn't as if there was someone tracking her usage of time. She heard Isobel's approach, and turned to face her before she spoke. "Name's Marisa, good to get yours." Though that LOTUS seemed to be doing the bulk of the strategic work, Isobel herself had seemed reasonably competent, despite the enemy constantly bombarding her with ice. Better than fireballs, she supposed. "You feeling alright, by the way? Things got a bit dicey back there." She made no comment on the posture, and the glances she'd noticed earlier, though she did take a moment to do her own appraisal. The apothecary didn't seem to be bad-looking, herself.

She shook her head slightly at Navin's "no offense" - she took none, of course. She'd never met any of the man's gods, but she could not say for certain they were false, either. Given he was from another world, it's not as if she could make definitive statements without visiting it herself first. Similarly, she nodded once, slowly, as he began to describe the horrors of the war he'd been through. Gruesome, very gruesome, and not the sort of thing one that young should experience. Mitsurugi looked down at the mention of others sacrificing themselves for Navin's preservation, down at the sheath that she would likely carry until she ceased existing entirely, whether that be soon or many years down the line. She stayed quiet for a moment, shaking free of her own sorrow for a moment to attempt to ponder Mhasalkar's issue. Having to place himself back in that war in order to kill. . . She'd heard of war trances and the like, but this seemed to be a different beast. And. . . "I am not sure if I can offer you any meaningful consolation. Blood and death are simply parts of what I was, and am. I would tell you that perhaps you should retreat from the front lines, but that is not possible in trying times such as this." She shook her head again a bit, this time betraying a faint hint of frustration. "Ahmisa, the term means a principle of not doing harm, no?" She had visited the Buddhist temple on occasion out of curiosity; a foolish endeavor, it was, trying to convert creatures composed of earthly concerns to a faith that rejected them, but it was interesting nonetheless. . . That, and the presence of a proper god might've motivated them to choose a more helpful path. "Perhaps it is best to frame it in terms of results. You must cause harm so that less harm overall is caused." Something she did herself; while she governed natural disasters, they were not utterly beholden to her, and failing to enact them as necessary would only cause greater imbalance in the world. "The greatest good in the world, and the least amount of harm, is done by your killing. It is a good thing that you do not find joy in it." She was silent for another moment. "I am sorry that I cannot be of more help."

Before Jill knocks on the door, Mask speaks. "I advise keeping your distance from me in the inevitable fight that approaches." The swordsman reached down and touched the shorter and broader of the two sheathes at their belt, with what would have likely been a meaningful look were anyone else speaking. "They do have their own Devil Fruit user." Just get ready to react to an attack, and enter the building after Jill does.

Kyou saw Asuka fall and decided that there wasn't really going to be a better opportunity. She ran forward, having a somewhat easier time due to nervousness replacing the bone-chilling terror she'd been experiencing last time she piloted an EVA. The progressive knife found its way into her hand as she made her approach. She would have just tackled the other EVA had it stayed on the ground instead of being swung about by Beverly; as it were, she tried to perform some sort of leaping strike, driving the knife downward with both hands toward where she thought Asuka's EVA was going to land.

Kusuke finds a secluded clearing with whatever unimportant bits of scrap and the like that he can find, and practices his Temporal Slice to make it less shitty.