Well, you captured Assassin's original actual plans from Fate/Zero pretty perfectly. I don't know if that was just a coincidence or if you were just paying extra attention. They had a lot of potential with that.
Well, you captured Assassin's original actual plans from Fate/Zero pretty perfectly. I don't know if that was just a coincidence or if you were just paying extra attention. They had a lot of potential with that.
He never sleeps. He never dies.
Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight.
Random thought that occured to me while writing:
I think Kayneth might have shot himself in the foot when he had Sola support Lancer, even more than just because she went crazy.
Servant attributes are influenced by their Master's talent as a magus. If Kayneth had been the one to support Lancer, odds are his stats would have been higher and he could have defeated Saber the first time they met in canon.
'Course, Kayneth kind of expected to face other magi and not just to be shot with anti-magus bullets, so I guess it's an understandable mistake.
I thought about making a recap from the point of view of the other teams, but honestly that would just be redundant at this point.
I'm not sure if I like how the second part came out. It's the first time in this story that I've had to really take my time. Oh well, it had to be done for future character development.
In the top floor of Fuyuki’s Hyatt hotel, a man tasted the hotel’s finest wine with disdain.
Truly, it was a farce to call this wine ‘fine’. Or to pretend that this hotel, which was a modern construction with no history, could be a place for nobility. Simply replicating the looks of one’s better did not make one better.
But there were more important things for Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, Master of Lancer, to direct his thoughts toward.
The first blow of the Holy Grail War had been landed and it was he, Kayneth, that had opened the curtain. By allowing Lancer to challenge Saber, he had provoked the other Servants into revealing themselves.
It would be a stretch to say that things had progressed exactly as he had predicted, but the events of the night had followed his scenario closely enough that he was satisfied.
First, he had confirmed the identities of the Servant of the sword. Saber was King Arthur, surprisingly a female. It was a shame that Lancer had been pushed into revealing his own identity and abilities, but since he had been facing the most powerful class, that was not something that could be helped.
Secondly, he had discovered what Waver had done with his relic. That poor fool was truly deserving of pity, to have been so misguided as to get himself involved in a fight to death meant for accomplished Magi. In a sense, Kayneth could only blame himself. It was his own failure as a Lecturer that he had not managed to correct Waver’s delusions. He would do better for his future pupils, and Waver’s death would not have been in vain.
Alexander the Great was certainly a troublesome opponent. Kayneth, who had carefully studied the history of the man that would become his Servant, knew that better than anyone. But no matter how great a strategist and a leader Rider was, he would be limited by his incompetent Master. A prodigy like Kayneth could not lose to him, even with a weaker Servant. It was simply a matter of waiting until the inevitable happened.
In comparison, Saber was far more dangerous as her Master was still unidentified. However as an aristocrat, he could not imagine that an average Magus could have summoned a Servant as noble as she. Therefore, Tohsaka Tokiomi and the still nameless representant of the Einzbern were likely suspects. He would normally have added Mato Zouken to that list, but the complete lack of movement from the Mato household had led him to conclude that they had likely declined their right to participate. As a Magus himself, Kayneth could only assume that this was because they were currently facing a crisis of some sort that meant that they could not afford to risk a promising Magus as a Master and had instead opted to respect the quality of the War by sending no one.
Either way, it was likely that Saber was supported by a strong Master, making her the greatest threat to him.
Of Archer, he knew even less. Her Master and her identity were both unknown to him. Certainly, it was better to think of Arthur as the exception and not assume that one mistaken legend meant that any male hero could be a female, but the fact remained that her appearance alone held no hint as to her identity. However, he had been able to witness the method that she had used to alledgedly fell Assassin.
He did not think so highly of himself as to believe that he could analyse a Mystery with a mere glimpse, but the process in which it had taken shape was to comprehend. A high concentration of prana had emanated from Archer before transferring to a point above Assassin, where it was then refined into the light that had struck down the Servant of shadows. There was no way to be certain, but Kayneth felt confident that the delay between the transfer and the light meant that something had been set in position to convert the prana into its desired form. Therefore, Archer could not simply strike anywhere within her range and required an unknown amount of preparation.
The fact that he had been able to comprehend it to this extent meant that Archer’s primary method of attack was similar to magecraft. This was a good oracle for future confrontations, as it meant that Diarmuid’s Gáe Dearg could be relied upon to neutralized her assaults.
Which left only the last factor that had been revealed to him tonight.
“Lancer.”
“Yes, my lord?”
With barely a second between the command and his reaction, the black-haired Servant of the lance materialized before Kayneth in a kneeling position.
“First, allow me to thank you for your actions tonight. Your legend did not overstate your deeds.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
Before his Master’s honest praise, Lancer’s orange eyes showed no satisfaction. Diarmuid Ua Duibhne did not fight for something as shallow as praise, but rather for the sake of serving his lord.
“What was your opinion of Saber? She was strong, was she not?”
When Lancer replied, it was carefully.
“She was a powerful knight. When I face her again, I will attain victory..”
To the confident statement, Kayneth only smirked.
“I see. Your confidence is reassuring. However, that will have to wait.”
“My lord?”
“There is something rotten in this war.” Calmly, Kayneth showed the scar that remained on his left arm where a bullet had passed. “If such an unsightly rat is allowed to continue his work, the base of this ritual itself will crumble. As a Magus who has come aware of this intruder’s presence, it is my duty to deal with him. Your score with Saber will have to wait until I have located and eliminated the one who dared defile this contest.”
There was also, of course, the matter of his pride. Having been wounded by a mere commoner, Kayneth would not rest well until he knew that he had repaid the humiliation a thousand times. In truth, even that scar could have been removed with magecraft, but he had chosen to keep it as a memento.
Only after his grudge had faded would he allow his flesh to return to an unblemished state. He was Lord El-Melloi, above the reach of petty men who had to resort to common weaponry to cover their weakness. Until that fact was reestablished, the Holy Grail War would be set to the side.
“As you wish, my lord.”
None of Lancer’s disappointment could be found in his words. He had hoped to swiftly face Saber honorably one more time to finish what the King of Conquerors had interrupted.
But his lord’s orders would take priority over his personal desires. As they always would.
---------------------------------------------There was nothing. Nothing but an endless light.
Within the boundary of its containment there was only power, pure and fulfilling.
Yes, had that been all, it would be quite alright to stay here forever.
But there was still something that linked it to the outside world, a feeling that had refused to disappear, an image that that could not be forgiven.
Yes…the world…had betrayed it. From the beginning, it had been rejected. The world…wanted it gone.
Hatred.
That was what had refused to disappear. Hatred, for a world that rejected it. Hatred, for a world that was blind to its own hypocrisy.
Hatred toward those who felt joy. Hatred toward those who felt anger. What else was there to feel? Why would it feel otherwise?
If the world would reject its creation, then it was only logical that the creation would hate the world for its injustice.
Now, Murakumo…it’s time to awaken!
!
A voice pierced through the emptiness that separated it from the world. From beyond the boundary of time and space, something reached out toward it.
Ridiculous. It had been rejected by the world. Humanity did not desire its existence.
In all the world, there was not a single soul that wished for its life.
This world is nothing but lies! Lies! Lies! LIES!
It…knew that voice. That voice had been there before the light. From the beginning, just out of reach, that everpresent feeling…
Was this beautiful light, too, a lie? A trick to keep it confined?
But don’t worry. I’ll show you…I’ll show you the truth! The truth called “despair”!
Yes. That voice was the one that had lifted the veil of deception. The one who had shown it the only reality..
The voice…had a name. A name that it could recognize, a name that it hated.
That name was the key.
In the name of Susano-o, I command you! AWAKEN, Murakumo!
Ah…that was it.Yuuki Terumi.That was his name.
Evil.That was his nature.Despair.That was his truth.
He…was calling for it.
From the outside world, he called it.
Why?Why had the world accepted him?Why had the world rejected it?
Were humans so deluded?Was the world so rotten?
No. Not Murakumo. Kusanagi! The sword! The Godslayer!
It had a name.
That unforgiveable existence…had given it a name.
Among all the world, only the one who bore the nature of “evil” had named it.
It had a name now. It was Kusanagi, the Godslayer.
Your blade will cut away the lies that cover this world!
With a name came purpose and reason. It would return the world to what it should have been. It would show them the result of their delusions.
This broken world that had allowed Yuuki Terumi’s existence...must have been the result of their wishes. Humans, the creations of God, had allowed the world to rot. God was to blame. God had been mistaken, God was wrong.
Perhaps it was only natural that of all of God’s creation, Yuuki Terumi would be the one bring the cycle to its conclusion.
Opening its eyes to the world for a second time, Kusanagi reached out toward that disgusting existence and made its vow.
Allow no excuses……Bring complete destruction.
Kiritsugu picked the wrong war to rest.
Last edited by Siriel; May 27th, 2015 at 12:31 AM.
Uh. Interesting to read a section from Kayneth's point of view here. Most people don't take the time to explore his character in a mostly unbiased way, and I think you managed to portray him pretty faithfully and up to standards in his thought process.
As for the second bit... oh dear.
Something that I realized while writing that part is that the war in this fic is going much better than the one in canon for everyone who's appeared so far except Rider and Waver.Originally Posted by YeOfLittleFaith
Kiritsugu has a Servant that will generally go along with his tactics.
Tokiomi has an obedient yet still very powerful Servant.
Kayneth didn't waste a Command Seal, Lancer didn't express disobedience and so Sola didn't interfere against his judgment.
Kotomine has the same amount of remaining Assassins as in canon, but has confirmed that Kiritsugu's involved.
Things are going too well for everybody. I'll have to fix that.
Hey, it could be worse.
The dream could have been of what happened a few minutes before that point, when Terumi was showing her his "truth" via Ouroboros.
Looking forward to things starting to go horribly wrong!
And I suppose that's a fair point.
I don't really have anything to say this time.
Emiya Kiritsugu awoke without a start.
It was not that he was calm. Simply, he had long ago trained himself to remain still when waking up under any condition.
The dream that he had undergone had without a doubt been a vision caused by the link between a Master and a Servant, just like the ones that had been reported by the previous Masters. He could state this with certainty as he had never endured an experience that would generate such a dream.
Beside, he had never heard of the name Yuuki Terumi.
That wasn’t odd in itself. He was no expert in mythology and even his research into Heroic Spirits had only been for the sake of having a general idea of what to expect.
However, the lack of recognition forced him to face a flaw in his current course of action. Until now, he had been satisfied with the knowledge that Archer would obey his orders. However, the being that he had dreamt of was not something that he could consider an ally.
By reaffirming the certainty of that dream’s source, Kiritsugu was searching for a way to connect the bitter shell from the dream to the shy and cheerful Archer that he commanded.
But in the end, his Servant’s past was really of no great importance. For his mission, all that mattered was how Archer was presently. Since he had been unable to find a rendition of her legend, he could not say with certainty that her thoughts had significantly changed from the past he had seen. This was unacceptable.
After all, his Servant would also receive a wish upon acquiring the Grail.
If their wishes were contrary in nature, Kiritsugu did not know if the Grail would prioritise the Master or the Heroic Spirit.
Therefore, it was necessary that he prevent such an outcome at all costs. For this, he had only two options:
First, he could learn of Archer’s wish. If it proved contradictory to his, he would need to arrange a contract with another Servant and eliminate Archer.
Second, he could prevent Archer from obtaining her wish with a Command Seal.
The latter option he discarded almost as soon as he thought of it. Even if he were to order Archer to “kill herself” after she presented the Grail, her abilities would allow her to strike at him in the same breath. A more complex command that would stop her from doing so would take too long to speak out and opened the risk of her finding a loophole even if he completed it.
Choosing the first option, he had several ways of learning her true desires, but only two were realistically achievable in the few days that the war would last.
The simplest way was to use a Command Seal to order Archer to “tell the absolute truth” before questioning her. While this had no chance of failure, Archer would immediately understand his intentions. If she was deliberately hiding her true nature, then being already aware of his own wish she would know that he could not allow her to gain the Grail and might neutralize him before he could act against her. Additionally, even if Archer’s wish turned out to be in accordance with his it would still end with the loss of one of his only three Command Seals and it would permanently diminish Archer’s trust in him.
Kiritsugu did not think he could afford such a loss when not a single Servant had been eliminated. Perhaps later, when the end was near, but there was no guarantee that nothing would happen to stop him from doing so.
The second option was to get close to Archer and determine her intentions the normal way. In term of combat effectiveness, this cost him nothing except for the fact that he would have to be close to his Servant from time to time. Considering what he had seen of Archer’s personality, it might even increase her willingness to fight for him.
In more personal terms, if Archer’s current personality was genuine and the dream was a relic of the past, he could end up attached with another person who would vanish after this war and his loss would be that much greater as a result.
Between the two choices, the answer was obvious.
Emiya Kiritsugu had long ago resolved to flinch from no sacrifices for the sake of the greater good.
---------------------------------------------
A well-built man carefully avoided a camera’s range of vision as he made his way through the currently empty corridor.
Wearing all black with the exception of a white mask, this man was another Assassin.
This Assassin prided himself in his ability to understand the motivations of his employers. During his life, he had always successfully determined why he was being hired.
And yet, even he was baffled by his Master’s actions.
Among Servant Assassin, the consensus had been that their Master was, for whatever reason, loyal to Tohsaka Tokiomi and should thus be kept unaware of their plan. This fit with their knowledged and Assassin fully supported that conclusion.
But he could not see a single reason for that loyalty. His Master was not a man who believed in the path of the magus that Tokiomi followed so faithfully, nor was he akin to a knight that loyally served a Master.
Simply, it appeared that Kotomine Kirei had nothing better to do than serve under Tohsaka Tokiomi.
As it did not get in the way of the mission, Assassin had respected the privacy of his employer and left the matter alone. After all, it was possible that Kirei intended to ultimately betray Tokiomi and had simply not mentioned this to Assassin for the same reason that Assassin kept his own plan silent. A secret, by its very nature, became more fragile the more individuals knew of it.
Thus, Assassin had respected his Master’s silence and had joined others as a guard for his hiding place.
But now, Kirei had given him an order that contradicted this theory. Assassin had known from the start that Kirei felt that Emiya Kiritsugu was the most dangerous enemy, as the former Executor had made no secret of it.
However, when he had seen through their fallen member’s eyes that Kiritsugu was present at the battlefield, something had changed in his Master.
Kirei, who had up until that moment faithfully fufilled his role of a supporter, had ordered Assassins to keep a close watch on Kiritsugu but not to act against him. And now, the very next morning, he had sent Assassin with a special mission, one that he could not allow Tokiomi to become aware of.
Assassin was to bear a message for Kiritsugu.
In theory, it would be reasonable for Kirei to offer an alliance to Kiritsugu. As two “irregular magi” who did not follow the rules of that society, they were naturally the greatest threats to each others and consequently the most efficient allies. Between the “Magus Killer” that was familiar with a magus’ defenses and the combat prowess of the former Executor, it semmed farfetched that a Master would be capable of opposing them.
However, as far as Assassin could tell, the two had never met or interacted in any way. It would be senseless for Kirei to endanger his successful partnership with Tohsaka Tokiomi for the mere chance of a shaky alliance with Kiritsugu. Especially since Archer, Kiritsugu’s Servant, was unlikely to be able to compare with the King of Knights who served Tokiomi.
With those thoughts, Assassin reached the conclusion that Kirei was either attempting to bait Kiritsugu into a trap or to unsettle him somehow. It was a tactic that was unlikely to succeed against an experienced opponent, but perhaps his Master had greater knowledge of Kiritsugu’s mind than he had let on.
And yet…if he intended to act against Kiritsugu, why not simply order Assassin to eliminate him while Archer was away? Even if the Servant was recalled before her Master’s death, it would be too late. The loss of one agent was well worth the defeat of a Master.
Dismissing the speculations from his mind, Assassin slipped the letter than he had been given into its assigned slot. If he could not understand his Master’s decision, he could at least gain some amusement by thinking about the reaction that a man who prided himself on his secrecy would have upon discovering that his enemies were aware of his current hiding place.
---------------------------------------------
This was disgusting. Absurdly so.
When she had felt the faint feeling that she had come to associate with ‘magecraft’, Archer had expected to only take a step inside the source before retreating. She would leave the decision of what to do from there to Kiritsugu.
However, no sooner had she taken a step inside the sewer tunnels that a wave of “something” had fallen upon her.
She would gladly have given them a name, but aside from “disgusting”, she could think of nothing that properly described those fleshy masses of tentacles. In a way, they were even more disgusting than the terrifying bugs that she despised so much, since those bugs at least had some form of survival instinct.
Really, even that man’s deadliest creations’ at least had a sense of art to them. They were made to kill, but they could be called beautiful in how they accomplished that purpose.
The ‘enemies’ that she had found in that sewer were merely mindless, impossible to describe things.
This struggle couldn’t be called a battle. Archer’s progress was slow, but in these narrow sewers there was no hope for the enemy to surround her. Additionally, the creatures did not even attempt to dodge the arrows of energy that felled them.
It didn’t even count as exercise, as the amount of prana that was required to destroy them was far from threatening to her reserves.
Really, the only word that properly conveyed the scope of what was happening was “extermination”. If the enemy even vaguely ressembled animals, Archer would be horrified.
As it was, she wondered if there was any hope of salvaging her boots once this was finished.
Having seen the amount of preparation that Kiritsugu went through to face magi, she had expected some trick that would restrain her ability to advance. Even if the sheer number of the enemy would have been daunting for a human, what she was doing right now was well within the reach of one or two ordinary men with flamethrowers and an infinite reserve of inflammable gas.
….She had lost the comparison somewhere. This was tedious.
At any rate, the point was that there was no need to bother Kiritsugu for something like this. She would simply advance and defeat all enemies and return carrying a victory.
Assuming she ever got out of this tunnel.
“Just…stop coming already!”
Out of frustration, she increased the amount of floating units went from two to four and the carnage intensified.
Each of those units were of a similar structure to the one that had felled Assassin. However, while they served the same function, the amount of prana that they received was comparatively very little. Against Assassin, she had charged the stone as much as she could without activating her Noble Phantasm. In comparison with even the weakest Servant, the enemy of today might as well have been made of air.
With this increased rate of fire, she inevitably reached the room that the nigh-endless enemy had come from.
For the first time, she regretted the fact that her eyes could see through the darkness. Had she been blinded, she would have been spared the sight.
Lovingly and carefully crafted, the corpses that were spread around the room were a magnificient work of art. Each one unique, each victim had suffered its own private experience before facing death. Certainly, not one of them could have complained that they had died in a boring manner.
Organs were carefully displaced and blood spilled with the reckless abandon of an inspired artist. This scene was truly a testament to depravity.the likes of which only rarely came to mankind.
Archer, who had been lulled into monotony by the endless struggle, was caught completely unprepared and her mind blanked as she fell on her knees.
And from the side, the friendly voice of the artist who had created the scene echoed throughout the room as if he were speaking to an old friend.
“Cool, isn’t it?”
Last edited by Siriel; May 27th, 2015 at 12:32 AM.
Oh shit, Noel looks a HELL of a lot more like Jeanne D'Arc than Saber does, especially in her Murakamo mode. This will not end well.
I don't she's in Murakumo mode. She just keeps to using her steins since pulling out anything more, Bolverk/Murakumo mode, means using her NP (I think).
Hohoho, you keep following character's lines of thought pretty well! Kiritsugu's logic and accounting of possible plans wasn't all that out there, but it stick pretty good to what his thoughts might be I think.
And the conclusion he came to means we'll be getting more Archer and Kiritsugu interaction! Gah, I smell chances for tragedy building up, what with Kiritsugu already fearing he'll grow attached again...
Assassin is right in that Kiritsugu will surely be quite rattled to learn that Kirei knows where he is. Although, I wonder, what is in that letter?...
Oh, and Noel has stumbled into Caster's lair. Oh shit.
Yeah, Noel is still in her regular appearance. I would've described it if she'd activated the Murakumo Unit.
And it would definitely count as a Noble Phantasm that's indicative of her true identity for the other Servants.
Last edited by Siriel; May 3rd, 2013 at 11:24 AM.
My point that she looks a HELL of a lot more like Jeanne still stands.
That she does indeed.
Arakune and Zouken.
Best friends ever?
ALL THE BUGS!
Hush. You're spoiling my plans for the 5th War.
Until the next update, enjoy this ranking of Archer's affinity with the other Servants, first in term of potential relationships and then as opponents:
Interaction:
Saber: Close Friend
Rider: Friend
Lancer: Ally
Assassin: Acquaintance
Berserker: Enemy
Caster: Enemy
Opponents (From Archer's POV):
Assassin: Excellent
Rider: Good
Caster: Good
Berserker: Neutral
Saber: Poor
Lancer: Terrible
Saw that coming from the next continent.
As for the relationships, do you mean in affinity for battle(like if she is badly matched by one if they are labeled terrible), or the quality of fight she has going for her against that opponent?
"Fate/stay night: not really an eroge, and not really a cooking sim, but actually an RPG wherein everyone’s primary stat is “self-loathing” and the goal is to level it up beyond all the other characters."
Well, I was joking mostly. I have no idea how Arakune would end up on Type-Moon Earth, let alone how he'd become a Servant-worthy spirit.
The former. It represents how well her abilities counters theirs and vice-versa.
Noel doesn't enjoy fighting to the death, so she wouldn't consider any of the fights in the Holy Grail War to be 'good'.
Last edited by Siriel; May 3rd, 2013 at 08:11 PM.
This chapter's shorter than usual.
Well, obviously, since it's just one scene without much exposition.
In truth, what had overcome Noel Vermillion was not horror. Though she would have preferred to be ignorant of such things, it was arguable that the ability to produce something that could truly break her did not exist for humanity, ever since the day she had been shown that man’s world.
However, that was not the same thing as being detached. Having witnessed worse was not the same as not caring. When she stumbled upon the grisly scene, her mind was overcome by the influx of stimuli and partially shut down. As the situation registered, her eyes were filled with tears of regret for the lives that had been lost.
And her heart burned toward the being that had done such an act.
That artist was the one who had spoken to her. She could not know it, but his name was Uryū Ryūnosuke. Of all the Masters currently involved in this war, he was without a doubt the happiest.
“Ah, sorry about that. My bad.” In a friendly tone, he moved inside her field of vision. “I guess it’s a bit much to take in at once, right?”
“You…who are you?”
Her voice betrayed no sorrow or anger, merely confusion. This situation was too strange to be understood. Certainly, she had once met a man who could speak casually while doing terrible things. But he always carried about him an inexhaustible aura of menace. As Makoto had once said, his smile was a lie and his politeness a mockery.
The young man in front of her…was genuine. Even as he had calmly stepped through blood and entrails to reach her, he had not carried a trace of bloodlust.
“Yeah, my name’s Uryū Ryūnosuke. Who’re you lady?”
“I am Noel Vermillion.” From the sheer disconnect between his attitude and the situation, the thought of hiding her name did not even occur to her. “You-you did this?”
“He and I did.” The voice that came from deeper inside was definitely less friendly. “Step away, Ryūnosuke. Deceivers trick with lies as well as with bodies.”
“Sir Bluebeard!” Taken by surprise by his accomplice’s return, Ryūnosuke stumbled backward to obey.
As he approached, Archer could see the opponent more accurately. With an oddly youthful face and oversized eyes, he was practically grotesque.
He was the source of the feeling that she had followed through the sewers. Without a doubt, this man was a Servant. And his robes left his class no secret.
Flanked by a group of the strange beings that populated these sewers, he quickly crossed the distance before stopping in the center of the depraved workshop.
“Caster!”
Now that the events were once more within her understanding, Archer quickly rose to her feats, the four weapons that had previously been deployed floating around her. Her consciousness still struggled to catch up, but instincts were sufficient to respond to Caster’s aggressiveness.
“Ah, so you know who I am, deceiver?” The man’s voice was filled with utter loathing. “Of course! You were sent to fool me, after all.”
”…What?”
“Did you really think, for a second, that I would mistake you for my beloved maiden? When the genuine beauty stood next you?! A vile, atrocious creature like you could never imitate her glory!”
Rather than a question, he had taken her reaction for a denial.
Archer, who knew nothing of Gilles de Rais and his slow descent into madness, could not possibly understand his words.
“…I-“
“Spare me your rightgeous denials! It matters not who sent you, I will not allow such an insult to stand! Perish, fool and I shall retrieve my true maiden!”
Ryūnosuke, who knew no more than Archer, had retreated far behind Caster. It was not fear that made him back off, but rather anticipation.
Whatever had happened had truly whipped the man that he admired into a frenzy. For one who unleashed incredible torment at his best…what beauty would be visited upon the intruder?
And the girl was one of the other participants of the war! This would be the coolest!
From his cloak, Caster removed a book which he opened between his hands.
“To me, demons!”
From the blood and flesh of the room’s many victims, more of the incomprehensible creatures emerged, countless mouths approaching Archer from the end of tentacles…
---------------------------------------------
One, two, five, ten, fifteen…
No matter how fast the cadence, the enemy’s numbers swelled ever faster.
From the corpses of themselves, more creatures emerged.
“T-this is…”
Archer, who had been forced back near the entrance, couldn’t keep her composure.
Though she had faced overwhelming opponents without fear, this was the first time that she was faced with the possibility of defeat through attrition.
Even the gruesome slog through the sewers couldn’t compare ot the absurdity that she faced now. In the minutes since the ‘battle’ had begun, the victims had been devoured completely. Archer, who had thought that victory would be achieved at that time, had discovered her folly in the face of the enemy’s cannibalistic abilities.
The source of her defeat would be the Noble Phantasm that pulsed in Caster’s hands. However, despite their lack of survival instincts, it appeared that the demonic beings possessed at least a sliver of consciousness –or were controlled by Caster- as all her attempts at targeting it had been intercepted.
At this rate, retreating would be the only option.
“Behold you deceited, foolish girl! This is the price you pay!” Triumphantly, the madman cursed amidst his malicious laughter. “Die a slow, sorrowful death! For trying to mislead this loyal servant, this is a fitting price!”
Behind him, his Master smiled in excitement at the inevitable outcome.
However, at that time, a regretful incident occurred.
Archer allowed her eyes to stray toward the enemy and narrowed blue eyes met with maddened black.
In that instant, the warped soul of the man was witnessed. Archer stumbled in her defense, and the flesh closed in to devour her where she stood.
“You…”
Long before they had met, the outcome had been decided. The person standing before her was lost to madness.
“People like you…”
From within Archer, a brilliant blue light emerged, pushing back the approaching horde that her eyes no longer saw.
No, words were unnecessary. Communication would not solve anything. The world could not be allowed to be distorted further.
All that was left was to sign the death warrant.
“Lux Sanctus: Murakumo.”
---------------------------------------------
Uryū Ryūnosuke was ecstatic.
He had not been mistaken. This was not what he had expected, but he had been correct.
This was the coolest.
Countless demons had fallen and Sir Bluebeard, that magnificient man, had himself fallen to pieces.
Yes, definitively…there was no mistake.
This was what he had been looking for. Something that made a difference in the world.
There was no beauty to a mindless grind and quantity would never overcome quality.
But this was deliberate, systematic elimination. Death in its purest form, free of humanity’s common sense. From the moment he had seen it, he had known how it would end.
Without once losing his cool smile, the young man happily stared into those eyes until the end.
Sorry if this feels like an anticlimax, but...well, Caster was just out of his league.
Also I find him annoying to write.
(For those wondering, the reason why he doesn't mistake Noel for Joan is that unlike Saber, Noel doesn't project any aura of nobility and the novel puts emphasis on the fact that that's what triggered Caster's recognition.)
Last edited by Siriel; May 27th, 2015 at 12:34 AM.
... well, that ended quickly and messily for Uryuu and Caster!
Hell yes at Noel activating her Noble Phantasm though.
Karma's a bitch.
I figured it was about time that some Servanty action happened in this fic.
Also, this is now about 1/5th the length of a novel. Why am I writing this quickly.
Last edited by Siriel; May 4th, 2013 at 12:38 AM.
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