Hello everyone, it's Brave of the Blue with another chapter of The Adventures of Guardian of the Azure. I just wanted to say thank you all who read this story and gave your support. I didn't think this story would be this popular, but it really means a lot to me, but enough talking let's get this show on the road.
Ch 1: The Rebellion Has Begun
"I have a feeling that most of the people there, didn't like or trust me." Ragna said.
"What made you think that?" Ritsuka said.
"Besides all the countless glares I received, not much." Ragna said sarcastically. "Anyhow, you never explained to me where are we, and what was the singularity stuff you were talking about."
"Oh right, how do I explain this...we're in a Noble Phantasm created by the Sun King Ozymandias."
"Who the hell is that?"
"He is the greatest, most powerful pharaoh of ancient Egypt." Da Vinci said as she appeared behind the two, startling them.
"Wow, there say something before you just barge in." Ritsuka said. "Oh, I don't think she met you, yet. Meet Leonardo Da Vinci, but you can just call her Da Vinci."
"You must be the man named Ragna, that Gudako was talking about. Don't worry, she told me all about your memory loss and while I'm sort of against taking a random person we met in the middle of the desert. Until we get your memories back welcome aboard." Da vinci said.
"You are one of the nicest people I've met today, thank you." Ragna said. "Wait, you said that we are in ancient Egypt correct?"
"Yep, 1300 BC to be exact."
Great. Awesome. I'm in the past.
"Then what are you guys doing in Ancient Egypt for?" Ragna asked curious.
"To save Humanity." Gudako said, popping up from behind.
"Save Humanity?"
"In the year 2016, all of Humanity is eradicated. So we must restore Human Order, by going to each singularity that disrupts the main timeline and excising the holy grail from it, we can stop the eradication of Humanity." Mashu said and then added. "Senpai, have you seen Fou anywhere?"
"Fou fou."
Everyone looked up to see Fou resting on top of Ragna's head, everyone except Ragna started to laugh as he rolled his eyes and grabbed Fou from the top of his head and handed it to Mashu.
"Well it seems like Fou has welcomed you to the party as well." Gudako said.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Ragna said. "Where are we heading to now."
"Oh right, we should probably get out of here, before Ozymadias gets mad." Da Vinci then added. "Just follow my lead and I'll explain where we are going on the way!"
Ragna rolled his eyes and followed after Ritsuka and the others.
"...What the hell is this?" Ragna questioned
"This is the All-purpose Vehicular Orniphoter Sphinx!" Da Vinci said. "Made by yours truly."
"That looks out of place for the 13th century." Mashu said.
"That looks so awesome! I can always count on Da Vinci. I wonder what it runs on, solar energy…" Ritsuka then continued to go on and on, talking with Da Vinci about the car.
"Yeah, he can be like this when it comes to cars." Gudako said
"Good to know. Anyhow, how far is our destination anyhow."
"About 100 kilometer, but this bad boy can go 60 kilometers per hour, so we should be there in less than 2 hours. But don't worry about that, everyone pile in! No more physical activity required!"
"Yahoo!" Ritsuka said as he got on the Sphinx.
"This is gonna be something." Ragna said as he got in.
"Roger."
"Fou!"
"So who's driving?" Gudako said.
"Me, me!"
"Ok, brother it is. Let's get going!"
Few hours later
"Phew, at least that's over, good job everyone." Gudako said as she congratulated her heroic spirits
"Thank goodness, I finally you on the line!" said a familiar voice. "Are you okay! Did any unexpected accidents take place this time!"
"Nah we're good so farm" Ritsuka said.
"I'm glad that you're all safe, however this is no time for casual chit-chat. We were able to see Ritsuka's signal, but were unable to establish a connection. Sorry that I haven't been able to provide you all with support. What's the situation over here?"
Mashu proceeds to explain the events that have happened so far, including the fact that they had found the mysterious "amnesiac" Ragna and this mysterious 'Azure' person.
"And you let this Ragna guy join up with you guys!" Romani said. "Even for your standards, this is incredibly reckless, Ritsuka!"
"Told you so." Gudako said as she nudged Ritsuka slightly.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, but you've got to trust me on this. The guy doesn't seem like a bad guy...sorta."
"Well, can't get stressed about things that have already happened I guess." Romani said as he went back to the main topic on hand "It seems like Egypt is going to be our weak spot, but it seems like we might have some reliable allies, Ozymadias mention someone by the Lion King, right. There's no mistake that he's Richard I. If King Lionheart is here, then we should be able to deal with the Sun King."
"Ummm….about that." Gudako said.
"Well, if you wanted to know about unexpected situations, Roman. All the Crusaders have been wiped out." Da Vinci said.
"What?!" Roman said
"Who the world is Richard I?" Ritsuka said.
"King Richard I of England also known as Richard the Lionheart for his deeds in the third crusade. The nickname Lionheart came from his bravery in the battlefield."
"Anyway, I'll send the data from Chaldea!" Roman then showed the Singularity Map. "See? There is a big city in this singularity! There's no mistake that the Crusaders have occupied it! But since you are saying that they are wiped out, then who is the one who occ-wait I've picked up traces of life, among them is a servant with signature not too far away from you."
Mashu then suddenly stopped the Sphinx and then turned to Ritsuka and Gudako.
"What should we do, Master?"
"For now let's just sneak around and see what happens." Gudako said.
"I agree." Ritsuka said
The four of them got off the Sphinx and moved to an area that made them hard to see, while being able to see the events that would take place between the red haired servant and the refugees. However, as they got closer they didn't notice that a certain white-haired person fell asleep in the back during the trip.
An hour later
"Thank you." A refugee woman said. "Not only did drive away those bandits, you escorted us all the way here."
"No need to thank us, in fact we should be thanking you for telling us the way to go." Mashu then asked. "Where do all you of you plan to go with this large group?"
"Why to the holy city of course, the only safe haven now."
"Invaders came, burned the land, and took the Holy Land, but the great Lion King took the land back and drove out the crusaders, reopening the land back to us. We don't know where the King or his knight came from, but we're thankfully the slayed those invaders."
The Lion King destroyed the crusaders...it's sounding less likely that it's Richard I. Da Vinci thought
"The holy city, huh? I wonder do they accept people of all races."
The four turn around to see Ragna who was yawning as he had just woken up from a good night's sleep, completely unaware of what happened in the last few hours.
"Yes of course, I've heard that the Lion King rejects none. Once a month, the Holy City has a ceremony called the ritual of holy selection in which they accept refugees."
"Sounds like a good ass retirement home." Ragna said while stretching and cracking his neck. "Damn, I fell asleep like a log didn't I? So did I miss anything important?"
"How in the hell were you able to sleep soundly during the events that took place, actually better yet WHEN did you fall asleep!" Gudako said.
"Sometime during the trip, but that's not important right now. If you don't mind me asking could you tell me more about this Holy Land."
The refugees continued to talk more about the Holy Land, sharing information that caused Ragna to become more curious about this Holy Land. After the refugee lady gave all the information she knew about the Holy Land, the refugees went ahead leaving Ragna and the others to themselves.
"Thanks for the information, looks like the refugees went ahead of us."
"Who's the guy with the hologram?" Ragna asked.
"Oh yeah, you two haven't exactly met each other yet, Ragna meet Romani Archaman, the director of Chaldea."
"Hey, nice to meetcha'."
"Nice to meet you too...Ritsuka told me about your amnesia and just to confirm, your only planning on staying with them until you can find this 'Azure' person and get back your memories, correct."
"That's the plan."
Romani sighed and then proceeded to smile.
"Alright until then, welcome to the team."
"Thanks, Doc."
"Anyhow, we don't know the full situation, so it's better if we act in secret for now. Going with the refugees would only make us stand out." Da Vinci explained.
"It's hard to tell who's friend or foe between the Lion King, Sun King, and the group of assassin's…" Mashu said.
"You think that it's like Rock Paper Scissors, where Lion beats Sun, Assassins beat Lion, and Sun beats Lion." Ritsuka asked.
"I doubt it's like that, I speculate that the Sun King and Lion King formed some sort of non-aggression pact. That would explain why Lucius said that Holy City Knights would have no reason to abduct Nitocris." Da Vinci explained
"So you're saying that Egypt is pretty much doing it own thing." Ritsuka said
"Exactly. I assume they oppose each other, but do not fight..sort like a cold war." Gudako said
"So I'm guessing the group of assassins would be sort of like the resistance." Ragna said
"I'm starting to get the general picture of the situation down here, you all should probably head to Holy City to figure out what exactly is going on." Roman said.
"Got it, we've got to find out whether the Sun King was telling the truth about the Holy City being the source of the Singularity." Gudako said.
At the Holy City
"Here we are!" Gudako said. "Wow, this place looks huge!"
"The walls seem like they are built to reject anything foreign, so this is the Holy City." Mashu said
"Take a look over to the center, seems like it's the Holy City's main gate." Ritsuka said as he pointed to the entrance to the Holy Land. As the five proceeded to get closer, they saw there was a bunch of refugee tents set up right outside the gate.
"Wow a bunch of refugees showed, somewhere five hundred too."
"They're probably waiting for the ritual of Holy Selection. We should go along with them, so we can get to see the Lion King." Ritsuka said
"Sounds like a good plan, I guess I'll fold the Sphinx since driving in a car would bring a lot of attention towards us."
"Yeah." Gudako then looked back to Ragna who seemed to be looking at the city and not saying anything on the whole trip here. "Are you ok, Ragna. You've been really quiet the entire time."
"...None of this makes any sense."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Ritsuka asked
"The refugee said that they would accept everyone, but...I mean think about it, if the Lion King accepted everyone, then why in the hell would there need to be this Holy Selection. Selection being the key word."
"What are you trying to say, that the refugees were just lying?" Mashu said
"No, I think that the refugees are being lied to. I had some doubts about this Holy City, but as the Refugee lady kept talking a thought came into my head, what happens to the people that don't get accepted in the holy selection, don't you think that her story about the Holy City was too good to be true?" Ragna said.
"I understand where you are coming from, but it's a bit too soon to draw conclusions." Da Vinci said. "We should just sit back and see what happens."
"I agree, there's no need to rush to conclusions yet." Roman said. "Even if you are right, we've got no choice but to step into the lion's den to figure out what's going on."
"Alright, I hear ya." Ragna said.
I hope I'm wrong, but my gut feeling tells me that something is off about this Holy City.
"If that's all then everyone, remember hide yourselves under your cloaks and try not to bring attention to yourselves. The readings say that there are highly concentrated magical energy structures around you, so be careful."
"Got it." Everyone said as Da Vinci gave everyone blue cloaks to conceal themselves with. "Good thing I happened to make an extra, just in case."
The five were able to get through to where the refugees were, although they were at the edge of the refugee camp and furthest away from the holy city.
"It seems like knights from the Holy City are surrounding the camps."
"You think they might be what the readings were talking about?"
"Yeah, no doubt it." Ritsuka then saw the sky change from night to day in an instant. "What the-?!"
"I didn't just imagine that right?!"
"Calm yourselves, this is just a miracle from the Lion King." said a blond haired man coming from the entrance of the holy city. "A gift he bestowed upon me with words "May the sun always bless you"."
"Master, a knight just appeared just appeared from the main gate. Wait, that man is...Sir Gawain of King Arthur's round table?"
"What?!" Gudako said. "What is he doing here?"
"I don't know, but let's wait and see."
"It seems like they've started admitting the refugees already, but I've detected an enormous Servant signature!" Roman said
Da Vinci's eyes begin to widen as she starts to put the pieces together.
"...This is bad, really bad!" Da Vinci. "Ritsuka, Gudako, Mashu, Ragna we need to get out of here. Now. Ragna's thought process was on the right track. They call this a Holy Selection, that isn't the right word, they're...wait where is Ragna?"
"Everyone, I thank you for gathering here in the Holy City of your own accord. Humanity's time has ended and this small world is heading towards ruin. His Majesty has cast Judgement. There is no place for people to live on this earth, in any land. The exception being the Holy City of Camelot." Gawain the continued. "Our Holy City is a complete, perfect, pure-white, millennial kingdom. Beyond this gate exist an ideal world, one without starvation, one without war!"
"Wow! It seems like the rumors were true!"
"We're going to be saved!"
"Thank you, I'm sure you all underwent a long, difficult journey to get here. Our King accepts any and all people, regardless of race and religion. However, you must first gain his pardon."
"There's someone on top of the gate. Is that the Lion King?"
Everyone looked up to the person on the top of the gate, who was covered in armor and had a white cape.
"There are few that can be led to the end of the world. The roots of humanity will rot and fall. And thus I must choose. Those souls uncorrupted by any and all wickedness."
Suddenly out of nowhere a light began to shine over three of the refugees.
"Huh what is this light?"
"It's so bright, but not blinding at all."
"Mommy, you're all shiny!"
"The holy selection is over, allow only these three to enter. Go and collect them, Sir Gawain."
"...As you wish." Gawain then continued. "Everyone I am sorry. However, this is to preserve the world of man. The king has ordered for your purification. Now it's time for your Holy Punishment."
Several of the knights began to draw their blades as they started to get closer and closer to the refugees. One of the knights stopped at a refugee that was wearing a blue cloak, different from the others. As he proceeded to bring his sword down on the refugee, he was met with a fist to the face, sending him flying, which caused all the other knights to look on in confusion.
"What the he-?!" Before one of the knights could finish his sentence, the mysterious rebel jumped up into the air and kicked him in the face, stopping him before he was able to kill the refugee woman.
"W-who are you?!" The refugee said.
The mysterious man stayed silent and instead started using signs to send a message to her, telling her to run to safety. The refugee was able to understand the message and started telling the other refugees to escape.
"Commander, the refugees are starting to escape and it seems like one of them is helping them tear through the line!"
"Get rid of the rebel and make sure that no refugee escapes!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Is that who I think it is?" Mashu said.
"Oh. My. God." Roman said in complete shock.
"Well crap, there goes the plan to do this sneakily." Gudako said as the command seal started to glow, behind her appeared three heroic spirits. Jeanee Alter, the alternate version of the holy maiden of France, Jeanne D'Arc. A servant from the archer class, Emiya and the watchdog of the land of the shadows, Lancer class Servant Scathath.
"Wait what are you guys doing?" Roman said. "We can't just barge in like this?!"
"Well what do you want us to do then, just sit here and stand back like we did before!" Gudako said. "No way!"
"I agree." Ritsuka said. "If can do it, without a hesitation so should we."
"...Heh, I could never get through to you two when your like this." Roman said. "Just make sure you stay safe and don't do anything too reckless."
"Gotcha, ." Gudako then turned to her servants. "You guy's ready?"
"More than ever." said Alter. "Should what should burn first, Master?"
"Please don't burn anything, just open a path for the refugee's to escape from."
"..Tsk, you're no fun."
"Maybe next time, Black Maiden." Emiya said sarcastically. "Right now, let's focus on the task at hand."
"I concur." Scathath said.
"Wait a minute, who is the man fighting the knight's over there?" Jeanne Alter pointed out.
"..We have an idea, but we can worry about that later!" Gudako said as she began to run towards where the refugees were.
"Ok, Mashu let's make sure that refugees get out safely and take care of any knights that might slip out." Ritsuka said as he also summoned one more heroic spirits to help Mashu. One of the most prominent heroes in Greek mythology, Achilles.
"Yo, Master what'cha need?"
"Help us make sure the refugee's are safe!" Ritsuka said as he began to rush towards the scene
"Gotcha! Let's go!"
"One of the refugees has decided to go against the wishes of the Lion King in front of the hates to the Holy City! That is a sin punishable only by death!" The enforcement knights said as they began to surround the mysterious rebel. The Mysterious man didn't appear to pay that much attention to their speech and walked up slowly and grabbed one of the enforcement knights by the neck and threw him into another one. This caused the rest of the enforcement knights to charge recklessly at him.
C'mon this is too easy.
The Mysterious Rebel thought as he appeared to reach out for something only to find that it was not there...
What the hell? I remember I had with me, where the hell is i-CRAP, it's on the other side! That son of a bitch probably knew about it and didn't tell me!
The Mysterious Rebel dodged the incoming attack from one of the knights and delivered a powerful kick to the face, sending him crashing to some of the other knights that were behind him. One of the knights saw that the mysterious rebel was distracted and tried to use this moment to get an opening by aiming for back, only to met with a backhand coming from the mysterious rebel. Before any of the other knights could react, the mysterious rebel put his hands on the ground and suddenly appeared a arsmagus circle with chains coming out of it, tying all of them to the ground. The Mysterious Rebel then went up to one of the enforcement knights who was knocked unconscious and grabbed one of their swords, examining it for a bit.
"Not bad...I guess I can use this for now."
The Mysterious man then turned around to swing his sword to intercept Sir Gawain's oncoming attack. The two held their ground evenly before backing off and giving the other breathing space.
"I will admit, I'm pretty impressed. You guys had one big genius plan, give people hope by telling them of mysterious Holy City, making them come here only to pick a few and kill the rest." The mysterious rebel said as he began to clap. "Real good plan if I say so myself. Creating a promise of a utopia from the murder of hundreds of innocent people."
"Regardless of how you feel, causing disorder at the Holy City gate is a sin punishable by death, so your fate is sealed. Whether you die here or somehow miraculously escape, you will die at the hands of one of the other knights of the round table."
"Yeah, yeah whatever are you going to keep talking or actually fight me." The Mysterious Rebel said as he pointed his newly (stolen) sword at Sir Gawain's direction. "Or should I say, En Garde!"
"...I see that you are arrogant to foolishly believe that you can go against the Lion King orders. Well you are either the most bravest person I've ever met or the most idiotic." Gawain said as he gets ready to fight, which causes the air around the whole area to shift and charged towards Ragna.
"Oh crap, this is..Sir Gawain's sacred sword, Excalibur Galante, the sister sword of King Arthur's noble phantasm. Not only that, but it's daytime, now right?!"
"Yeah what about it?" Gudako said
"We have no way to win. Get Ragna out of there and run, Gawain becomes three times as strong during the day, so he's basically invincible!"
"About that...it seems like they are about to fight." Gudako said.
"..God damn it!"
"Alter, after we're done here, get to where Ragna is and get him out there now! After that head back to where Da Vinci and the others are!"
"Alright, got it!"
The two charged towards each other and their swords clashed. Gawain started to use more force causing Ragna to loose ground, but Ragna smirked as he used Gawain's strength against him as he purposefully stopped pushing against Gawain and instead redirected his attack to the ground, causing Gawain to lose footing and fall to the ground. Ragna took this opportunity to finish the fight by slamming the sword into Gawain's stomach, but Gawain was able to block the attack easily with the hilt of his sword. Gawain then pushed Ragna off him and rushed right after him. Ragna was able to get back on his feet quickly and dodged the incoming sword strike from Gawain, by jumping above him and ending up behind Gawain. Ragna then tried to attack him from the back, only for his attack to be stopped from connecting to by Sir Gawain's sword.
"I will admit you're not half-bad. I can see why the enforcement knights had trouble taking care of you. It's a shame that your journey will have to end here...if only we met under different circumstances." Gawain used more force, causing the sword Ragna was using to shatter. He then raised it and swung with the intent of ending Ragna's life mercifully, only to see his sword blocked with only Ragna's right arm, which shocked him.
"...You were saying." Ragna then sent a left hook to the face of Gawain. Gawain slid for a bit and tried to process what had happened.
Did he just stop my sword with his just his arm?! Who is this man? He's no ordinary human and don't feel the energy of servant coming from him.
"Who are you?!"
"Stopping worry about who I am and pay attention." Ragna said as he suddenly appeared behind Gawain and before he could react, grabbed him by his neck and lifted him up with ease.
"What do you mean by th-." Gawain said as he started to suddenly lose energy
What is going on? I feel like my life force is leaving me.
"Time to end this." Ragna said as he launched Gawain to the air and then as he was coming down to the ground, sent a powerful punch to his stomach, sending him crashing to the wall. He then dusted his hands and was about to walk away until he saw Gawain come out of the rubble, seemingly unharmed.
"Or not. What the hell, that punch did like no damage."
"Ah it seems like you don't know about my nickname, Knight of the Sun." Gawain said. "During the day, I am three times as strong as I normally am."
"Oh, so you're like an inverse vampire." Ragna said as he rolled his eyes. "Why do these things always have to be so hard."
"I'm not sure what is with your right arm, but I have a feeling that I shouldn't take you so lightly." Gawain said.
I hoped on finishing this off quick and heading back to the others, but doesn't seem like this is gonna happen.
Ragna snapped out of his thoughts when saw that Gawain's sword was close to his face. Ragna able to dodge the sword slash by crouching under it in time. Ragna then tried to counter attack, but Gawain moved away in time and was able to used his hilt to hit Ragna's stomach, sending him crashing to the ground. Ragna then looked up to see Gawain right above, trying to stab him. Ragna was able roll out of the way and ended up getting back on his feet.
"He might be invulnerable to regular attacks, but how about one's that hurt the soul." Ragna said as the shell on his arm began to glow. Ragna was ready to charge at Gawain again until he heard a voice.
Good evening Ragna the Bloodedge
Ragna stopped and had a confused look on his face.
"Hello? Wait where is this voice coming from?"
Down here
Ragna looked at his Azure Grimoire and the voice continued
Congratulations on becoming the Guardian of the Azure, I am a help assistant tasked with explaining the new features of the new update that was added to your Grimoire, giving you access to need abilities
You have got to be fucking kidding me
"What are you doing, fiend?" Gawain said as he appeared right beside Ragna about to attack Ragna, however Ragna was able to dodge in time and backed away.
"Look I really don't have time right now, so just do whatever you want and leave me alone!"
Ragna then charged towards Gawain who was ready to intercept with a sword swing, but Ragna jumped above Gawain and landed behind him, creating an opening for an attack.
"Hell's!" Ragna's left arm became surrounded by darkness as he punched Gawain in the face.
"Fang!" Ragna then used his right arm to swipe, causing darkness to come from the ground, sending Gawain crashing. Or that is what I would say if that were the case.
Instead when Ragna swiped, instead of darkness coming out there were small balls of darkness that came out completely missing. Gawain used this opportunity to knee Ragna in the stomach, sending him crashing to the ground.
"What the hell happened?!" Ragna said.
You said to do whatever I wanted to do so instead of doing the original follow-up to hell's fang, I decided to change it so now shoots dark balls of concentrated energy since there is more than one person with a similar magnitude of magical energy in this area as the enemy you are fighting.
"Huh that sounds kinda co-Wait what?! Why would I even need that?! Change it back!"
That's pretty vague, why don't I show you all 148 combinations that are equipped with this update and you choose which one you want.
Ragna stared in disbelief for a moment before face palming. Hard.
"Who is that you are talking to...well it doesn't matter since I plan on ending this now."
"Of all the days, this shit has to happen now!" Ragna then asked. "Wait, you said those were dark balls of concentrated energy, where are they exactly?"
Not too far away from the right side of the castle wall.
"...And what happens when it hits something."
We will see in about 3 seconds.
"This is where you and your resistance end!" Gawain says as he charges towards Ragna
*BOOM*
There was a loud explosion at the castle walls, causing the top of it to come collapsing to the ground. This caught everyone's attention as they were in complete shock at the fact that the perfectly pure holy city wall that seemed impenetrable, now had a side of it's castle walls in ruin. Gawain turned to Ragna and Ragna could feel the aura filled with rage aimed directly at him.
And that's right there is what I call the Hell's Bal. Nice name, isn't it.
"Oh. My. God." Ragna said
"How dare you defile the walls of the holy city! I was going easy on you, but no more!"
"Great, now I made him really angry." Ragna said. "God damn it, none of this would be a problem if I had my sword. Hey, AI do you anything that can deal with angry knights."
Well, it sounds Vengeance mode might be the best option for your predicament.
"What the hell is Vengeance-." Ragna said as he almost received a cut from the right cheek from Gawain, barely dodged by landing on the ground.
Damn he's way faster than before?! I should really focus!
Ragna, got up from the ground, only to see that Gawain was now behind him coming in with a sword slash from above. Ragna quickly enacted a barrier surrounding him to protect him and counterattacked his a left hook to his stomach, only to see that it did nothing to him. As Gawain then went for another sword strike. Ragna was able to recover in time to block it in time to block with his barrier, but this time Gawain kept on slashing away, chipping away at Ragna's barrier little by little. Gawain raised his sword high in the air, putting all his strength to crush Ragna's barrier before he was stopped by a mysterious blond haired man wearing knight armor along with a cape.
"W-what you're...what are you doing here?"
"Thanks for the help, but who are you?" Ragna said.
"That's not important right now. I have watched you from afar and seen your acts of courage which have encouraged me to join in and aid you. I will destroy his gift as a knight of the round table. So don't worry, you have nothing to fear from Gawain. Switch on, Airgetlam!"
"Unbelievable! Impossible! Why are you, Sir Bedivere of the Round table siding with the resistance! Do you plan to commit treason against your king!"
"I'm not sure why exactly you are helping me, but thanks." Ragna said. "Hey, you ready for round 2!"
Ragna and Bedivere then charged towards Gawain, Gawain tried to stop Bedivere's advance using his Excalibur Galatine, but Bedivere was easily able to brush it aside, catching Gawain by surprise. Gawain then realized that Ragna was right under the two waiting for a moment to strike. Ragna was able to land a solid hit to Gawain's stomach sending him crashing down to the ground. Ragna was able to notice that his attack did actual damage now.
"Yeah, now that's I'm talking about!"
"Don't think just because you can hurt me, means you have any chance of victory." Gawain said.
"We'll see about that!" Bedivere said.
Gawain then rushed towards the two, aiming for Ragna, but Bedivere quickly intercepted Gawain allowing for Ragna to go from the side. Gawain saw this coming and used his strength to push Bedivere back before almost taking Ragna's head off with a swing of his sword. Ragna flipped backwards and skidded away from Gawain, before charging back to him.
The Vengeance mode is now at half-power, is it I ok if allow it to discharge
"The hell is Vengeance mod-you know what, just leave me alone already."
I'm going to take that as a yes.
The shell on Ragna's right arm started to change as now in the middle there was a glowing letter V. Ragna didn't notice this and continued his assault on Gawain. Gawain was preoccupied with Bedivere that he didn't notice Ragna was closing in on him.
"Why, why are you rebelling against the king, you're the most trusted out of all the knights of the round table!" Gawain said as he used more force, pushing Bedivere back.
"..Just like you have your reasons for following the Lion King, I have mine to go against the Lion King!" Bedivere said as he began to use more force to push Gawain back.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but you should really pay attention!"
Gawain looked back to see Ragna right in front of him, leaving no time for him to move out of the way. Ragna landed a hard punch in the gut and the V on his right arm started to glow red as he made contact with Gawain's stomach. Ragna's punch instead of sending him to the ground, caused a huge shockwave that everyone in the area could feel. It was so powerful that it almost caused Bedivere to almost fall, shook parts of the castle wall, created a huge crater in the ground, and send Gawain crashing into the castle wall.
"Wow, what was that?" Roman said. "The readings coming from the data are insane...no they don't make any sense."
"I don't know, but I have an idea of who it came from." Gudako said as she dust off the dirt that was on her uniform.
Ragna...who are you?
"Holy. Shit." Ragna said as he began to put together what had just happened. "I definitely didn't put that much force into it, wait is this because of that 'Vengeance' mode?"
Yes, Mister Ragna the Bloodedge. Vengeance mode works by taking the amount of hits dealt or blocked by you and sending it back to the opponent with double the power.
"So you're saying I hit with his own strength and more...that's actually pretty nice." Ragna said. "You know I think I'm starting to like you a bit more, but don't call me Mister. Just Ragna is fine."
Okey dokey.
"What was that power?" Bedivere said as he began to walk towards Ragna. "Amazing, it looks like I have found a new powerful ally."
"I have a question for you, why are you helping me? Aren't you supposed to be part of the Knights of the Round Table for the Lion King."
"..I hea-." Bedivere said until he heard something move from the rubble. "It seems like our talk will have to wait for now."
Ragna looked to see Gawain, cleary damaged significantly, but not down for the count.
"God damn he's persistent. Hey AI, I'm just gonna need you to do what you did before and we should be clear in no time."
Sorry, but doing an attack takes a lot of energy, so Vengeance mode is now on cooldown for the next 2 minutes.
"Well it doesn't matter, that attack did a lot of damage to him. 2 to 3 more attacks and the guy should be out for the count." Ragna said
Ragna then felt someone grab the back of his red jacket and pull him then saw a pillar of flames separate Gawain and Ragna as he turned around to see Jeanee Alter. She looked back at the castle wall and then looked back at him, putting two and two together. She then smiled and said.
"I like the way you think, but Master said we have to get going NOW." She grabbed him and pit him on her shoulder, before heading back to where Gudako and the others where.
"I also agree! There is no point in wasting time fighting Gawain in the day!" Bedivere also followed after Jeanee Alter, leaving Gawain by himself as he struggled to stand up straight after Ragna's devastating blow.
"Bedivere! Wait, what is the meaning behind this? I don't get it why would a knight like you appear in a battlefield like this?!"
"I think we're in the clear." Ritsuka said as he finally stopped running. "Looks like mostly everyone made it out ok."
"Yeah and we managed to save most of the refugees too." Da Vinci said. "Now we all have to do is wait for-."
"Here I am!" Gudako said as she was now with the rest of the team. "How were thinks on your end?"
"Fine. Achilles and Mashu were more than enough to take of the knights following us." Ritsuka said. "Is everyone here?"
"No, I'm waiting for Alter who should be right about...now."
Out of the bushes came Jeanne Alter, who was carrying Ragna on her shoulder and following her was Bedivere. Jeanee let go, dropping Ragna to the ground on his butt, causing the hoodie on his cloak to come down revealing the identity of the mysterious rebel to the refugee's and confirming the suspicions of the others.
"Oww! You couldn't have dropped me more gently." Ragna said as he turned around to see everyone glancing at him and he raised his right arm, responding with only one word "Yo."
"Gawain reporting in. Where is the Lion King, Sir Agravain."
"The King has gone to sleep. I have already explained the situation. You will be punished later, you are to wait in your manor until then, Sir Gawain." Agravain said.
"...I cannot see the King even at a time like this."
"Naturally. This is just the case of some refugees that escapes, we can handle that ourselves. Or do you wish to bother our King from his sleep, Sir Gawain."
"...I would never do such a thing."
"...It seems unlike you to make such a blunder like this, Sir Gawain...How tragic." said Tristan, another one of the Knights of the Round Table.
"Hah, maybe he went easy on the intruder. The Knight of the Sun is such an honorable, kind Knight!" Mordred, son of King Arthur and another of the Knights of the Round Table said.
"That isn't kindness, Sir Mordred. That is disrespect. It is by the King's Orders that the holy selection take place. Death awaits any failure, Knight of the Round Table or not. There is no need to wait for the king's verdict. Agravain, may I cast judgement on Sir Gawain myself?" Tristan said.
"House arrest should be enough punishment for him. There's no need to cut his freaking head off."
"That's why I said you don't understand the king's heart. You would want our King to take the head of one of his Knight of the Round Table. I am sad….such would be the end of the world. For our king's sake, I must take the life of my dear friend. Wouldn't you agree, Sir Gawain?"
"Yes, here in the throne room, my gift was useless. Go ahead and take my head, the sharpness of Failnaught would do so with no problems."
"Hey, wait are you serious! You really are! Stop it, I said stop it! Tristan cutting Gawain's head off! Father would never allow something like that! 'If you are to die, I would butcher you myself!' Yeah, that's something Father would say."
"Put down your arrow, Sir Tristan. I find it hard to believe that Sir Gawain would meet such resistance from the refugees, much less let them escape. Did something unforeseen happen? If circumstances permit, Sir Gawain's punishment might be eased. What say you, Sir Gawain? Was the rebels that attacked the fortress truly refugees?" Agravain asked.
"There were unknown servants mixed into the crowd, along a mysterious man...who I didn't sense any servant energy coming from."
"Oh? So you're saying a human was part of the rebel. He must be a master from the greater history of man."
"No, according to my knights those servants were somewhere else, stopping them from pursuing the refugees."
"So it was just you and this mysterious man?"
"Yes….I hate to say this, but….I fear that his power may rival my own."
"Wait no way, you're saying that a man that isn't even a servant rivals Sir Gawain, that sounds ridiculous!" Mordred said shocked.
"But that would explain the collapse of part of the castle wall as well as Gawain's injures." Agravain explained
"...Interesting, I would like to hear more about this mysterious man."
The knights turned to the source of the voice to see the Lion King.
"Your Majesty!" Gawain said
"...To think that you would come to the throne so late at night. Allow me to make my report, my King. Half a year has passed since your rule began. The Holy City is more prosperous than ever. Markets are-."
"Flattery is unnecessary, Agravain. I came to hear a report from one of my knights."
"My apologies then, your majesty."
"Now, state your business, Gawain. I will believe your words."
"Yes, your majesty. The holy selection was carried out correctly. As a result, we discovered three compatible candidates. However, all three of them were carried away, no thanks to the help of a mysterious man among the resistance and unknown servants. I ended losing over 20 enforcement knights in the process. The enclosure was broken and over 300 refugees fled. They split up, one group heading to the mountains, another sheltered by mysterious merchants."
"Mysterious merchants? That sounds like a problem Agravain will have to deal with then. Does that mean that they weren't wiped out."
"...Yes, it would seem so. Indeed, we still haven't been able to confirm the death of one merchant leader."
"And about this mysterious man, I overheard you saying that this man appeared to be no servant...but a human, who had power that rivaled your Gift, am I correct?"
"Yes, mam. Also there was something with his right arm, that even made me vulnerable to regular attacks, it was as if it was taking my life force."
"I see...well then I've decided on your punishment."
"Yes, my king. I have dedicated my life to you, my King. Please make your decision."
"...Raise your head up, all of you. I order you to be on the lookout for this rebel. I want him captured and brought to me immediately."
"...I beg your pardon, King. But what about my punishmen-."
"I'm giving you a second chance to correct your mistake, Gawain. Or would you rather taste the power of the sacred spear in person."
"N-no thank you, your majesty."
"This is an unusual behavior from you, my king. May I ask why is this man so important that you would forgo punishing Sir Gawain for his blunder?" Tristan said
"You do not understand, Tristan. Normally, all the rebellions we have dealt with have been squashed with no problem. However, not only this man rebel against the holy selection right in front of the Holy City, he crushed the enforcement knights, fought relatively even with Gawain in the day, destroyed a part the castle walls, and successfully interrupted the holy punishment. His actions will be told by the refugees far and wide, as they tell the tales of the mysterious man who saved them. Those tales will inspire other people to join him, soon one man will turn into multiple people and then an army. I even think the Sun King will be interested in what this man could offer."
"So you're saying that this man represents a symbol of hope for -free, we'll seem soft and weak. Not only that, but if we just let him go So if we were to remove him from the equation and make an example out of him, then the rebels will lose hope along with discouraging the Sun King from interfering. I see what you are doing, Father!"
"Mordred, I don't remember giving you citizenship to the Holy City. You are only allowed to stay in the city during the day. Though..I might change my mind if you were to say, be the knight that captures this mysterious rebel. Until then, return to your domain."
This statement shocked everyone, including Mordred who began to have the biggest smirk on her face.
"Yeah, I'll go back to the wasteland. Leave guarding the outside to me!" Mordred said.
Mordred then left the throne room and went back to the wastelands.
"...Your Majesty. This may not be my place to ask, but why do you not allow Mordred to stay in the Holy City?" Agarvain asked.
"Indeed, it is not your place to ask. Do you wish to test your toughness against my sacred lance?"
"Wh-what?! No, I just found it weird that you would suddenly change your mind, just because of one rebel."
"It was like Mordred said, that one rebel could lead into a whole number of problems, not including the fact that he might join up the Sun King, though unlikely. I just decided that the person that should capture this rebel should get a reward to boost their morale, don't worry this applies to all of you."
"...I see. Very well, I will issue an order to go after the refugees. I'm sure Sir Mordred would be happy to be of use to the king."
"Unnecessary. Leave the refugees. They'll die eventually in the wasteland. The Sun King should soon realize our true intent. Start preparations for the coming battle. When the knight of the lake returns, we'll settle things with the Sun King. Understand, Agravain? Also a message to all of you, while I did order you all to look for this rebel, remember doing your regular duties is more important." The Lion King then went back to her quarters, leaving Agravain and the other knights to themselves.
"...You still rely on him…." Agravain said with disdain.
"Agravain? Is it really okay not to pursue the refugees?" Tristan asked
"Of course. This a direct order from the king. Still, be that as it may, we cannot ignore outsiders, especially the rebel whose prowess rivals the Knights of the Round Table and the foreign masters who are working alongside him. Send pursuers their way, destroy the foreign masters and capture the mysterious rebel. Whatever happens to the refugees accompanying them is...inevitable."
"That sounds like a plan you would come up with, Agravain. Who will entrust the mission to?"
"I should be the one to go, as I am the one who messed up the first place and allowed those rebels to escape." Gawain said.
"No, we still have duties to fulfill as the king said, Sir Gawain. Let me think...ah, yes there is one knight who is free at the moment, Sir Lancelot, Knight of the Lake. Contact him, he should be making his way to the Holy City. Tell him to pursue the foreign rebels and that he is not allowed to return until the masters are dead and the mysterious human that is with them is brought to the throne."
And that's the end of Chapter 1. I hope you all enjoyed it and until next time, see ya!
