Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night, Highschool DxD or anything else.
Fate: Devil Night
Chapter4: Counterfeit III
Human World
Japan: Fuyuki
Hyatt Hotel
Ravel Phenex and Emiya Shirou walked quietly through the cold dark streets of Shinto towards the Hyatt Hotel where the Ainsworths were hiding out. There was an increasing number of Bounded Fields covering the area around the area but they two easily bypassed them and entered the hotel. They didn't talk—there was no need—they knew who they would be facing and had taken precautions on how to deal with them.
Now here they were about to storm what amounted to the Ainsworth stronghold…
"So you've come back after all," a voice spoke up from the back of the lobby. There standing at the staircase leading 'up' to the upper floors were Beatrice and Angelica. "Julian-sama thought that you might," Angelica spoke clearly as she and her fellow homunculus descended the stairs.
"You know why we're here," Ravel glared back. "Hand over my family's tears and the Lesser Grail or suffer the wrath of the Phenex."
Ravel Phenex maybe a tsundere but as a member of the Phenex clan and a devil, she also had her pride. These people had trampled over her family's pride by stealing their prized tears and even had the gall to hide out in the city she was staying in. She would show them just whythe Phenex clan was ranked as one of the seventy-two pillars and why out of them all it was one of the thirty-four to have survived the various wars that had ravaged their kind.
Immortal fire birds…
That's what they were…
"You have a lot of nerve demanding something like that from us," Beatrice sneered at the Phenex heiress. "I'll show you where you can shove your demands princess," she said as she shot forward a moment later. "Install."
The Berserker card was in her hand as she dashed towards them, the card fusing itself with her and triggering her transformation in a matter of seconds. The hammer of the Thunder God Thor cackled as she swung it at them, lightning discharging as she did so. Shirou pulled back as Ravel dodged to the side and rolled away. Mjolnir struck down on the ground and a couple of lightning bolts shot out, striking Ravel and hurling her back outside the hotel.
"Ravel!" Shirou shouted after her.
"I'll handle the princess," Beatrice said as she rushed towards where she had sent Ravel flying. "You can take the idiot."
Shirou gritted his teeth as he saw her leave, unable to stop her or risk being intercepted by Angelica who stood calmly in front of the stairs. If he turned away and engaged Beatrice at close range then Angelica would be able to get the drop on him easily enough. He couldn't take them both on so he hoped that Ravel would be alright and believed that she could handle herself. After all her family was renowned for their regenerative capabilities and something like a few bolts of lightning weren't going to be enough to put her down.
Still…
He had to make this quick…
"You shouldn't have come back," Angelica spoke as she held up another card between her fingers. It was another Archer card, though despite being physically the same card its presence was completely different than the one in Shirou's possession. "Install."
Golden armour materialized over Angelica's body replacing her clothes in an instant, changing her into the knight-like king that he'd seen her as during their previous encounter. The card sank into her body and disappeared as dozens of ripples appeared in the air around her. Swords, spears, daggers and javelins emerged from the ripples and floated in the air. They were aimed down towards the lone redhead who hadn't moved an inch and was instead simply glaring back at her.
Every weapon she had was a Noble Phantasm…
Though from what he could make of them they were all counterfeits…
"It's not enough," Shirou said simply.
"What?" Angelica questioned sharply.
"Those weapons of yours," Shirou explained. "They're not enough," he said as he held up his own Archer card. "Install."
Again he felt his Magic Circuits connect with the card and absorbed it into himself. The red and black armour of the Counter Guardian EMIYA formed over him though Shirou admitted it was just a copy. Still, the knowledge was real and so was the skill that accompanied it. If it had been anyone else they would have been another counterfeit but since it was him, the card was compatible with him and he was able to fill in the gaps himself.
Such was the nature of his Reality Marble…
"You…" Angelica trailed off as she stared down at him coldly.
Emiya Shirou! Understand, you are a maker, not a fighter. Do not think about other things, there is only one thing you can do, so master that one thing. Do not forget, what you must imagine is always that you yourself are the strongest. You do not need outside enemies, for you, the one you have to fight is none other than your own image.
"Trace on," Shirou incanted.
Judging the concept of creation
Hypothesizing the basic structure
Duplicating the composition material
Imitating the skill of its making
Sympathizing with the experience of its growth
Reproducing the accumulated years
Excelling every manufacturing process
His Magic Circuits flared to life as prana flowed through them and carried out the process. This was his variation of Projection Magecraft otherwise known as Tracing. By drawing on EMIYA's knowledge he knew how to trace a weapon that his own Reality Marble had recorded within it, such as the numerous Noble Phantasms currently being aimed at him. He reproduced an equal number of blades in the air around him, each one nothing more than a copy, but each one was closer to the original than any of Angelica's own counterfeits were. Still, it was only due to the merge of the two worlds that he was able to do this at his current level. Since the Age of the Gods had returned, Gaia's presence was noticeably lessened according to EMIYA's memories. It didn't break down 'unnatural' things like Magecraft even half as much as it did before and there was a lot more prana in the world now too.
"What did you do?" Angelica demanded with a glare. "Those weapons…"
"They're copies," Shirou answered simply. "But they're a lot closer to the originals than those things you have."
"You faker," Angelica spat out in anger. "Just the sight of it makes me sick."
The two volleys of weapons shot at each other a moment later, striking against each other and smashing each other into pieces. The quality of the weapons Shirou had traced proved to be better than that of Angelica's counterfeit weapons as a few of the former's swords broke through and cut her across her shoulder guard. Angelica fired off another five swords at the redhead only for Shirou to trace another pair of copied swords in his hands and deflect them away from him.
"I told you it's not enough," Shirou gritted out as he knocked the last of Angelica's swords away.
"You may be using high-speed Projection to counter with the same swords but I have far more where they came from," Angelica declared as the air to the side of her started to distort and invert in on itself. "I'll make sure to end it with this and put an end to you here."
'Now what is she doing?' Shirou thought as he watched on. The weapons emerging from the ripples dropped into the distortions and then remerged from another above the first distortion. Faster and faster they fell until they eventually appeared to be nothing but a blur of steal. 'Is she creating a loop using Flash Air to connect two parts of space and accelerate her weapons?'
"That Magecraft of yours seems to be able to overturn the law of equivalent exchange to produce near perfect fakes in an instant," Angelica spoke hatefully. "It is nothing short of an insult towards the Ainsworths."
Shirou gritted his teeth as one of the swords suddenly exploded from another distortion and shot directly at him. He narrowly evaded the attack and threw himself forward as he traced another dozen swords to deflect the barrage of steel that Angelica sent his way faster than he could react. His own traced swords were able to protect him long enough for him to close the distance and trace another couple swords to swing down at her.
Only for his swords to cut across a distortion in the air…
'She's using her Flash Air as a barrier,' Shirou mused.
"You cannot win," Angelica said simply knowing that there was no way he could attack her.
"Trace on," Shirou incanted a moment later.
A blade tore through Angelica's heart a moment later, its form having been traced inside the Flash Air barrier that Angelica had created. Time seemed to stop as the counterfeit Noble Phantasms clattered to the ground and the Flash Air distortions disappeared. Slowly the counterfeit Noble Phantasms shattered into prana as Angelica herself fell back onto the ground and her armour vanished, her Archer card emerging from her chest a moment later.
"You…won't…get…away…with…this…" Angelica rasped out as her eyes closed and she fell lifeless.
Shirou simply stared down at her for a moment as his traced weapons broke apart and his armour disappeared. His own Archer card emerged from his chest a moment later as he fell to his knees and started throwing up onto the ground beside his fallen opponent. He'd killed someone…fuck…he'd really killed someone…his mind was a mess but there was no worrying about it now. He still had to save Miyu and recover the Phoenix Tears for Ravel. He'd known that to save people he might eventually have to kill but part of him still clung to the notion of saving everyone, even if he still didn't know what it was he was supposed to save in the first place. He pushed himself back to his feet and started walking towards the staircase.
No matter what he would keep moving forward…
Even if the path he walked was one he might end up regretting…
Ravel Phenex groaned slightly as she pushed herself back up to her feet, the pain in her limbs disappearing along with her injuries as her regeneration abilities kicked in. Despite how confident she was in herself and her family's bloodline, this was still her first real fight, and that frightened her immensely. She'd always been the 'little sister' of the Phenex clan and had been protected all of her life. It was only now that she was fighting that she realised just how sheltered she had once been, and what that meant for her.
This wasn't just some battle…
This was a fight to the death…
Only one of them would be walking away alive, because the other would be dead before sunrise, killed at the hands of their opponent. Ravel didn't want to die, she wanted to live and become the woman she wanted to be. This wasn't about her family's stolen Pheonix Tears anymore, not even close. If she wanted to live then she would have to kill Beatrice here and now. It was the only way, because if she didn't then Beatrice wouldn't stop until she was dead.
"Die!" Beatrice roared as she lunged at the Phenex heiress. She swung Mjolnir down at Ravel forcing the latter to jump back and fly upwards so that she was flying over the street. "You can't run forever!"
"I don't have too," Ravel responded calmly.
It was then that Beatrice noticed something strange, it was far too quiet. There was no screaming humans running away from the sight of the Ainsworth homunculus and the bird-like devil. The street was empty, the nearby buildings were empty; there was no one there but the two of them. Beatrice stiffened as she took note of something else, a Bounded Field of some kind had been cast over the area, one that seemed to have forced the humans to leave, and also sealed off the entire city block from the outside world.
"You…" Beatrice trailed off with a twisted glare.
"Burn," Ravel uttered as fire engulfed her form. "Phoenix Fire."
She'd planned this from the beginning; by putting up what Shirou called a Bounded Field over the area to get rid of the local humans and seal it away she had effectively made the perfect battlefield for herself. As a member of the Phenex clan she had been gifted with the ability to manipulate fire on a whim, but for her it was different than the others of her family. After cooperating with Shirou for so long her she had gotten much better control of her own demonic power—her prana—and her Magic Circuits to the point where her potential exceeded that of any other member of her family.
Something that she was demonstrating now…
The flames engulfing her body intensified, turning white almost silver in colour, and the heat radiating off of her increased by the second. Everything around her started to melt as her Phoenix Fire grew hotter with each passing moment until finally the flames exploded outwards, incinerating everything in their path leaving nothing but devastation in their wake. The entire city block was obliterated in a matter of seconds, wiped clean by the otherworldly flames that she had called forth.
The Bounded Field she had cast over the area contained the flames and lit up brightly from the pressure they produced. Eventually she stopped channelling her demonic power and the flames died down, leaving a crater where the city block used to be. The Hyatt Hotel was the only building still standing, its own Bounded Fields in conjunction with Ainsworth's Flash Air barriers having saved it from being destroyed like everything else. Ravel took a deep breath for a moment and looked down at where her opponent had been standing.
She was still there…
"Fucking bitch," Beatrice spat out as she glared up at the still airborne devil. "Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire, are you fucking kidding me?!"
She was still alive…
Ravel narrowed her eyes at the homunculus before her and took note of Beatrice's state. Her clothes were singed and her left arm was covered in burns but besides that she appeared to be unharmed. How was that possible? Even an Ultimate-Class Devil would be taken aback by the attack she had just unleashed yet Beatrice appeared to have taken very little damage, especially considering she should have been incinerated by it.
Unless…
"An electromagnetic barrier of some kind," Ravel muttered to herself.
Beatrice must have somehow used Mjolnir—the hammer of the Norse Thunder God Thor—in conjuction with her Flash Air to create an electromagnetic barrier around herself in order to protect herself from the flames. It had clearly not been enough to protect her completely but it appeared to have saved her life at the very least, something that Ravel hadn't expected to happen. Damn it! That last attack had been her best shot, and now she had nothing left to throw at the wannabe-goddess.
"Hehehehehe," Beatrice started laughing as she caught on. "That was your best shot, wasn't it?! Hahahahaha! Like I would lose against a devil like you! What's the matter?! Do you not have anything left?!"
'Calm down Ravel,' the Phenex heiress told herself. 'It's okay, I'm still stronger than her and she's wounded. As long as I can keep regenerating then all I have to do is outlast her since I doubt she has as much prana as me.'
It was a decent strategy to come up with on the spot…
But it wasn't enough…
"Hahahahaha, this is perfect," Beatrice chuckled as she raised Mjolnir up towards the sky. "Let me show you devils and the rest of you filthy weirdos why you should fear us mere mortals."
Lightning exploded upwards from Mjolnir and tore through the Bounded Field which had already been weakened by Ravel's Phoenix Fire moments ago. Beatrice laughed loudly as the Bounded Field fell apart, breaking back into prana and scattering into the wind. High above them the clouds started to darken as lightning started to spike all around and the lingering heat from Ravel's Phoenix Fire quickly added to it, causing a thunder storm to form within seconds.
'You've got to be kidding me…' Ravel thought as she stared up at the thunder storm.
"Behold the might of the Ainsworths!" Beatrice called out as she swung the hammer down. "Mjolnir!"
Lightning struck down, a series of bolts that carried in them enough energy to pulverize a city block burst from the hammer as it struck the ground. The earth shifted as a large column of light erupted from the impact, shaking the world around them. Ravel was struck by several bolts of lightning, each one enough to kill her at least once, and sent her crashing down in front of Beatrice a moment later. Then as suddenly as it appeared, the thunder storm cleared away as the clouds disappeared revealing the quiet night sky once more.
Ravel flinched from the pain as her regeneration kicked in and healed her wounds. At the same time Beatrice's clothes returned to normal as the Berserker card emerged from her chest and fell to the ground in front of her. Beatrice for her part was clearly at her limit, her Magic Circuits were probably burning up after using her card so much and unleashing the full power of her counterfeit Noble Phantasm. Not that Ravel was much better, just because her wounds had regenerated didn't do anything for the mental strain she'd experienced, nor the pain.
"Die devil!" Beatrice snarled as she lunged at the Phenex heiress.
Ravel saw her coming and pushed herself back to her feet. Beatrice came at her without a weapon, her card being the only weapon she'd thought that she'd ever need, and attacked Ravel with a punch to the jaw. Considering the speed she was moving—she was a homunculus after all and was naturally faster than regular humans—the punch would have likely taken the head off of any normal human or even a low-class devil but for someone like her it wasn't enough.
Ravel blocked the punch and slipped around her, circling her outstretched arm and grabbing her head. Beatrice gasped as Ravel pulled her back, her arms slipping around the neck and tightening. They fell to the ground a moment later with a loud thud as Beatrice tried struggle and throw her off. She thrashed around frantically as Ravel tightened her grip, making it harder for her to breath. After several long seconds Beatrice finally stopped thrashing and fell deathly still.
"Oh Maou," Ravel breathed as she finally let go. It was over, Beatrice was dead and Ravel was exhausted both mentally and physically. She'd never planned for it to get this far, Beatrice was supposed to have died when Ravel hit her with the Phoenix Fire she'd conjured but she had survived and launched her own attack. Ravel had just killed her, she'd suffocated her and now her rapidly cooling corpse was lying not even a foot away from her.
She needed to get up…
She needed to keep moving…
She pushed herself up and looked over at the still standing Hyatt Hotel. Shirou was still inside and she hoped that he was already making his way up to the top floor where Julian and Erika were no doubt waiting. She couldn't go up there yet, not until she'd at least restored the Bounded Field to keep the mundane humans away, not to mention the other Magi in the city. Looking back at Beatrice she slowly approached her and burned her corpse into ash. After that was done she looked down at where the Berserker card had fallen and picked it up.
Now all she had to do was put up another Bounded Field…
Emiya Shirou made his way through the distorted corridors of the Hyatt Hotel, avoiding the number of interlocking Bounded Fields in place as he did so until finally he reached the top floor. He stepped out into the room beyond and looked around, his gazing immediately taking notice of the familiar forms of Julian and Erika Ainsworth standing beside the glass cylinder containing Miyu that he had seen the last time he was here.
He'd made it…
"I'm honestly surprised that you've made it this far," Julian commented as he looked over at the redhead. "Your devil friend has caused quite the commotion outside; she'll pay for that and for what she did to Beatrice."
So Ravel had won too huh?
Good…
"I'm only going to say this once," Shirou said calmly. "Let Miyu go and hand over the rest of the Phoenix Tears you've stolen."
He didn't want to fight, not after everything that had already happened, but he knew it was inevitable. Still, he had to at least try and talk things out before it got any worse. He'd personally killed Angelica downstairs and if Julian's words were to be believed then Ravel had killed Beatrice too. That meant only Julian and Erika remained alive out of the Ainsworths. Shirou didn't want to kill them if he didn't have too, but if it came down to it then he would do so.
You can't save everyone
Shirou forced himself not to wince as the phantom memory of EMIYA's words echoed through his mind…
"I refuse," Julian replied equally calm.
Damn it…
"Why are you doing this?" Shirou questioned. "What do you want with the Holy Grail?"
Julian wanted the Holy Grail…
But for what purpose?
What wish did he have that he was willing to create a Lesser Grail like Miyu in order to have it granted?
He needed to know…
"…I want to save the world," Julian answered simply.
…What?
"Save the world?" Shirou asked confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Surely you've noticed," Julian explained clearly. "Ten years ago the world as we knew it ended and the Age of the Gods returned. Angels, devils and other Phantasmal Creatures appeared along with their strange powers. They took control, spreading their influence and playing around with the lives of us mere humans. I want to change that, I want to protect and save the human race from those that would manipulate and enslave us all. With the Holy Grail I will unite humanity and destroy the other races, only then will there be peace in this world."
That was his plan? Shirou begrudgingly admitted that there were some real monsters in the world now but it had been much the same before too, the 'new' world was just more open about it than the 'old' one had been. He knew of the devil's Evil Piece System and some history on the other supernatural factions so it wasn't like he didn't know what they were like behind the scenes. But the same could be said for humans too, the other races were just more open about it. And Julian wanted to save humanity from the other races?
This wasn't the answer…
"You're talking about genocide," Shirou shot back with a glare.
"I'm talking about survival," Julian responded with a glare of his own. "You know what kind of monsters lurk in this world better than anyone, Emiya Shirou. Oh yes I know who you are, the son of the Magus Killer, the man who won the last Holy Grail War and the one responsible for this whole situation. The other races prey on humanity, using us for their own ends, abusing us for their own gains. It has to stop and I will be the one to stop it. I and my comrades in the Khaos Brigade will save this world."
"Khaos Brigade?" Shirou asked in confusion. "What's that?"
"It doesn't matter," Julian responded simply. "You will be dead soon enough, devil."
Well that's it then…
"Genocide isn't the answer," Shirou told him.
"If that is what you believe then there is nothing more to discuss," Julian finished with a shake of his head.
There was nothing left to be said, neither of them were going to back down, not now that everything was out in the open. Julian wanted to use the Holy Grail to destroy the other races thus securing human dominance and to do that required him to 'sacrifice' an innocent little girl. Shirou on the other hand was someone driven by the ideal of 'Salvation' and his wish to be a hero. Right now that drive was at war with the knowledge that by saving Miyu and defeating Julian he might be condemning humanity as a whole.
"I'm going to save Miyu," Shirou said clearly. "I don't care what happens to me or humanity, I won't let you sacrifice her like some chess piece you bastard."
There was never a choice…
He would save everyone he cared about…
And to hell with everyone else…
"Why?" Miyu whispered from within the glass cylinder. "Why do you go so far for me?"
Why?
"Because that's what big brothers do," Shirou smiled back at her. "They protect their little sisters."
Because that's what she was, that's what the connection he'd felt with her had been, and it was something he had only realised after assimilating EMIYA's knowledge from the Archer card. He didn't know how it was possible but she had the same presence as Kiritsugu had along with someone else he didn't recognize. He wasn't sure how but she was definitely Kiritsugu's daughter just the same as Illya and Chloe were, and as their big brother it was his duty to save them from their fates.
Especially them…
"You…" Julian narrowed his eyes at the red. "How did you-"
"It wasn't hard to figure out," Shirou responded. "How did you do it?"
"We dug up the grave belonging to Emiya Kiritsugu when we first arrived in Fuyuki. Unfortunately the Emiya Magic Crest was nowhere to be found but even so we were able to gain a blood sample from him," Julian explained with a glare. "By combining it with DNA taken from the old Sakatsuki family whom were known for their ability to grant wishes due to their status as Child of God, we were able to create Miyu."
So that was it, the Ainsworths had used the blood taken from Kiritsugu's body in order to create a homunculus. They'd probably been hoping to get Irisviel too but her body was destroyed when it manifested the true Holy Grail ten years ago at the end of the last war so they had to find someone else to act as a substitute, someone from the 'Sakatsuki' family apparently. Thankfully Shirou had removed the Emiya Magic Crest and stored it away in his workshop back at his place otherwise they would have gotten that too.
So Miyu was his daughter…
Of course, Kiritsugu was the winner of the last war and the husband of the Lesser Grail so if the Ainsworths were to win the next war then they needed as much knowledge as they could get their hands on. If Julian and Erika had used alchemy to create Miyu then how old was she exactly? A few weeks at the most given that they'd only recently infiltrated Fuyuki city and set up shop here. No wonder Miyu had been so emotionless when they'd first met…
I don't know which path Emiya Shirou will choose, but if you are to deny everything you've done to save one person, the crime will definitely judge you.
"Miyu, you don't have to do a thing that guy says," Shirou spoke clearly as he recalled the phantom memory he'd gotten from EMIYA. "Julian, if you're willing to kill one person for the greater good then I'm willing to accept all the evil that comes with stopping you. Do you have enough resolve, hero of justice?"
"Emiya Shirou," Julian glared back almost hatefully at the redhead's words. "There's no role for you in my legend," he turned towards his little sister and calmed himself. "Erika listen up, I'm your big brother, and the only person who's on your side. You can't trust anyone besides me, and I will be the one to save everyone. So will you fulfil the wish of the Ainsworths with me?"
"Okay, I'm not sad at all," Erika smiled up at her tearfully and nodded. "Because I have my big brother I'll do my best," she said as she wiped away her tears. "Julian-oniichan, I believe in you."
The ceiling exploded along with the roof above a moment later as a black mud-like substances fell down upon her. Shirou leapt back and covered his eyes as the debris fell revealing the area outside. It was only then that Shirou saw what now hung in the sky above them, the black stuff falling down from it and spreading everywhere. It was a massive black cube covered in symbols, each one more complex than the last, and the mud itself flowed down like one would expect from water.
And then they emerged…
They came in droves, dozens, hundreds, each one blackened and tainted not by all the world's evils but by the degradation inherent in the Magecraft Flash Air. Shirou knew what they were the moment that they appeared, and couldn't help but stare in shock at the sight. They were Heroic Spirits—Servants—though each one of them had clearly not been summoned fully otherwise their core personalities would have remained intact.
They were all counterfeits…
Holy…Grail…
Holy Grail…
HoLy GrAiL…
HOLY GRAIL…
And they were after Miyu…
Shirou couldn't take them all on as he was now, not alone at least. The Archer-EMIYA card needed time to 'cool down' and his Magic Circuits were still burning a little from his battle with Angelica downstairs. There were too many for him to take on, not to mention Julian himself who was standing at the back next to the still imprisoned Miyu. He still had a decent amount of prana left but only enough for one more use of Projection and that was it.
His only option was to blitz them…
"Trace on," Shirou incanted as he held his hands out to the side.
Seven steps…
Judging the concept of creation
Hypothesizing the basic structure
Duplicating the composition material
Imitating the skill of its making
Sympathizing with the experience of its growth
Reproducing the accumulated years
Excelling every manufacturing process
…Projection complete.
The image of the two swords he had in his mind solidified in his grasp as what little prana he had left flowed through his Magic Circuits. His body broke under the strain of using Magecraft beyond his current level, something that he had been using the Archer-EMIYA card to work around. However this time he wasn't using the card as a cheat, this was all him, and it was all he had left at this point. Idly he grasped the hilts of the two Noble Phantasms he had traced tightly as he held them both down at his sides.
They were Kanshou and Bakuya, the 'married' blades that represented the concept of yin and yang. They were C-Rank Noble Phantasms originally crafted by Gan Jiang and his wife Mo Ye, one white and one black. Unlike other weapons they had no real owner and during their forging process, Mo Ye had sacrificed herself so that her husband could create them enhancing their quality far beyond what they would be otherwise. They weren't the most powerful weapons around but their quality and ability as swords was second only to divine constructs.
They were perfect…
There was almost no degradation at all…
And they felt so right in his hands…
"That will not be enough," Julian said simply.
Shirou readied his blades as the first three imperfect Servants lunged at him, their own weapons outstretched. He pulled back slightly, leaving openings in his guard to lead them into attack from angles he expected them to. The moment they fell into the trap he closed the gap and cut them down, cutting them in half and causing them to disappear back into the black mud once more. One, two, three, they fell one after the other as the rest descended upon him.
He spun in place and launched himself forward, Bakuya cutting through another fake Servant. If he'd still been human then he wouldn't have been able to keep going but now that he was a devil, his physical ability had been enhanced even without the Reinforcement Magecraft he was using to push himself even faster. He hurled himself at the hoard of fake Servants and cut a path through them, Kanshou and Bakuya nothing more than a blur as he propelled himself right at Julian. He jumped over the remaining fake Servants blocking his way, his wings flapping once, twice, and then he landed in front of Julian, Kanshou lashing out right at him.
"Include," Julian incanted. "Authoritarian Personalism."
The air suddenly changed as Shirou suddenly found himself fighting just to remain standing, Kanshou mere inches from Julian's chest. This wasn't an increase in gravity but conceptual interference over a limited area around where Julian was standing. It was a Noble Phantasm that was clearly not native to the world they knew and had instead come from somewhere else because EMIYA's knowledge had no record of it meaning that it wasn't made on this Earth.
He doubted even Gilgamesh would know about it…
"You've become a real eyesore Emiya Shirou," Julian said with no small amount of distain as he pulled out a strange helix-shaped dagger. "Get out of my sight."
No…
He was so close…
Just a little more…
"I am the bone of my sword," Shirou gritted out. "Trace: Overedge."
Kanshou and Bakuya were flooded with prana a split second later resulting in them bursting outwards in the shape of wings—one white and bone black—with the former tearing through Julian's chest in a score of blood. The world around them froze as Julian's hand hold the dagger had been just about to cut Shirou's head off when Kanshou had extended. Finally after what felt like an eternity Julian fell backwards and stumbled away holding his now bleeding chest.
"Julian-oniichan!" Erika screamed from inside the still flowing black mud.
"You…" Julian gasped painfully as he glared at the redhead in front of him.
The Authoritarian Personalism disappeared a moment later as the giant black cube in the sky started to break apart and fall. Shirou paid no mind to either Julian nor Erika or the black cube, instead choosing to head straight for Miyu. He cut the glass cylinder using Bakuya and smashed it open allowing him to get to her. He tucked Kanshou under his arm and offered his hand to her. She didn't say anything, simply nodding at his silent request and taking his hand.
That was when the black cube came down and crushed the Hyatt Hotel…
Author's Notes:
Well here is chapter 3 and I hope you enjoyed the battle. For the record Gaia still exists and it does crush 'unnaturalness' however its presence is significantly lessened due to the DxD gods and other supernatural forces. Likewise Alaya is much the same, especially with the Evil Piece System in play. The Archer-EMIYA card is powerful yes but for those of you that have read the Fate Kaleid Drei manga, Shirou went through six consecutive battles against other card-wielding enemies before finally discarding the card and using his own power. In this fic he has only fought one opponent with the card before having to fight without it, thus his current skill level is about the same as it was just after he faced Archer in the UBW route before making the contract with the Rin to fight Gilgamesh. Even with the Archer card and becoming a devil, Shirou still has a long way to go.
Please Read and Review.
See Ya Later…
