"Ajimu here again, in place of author-san, welcoming to chapter 4. Now I know some of you are already wondering; why's Olga Marie in this chapter? (at least you will be wondering that once you read it) The reason being that I felt like it. I found it kind of stupid that her character was essentially created for the sole purpose of dying in order to cement the fact that Lev Lainur was a villain, as well as giving the player a target for their rage or whatever. So I decided to give her a helping hand, as well as send that side-burn asshole to a very sadistic general who will have quite a bit of fun with him...
Yeah, I did in fact do that. Go back and play the Grand Order prologue again and you'll notice that he's missing and Olga still has a body to return to. So much for him being the boss at the end of Singularity 2. And if he still is there for you, then that means you were a coward who decided to take the blue pill and are unable to see the world for what it truly is.
Oh, is my breaking the forth wall of a game you play that is now being used for a fanfic xover confusing you? Eh, not my problem.
By the way, you should have seen the look on author-sans face when he summoned both Suzuka Gozen and Meltryllis on his first try."
(-)
Within one of the VIP rooms at the Kings Krown Inn, the large hotel that was playing host to Chaldea, a meeting was being held by numerous members of the guild. Eight individuals were seated around a large circular table to discuss some alarming recent developments. Except 'alarming' was actually much closer to troublesome in the opinion to most present.
Though the table was spacious enough for all present to be spread out evenly, six of the rooms occupants were clustered together on one side, with the remaining two on the other. Sitting from left to right were Gudako, Gudao, Arturia (Saber), Doctor Roman, Olga Marie, and Da Vinci. And on the other side sat Merlin and Flare, the former smiling as if nothing was wrong, and the latter squirming nervously in her seat. After Merlin's rescue (read; kidnapping) of Flare from her guild, a meeting was immediately called by the guilds masters along with Arturia to discuss what would be done next. And so Flare sat quietly, wearing a set of clean clothes that had been provided to her, watching as those seated opposite her shifted through a myriad of expressions, ranging from annoyed to nonplussed.
Finally the silence was broken by Merlin.
"I still don't understand what exactly I have done wrong." he remarked with a smile.
Olga immediately dropped her head on the table. "Why me?" she bemoaned quietly.
"Law of Averages would be my best guess." Roman responded with a weak smile.
The woman turned her head slightly to glare at the floofy-looking man and grumbled under her breath.
"So Merlin," the male Fujimaru sibling began as he leaned forward. "why exactly did you feel it necessary to put our guild at risk by kidnapping a member of another guild?"
With a flourish Merlin brushed aside some of his hair as he gave a dazzling smile. "Why, the answer is so obvious that I'm shocked you couldn't figure it out yourselves." he then turned to face Flare and proceeded to put the moves on her. "A beautiful flower shouldn't have to suffer in pain from the presence of a violent nettle."
As Flare looked at Merlin, she began to see sparkles and flowers radiate from his being and make him look all the more attractive. However she failed to realize that the imagery was the result of an illusion woven by the wizard himself.
"Translation; he saw a woman he fancied being abused and decided to intervene." Arturia explained.
"I-I wasn't being a-abused..." Flare said quietly as she curled in on herself and lowered her gaze. "T-that was just the m-master scolding me for f-failing him..."
Merlin's face hardened as his tone became firm. "Torture is not an acceptable punishment for failure, especially not something as extreme as what your master was doing."
Da Vinci drummed her fingers on the table as she mulled over the situation in her head. "It appears this is more complicated than we thought."
"Agreed." nodded the female twin as she stared at Flare. "Strictly speaking from a moral perspective we can't allow you to return to Raven Tail, even if you claim that what your master was doing was normal for your guild. And I frankly don't care if each guild is entitled to their own methods of punishment, there should still be a standard."
"Not to mention that the fifth member of their team is actually the guild master in disguise." added Merlin. "I clearly recall that being against the rules of the Games."
"Not like we can call them out on it though." opined Olga. "If we try bringing this forward, then they'll accuse us of kidnapping their teammate. And it's not like we can just attack them and reveal their scheme."
Da Vinci rubbed her chin in thought as she processed the information. "Our best bet is to expose Ivan during an official match, but there is no guarantee that our team will be pitted against him."
Throughout all the deliberation, Flare stayed quiet as she tried to curl in on herself and remain unnoticed. Her mind was a mess of thoughts that she couldn't keep organized. Prior to leaving her village, she had never interacted with other humans before, so she was unclear as to the specifics of their customs. When she was picked up by Raven Tail, she simply followed their lead and took everything Ivan said at face value. But now that she was in the presence of people who were actually concerned for her well-being, everything she had been through up until this point just seemed so wrong.
"I suppose that really is our only viable option at the moment."
Flare's attention returned to the conversation when a consensus was reached. "What is?"
Arturia briefly closed her eyes as she took a calming breath. "For the time being, you will remain in our custody." the woman said firmly, causing Flare to flinch in fear.
"No need to be afraid Flare dear." Roman spoke comfortingly. "We have no intention of keeping you prisoner for the rest of your life, we just want to keep you safe until we can expose Raven Tail for their crimes. Which shouldn't be too hard considering that they are a former Dark Guild."
"Until that happens, we can't risk the possibility that in your current state of mind, you might run right back to your abusers." Olga added with a cold tone.
The hair-mage hugged her knees against her chest as her lips trembled. "I-I understand..."
"Come now, a pretty girl such as you shouldn't be making sad faces. It takes away from your beauty." Merlin spoke suavely with a smile.
"As for you..." Gudako interrupted with a stern voice. "Don't think we simply forgot about the fact that you went and kidnapped a girl you found attractive. Again."
Merlin gave a devil-may-care smile and made a weighing gesture with his hands as he tried to avoid any blame. "In the grand scheme of things, I find that the good I did outweighs the criminal charges. Surely you would agree."
"True." answered Arturia. "Your actions were morally in the right."
The wizard clapped his hands in joy. "Excellent! So I'll just be on my way no-."
"But!" Gudao spoke up suddenly. "It would be unwise of us to constantly condone your abduction of women just because it ended up being the right thing to do. Think of this as negative reinforcement."
The door to the room swung open and the cutest little ball of fluff that Flare had ever seen burst in.
"Fou, sic 'im."
The amount of vicious ferocity displayed by the creature as it began to maul Merlin was more than a little off-putting given how harmless it looked.
(-)
"For those of you just tuning in now, it is the second day of the Grand Magic Games, and our competitors are taking on their first challenge of the day; Chariot!" Chapati explained from his seat in the announcers box. "This is a race between the competitors as to who can reach the finish line first! But it's not that simple of a course."
"Thash right." Yajima agreed.
"Cooool! Coooool! Cooooool!" cheered Jason, the guest host of the day.
"As you can see, our contestants must race upon a long series of constantly moving war chariots. Besides having to race against each other, they must also keep focus lest they tumble off and lose progress!"
The audience cheered wildly as they watched the screen that projected the lead racers, but their faces fell when they glanced at those at the back of the pack.
"By the way Yajima-san, could anyone have predicted this turn of events?"
"Hmm. Such a mesh it ish."
Half of the competitions racers were lagging far behind the rest, each struggling just to keep moving. Barely standing on his feet in last place was Natsu, who looked ready to throw up at a moments notice. Just ahead of him were Gajeel and Sting, neither of which were faring any better. And barely managing to keep ahead of the slayers was Merlin, who was hindered for an entirely different reason. The man looked as if he'd been put through the wringer. His beautifully flowing hair was now an unkempt mess with strands sticking out everywhere, his outfit was torn in several places, he had a black eye, and nearly every inch of exposed skin was covered in scratch and bite marks. Why Chaldea had sent out a clearly injured man to participate in the race was beyond understanding.
"Move it flame-breath!" Gray roared from his seat in the stands. "You're being outrun by a cripple!"
None of the racers could hear him of course, but Natsu had the sudden urge to throttle the ice mage.
"At the very least I have to say that it is quite inspiring to see these four push forward despite how much they must be suffering." opined Chapati.
"So coooool!"
"Please calm down Jason."
Merlin let out a ragged breath as he stumbled forward. "I'm not here to be inspiring... I'm here because my guildmates are heartless!"
The both famous and infamous wizard grunted with barely restrained obscenities as he trudged onward. Having Fou tear into him was one thing. Preventing him from utilizing any form of recovery magecraft was another. But then forcing him to participate in the first challenge of the day? This punishment was beyond excessive!
Of course, not once did he regret rescuing that hot piece of ass that is Flare, but he should be busy wooing her right now! Not taking part in a foot race!
"Oh, ho, ho... I will ensure my vengeance for this injustice is both swift and merciless~." he muttered darkly as he began to plot.
Then he heard a growl from behind.
It is part of human nature to turn away from and ignore terrifying things. They believe that if they refuse to acknowledge the present danger, that it will cease to be. If you can't see it, then it can't be there. And for all that he was, Merlin was still part human. But even he couldn't stop his head from turning towards the source of the growl.
"Oh my! It appears that a small animal has made its way onto the course!"
It wasn't the fear of God that had struck Merlin, but the fear of a tiny ball of soft fur.
"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
He then ran like he had never run before.
While a good portion of Chaldea enjoyed the sight of their resident womanizer get chased across the city by the most harmless looking creature ever, there were still a few who were feeling sour as they glanced towards Raven Tail. More specifically, the illusion of the guilds master who was sitting in the stands.
"Vile bastard." growled Hijikata Toshizo as his hand drifted towards his rifle. "He's mocking us by maintaining this farce."
Billy the Kid tipped his hat as he nodded in agreement. "Why don't we just shoot 'im now and be done with it?" the gunman opined, only to have a hand firmly grasp his shoulder.
"That would be unwise for numerous reasons." spoke Nightingale. "The possibility for innocents getting caught in the crossfire is too high. We also are unaware of the capability of his illusions. If we act rashly, then he will just turn the situation to his advantage."
The outlaw let out a heavy sigh in resignation. "Yeah, yeah... Still don't make it any easier to just stand idly by."
"True, but we must put our faith in our Masters. Once they see the opportunity present itself, we will charge in and tear out their throats!" roared Hijikata.
"And so today's race reaches its conclusion!" Chapati cheered as the final runner, Sting, crossed the finish line. "Let's see what our contestants adjusted scores are!"
1st place: Chaldea 34
2nd place: Lamia Scale 22
3rd place: Raven Tail 18
3rd place: Blue Pegasus 18
5th place: Fairy Tail A 12
6th place: Mermaid Heel 11
6th place: Sabertooth 11
8th place: Fairy Tail B 2
"Oh my. It must be quite demoralizing for Sabertooth to have dropped even further in the ranking. Let's just hope that they can make a comeback during the combat portion of today's games."
"Chaldea's still standing strong even with Merlin placing fourth in the race! SO COOOOOL!"
"Jason, how much coffee did you drink today?"
"COOL!"
(-)
After a rather... odd... battle between Toby of Lamia Scale and Kurohebi of Raven Tail, the end result being the latter enacting the cruel destruction of the former's precious 'missing' sock (which was painful to watch for two entirely different reasons), the second combat match of the day was about to begin.
"For our second match of the day, the first competitor is Shirou Emiya of Chaldea!"
The crowd cheered in excitement as the white-haired man took to the field, his face set in an impassive expression. He briefly shifted his gaze towards the section of the stands where the rest of his guild was, and immediately picked out his personal cheer-squad. His father remained seated but still had a proud smile on his face, Irisviel was waving a pair of decorative fans with swords printed on them, and Illya and Chloe were holding a large banner that read 'Fight Nii-sama!'. Standing next to his family were several other Servants, comprised of his close friends/people who won't leave him alone. Suzuka Gozen was there, who gravitated towards him given their similar use of swords, Waver Velvet had joined the group as well, along with Medusa (Rider) and Cu Chulainn (Lancer). Standing on the railing and wildly swinging a large flag back and forth was a young woman with orange hair who wore a black jacket with white-fur trim, and although she had the presence of a tiger she was actually the Jaguar Warrior. Arturia had joined them up there as well, standing beside two other women. The first had long purple-hair and was dressed in a form-fitting black outfit with vertical red stripes, and the second woman was dressed in a revealing outfit reminiscent of a bikini with gold accents. Her long black-hair was tied in twin-tails, and the blue coloration to her eyes indicated that Ishtar was not in control at the moment.
"You can do it sempai!"
"Bring home a win Shirou!"
"Show them what you can do nii-sama!"
"If you even think about throwing the fight, I will make your life a living Hell!"
The third-rate magus shuddered at the threat courtesy of Rin. She wasn't one to bluff.
"And fighting him we have Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail A!"
Said team was slightly surprised that what Musashi had told them last night had actually come to pass, but such things were inconsequential at the moment. So Erza simply made her way out to the arena while trying to gauge her opponent. Her own expression mirrored his, giving nothing away for him to see.
'If what Musashi said is to be taken at face value, then it is highly probable that he and I utilize similar forms of magic. That means victory may hinge on who is more skilled.'
"So, you are the great Titania of Fairy Tail." Shirou remarked with genuine interest.
Erza was actually somewhat surprised that he was familiar with her moniker given the long absence she and her friends had from the guild.
"By the way, you might want to put a tighter leash on that Natsu fellow. He kept shouting at our guild hall late last night about how, and I quote; 'It doesn't mean jack who you think you are, Fairy Tail's Queen Titania will kick Shirou's ass!'." he spoke with a quiet chuckle. "I have no doubt that his ranting was disturbing the sleep of numerous people."
Erza slowly turned a murderous glare towards Natsu as her hair seemed to billow behind her in a dark aura. Of course, said hot-head was too engrossed in the moment to realize the killing intent being sent his way. So Erza had to settle for sighing in annoyance as she returned her focus to Shirou. "My apologies. Natsu is a very... expressive... member of our guild."
The white-haired man nodded in understanding. "A rather polite way of putting it, but I understand none-the-less. We have our fair share of troublemakers as well."
"My condolences."
Shirou briefly ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "No need for that. We're all used to the Madness by now." he replied before his gaze sharpened. "But right now we have a fight to get started. Do you fancy the idea of making a wager like the last combatants?"
Erza raised her brow in response. "Why do you ask?"
He shrugged. "Just to add a bit more fun to our match."
The red-head didn't see the harm in acquiescing to the suggestion. "Very well. My teammate seems hell-bent on finding out more about a member of you guild; guy named Siegfried. If I win, I would like to meet with him."
"A rather simple request, but one that is within reason. And in the event of my victory..." Shirou trailed off as he tapped his chin in thought. "I hear you have quite the collection of weaponry. It must be quite an impressive sight."
Erza could already see where Shirou was going with this. "Provided you prove to be enough of a challenge, you will see my entire arsenal in our battle. But I shall agree to your terms regardless."
"Let the battle, BEGIN!"
"Trace on!" Shirou shouted as a pair of black and white falchions formed in his hands.
"So that's what Musashi meant by similar magic." Erza mused as she summoned a pair of short swords to her own hands. It wasn't often that she faced an opponent like Shirou, so she needed to test the waters before going all out in combat. And the best way to do that would be to match him for the time being.
The two fighters began to slowly circle each other, waiting for the prime opportunity to attack. Erza spotted a hole in Shirou's defense and rushed forward to capitalize on it. She swung her sword wide to get around his guard, but his own blade quickly came down and batted hers away. The red-head had about half a second to be surprised before bringing her second blade up to deflect Shirou's counter. She twisted her blade to redirect Shirou's, and followed up by thrusting hers forward. Again her attack was batted away as Shirou brought his white-sword downward, which resulted in Erza stabbing the ground. The requip mage was forced to release her sword and flip backwards as the white-swords companion swiped at her legs.
Having separated after their brief clash, both fighters raised their guards once more.
"Requip: Black Wing Armor!" Erza called out as she donned the ebony outfit with matching sword.
Shirou threw his black-sword at Erza as he ran at her, but she easily smacked it out of the way and swooped in to meet his charge. As he rushed forward, a spear appeared in Shirou's free hand which he thrust forward. Erza twisted her body out of the way and attacked with an overhead swing, which was blocked by the white-blade once again. The spear in Shirou's hand vanished and was replaced by a khopesh, which he used to hook around Erza's sword and yank it to the side.
The Fairy Queen's eyes widened in alarm when she noticed several swords floating in the air behind Shirou. If this was anything like when she uses her Heaven's Wheel armor, then she knew what would come next. She closed her wings in front of her just as the swords were launched and they harmlessly bounced off the metal constructs. She was successful in negating the attack, so it came as much surprise when she felt another sword collide with the back of her armor and knock the wind out of her. Her breath was further robbed from her as Shirou rammed his elbow into her midsection and sent her tumbling away.
The S-Class mage stabbed her sword into the ground to halt her movement and steady her footing. As she turned her gaze up at Shirou once more, who had returned to his initial stance with the married swords, her face hardened upon realizing how difficult the fight would become.
"Requip: Giants Armor!"
As her attire shifted once more, a new weapon appeared in her hands; a massive great-lance with a broad-tipped blade. She ran at Shirou once more, this time with her arm cocked back as she aimed the lance at her opponent.
"HYAH!" she grunted as her arm rocketed forward and the weapon left her grip, now barreling straight towards Shirou.
The magus winced as he was forced to parry the powerful blow, leaving him open to attack.
"Requip: Lightning Empress Armor!"
Meanwhile Erza had continued her charge unabated, and was now clad in another set of armor and armed with a spear that was crackling with lightning. Shirou dismissed his falchions and brought forth a large greatsword, which he used the broadside of to block the voltaic spear. Releasing one hand from her lightning spear, Erza snatched her lance out of the air and unleashed a flurry of blows upon Shirou with both weapons. As Shirou blocked another attack, Erza kicked off his blade and launched herself into the air, whereupon she threw both of her weapons at the white-haired man in order to keep him pressured.
"Requip: Purgatory Armor!"
Clad in a menacing suit of black armor covered in spikes, Erza descended towards Shirou with a massive weapon that was a bastardized combination of an ultra-greatsword and a mace.
Batting away the two spears, Shirou tossed aside his greatsword.
"I am the bone of my sword!"
To match Erza's unorthodox looking weapon, Shirou decided to use his own. An enormous chunk of sharpened bedrock that just barely fit the description of 'sword'. As the two weapons clashed a powerful gust of wind was released and sparks began to fly. It was such a strong blow that those who were seated in the front rows could feel the wind being kicked up.
"SO COOL!"
"This is quite the impressive display of swordsmanship! Two mages who specialize in armed combat, what an amazing sight to behold!"
"It makesh me feel youngsh again."
"Kick her butt nii-sama!"
"Kick his ass Erza!"
"Go for the win sempai!"
"Show that punk what a Fairy Tail wizard can really do!"
"Who do you think you are pinky?! Calling my big bro a punk?! I should throttle you!"
"Oh yeah shorty?! Bring it on!"
"Don't you dare badmouth my sempai, you ice-stripper!"
"Doesn't he look a bit old to be your sempai?! What, are you into old dudes?!"
"You think you can insult my imouto, you freezing-homo?!"
"Freezing-homo?!"
"You obviously are turning down the advances of women, and I'd say flaming, but your an ice-mage!"
Heedless of the growing verbal dispute in the stands, Erza and Shirou continued to trade blows with their over-sized weaponry. Despite the weight each weapon must hold, the two combatants were fighting as if they were regular swords.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood!"
Their blades clashed once more, but this time Erza's was destroyed as a result.
"Damn! Requip: Heavens Wheel Armor!"
Shirou tossed aside his massive sword as dozens of blades formed in the air around Erza. If that was how she planned to do things, then it only made sense for him to up the ante. For every blade the Erza summoned, Shirou created two more. Upon seeing her opponent match her sword for sword, Erza needed to be the first to act.
"Dance my blades; Tenrin Blumenblatt!"
"Trace Bullet; Continuous Fire!"
The arena was filled with sparks as sword after sword was fired off and impacted against one another before shattering. However it quickly became apparent that Erza was at a disadvantage. Whereas Shirou created his swords using magecraft, Erza was simply pulling out her weapons from a dimensional pocket. Anything that was destroyed couldn't be immediately replaced. She soon realized this and was forced to change tactics. Requipping into her cloth armor, Erza rushed Shirou while armed with a katana, even as the swords continued to fly. This didn't escape Shirou's notice.
"I have created over a thousand blades!"
He charged to meet Erza as a midnight-black katana formed in his hands.
"Chimei-tekina dageki!"
"Tsubame Gaeshi!"
The two combatants passed by each other as all remaining action stopped. The crowd fell deathly silent as both Shirou and Erza stood motionless with their backs towards each other.
"Hmph, impressive..." Shirou remarked, just before blood began to splatter forth from his shoulder.
"Indeed..." Erza agreed. A moment later her sword shattered into pieces. However the strike the Shirou delivered to her wasn't as physically damaging. The bandages that were wrapped around her breasts suddenly fell away, exposing Erza's breasts for all in the stadium to see.
Silence reigned as her face turned crimson.
"K-KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
