Hello again.
This chapter is a bit shorter than normal but... well... it just felt right to end it where I did.
Including the last segment.
So anyway... let's get on with the fic.
Shirou found himself silently considering the situation as he finished up another set of floors within the Item World.
While he had agreed to another fight with Alyssa, but despite having agreed to it, they had only given it a date, not a time or place.
As such, he found himself wondering just how she'd reveal her presence to him.
"Any signs?" he asked Trey as he found himself still annoyed at the blonde-haired boy for refusing to set up an Innocent Farm for him.
The fact that Trey was even being reluctant to even set up an 'Assembly' was annoying to a similar degree.
"Not yet," the boy responded with an annoyed sigh, "it's still technically the same day you issued the challenge."
Shirou found his eyebrow twitching at that declaration.
He doubted such a thing would matter to someone who was as enthusiastic about fighting as Alyssa appeared to be.
"Just be sure to let me know when she shows up," he told the boy with a sigh of frustration.
"Of course," the boy with the white gown responded with a chirpy tone that made him question whether he would actually do what he agreed to.
He knew that questioning it would probably not help any however, so he decided to just ignore it in the hopes that doing so wouldn't prompt Trey to do it just to spite him.
He didn't feel too comfortable doing another set of floors in the Item World when he had no idea when he would have to go and fight his foe once again.
Meaning he'd just have to keep himself loosened up and ready for the upcoming battle.
He just hoped it wouldn't be long before he was called to fight… waiting when he could be training or taking the fight to the Overlord just felt wrong.
But he didn't want to miss the fight just because he had spent too long out of contact with the very people he was supposed to be fighting for in the first place.
At least he was sure he was a reasonable amount stronger than before, meaning he would probably be better capable of holding his own against his opponent this time.
"So… are we going to go and kill more things?" the voice of Trinity asked with her curiosity clear in her chronically chirpy tone.
"Not yet," he responded with his tiredness at having to deal with her constantly seeping into his tone, "we need to be ready for when Alyssa shows up."
"Oh yeah!" her voice perked up even more and he found himself dreading what she was going to say next, "I forgot you've got a date."
"It's not a date Trinity," he told her bluntly, "it's a duel."
"What's the difference?" the way she tilted her head in clear confusion made him want to slap his face in defeat.
Of course she wouldn't understand that there was a difference between a duel and a date.
"In one, you try to kill the other person, in the other… you try to make them happy," he explained in the hopes she would stop calling it a date.
"… but isn't this making that woman happy?" her question made him grimace, "so doesn't that make it a date?"
"No… because even if it is making her happy, that's not the goal," he explained in the hopes she'd just accept it.
"Hmm…" she mumbled in thought and he prepared himself for whatever she was going to say next, "but weren't you training so you could give her a good fight?"
"I was training because I don't want to have to use Gae Bolg," he specified for her with narrowed eyes.
"Yeah, meaning give her a good fight… which would make her happy… so doesn't that make it a date?" that train of logic was completely wrong and Shirou found himself having to resist the urge to use Gae Bolg on the frustrating girl.
"Must, not, kill… must, not, kill," he proceeded to whisper to himself in an attempt at handling her insanity.
"Oh, so you're not planning on killing her," Trinity obviously overheard him and mistook his comment as being for his upcoming opponent, "that means this is definitely a date!"
"No… I'm reminding myself I mustn't kill you," he decided to tell her bluntly, earning a tilt of the girl's head before her smile grew even bigger.
"Oh! So that means you must really like me!" she misinterpreted his declaration that badly and Shirou found himself wondering just why she'd think he must like her if he was thinking about killing her.
… oh who was he kidding.
She was both a demon and a complete idiot… it was only natural she'd come to that conclusion.
"Trinity… just shut up," he commanded as bluntly as he could.
"'kay!" and with that, she proceeded to simply shut her mouth and smile at him with her enthusiasm still clear on her face.
It just made him want to wipe it off her face even more.
Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths in an attempt at calming down his temper before he started to go through a series of stretches.
It didn't take long for him to feel peace come over him as he felt a tension he hadn't noticed starting to drain from his muscles, clearly all the work he did had left him with too little rest and now he was feeling the ache he hadn't noticed falling away as he prepared himself to the best of his ability.
Perhaps it would be beneficial to take a break every now and then just to make sure he didn't burn himself out before he needed to fight important battles.
It might not be what he wanted to do the most, but if it helped him stay in top shape, then it could be better to have a rest on occasion even if his vitality was restored by Trey's healing.
Letting out a breath of relief, he soon opened his eyes before taking a step back upon coming face to face with Trinity staring at him with curiosity clear in her eyes.
"W-what was that for?!" he asked in shock at her sudden appearance before him.
"You looked like you really enjoyed that," she told him, "what were you thinking of? Your date?"
He felt his eye twitch at that.
"No, I was just stretching… I just didn't realize how tense I had gotten," he decided to admit.
"I heard off my big sister that sex is great for relieving tension," she stated and he found himself blushing at that even as his mind brought up memories of the night before the final battle of the Holy Grail War.
That certainly hadn't relieved any of Rin's tension with how clumsy and awkward it had been.
"Trinity… stop it," he told her bluntly.
"Stop what?"
"Talking about stupid things like that," he specified, and once again, she simply tilted her head to the side.
"… what's so stupid about that?" she asked him, and he simply groaned in irritation.
"Are you a virgin?" he asked and she seemed to chirp up once again.
"Yep!" her response was quick and to the point.
"Well I'm not," he told her as simply as he could, "so I think I know what it's like a bit better than you do."
"Ooh…" she seemed very interested now and he found himself wondering if he had just made a major mistake.
"Trinity… don't ask anything," he commanded before she could say anything more.
"Hey! I don't want to intrude," Trey's voice called out and he found himself turning to face the boy, "but that warrior girl's shown up… with her boss."
Shirou found himself suddenly going stiff.
He hadn't considered the possibility of Alyssa showing up with the Overlords Daughter.
It was certainly not a good situation to be caught in.
As powerful as he had gotten, he still didn't know how he'd compared to the girl who had so easily overpowered him when they had first met.
Regardless, he was confident he would at the very least have a very hard time fighting both of them.
Despite that however, he at least had a trump card he should be able to pull out if he needed to.
How effective it would prove was questionable, but if it proved itself strong enough to harm the duo, then it would certainly give him a major advantage.
"I see… then I guess it's time," he acknowledged before he looked at Trinity who simply smiled before saying something that was definitely bad for morale.
"Right! Let's go die!"
"We're not planning on dying Trinity," he told her bluntly… he just hoped they would make it through the battle alive.
XXX The Fate Of A Hero Complex Overlord XXX
The battlefield was clearly ready for the upcoming battle, that much Shirou could tell just from looking at the location he appeared in.
An open field with nothing to be seen outside of a few distant ruins of a non-existent ancient civilisation.
Back when he had questioned the whole 'non-existent' part, he had been told that the ruins had just been put there for decoration… they had never been used by any actual civilisation.
It was just another part of this world that had made no sense to him before.
"So, you came," a familiar voice cut in and he found his attention drawn towards one of the two people who had been waiting in the field from the beginning.
"And you brought help," he pointed out as he turned his attention from the silver haired woman to the black-haired girl who was standing not far behind her.
The expression that spread across the spear user's face made him blink in surprise given just how obvious it made it that Alyssa was annoyed by the presence of her boss.
"Yeah… my boss doesn't trust you to not cheat again," the response he got was clear and he found himself wondering if that was the only reason for her presence.
"Hmph," the physically younger of the two opponents was clearly not happy as she crossed her arms and looked away, "he shot me when my guard was down the first time we met… of course I wouldn't trust him to not cheat."
Shirou certainly couldn't argue with that reasoning.
"Still… it's good to see you levelled up like you said you would," the silver haired woman said with a jovial smile, "we should be able to have an even better fight this time!"
Shirou found himself annoyed at her using a phrase like 'levelled up', however, he couldn't stop himself from wondering just how she could tell his power had grown.
"What makes you so certain about that?" he asked with a frown.
Almost immediately, he found a silence descend upon the area.
"Wait… you don't know how to check a person's stats?" that question came from the person standing next to him and he found himself turning his attention to Trinity in response.
"You can't just 'check a person's stats'," he pointed out bluntly.
The only reason such a thing was possible with Servants was because of the Grail System monitoring the Servants and giving them arbitrary statistics so the masters could figure out the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent who was too far above them to be accurately gauged any other way.
Statistics weren't an inherent part of the world that could be easily seen without first comparing them to other things.
"Yes you can," the ice mage responded almost instantly.
"Yeah… you really are weird if you can't even look at a person's stats," he found himself turning his attention back towards the spear user who was looking at him like she hadn't seen anything like him before, "but enough of that… we've got a fight to get to!"
Shirou found himself inwardly cursing at the fact that he had ended up so distracted by the inane comments as he projected Kanshou and Byakuya once again and prepared himself for the upcoming conflict.
"Trinity, only get involved if the Overlord's daughter does," he commanded even as Alyssa took her proper stance once again.
"MY NAME IS LOTSA PLOTZ!" he was caught momentarily off guard by the cry of the younger looking foe as she threw her arms to the side in clear frustration.
"Told you he doesn't like your name," the silver haired woman seemed almost amused by the reaction.
Shirou however, found himself staring at the girl in disbelief.
Was she really that proud of a name like that?
He shook his head clear of those thoughts… this was a world filled to the brim with insanity, of course she'd be proud of it.
"I don't care," he decided to tell her bluntly.
Almost immediately, he noted the fact that the girl seemed to freeze in response to his claim.
"As far as I'm concerned, you're just the Overlord's Daughter," he declared firmly, he refused to use her name after all.
"That's just my class!" she told him almost immediately.
The fact that Alyssa still looked amused made it clear that she wasn't planning on interrupting the conversation too soon despite her obvious love of battle.
"Now if you don't mind… I've got a fight to get to," he declared as he turned his attention back to the silver haired woman.
"Well then, I guess it's time to do what we came here for," his opponent stated in response to his statement.
Almost immediately he crossed his blades and pushed them up, catching the spear that was heading in his direction and knocking it over his shoulder.
As soon as his opponent's spearhead had missed its target, he twisted his blades and pushed them down the shaft to slice at the woman.
He wasn't surprised when she managed to jump back despite the momentum that she must have put into her strike.
However, his mind was more focused on a couple of things that he now had to acknowledge.
He had managed to keep track of her attack with relative ease, showing him that he had improved enough that she was no longer outmatching him in terms of raw physical ability.
And on top of that, parrying her strike had proven a lot easier than the last time they'd fought.
Meaning he was definitely at a massive advantage excluding the presence of the Gun Toting Princess.
"Hehehehe…" the silver haired warrior chuckled in clear enjoyment of their first exchange, "it is so good to meet someone who can handle me properly."
Shirou decided against responding to that statement and instead just charged, throwing Kanshou at his foe who casually dodged it before rushing to meet his charge.
With just one blade in his hands, he found himself having an easier time parrying as having both hands on the one weapon gave him more leverage in his swings.
The downside was that he didn't have a second blade with which to make counterattacks with… yet.
"BEHIND YOU!" the voice of the Overlord's daughter cut in and almost immediately, Alyssa disengaged as she dodged to his right.
Almost immediately, he brought his hand up to catch the black blade that was trying to return to its twin.
"I thought you said you wouldn't cheat this time?" his opponent asked, and he found himself staring bluntly at her.
"No, I said I wouldn't use my instant kill spear again," he pointed out, "I never said anything about using the inherent abilities of my other weapons."
His statement seemed to make her freeze in thought for a few seconds before she stared at him again.
"Rules lawyer," she muttered, prompting him to frown in confusion.
Before anything else could be said, he felt something strike him in the side before hearing the clear bang of a gun.
The pain that reared itself in his side was obvious but nowhere near as great as it had been the first time he'd been shot indirectly by the Overlord's daughter.
While it had caused him to lose his balance, he was certainly not half dead like he had been the last time.
"Hey!" he found himself more surprised by the fact that Alyssa was the one who seemed to be protesting the Princess's interference.
"He is cheating," the girl with a bob-cut responded without delay, "so I will cheat too- AH!"
Shirou couldn't stop himself from blinking at the large chunk of ice that crashed into the girl, denoting that Trinity had finally decided to get involved.
"You took your time didn't you," he commented as he turned his attention towards his minion.
"I wasn't sure if you wanted me to do it or not," she admitted, "because you always complain about what I do."
He could feel his eye twitch at that.
She really was incapable of learning anything he tried to teach her.
"Well… this sucks," the voice of his opponent spoke out with what he could only describe as a verbal pout, "I was hoping to fight you properly."
He found himself simply facing her before shrugging in response.
"OW!" he found himself somewhat satisfied as he heard Trinity cry out in pain following the sound of a gunshot.
"Trace On," without another moment of hesitation he projected Archer's bow and Caladbolg, jumping back as Alyssa made an attempt at attacking him while he notched the makeshift arrow, "Trinity, strike Alyssa!"
He didn't want to do that but the chunk of ice striking between him and his foe gave him enough room to do what he needed to.
"I am the bone of my sword," he chanted as he pulled the arrow back, pushing himself through the steps of kyūdō as quickly as he could manage, "Caladbolg."
And with that, he pushed the Noble Phantasm to breaking point before releasing his grip on his bow, allowing the weapon to fly towards its intended target.
"NOT AGAIN!" with those two words, the shot struck the Overlords Daughter once again.
He hoped that the enhancements made by the Item World would be enough to remove her from the battle.
Regardless, he wanted to make sure the girl wouldn't kill his minion before he could resolve the issue.
"Dammit!" he found himself unsurprised when the voice of the girl cried out from the dust cloud that had been raised by the explosive force created by his attack, "that one hurt!"
He returned his attention back towards the Silver haired warrior who was still in the process of dodging blocks of ice.
"Ow ow ow!" Trinity cried out as another gunshot sounded out and the ice attacks stopped appearing, allowing his foe to rush back into his range.
He couldn't stop the grimace from spreading across his face in response to that.
One on one, he was certainly more than a match for either enemy now that he'd gotten a better idea of how strong each one was… however he had the issue of Trinity not being able to make effective decisions on her own.
Meaning he was having to worry about two enemies and trying to protect his ally.
He gritted his teeth as he made his decision.
"I am the bone of my sword," he spoke out, causing a frown of confusion to appear on his foes face.
"Wait… isn't that for your sword-arrow thing?" she asked but he ignored her.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood," the confusion only seemed to grow in her eyes as he continued his aria.
"I have created over a thousand blades," another line done and suddenly her eyes lit up in understanding.
"Wait… is this like your ultimate skill?" she asked and he found himself somewhat worried at how quickly she figured it out.
"Unaware of loss," but he wasn't going to stop or clarify it for her, he could still hear the gunshots and cries that indicated his minion was still in trouble, "nor aware of gain."
"Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one's arrival," he was nearly finished with his aria now.
Another gunshot sounded and he felt a blow from his other foe as she clearly tried to stop him from finishing his technique.
"I have no regrets," but it wouldn't be enough to stop him now, "this is the only path."
His magic circuits flared to life and he felt an internal relief as he noted that he had more than enough power to bring it out now.
"My whole life was, Unlimited Blade Works."
And with that, the world was engulfed in fire.
XXX The Fate Of A Hero Complex Overlord XXX
Alyssa couldn't stop herself from looking at the skill her enemy had used.
She felt disappointed.
Was Infinite Graves really the strongest skill he knew?
"Are you serious?" she asked him with her disappointment clear in her tone, "I thought you'd use something a bit more impressive than Infinite Graves."
"I don't know what infinite graves is," he responded and she found her curiosity piqued, "but this is where our battle ends."
She was about to call him out on that when he raised his hand… and about seven hundred weapons appeared, hanging in the air around him.
That wasn't how Infinite Graves worked.
Especially not with such a large number of different weapons… and now that she thought about it, there were a few too many weapons around to be that particular skill…
Oh…
"Oh… damn," were the only words that left her lips as she realized she'd seriously underestimated this technique.
"Yeah…" and with that, the boy brought his hand down… and the rain of steel started.
Never before had she been so overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks she was now being subjected to… admittedly, most of them were rather weak, but the sheer number of them was unending.
She just hoped Lotsa wasn't being targeted like she was.
XXX The Fate Of A Hero Complex Overlord XXX
Lotsa Plotz was most certainly not having a good day.
She had witnessed her minions foe cheat with a boomerang sword, an act that had made her decide to interfere.
Then she'd been struck by the Blue Mage's magic before getting another one of those swords to her face.
This one had been much more powerful… not enough to defeat her, but still far more powerful than the first one she'd been hit with.
Then Emiya Shirou had started to chant and she found herself noticing that the chant had started off the same way as his attack on her… and then carried on quite a bit, meaning his skill was probably much stronger.
Then the world had changed into a desolate wasteland filled with bladed weapons that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Alyssa had called it Infinite Graves… but she knew that was wrong as soon as that had come out of her mouth.
This was not such a simple skill.
Then the swords had appeared in the sky and she had found herself getting ready to strike the boy once again… and then the rain had started.
The sheer number of weapons that had been flung at her was ridiculous… she had managed to defend herself from the first few but then… then she'd been pelted with steel.
While the weapons weren't all that powerful, they had been shot at her with a force great enough to harm her.
Death by a thousand cuts seemed like a likely outcome.
She was unable to move anywhere.
She was getting cut everywhere as she tried to defend herself.
Alyssa was struggling with her own onslaught.
And there was no end in sight.
She was going to die.
She was going to die.
She didn't want to die.
She didn't want to die.
XXX The Fate Of A Hero Complex Overlord XXX
Shirou didn't like what he was doing.
It made him feel too much like Archer or Gilgamesh for his liking.
But it was proving an effective measure against his foes so he would keep doing it until-
"STOP!" the voice of the Overlord's daughter cried out and he froze as the onslaught ended.
Not because she had told him to stop… but because of the tone of voice that she'd cried out in.
He took his eyes off his now bleeding foe as he turned to look the Overlord's daughter.
She was now on her knees, her body shaking and tears falling from her eyes.
Her tone hadn't been fake.
She was genuinely scared.
He felt his heart twist as he realized the simple fact that he had managed to break a person's will with his Reality Marble.
Turning to face Alyssa again, he noted the fact that while she wasn't suffering a breakdown at the situation, there was a hint of fear in her eyes that hadn't been there before.
Then again, with his reality marble deployed, what should've been an intense and close fight, had become a one-sided massacre.
There was no fun or honour to be found in being crushed like that.
Taking a deep breath, he started to move towards the girl who had sent people after him just because she wanted Rho Aias.
As soon as she noticed him walking towards her, her posture started to shrink in on itself and he found himself subconsciously relaxing at that display of submission.
"S-stop it," the voice of the warrior spoke weakly even as she tried to get up again.
"Should I kill them boss?" the voice of Trinity piped in and he shook his head in the negative, earning a whine of disappointment from the girl.
"You…" he found himself struggling to do what he was about to, but it felt like the sort of situation where doing so was necessary, "Lotsa Plotz."
He couldn't stop himself from feeling dirty as he said her name, however, her gaze rose to him and he knew what he had to do.
"I'll give you a choice," he spoke as firmly as he could manage even as he did something he was sure would be considered stupid by anyone else, "you can either die here… or swear yourself to me."
"S-s-swear myself to you?" she repeated, and he found himself frowning as her voice rose in pitch and her face started to flush with obvious embarrassment.
"It's your choice," he told her bluntly, prompting her to splutter a couple of times before nodding her head lightly.
"I-I'll swear myself to you," she acknowledged, and he found himself being inwardly grateful at that acquiescence.
"And what of you Alyssa?" he turned his attention towards the soldier who seemed to sag in relief, "will you join your master under me?"
"Yeah… I still want a fair fight though," she told him, and he found himself almost smiling at that.
Now, he just hoped there was some way to ensure neither of them betrayed him.
He had the feeling Trey wouldn't be too willing to help.
So… maybe Adari would know something he could use?
It wouldn't hurt to try.
XXX Preview: Next Time XXX
Trinity: "Disaster strikes!"
Shirou: "What? Where?"
Trinity: "The Mayors daughter and her bodyguard have gone missing!"
Shirou: "… there's a mayor here?"
Trinity: "There is only one person who knows the truth… undercover detective Trinity!"
Shirou: "Trinity, you're not smart enough to be a detective."
Trinity: "The truth that they've fallen into the nefarious arms of the infamous Pimp Emiya!"
Shirou: "… what are you on about?"
Trinity: "Trapped in a sex dungeon, there is no telling what sort of deviant acts he'll inflict upon their innocent bodies as he trains them to be his personal sex slaves!"
Lotsa: "S-sex slave?"
Alyssa: "Hey, as long as I get my fight, I'm game for it."
Shirou: "WHAT?!"
Trinity: "Will Undercover Detective Trinity be able to save them before they lose their minds? Or will she be found out and captured too? And if so, what sort of horrific things will happen to her afterwards?! Find out next time, on Detective Trinity And Pimp-master Emiya!"
Shirou: "What do you mean 'next time'?! And who are you even talking to?"
And that's all for today.
For those who've played a Disgaea game, I'm sure you understand why the last segment was there.
But anyway... for now...
Shadow out.