* I do not own anything. All characters and creations are property of the Type-Moon company. *
* M for adult themes *
An Eternal King for the Throne of Heroes
By Try Another Time
Eero and Kiritsugu had advance for several minutes while eliminating all the homunculus in front of them. Kiritsugu fired right and left while Eero cut off each enemy trying to stop his advance. The closer they got to the inner courtyard of the Einzbern castle, the more homunculi attacked them. But no matter how much their numbers increased, they could not prevent father and son from advancing to reach their goal. The large metal gate that led to the inner courtyard of the castle was only a few meters ahead of them, although a big group of big muscle homunculi carrying axes blocked their way.
Eero did not think much about it and switched to Kanshou and Bakuya for a big hammer before jumping to attack. "Move aside or die!" Eero shouted as he dropped the big hammer on top of one of the homunculi, which tried to endure the weight of the weapon, but was crushed without mercy. The ground below the homunculi broke after receiving such an incredible weight.
The other homunculi around Eero staggered a bit but recovered quickly before trying to cut Eero with their axes, but Kiritsugu did not wait a second before shooting them in the head preventing thus them from having time to counterattack. "Eero, don't waste more time and open the gate."
"Gladly." Eero said before lifting the hammer and swinging it before hitting the gate with all his strength. Once the attack connected with the gate, it sent it flying backwards. "Who's next?" Eero asked when he saw the homunculus waiting for them in the courtyard.
Inside the castle.
Leysritt and Illya moved cautiously through the corridors of the castle as they made their way to the main entrance. Suddenly they felt the impact of something hitting the castle.
Both tried to look out the windows to see what was happening outside, but they only saw snow and the great forest that surrounded the castle. They were still a bit far from where the battle was taking place.
"Let's continue but stay close to me. This seems to be worse than what Master Jubstacheit said it would be." Leysritt explained.
Illya nodded and followed her as she prayed with all her being that it was her father who was coming for her.
In the main hall of the castle.
Jubstacheit was sitting while losing his patience. Not only was his barrier broken by a noble phantasm but now he felt how every homunculus he sent out of the castle to fight lost his life to Kiritsugu and his group. "Why the hell is his servant still with him and how the hell have two others!" Jubstacheit shouted as he remembered what the barrier showed him before being destroyed.
This was not in Jubstacheit plans. His plan was to prevent Kiritsugu from returning to be with his daughter and using her to achieve the desire of the Einzbern family once the next holy grail war began.
But now he was in trouble. He could feel how Kiritsugu and his group were getting deeper inside the castle. The number of homunculi continued to decline with each minute.
"Damn you Kiritsugu. But if dying is what you want, it will be like that. "Jubstacheit thought before deciding freeing that group of homunculi that he never planned to use.
From the darkness behind Jubstacheit Angra Mainyu saw what was happening attentively. "This should not be happening. I remember that the girl would stay in this place because Kiritsugu was not able to rescue her. What the hell is going on? "He wondered about the grail's corruption. "Why the hell this Shirou looks different and what the hell are those servants doing next to them?"
All these questions that Angra Mainyu was asking would not get answers right now.
With Artoria, Alice and Leonne.
The trio of Artorias easily eliminated the large number of homunculi that came to attack them. They could be the homunculi of one of the strongest magical families, but the three had faced even more difficult challenges than them.
"I have 79!" Leonne shouted as he cut off the heads of two other homunculi.
"This is not a competition!" Artoria answered while blocking three homunculi that tried to attack her from above with their spears. "Do you really think you can defeat me with those useless iron spears? Surely Cu Chulainn would have taught them what a real spear is." Artoria thought.
"You are far behind my beloved version of another dimension. I have 82!" Alice said as she cut another homunculus in half.
Artoria could not understand how these two versions of her could be running a competition at this time. "Stop playing and let's finish this group. Eero and Kiritsugu are surely waiting for us." Said Artoria. "If you want a competition we will do it against Eero's training."
That last sentence catches the attention of Leonne and Alice who responded at the same time: "I hope you do not back down."
"I will not do it now, let's move forward" Said Artoria determined to arrive with her beloved. "Be careful, Eero."
Back with Eero and Kiritsugu
Kiritsugu threw his last grenades towards the doors that led to the interior of the castle. A few seconds later they exploded, opening the way for both.
Around Kiritsugu, the corpses of many enemies surrounded him. Many with shots in the head and others were bleeding to death because of their wounds.
On the other hand, Eero had at least four homunculi stabbed through by his own version of Boneless Man. Cut body parts from a hundred or more homunculi surrounded him. The snow that surrounded them was now tinged with the blood of the victims of such a brutal attack.
"We finally finished with these. Now we just must find Illya." Eero said as he withdrew his spear from the last homunculus who tried to stop him.
"We have to be careful. I do not think the old bastard would give up so easily." Kiritsugu said as he reloaded his weapon before moving forward with Eero.
"He possibly has something saved up for us but if it's a strong enemy, leave it to me and look for Illya. Remember that you just fought in the last war and your health is running in a delicate thread because of the grail." Eero said while looking at him seriously.
Kiritsugu said nothing. He already imagined that his situation would only worsen with the passage of time thanks to the corruption of the grail. It had only been a few days, but he already felt how his body felt different and a little weaker. This was one of the reasons why he decided to attack the Einzbern castle so soon.
They both entered the main hall and could see how at the end of the long hall, the old Jubstacheit was sitting in his chair looking at them coldly.
"You have the audacity of presenting yourself here, traitor." Jubstacheit said.
"I only came for my dearly daughter. I do not care about the stupid goal of the Einzbern." Kiritsugu answered as he pulled out his Thompson Contender and pointed it at him. "Where is Illya?"
"How dare you ask for her after you have destroyed the grail. You betrayed this family! You know how long the Einzbern have been trying to recover the third magic. You know how much we could have gotten with that desire. "
"A wish in exchange for the destruction of the world. Did you know that the grail is corrupt?" Kiritsugu asked.
"That did not matter. Obtaining the grail was all that was needed. Any sacrifice was worth recovering the third magic. "
"You're a stupid old man tied to a useless purpose. It's worthless to lose all of humanity if you just want to recover a magic that could not save the world from Angra Mainyu." Eero said tired of listening to old Einzbern talk about the family's purpose.
"What do you know child? You're just a kid who does not understand the importance of something like Heaven's Feel."
"I'm not interested in knowing. This world does not require a war like the one that was created by families like the Einzbern. As the one who will become the king that sits in throne of heroes I will make sure to eliminate any trace of this meaningless war. This is not a war I can accept." Eero said while invoking Bahamut.
"King of the throne of heroes? Do not make me laugh boy. You can never get to that place." Jubstacheit said. Suddenly the floor in front of him began to tremble before it broke, and a white mass of flesh began to rise through the holes. "If both of you wish so much to oppose the Einzbern then both can die at the hands of our worst failed creations."
The mass of meat began to take the form of a large muscular body with four arms, a tail in the form of a snake and a goat's head. His red eyes had no irises and only showed anger.
"What the hell have you done, damned old man?" Kiritsugu asked when he saw such a creature.
"This is one of our failed creations. Now destroy-" Jubstacheit was going to say before the snake-shaped tail wound around. "What are you doing stupid creature I am your master."
The creature did not listen to Jubstacheit and only roared while in his chest a face with a similar appearance to Irisviel was formed. Her face was gloomy, and her eyes were bleeding.
"It seems that it is a failed homunculus of the old man. Dad go and look for Illya. I got this. Please do not blow the castle to pieces we can still get something that can be useful to us." Eero said as he positioned himself in front of Kiritsugu.
"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Kiritsugu asked.
"Trust me. I must put my training to some use. Even if it's just this abomination." Eero said as he turned to smile at him. "Now go and find Illya."
Kiritsugu resigned himself and ran to the door on the left remembering that almost all the rooms were on the left wing of the castle.
"Let go of me stupid creature !" Jubstacheit shouted. From the skin of the homunculus hands began to form as they began to drag Jubstacheit inside its body. "Don't do it! Let go of me. Do not you dare to absorb me."
A face formed in front of old Einzbern before it began to speak. "Why you left us alone. It was cold. We will not let you go anymore." Her voice was the combination of several young female voices.
"Noooo !" Screamed Jubstacheit before being completely consumed.
The creature fixed its eyes on Eero before beginning its attack. The creature began to charge towards Eero who only maintained his position with Bahamut aloft.
"Come with everything you have." Eero said challenging the creature even more than before. "If I cannot face a simple abomination of the Einzbern, I will have to train again without rest once more." Eero thought.
"You better. We do not want to see how you fail to face something as simple as this." Aria said mentally.
In the corridors of the Einzbern castle.
Leysritt and Illya moved cautiously a little more hastily after hearing those roars.
"What do you think is making those sounds?" Illya asked.
"I do not know, but it sounds like something dangerous. But we must follow those noises if we want to know if it is your father who is here." Leysritt replied.
They just needed to move a little further and reach the great hall.
Near the castle.
After having taken care of all the homunculi in their way, the trio of Artorias advanced quickly towards the castle. But now after hearing such roars even when they were a little far from the castle.
"What the hell was that?" Leonne asked.
"I do not know, but I'm sure it means problems for everyone," said Artoria.
"Do you think Eero is fine?" Alice asked.
"I trusted him, but I cannot deny that I'm worry about him. When he was only Shirou he always put himself in dangerous situations when he should not. He didn't follow my advices if they went against his ideals or values. I just hope he knows what his limits are now that he has more experience and thinks more maturely." Said Artoria.
Alice and Leonne looked at her smiling. Both wanted to get to love Eero in that way as well as that he saw them as he saw Artoria.
Their moment of calm was ended by another roar, louder than the previous ones as well as a pillar of flames that could be seen piercing the roof of the castle.
"That cannot be good," Alice said before the three advanced faster than before.