When the devils had first brought back Ravel Phenex, it had been a cause of celebration. Sure a few died, but that meant the others got a bigger share of the loot. They were rich and they'd get to snub those asshole devils in charge at the same time. It was a win-win and left them in high spirits.
When they had brought back the young yokai, the devils that had stayed behind were dumbstruck by the aggravated nature of the returning devils. Several more were killed, many by this child alone. Some of the compound devils laughed about this. A child could not kill so many devils by himself, especially a yokai one. It was no secret that devils hated yokai or other races in general. It was something that the Maou's were working on with the public, but these devils didn't care.
This had caused a few scuffles when the compound devils didn't believe the scouting party. Of course their boss broke it up and the future reward for his capture got everyone in good spirits again. Yes, everything was looking up for them now.
That is until the breakout. The devils scrambled for their guns. They believed they could easily overpower these two brats and throw them back into their cells. Some of them were nervous about fighting the little yokai again, but that was pushed aside. This was their territory. They couldn't possibly lose here, especially not to a child.
A devil gurgled on his own blood as he fell to the ground, his neck slashed cleanly open. A "Shit!" was screamed as the other devils rushed to cover along the hallway, using furniture as cover. Manic panic was overtaking them.
The little yokai had turned out to be a formidable opponent. So much so that a good number of devils had already fallen to him. It made them angry. They couldn't lose to a lesser being. An ironic statement given that some of them were reincarnated humans, but humanity was vain in of itself. It just transferred to their demonic new lives. A lot of which were cut short this day.
Of course, it didn't help that Ravel had started to aid him. Balls of flame shot over their heads, making them duck. While she was also a child, they had heard the screams of a good few devils being burned by her fire powers. It didn't help that she would not fucking die! Why did they have to kidnap a Phenex, or was she just that good? Her regeneration and fire powers was already putting her in the same boat as the yokai.
Do not fuck with them.
Unfortunately, their boss wouldn't be too happy if they just let them go. It didn't help that there were reports of someone else attacking the base. So put it simply, they needed to take care of it now.
A devil died as an arrow pierced her skull.
They weren't doing a good job of it thus far.
While they were certainly lowlife scum, Archer would never say they were cowards. Their organization was sloppy at best, but they still gave him pause and a few precarious situations. He was thankful that he had Ravel with him as support. Otherwise he would have taxed himself to exhaustion at this point with how many devils he had to take care of. It didn't help that they were getting better at defending themselves.
He peered around the corner and fired another arrow. This time the devil ducked just in time. Archer pulled himself back, avoiding two bolts of devil fire. "Damn it. Almost had him."
"Should I throw another fireball?" Ravel piped up.
Archer had to admit, he was incredibly lucky to have her with him. She was a quick thinker and actually devised a strategy or two that helped win a couple of confrontations thus far. She was a brilliant strategist in the making, although he still had more experience in that regard. Her fire powers were another great boon. Maybe he'd help train her when they escaped this place.
He shook his head, "No, I didn't see anything truly combustible that they were using as cover."
"Then we have to get rid of it."
Archer quirked an eyebrow, "Do you know any exploding spells or something?"
Ravel shook her head, "No. I was sort of hoping you'd have some cool spell or something that could do that instead. You've been pulling out so many moves that I just sorta… thought you could do it." She nervously twiddled her feet. "Unless you kiss me again. Maybe that will help."
Archer rolled his eyes, a small blush on his cheeks. He had to continually remind himself that she was still young and so was he. Curse this new body, "No, I don't think…" His eyes widened as a thought came to him. "Can you create a ball of energy?"
Ravel looked at him for a moment as though she didn't know what he was getting at. She held out a hand and a small ball of black energy appeared, "I can create small balls of devil energy but not a lot at a time. I don't think it's enough to break that barricade."
"Cast fire around it," Archer looked down at the arrow in hand. He rubbed his fingers over the arrow tip and closed his eyes, focusing his energy. While zany, he would never forget Kuroka's teachings. She was very good at it, even though she kept trying to nuzzle and kiss him. He felt a small portion of his energy embed itself into the arrow head. "Now, get ready to throw it."
The flaming ball in Ravel's hand had an especially black core. The devil energy still felt so wrong to him and he was glad that he didn't have to deal with that stuff inside of his body. Ravel nodded, "Gotcha."
Archer smiled and readied his bow and arrow. He looked her in the eye and shouted, "Now!"
Ravel summoned her wings and flapped right around the corner and threw the ball. Her wings were quickly thrown up in front of her to block the bolts from her body. Archer didn't waste any time as he jumped out behind Ravel, firing his arrow. The yokai grabbed the collar of her shirt and rolled the duo back around the corner.
The devils didn't really react to the fireball. It was too high to reasonably do anything to them. That was their main error. As the ball came right over them, the arrow struck it, piercing the devil core. The latent energy within the arrow head mixed with the devil core in such a way caused it to explode. The barricade was blown into burning chunks, alongside a couple of devils right underneath the ball of flame. Many more were injured by the debris or set on fire. Their screams filled the hallway as some tried to make for an escape.
Archer ran out from the corner with his two signature swords in hand. He slashed at two devils that were stumbling about with severe burns, ending their suffering. Another devil, while still on fire, charged and tried to use his gun as a club. Archer rolled underneath his legs, slashing them deep enough for the devil to stumble forward with a cry. Archer followed up on this throwing on of his knives into the back of the devil's head as he rolled. He recalled it, looking back to see that the rest of the devils were either gone, dead, or about to be dead. He nodded with a smile.
"We did it!" Ravel jumped up in glee before glomping him.
Archer flinched and groaned as he felt her do so. While he wasn't against such affection, he was in the middle of a battle. He didn't need her getting hurt because he couldn't stop the attack in time because she was too busy hugging him. Even if she could regenerate, he would not allow anyone to harm her. As well, regeneration had a limit. He didn't want to find out what hers was. A part of him was also concerned by how well she was taking all this death, but given that these guys had done a lot to her and her brother, he wasn't going to question her dislike of them.
"Let's go," Archer said to which Ravel quickly let go of him and nodded.
Before they could run however, another figure stepped forth. A massive suit of armor walked around the corner in front of them, imposing its will naturally across the area. Archer took a battle stance in front of Ravel, knowing all too well that this devil was trouble. Given his power level and the environment, Archer really doubted his ability to outright win a fight between them. He'd have to think of something fast.
"You're a lot more trouble than you're worth, kid." Ironwill growled as he stopped to stare at the damaged hallway. "Lost a lot of good devils today. Gonna take a while to replace them. Not to mention repairing this place. All in all, don't know if the reward makes up for it."
"Then how about you just let us leave," Archer spoke, not believing for a second that the devil in front of him would do so. "We're obviously a lot of hassle."
"Yes you are," Ironwill's grip on his hefty battlehammer increased. He lowered it near to the ground, pointing it right at them. Archer could feel the energy building up within his weapon even before he saw the surface of it heat up with magical energy. "That's why I'm getting rid of you right now!" With that said, he swung his hammer up which released a large bout of magical energy.
Archer grabbed Ravel's arm and ran. They made it right around the corner, just missing the large blast of energy that would have seared their flesh off their bones. Unfortunately, Ironwill smashed his way through the wall right in front of them. The large devil swung his hammer up with both hands and made to smash them to pieces.
Archer threw her to the side and dodged the strike. The entire compound shook from the sheer force behind the blow, causing the young yokai to stumble. Ironwill attempted to smash his side in with a glancing blow, but Archer had enough grace to jump backwards. Somersaulting a couple of times, Archer snarled as he righted himself.
Ironwill charged and swiped his his hammer at him thrice more. Archer backpedaled, narrowly dodging the strikes. He knew that he couldn't allow that hammer to strike him. One hit and he was out of commission or just plain dead. He needed to think of something but the only idea he had was activating his entire chant. He didn't have the energy or time to do that. Ironwill wouldn't let him. His regular swords and arrows would pierce this guy's armor. He was in a pickle.
Archer focused his attention on the eye slit in the devil's helmet. If he could hit there… he summoned a blade and threw it. Unlucky for him but Ironwill's reflexes weren't slow. He easily caught the blade, crushing it. With his other hand, he swung his hammer up to send a blast of energy Archer's way.
Archer rolled forward to avoid the blast. To which he also avoided the following strike, which missed him by a hair and smashed through the wall. Archer got to his feet, jumping back a few paces.
Ironwill chuckled, "I'm actually surprised. I didn't think you'd last this long."
"Well I do love surprising people," Archer narrowed his eyes, trying to think of some surefire way to get through his defenses.
"I can see that," Ironwill turned to face him. "Thankfully I don't have to find out what else you have up your sleeve since you're going to die here." With that said, he charged.
Archer still found the devil's speed remarkable. Perhaps not the speed he'd seen with Berserker, but with all that armor and that hammer, this current speed was still giving him trouble. He prepared to dodge the strike and hopefully hit the guy's eye slit. When Ironwill struck, he slammed his hammer through the air rightways. Archer jumped backwards and sprung for the opening, moving to Ironwill's left.
However, Ironwill had known he'd do this. His left arm shot out and slammed into Archer's side. Archer gasped in pain as he was thrown into a wall. The devil moved, raising his hammer over his head to crush him. Archer growled as he stood up and moved. He avoided the strike, however Ironwill had infused the head of his hammer with devil magic. So when he struck the ground behind Archer, the area around him was blown up and the ground shook. Archer was thrown off his feet, falling a few meters forward in the hallways.
Archer gasped in pain, shaking from the strike. He hadn't been expecting that and would make a note to watch out for future attacks like that. Well, if he survived this of course. He struggled to get to his feet, feeling every nerve in his body screeching in agony.
"You've got spunk, kid." Ironwill chuckled and then charged. "But this is where you end!"
Archer knew he couldn't dodge the next strike. The large devil was too close for him to try anything and his body ached too much. Again he cursed being this small. If only he had been summoned fully…
His eyes widened as he felt someone pushed him out of the way. His mouth fell open the moment he saw Ravel's panicked face as she pushed him to safety just before the hammer smashed into her front. Ravel couldn't even scream as she was slammed into the wall. She had saved him. She was lying in a crumbled up heap, barely breathing. She coughed up blood, whimpering.
Archer couldn't believe it. She had saved him. It… He should have been faster. He should have been stronger. She shouldn't have to suffer like that.
"Aww," Ironwill sneered behind his helmet as he turned to face the injured girl. "Did the little Phenex think she could be all heroic? That's cute. It's just really cute. Shame that you were born a Phenex. You might have actually been a decent devil, but that bastard's genes run through your veins. So I'll just end you here."
Archer clenched his fist as he heard that. No. He would not allow her to die. Not now. Not ever. He swore he would get her out of here. That she would be safe. He may not be a Hero, but he would do that much for her. He hated to see her in pain. He hated to see her in fear. No! He would see her smile once more, safe with her family. He raised himself off the ground, his tail twitching behind him in anticipation of the kill.
Ironwill raised his hammer, "Goodbye, Phenex bitch."
Every ounce of hatred, fear, his whole being was pouring into his right fist. He had to make sure that he got through Ironwill's armor the first time or else they were both dead. Tuoki was the only technique he could think of. One strong punch should do it. "OI! Don't you dare fucking touch her!"
Ironwill stopped and moved his head to look back at him, "Do you really think you can do anything, boy? I see how your legs are shaking. You're about to pass out. Why don't you just lie down and I might consider letting you live."
"No," Archer snarled. "I promised I'd get her out of here and I'll stand by that promise. So don't you dare touch her or you'll regret it."
"A little hero, eh?" Ironwill said. "You want to protect your little princess? Then die with her!" With that, he turned around and brought his hammer down.
Archer was quick to retaliated. Just before the hammer touched the ground, he used a bit of magic to increase his speed and jumped. His feet touched the top of the hammer and then he jumped forward, surprising Ironwill. Archer let out a scream of hatred as he punched the devil's helmet. All the energy that he had built up with his touki came to a head as he shattered the helmet's front side and let him punch the devil right in the face.
Archer jumped back off of the devil as he started to teeter. Ironwill's face was bloody as he eyes were unfocused, his nose obviously broken. Then he fell to his side, causing a small quake. Archer couldn't help but sigh before quickly moving to Ravel's side. She was healing, thankfully.
"Can you move?" Archer asked, wondering if her legs had healed up already.
Ravel shook her head, tears in her eyes. "No, but… thank you." She reached out with her good arm weakly and grabbed his arm to try and pull him forward. Archer didn't resist and hugged her. "Thank you."
Archer pulled his head back to smile at her, "No problem. I always keep my promises after all."
Ravel blushed before her eyes widened, "He's back up!"
Archer turned to see that Ironwill was indeed getting back up. He snarled and spat out some blood from his mouth.
"You little brat!" Ironwill snarled. "It should have been an easy job. Quick cash but you had to ruin all of it." He raised his hammer, "DIE!"
He never got to lower his hammer for an arrow pierced his chest. He looked down at it dumbly, noting it had struck his heart before he fell on his back, dead.
Archer turned around to look who had done that before his eyes widened. Standing there at the end of the hallways with her bow at the ready was none other than Atalanta. He could tell by analyzing her bow and to know that she was here was surprising. Said Atalanta quickly ran to them and picked them up.
"Don't worry, children." She spoke soothingly to them. "I'm getting you out of here." Without another word, she raced on out of the base. The devils had either fled or had been killed by her so she didn't face any resistance.
Archer would have chimed up or spoken to her, but the fatigue of the fight had finally caught up to him. Both he and Ravel passed out in Atalanta's arms soon enough.
Walking amongst the dead and dying, Rizevim couldn't help but let out an interested whistle. To cause this much damage in such a short time was impressive. He could ponder about who had done it but that was honestly pointless at this point. He already knew who and that just made his interest in the yokai all that much more prominent. He could sense the presence of another being, but that wasn't important. He doubted she could do anything to him.
That's why he had come alone. None of the devils here had showed much promise, but he thought they could at least prove useful this once. Seems like he was mistaken to trust riff raff. Next time he would use quality devil blood to defend his interests. Quality that would not break as these ones did. To illustrate that, he crushed the skull of a moaning devil covered in burns with his boot. Disgusting lot these were.
That's when he came across Ironwill's corpse. Now this was a devil who showed promise, mostly because of his hatred of the Phenex clan. Normally he wouldn't bother with this lot and just leave him dead, but he did desire to cause more chaos in the Underworld. Taking out or at least hurting the Phenex clan would help him in that regard.
So he smiled down at the dead devil, "Cut short by a child, hmmm? I would say that you were pathetic but I call that an interesting end if I do say so myself. If only you knew the true nature of this yokai. You might never have taken up this job."
With that said, he held up a pawn piece. "Now how about you do better next time."
Finally. Sorry for the long wait. I just lot a lot of 'oomph' lately to write fanfiction and have been trying to start my novel. Not a ton of progress on that front but still, something is better then nothing. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and don't you worry, from here on out, Kuroka aint gonna let her mate get that far from her. Sad that she has competition with a bird now, the poor kitty. XD
Now to answer a few questions, thus far only Kuroka and Ravel will be paired up with Archer. I don't know about which gals would I also pair up with him at this point. Atalanta and Koneko will be considered but at this point, not sure if I will do them. Probably or probably not that depends on how the story goes honestly. That's basically how the pairings will happen. As the story goes on, if I feel a particular girl fits with Archer or would be fun to pair him up with, I'll do it. Until then, not a lot of plans for any future pairings. Then again, this is Shirou/Archer. His luck with girls is harem levels. XD
As for Issei, he won't get all the girls in his harem (obviously) but as you see with Artemis, he'll be getting a few other girls added. Won't say anything about any future pairings with him though.
Lastly, I will keep in mind any servants that are devils or gods of the underworld or something. Perhaps I'll feature them more prominently but for now, this will do. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to read your reviews. They are usually entertaining and really help me along with this story. I'm still surprised, happily so, how much this story took off. I'll do my best not to fail you all. Until next time.
(Note: New cover art done by Alex-kellar. Check him out.)
