TenRyuGa here once again~ Okay... I have no idea what fumes I had been breathing in to make me think Shirou could forcefully change the history of an object the way I've written in the previous chapter without the entire thing blowing up in his face. I blame the polluted air here in China...
Anyway, I've changed that part in the previous chapter. Shirou now has the ability to recreate any Noble Phantasm-based mystic code so to speak. Weapons not created through divine, demonic or fae means would, of course, be almost an exact replica of the original Noble Phantasms, such as Carnwennan.
I've also gotten a few messages and reviews regarding Avalon. Don't worry, it will make a reappearance later on in the story. The reason why I had to temporary remove it is simple: The Book of Darkness' absorption ability. I'll let the rest of you readers imagine what the result of an EX-ranked monster with said impenetrable defense. Counter Guardian Bad End anyone?
I've also cranked up the battle prowess of the knights. Really, they are suppose to be some sort of super-strong Belkan knights and they were still held back by two 10-11 years old girls. I'm just going to guess and say they were all holding back, a lot... well maybe not Vita but the others are.
As for the intro from the previous chapter, well everyone will see what happened later on in the story.
Well, I can't think of anything else for now, so I'll leave all of you to the story. Enjoy~~!
Disclaimer: I thought I owned Type-Moon... but it was merely a dream...
"Now then, I'll ask again. What were you doing attacking my best friend in the middle of the night?" The hardened voice of Emiya Shirou asked as he pointed his black sword at the mallet wielder in front of him.
Despite his small stature and young voice, he still pulled off the intimidating aura quite well. While not enough to make his red-clad opponent run away in fear, it was enough to make her feel threatened.
Letting out an angry growl, the young looking girl retorted, "Like I'm just going to tell you! Besides, who are you anyway?!"
"Don't you know it's rude to ask for someone else's name without introducing yourself first?" the white-haired boy asked in a mocking tone. "Well, since you don't look like you are from around here, I guess I'll let it pass this time. The name's Emiya Shirou, Junior Officer of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Now then, would you come along peacefully and tell us why you just attacked a civilian or do I have to bring you in forcefully?"
While Shirou's rank was that of the lowest commissioned officer of the TSAB, he really only have one superior he had to answer to. It was something the Kaleidoscope had set up so he could directly assign the boy any mission without going through the chain of command.
"Like hell I'm going to go quietly!" the girl yelled out before she took flight, putting as much distance as she could away from the group. However, she was intercepted by the white blade once again before she could get far enough away.
"Why do they always resist?" Shirou sighed as he caught Bakuya on its return trip. "I'll be engaging our unknown guest here. Fate, support me. Yuuno, get Nanoha healed up for now."
Getting an affirmative nod from the two, the snowy-haired boy turned his attention back toward the figure. Taking two steps forward, Shirou launched himself up into the air in pursue of the enemy with Fate following closely behind him.
"I hope Shirou will be okay. He was still quite tired when we sensed the barrier going up," Yuuno said, causing Nanoha to turn her attention toward the archaeologist. "He was rushing to complete some project of his on the Arthra the day before we got back. Apparently, he decided to forego sleep. I doubt he would've woken up if it weren't for this emergency."
"Is Shirou-kun going to be alright?"
"I don't know," Yuuno answered honestly. "Judging from that attack of his, he should be fine. Hopefully his fatigue doesn't impair him too much."
Roaring at the enemy, the hammer wielder swung her weapon at the approaching sword-wielding boy. Deciding to see how strong his opponent is, Shirou crossed his twin sword in front of him and met the attack head-on.
However, despite his reinforced limbs, the hammer blow still forced him back and numbed his arms for a moment. Shirou couldn't help but be impressed by that intense strength displayed by the small girl.
"Heh, for a chibi, you sure are strong!" the white-haired boy chuckled as he brought up his guard; with both swords pointed to the sides while leaving his cheat open.
"My name is Vita, Wolkenritter's Iron Hammer! Stop calling me chibi or I'll smash you to pulp with Graf Eisen!" the girl cried out before she summoned four small metal spheres.
[Schwalbenflug]
Graf Eisen called out before it smashed into the orbs, shooting them at the the young Emiya.
Seeing the unique shooting spell utilized by his opponent, Shirou quickly dodged to the left before he tried to put as much distance as he can away from the attack. The boy couldn't help but frown at his current predicament. While he had retained quite a bit of knowledge on swordplay from his counterparts, those techniques were only useful when gravity was accounted for, which, as he had found out during a few sparring sessions with Chrono, meant that it was not useful at all when he had to fight opponents while being airborne. This goes double when his opponent could summon mana bullets with homing ability that could strike at him from any angle.
'There has to be some kind of weakness…' the white-haired boy thought to himself as he looked back at the metallic spheres chasing him. Pausing in midair, the white-haired boy decided to turn around and rushed toward the bullets, narrowly dodging them before he looked back. The spheres seem to zoom pass him for a few meters before they changed course.
Turning his attention to the mallet wielder, Shirou could see the now identified 'Vita' was frowning while concentrating on him. 'Either she has a slow reaction speed or it takes a lot more effort to control those bullets than Nanoha's Divine Shooter.'
[Arc Saber]
A spinning yellow crescent blade suddenly came up behind the red-clad girl, forcing her to lose focus on her previous spell in order to intercept the oncoming attack. However, instead of calling up a shield spell like Shirou had predicted, Vita simply smashed the lightning attack away with a swing of her mallet.
'Note to self: see if it is possible to stop Devices from declaring every spells they cast,' Shirou couldn't help but sigh. However, he did not dwell on that thought. The boy was more interested in the newcomer's combat style at this moment. What Vita utilized was definitely different from the Mid-Childa's style which focused almost entirely on mid-to-long range spells. Other than Fate's Bardiche, Shirou has yet to come across a Mid-Childa mage whose Device even resembles a weapon.
"Enkidu!" the dual wielding swordsman called out as he activated his binding spell.
Seeing the chains coming at her, Vita raised Graf Eisen once more and spun around. "Tödlicher Schlag!" she roared as the binding chains were brutally shattered by her weapon.
A single bead of sweat ran down the side of Shirou's face as he looked at the hammer-wielder. The pure ferocity the girl was releasing was something quite awe-inspiring. Though not on par with some of the Servants he had seen when that Jewel Seed implanted itself into his body a while ago, it was still quite overwhelming.
'She might as well be a lower ranked Servant with that strength of hers,' Shirou thought tensely. 'At least she fights like a berserker. While her instinct is good, it isn't anything to brag about. All of her attacks are quite straightforward.'
"Any plan, Shirou?" Fate's voice echoed through the telepathic link she had opened up, making the Shirou shift his eyes toward her position for a second before refocusing on his opponent.
"I'll keep her busy. Try and hit her with any spells you can but do it discretely. Catch her with a binding spell if you can," the boy stated before charging in for an attack once more.
Seeing her opponent coming in to engage her in melee combat once more, Vita lashed out with her hammer, only to hit nothing but air as the boy stopped a few inches away from the attack's reach.
Seeing the hammer zoom pass his face, Shirou slashed out with Kanshou. The girl quickly dodged by flying back before she swung out her weapon once more. This time, instead of the horizontal swing she usually favored, Vita unleashed a powerful overhead swing, bringing the hammer down on Shirou's head. The white-haired boy would've suffered a concussion at least if the attack had connected. Luckily, he was able to intercept it before the swing could gain enough power to make his arms numb once more. Sparks flew as the two warriors locked weapons.
"You fight just like us. Are you really a Mid-Childa mage?" Vita couldn't help but question.
Shirou grunted with a smirk on his face as he continued to push his blades up against the hammer. "You're right, chibi-knight. I'm not a Mid-Childa mage." Seeing his opponent distracted, he quickly slammed a reinforced kick into her stomach, pushing her away. "Judging by your Device and your fighting style, I would say you are a Belkan Knight?"
"So what if I am?! It still isn't going to help you!" the girl roared out as she charged once more. "And stop. Calling. Me. CHIBI!"
The two sides clashed again. Shirou quickly dismissed the married blades in favor for a pair of nameless swords used in the famous Battle of Thermopylae to meet his opponent's hammer blow for blow. Even with reinforcement and the extra strength granted to him by the swords, he could barely keep up with the powerful attacks unleashed by the small knight. 'Come on Shirou, hold her still for Fate,' the young Emiya gritted his teeth as he continued to meet the attack head on.
'There's something wrong here…' Vita couldn't help but think as she continued to rain down blows after blows with her Device. Suddenly a realization struck her. 'Where is that girl he's with?!'
Glancing around while she continued her assault, she caught sight of a small yellow light coming from below her. Growling, the girl swung out with more strength than her previous blows had to knock the boy away before she dodged the five lightning bullets.
"Damn you!" Vita cried out as she shot forth for another attack, launching at the boy's shoulder with a horizontal swing.
Shirou merely leaned back when he saw the small knight approached him with another straightforward attack, letting the hammer pass by him as he smashed a reinforced kick into her wrist, making the small knight grunt and dropped her weapon. Seeing the opportunity, Shirou lashed out with the sword in his right hand. The sword cut into his opponent's left arm deeply, forcing a cry of pain out of the tiny knight before the binding spell from Fate finally locked down on her.
"Now, will you agree to come quietly?" the young swordsman asked as he pointed a blade at Vita.
"O-over my d-dead body." Even though she knew she was at a great disadvantage, the red-clad hammer knight still held her defiance.
"You're lucky you're not facing an older, more cynical version of myself then, chibi," Shirou sighed before turning to Fate. "Anyway, can you reach Lindy or the others yet?"
Fate shook her head. "No such luck yet."
A soft ringing caught Shirou's attention before he could continue his discussion with Fate.
[Explosion]
The blond scythe-wielder suddenly found herself wrapped up by some sort of whip before being violently thrown into a building.
"Fate!" Shirou cried out but was cut off when a new figure speared in front of him, swinging a blade down at his head. He quickly brought up a blade to meet the attack, locking blades with the unknown assailant.
"Signum?!" Vita called out in surprise, making Shirou turn his attention to the tiny knight before looking back at his new opponent.
The look on his opponent's face made him gasp in surprise. While the eyes were a darker green, battle-hardened glare of the woman in front of him reminded the young Emiya of a certain Servant of the Sword. She was wearing a two-piece white coat-like outfit with purple linings similar to his with a purple dress underneath. Fit around her forearms were a pair of purple-tinted gauntlet. The steel boots around her feet had a large piece of plating extended out of the vamp. There were also two piece of plating extended from both side of her waist. Her long magenta hair was tied back with a long yellow ribbon.
If it wasn't for the missing breastplate, Shirou would've thought someone had combined his counter-guardian counterpart's outfit with Arthuria's armor, especially with those puffed up sleeves over her shoulders.
Before he could comment, an armored fist slammed into his side. While not as strong as one of Vita's hammer blows, it still sent him flying into the building opposite of the one Fate crashed into and losing his traced blades.
Thankfully, he had regained control of his flight before colliding with the building. With a swift motion, he flipped himself in the air and met the side of the building feet first with bent knees before he shot himself back toward his opponent.
Sensing the approaching hostility, Signum handed her comrade's hammer to the male next to her before she met the oncoming black and white blades with her own sword.
"Ho, a knight of the sword? My, what an honor to meet one such as you," Shirou said with a smirk. He took his eyes off his opponent for a moment to look toward the person who blindsided him. Unlike his two previous opponents, this one was a muscular male wearing a blue sleeveless changshan and black pants. There was also a pair of metal gauntlets that covered his hands up to the elbow unlike Signum's which only covered the forearms. He was also wearing a pair of sabatons that covered up to his shins. What stood out the most was the pair of dog ears on the side of his head similar to those of Arf's.
"Tis an honor to trade blows with one so skilled as well, young one," Signum replied before she smashed a kick into Shirou's stomach, knocking him back. Pointing her weapon at the boy, she declared, "I am Signum; leader of the Wolkenritter and General of the Raging Fire. This is my partner, Laevateinn. What is thy name?"
Shirou raised an eyebrow in curiosity at the archaic speech. "Well, at least you are a lot more polite than your tiny friend over there," Shirou stated while gesturing toward Vita with his head. "My name is Emiya Shirou, Junior Officer of the Time-Space Administration Bureau and a simple apprentice blacksmith."
"Aren't these blades art thine creations? If so, then thy statement is but a jest, young smith," the swordswoman stated with absolute certainty.
Shirou couldn't help but feel proud at the praise given by his opponent, but he brushed it off. There was still a fight going on after all. "Mere imitations of the originals, I assure you," the snowy-haired boy retorted before a gladius appeared next to him.
Sensing the oncoming attack, the knight raised her sheath to meet the oncoming projectile, parrying the sword with well-honed grace. "Another fine blade, Emiya. However, it will take more than well-made weapons to take me down."
Shirou couldn't help but groan in frustration. While he had taken the time to disengage himself from the swordswoman with the surprise attack, he had learned about one of the woman's special ability. "Great… just great… You either possess the Protection from Arrows or the Eye of the Mind (False) skill… Stupid low-ranked luck…"
"Take this!" the loud battle cry from the familiar hammer wielder alerted Shirou of the oncoming attack, one that he quickly dodged.
Assessing his situation, the young Emiya grimaced. "Three against one. This fight is definitely not in my favor." Reactivating the telepathic link, Shirou quickly sent out a message to Fate and Yuuno. "Our opponents had just increased by two. I need backup as soon as possible here please."
The answer to his distress was a beam of yellow nearly catching the magenta-haired knight and a large green sphere colliding with the silver-haired feral looking man.
"We're already here. I've also put a defensive field around Nanoha so you don't have to worry about her," Yuuno stated cheekily as he threw a straight punch at the dog-eared man. The hours he had put into training alongside Shirou, Fate and Chrono while they were on the Arthra had improved the archaeologist's combat abilities. While he still favored using barriers and fight using mid-ranged spells, he could hold his own against quite a few trained personnel onboard the TSAB space ship.
The use of his barrier spells to strengthen his blows was definitely a great help to his close-quarter-combat capabilities.
"Thanks a lot, both of you," Shirou said as he charged at Signum, only to be blocked by the red-clad hammer knight.
"Your fight's with me!" Vita cried out as she swung Graf Eisen at Shirou, making the young swordsman veer off his charge.
Shirou frowned at the stubborn mallet user but decided to comply. Hopefully Fate could deal with the swordswoman on her own.
Signum hummed as she traded blows back and forth in the sky with Fate. While she was not as fast as her opponent, the leader of the Wolkenritter was definitely more skilled. "Interesting, to find not one but two mages not of Belkan descent who specialized in close-quarter combat, I never would've expected to encounter such a rare occurrence." Straightening her posture, she called out, "I am the leader of the Wolkenritter, Signum. And this is my sword, Laevateinn. Young girl, may I know the name of such a worthy foe?"
Despite having a weapon with a longer reach, Fate still couldn't completely dodge her opponent's strikes. The older female was a lot more skilled than she was. Holding up Bardiche in axe form, Fate decided to comply with Signum's request. "Time-Space Administration Bureau temporary mage, Fate Testarossa and Device Bardiche. As Shirou had requested of your comrade once before, please cease what you are doing and turn yourselves in. If there are any problems, we would like to solve it under a less hostile situation."
"If our current problem could be solved through words, we would not have carried out our assault today," Signum said tiredly. "Prepare thyself!"
Seeing the knight suddenly close in on her, Fate spun the shaft of her Device around her wrist, shortening the reach and aimed a slash at Signum's face. The knight simply spun around to avoid the attack before unleashing her own attack right as she comes out of her spin. The added centripetal force to the attack would've easily drawn blood from the blond if it weren't for the hastily erected Defenser from Bardiche.
While the knight was bearing down on the shield spell with her sword, Fate quickly charged up a single Photon Lancer shot on her left fist. "Fire!" she cried out as she punched the spell right into Signum's unprotected chest.
[Panzer Geist]
The sword called out as a purple aura enveloped Signum. The lightning bullet collided with the newly erected shield almost immediately after it finished forming, causing an explosion and giving Fate the opportunity to put some distance between her and her opponent.
"Such amazing combat instinct for one so young," Signum muttered to herself as she traced the small cut on her jacket. Apparently, during the explosion, Fate had used the distraction to lash out with her axe. While not strong enough to damage the swordswoman, it had at least damaged her clothing.
Gripping Laevateinn tightly in one hand, she suddenly took a stance that Fate was very familiar with. "Iaido?!" she gasped.
"Hoh? So thou art familiar with this technique? Interesting, but tis too late!" Without any warning, Signum disappeared in a flash in front of her opponent only to reappear within her sword's reach.
The knight's blade cut through Fate's shield spell easily before Bardiche intercepted it. Unfortunately for the Intelligent Device, the blow was hard enough to dig into the axe head and damage the clear yellow jewel-like piece.
"Laevateinn!" the knight called out as she spun around, sliding the sword off the axe and unleash another attack.
[Explosion]
A single empty bullet casing was ejected by the sword before the entire blade was engulfed by flame.
"Shiden Issen!" Signum declared as the fiery blade smashed through, cutting off a large portion of Bardiche's blade and sending Fate crashing into the ground. Despite facing such a worthy foe, Signum couldn't help but feel sad for carrying the task she had given herself and her fellow knights.
(While Fate was still fighting Signum)
Yuuno panted tiredly as his small fist collided with the wolf's armored claw over and over again. While he had quite a bit of stamina from working in the ruins before he went off to search for the Jewel Seeds, his opponent was a lot tougher than him.
Getting into his preferred stance, he called out to the magical beast. "You are a familiar, are you not? Don't you know that what you are doing is illegal and all acts you've committed would be blamed on your master? You should have tried to stop your master instead of carrying out these offenses!"
"Our master knows not of our actions," the wolf stated calmly.
Yuuno was surprised by the declaration. "Then why are you committing these crimes?" Yuuno cried out as the two traded blows once more. This time, the part-time-ferret unleashed a Chain Bind as he met the beast with a punch.
The blue wolf's eyes widened for a second as the chain clamped down on one of its limbs before he was violently thrown down into the street, cratering the asphalt from his collision.
"It is the only way to save our master. Even if we have to besmirch our names as knights, we shall succeed on our task!" the wolf roared as it shot back up at Yuuno.
Seeing the familiar tactic, Yuuno called forth a barrier and charged right at the wolf. The two barriers crashed at one another in a fight for dominance once more.
"Do I at least get a name from you? After all, Vita and Signum had introduced themselves," Yuuno requested. If he could get their name, there is a possibility the TSAB could find out who they are and possibly where their base of operation might be.
The wolf grunted, still keeping the shield spell up as he continued pushing against Yuuno's. "Zafira, Shielding Guardian Beast of the Wolkenritter."
"And I am Yuuno Scrya, archaeologist and temporary mage of the Time-Space Administation Bureau," the boy introduced himself as he continued pushing against the wolf in a fight for dominance.
"Stand still so I can smash you into the ground!" Vita roared out in frustration once more as she swung the hammer at Shirou. Once again, the white-haired boy merely shifted to the side to dodge the overhead swing before swinging Bakuya at the small girl.
Unlike before, Vita quickly pulled back Graf Eisen to meet the blade, stopping it before it could land a blow on her. While she was still quite hotheaded, Vita was definitely paying more attention to her opponent now.
"Is that truly how you persuade people? Ask them to stay still so you can inflict bodily harm to them?" Shirou quipped as he dodged another hammer blow from the small knight. Due to their close proximity, Vita couldn't use any of her shooting spells.
Getting tired of the boy's taunt, Vita raised her hammer into the air. "Graf Eisen! Load cartridge!"
[Explosion. Raketenform]
Once more, the hammerhead turned into its rocket-propelled assault mode and ignited its thrusters.
Seeing the massive rocket hammer, Shirou dismissed Kanshou and Traced another Bakuya before hurling the two white blades away and took flight away from the deadly looking hammer.
Out of the entire group, Shirou was definitely the slowest when it comes to flight. Thankfully, he made up this inadequacy with his battle instinct he had gained from the memories of his alternative selves. Moving out of the way in a split second's notice before flying off in another direction, Shirou continued to elude the massive hammer which was approaching supersonic speed.
"Rho Aias!" Shirou shouted with a raised hand as Graf Eisen approached him from above. The sharp point crashed into the four petals of Shirou's shield before it shattered the first petal. The second petal took a few seconds longer but it still met the same fate as the first.
Shirou gritted his teeth as he held onto the shield. While the first two petals didn't last too long, it had softened most of the force behind the rocket-propelled hammer. The third petal stood firmly against the massive hammer as Shirou Traced Kanshou in his free hand.
As if sensing the appearance of its other half, the two white blades turned in their flight path and started heading toward the black blade.
[Ancommend]
The warning from Graf Eisen came just in time for Vita to see the two approaching swords. "Shield!"
[Panzerschild]
Dropping the rocket form of Grad Eisen, Vita quickly brought up a shield to block the two oncoming swords. A smirk appeared on Shirou's face as he felt the pressure from the hammer fade. Dismissing the Shield of Ajax, the red-clad boy spun and threw the black sword to his right. The two white swords sensing the shift in location of the black one immediately changed their flight course.
While the shield spell had blocked the first blade, the sudden change in the swords' flight path made Vita missed the one passing by her right side, making it slash open a matching wound on her other arm.
"Damn you…" Vita growled out.
Before the two could continue their fight, however, a bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the sealed off battlefield.
Nanoha gasped as she felt her core getting drained. The feeling of pure agony wrecked her senses but she pressed on. In front of her was the massive ball of mana that was the basis of her Starlight Breaker spell. Against her better judgment, she had decided to step out of the spell circle to charge up her most powerful bombardment spell with the damaged Raising Heart.
[Count Zero]
The sight of a pale arm wrapped in a green sleeve sticking out of her cheat was not doing her mentality any favor. In the palm of the outstretched arm extending from her chest, she could see a small spec of light that was releasing pink sparkles that were being absorbed by said hand.
"Get to Nanoha! Stop her from casting that Starlight Breaker before she kills herself!" Shirou's outraged shout caught her attention but she did not heed the warning. Instead, she raised her staff, ready to launch her strongest spell with the nearly-broken Intelligent Device.
"Get out of the way!" Shirou yelled out as Vita continued blocking his path. He had no idea why his enemy had stopped him while Nanoha had her strongest bombardment spell ready but he wasn't going to ask. The agonizing scream from earlier told him enough about Nanoha's condition and firing off any magical spells in her condition can't be good for her body or mind.
"Sorry, but not until Shamal is finished with what she is doing," Vita replied as she continued standing in the swords wielding boy's way.
While Vita was easy to fight while she was swinging around her hammer like a berserker, her defensive style was nigh impenetrable even with both of her arms wounded. Looking around, Shirou saw that the other two knights were blocking off their respective opponents as well. Instead of trading blows as they had previously, the knights were simply reacting to their enemies' assaults. The frustration at his inability to help his best friend continued to gnaw at his mind as he stared down the small hammer-wielding knight in front of him.
"Do you wish to be stronger?"
A light glow appeared on the watch-like Device strapped to Shirou's wrist as the unknown voice popped into his head. If he had a clearer mind, Shirou would've questioned his sanity at that point, but his frustration was getting the better of him.
"These fools seek to take away your treasure. Do you wish for more power so you can protect what is yours?"
"Yes" Shirou growled out as the Device glowed brighter and brighter.
Vita was surprise at the sudden rise in mana coming from her opponent but she didn't drop her guard.
A chuckle echoed through Shirou's head before the voice declared, "Then I shall grant you my power. Show these mongrels what it means to stand before the might of a KING!"
The red three-wing design etched on the Device suddenly shone brightly. It would've blinded Vita if she hadn't shielded her eyes fast enough. The design on the Device, three wings arranged into a semicircle, appeared behind the boy before wrapping around him. Gone was his usual red and black outfit along with the compact crossbow that acted as his Device that rested on his wrist. In place of it was a golden mantle-like armor over his shoulders. His legs were armored by a pair of golden greaves fitted over a pair of black pants and a pair roman sandals wrapped around his feet.
Over his torso, he had a golden piece of armor which extended to his back styled in a tortoise-shelled pattern that left his chest bare. There was also a skirt-like piece similar to his original Barrier Jacket. However, the cloth was lined with gold and had a Mesopotamian design to it. On his back was a pair of golden blades nearly as long as his height.
His hair had also turned from the snowy white into golden blond. The steel gray of his eyes became crimson red with a slit similar to that of a reptile's. The tan skin he previously had turned pale.
"Bab-ilu: Key of the King's Law," Shirou muttered as a set of strange red tattoos appeared all over his exposed body. He could feel the large amount of prana coursing through his body to power up the tribal markings, causing his body to heat up painfully. Ten golden orbs appeared immediately around him in a circular pattern after the tattoos finished forming.
The last thing young Shirou remembered was yelling, "You mongrels! How dare you lay a hand on what's mine!" before his would blacked out, his fatigue from the previous night finally caught up to him.