I don't own any characters except my own OC. The other OCs appearing in this story are property of the following authors:

Deux Silences - Atosaki Kurokawa

Suchbass - Kage

Nomorenamesleft - Yagami Kousuke

Count Valerian - Kirsche Von Einzbern.

Topographic Ocean - Breno Da Roche

AzarielKayras - Leo Wells

I thank you for lending them to me. Now, to the story!

Chapter 24: Real Pain

Oblivious to the three factions that were fighting in the castle situated on the outskirts of the city, at least one of the members of the remaining groups was watching the situation unfold. So the moment a gigantic beam of flame destroyed the entire forest along with many of the familiars which had been deployed in that area, it generated mixed feelings for the observers.

Medea saw the living hell and her shock was evident to all present in the living room. After they saw a pillar of crimson flames on the horizon through the window the sorcereress had decided to investigate what was happening there. yet she never expected what she saw.

"What's wrong Caster?" Arturia asked her when she saw the sorcereress stop and react as if she had seen something unbelievable.

"Impossible… Such flames… Those flames shouldn't exist anymore."

"What did you see?" Ilya asked, really worried as this was the first time she had seen the spellcaster act like that.

"Two beings fighting each other, one wielding the power of a demon and the other of the beast that shouldn't be."

"A fight between Servants?" Shirou asked.

"No boy, what is worst is that it wasn't a fight between Servants. it was a fight between humans. Well, if you can consider those being humans."

"A fight between humans…? Impossible something like that..." Shirou said in disbelief.

It made sense, as a mere fight wouldn't be able to surprise Medea to such an extent, so it was normal for Shirou to be shocked.

"What's more, they turned the area in which they were fighting into a wasteland. The forest that was there was turned into a crater." As she continued to look she saw another figure past the smoke. "Impossible! A Sphinx! Just who are these people?!" she thought out loud, hiding her expression with her hood.

Shirou eyes went blank, he knew of a person able to create such levels of destruction.

"Any victims?!" he asked after a few seconds.

"None," was the answer Medea gave him.

Medea decided to leave the room as the other three moved towards the window and saw a great pillar of smoke in the distance.

From the highest spot in the fortress known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Shirou Kotomine along with Semiramis and Archer of Red saw the great explosion and while Shirou remained calm, observing carefully, Semiramis was shocked with wonder as to who could have created such an explosion.

"Is he a member of the Black Faction?"

"No," Shirou answered. "If they had a person with such power Pleiades would have informed us of it."

"That is true. But then to which group does the perpetrator belong?" she said as she turned back to the other Servant. "What do you think Archer?"

But the girl didn't answer and for the first time since Semiramis met her she showed emotion as a smile was drawn on her face.

Archer of Red jumped from the fortress as she disappeared from her sight, making Semiramis angry because she did not answer.

"How dare that girl ignore me!" she fumed.

"Let her be." At that very moment Pleiades emerged from a golden portal with a frown.

This had become something personal with the Hellhound and the Oni since it seemed that no matter how much she tried to kill them they wouldn't die. Their faction had become such a variable that even when Antares told her to leave them alone she just couldn't.

"He is a very dangerous man. He doesn't belong to any of the factions that my fellows Counter Guardians supervise."

Shirou seemed amused, a sixth power which didn't seem to be bound by the authority of the World. But that was impossible; even he was bound to a certain degree. It made him wonder what those people could possess to achieve something like that.

"The one who created that explosion has a weird arm just like yours, Shirou."

Semiramis looked at her Master, completely surprised by the sudden revelation. He hadn't told her anything about it. Shirou realized the look she was giving him and mentally cursed Pleiades for stating that aloud.

He didn't say anything and ripped the sleeves of his shirt, revealing white sigils on them. As a Servant, even when he had acquired a human body he still conserved his Noble Phantasm. those two arms: Right Hand-Evil Eater and Left Hand-Xanadu Matrix.

Shirou smiled to himself.

"The one who did that seemed like a person coming from hell. I wonder who will win between the devil arm and the god hand."

Julius saw the image on the monitor go blank and the last thing he saw was fire consuming everything.

"Interesting man, don't you think, Julius?" Assassin of White asked, completely amused.

But on his side Julius wore a grim expression. He could only see this as another threat towards his brother Leo.

"No matter what, I can't let this man near him. It's too dangerous."

"Who aren't you going to let near whom, Julius?" A voice that made Julius shiver was heard.

The black-clad assassin turned to see Leo standing on his doorstep, without his usual smile. Julius didn't mind. He had long accepted that Leo didn't see him as a brother at all, so any animosity between the two didn't exist.

Leo didn't wait for his so-called brother to answer and just looked at the images on the monitor. He stood there for a few moments analyzing every possible detail and piece of information available.

"Do we know who this people are?" Leo asked, completely serious.

"The two who turned the forest into a wasteland appear to be teammates of the man who managed to defeat Blackmore." Julius said without emotion.

Leo seemed to wonder for a second.

"Deploy more cameras. We need more information about this little group."

"As you wish."

Leo began to walk away but he suddenly stopped.

"Don't forget your place, 'Brother.' You don't have the right to decide what I do nor whom I meet."

Julius didn't answer and Leo took his silence as understanding and left the room. The orange-haired Assassin who had seen the whole scene whilst completely ignored by Leo just stared and couldn't help but wonder what had happened between the two.

To others, Leo seemed like a cheerful person and he treated them kindly, but with Julius, Julius was a completely different story. He was chillingly cold towards him, as if he were a different person. No, that was wrong. The truth was that Leo couldn't treat Julius as a person because in his eyes, Julius was never a person in the first place.

"Are you alright, Julius?"

The raven assassin didn't answer right away, and he kept staring at the spot where Leo had been standing.

"… Yeah… Let's keep watching… Assassin."

The last thing Kousuke remembered before his mind erupted into chaos was everything turning crimson.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his body hurting but not unbearably so, though the pain felt fresh. It was hard to move. He noticed the upper part of his black kimono was gone and his body was covered in burns. He could smell charred ground and wood and the great temperature around him. He really didn't have the slightest idea of what had just happened. Then sudden images began to come at him.

Him punching Edward.

Tamamo on her knees telling him to come back.

A person who resembled a hellhound more than a human.

As the images continued to come he put a hand on his forehead and tried to stand up.

"Don't move too suddenly. I didn't hold back with the last attack." Kousuke heard a familiar voice speak.

He barely managed to get on his feet and moved his eyes towards the sound of the voice, and they widened. Edward sat a few meters in front of him, his aspect different to say the least. It was hard to recognize him at first because of the crimson mask which covered his face. Seconds later the mask cracked and the left part of it fell to the ground and revealed his features.

"Edward…" Kousuke looked at him carefully. He had a hole in his stomach and a second deep cut on his right pectoral. "Just what…?"

Edward just sighed as he remained seated. He would like to stand up and reassure him he wasn't as bad as he looked, but that would be a lie. Truth to be told, Kousuke should have been in worst condition than Edward as he received such an attack head on, and while the final strike of the oni absorbed part of the impact, that only avoided immediate death.

After the clash, Edward used what remained of his power to heal Kousuke the best he could.

"Don't worry… Besides me, you didn't hurt anyone," he said with a grin. "The forest on the other hand…"

In that moment Kousuke began to look around him. They were inside a big crater and besides the crumbling castle there didn't seem to be anything near.

"Just… what happened?"

Edward sighed once again.

"You really are a tough bastard. Honestly… if I just had to beat you… I wouldn't have to go so far. But stopping someone is always… harder."

Kousuke didn't know how to answer, but the images coming at him made him understand what had happened.

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

"Don't worry about it. But could you go back to the castle? The others might need help."

"You sure? You seem—"

Edward interrupted him. "Don't worry, I'll catch up later."

Kousuke turned back and began to slowly walk away, still painful to move. Suddenly Cerberus, the silver wolf appeared and signaled with his head like telling him to get on.

"It seems he got attached to you," Edward said with a laugh.

Kousuke didn't turn and simply hopped on the wolf which began to run, not daring to turn back. He had seen the state he was in and understood the reason he asked him to go ahead. As a sign of friendship and respect he decided to obey.

In the state Edward was in he would only slow Kousuke down so he couldn't bring him along.

"You better catch up!" he yelled before disappearing in the distance.

Edward saw him leave his sight as the hounds on his shoulders completely broke and the fragments turned into ashes before reaching the ground. The silver flames surrounding the hole in his stomach disappeared and while the hole had closed a little, it wasn't near healed. Edward began to breath heavily.

"Really… Nero is… going to get angry," he said with a weak smile. "I'm… leaving the rest in your hands… Kousuke."

He was about to pass out, but in the next moment he heard a sound that woke him up a little and he turned his head. He couldn't distinguish the entity due to the darkness of the night but stood up, expending the little strength left in him. He didn't know how it managed to get there without him or Kousuke noticing.

"I must mention how much I despise the way you manage to cheat death so easily, Hellhound."

It was weird, the voice sounded happy. It took him a few seconds but he recognized the being in front of him.

"Crap." That word was perfect for the situation.

Kousuke moved at great speed through the wasteland that sometime before had been a forest, until he arrived at the castle walls. The outer walls were full of big cracks and seemed they were barely kept standing. He could hear the sound of a battle coming from the broken room where his fight had begun.

He prepared to continue when a pile of rubble near the wall began to shake and Nero emerged, her dress covered in dust.

"Really Praetor, I know I told you I love such grand displays, but you need to be more aware of your surroundings," she complained to no one in particular as she tried to clean her dress.

Suddenly she noticed Kousuke on top of Cerberus and for a second her eyes turned blank, and in the next moment, before the samurai could even blink, she rushed at him, grabbed him by the neck and pushed him into the ground.

"Where is he?!" she yelled. "Where is my Praetor?!"

Kousuke was to surprise to answer he could see the hate in Nero's eyes. He didn't completely remember all the details, so he didn't know he had pierced her Master's stomach before her very eyes.

"Answer me!" Nero yelled as she tightened her grip.

Suddenly Nero felt a bit of pain on her arm. Cerberus was biting her while looking at her with pleading eyes. In that moment Nero realized the wolf was still there and let Kousuke go.

Kousuke coughed a little before looking at the red-dressed Servant.

"He is at the center of the crater. He told me to go ahead," Kousuke said while Nero continued to glare at him.

Nero began to walk away.

"Saber…" Kousuke said, making the emperor stop. "Your Master beat me."

Nero didn't turn.

"Of course he did," she said with a solemn voice. "He promised me he would, and not once has he broken a promise."

Kousuke smiled a little at the statement. He understood she was just hiding her concern since just a few moments ago she was ready to break his neck believing her Master dead. Normally he would be angry about this but he knew that Tamamo would have done the same in her situation, so he let it pass. After all he owed the Hellhound one.

"That fox is in the basement. She went after Atosaki. Your blade is up there," Nero said, and pointed at the room where she had been a few moments ago. She began to run once again before Kousuke could even say anything.

Kousuke saw her leave but his attention shifted as he heard a roar in the very room Nero had pointed out.

Siegfried yelled in pain as his body crashed into the wall. The strength of the sphinx was something that even the dragon he fought in life couldn't even begin to compare. So as he was fighting a beast that surpassed the one from which he gained his protection, it was possible for him to get hurt.

But instead of feeling despair within, the knight was confused. He was known as a kind person who was very loyal and always helped others, but that very way of life left him with a void inside his heart. Because he helped others, even when at the beginning he didn't mean to, he pushed his own needs to the side.

That was the reason behind the void of his heart, because the more he helped others, the more he began to wonder what his own wish was, what it was he sought in life. People needed a meaning, an objective to work toward. Someone lacking this would be a very broken person. No, wrong, as even broken existences like Shirou Emiya found a meaning, even if that very meaning was twisted as well.

Yet in times past his behavior wasn't so uncommon. No one noticed and the few who did were ignored. Siegfried didn't listen to them because by the time others noticed, his selflessness had become a fundamental part of him. Still the confusion he felt every time he loaned his aid didn't fade and instead pushed him to give even more of himself, trying to get rid of his confusion in doing so.

In his final moments he realized his mistake. He realized what he really wanted. Right now, in front of him was someone completely opposite of him, just like he wanted to be a real ally of justice Ramses was the epitome of a person who followed his own desires.

His confusion stemmed from the fact that such a selfish being could have such power. He rolled to one side to dodge the claws wrapped in fire from the Effigy. The claws left a big hole in the ground, but not only that, the pressure behind the blow made him retreat a few steps even when he wasn't too close.

One hit: that was all it would take to be defeated, even with his great protection, one hit would decide his fate. Not to say that the knight was fighting a losing fight, he had been in a situation like this before, going against the dragon that gave him his invulnerability.

Siegfried jumped toward the head of the sphinx and swung his silver blade with such speed and precision that it should have severed the neck of such a beast. But the sphinx was faster. Moving her head in an impossible way she managed to dodge the attack and the sword only sliced off a few strands of her hair.

Surprised by the dodge, the dragon slayer was too slow to react when the sphinx twisted her neck like a whip and hit his right side with a head covered in flames.

The knight crashed into the floor as he cried in pain and rolled to put out the flames. The last attack had left some burns on his right arm, making movement difficult.

His defeat had begun since the moment he had been hit by the shockwave of the Hellhound's last attack. Even when that shockwave didn't hurt him, at the very least it distracted him for a second. Ramses didn't suffer any damage, since the sphinx stood in front of him as a shield to protect him while her body was covered in flames.

That shockwave stopped the fight between the two Servants for a single second, creating an opening for the one who reacted faster. The sphinx was a creature led by pure instinct, so unlike Siegfried she didn't wonder about what could have caused such a big explosion.

Siegfried stood using his good arm and his sword as support. He looked at the eyes of the monster waiting for the next attack, yet the attack never came.

The Pharaoh began to look at the edge of the room, the very same Astolfo and Nero had used moments ago and completely ignored the knight.

"Don't interfere, peon!" Ramses yelled.

To Siegfried such action didn't make any sense, and even seemed like an insult toward him. A few moments later Kousuke, who had scaled the wall with the help of the silver wolf, appeared.

Kousuke didn't answer and continued on Cerberus and for a moment his eyes met the Pharaoh's and no more words needed to be spoken. Kousuke moved at great speed and grabbed his misplaced blade just to disappear seconds later through the hole the Sphinx had earlier created.

"Now we can continue," Ramses declared with a smirk as he saw the knight barely standing. "Now you understand your place, lowly peon!"

The reason he stopped his attack and waited for Kousuke to leave couldn't have been more venal. He really hated the knight in front of him, so he wanted to enjoy the moment he ended his existence. In other words, he gave the knight a break because of his own ego, not an act that could be confused with honor or respect. It was just the Pharaoh playing with someone he considered inferior.

This break didn't last more than a few seconds, but once again Ramses' arrogance had played against him, had he disregarded Kousuke appearance and finished the knight his victory would be assured, but that time lapse, which in any other case wouldn't have made a difference, gave Siegfried the potential to turn the tide of the battle.

Siegfried ignored the pain in his arm and grabbed his blade with both hands. A misty twilight aura began to surround him. Even with all the wounds the Sphinx had inflicted on him the aura grew around him and his sword shone with such intensity under the moonlight that even the Pharaoh couldn't deny it was beautiful.

"Oh? So this is your last struggle?" Ramses wondered in a condescending tone.

Little did he know, what he called a last struggle was Siegfried's Noble Phantasm. The Sphinx ran at the dragon slayer moving with such power that her body wrapped in flames seemed like a comet.

Regardless, Siegfried didn't surrender to the pressure. Even when he could felt death whispering in his ear he didn't lose sight of his target. This was possible because the Sphinx evoked the same feeling of danger and doom of the dragon he had faced in life, so even in a situation between life and death the knight could remain calm.

Siegfried knew that even with his sword he might not be able to win with power alone, so he needed to unleashed it with perfect timing, at the closest distance possible

Too soon, it wouldn't create enough impact to destroy the beast and too late could mean death before he could unleash it.

He heard her roar.

It was too early.

He could feel the ground under him tremble.

Not the time yet.

He could feel the heat of her flames burning his skin.

"O sword, let thee be filled…" he said in a whisper.

He tightened the grip on his blade and prepare to yell the name of the sword that just like Excalibur had for King Arthur provided him many victories in hopeless situations.

"…Balmung!"

In the next second he swung his sword and released a flash of light. Instead of a direct beam like many of the other holy swords the power of the blade manifested like a surging wave with the simple purpose of destruction.

The two powers collided and destroyed what little remained from the room.

But that clash only lasted a second, as in the next, the silver light grew stronger and began to push the sphinx's back. There were two reasons for that: at point blank range Balmung's power increased and the second was that the sword itself was resonating with the soul of the dragon slayer, who was even prepared to disappear if he had to, if it meant defeating the enemy in front of him.

All his resolution and soul were poured into the blade, allowing the knight to overcome a foe that was stronger than him.

Ramses saw all this and while he couldn't blame anyone except himself and his own arrogance, he refused to admit defeat. But in the next moment, Balmung's light consumed the entire room.

Tokiomi felt the castle tremble once again and wondered what could be happening outside. He began to walk away.

"Wait…" He heard Breno's voice.

He turned to look at the young man he had faced mere moments ago struggling to stand up, ignoring all the burns in his body. His blue coat had disappeared along with his tie, and the sleeves of his shirts were completely burned. No matter the perspective, Breno was fighting a lost battle.

Tokiomi sighed.

"Please stop this pathetic display."

"Shut up!" Breno yelled as he managed to stand up.

"Stop this. The only thing you will accomplish is tarnishing the reputation of your family even more."

At this Breno just laughed.

"Someone… Someone like you dares to talk to me about family?"

Tokiomi looked at him, not really understanding what he implied.

"What do you mean?"

"I know all about you, Tokiomi. You threw away one of your own into a foreign family!"

"So? I did it so my heir could develop her talents. Besides, after meeting that future version of my daughter I'm sure my decision was right."

"Future version?"

"I think she goes by the name of Kirsche."

Breno's eyes widened as he began to understand Tokiomi's words.

"Kirsche… is your daughter?"

"You know her? I see. You are one of my daughter's teammates. It's kind of a disappointment that she associated with someone as pathetic as you. Get out of my sight."

Once again a sphere made of fire flew towards Breno, but instead of burning him, the Spanish magus managed to catch it.

Breno wasn't a good man by any means. He was cruel and would do anything in order to achieve his objectives and he knew that. Maybe that was the reason he never got along with the Hellhound, but if there was something he valued above everything else was family, not only as a name but as an entity. He believed family was something that needed to stick together, explaining why his flames were his pride: the flames he had developed under the tutelage of his parents and which embodied all the knowledge they had acquired for generations.

He would do anything in order to keep his family safe and he knew the feeling was mutual between his parents, that they wanted him safe. They would never think about using him, his revenge was something he had decided by himself. He wanted to make the Roux girl pay, and not because anyone had ordered him to. The reason he wanted to kill her, even while the reason may have been stupid, was in order to erase the humiliation they had suffered, as they always stood in their way when the Da Rocha family tried to expand their influence throughout France.

So even when he was such a man, he couldn't forgive one who cast his family away for petty reasons like that.

"You…were right?!" he yelled as his rage continue to fuel his own flames.

"Of course I was. She reached the Root and she is a sorceress beyond even me. That's exactly what I seek for my daughter," the man said happily.

"Don't joke around!"

Tokiomi's eyes widened, not understanding how the man in front of him wasn't consumed by his fire. In truth, Breno didn't understand the reason he was so angry, he barely knew the young lady and he found her kind of annoying and hard to approach. He was still amazed about how the Hellhound had managed to secure her help, and it was just that he didn't want to admit that the man in front of him was right.

"That girl… I know she is powerful… but…" The sphere of fire began to compact. "It's not because of you! Whatever that girl became has nothing to do with you!"

In that moment he shot the sphere back to Tokiomi, who was too slow to react and yelled in pain as the fireball impacted him in the chest, leaving a big burn mark. The only reason he survived was that he had reinforced both his body and clothes.

"Damn… it…" Breno said as he fell into the ground.

Tokiomi, who had fallen to his knees, couldn't understand what just happened, since even if it was just for a moment, the young man had bested him. He took that thought out of his head immediately; Breno had gotten lucky. He'd dropped his guard too much and that was all, simple carelessness on his part.

He continued to repeat these lies in his head as he tried to forget the last words Breno had addressed to him. Trying not to consider the fact that the Spaniard might be right and he could be wrong, he realized the fact that he had just lost to the man lying across the floor in front of him.

This was really a humiliation for Tokiomi. It was one thing to lose against a better sorcerer like Kirsche, but to lose against Breno, who in his eyes was immature and let his emotions get the better of him, was something unthinkable.

"No… not yet," he said as he stood and began to walk to where Breno was lying.

Technically speaking Tokiomi hadn't lost; he had received a blow but could still fight while his opponent couldn't even move. But halfway the ceiling broke, stopping his advance and he saw the body of Darnic land on the ground in front of him.

Seconds later he saw Leo, whose right arm was covered in blood and had all the skin peeled and Kage whose limbs were no longer frozen descended and landed near Breno.

"Maybe now you know real pain," Leo said while looking at the broken body of the one who led the Yggdmillennia.

Darnic didn't answer as he coughed blood and groaned in pain. The old magus sure didn't expect this when he began his fight with the blond boy.

At the beginning it had started the same way as with Kage. Leo moved fast in order to dodge the ice shreds coming at him as he understood, after seeing what happened to Kage, that he couldn't let those things touch him.

Unlike Kage who could fight at long range with his guns, Leo could only fight with his fists, so he needed to get closer in order to fight him. Even when he could stretch his arm out he needed the correct distance for a proper blow.

So even with his great speed and agility it was obvious that the ice would eventually reach him. That was an unchangeable outcome and Darnic knew it.

What he didn't know was that Leo was counting on that. He dashed at the blue-haired magus knowing full well that the ice shards would come at him and that would give him a chance.

Shreds of ice surrounded him after his first step, and before he could take a second all of them flew at him at such speed from every angle that it would be impossible to dodge. He saw this and took the silver cross in his pocket with his left hand before the shreds impacted him.

Icy dust filled the room and Darnic allowed himself to relax, but that feeling lasted only a second as once again, just like the beginning of their fight, a fist came at him. By pure reflex he put his staff in front of his face to block.

The clash lasted less than a second and the arm retracted as the dust began to fade and revealed a pillar of ice with Leo standing at its side completely unscathed. To everybody else it would seem that Darnic had missed, but something like that was impossible.

"Damn! So close," Leo said, a little annoyed.

"You! Why are you still alive?!"

Leo just smirked.

"That's for you to find out."

Leo prepared to go at him once again but when he tried to raise his fist he felt it was heavier. He looked at it and realized that his hand was completely frozen.

"You believed that those shards were my only weapon."

Darnic spoke in a calm voice, as if that previous outburst had never happened.

Leo just glared at him before the ice began to expand on his arm. He tried to ignore it but suddenly he felt a sharp pain and noticed that small points of ice were piercing into the skin. It hurt so much it seemed like someone was ripping his arm out of the socket.

Seeing this, Darnic laughed. Vlad had moved to another room to continue his fight with the bowman, but he was so focused on his so-called opponent that he didn't realize a small fact that would cement his defeat: Balthasar wasn't in the spot where Vlad had left him to die. In its place was just a pool of blood.

"Tell me boy, is this all you've got?"

As the ice continued to expand across his arm Leo glared at the old magus.

"Tell me old man, why do you fight? Because I can't find a bit of sense in any of this."

Leo wasn't having doubts. His words were his real thoughts. To him the idea of a wish-granting device was something that couldn't bring any good. The moment Zelretch proved his thoughts right he wondered why no one ever realized how wrong the very concept was.

A wish, a real one, was something a person longed for to the point it became his goal in life. Of course it had to be hard to accomplish, even impossible in some cases but if there was something that could grant it easily then it completely lost its meaning because a wish achieved that way stopped being one and just a superficial need.

"I don't think you will understand, boy. My wish, the purpose of my fight is the same as any magus. To reach the Root."

In that moment anger began to rise inside of Leo. He wasn't the kind of person who let his emotions get the better of him, but the words of the man in front of him created infuriation.

"For something… like that…" he said in a whisper.

"What was that, boy?"

Leo didn't answer.

"What's wrong? Is the pain too much and you can't even speak?" Darnic said mockingly.

At this, much to Darnic's surprise, Leo laughed.

"Do you think this hurt?" he returned with a smirk.

He began to walk towards Darnic, who was too shocked to move, and he lifted his frozen arm and stretched it like before, breaking the ice but also tearing off his own skin. Blood spilled onto the floor as Darnic finally managed to react and raised an ice wall in front of him.

Leo's fist was stopped by the wall but Darnic didn't have time to relax as the impact left a huge crack in his only defense. But it didn't stop. The punches kept coming and slowly began to break the wall, but at the same time Leo's fists also damaged themselves.

Something like this didn't make any sense to a man like Darnic, to continue something like this to the point of enduring immense pain.

Darnic's life hadn't been easy at all, as when he was young many believed his clan wouldn't survive past the fifth generation, and all the support they used to have eventually disappeared. Friends who had sworn unbreakable friendship to him turned their backs and he was forced to save his clan from ruin.

Part of his sick nature was a product of that, his obsession with the Grail also nurtured by that. He wanted an easy, simpler way to enter the Root to regain the respect his clan had lost. All the humiliation he had been forced to endure while being in the Association, even when he used nourishment to overcome his problems, distorted his previous self.

While it was true he sought the Root, he didn't want it for the same reason as the other families. He wanted to reach it to make it a symbol of victory, to get back at those who made him suffer. In a way it could be said he wanted it for revenge and to gain a control over what he declared was rightfully his.

He became even more ruthless and cold, seeing things like trust and loyalty as irrational and realizing the only value others had depended on what they provided. So, he couldn't believe that all their enemies risked so much for a little girl. If that wasn't the case they could just kill her and that would be out of the way, but what Celenike said before Kage entered his chambers suggested that they wanted to save the healer.

And the worst was that it seemed his side was slowly losing. Leo continued to endure the pain as the bones in his hands began to crack and his skin peeled off. For some reason, after the moment Darnic asked him if he felt pain, an image came into his mind.

The first was the image of the kids crying after he told them the horrible news about their mother's fate. They had lost their home due to people like the one in front of him. They had been forced to experience such a traumatic event because others wanted a selfish wish granted.

"You ask if this hurt?!" Leo yelled as his punches became stronger and the ice wall broke.

Before Darnic could even breathe, Leo's fist smashed into his face and in the next moment more punches began to strike him all over.

"Do you realize how many things have been lost for that stupid wish you seek?!"

Once again ice surrounded Darnic, stopping Leo's attack.

"Stupid?! Someone like you could never understand!"

Suddenly ice spikes came up from where Leo was standing, impaling him through the abdomen.

Leo screamed in pain as his blood began to form a pool around him. Darnic believed this would be enough, but once more Leo began to move, breaking the spikes of ice that were piercing him with his bare hands and ran towards Darnic.

"You're right, I don't understand and I sure as hell don't want to!"

"How?! How can you move after all that?!"

"Someone like you wouldn't understand!" he yelled as he kneed Darnic in the gut before grabbing both sides of his head and finishing him with another knee to his chin.

Darnic fell to the floor.

"Compared to the pain those kids went through, this is nothing."

Leo breathed heavily as his wounds began to heal and he raised his fist for a last time.

"But I will be happy to teach you… Real pain, that is."

His fist began to glow just like during his fight with Achilles. The power was now almost halved since he had received a lot of wounds.The ground around him began to crack as Leo observe carefully his lying target.

"Sev…" The muscles in his arm began to tense up to the point some veins were visible the glow on his fist began to darken. Now taking a darker color.

His fist resemble now more a dark hole as little stones form the cracked floor began to levitate around him.

Normally Darnic would realize this was a dangerous attack but the last knee on his chin had left him disoriented not being able to react at all.

"…Dim Punch!" he yelled as his fist impact Darnic in the stomach.

The punch still had enough strength to destroy the cracked floor and send all present down to the lower levels. It was just a coincidence that they had been over the room in which Breno was fighting.

Tokiomi couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. Their enemies were slowly defeating them. He began to think of a way to turn the tides once more. If his Servant, Gilgamesh, decided to enter the fight, no one in the sixth faction would be able to defeat him, at least not with both Edward and Kousuke in bad condition and Kirsche off the battlefield. But the ancient Hero had declared he wouldn't fight for the Black Faction.

The only thing that could bring the king into the fight was a Command Seal, but the repercussions of making him do something against his will spelled disaster.

Leo allow himself to relax a little after seeing the other man who was most probably on Darnic's side go still. He turned and realized Breno was lying near where he had landed. The debris from the ceiling had barely missed his spot.

"Really? What's with all of you being defeated?" Leo asked with a tired grin.

Kage just glared at him, but before he could say anything back, the crimson sphere he had received from Edward popped up next to him. Weird, he had almost forgotten about it.

"I got Atosaki!" Tamamo's voice was heard through it.

The two Masters, besides Breno who was still unconscious, began to wonder what they were supposed to do. From the beginning the plan was to defeat the Black Faction and rescue Atosaki. Another concern was that Tamamo spoke out of the ghost fire, not its real owner.

"I will search for Archer and your Assassin, Kage. You take this guy back since he can't fight anymore."

Kage nodded.

Leo began to walk away. He had already won. Even if the old man survived he wouldn't be able to fight for long. He waited a few seconds until the hole in his stomach began to close. It was a good thing it wasn't so big. He turned to view the two defeated men before he and his teammates left the room.

Meanwhile in the hallways of the castle the sound of spears clashing could be heard as Tamamo continued to run while carrying Atosaki. It was a good thing Edward had left a ghost fire with her before continuing his fight with her Master.

But after that big explosion she saw in the mirror she wasn't able to get receive any communication from him. The ghost fire still remained so she wanted to believe both of them were fine.

Tamamo was really worried about her master so she ended up taking control of Edward's familiar, an easy task for someone like her.

All her efforts to reach him had been useless. She decided to leave the castle and seek her Master. After all, Kousuke's main goal was to rescue the girl. Beating the other faction was something that came as a bonus.

But there was a problem she hadn't paid too much attention. Getting into the basement, she just plowed through the floor under her until she arrived. So, return was somewhat difficult. It was a good thing that most of the homunculi had been deployed to stop Kirsche. She didn't have to worry about encountering more enemies.

At the same time the two spearmen continued their fight along the way, one with the purpose of stopping their escape while the other's was to protect them.

At this rate they would be able to leave the castle without problems, but as they ran on, one of the walls on the left completely broke down. Odysseus came out from it as he crashed into the other side.

Tamamo stopped. She saw the being previously known as Vlad Tepes emerge from the broken wall and stand in her way.

The Count acknowledged her presence and gave her a vicious smile.

"Do you really think I would let you leave so easily?"

Well the battles all over the palace ending and the final fight between the the two sides begin. Sorry for the delay in chaps but working and writting is kind of hard. Still Please review and i welcome any critics.