Fate/Infinity Shuffle
Chapter 251 – Deadman's Hand - Part 2:
Sieg was seemingly surrounded. And annoying Saber in front of him, and the rest of the crew right behind him. Nobody said that being a Solo Player didn't come with detrimental flaws. In an ordinary match, seven people had their attention split between seven opponents. But here, everybody had their eyes on Sieg.
It looked like the six people behind him were waiting for their leader to either attack or give commands. Too much clutter in a battle could lead into becoming more detrimental than useful, especially in a space like the labyrinth.
Luvia stepped forward and performed a downwards slash at the Alter Ego. Sieg blocked the strike, but Luvia didn't even attempt to overpower him, instead rolling with the movement her sword made upon clashing, that is, moving backwards in the swing. With a spin, she performed a new swing to strike Sieg's torso at the side. He luckily had enough time to block it as well. The two had a back and forth of loud metallic strikes before Sieg broke it off with a retreating leap.
"Heart of a Hero!" His words made his sword change into the heavy weapon carried by the Saber of Red. Adaptability granted 'Mana Burst' as a Skill to utilize all of the properties the sword granted.
The moment Luvia's sword vanished from her hands, her teammates knew they were to move in and attack. Ayako and Atrum, as the Archer and Caster they were, stayed back while the other four moved in.
The Solo Player took a quick breath. First, block the strike from Kanata's cutlass, spinning around to throw him off and make him hit the wall beside them. Secondly, place the flat face of the sword in front of his body to stop the simple but deadly knife thrust of Tsukumo, following it up by swinging the weapon upwards to get her arms out of the way before kicking her stomach to push her back. Then, utilizing Mana Burst to increase his striking power, which was visible by the red sparks running through his body in a flash, he delivered a powerful swing against Kaede's lance thrust, stopping her in place. Finally, instead of delivering an attack, he pushed the Lancer's weapon aside and jumped up, utilizing the trio of approaching floating skulls as step-stools to leap over the opponents.
Before Ayako and Atrum could summon their weapons, Sieg dropped down from above and performed a slash with his sword, striking the ground, the shockwave pushing both aside in opposite directions.
Once he stood back up, he turned around and spotted incoming enemies. The first was Angelica, who controlled a hovering plate which she made spin like a buzz saw to cut down Sieg.
He spoke the name of his Noble Phantasm again, making his sword vanish from existence. Instead, he crossed his arms above his head and blocked the buzz saw from reaching him, but injuring both arms in the process. As he held the saw in place, an arrow pierced through his right shoulder, while the Caster approached form the left, holding a set of Chinese Dual-Jian blades and performing multiple slashes swiftly.
As the pain resounded, the Assassin hurled a set of knife at him, striking his legs, while the Rider hurled a bomb, which exploded once it landed on Sieg.
"Right on the target!" Kaede cheered. "Now for my turn!" She raised her spear, but Luvia spoke up.
"Everybody, stop!" He command was absolute. The moment she did so, the Players froze in place, Angelica even withdrawing her weapon from the heavily injured Sieg.
Atrum was confused. "Luvia, with all due respect, just what are you thinking?"
"He's using a Noble Phantasm without weapon?" A rhetorical question, no doubt. "I didn't think you'd fall for the trick."
Just as she spoke, multiple sparks began surrounding Sieg's body, increasing in intensity as the seconds passed.
"Gh…!" Atrum scolded himself mentally. "I see." He retreated, utilizing Magecraft to float away from the area.
"Eh?" Kaede was confused. Ayako didn't question it, fleeing in a cloud of flying sheep.
Angelica hovered away as well. Kanata took Tsukumo's hand and fled the area, running past Luvia.
The Saber with crossed arms snickered. The shadow of Heracles appeared behind Luvia and picked her by the clothes before hurling her away.
Kaede looked around in confusion as all of her teammates retreated. She wanted at least a reason! She turned back to Sieg and suddenly figured out it out. She swallowed dry air before charging away as fast as she could, breaking past walls of the labyrinth, as she did not care to take turns.
The magical energy surging through Sieg's body was close to bursting. Very close.
"CRYING WARMONGER!" His yell released the powerful burst of energy that created a crater and took down the walls all around him.
The radius wasn't that great. Both the Rider and Assassin could escape through the simple method of running. But it managed to do what Sieg wanted it to: drive away his opponents.
He fell to one knee, breathing rather heavily. As his wounds healed through the skill 'Honour of the Battered' and the effects of the Noble Phantasm he borrowed, he began to think.
"I can't take them out all at once. My method for that has already been revealed. They won't fall for the trick again. Maybe I can confuse them by using their Noble Phantasms? But I need to study them one by one to do that. That Saber has something strong… I need to be careful around her. I just need to defeat four people. Saber and Lancer seem to be the stubborn ones, so any of the other five would work."
He stood back up, all of his wounds shut close through the use of Mana as the after effect of the Noble Phantasm. He took a deep breath and focused. He spoke the name of his Noble Phantasm and a tall white bow appeared in his hands. To compensate for its need of experience for usage, the Skill 'Clairvoyance (Archer)' was added to his set. He made a quick search. Well, the easiest target was, without a doubt, the Lancer that ran away in a straight line away from him. "Agni Gandiva." The words came out soft as he pulled the string of the weapon. The weapon appeared, as one would expect, but since he spoke the name of the Noble Phantasm, the arrow became ingulfed in a blue fire. Once he let go of the string, the fiery projectile flew in a straight line towards the fleeing knight. The arrow, amidst its flight, almost turned into a missile.
"Gh-!" The sound of cutting air was too loud for Kaede not to notice. She quickly spun over her heel and hid behind her shield, bracing for the impact. The impact provoked a larger than life explosion. "GAHHHH!" The Lancer was sent flying with scorched armour through multiple walls, eventually stopping once the kinetic energy ran out. Kaede wasn't knocked out yet, but defending from an Anti-Unit Rank A Noble Phantasm was no easy feat. But her wounds wouldn't stop her there. Battle Continuation allowed her to continue fighting regardless of injury as long as it wasn't fatal.
Sieg, however, didn't check on whether the Lancer had been defeated or not. Rather, it didn't really matter: there had been a collision. Worst case scenario, he hd inflicted damage, and that was more than enough taking into account what he had on his plate.
The white bow turned into a tall horse made of crystal. He climbed onto its back and gave chase to the remaining opponents. The oens that he seemed to have the greater chance against: Rider and Assassin. With a neigh, the steed dashed down the path the two fled into.
In the meantime, the hurled Saber was being brough down by gravity. She spun like a professional gymnast. Her eyes were aiming to the perfect platform: the top of one of the labyrinth's walls. Luvia took the position and landed with both feet! She raised her arms, awaiting for some sort of applause, but in this situation, it had to be an imaginary one. Suddenly, a chill of pain rain up from her ankles up to her head, and her face showed the sheer discomfort, or at least she did her best to hide it, only to fail. She turned around and let out a deep breath, now full composed. "Let's see…" She tried to look as far as she could. It was fairly easy to spot Sieg, thanks to the abnormal crystal horse he rode on. "I see you!" Luvia crossed her arms and laughed the way only richfolk were able to do. Two shadows appeared on either side of her. On the left, the chaste huntress, and on the right, the Trojan prince. Both Archers of the Argo. "Show me what you can do."
Multiple green and silver arrows were fired towards the horse by the summoned troops. Once Sieg noticed, he commanded the horse to leap around, to throw off the aim of the two Archers, at least until he would've reached his opponents and gotten the ability to take cover.
It was almost cut short when a set of arrows struck and began to shatter the the rear left leg of the steed.
"Gh!" Sieg got off earlier than he wanted. He jumped off the crustal horse as it fell on its side to serve as a shield for just a few seconds, receiving the blows in Sieg's place as the Alter Ego dashed away as fast as possible. Once the crystal completely shattered, Sieg had spotted the couple he had his intentions set on. The paladin sword appeared in his hand, but quickly changed shape into a cross-shaped, golden sword.
"Looks like we've got company!" Tsukumo had noticed Sieg's presence. She jumped while running and, in a spin, hurled multiple knives at the approaching opponent.
With a wide swing, after placing himself sideways, Sieg got rid of all the knives that endangered him. But once the movement finished, his eyes caught sight of a small bomb headed towards his face. No doubt hurled by the Rider while Assassin took the spotlight.
In a moment of sheer instinct, he flipped the sword sideways and whacked the bomb away with the flat surface of the weapon by making the inverse movement of what he had done before, sending the bomb away and above, exploding in midair. Sieg didn't think of it at the time, but that stunt actually gave away his location to the other members that weren't Luvia through the black cloud the explosion left behind.
The Assassin in the dress swiftly moved in and crossed blades with Sieg. The two exchanged blows until Sieg pushed her away by overpowering her swings. As Tsukumo moved back, Kanata leapt over the girl and performed a downwards slash of his own, predictably blocked by the battle-ready Alter Ego by holding his sword vertically. But once Kanata's feet connected with the floor again, with a smirk and his free hand, the Pirate drew the pistol in his vest and pointed right in between Sieg's eyes.
Unable to use the golden sword to block or stop this, Sieg changed weapons. The golden sword suddenly turned into a red, demonic longsword, while a shorter, yellow sword appeared in his free hand. He quickly slapped the gun and cutlass away by striking the yellow blade against the red, the impact obligating the two to split apart.
While his Noble Phantasm would only replicate only one Noble Phantasm at a time, if it meant the full potential of usage required the use of an added weapon, that one would also materialize. The crimson demonic sword Moralltach was at its best when paired with the yellow blade Beagalltach, which sometimes could even be denoted as a skill.
Sieg aimed the red sword at the two opponents, while resting the yellow one over his shoulder.
"My, my, someone isn't kidding around." Tsukumo snickered. "Should we make this more interesting?"
"Hm?"
"If one of us takes him out, the other buys them five volumes of a novel of their choice."
Kanata smirked. "Deal."
Without missing a bit, the two spoke in unison. "ASCENSION!"
A bright angelic light surrounded Assassin, and once the flash was over, the uniform was replaced by something much more proper for the word dress, pure white, waiting to be stained by blood. In addition, now a black hat covered her head, and the angel-like being that hovered around her gained a rather grotesque mouth.
Rider, on the other hand, was surrounded by a focused whirlpool of water, and once the water ceased, it showed his new trenchcoat and long scarf. A much more regal look for the pirate.
"Oi!" A lout clang of metal sounded behind Sieg. His head turned around and he spotted the Lancer, covered in soot all over her armour. "Mind if I join that bet? Yukika and Kane refuse to lend me money."
Tsukumo couldn't help but giggle. "What kind of teammates would we be if we said no?"
"Great!" She struck the spear into the floor. "ASCENSION!" Kaede's body flashed bright gold. The shield and helmet vanished, but her suit of armour became white-gold, free of any previous damage. Six strips of cloth appeared attached to her back, ending in star-shaped charms. Kaede picked the spear up and posed! One leg bent upwards, and both arms in position. "The Panther of Fuyuki won't lose if it means she'll get Manga for free!"
A bead of sweat appeared on Sieg's forehead. "I thought they said Novels…"
"Doesn't matter!" She didn't waste any time into leaping forward, spear over her head and ready to be driven down into Sieg. The Alter Ego crossed the blades above his head, stopping the tip of the weapon before it could reach him, but the impact was strong enough to make his feet sink into the stone.
"Gh-! What's up with this girl?!" He was amazed by her strength, to say the least.
Sieg's quickly pushed Kaede off of him, where she landed with ease. He quickly turned around and blocked the strikes of Rider and Assassin, that took the chance to attack. He performed a quick spin, driving the two away as red petals manifested from the slash.
The angel that flew around Tsukumo raised above her hand once she landed and opened its mouth, spitting out a beam of light. In quick synchronization, the Rider hurled another bomb and fired his pistol to make it explode before Sieg could do something about it.
The Alter Ego blocked the two attacks by crossing both his swords in front of his body, but that only did so much. The beam and the shockwave pushed him away with some damage. He rolled over the floor but stood up fast, only to have a handful of his hair gripped by Kaede. His eyes widened when she pulled his head straight into her bent knee, a strong, physical strike. As he staggered back, she swung the spear around, striking his torso with the pole of the weaponand making his body slam into a wall.
"GAH!" He let out a short yell in pain. His eyes had closed instinctually, and upon opening them, he spotted the Caster of the Worldly Argonauts floating in the air above, a few metres away from him. Atrum smirked as he snapped his fingers, summoning a rain of purple arrows to fall upon Sieg.
His eyes went from half shut, to wide, to battle-hardened. Sieg spoke the name of the two Noble Phantasms he held and leapt up high while spinning fast, the storm of petals pushing the approaching Lancer, Rider and Assassin away, keeping the three in place as a result, and decimated any arrow that tried to pierce his body. His leap finished in front of Atrum, where he had crossed both swords above his head for a final slash.
"Take-THIS!"
Despite the intimidating look, Atrum was unfazed. He quickly summoned his set of swords and used them to bloack the strike accordingly. But even though the slashes didn't make direct contact, the sheer force drove him towards the stone-hard floor. He was sure to take great damage, had it not been by the bed of fluffy sheep that cushioned his fall.
"What?!" Sieg's eyes couldn't believe it. And if the sheep were there…
His left eye spotted Ayako when it moved to the corner. She was floating through the use of these out-of-the-ordinary sheep, many of which were even helping her aim at his body with the large crossbow.
Still in midair, Sieg turned and crossed the two swords just in time for them to block the fired arrow. But without a floor beneath his feet, his body was pushed across the air as gravity began pulling him down.
Sieg braced for the impact. His shoulder hit the top of a wall of the labyrinth and he rolled over to the floor, landing on his back. A pained yelp and the metal clanging of the dropped swords were followed by a strong exhale. With determination, Sieg jumped back onto his feet, ignoring the pain and leaping onto the top of the wall, leaving the two swords behind. Once he stood atop it, the two swords on the floor vanished, and his original Paladin's Sword reappeared in his hand.
The floating and hovering Caster and Archer were the first opponents he spotted once back in battle. The two must have said the word 'Ascension', as the two suddenly changed in outfits.
With a gale of blue, red and gold, Atrum's uniform became much more decorated with regal elements like added gold in his clothes, and even the addition of a set of shoulder pads.
For Ayako though, after a torrent of golden fire ran through her, her dress changed into a completely different orange outfit with puffy white collars and trimmings.
Sieg took another deep breath and once his eyes opened, he spoke. "Heart of a Hero." The sword in his hand vanished again. Right on his right side, a strange object appeared. A tall weapon, taller than him. A pillar of bronze with a handle. One couldn't immediately tell what it was, and those that had doubts were immediately cleared once Sieg took the handle and aimed it.
It was a cannon.
Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile 'The Iridescent (Rain) Bow that Signals His Triumphal Return Sonorously': Anti-Army A
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