A/N : Hello again everyone! Welcome back to my crossover story. Wow 53 favs and 65 follows in just a day?! I'm surprised! I don't really think that my story was that good to gather these many readers here. Anyways, I just want to clarify things for a bit. Some you are asking me just how strong is? And will there be any other characters from FSN besides Shirou?
Now to answer the first question, in this story, in term of combat and weapon making, Shirou is as good as Archer (Nameless). But, his blacksmithing skill will eventually improve to the point where his smithing will become as good as Sengou Muramasa. So, that means Shirou will eventually able to create a weapon that's equivalent to a Divine Construct in the future chapter. And the Shirou I used in this story is the Shirou that have gone through a mixed route between the Three main routes with UBW Shirou as the core personality.
And to answer the second question, the answers is no. There will be no other characters from FSN besides Shirou and Zelretch (?), Though, I'm planning to give Shirou a servant from the other Fate series. A servant that's strong enough to assist him while he's staying in this world. I still have no idea who would it be, but they must have an EX-Rank Noble Phantasm if not then I'll just give Shirou another type of power boost. I hope you guys can give me a recommendation later on.
Fate 1. Captured.
Walburga is currently reviewing the plan and the preparation for their upcoming Operation.
In the next few hours, the Hexenchant magicians will depart for Italy to carry out the mission that was requested by their client, Diodora Astaroth. And that is to capture the Holy Maiden known as Asia Argento.
To be honest, Walburga is actually not willing if she has to carry out a mission requested by a Devil. And she was only willing to do all this just because the green-headed devil had given her a very tempting gift. A gift that will greatly benefit the Hexenchant magician group.
She actually still didn't quite understand the reason why the little brother of the current Maou Beezelbub, Diodora Astaroth wanted them to capture Asia Argento. But, remembering that guy's fetish towards Nuns and Holy Maidens, she assumed that Diodora probably wants her so that he can rape her, break that poor nun's mind, and force her to join his peerage. She could already guessed his intentions and it because she already knew that the members of her client's peerage were all nuns.
Walburga initially still felt disgusted at the reason why Diodora wants Asia Argento, but there's nothing else that she could do but just do exactly what Diodora have requested from them.
Diodora have already requested and gave her lots of valuable presents as payment for her and her organization's services, and as a good mercenary, it's only appropriate if she gives her client the best result.
"How's the preparation going along?" The lilac witch asked one of her subordinate who's in charge of supervising the preparation process for their upcoming operation.
"Everything went just fine ma'am. The preparation will be ready in no time." Her subordinate reply with clarification.
"Good. We will leave in three hours, make sure everything is ready by then." She ordered before leaving her subordinates to continue on with their work.
In three hours, the Hexenchant will depart to Italy to assault the Papal Palace in order to capture the Blessed Maiden of Rome.
She knows that this won't be an easy task, because the Holy Maiden will surely be heavyly guarded by many top-tier exorcists from the Holy Church. But, that doesn't mean it would be impossible. If they plans their move carefully, they should be able to succeed in capturing the Holy Maiden.
But still, she couldn't shake off the feeling that this operation is going to be a doozy.
[LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE!]
Xenovia and Irina went jogging down the streets of Vierbo. The sun had already risen, and there were some people out in the streets. There were those commuting to work in their cars, some by foot, and a few joggers getting their early morning run in.
Xenovia and Irina are both exorcists from the Holy Church. The two of them were just done doing an errand for their mentor, Sister Griselda, and right now they are currently on their way back to their hideout.
Sister Griselda have specifically told the two of them that they both should return back to their hideout before eight o'clock right after they're done completing the task that she gave them. And if they don't reach their hideout in time, then they will face a terrifying consequences.
"Come on, Irina we must hurry back to our hide out!" Xenovia said to her friend while in a hurry.
Xenovia is a young woman who appears in her late teens' with chin-length blue hair with a dyed green fringe on the right side and brown eyes. She's currently wearing a blue sports jacket along with a matching sports pants and green sneakers.
"Relax Xenovia, it's still seven in the morning we have more than enough time to reach our hideout just in time." Irina said as she tried to reassure her friend that they will make it back in time.
Irina is a beautiful young woman who appears in the same age as her friend, Xenovia. She has violet eyes and long chestnut hair that is usually tied into twintails, each held with a blue scrunchy. She wears a similar sports outfit just like Xenovia, the differences is that the color is pink instead of blue, and the color of her sneakers are red.
"That might be true, but that does not mean we can waste time. We have to get to the hotel immediately where everyone has gathered on time. Because I don't want to face the anger of sister Griselda if we arrive late like the last time." Xenovia stated as she mentally shuddered as she remembered the punishment she received from sister Griselda the last time she's late.
"You don't need to be so tense, Xenovia. We will definitely get there on time, and our hiding place is only a few blocks away from here." Irina said reassuringly to her friend. She smiles brightly at Xenovia as she gives her a thumbs up.
Xenovia sighed and gave a small smile to her friend. Irina is always like that, she is always optimistic and cheerful, even at serious and critical times. There are times when Xenovia can get really annoyed at Irina for how gullible and easy going she can be , but despite that she still consider Irina as her closest friend and trusted partner. As fellow exorcists and agents to the Holy Church, the two would often go on missions together. They are inseparable.
The two young exorcists continue making their way back to their hideout while having a little chat with each other. However, Xenovia who wasn't really paying attention to the road accidentally accidentally bumped into someone.
"Gah!"
"Ugh!"
Both Xenovia and the person she accidentally bumped into groaned as they fell flat to the ground on their butt.
Xenovia rubbing her sore butt and she was about to reprimand the person that bumped into her. But she discouraged when she realized that the person in front of her was actually older than herself. And for someone who has been raised by the Holy Church ever she was little, she has been taught to respect someone who's older than her.
"Xenovia are you alright?" Irina asked her blue-headed friend as she helps Xenovia up back to her feet.
"I'm okay, my butt feels a little bit sore though." Xenovia replied while still rubbing her aching butt. She then turn her attention to the person that she accidentally bumped into and apologize, "I'm sorry for bumping into you, sir. I wasn't paying attention to the road."
"Yes, please forgive my friend here, sir. She can be a bit of an airhead sometimes." Irina also apologize to the person in front of her in the behalf of her friend while Xenovia grunted for being called an airhead. Even though what Irina said is true.
"It's okay, it was just an accident after all." The person said, brushing off the two young girls' concern as he stood back up on his feet.
The person that Xenovia accidentally bumped into is a man who appears to be in his early twenties and he's definitely a lot taller than Xenovia and Irina.. He has auburn hair and golden-brown coloured eyes. He wears a green sweater, black slim jeans, and brown shoes.
The man dusting himself off before looking at the two young girls with a warm smile. "You two seems to be in a hurry to the point that you two didn't even notice me on the road."
"Yes, we are in a very hurry. And again sorry for bumping into you." Xenovia said as she apologizes to the man once more.
"It's alright, really! I'm not angry at all." The man said reassuringly to the blue-headed girl.
"Are you a tourist?" Irina asked all of the sudden. Her unexpected question makes both Xenovia and the unknown man to turn their gaze at her.
"Yeah...I'm a tourist. How did you know?" The man asked quizzingly to the pig-tailed haired girl.
"Well, you've been talking in English instead of Italian, and you also have a traveling backpack." Irina said while mentioning at the backpack that the man carries.
The man looks at his backpack for a second before he starts to chuckle, "It's really that obvious isn't? Man...I'm so glad that I've finally find someone that can speak English. By the way, are you two locals or a tourist like me?" The man asked.
"Umm...we're locals. But why do you ask, sir?" Irina said hesitantly. She didn't like the fact that she have to lied. Lying is a sin in her religion, but she couldn't tell the man in front her that she and Xenovia are exorcists.
"Well...you see, I'm in need of help at the moment." Shirou answered truthfully to the chestnut-haired girl in front of him.
"What kind of help?" Xenovia asked curiously to the man.
"Well, I was looking for a place where I can buy a map. But as you can see, I can't really speak Italian well enough, and I can't really interact with the other locals since none of them can't understand what I am saying. And I would really appreciate it if you can tell me where I can buy a map." Shirou explained politely to the two young girls in front of him as he told them the reason why he needs their help.
"Well, I know where you can get yourself a map. But, it's a little bit too far away from here. I can take you there, but why do you need a map anyway? Can't you just use Googlemap or a GPS?" Irina asked bluntly which causes the man to blink his eyes.
"Ahaha, yeah that's true. But, unfortunately I can't really use any of those two. I can't use a GPS because I don't have one to begin with. And I can't use Googlemap because my cellphone is ancient." The man answered shyly while scratching the back of his hair.
"Oh..." That was the only sound that came out from Irina's mouth. She couldn't believe what she just heard from the man's lips. She's utterly surprised when the man in front of her admitted that he doesn't have a GPS nor a Smartphone. What kind of person who doesn't have GPS or Smartphone in this digital age. "I-if that's the case then I recommend you to buy a Smartphone or GPS. Anyway, if you still need a map, I can take you where you can get one."
Irina then gestured the man to follow her, but before they can even go anywhere, Xenovia suddenly stops her friend.
"Irina where do you think you're going?" Irina asked her fellow exorcist in a whisper tone.
"I'm going to take this man to the nearest store where he can buy a map." Irina respond easily with a laid back attitude.
"Not a chance, Irina! Remember what sister Griselda said? We need to get back before eight. If we take a detour then we won't be able to make it back in time!" Xenovia reprimanded her friend with a slight loud voice to make her point clear.
"I know that, Xenovia. But, this man needs our help. As a good samaritan and faithful follower of our Lord, it's our duty to help those in needs!" Irina retorted with same loud voice as her friend.
Xenovia wanted to retort, however she found herself unable to come up with a good excuse to argue with Irina's statement. That's because basically what her friend's are saying is right. As a devoted follower of God, it is her duty to help those who needs assistance.
"You're right, Irina." Xenovia conceded, admitting what Irina said to her was right. It's true that she's scared to be punish by Sister Griselda, but her responsibility as a good samaritan and faithful follower of the almighty comes first. She then turn her attention to the tourist. "Very well, sir. Follow us, we'll take you to the nearest store where you can get yourself a map." Xenovia beckoned the man to follow them. Xenovia and Irina then starts leading the tourist to the nearest store that they know around here.
"Thank you, and...uh...can you two stop calling me, sir? You guys making me sounds like I'm really that old. I'm still twenty two years old, you know." The man said humorously to the two young girls who's leading him to whatever store they are taking him.
"Really? Then what should we call you?" Irina asked the man quizzingly.
"Shirou. Just call me, Shirou." The man answered, finally introducing himself as Shirou.
"I see. Shirou it is then. My name is Irina and this is my friend Xenovia. Pleased to meet you, Shirou." Irina introduces herself and Xenovia to Shirou with a cheerful smile.
"Hm...pleased to meet you as well, Irina, Xenovia." Shirou returns the greeting with a warm smile to both Xenovia and Irina.
Irina's cheeks flushed red after seeing Shirou's warm smile. He didn't know that Shirou could look so cute when he smiles.
'No Irina! Bad thought! Bad thought!' Irina mentally berated herself while aslo trying to get rid off the bad thoughts from her mind.
Meanwhile, Shirou was a bit confused after seeing Irina's sudden weird antic, but decided to just shrug it off.
About twenty minutes later, the three of them arrived at a shop called 'De Auditore'.
"Are you sure that I can buy a local map at this store?" Shirou asked doubtfully to the two young women next to him.
"Don't worry, we've been to this store for several times. I'm one hundred percent sure that you can buy a local map here." Xenovia said reassuringly to Shirou.
Shirou looks at the store for a moment before nodding his head.
"Alright then, thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it." Shirou said with a smile. Thanking both Xenovia and Irina in gratitude for their aid.
"Don't mention it." Xenovia said. "We were just doing what a good Samaritan should. But we really do need to get to work now. If we don't leave soon, we'll be late."
"Working at your age?" Shirou asked in surprise, but then nodded approvingly. "You two reminds me of how I used to be when I was your age. Ah, but never mind me. Shall I call a taxi for you? It's the least that I can do for helping me out." Shirou offered to the girls. Since they have helped him to find the store that sells a map, then it is only appropriate for him to return the favor.
"Oh, no. That's all right," said Xenovia politely declining Shirou's offer. "We'll walk."
"Besides," Irina chirped, "we don't have any money on us right now." She admitted shamelessly
Shirou smiles at them. "All right. Go on, then. And be safe."
"We will, thank you."
"No...thank you."
Xenovia and Irina then left Shirou as they make their way back to their hideout as quickly as possible.
[LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE!]
They arrived at their destination, the largest and most luxurious hotel in the city, about fourty minutes later. They showed the front desk a card key that proved their temporary residence here, then took an elevator to the topmost floor. There were many people milling about in the hallways, none of them Xenovia and Irina's age. All of them were sporting a gun and the bladeless hilt of a sword at their hips. Like the two of them, they were all exorcists.
They went to the largest room, where already some other exorcists were gathered and waiting. At their head was a tall woman, in her late twenties or early thirties judging from appearance alone, with icy blue eyes and long golden hair. When she saw the two of them enter the room, she went over to them and gave Xenovia a painful pinch on the cheeks.
"You're late," Sister Griselda said as she suddenly pinch both of Xenovia's cheeks. "Where were the two of you?"
"Wai'! I fan exflain!" Xenovia squealed as she tried to pull away.
"I told you when the meeting was," Griselda scowled at both Xenovia and Irina. "You should have had plenty of time to set up the barriers and get back here. What took you?"
"We had to help someone," Irina explained, looking entirely too amused by Xenovia's predicament.
"Oh, is that so?" Griselda released Xenovia, allowing her to rub her raw cheek ruefully. "You did finish setting up the barriers, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am," Irina replied immediately, like a soldier speaking to their squad leader or General. "All around the Palazzo dei Papi and the north sector, just like you asked."
"Good," Griselda said simply before continuing. "Then go get something to eat and rest for a few hours before we leave."
"Yes, ma'am," they said and left, leaving only those few exorcists who were permitted to attend the meeting, the captains, behind.
They went to their shared room after that. There Irina kicked off her shoes and flopped herself on the bed and stretched her body, yawning as she did. "Say, do you think that man, Shirou is going to be all right on his own?"
"I'm sure he will be," Xenovia replied as she sat down at the desk and took out her gun from a hidden holster. She began dismantling it to give it a thorough maintenance, being careful to extract the light crystal from inside as she did. "He can't speak Italian, but his English is pretty good. And lastly, he's a grown-up man, I'm sure he will be okay. You should make sure your weapons are okay."
"I already checked them last night," Irina moaned, waving one hand dismissively. "I wanna sleep for a bit. We've been up since four."
"Don't be lazy." Xenovia reprimanded her friend.
"I'm not being lazy. Being rested is an important part of preparation." Irina retorted with a very logical reason.
Xenovia found that she couldn't argue with that. "Fine. Do you want to get something to eat first, at least?"
"Hmmm... guess I should." Irina hopped off from the bed and went to grab the telephone. "I'll call room service. Is there anything you want to order?"
"Anythings fine."
"Okee-dokes."
[LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE!]
"Okay...let's see. Where's the Cathedral would be?" Shirou mussed as he looks at the local map that he just bought.
After he managed to get a local map by buying it from a shop called 'De Auditore', Shirou immediately opened the map and studied it.
Currently, he is looking for the location of the Cathedral in this city through a local map that he is currently reading.
Shirou could not find the location of the Cathedral on the local map, but he found the location of a small palace called the Papal Palace which was located on the top of a hill about three miles away to the north from his current position.
"Is this small palace is the Cathedral that Zelretch means?" Shirou muttered in a curious tone.
He was not so sure that the small palace called Papal Palace was the Cathedral that Zelretch referring to, but it's worth to find out. Then again, he doesn't really know how the Cathedral in Europe looks like, he's an Atheist after all and he's only been to a Church for a few times. And that was from a long time ago when he was participating in Fifth Holy Grail War.
Without wasting any more time, Shirou immediately went to the Cathedral which was where he had to go. He still remembered what Zelretch had instructed him in the letter he had read last night.
He remembered that Zelretch had told him to be at the Cathedral at exactly ten o'clock because there would be a big event there. He didn't know what would happen there, but it seemed like anything that would happen was something important.
Shirou carefully followed the path to the Papal Palace based on the route he saw on the map.
Setelah berjalan selama lebih dari Dua jam, Shirou akhirnya dapat melihat the place of his destination.
The Papal Palace, which Shirou speculate to be the Cathedral that Zelretch referred to in the letter that he read last night, is located right on the top of the tall hill in front of him.
He had to admit, the architecture style of the building looks pretty old for a Cathedral. Unlike the ones back in the east.
The Cathedral still looks a little bit far away from his current location, probably around a few hundred meters away from his possition.
Shirou was about to continue his journey to the Cathedral, but it was at that moment something unexpected happens.
[BOOOM!]
Shirou suddenly heard a loud explosion that came from on top of the hill, when he raised his eyes to look at what just happened, his eyes went wide when he saw the castle is now has been engulfed in a burning flames, with thick plumes of black smoke filling the air.
"Oh no! I'm too late!" Shirou exclaimed. Dread and panic wash over him.
Seeing the Cathedral is engulfed in a burning flames like that reminds him of the Fuyuki Great Fire incident that happened fifteen years ago.
Without thinking, Shirou quickly runs towards the burning castle with his enhance speed by reinforcing his legs and lungs, hoping that he would arrive on time to save the people that's probably trapped inside that Cathedral.
While he was running towards the burning castle, Shirou internally wondered if this was the big event that Zelretch was talking about. If it is, then he finally understand why the old vampire wants him to be at the Cathedral before it happened. But, he was too late, he no longer can prevent this incident from happening. The only thing that he could do now, is just go there and save as many people as he could.
Because that is what a Hero would do.
[LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE!]
(30 minutes earlier, before the incident happened.)
After eating, the two slept for a while, waking up again when the call for assembly went out. The first group of exorcists went down through the elevators. They were to serve as the vanguard, securing the path to the Palazzo dei Papi – the Papal Palace – and would later function as the outer perimeter defense. About half an hour later, the second group went. Griselda led this group, taking with her the bulk of the most experienced and skilled exorcists. They were the direct escorts for Asia Argento and would guard the inner perimeter of the Palace once they were arrived.
Asia Argento was the same age as Xenovia, but appeared several years younger. She was smaller than her, more frail. And seeing her walking down the hallway beside Griselda, dressed in ornate white vestments embroidered with cloth-of-gold, Xenovia was strangely reminded of a dress up doll.
When they were gone, only Xenovia's group was left. They were the smallest group, numbering only twenty in all. Unlike the other exorcists, they were not dressed in the black formal suits fitting for the event. They were wearing sweaters and t-shirts and jeans and slacks. They were the plainclothes units and would intermingle among the audience to preemptively stop any potential disruptions, whether it be as innocuous as a heckler... or something far more sinister.
They left the hotel an hour later, alone or in small groups, never numbering more than three at a time. Each group made sure to put plenty of time between their departure and the last group's to avoid any suspicion. Xenovia went with Irina. They took a longer roundabout path to the Papal Palace, making numerous stops wherever seemed natural. They pretended to window shop in the markets, admired a large copper statue in the town square, and rested at a park before winding their way to the Papal Palace. By the time they arrived, another hour had passed.
Xenovia was pleased to find that the Palace was teeming with congregants, many of whom were teens, some nearly as young as her, or young adults. This was their first stop in the month long evangelism tour that had been scheduled, and Xenovia had been afraid that it would be unsuccessful. Too many young people these days were a godless sort, so Xenovia had expected few people would show up, or that only the old and elderly would. She was glad to have been proven wrong.
Irina tugged Xenovia by her sleeve. "Come on, let's get inside."
They went in, following the thick flow of people through the main gates until they were in the courtyard. There were twenty rows of benches, but they were all already filled, so they stood closer to the walls, where many of the exorcists were stationed, who were constantly relaying information to one another through their wireless earpieces. Towards the back of the yard, a large wooden platform decorated with thick red and white velvet had been built, with a podium and microphone on top.
As the last of the congregants filed in, the door to the inner halls of the Papal Palace opened, and Asia Argento came out escorted by Sister Griselda and a few other men and women. A hushed silence fell over the crowd, and many of them began to whisper in a reverent awe seconds later.
Such a reaction was to be expected. Within the Christian circles, Asia Argento was something of a celebrity. It was said that she had been blessed by God and communed with him directly, and that with but a touch and a prayer she could restore a person to perfect health. There were more than a few before-and-after pictures floating around in the internet to attest to the feat, despite the Church's efforts to suppress them. It was dangerous to allow those pictures to circulate, because the laity were more correct than they realized.
Although it wasn't certain if she truly could commune with God, it was true that her healing gift was a result of God's miracle: A Sacred Gear. Divine tools or abilities imparted upon the souls of a lucky few so that they might spread God's word in the world, though there were many who perverted its purpose for more nefarious, selfish deeds.
For those not in the know, she truly was a miracle-worker, and with their overwhelming support, Asia Argento had been canonized as a saint, becoming an exception to the rule that one could only be canonized after their death. Thus, she became known as the Blessed Maiden of Rome, or more simply the holy maiden.
For those in the know, she was someone who possessed a covetous gift, one that many powerful people would dearly love to possess and exploit. And indeed, many people had made attempts on the holy maiden in the past, and despite the Church's best efforts that number only grew, not shrink. In the end, they had learned that attempting to suppress information on the internet was a lesson in futility, and had instead opted to simply triple the number of guards assigned to her person.
The holy maiden took to the stage.
"Ah... ah..." she said, testing the microphone. The crowd fell completely silent. "Hello, everyone. Thank you all for coming today. My name is Asia Argento... but I suppose you all already knew that." She laughed with all the nervousness of any child her age would when thrust up onto the stage. A quiet chuckle rippled throughout the congregation, more out of politeness than genuine amusement. "Before we begin, let us all bow our heads and pray." She clasped her hands in front of her and closed her eyes. There was a rustle of movement as the congregation did the same. "Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to gather here today..."
Unlike the others, Xenovia and Irina kept their eyes only half-closed. They were only pretending to pray so that they could continue to keep an eye on the crowd. It was why they noticed a late straggler enter the courtyard. They thought nothing of it at the time, but then another came in. And then another... and another... and another...
"... we thank you for this good weather, that we might come together in such numbers."
Soon, the congregation had swollen to a third again of its original size. Xenovia overheard an exorcist behind her whispering into his earpiece, "Unit eight, what is your situation outside?"
Xenovia shared a look with Irina before touching the silver cross necklace inlaid with a small golden stone at its center that hung hidden underneath her shirt. It was cool and still, causing Xenovia to frown. Was this really just a normal group of stragglers? It seemed far-fetched, but perhaps there had been a traffic jam somewhere that had stalled these people until just now.
"Those here today have taken the time out of their busy lives in order to hear your word. Bless them, Lord. And watch over all those who could not be here. Today, remind us of your mercy and grace, so that we might also be merciful and full of grace to our brothers and sisters on Earth. Guide us, Lord, and give us the strength for this day and all the days to come. Amen."
"Amen," the congregation echoed back.
"Amen," Xenovia whispered while still looking around. A man brushed roughly past behind her, nearly pushing her aside. When Xenovia turned, she saw the man approach one of the exorcists, who noticed him too late. A magic circle appeared around the man's hand, and a blade of ice formed a second after. The frozen dagger was thrust up through the exorcist's throat in a shower of blood. And then, when an explosion rent the air and fire and smoke raged to life in an instant, Xenovia's silver cross necklace trembled and burned hot against her skin.
'What's going on?!'
[LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE! LINE!]
Shirou ran as fast as he could towards the burning cathedral. His breathing is slightly ragged, but ignores it since that's not important at the moment.
As he drew closer and closer to the castle, more and more people were fleeing away from it. It was veritable stampede. Shirou wished that he could have asked one of them what was going on, but fortunately he realized that his Italian is terrible. So instead, he redoubled his efforts and ran even faster by channelling a little bit more prana into his legs.
The front gate of the cathedral was its only entrance, and it was blocked by a pile of burning stones and rubble that comes from the falling stone pillars at both sides of the door. From the other side of the door, Shirou could hear the screams of dying and panic people. His breathing fell shallow and quick and his eyes went wide.
He needed to get them out of there. He needed to somehow free them. A weapon... he needed a weapon that could create a safe pass out of that deathly cage.
For a few, seemingly eternal seconds, Shirou racked his brain for the correct answer. His mind went inside his Reality Marble, he calls out to every unlimited number of weapons that exists in his Unlimited Blade Works, one particular weapon answered his summon. When he got a good picture of that weapon in his mind, Shirou then imagine of pulling that weapon from the hill of swords.
"Trace on." He chanted his signature Aria. The firing hammer of a gun went down in his mind as he projected that weapon into the reality.
An ornate golden spike appeared in Shirou's hand. He pointed it at the wall, a short distance away from the main gate, and aimed at an angle.
"Vajra!" Shirou said, activating the Noble Phantasm. A bolt of lightning ripped forth from the ritualistic dagger and smashed into the stone wall like a battering ram. The stones shrieked and caved inward, with much of the rubble flying into the wall diagonally opposite to it. The effect was almost instantaneous. Within seconds of opening a hole in the wall, the survivors inside came pouring out. Many were injured, but those who were able were helping those who could not escape on their own to get away from the place.
Shirou let his Noble Phantasm dissipate and weaved his way through the outgoing survivors and into the courtyard. There he found a great many people locked in combat, and a great many more already dead.
On one side were magi. They were casting spells of fire and ice and thunder at warriors wielding gun and sword. But their weapons were no ordinary things. Their guns never seemed to run out of ammunition as it fired off bursts of light in rapid succession. And their swords were holy swords, Shirou could tell, mass produced to be of use against the monsters that shied away from the light of their blades.
As the battle raged, there was one person who stood out. A young blonde girl, wearing an unusual nun outfits, unarmed and seemingly helpless as a group of the magi forced their way through the ring of defense that protected her, wounding some and killing others. They seized the girl by the wrist, causing her to cry out desperately for help, and though he was still unsure what the cause of the conflict was or who the aggressors were, that was all Shirou needed to move.
Shirou bounded across the courtyard. He projected his black bow along with two red arrows and then notch those arrows to the string. He carefully takes aim on his targets before firing those two red arrows to the two magi who was harassing the young nun.
His red arrows successfully meets they're targets. One of the arrows burried itself deeply in the leg of the magus who had grabbed the girl and the shoulder of another one beside. He dismissed the black bow before tracing his go-to-ready weapons, the kanshou and bakuya as they appear on the palm of his hands. With the element of surprise on his side, he managed to beat back the last two of the magi that had surrounded the girl without injury.
"We need to get you out of here," Shirou said and held out his hand. "Hurry, before they come back." He knew that she could not understand his words, but hoped that she would understand what he was trying to say and realize that he was not her enemy. He grabbed her by the hand and led her away, and to his great relief she did not resist.
Some of the warriors and the magi tried to stop him, all thinking that he was a new enemy to fight, a scavenger who had come to steal away both sides' prize. But they were all so embroiled in their battle with one another that none could spare more than a token effort to chase after them without risking being cut down from behind. Though one of the magi was actually able to land a solid attack on him. Shirou grunted when a spike of ice actually managed to burried itself into his back. He ignores the pain, he can worry about the wound once they are safe.
Shirou and the young nun escaped through the hole in the wall and they ran for the city. It took only a few minutes before Shirou could feel the girl dragging him down. When he looked at her, he saw that she was harshly out of breath. She was breathing so heavily, sweating and trembling so profusely, that Shirou knew instantly that this was a person who had never physically exerted herself in her entire life.
However, they were still too close to the cathedral to rest. Even now, Shirou could see some of the magi and warriors coming out of the castle to pursue him, so Shirou swept the girl up in his arms and went that way instead. He was surprised at how light the nun is, not as light as Illya, but it's still extremely light.
For half an hour or more, Shirou ran. He took as many twists and turns as possible so as to lose their pursuers. By the time he finally let the girl down and leaned against a brick wall to support himself, he had also run out of breath, and hot, pulsating waves were emanating from his flank. He touched the area gingerly, and his fingers came up red and wet.
"Stai bene?" the girl asked him as she looked up at him. She had a worried expression on her face, so Shirou did his best to give her a reassuring smile.
"I'm okay," he said reassuringly to the young nun as he pulls the ice spike that previously still stuck on his back. "See... it's not that bad."
The girl's eyes went to his wound. She frowned, looking horrified by the blood, and put a hand over it. To Shirou's surprise, her hand began to glow green, and she felt warm and pleasant to the touch. Shirou was surprised again when he noticed that his wound was closing rapidly. When the girl pulled her hand away from him, there was nothing left but smooth, healthy skin.
"Wow! Thank you!" Shirou said in gratitude to the young nun for healing him. But, honestly she didn't need to do that because Avalon would eventually heal his wound in a few seconds.
He looked the girl over again. There were many Christian symbols and designs on her white dress. Huh, weird. He had thought that for the members of the Church, magic was taboo. But it seemed that, like Kirei Kotomine, she too was one of the rare practitioners still associated with the Church. "Is there anywhere you can go that's safe?"
The girl cocked her head and looked at him confusedly.
Shirou sighed. "Right. What was I thinking? We should keep moving."
"And where would you go?"
Kanshou and Bakuya were immediately in Shirou's hands as he jumped to his feet and looked up at the sky. Dozens of men and women were hovering in the air. The one who had spoken was a middle-aged man, already balding, with an old scar that ran down one eye.
"Boy," he said, causing Shirou to twitch at being called boy by the balding man. He's not boy anymore! He's man and he's already twenty two years old!
"Word of advice; put your swords down and step away from the girl."
Shirou glared up at the man.
Although he had been healed physically, he had still spent a sizable portion of his mana on Vajra. It was a near A-rank Noble Phantasm after all. And more importantly, he was vastly outnumbered. He could still defeat all of them if he's alone, but if he have to fight while protecting the young nun at the same time then he's bound to lose.
But still, Shirou gave them his answer – the only answer he would ever give to people like them.
"If you want her then you're gonna have to go through me!"
They were not pleased. And though their spells fell upon him like rain, he kept his grip firm, stood, and he fought.
Because that was what heroes would do. They won't just give up that easily.
Unfortunately, it's proven to be a futile effort. Because no matter how hard he fought. He's eventually got defeated and he along with the young nun are captured by the unknown group of magi.
To be continued.
A/N : Alright, I guess I will end this chapter right here because it just felt right the right time. Well, anyway I hope you guys enjoyed it and please don't forget to leave some Reviews. Let me know what you think of this story, and if there's any misspellings or grammar errors then feel free to point it out.
And before I completely end this chapter, I want to ask your opinion. Some of you are telling me that Shirou will not stand a chance against beings that stronger than the Satan-class level. So, in order to solve this problem, should I give Shirou a servant with an EX-RANK Noble Phantasm? (If yes then give me a suggestion who will be his servant), give him a Longinus Sacred Gear, or give him one of the Malebranche? Please tell me what power boost should I give to Shirou.
And one last thing, before any of start flaming me or accused for stealing someone's work, then let tell you once again as I have said in the previous chapter. I have adopted Orange Peon's ideas from his story called "The Swords of King and Heroes." I did this because I really like his idea of the story and I want to expand it more.