* Muv Luv Alternative - Wind Crossing the Battlefield

*Umineko musicbox blue - Untitled 3


Chapter XL: Artificial Anima


* Muv Luv Alternative – Wind Crossing the Battlefield

With neither sword nor shield to help him, the battle between Galahad and Brynhildr was rather one-sided. Or rather, even though neither of them had yielded yet, only one side was truly attacking, while the other was putting all they had into defense.

Ewald had actually managed to loosen the divine seal put on her body.

It was true that it had been made easier thanks to the existence of her Noble Phantasm, Valkyrja: Ride of the War Maiden. Nonetheless, it was something worth commanding him for. Lancer had not felt so powerful in such a long time. Rather than temporarily borrowing the powers of a Valkyria through her Noble Phantasm, she had almost completely reverted back to that state. That wasn't absolutely the case, of course – the seal hadn't disappeared, and her power was still within that of a Servant's scope rather than a Divine Spirit.

But how could she complain about it?

The fire and lightning riding alongside her.

The power of the maidens of war flowing in her limbs.

And her wings – it had been so long since she had had wings on her back, she had practically forgotten how it felt.

In this very moment, Brynhildr's power was crushing. She had nothing to envy even to the Knight of the Grail. She could once again wield her runes freely and fly in the sky like a bird of prey. Not to mention, she was currently very close to her legend's homeland. Scandinavia was further north than England, but it was close enough. The tragic story of Brynhildr was famous throughout Europe anyway, thanks to a certain opera.

And yet, she still hadn't managed to crush that knight.

"Hhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

With a warcry that tore the night apart, Brynhildr descended form the sky above in direction of the running Galahad. For the records, the knight was not running away as much as he was changing the battlefield. Ever since the beginning of their clash, they had been moving around naturally, as the collateral damage would otherwise be desastrous. It was better to spread the damage than raze a district to the ground. But as the knight was on foot, he was constantly at the mercy of the valkyria who had air superiority.

This time, she charged at him diagonally from the side, spear first. Of course, the knight was looking out for her, but he wasn't fast enough to escape her. So instead, that wall of a man constantly resorted to taking it in, just as he did now: he stopped in his course, raised his arms and caught the humongous spear approaching at mach speed.

This was the main flaw in her spear's design – there was enough flat surface to do such a thing. But it would still require a tremendous amount of strength, which the knight was barely able to pull off.

In fact, his legs sank into the ground because he couldn't oppose her overwhelming strength completely. However, his expression didn't change even a little bit – he was staring straight at her, as though he wasn't at a disadvantage. She couldn't ignore that he was holding up admirably well, but this was still a source of irritation for Brynhildr; with a single pull, she freed her weapon from the knight's grasp and swung it horizontally.

This time around, Galahad managed to catch the spear's handle right before the blade could decapitate him. However, instead of entering yet another contest of strength, Brynhildr opted for a new strategy: she took flight immediatly. If that accursed knight wanted to latch on her so much, then she would take him along to where his feet didn't reach the ground.

"...!"

Galahad didn't have the time to react before he was plucked off the pavement and dragged into the sky.

His hand was clutched on the spear handle so tight that he was easy to lift in the air. It seems he didn't think of letting go either, so in the blink of an eye the two of them were flying over a hundred metres above London – or rather, she was flying, and he was dangling helplessly. After gaining enough height, Brynhildr grabbed her spear with both hand and prepared a powerful swing in order to shake him off.

On top of being powered up by her Noble Phantasm and her location, she was using runes to boost her physical parameters. It took more than one swing, since Galahad at least understood she couldn't harm him as long as he was holding her only weapon. For indeed, she had nothing else to resort to: she had tried using her runes directly against him, to no avail.

Even though they were Primordial Runes inherited directly from the god Odin, a power dating from the Age of Gods, the knight's Magic Resistance was too high to inflict any substantial damage. There was also something else, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it – something about him was unnervingly familiar.

In any case, she eventually got what she wanted: after several swings with enough power to knock over a house, the Servant of the Sword was forced to let go.

She flung him far into the night sky.

But she hadn't done all of that just to let him crash on the ground – she doubted that would even scratch him. On the contrary, once she could finally use her spear freely, Brynhildr soared through the sky several times the speed of sound.

And she struck.

And again.

And again.

Everytime Lancer and her spear collided with the knight in shining armor, it was only to come back faster and stronger. Every time, Galahad was helplessly flung around like a cloth in the wind. Without weapon and without the ground under his feet, there was absolutely nothing he could do when the massive blade hit him over, and over, and over again. In fact, the impacts were so powerful that the distance he crossed each time was ridiculous: even though there was less than a second between each charge, the knight still had the time to soar over hundreds of meters.

His legs, his arms, his chest – she made sure to spare no area on his body. She wanted to reduce it to dust, to maim it beyond recognition. Anyone, be they human, Servants or even a Phantasmal Beast – they would be torn apart and scatter to the wind if they suffered an onslaught such as this one.

And yet...

"...His body is hard." She couldn't think of any word. His body was resilient, in the most litteral sense, as if it was made of the hardest metal. "...But there is no such thing as a metal that can't be broken!"

Not giving up, she once again turned back with the grace of a bird to pound on her target. After aiming, there was no way she would miss; she closed the distance in the span of a thought and thrusted her spear.

But this time, something different happened.

THUNK

"Gh...!"

There was a violent shock, and they were both flew in different directions from the impact. It took her a second to understand what had happened: she had indeed struck Galahad with her spear, but in that extremely short span of time, he had retaliated. More specifically, he had kicked her in the face at the same moment he was hit. Even though he hadn't managed to land a single blow until now; she had let her guard down.

It stung.

With the knight's strength and her ever increasing momentum, that kick had definitely left an impression. But the damage was laughable. If that was all he could muster in a pinch, then he had definitely been talking big before. However, the surprise and the pain stimulated her frustration even more. To think that this damned Saber still wasn't dead, and could hit back at that...

"You...!" Brynhildr recovered in the blink of an eye and searched for him. As though gravity had finally remembered him, the knight was plumetting toward the city. "Uruz! Eiwhaz! Pertho! Sowilo!"

As she pronounced these words charged with magic, the runes danced around her spear and disappeared inside it. The weapon glowed with power until it had become a genuine spear of light. She lost no time and soared like a shooting star – she then made a sharp turn and descended toward the knight like a hawk; she could fly faster than he was falling.

"Be torn apart! Brynhildr Romancia: The Spear of Love and Hate!"

In answer to her call, her Noble Phantasm activated.

Originally, it used to be a valkyria's authority as arbiters on the battlefield: one could decide to bring victory, or one could decide that the time had come for a warrior to join the afterlife. But needless to say, Brynhildr didn't have any right to wield that power now. It had been distorted by her humanity and her feelings – a spear to slay those she loathed and save those she held dear.

She couldn't say for certain that her hate toward Galahad was powerful enough to make a real difference, but she could still increase her spear's offensive abilities: namely, it grew to even more ridiculous proportions. At this point, it couldn't be called a spear – it was the size of a street light. But to her, it made no difference: she came down like a comet onto the knight who couldn't move away.

Even after confirming contact, she didn't stop her course and kept diving straight down.

She tried to spot a place where she could crash whilst making the least amount of damage; fortunately, the Thames was right next to them. At this speed, the water wouldn't cushion the fall, which was exactly what she wanted.

(Hm...?)

A fraction of second before impact though, she noticed a gauntlet reaching out and grabbing the spear of light.

But she didn't have the time to think much of it – the two of them reached ground zero. Because they hit the water instead of the shore, there was no impact; at least, if one put aside the gallons of water that rose up in the air. She had accumulated so much momentum that, even after entering the river, they barely lost any speed. And then, in the blink of an eye, they reached the bottom – and the spear's enchantements exploded in a blast of light. Underwater, there was sound, but the intense vibration could make you feel as though it was happening on the surface.

At the very least, instead of the city being bulldozed, it was the bottom of the river that was reduced to shreds. Lancer was blinded by the light – the power of the blast was pushing her anyway, so she flew out of the river. But upon emerging, she felt something dragging her down: something was grasping onto her spear.

"Ah...!"

The knight hadn't let go.

Brynhildr looked down with a gasp. Her Noble Phantasm had split his armor apart and a chunk of his chest had been scorched off. But he was still alive and well; his grip on the polearm tightened, and he used it to pull himself closer to Lancer. The latter was too surprised to react in time before the gauntleted fist met her cheek. The punch packed enough strength to send her plummeting toward the riverside.

Galahad had let go of her spear in the meatime, so unlike her he landed on his feet. Then, he shook his body just like an animal to shake off the water and walked away from the river.

"...It's cold." He complained.

"Tch. Is this all you can do, Saber?" She had quickly recovered. "Both that punch and that kick earlier... I expected more from someone with you confidence. As things are, you can't even hurt me."

"...Indeed. Yet even so, I can defeat you." Was all the knight had to reply before squaring up again.

With his straight face, he didn't even sound like he was bluffing or taunting.

But he had yet to back his words, so in the end it was hard to take him seriously. That being said, she had to admit he had held up well until now. Perhaps was he planning to win a battle of attrition? If that was the case, he would be disappointed – no matter what it took she would destroy him before that could happen. She had to. She had made a fool of herself before by losing to the Archer of Red, so this time she would make sure to grasp victory.

That was the least she could do for him.

The knight's words only fueled her desire to win – instead of taking flight, she rushed straight at him. Galahad tried to use her momentum to sucker punch her, but he was underestimating her speed. Brynhildr side stepped and aimed her spear at him. She was not preparing a mere thrust; with her strength, she could wield her spear with the same speed and agility as if it was a wooden stick.

And thus she drew strength in order to deliver not one, but a swarm of strikes.

A relentless flurry of attack from an oversized weapon. Each strikes carried her will to win. And each time her blade was resisted, that will increased further. All he could do was hold up his arms in front of himself and endure. Eventually, Brynhildr was dealing blows which packed enough power each to destroy a defensive wall, enough to make the ground shake. And yet he was taking them better than any fortress could; but at least, his balance was on the verge of breaking.

One last push – she put her back into her last thrust, and it carried enough might to topple the knight in shining armor and hurl him far away. But she wasn't holding her breath: she knew it hadn't sufficed.

That man... could still stand up.

She had really done a number on him; compared to when their battle had begun, his armor had been split open in many places, and he had gashes all over of his body, not to mention the wound from her Noble Phantasm. But that wasn't something to take comfort in – on the contrary, it was a state that spoke of his unparalleled sturdiness.

"What... are you made of?" She couldn't believe someone could push her this far. "I heard your true name is that of Galahad – I don't know much about your land or your era, but my knowledge tells me you are a human... aren't you?"

"...That would be correct." He said while standing up and dusting off his armour.

"Then how can this be? This goes beyond sturdiness! Does your skin also function as armor? No, if that was the case, you wouldn't need to wear one on top of it. It has to be a Noble Phantasm of yours, then."

Yet, no matter how much she searched through the knowledge bestowed by the Holy Grail, she couldn't find anything about Sir Galahad being unbreakable. But there was no point thinking about it now. Servants abilities could get pretty outlandish, as she had gotten to see before. All she had to do was focus on figuring how this Noble Phantasm of his worked – it had to possess a weakness, and once she found it–

"...That's wrong."

"...Huh?"

But the knight flat out denied it.

"...This isn't a Noble Phantasm. This is simply how I am."

" How you are...you say? No matter how you look at it, humans cannot simply shrug off the power of a valkyria and walk away. In fact, not even demigods or machines should be able to do that."

"...Indeed."

The knight put his hand against his chest. Looking at it again, the wound caused by her Noble Phantasm was not pretty to look at. It was just short of being mortal, at least for a Heroic Spirit. Humans or even monsters would die from something like this. But he didn't seem to be touching it because it was painful. Rather, he was contemplative.

"...I am not human."

"Did you not just say you are a human? Are you implying that you could be both a man, and yet something inhuman...?"

"...That is indeed the case. I am an existance very much like yours, yet different." Galahad went on explaining, visibly unafraid of disclosing such information. "I was born as a human baby and aged like a man, but this me who's moving and breathing was never made to be human... or to live as one... Because of that, I was a bother to people around me."

"An existence similar to mine?" So that was where that feeling of familiarity came from. "However, you aren't a divine being. I know for a fact that you were born to humans and raised by humans."

"...As I said, this is the Galahad walking and breathing. The real me underneath is different... no, actually, maybe we're complementary. We cannot be 'Galahad' without each other." The knight clenched his hand into a fist, but then he lowered his arm. " ...The truth is, I am a Divine Construct."

"A living... Divine Construct?"

She didn't know how much credit she could give to his words. That was because, what she was looking at would be a very rare existence, maybe the only one of its kind. To explain, Divine Constructs were, by essence, inanimate objects. It was possible to make an artificial soul and put it inside an item, or it could be that a weapon or a jewelry was haunted by a curse that would give it a life of its own. However, they wouldn't be organic – their soul ought to be as artificial as their body. A genuine living being within the realm of the divine would actually be a Divine Beast.

The Servant in front of her was not an automata. She didn't even feel like he was hiding something inorganic inside of himself. And the way he talked, it didn't sound as though he was merely a receptacle. This was a living, breathing, normal human being who claimed to be a genuine Divine Construct with a proper body and soul.

Maybe it wasn't worth losing herself in technicallities... or maybe that was exactly what she needed.

"In other words, you will eventually break as well." She had finally ascertained the nature of his ridiculously high defense. "Divine Constructs are hard to destroy, when that is even possible. However, as long as you are a Heroic Spirit, you have a limit."

A Divine Spirit had a higher chance of destroying a Divine Construct. At the moment, Brynhildr was the closest she could be to her old self, whereas the Divine Construct in front of her was also a flesh and bones humans. In other words, if she kept doing what she had done until now, it would actually work. In that way, you could indeed say that there was no trick to Galahad's sturdiness: it was just incredibly high.

"...I can't deny it. However, you can't defeat me."

"Take a look at yourself before uttering such words." If she had to guess, he was more than halfway toward destruction. "How can you be so confident that your life won't end on the blade of my spear?"

"...I can't lose, because I am a tool."

"A tool...?"

"...I know I can't pretend to be more than a tool. However, I am a tool that anwers people's hope. I made a promise to someone; if I die, then I won't be able to protect my Master. That's why..." His eyes burned with the glow of courage. "No matter what, I cannot lose."

"... ... ... Sigh."

They may have been enemies, but it was hard to hate him.

"Your resolve is admirable... but I have to crush it."

She readied her spear to resume battle; there was nothing more to be said.

Or so she thought, but just when she was about to resume hostilities, the knight stopped her dead in her tracks with a question.

* Umineko musicbox blue – Untitled 3

"...Aren't you the same?"

"The same... as what?" She gave him a confused look.

"...I might be getting ahead of myself, but since we're the same, I was curious to see if you felt the same way as me." The knight said, almost innocently. "Do you fight because care deeply for your Master?"

"...!" That was not a question she had expected. Somehow, it made her uneasy. "...No, I fight for myself. I have my own wish to fulfill. I am a Servant, and that's where my role ends."

"...Then, why are you angry?"

"Huh? Angry...? Where did that come from?" She didn't understand what the knight was saying. What was he blabbering about at a time like this?

"...Am I wrong? Sorry. I'm not good at reading emotions." He tilted his head. "...I could have sworn, since earlier... since we met, you've been holding a lot of wrath inside you."

"How would you be able to tell? Because we're slightly similar, you think you can understand what is in another's heart?" She felt annoyance.

No, somehow... she felt a bit scared as well.

"...You've been hitting me a lot." Was what the knight offered as an explaination, as though that explained anything. "Each time, I couldn't help thinking you were not focusing on the battle... anxiousness..."

"..."

"...You're worried about your Master, aren't you?"

"Why... would I be worried? He doesn't need my help. Rather, aren't you the one who should be distressed? My Master is chasing after yours – if he catches him, he won't hesitate to kill him."

But despite her attempt at biting back, the knight shook his head gently.

"...He's alive, I can tell. If he is still alive, then I have nothing to worry about. He's strong, even if he doesn't know it." The edge of his mouth curled up into a soft smile. "Because I saw it in his memories. Even when he was sad, even when he was all alone, he was very strong. Not in the same way as me; he doesn't need my strength. If he lives... if he wants to live, then I have nothing to worry about. It's a strength I discovered too late, but he didn't."

"What are you saying...? Wanting to live is normal..."

Although that probably wasn't something she had any right to say, seeing as she had taken her own life in the end. She was confused: the knight's words were hitting her harder than a punch could. Not because of what he was saying, but because of the way he said it. The way he spoke fondly of his Master... and the way he reffered to his Master's memories...

"What are you trying to tell me, Saber?"

"...The reason you feel unrest, is it because of your Master?"

"..."

It was true that she had thought... that it was strange she hadn't heard any news from him. But she wasn't worried for him; he was more than capable. And just like Galahad, she could tell whether he was alive or dead.

"..."

But she had a feeling that wasn't what the knight meant...

.

.

.

Who... was she kidding?

It was true, she was angry.

She was hurt.

And she couldn't detach herself from how hurt Ewald was as well. She couldn't forget how they had hurt each other. She had tried to pretending she wasn't angry... but she was furious. She was furious at herself. She was furious at him. She was furious at all of this farce he had lost himself in. She was furious that she couldn't get him out. She wanted to fight for him - she had already become his blade - but she couldn't do just that.

Because no one else would see.

Even if she closed her eyes, if she pretended it was none of her business, she would be gone eventually. Once that happened, no one else would see his pain. No one would reach a hand.

And that's... what she was furious about.

Those were the feelings she had buried, but now Galahad was digging them up with words.

"So what...?" She gritted her teeth and glared at him. She let her anger show through, even though he wasn't the target of it. "What are you asking these questions for? So what if I feel that way?!"

"...Then, don't you want to go and see him?"

"That's exactly how I feel, so what?!"

"...Then, shall we go?"

"... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Huh?" She was taken completely by surprise. Her jaw dropped in disbelief, and she could hear the sound of her spear hitting the ground. "What do you... are you telling me to do that now?!"

"...Yes?" Galahad tilted his head in confusion. "Don't you want to be at his side?"

"We're in the middle of a battle! We're mortal enemies! I-I'm trying to kill you! I'm even halfway done!" She couldn't believe she even had to say all of that. The worst was that she didn't feel any ill intent or deceit on his part. He was painfully honest. "And you should be trying to kill me as well! How can you make such an offer at a time like this?!"

"...I don't really mind." The knight shrugged. "I told you, didn't I? I answers to people's hope... I'm a tool to make people happy. I don't think my Master would mind either."

...This was insanity.

Nonsense.

Inanity.

"Y-you cannot be serious... No, you must be looking for something, aren't you? What are you trying to accomplish by doing that?! Is that a ruse to get your weapons back?! Or maybe... or maybe...!" She was panicking, all the more because of how earnest that knight looked, which her brain couldn't compute.

"...But I just explained..."

"Who would accept an explanation like that?!" Why was he looking at her as though she was the one being weird? "Ugh, why is this even happening...?"

"...You don't want to?"

"I...!" She wanted to go and find her Master. But she didn't want to do it thanks to Galahad, or even at his suggestion. No, in the first place, it was weird to even consider cutting a battle short like this! "Why do you even care about what I want?"

"...I shouldn't?"

"You shouldn't!"

"... ... ... But I do."

"Uuuughhhh!" She was pulling her hair from his thickheadedness. But somehow...

Somehow...

Her heart didn't care all that much about battling anymore. She was thinking about Ewald, worrying about what he might be doing now. And, to her own irritation, she was getting impatient to go and find him. Thus, despite her understandable reluctance and suspicion of the knight in shining armour, she was letting her guard down, slowly but surely. It even occured to her that she wanted to be convinced.

"Hmmm... rnnnnnn... ghhhhhh..." She bit her lips while fidgetting in place. Meanwhile, Galahad was staring blankly at her, unblinking. That too reminded her of Ewald, and it made her want to go even more. "Ghghghghgh– Fine! I'm... I'm keeping an eye on you! So don't try anything funny!"

"...Hmph." Galahad let out a puff, but she didn't know if he was laughing or sighing.

Hesitantly, all while glancing at him, she turned toward where the Clock Tower and her Master should be, and she spread her wings.

But before she could take flight...

* Stop music

The earth shook.

"...!"

"...!"

They could barely feel it from here – that was because the epicenter was somewhere else. But they had a good hunch as to where that would be.

Brynhildr felt her heart sink in her stomach: more noise followed, sounds of crumbling accompanied by otherworldly howls; and it was all coming from a specific direction.

"Master...!"


Thank you for reading.

We're getting somewhere, folks.

~Legends Storyteller