Fate/Infinity Shuffle

Chapter 258 – Deck Building – Side Deck 2:

"What are these things?"

"That's a good question."

Lizzie and Edward stood in front of a tall tower of flesh, twisting around itself until it reached the sky. They approached it as they killed more of those werewolves 'corpses' that Kiara had summoned.

"…Poke it."

"I'm not poking it, you poke it! You have a spear!"

"Fine, fine…" Lizzie approached the unknown structure and, carefully, poked it using her weapon twice. "…It sounds… gooish."

Suddenly, the multiple lines opened up, revealing its countless red eyes with crosses for pupils.

"Eek!" The Dragon Idol jumped back, wings spread, allowing her to hover as long as they kept flapping.

"What in the hell…" Edward, scissors in hand, readied a set of bombs. "Should we blow it up?"

"M-Maybe? This thing was probably planted by that Kiara lady, right?"

The multiple eyes focused on the two Players before it and a loud sound ran through the air. The two turned and the pillar released an unearthly screech.

A cloud of black manifested itself, reaching all the way up to a few metres above the ground. It swallowed Edward and Lizzie in one go, and the two were swept away as a result, both falling onto the floor once the cloud ended, finding themselves farther away from the pillar.

"W-What the hell was that?"

"No clue, but I don't want to feel it again!" Lizzie had multiple shivers running up her spine.

"Want a hand?"

"Hm?" The two turned around, spotting two somewhat familiar faces: Aiko from the Singularities and Naoto from the Melty Blood.

"If you wouldn't mind it, we'd appreciate it."

The two stood back up, prompting Edward to ask "What is that thing?"

"I don't know. But honestly, it doesn't look like a good thing to have around to begin with."

"Then let's cut it down."


The one Lizzie, Edward and the others were taking care of wasn't the only one in the city, far from it. Nameless Demon Pillars created by the bizarre Alter Ego. The principle was more or less the same as the werewolf army: a way to cause mass destruction with little effort.

But of course, Players retaliated.

"ORA!" Shoutarou, as a Assassin-turned-Berserker, delivered a mean punch, rupturing through one of the eyes, while Karen shot arrows at the flesh.

"My… This one is tough."

A cloud of darkness propagated through the area, pushing the two away from it.

"Ahh!" The two yelled in pain. They hit the floor, but weren't ready to give up, far from it.

"That thing is starting to annoy me." Shoutarou admitted, growling.

"Agreed."

"Chronos Rose!" Suddenly, a gale of slashes appeared all around the Demon Pillar, leaving multiple injuries up to a few metres above. Next to the two Berserkers, an Assassin with a red scarf and protective armour appeared, having just used his Noble Phantasm to deal multiple attacks in one easy go.

Then, a knight dashed past the trio. "Dead End – Airgetlám!" A Saber swung out her crystal arm, a blade of golden energy formed past her hand. The blade cut through the base and the eyes lost their pupils as it began to fall and crumble, turning into black smoke in the process.

"Akiko? And Mister Emiya?"

"Apologies for the delay." He answered the small Berserker. "But these swarms keep getting bigger and bigger."

"So we might need to start using Noble Phantasms." Karen figured, saving her katana in her sheath for now.

"Yeah. This is going to be a pain to stall until midnight." Akiko pointed out, as she joined the small party.

"I don't know." Shoutarou let out a confident chuckle. "I can think of a few guys capable of making mass destruction."


"AAAAAARRRRTHUUUUUURRRR!" Ciel ran across a swarm while holding Knight of Owner – Black Keys, slashing like a mad dog. An ironic sight, to say the least, as her slain victims were werewolves.

She ended up spinning around and hurling the set of keys in six directions, each hurled blade stabbing through at least three opponents. She landed and growled, even if the area had been cleared, because more were incoming.

Tohno Shiki spoke up. "Akiha, use your Noble Phantasm."

"At your orders!" Akiha leapt up as a gate rose from the ground. Shiki and her were originally back to back: in Akiha's sight, Ciel and the swarm of werewolves; In Shiki's, a Demon Pillar.

He raised the sword above his head, similar to his sister. The two spoke their Noble Phantasms in unison.

"Brahmastra!"

"Heavenly Demon Rain!"

One sword began to spin and spin and spin, created red sparks and suddenly taking the shape of a discus, which Shiki hurled with a single motion. While in Akiha's case, her sword shined and multiplied into multiple rings of katanas, reaching 250 in number, all of which were fired.

The Brahmastra, followed by some of the Katanas, sliced through the Demon Pillar like a buzz saw, while the remaining Katanas stabbed through multiple enemies. And with resources nearby, Ciel quickly grabbed onto stray katanas, infecting them in black and red before slicing apart the few remaining werewolves.

"Phew…" Shiki sighed as Akiha joined him again. "The three of us actually make a good team."

"I already told you to come to my Team, but you keep refusing."

"I-I have my reasons…" Shiki looked away as Ciel looked around, similar to a bloodhound. "Hm? What's wrong?"

"Grrr…" She growled before taking a running stance and dashing away from them at full speed, disappearing before they could even think of the reason why.

"What the…"

"I wonder what happened."

They looked over and were shocked to see an even greater swarm of enemies.

"God damn it, won't these end?!"

"Ex…"

"Hm?"

An older man came from above, landing in front of the two teens and swinging down his shining sword in the process.

"CALIBUUUUUUUUUR!" The glowing beam of light ran through, swallowing and burning away all the dark beings ahead.

Shiki couldn't help but chuckle. "T-This feels oddly familiar."

"Ahh… don't worry kids." Sisigo straightened his back and turned to them while resting his sword over the shoulder. "The swarms will vanish in no time."

Akiha was concerned. "How do you know? They keep appearing."

"Because my daughter and her friends are handling the situation as well."

"Eh?"

If one had an overview of the seen from above, they would see multiple Players cleaning the streets.

"BALMUNG!"

"First Folio!"

A semi-circle of ether cleared one side, while multiple dummies- or rather, Actors, ran through the crowd on the other, performing multiple hits.

Daisuke was impressed. "To think my Noble Phantasm could be used this way. What a shame it's so weak."

"You don't need to be strong to stop these things."

Rider of Red and Archer of Black grappled and wrestled the shadows away with little effort.

"Should we turn this into a competition?"

"You know perfectly well I would win!" Kazan pointed out, summoning his spear before dashing through at top speed, leaving a clean wave of destruction in his path.

"Hmph, if you say so." Haruto smirked as he summoned his golden bow and started firing arrow after arrow, cleaning away the darkness.

"Phoebus Catastrophe!" A rain of green arrows fell, striking through the corpses that were constantly reborn over and over again. "Tch." Ringo clicked her tongue. "These things are annoying."

Hachirou leapt back as he sliced an enemy apart, joining the Archer. "Tell me about." He raised his knives again as she readied her bow.

At the edge of the city…

"Hanging Gardens of Babylon!"

"Golem Keter Malkuth!"

A floating fortress and a giant of dirt were summoned to clear away the amount of enemies with their resources. Far below, on the ground, were their pilots controlling them at a distance.

"Aren't we making things worse?"

"As long as you're not clumsy, you won't do anything you shouldn't."

Rikuko sighed. "If you say so." He took a knee and pressed a hand on the floor, making the floor bend and wave, hurling the enemies upwards as Aimi summoned multiple chains that stabbed right through them.

"Hey, Momoka."

"Hm?" The Berserker of Red turned to the Lancer of Black.

"See those over there?" She pointed at a horde. "They're all oppressors."

The large grin suddenly subsided, turning into anger. "Oppressors must die!" She dashed and swung her sword in random patterns, roaring like a mad woman.

Hibiki chuckled to herself. "No wonder they control you easily." She turned to the opposing side and stabbed her spear on the floor. "Kazikli Bey." Multiple stakes sprung out from the floor, impaling multiple targets all at once.

Sekai blew into her tuba-like Noble Phantasm, the soundwaves stopping the enemies in place before hurling them away. "Perfect." Taiyou smirked, as he spun the golden spear above his head. He swung it twice hard, creating two waves of fire that burned the beasts into ash. "Keep going!"

"Alrihgt!"

And finally…

"Take this! And this!"

"Uuu! Aaaa!"

Akane and Yuri used sparks of red and green as they struck the enemies. They looked after each other's backs, making sure neither of them got his by a stray attack.

The Saber of Red looked over to a location and her helmet folded into the armour. "That…" She turned to the Berserker. "I'm gonna take care of a thing."

"Uu!"

"Feel free to go wild!" Akane pointed out with a grin, as she dashed out of sight.

The Berserker of Black smiled, the electricity surging faster and wilder as most enemies were drawn to her. "BLASTED TREE!" They vanished in the impact.


Neither of the three could really figure out why they were drawn to the location. But the sight of Haru and her demented hurled of blasts of Mana may have had something to do with it.

"You guys felt it too?"

"Yes. I suppose this means we'll be fighting together. It will be the honour, I admit."

"Grrrr…!"

Akane, Leo and Ciel all glared at the deranged Saber, giggling to herself with true madness.

"That woman gives me the creeps."

"Concurred."

Ciel stuck both Katanas into the floor as the black smoke around her vanished and the purple sword Arondight appeared in her hand.

"Hmmmmm?" Haru looked over, finally noticing the three knights. "Eh. Heheh. Heheheheh!" she didn't even attempt to speak. Her mind was already set on slashing her sword against them and opening them up like that. Her poisonous eyes hidden beneath the eyepiece looked truly obsessed.

Leo gathered his courage. "This is quite the predicament. For three knights to attempt and overthrow their King."

"Don't confuse things like that." Akane rested her sword over the shoulder, much like her father. "We're not knights and she's not a king. We're people trying to avoid a catastrophe and she's someone who's lost their mind."

"Ar-thuuuuuur…!" Ciel let out a breath of hot air and raised her sword.

Leo, in a gesture to slightly amuse himself, placed his sword on Ciel's. Akane followed suit, to show camaraderie for this battle she was about to engage in.

Arondight, Galatine and Clarent were cross with each other.

Haru raised the black Excalibur.

Knight of Treachery, Knight of the Sun and Mad Knight of the Lake VS The King of Storms


Walking through the rubble, Joana kept swinging her weapons to provoke more destruction. A stab into a car with her sword and a flying ember once she walked away far enough caused a loud explosion, but she did not mind the sound.

She stopped in her track once she saw someone waiting for her. Tanned skin, white hair, garments of black and red, holding a katana and bearing a cross in his necklace.

"…Shirou."

"Hello, Joana." Despite the serious face, he spoke rather gently. "Do you regret the destruction you're causing?"

"…No." The Avenger answered.

"Hm. So you won't be forgiven in the eyes of God."

"Shirou, save it." She continued walking towards him. "I've already done the worst thing I could. And there's no forgiving such. So step out of the way."

Shirou refused to move. "You're not being yourself."

"Save the speeches." She barked, walking past him. "What do you know about me to begin with?"

"…Nature versus nurture."

The tainted Ruler stopped in place, just slightly behind Shirou. "...You were on the side of nurture, weren't you?"

"Yes. And you were on the side of nature. And even though I disagreed back then, you're still the girl I used to play chess and discuss random things with. So put away the façade at once."

"…Who are you to tell me what to do?"

CLANG!

The sharp blade of the Katana collided with the black and purple sword in Joana's hand.

His eyes narrowed. "You never drew that sword before."

"People change. I thought you believed in such."

"Yes. And I'll do whatever I can to stop you. Because your change isn't natural."

The two applied more pressure into their weapons and pushed each other away, skidding over the concrete and spinning to turn to each other once the momentum ceased.

"How about you mind your own business for once?" She wondered, black sword aimed at his body.

"Apologies, but I cannot." The young priest smiled, katana raised and in position. "I was born this way: with the need to help those that lost their way."

"Hmph. You'll end up burning yourself if you keep playing with fire like that."

The two stepped forward.

The Youth Saint VS The Dragon Witch


The bets are still open and active.

In case you are interested, Discord Server Link: discord .gg /e7Qznvb (remove the spaces)

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Until next time!