Fate/Infinity Shuffle

Chapter 260 – Spades:

Three knights against a king.

All three, even the Berserker, had this uncanny feeling. The image of King Arthur tainted in black and clad in heavy armour was something none of them wanted to stomach. It wasn't the King of Knights, yet it was. A Tyrannical King of Storms, whose powers were now being used by a mad woman.

"Ahhh… The person inside is so glad to see you three." Haru paced around clumsily, approaching the three in anything except a straight line. The black sword swung around aimlessly as well. "Heh. She wants to know if you three want to join in!"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Are they now?"

"Hmph." Akane almost spat in disgust. "Not in a million years."

Haru's grin increased. "Then can you entertain me?!"

Ciel dashed without warning, still gripping two Japanese, and leapt up high. An obvious attack, but the impact of the two swords would be carried with strength and weight.

"AAAAAARRRR!"

With an odd twirl, The Saber evaded the strike, Ciel's attack crashing into the concrete floor of the road. As Haru shrugged off the shock wave, the two girls with hidden eyes crossed maddened looks. But while one was of rage, the other was of insanity.

Before either one moved, Akane dashed, utilizing Mana Burst to increase her speed. She swung her sword once in Haru's range, but the Black Saber stopped Clarent with a strong strike of Excalibur Morgan, also charged with Mana Burst, but it was so raw and dense that didn't move with red sparks around itself, but rather left behind a trail of black burning. The impact made Akane step back, thrown off, much to her surprise. Haru looked like she couldn't move properly but carried so much weight in her attacks, with a strange precision no less.

Once the trail of Mana vanished Leo moved in, leaping above the staggering Akane and slamming down his sword, but Haru dodged it with a backwards leap. Much to their surprise, she moved in midair so she'd be spinning on her side, parallel to the floor, sword-holding arm stretched out, and once the tip of the sword scrapped the floor, a black wave of mana ran forward to swallow the knights. Ciel managed to evade away, but Akane and Leo were hit. The two knights in white armour rolled over as the one black chased the black king. Haru's feet connected with the ground again, and due to her position, her body whipped around to recover balance. And Ciel took the opportunity to slice at her with both Japanese blades outwards, aimed at the girl's neck for a fatal strike.

Akane's eyes focused on the moment as she stood back up, spotting Haru raising her sword and stomping down with well positioned feet, stopping the blades from reach her despite being close. And in a quick motion, her free hand swung around and slapped Ciel's cheek, her hand released a beam of blck Mana, which pushed Ciel far away. The fact the Black Knight had Magic Resistance at Rank E meant she received less damage from the attack, but not by much.

"…Am I imagining things?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Stay here." Akane requested, her entire set of armour vanishing. "I want to test something." She walked towards Haru with decisive eyes. "Oi. Crazy bitch. Wanna taste metal?"

"Hmmm?!" Haru let out a giggle as her body leaned backwards like a limp doll and her neck turned to Saber of Red in a way that made bangs of her hair fall over her face.

Akane gently tapped the flat surface over an open palm, similar to a batter approaching the base to swing the first pitch of the baseball game. Her two hands gripped the hilt tightly and red sparks began to run through her body and weapon. She didn't speed up her legs. Simply put, as she walked, she assumed swinging position. Her arms and sword, in that position, kept her resemblance with a baseball player. And once close, she swung!

The black sword raised and parried the strike. And Haru moved with the motion, spinning around and slashing down on Akane. Luckily, a moment of Instinct gave away the incoming attack and she managed to back away in a jump, making Haru's sword miss the target.

Akane's eyes narrowed at the armoured feet of the opponent.

"Huh. I wasn't expecting this."

Leo grew curious. "What happened?" In the meantime, Ciel had returned and continued fighting the odd-moving Saber.

Akane's suit of armour appeared again. "She looks like she's moving like she has little control, but everything she does is calculated."

"Hm?" Leo looked over. "She's moving like that on purpose?"

"Yeah. We assume those movements is because she's not right in the head, but no. They way her feet move and how she counterattacks…" Akane let out a sigh. "You know drunken fist?"

"Hm? That weird martial art where people act like they are drunk?"

"Yeah. You're supposed to be 100% aware of everything and move like that to trick the opponents to knock them down in swift counters. She's using the same idea."

Leo looked over at the knight of treachery. "Why do you look so bothered?"

"Because if that girl is sane enough to pull something like that, the hell is up with her head?"

Leo looked over to the two black-clad girls crossing swords. "I guess it isn't that she has some odd degree of insanity. She's probably thinking straight. But for us, the way she thinks is foreign."

"Yeah, yeah, look, you're gonna chip in or not?"

Leo smirked. "Of course I shall." The knight in white stepped forward.

Even though Ciel's movements were fast, Haru's always moved to the right place to block them beforehand. The Instinct Skill essentially granted her near future-sight, an incredibly useful tool in battle. Without some sort of trickery, speed didn't matter to an extent.

The Berserker spun over her heel to strike with both Katanas in a wide arch. Haru blocked the attack by placing her sword vertically, and rolled with the impact, spinning away like a ballerina.

With a glance, Ciel spotted the incoming Saber. She stabbed the two swords into the floor and turned to Leo, joining her hands together at waist level to perform a stepping-stool. Leo jumped, a single foot landing on Ciel's hands, and she threw him high above. His eyes focused on the deranged girl and he let gravity pull him down towards her as his sword became surrounded by white hot flames.

Haru looked up and her grin continued just as wide. She leapt away from the area of impact, evading Leo's strike. But the White Knight smirked. The white fire of his sword blasted forward, engulfing Haru in flames.

"AHHHH!" She yelled in a pleasured pain before black Mana burst out of her body, erasing Leo's flames. She swung her sword against the floor, once again releasing a wave of sparkling mana towards Leo.

The boy turned his hand on the sword and its blade shined bright white. He swung it upwards, creating a semi-circle of fire. The strike split the wave in two, but not without making Leo stagger.

"Gh-! So heavy…!" Even though his power was high due to the hour of the day, the mana Haru released was so dense that it was hard to cut through it. Which was so odd: she moved as if she was weightless. Not fast, but with little effort.

But he'd worry about that later. Leo placed the sword in front of his body and Mana came off of it, gathering and turning into a miniature sun-like object. With both hands on the hilt, he drew back the sword and stabbed it through the miniature star, making it burst into a spiral of incandescent flames, heading over towards the target.

Haru's eyes focused and she turned her sword downwards. She stabbed it into the concrete and let out a smirk. The sword and her body released a burst of black that moved forward in a wave, entering the spiral of fire and splitting it apart, destroying it from the inside out.

Once the fire and the black was gone, Haru's eyes became pleased upon seeing the fully clad Saber of Red dashing towards her. The Black Saber quickly pulled the sword out in a circular motion, slashing the armour in the process. And it fell apart.

"Eh?" Even if her mouth remained unchanged, an eyebrow of hers twitched. The armour was empty?

Suddenly appearing in front of her, with red sparks around her body, Akane was in position to swing with empty hands. Her eyes showed a glare, and the sword Clarent that had been thrown away faded into dust. In a flash of crimson red, the sword appeared in her hands, hilt tightened fast.

"TAKE-THIS!" Akane swung it hard, aimed at Haru's neck for a clean decapitation, but the blade never reached the skin. Haru's sword-wielding arm spun over and performed the circular attack again, this time the black sword was coated in a large amount of black flames.

"Iron Hammer." Swift words upon impact.

"GAHH!" Akane yelled out as she was hurled high above.

"AAAARRRTHUUUUR!" Ciel's roar caught Haru's attention. The Black Berserker held a random car above her head, the effects of Knight of Owner turning it blak with red cracks all around it. With a grunt she hurled it at max speed towards the opponent.

Haru extended her weaponless hand and let out a soft giggle. The black and dark-red mana erupted from her limb and took the shape of a dragon head, catching the car in its jaws and biting into it.

"HAH!" Leo swung is weapon, releasing a wave of burning air. It cut through the metal of the car and once it reached its fuel tank, the machine exploded. The shockwave was felt, but Haru looked like she was undamaged. The only difference between before and after the car's destruction was that the dragon head was gone.

THUD

Akane landed on her back, letting out an annoyed and pained groan. She breathed rather heavily as she tried her best to have the healing process speed up, but there was only so much she could do.

Haru stepped forward, and once in her vicinity, stomped on Akane's chest, making the Saber of Red exhale hard. A spin over the hand and Haru stabbed the black sword into Akane's shoulder.

"AHHHH!" She yelled in pain. The sword felt like hot iron cutting through her flesh.

"…Heh. Heheheheh…"

"Grrahhh! What's so funny?!"

"How does it feel?"

"It's a fucking pain in the ass! Now get off, you crazy bitch! What's your deal anyway?!"

"My deal?" The woman giggled and let out a cackle. "…Hey. How does it feel to be able to experience something other than pain?"

"The hell?" Akane raised an eyebrow. The black sword sunk. "GAHHH!"

"That, that! Amazing, isn't it?!" Haru laughed again. "I never experienced anything like it! I couldn't be happy, I couldn't be sad, I couldn't be angry… But this!" She moved the sword back and forth slightly.

"GAAAHHH! Stop it, you sadistic bitch!"

"There it is! All the pain I'm making you feel…! Isn't it amazing?! It is, isn't it?!"

Akane let out more pained grunts as the torture went on. "It's pain, of course it isn't amazing! The fuck are you on about?!"

"Eh?" The grin vanished completely. "What do you mean? How is pain not amazing?"

"Because I'm not messed up in the head like you! You don't feel happiness, sadness or anger? You think that's normal or something?"

"…" Haru stopped in her tracks for a moment. And then, the smile returned. "It doesn't matter if I'm normal." She sunk her sword even forward, the tip of the blade emerging from the other side of Akane's shoulder. "If pain is the only thing I feel, it's the only thing that will make me feel good! It felt so great to see people twisting around! And this is almost as good…!" A shiver went up her spine. "Hey… you'll make me feel even better, right?"

Akane kept shaking in pain, gritting her teeth to attempt to supress it. But that all disappeared. "Heh." She let out a chuckle. "Alright, I got what I wanted."

"Huh?" Haru was confused. Akane wasn't in pain anymore.

"Also, you're dumb as bricks, you know?" Pieces of Akane's armour came flying towards Haru and bashed her in pushing the Black King off of Akane's body.

"Ah!" Haru was taken aback. It didn't take long for her to recover, as one could expect.

Akane stood up, hand over her shoulder. Leo and Ciel joined her side. "Did you really forget about these two? Geez, how horny are you?"

"If I may." Leo placed the flat surface of his weapon against the gash on Akane's body. It let out a powerful heat, that seared the wound back together.

"AHH! That hurts like a bitch, you know?!" Akane complained, barking at the awkwardly chuckling partner. She let out a sigh. "Well, not the time to complain. I got the info I wanted about her. Let's kick her ass."

"You really were curious, weren't you?" Leo wondered, taking position.

"Shut up."

(BGM: Fate/Stay Night [Code ZTS Label] #06 "Whirlpool of Fate -war-")

Ciel smirked at the two's banter before dashing towards Haru. The Black Tyrant became stiffer in combat. No longer did she roll with the punches or moved like an uncoordinated marionet. Something about Akane's conversation with her left Haru in deep thought. She discarded the flowing fighting style and took on the ruthless method. When Ciel swung down her swords, one at a time, Haru stood her ground, never moving out of place, swinging her sword to parry or deflect the strikes. Then, she took a step forward while lowering her sword and stabbed into Ciel's stomach. The Berserker gasped and a burst of mana pushed her out of the sword and far away, pain surging through her body. But after rolling over once, Ciel leapt forward again. With two blades approaching, Haru spun over and struck them so hard that they flew out of Ciel's hands, much to the Berserker's surprise. The tyrant kicked Ciel's stomach, right in the wound, to drive her away for a moment before she swung her sword upwards and releasing a blast of Mana that consumed the katanas completely and made them vanish.

"There." Haru let out.

Ciel jumped back up and glared at the woman in black. Akane, fully clad in armour, dashed past the Ciel and hurled Clarent. The spinning, silver sword was easily deflected, bouncing off the black sword up towards the sky. The helmet folded into the armour and red sparks ran through Akane, increasing her speed. And once close to Haru, she kicked the swords-holding hand with a Mana Burst-powered foot, making Haru stagger back but not let go of the weapon.

The helmet folded back out, coavering her head, and she crossed her arms in front of her body, anticipating what was coming. And it was correct: Haru performed her Iron Hammer move, but instead of throwing Akane up, it merely pushed her back, the weight and defensive properties of the armour, in addition to the anticipation, allowing her to remain close to the ground.

Once the black was out of Haru's vision, she spotted Leo. She stepped back, barely evading his upwards slash. With a smirk, the blond boy swung his sword back down like a hammer. "Hah!" It struck the floor and let out a burst of fire in all directions, including Haru's. The bulky black armour protected her, but she was obligated to step back. Leo stood up and took his normal stance, where he'd keep his sword behind his body. He moved in and tackled Haru, shoulder first, and then swung out his flaming sword, but the tyrant shrugged off the impact of Leo's body and blocked the slash with her own sword.

His feet connected with the floor not far from her. The black smoke around Ciel vanished and a black sword appeared in hand. Akane's helmet came off and Clarent became surrounded in sparks. The two girls joined Leo and the three raised their swords above their heads. One clad in bright fire, another burst with red mana and electricity, and the last shimmering in blue like a lake reflecting the moon.

Three Holy Blades – Released!

Haru saw the three swings approaching her. The wind suddenly got stronger. And just as Galatine, Clarent and Arondight were about to strike, creating a multicoloured flash of light, it was consumed by darkness.

The three knights were hurled away. Leo fell in the middle of the concrete, Akane landed on a car, and Ciel's body was stopped by a streetlight that toppled over as a result.

Torrential fire and black heat ran all around Haru. The silhouette cladding her body wasn't too dissimilar to a dragon in shape.

"How in the…? How is she strong enough to stop three holy blades at once?" Leo asked in pain while sitting up.

"AAAAARTHUUUUUR!" Ciel's sword vanished and the smoke burst out of her body. In a quick motion, she grabbed the fallen over lamppost and increased its power to status of Noble Phantasm through Knight of Owner. Once done, she threw the pole like a boomerang, spinning without a stop.

Haru raised her sword, and for once, gripped it with both hands. The dragon of mana deteriorated, all of the magical fog focusing around the blade and being swung downwards hard, creating a large burst of energy in front of her that made the ground shake. Once the mana cleared away, it revealed the lamppost on the ground, only having survived annihilation through the immortal status of Noble Phantasm bestowed through Knight of Owner.

(BGM: Fate/Stay Night [Code ZTS Label] #07 "The Promised Sword of Victory -myth rebirth- (short ver)")

She let out a white fog and grinned widely as she readied another swing. Once again, Mana burst through her weapon, like the out-of-control breath of fire of a rampaging dragon.

Leo and Akane's eyes widened. "She's…!"

Ciel clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Heh. Heheheheh…" The soft laughter grew into a cackle. "Excalibur…"

"Crap, crap, crap!" Akane panicked. The three had seen before what that attack was capable of.

The rampaging mana focused more around the sword. And Haru's eyes showed immense delight beneath her mask. "MORGAAAAAAAN!" Her arms swung forward.

"Grr!" Ciel leapt towards the nearby building and clung to its walls, of which she climbed fast with the claws of her armoured gloves.

Leo struck the floor below him with the tip of his sword and focused all of his energy into it, creating a burst of fire and an explosion right beneath him, propelling him upwards.

Akane copied Ciel, to an extent. Through Mana Burst, she leapt up high towards a building and entered it through a window, shattering it and rolling into the random room.

A powerful beam of dark heat blasted through the streets of the city, consuming everything in it. Cars, lampposts, even the faraway building at the intersection, which collapsed as a result of the impact.

Leo found himself lucky. The upwards blast alone in addition to some propulsion of flames through his sword let him hover over the beam enough time to return to the destroyed floor safely.

Ciel and Akane returned, uninjured from the event.

Haru let out heavy breaths, but she couldn't stop laughing. "I wonder how many lives will be brought down with that…"

"Geez…" Leo sighed. "Here." He handed his white sword to Ciel. The Berserker was seemingly surprised but took it anyway. Akane gave Clarent as well.

The Berserker gritted her teeth as the two holy swords became clad in black. She dashed towards the Black Tyrant and quickly started slamming down sword after sword in wild and brutal swings. Haru had to block the strikes while holding her sword with both hands, and even though immovable, her feet sunk deeper and deeper into the concrete.

Haru's eyes and grin widened as Mana burst out of her sword and she countered Ciel's attack with an upwards swing, sending her high above. Once in position, she gripped the hilt with both hands again and began charging.

And that was when Ciel hurled the two swords in her hands. One was thrown casually over her shoulder, while the other was thrown with precision.

Galatine stopped high above Leo and suddenly began to glow, spinning and turning into a bright sun. A beam of light stretched down and Leo grabbed it like the hilt of a sword, as a clock-like sun sygil appeared beneath his feet, encompassing the entire are.

In the rooftop of a six storey building, Clarent struck the stone. Akane reached over and grabbed it. The helm folded into the armour, revealing a victorious smirk. The partirions of the sword opened up and red lightning began to surge through, turning into a large pillar of red.

Lastly, , the smoke vanished from around Ciel, and the black sword returned. Gripping it with both hands, she began to spin like a wheel. The blue glow of the sword made her look like a buzz-saw heading straight to Akane.

"Excalibur-" Haru couldn't finish.

"Excalibur GALATINE!"

"CLARENT BLOOD ARTHUR!"

"Arondight – OVERLOAD!"

Excalibur Galatine 'Sword of Revolving Victory': Anti-Army A+

Clarent Blood Arthur 'Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father': Anti-Army A+

Arondight - Overload 'Breaking All Restraints - Overloaded Light of the Lake': Anti-Unit A

Leo spun over, blade of light cutting through the entire area. Akane's tower of mana toppled over, a beam of red moving like thunderbolt. And Ciel's impact made the blue glow come off the sword.

The erupting back Mana tried to grow, but it was impossible.

Blue, yellow and red consumed it through and a tower of the swirling colours stretched up into the heavens, burning through Haru completely.

The three knights approached the Uninstalled girl that laid on the ground without moving, the Saber Card laying next to her. Her eyes were open, but she didn't seem conscious. Akane moved over and took the Card. She approached a naked hand to Haru's nose and mouth. "…Alright, she's alive."

"What do we do about her?"

"Just let her be." Akane waved it off. The Saber of Red pointed out, joining the other two. "Man, I'm beat. That last move drained me."

"Impressive for an improvisation."

"Eh. Once someone busts out their Noble Phantasm, you either bust yours or you're done for."

Haru remained alone. The sense of pain in her body has run dry.


One down, three to go.

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

Just as always, if you have questions or requests, be free to ask, preferably through PM.

Until next time!