Fate/Infinity Shuffle
Chapter 262 – Clubs:
A Ruler turned Avenger. That's what Kotomine Shirou saw and wanted to revert in Joana. With a successful Luck Check, it revealed everything he needed to know about her.
CLASS: Avenger
IDENTITY: Jeanne d'Arc (Alter)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
STATS:
- Strength: A
- Endurance: C
- Agility: A
- Mana: A+
- Luck: E
- Noble Phantasm: A+
CLASS SKILLS:
- Avenger: B
- Memory Correction: A
- Self-Replenishment: A+
PERSONAL SKILL:
- Self-Modification: EX
- Dragon Witch: EX
- Ephemeral Dream: A
NOBLE PHANTASM: La Grondement Du Haine (Roar of Hatred) 'Roar, O' Rage of Mine': Anti-Army A+
Shirou breathed out. "Ascension." A swirl of white and black coated his body for a second before the colours vanished, revealing his outfit. A mixture of traditional samurai clothing with European influence. A jinbaori style haori with Christianity crosses decorating it. In addition, a tradition umanori hakama with shin-guards and a collar shirt underneath his Kimono, with a Cravat tied around his collar.
His hair had grown into a long ponytail. A true reflection of the Heroic Spirit.
Joana's eyes glared at the Ruler. "Are you sure you want to fight me?"
"Unfortunately, I have to." He raised the katana. "Unless you'd like to back out and join us in defeating that woman."
"Tch." She almost spat aside, rolling her eyes. "When are you going to let go of dumb fantasies?"
He chuckled, as if it were a joke. "I find that amusing from the one who's clearly trapped in a dream."
Joana's eyes focused on the opponent again and she sighed. "If you so wish." She stabbed the banner into the concrete floor and stepped forward, holding her black sword alone.
The two paced forward slowly at first, but then a burst of speed occurred. The two crossed swords and Joana showed some surprised. The impact of Shirou's sword appeared stronger than she originally expected. His Parameters didn't appear to be out of the ordinary or changed in any way. The two continued crossing metal with metal, Shirou's slashes coming from below while Joana's strikes were swung from above. Once the two wound up far enough, Joana's sword burst out a powerful fire. Reacting quickly, Shirou's forearms revealed the magical symbols of his Noble Phantasms. White sparks ran through his katana and the two swung their swords against each other, the stronger impact caused a shockwave that separated the two, skidding over the ground refusing to fall over.
Joana narrowed her eyes. "What's with your sword?"
"And, you noticed." Shirou let out a chuckle. "I asked a certain Caster to Enchant it. He was rather surprised. I guess the fact that the sword has some fame behind it made it that much easier. It basically has the same power as a C Rank Noble Phantasm now."
Joana grabbed the banner's pole and pulled it out of the hard floor. "I take it you're using spells of your own on top of that. Alright." She raised her sword and then stretched her arm forward, casting a flame that ran through the air to consume Shirou.
The Ruler raised his right arm and the black rings reappeared casting a simple spell: a barrier all around Shirou, that would protect him from the burning wind. Once it was over, the barrier vanished.
"Hmph. Those Noble Phantasms of yours can be really annoying." Joana complained. Needless to say, as previous partners and workmates, they new about each other's abilities. At least the original ones. Even if she had the element of surprise, it didn't matter much to Shirou. His Skill 'Revelations' used in conjunction with his Noble Phantasms that granted him access to every sort of Magecraft allowed him to protect himself from unknown and known dangers.
Therefore, Joana decided to take a far more direct approach. One could foresee attacks all they wanted, but that didn't mean anything regarding if that attack could hit. As Shirou raised his katana to eye-level, Joana dashed for, banner first, in order to skewer the man with the bladed tip. In a quick motion, Shirou swung his sword, shortly and fast, pushing the banner off its course with a strong enough tap. That's when Jonaa, instead of stopping, moved forward and raised her black sword, pointing it downwards.
"Goodbye." Joana spoke before moving the sword downwards.
Shirou, however, had a plan. He raised his right arm so it would be in front of his body and his body stood sideways to Joana. So, when the sword sank, in a quick motion, his limb enhanced via magecraft, he used his arm to deviate the blades path, tapping it with his forearm, making he miss his body completely. His arm turned and reach over, much to her confusion. His hand took a strong hold of top of Joana's chest-armour plate.
Spin over the heel so his back would be to her, and swing his arm forward!
The Avenger was thrown over Shirou's shoulder directly into the concrete.
As Joana's body bounced off the ground, her wide eyes looked at his serious, struggling expression. She was confused.
"Did he just… throw me?"
This was an odd move on Shirou's part. She had never seen him do something like this in a battle. He had experimented before with Black Keys, but other than that, his style of battle never changed much. So, to see him perform a move like this surprised her. Enough to stay stunned long enough for his Katana to point downwards and be ready to get sunk into her neck. Joana rolled aside, evading the stab just in time.
As Shirou pulled the sword out, Joana stood up and created distance. Even if the impact hadn't been particularly strong or damaging, the shock from the unexpectedness was still there.
And Shirou took the same stance again. Forearm in front of his body, sideways towards her, katana by eye level.
Joana shook her head and gritted her teeth in anger. "GRAHH!" She swung her banner and fire erupted from the floor, running towards Ruler.
The effigies of the Noble Phantasm appeared around his forearm again and he stomped the ground hard, making a pillar of rock of his height raise up. The flames were unable to reach Shirou, going off in different directions. Then, with a kick, sole first, he sent the block towards the Witch.
Joana simply pointed her sword forward, and once the block of rock struck the blade, it burst in all directions, shattered apart. Once her vision cleared, she found Shirou about to swing his katana to slice at her neck, but she blocked the strike by moving her banner and blocking the sword's path before it could touch her.
The effigies of both Noble Phantasms activated and Shirou spun around his sword, moving out of Joana's way. His foot dragged over the concrete and, via Magecraft, made the portion underneath Joana's move forward like an escalator. Joana almost lost her balance when she moved forward, so she stepped down to keep her ground and quickly turned to block the upcoming sword slash.
Once the metal weapons clashed and separated from each other, Shirou's hand reached over and grabbed her chest plate. Once again, in a quick motion: Joana landed on her back, slammed against the concrete.
As she growled, Shirou leapt back and took the stance again. Standing up, she glared harder at the man. "Will you stop doing that?"
"It's working, isn't it?"
Joana took a deep breath. Her exhale showed how irritated she was. Saving her sword, she held up the cursed banner with both hands, raising it slightly.
Multiple iron rods appeared above Shirou, aimed at his body and circling around. Five iron stakes plagued with a purple haze.
Once Joana waved the flag, the rods closed in!
With a quick breath, the static Shirou spoke an unknown word. The two Noble Phantasms that surrounded his arms began to glow and a bubble-barrier surrounded his body. Joana knew her attack could overcome his defences after having taken a look at them, but that wasn't the only purpose. As the stakes tried to dig into the bubble, Shirou chanted a 'Baptism Rite'. The cursed purple fire extinguished completely, and the iron stakes lost their ability to move, falling onto the floor.
A vein began to pop out of Joana's forehead, annoyed beyond belief. 'Just fall already.' She thought. A click of the tongue. She did not foresee this. The Baptism Rite Skill, a type of Magecraft tremendously effect on a spiritual body. A chant could clear away curses and destroy evils. As the flames were cast by a 'Dragon Witch' that turned away from God, Chaotic Evil in nature, the Skill could erase her strongest method of attack, provided the Ruler performed the chant fast enough.
Shirou stabbed his sword into the floor and crouched to pick up the five rods, three in a hand and two in the other. He spoke unheard words and he leapt off to the side, hurling the five iron rods simultaneously, all aimed at Joana.
The Avenger didn't ignore the attack. Using her banner, she deflected all five of the stakes, making them bounce and spin away.
"Set." Suddenly, all five stopped in mid-air, aimed at Joana again, with a magic circle behind every and each one.
"What?!"
The five rods were launched forward at high speed again. A simple spell imbued into the poles of the weapons, once given the command, the deflected weapons would attack again, when hopefully the opponent would've lowered their guard.
The Avenger raised her banner, emitting a black glow. The five attacks stopped in place once they struck the pole, much to Shirou's confusion, but this was an opening for him nonetheless.
He moved in close to Joana, no weapon in hand. Instinctively, she crossed her arms in front of her chest, to avoid being thrown over the shoulder again.
Shirou smirked. The bait worked. A steady and strong fist struck the lower-left abdomen. A solid attack enhanced by Magecraft. Joana's eyes widened as she staggered back. Because the strike was something that was meant to damage the inside instead of the outside. And it was working. He followed it up by delivered a hard, fortified shot to her neck, slipping his hand beneath her arms after lowering his body. A direct strike, aiming to destroy her wind pipe and make her unable to breathe.
"GAH-!" Joana became unable to take in air for a second. She staggered back as she used a supply of Mana to heal her wound. With a short breath, Shirou hurled another strike with his firm hand, this time directly against the chest-plate armour. The resulting vibration, or rather, shockwave, shook Joana's internal organs. She was pushed away and landed on the floor, rolling over as a result.
Shirou exhaled and, for once, thanked his older brother for giving him a few lessons. While the judo counter-throw was a simple invention of his, the martial art was taugh to him by Kotomine Kirei, a Master Practitioner.
Joana stood on one knee, glaring at the Ruler and gripping both of her weapons tightly. She waved her sword forward, casting a wave of fire to swallow Shirou, but with an incantation of the Baptism Rite, he made the cursed fire unable to reach his body. He quickly leapt back and gripped the hilt of his sword, still stuck to the floor. It's edge was perfectly aimed at Joana. Girpping the hilt with both hands, the rings and symbols of 'Left Hand – Xanadu Matrix' and 'Right Hand – Evil Eater' appearing simultaneously.
Accessing a type of offensive Magecraft, white sparks ran down the metal blade and Shirou swung his sword in a wide arch. A bright white air-cutting wave ran towards Joana, a strong attack via the combination of the Enchanted Katana and the Noble Phantasms.
And that's when she stood up and grinned. Her banner placed in front of her body and the wave stopped completely, shocking Shirou. "What the-!?"
"La Grondement…" She raised the sword in her other hand and the air cutting wave began to swirl into an orb and change into a reddish-purple colour.
The name of her Noble Phantasm was being spoken. Shirou wasn't expecting it to be a reflective kind of attack. In bit of a panic, he pulled out of his pocket a different object. A large charm that contained a vast amount of Magical Energy he obtained from Aimi beforehand. A good luck charm for emergencies.
His hands destroyed the charm to release and absorb the Mana present inside it for him to use. With both hands revealing their sigils, Shirou performed his Noble Phantasm as well. He would need a large outside source of Mana to perform it, and the charm provided just enough for a short period of time.
"Twin Arm…"
"DU HAINE!"
"BIG CRUNCH!"
Joana pointed her sword forward and the orb of red and purple released an all-consuming inferno, multiple stakes of iron erupting and following the fire's path.
Shirou raised his sword and sliced off his own right hand. The black and white symbols of his Noble Phantasms came off his body and swirled around with his discarded flesh, turning into a small black orb with a purplish aura. It suddenly increased in size. A material akin to black matter that began to swallow all of its surroundings.
The flames of the inferno were sucked into the globe of black, the iron rods being pulled in to never be seen again. Once the flames began to subside, the orb shrunk and suddenly burst out a bright white fire with heavy smoke.
Joana stood with very little damage, while Shirou sat on the concrete floor, breathing heavily, supporting his body by the sword, his body covered in wounds.
"…Hmph." Joana paced forward slowly. The sound of her steps made him look forward.
"You… You were holding back, weren't you?"
"That was the idea. But you started annoying me."
He let out a chuckle to himself. "Maybe I used my trump card a bit too early."
"It wouldn't matter anyway." She pointed out, readying her sword. Once she stood in front and above him, she would sink it into his body.
"…Hey, Joana. Is this all because of Sieg?"
Her hand shook. A shadow was cast over her eyes.
"You don't even know how the operation went. Why are you doing all this? I know that woman is manipulating you, but I don't understand how."
"…I'm doing this on my own free will."
"Lies."
She glared down at Shirou is disgust. "Is that so?"
"Because the Joana I know would never do this."
"…" She clicked her tongue. "Alright." Her knees bent so they'd be more or less on the same level. "Do you want to know more about the Joana you know so much?" Shirou continued breathing heavily, unable to catch his breath properly. "The girl you claim to know so much about is just a frightened little girl because the boy she loves can suddenly keel over and disappear from her life. Her earliest childhood friend, her first romantic interest, her first love. A person she holds so many fond memories of. Now, tell me, Shirou: why should I keep living in fear?"
"Your emotions are being manipulated… Everybody can just die at any moment!"
"Well, Sieg more often than everybody else." She stood up again, sword raised. "But then again, what was I expecting from you?"
Shirou's teeth gritted. "I always did my best to understand you! I prayed alongside you! I've prayed for Sieg as well! I'm your friend! Why are you casting my words aside?!"
With a shaking hand, her anger burst. "Because… I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO SOMEONE WHO CAN LIVE HAPPILY WITH THE ONE HE LOVES WITHOUT BEING CONSTANTLY AFRAID FOR HER!" The hand swung down.
What was supposed to be the sound of piercing flesh was the clang of two swords clashing.
Shirou and Joana's eyes widened, for the one who deflected the hit was…
"…Sieg?"
His eyes opened in the recovery room. His body felt stiff, heavy, and his mind was hazy and groggy. He breathed and felt a pain in his chest. This was new…
He looked over to the side. Joana wasn't there? That… didn't seem right. Sieg pressed a button of the bed, which called for the nurse.
"Oh, you're awake. You're quite fast." The smiling nurse pointed out.
"H-Hi. Can you tell me how the surgery went?"
She pu on the gentlest of smiles. "Completely perfect. There weren't any complications at all. You went in and came out in 4 hours."
"W-Wow…" Sieg was surprised and sighed in relief. Despite the weight on his body, he felt a million times lighter. He was glad, to say the least, his smile said as much. But he imagined this moment would be shared with… "Excuse me, I know this might sound like an odd question, but do you happen to know where the girl that accompanied me here is?"
"Ah, that girl. Shortly after you went in, she walked down the hallway. I don't think I've seen her since."
"Really?" That was… odd, to say the least. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. If you need anything, just press the button."
The nurse left the room and Sieg stared at the outside through the window. The recovery room had no one but him. And he wondered where exactly Joana could be…
15 minutes.
30 minutes.
1 hours.
"Something's wrong!" He barked at nothing. But the barked had reason to exist. This was completely unlike Joana! With a press of the button, the nurse came to take his request.
"Could you give me my jacket? I have my cell phone there, and I'd like to call my friend. I'm worried about her."
"My! Shouldn't she be the one worried about you?" The nurse giggled, making Sieg blush a bit. "Wouldn't you rather if I brought you just your phone?"
"N-No, please, I know it sounds weird, but bring the jacket too. I'll put it here aside, don't worry."
An obvious lie for anyone that knew his nature as a Player. Once his jacket had been brought and the nurse left, he drew the Alter Ego Card and looked around. No cameras in sight. Even though there were cameras placed in the hallways and entrances for security reasons, the rooms themselves didn't possess them for the privacy of the patients.
"This is… probably gonna hurt."
Joana's eyes couldn't look away from her heavy-breathing boyfriend.
"…Joana."
I hate you. That's what he was going to say, right? After all, she was acting out in such a way, not to mention the lie…
He bowed. "I-I'm sorry for being sick!"
"Eh?!" Both Joana and Shirou were confused.
"You're apologizing… for being sick?" Shirou wanted to make sure he heard it right.
"Y-Yes!" Shirou straightened his back. "If I weren't… I wouldn't have made Joana suffer like this. And… well, none of this would've happened. At least, everything that happened to her."
The Dragon Witch fell to her knees, dropping both weapons, making the two boys turn to her. She stared at the floor in complete confusion, unable to comprehend.
"You…! I…" Joana's eyes began to water. "I lied to you… I told you something in the name of God that wasn't true… I always told myself I was fine with helping you, but… but…" Her hands rose up to her eyes in order to hide them. "I don't want you to suddenly drop out of my life! To disappear 'just because'! And… Even though I always encouraged you, I could never stop being afraid! I… I might as well never have believed those words! I betrayed God… I betrayed you… and I betrayed myself…" She couldn't stop balling her eyes out. "…So why are you the one apologizing?! Why aren't you disgusted by me?! Why… Why do you still even love me!?"
Sieg sat down on the floor, next to Joana, placing a hand around her shoulders. "Because I always knew something like this would happen."
"Huh?"
"I don't know when it happened exactly. But at some point I knew I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life." He admitted, making his cheeks turn rose coloured. "And that made me think just how much time left I had to begin with. And… I knew that if my feelings for you matched those you had for me… that you'd probably end up in a state like this. Afraid, sad, angry, everything in between. And I didn't want that to happen… but even if I tried to shoo you away and told you not to worry about me, I always wished you'd stay with me. And you always did." He put on a sad smile. "So… of course I still love you, Joana. You always stayed by my side even though that would make you suffer. How can I be disgusted by you? I always thought you would be the one to…"
"Wha-!" Joana uncovered her eyes, unable to believe his words. "H-How could I ever-?!"
"B-Because… I'm wimpy, and sick, and really selfish."
"You're not selfish! I'm the one…" She sniffled again, the water cascading down her face again. "I was the one that was so selfish that you had to apologize for something you can't control…"
"But if this never happened-!"
An endless cycle of self-blame was about to start. Therefore, the only witness intervened.
"With myself as witness, I now pronounce you husband and wife."
The couple's eyes blinked twice and they then turned to the still tired Shirou. "Eh?"
"You may now kiss the bride."
"…" Sieg suddenly realized. "Wait, did you just marry us?!"
Joana remembered his status. "Shirou, you're a officiator! You know your words are to be taken seriously, right?!"
"I'm aware." He chuckled in amusement.
The two blushing bright red yelled in unison. "Unmarry us right now!"
"Oh? But you two are such a perfect couple. I could swear you would thank me."
"I don't want my marriage to be in the middle of the apocalypse!"
"And I'd like to not have stitches on my chest during the ceremony!"
Shirou half-opened his eyes, in a rather mischievous manner. "And what will you do if I don't?"
Sieg and Joana gripped their swords. "We have weapons."
"You'd injure the wounded and the handicapped? How cruel you two are." He chuckled at the panicking couple. Of course he was planning to 'unmarry' the two, but he'd rather play just a little bit longer. So the wounded ones would forget their pain for a little longer.
One more!
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