Fate/Infinity Shuffle

Chapter 264 – Trump:

Aqua eyes opened lazily. It was a surprising event, since she herself didn't expect to wake up again.

"Hmm… Oww…" The sharp pain on her stomach fired up when she tried to move, but nevertheless, she sat up. Rin placed a hand over where the pointer had stabbed her, and even though it ached, she could tell the wound had been closed. Her shirt had been ripped from the chest down and tossed aside, soaked in blood.

She looked around, and no one besides one particular person seemed to be present, her back to Rin. Saber clothing aside, it was hard to mistake her for anybody else with that hair.

"Luvia?"

"So you woke up. That was fast." The EX Ranker didn't turn to her rival, instead keeping facing the city ahead.

Even with a headache, Rin could tell what had occurred. "You healed me, huh…"

"Did you expect me not to?"

"Not what I meant. Luvia, I'm not in the mood to butt heads…" Rin pointed out, feeling the pain subsiding slowly, but still aching through her body. "I didn't know you were close by to begin with."

"It was hard not to hear that scream." Luvia's head turned, able to see the groggy Rin from the corner of her eye. "Sakura was crying really hard."

"I figured…" Rin coughed, but at least it carried no blood. A good sign, to say the least. Luvia had healed her using the shadow of the God of Medicine. Though, admittedly, this was the first time she had to heal someone without a Card Installed. Luckily, it had worked. "Where is she?"

"She went off running when I got here and healed you. Those two twins followed her. Now, I would very much like to know what you were doing."

"…" Rin looked towards the red sky above that was becoming darker and darker as time went on. "I said some things I shouldn't have. Or maybe I should've, but was rude about it. I think that's a good difference between me and Sakura: that girl can't speak up when needed and I can't stay quiet when I should."

"And the suicide attempt?"

"Even though I don't know half of my sister's life… I've always known one thing about her. At the end of the day, she hates confrontation. So, I showed her first hand what she was really going to do. The moment she saw it… She got her senses back. One thing is when the world will do it for you… another is when you do it yourself."

Luvia disliked Rin's logic. "So you decided to give a trauma to your sister?"

"Fate of the world aside…" She put on a saddened smirk. "I didn't want my sister to be a bad person anymore. And… part of me thought that maybe she should kill me. After what happened…"

Luvia let out a sigh. "For how cryptic you're being, I'm guessing it's private."

"More than I'd like it to be…"

"I see. Then I won't pry about it." She turned back to the city. "I have a little sister too. I don't think I can blame you for what you did. I don't know how I would act if Miyu was in her place." Luvia admitted as much, which made Rin smile a little. She was expecting Luvia to yell at her to no end in sight, with slaps thrown about. And, most likely, she wanted to. And yet… she was incapable of it. At least this once. "But pull this stunt again and I'm letting you bleed out."

Rin had to chuckle. "I expected as much."

"…You're going to apologize to her, right?"

"I don't even know how to start it." Rin admitted, looking forward towards Luvia. With grunts of pain, Rin stood up and walked over to the other EX Ranker. "So, what did I miss?"

"Less people came to help than when that accident with the Golden Archer Cards occurred. I guess that woman is that intimidating. And even though the werewolves are easy enough to handle, the weird pillars that kappe appearing can be a pain."

"Hmmm…" Despite the situation, Rin's smirk wouldn't leave. "Alright. I'll join in once this stupid pain stops. You can go ahead."

"I'm not going ahead."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Giving me a head start is unfair for when we see which one of us killed the most out of those things."

Luvia spoke as if it was such a common thing to say, or how things would naturally pan out. And in a way, it didn't feel out of place, even though Luvia wouldn't prioritize a rivalry over a situation like this. But Rin figured out what she meant by that.

'I'm not leaving you alone.'

"…Alright." Hands placed on her waist, eyes shut in full confidence. "With these two Cards of mine, I bet I can surpass you even if you use your Noble Phantasm."

"Oh? Is that so? Fufufu… We'll see."


"Ow, my head…"

It had been a while since Mizuki exerted the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception to such an extent. Landing on her rear on the rooftop of the building, she breathed heavily as she wished for the headache to go away. It took her a while, but she managed to kill the Demon Pillar by tracing its lines.

"Just what in the world is going on…? I'm not letting the world end, but I don't even get what that lady is doing…"

"I think I can answer that."

"Eh?" Mizuki quickly turned around at the familiar voice. The Avenger that was only a silhouette with eyes and what was usually a silly grin had manifested himself. "Angra? What are you doing?" What made her slightly alarmed was that he wasn't in his chibi state. For him to appear like this, it was probably serious.

"Well, you're in doubt, and I have an answer. You want information, and I want to amuse myself a bit. We should help each other out, don't you think?"

"Alright… But how do you even know to begin with?"

"That cow is using a Card of mine to use her actual Card. In a way, she's installing me alongside an Alter Ego. Otherwise, she can't. So I can more or less tell what's going on. Perks of handling multiple existences at once."

This sounded somewhat familiar. "Is it like Overlap Install?"

"Same idea, different result. That Alter Ego just does nothing if you don't use my Card to begin with. In a weird way, I'm a possible Noble Phantasm of hers. That's why the werewolves are everywhere. That bitch stole my gimmick… I should feel flattered, because it's a dumb gimmick, but I can't help but feel annoyed!"

"What about the jellyfish towers?"

"That's a work of her own. A Demonic Bodhisattva gives birth to nameless Demon God Pillars. Seriously, different timelines get weirder and weirder. I don't think she even needs me anymore. Well, as a Noble Phantasm at least. I guess the system was nice enough to make me a key to unlock that Card to begin with."

"Wait, she can grow them? Indefinitely?"

"As long as she has enough Mana to act. They're an extension of her, in a way. You can still swing a holy sword and do damage regardless if you call out its name, right? It's the same deal."

"But just what is that Card?"

"Sessyoin Kiara."

"I know her name, I asked the Card."

Angra Mainyu nodded. "Sessyoin Kiara."

"…" Mizuki's eyes widened. "Y-You're serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" He couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't you guys have contemporary heroes walking around too? Pretty sure there's a 'Ryougi Shiki' and 'Asagami Fujino' walking around in Japan. You know, alternate selves. It's the same case here. But it's on steroids because that devil of a woman happens to always be such a terrible person. And the worst kind: a strong one!"

"H-How exactly…?"

"Look, that's a really long story, I can't do a full recap of those events. All you need to know is that that woman is bad news. I'm fine with it, honestly. But it would be a bit boring if the heroes didn't struggle against her."

"But you still haven't answered me something. Why is she doing this?"

"Ah, that. Well, I might as well throw in the 'how' since I know a few dirty details. But heads up: you're not gonna like it."

Mizuki listened closely…


With tears streaming down her eyes, Sakura flew past the werewolves and the pillars, ignoring every single one of them. And directly met with the mastermind of this entire event: Kiara.

"Kiara!"

"Hm?" Atop a throne made out of bent and misshapen Demon Pillars, the wailing caught her ears.

"We need to stop this, please! I don't want the world to end!" She approached and grabbed Kiara's shoulders in a panic. "I almost killed my sister, I don't want this anymore! Let's stop, please!" The eyes showed the sheer amount of regret the sixteen-year-old felt. "Let's just solve our problems in the real world, please, I don't want anyone to die!"

"…" A smirk grew on Kiara's face. "Fu!" And the stat of the giggle escaped her mouth. "Uhuhuhu…! Ahhh… honestly, I needed that, Sakura."

"Eh?"

"I can't lie, I was asking for some entertainment, but I wasn't expecting a comedy to come to me."

"I-I'm being serious, please! Call everything off, please, this is wrong!"

"Awww…" A light blush appeared on the woman's face, a hand placing itself over her own cheek. "So adorable…"

"Kiara, I'm being serious here, please!"

"So am I." Kiara leaned over to Sakura's ear and whispered. "You don't know just how cute you look when you're acting the most pathetic."

Sakura froze. She was unable to understand what was going on.

Kiara's arms wrapped around her body, drawing the Ruler into an embrace. "Truly, you're so cute that I could just cover you full of kisses… but who exactly would want to kiss a miserable little worm like you?"

"E-Eh…?"

"You lasted longer than I expected. It would've been truly amazing if you could keep playing your little game all the way until midnight, but I guess this was bound to happen to the insect with such a fragile heart."

"W-What are you…?"

"But I guess for you insects, the body is all that is necessary. I'd say no wonder your brother lusts after you, but it's not by his choice."

Sakura's eyes widened. "…What do you mean by that?"

"Fu…" Kiara did her best not to giggle again. "You never looked at your brother's eyes, did you? What a shame. Perhaps you would've caught on that he didn't enjoy any of it. For all those years, the poor boy was manipulated to rape his sister, and he didn't even know it. No wonder he grew up to be such a disgrace."

"Y-You're making this up, right? Right?!" Panic began to grow.

"If this is a fantasy? Of course not." Kiara giggled to herself, wondering if just a few words could break Sakura completely. "After all… I'm the one who pushed him to do it."

Sakura's eyes emptied out completely. "…You're lying, right? A-After all, me and the others are the Original 21, so how could-"

"Aww… You took that name literally? Silly Sakura. That's a title you children made up, not an actual truth. Just because you thought something doesn't make it true."

"B-But…!"

"And I've already got what I wanted anyway." Kiara broke the hug and suddenly shoved a hand into Sakura's chest. The Ruler was too emotionally broken to even think about reacting. A few seconds later, Kiara pulled out the Golden Goblet, the Holy Grail. "Since you've lost your will, I'll take this for myself." The woman admired the artefact in her hands. A slit appeared from the stomach to her pubis and it opened up into a crevice filled with alive and moving demon god pillars. The chalice was placed inside, pulled in by the black hole. The slit closed, and the cup was gone from Sakura's grasp.

"Now, I thank you for your efforts. But you can go ahead and die now. I believe you'll find something to slit your throat with down there." Kiara flashed a smile and pushed Sakura away. The Ruler was pulled down by gravity, her mind completely empty.

A giggle began to sound. The demonic Bodhisattva was so close to a state of bliss.

CLASS: Alter Ego

IDENTITY: Sessyoin Kiara

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil

STATS:

- Strength: D

- Endurance: A+

- Agility: B+

- Mana: EX

- Luck: E

- Noble Phantasm: EX

CLASS SKILLS:

- Authority of the Beast: D

- Independent Manifestation: E

- Logos Eater: C

- Nega Saver: A

PERSONAL SKILL:

- Clairvoyance (Beast): D+++

- Thesis of the Still Heart: A+

- Goddess Metamorphosis: EX

- Aurea Boura (Golden Grail): C – EX (New!)

NOBLE PHANTASM: -UNKNOWN-

"I'm so close…" A deranged smile appeared on the woman's face. "You're sure to come back once this all happens, right?" Her lips curled as she spoke the name of the only being that would ever love besides herself.

"Angra Mainyu."


Backstory next chapter. Don't miss it!

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