Fate/Infinity Shuffle
Chapter 266 – River:
"Yuishiki!"
A spiral of red and green travelled through the streets, twisting through the many werewolves and crumbling them into a spiralling mess.
The Archer in the waitress outfit placed a hand on the side of her head, a headache increasing in intensity.
"You've been using the eyes a lot." A concerned claim from the bearer of the Mystic Eyes of Distortion, communicating through Independent Action.
"Still…" Mizuki let out a sigh. A rare sight to see: the teenage girl didn't hide any anger from the public. She marched forward within the cleared away streets, pacing angrily in search of the Demonic Bodhisattva. "What that woman is doing is…"
"You're not one to get truly angry, are you?"
"I'm not used to it, no…" Mizuki pointed out, sighing in frustration. Because until now, whenever she thought more often than not, those creating trouble weren't entirely to blame.
Mary was influenced by the Insanity Skill of Abigail Williams and persuaded by Avenger.
Haru may have been mad, but there was clearly something wrong in her head.
Shinji, apparently, was pushed around by Kiara on one side and by Angra on the other.
Bazett was controlled by the three assailants that she never found out the motivations behind.
Hakuno and Jinako's actions were due to the ego of the Heroic Spirit that was the Golden Archer.
And Sakura… was tormented until she was broken.
But Kiara was a different story. Dooming the world because of a single wish, recruiting people to speed up the process, destroying lives like they didn't matter…
It was something that made Mizuki truly angry. She couldn't be angry at someone that wasn't truly to blame, but that wasn't the case. An obsession taken too far.
She could bear the headache Mystic Eyes gave her. Both Death Perception from staring at the red lines and Distortion from the strain they caused. For now, those were her two main weapons. But the migraine grew as a result. She needed to take a rest at some point.
Another sigh. "Maybe I should stop for a minute…" She wondered for a second. And the moment her foot stepped on the ground again, a Demon Pillar sprouted out of the ground like a drill, right in front of Mizuki. "Eek!" She jumped back in a scare and looked up at the tower of flesh. "Another one…?" She sighed. "…C-Can I even twist it? It's already twisted, right?"
Before Mizuki could get an answer, multiple slashes ran across the tower, and a familiar Saber with tanned skin and an overly long katana appeared in front of her. The pillar began to crumble apart, disappearing into black smoke as fast as it first appeared.
Mizuki blinked twice and a smile widened on her face. "Sayuri!"
The Devil Saber stood up and flashed a smirk. "Took you a while."
It didn't take more than a second for Mizuki to go back to the situation at hands. "Where are all the others?"
"We split up to cover more area." Sayuri pointed out. "Mongami went to chase something and gave me her Card to speed things up."
"It's been a while since you've used that, hasn't it?"
"Yeah… feeling a bit rusty."
The two giggled together, shortly reminiscing the battle from many months back. And when Mizuki opened her eyes again, she gasped. "Sayuri, duck!"
The Saber didn't miss a beat. Her legs bent, which gave Mizuki a clear shot for her to use the Mystic Eyes of Distortion to twist the projectile that was heading their way. The Fake Spiral Sword twisted to the point of rupture, and the arrow exploded in midair, a cloud of smoke spreading, not so far from the two.
The far away Blackened Archer clicked her tongue. "Tch. What a pain. Now I have to do a new one." Beatrice complained, atop a faraway building, bow in hand.
"We're under attack, huh?" Sayuri drew her katana. "Did you see from where?"
"That building with the blinking the antenna far away from us, in your front."
"Gotcha." Sayuri drew in air and was about to charge forward, but once again, Mizuki warned her of danger.
"Your neck!"
Sayuri reacted in time. Her sword crossed with one that was just as long as hers. A samurai in black clothes.
"Ohh?" Phoenix stepped back and looked over at Mizuki. "What was that for? I had her in for?"
"I'm helping my friend!"
"Well, so am I. Since you took away Beatrice's shot an everything. Seriously, bunch of rude people."
"Alright, Mizuki, change of plans." Sayuri turned to the androgynous, blackened Assassin. "You go take care of that Archer."
"Gotcha!"
"See yah later." Sayuri raised a hand and once Mizuki ran past it, the two high-fived before resuming their respective encounter.
"Ksh. One of them is coming here. … Well, Phoenix probably takes care of the other." Beatrice's aim changed to Mizuki.
"Install!" Mizuki changed Cards to the speedy Assassin with the red jacket.
Sayuri and Phoenix stared down at each other, both with the same fighting stance, the hilts of their overly long swords by the side of their eyes.
Without warning and at equal speed, the two engaged in battle with fast and precise swings of their katanas. From the looks of it, their Endurance and Agility were the same, with Sayuri having a slight edge in Strength. The two had very similar chances when it came to the physical. Sparks flew as the wavering blades kept clashing against each other. The length of both blades meant that both were actually rather far away from each other, at least in the context of a duel.
Phoenix grinned and raised the katana vertically to parry Sayuri's strike. Once she staggered from the defence, the unorthodox Assassin stepped forward and swung the long sword in a wide, horizontal slash, aiming for her neck. A quick blow for a quick kill.
Sayuri panicked. She withdrew her arms and turned the sword around in her hand, making it so it was pointing backwards. The original plan was to block it with the lower part of the blade and then perform a draw-and-strike attack straight to Phoenix's torso, but something was wrong.
Despite the opponent only holding one sword, two blades were approaching her neck. One from each side.
"!" Through the Skill 'Furthest Earth', Sayuri managed to step away instead, evading this killing blow.
"Tch." Phoenix sighed in disappointment. "So close." Despite what was happening before, there were clearly only two arms and one sword.
"Just what kind of Heroic Spirit is this?" Sayuri wondered to herself. What made her the most curious was how she only noticed the second blade approaching at the last second. "I can't see through those moves." She took a deep breath and resumed what she was trying to do before. Since her weapon was of a much greater length, she could stay where she was to perform the attack. She 'drew' her sword and swung it from below, at an angle to accommodate for its length.
Phoenix didn't even flinch. A set of quick steps to get out of the way, and then a strong strike from below, throwing Sayuri off, her arms forced to go upwards. With a set of quick steps, Phoenix moved in and slashed Sayuri's body thrice in a triangular fashion, moving around her in straight lines and ending up where the Assassin started.
The three slashes made Sayuri spin away with sharp pain in her body.
"Gh-!" She braked with her ankles and raised her sword again. Golden sparks ran through the black blade and she dashed in a flash, almost unseen. Phoenix stepped aside and parried the attack by raising the sword straight up, even placing an arm behind the blunt side of the weapon to remain in place. The plan was successful, the loud CLANG of the two edges crossing echoing through as Sayuri stopped a little past the opponent. Gripping the hilt with both hands, she spun around and struck the white blade again, pushing Phoenix away, over the floor.
Once the skidding stopped, Phoenix assumed position, taking a stance and raising the katana up to eye level. Sayuri hurled a glare and black surged through the blade she held. One chance.
"Tsubame Gaeshi."
"Black Purgatory!"
The Assassin swung the sword, three simultaneous times, tapping into the Second Magic. Sayuri went straight to Phoenix though, unafraid of the slashes. Her body leaned forward as much as it could, and her arm swung.
…
Phoenix sighed as Sayuri past her enemy straightened her body and turned around. The right side of the torso was missing, blood staining the kimono.
"…The sword was bent, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. It was." Sayuri pointed out as Phoenix Uninstalled. She took the Card and chased after Mizuki, leaving her defeated enemy behind.
Mizuki's dash was constantly suffering from sabotage attempts. However, each time an unorthodox arrow came her way, she had to react in a plit second. Eye of the Mind helped her maneuver around the projectiles, alongside Independent Action allowing someone more experienced to move her body for the split second. In that timeframe, a singular red line had to be cut just in time to 'kill' them and render them ineffective.
"Geez, this one doesn't like to stay put…" Beatrice complained, as Mizuki got closer and closer to the building. "Well, no matter. Even if she got close, she still has to climb all of these stairs. That will let me prepare whatever I need to… Hm?"
Something wasn't right. Mizuki reached the building, but never went in it.
"Yuishiki!"
The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception opened up to their full potential and Mizuki started tracing red lines. Not all of them, just the ones that she could reach that circumvented the base of the building. In a blink of an eye, she ran around the structure and ran in the opposite direction.
"…Tell me she didn't-" The building began to shake. "Of course she did." The collapse begun. The building started the fall forward, almost as if chasing after the one that caused its fall. "Might as well…" Beatrice wound up her bow and aimed at Mizuki.
"Right here!" Sayuri's call was perfect news for Mizuki. The Assassin leapt forward and used Sayuri's hands as a platform. Sayuri hurled her arms up and Mizuki made use of the jump to backflip. Her bright blue eyes perceiving death crossed with Beatrice's. And just as Beatrice as about to shoot a Fake Spiral sword, Mizuki hurled her knife. The tip of the blade cut through the twisting and slit through the projectile, prompting it to explode and cut Beatrice's vision of the Assassin in red and blue.
"Hmph." Beatrice stored away her bow and summoned a pair of black and white blades. The moment she landed, she would dash forward and slice across Mizuki's body with them.
"Decisive Blade – Eternity Three Stage! Short version!"
A beam of black pierced through her torso like an unstoppable blade and quickly defeated Beatrice, making her Uninstall.
She hit the floor and gasped as Mizuki and Sayuri ran past her and took the Archer Card. The building behind the opponent had been split in half, so the two could ran past the crevice to continue on to their objective.
"…Short version?"
"I-I skipped a few steps, let me be!"
"It just feels weird to hear you add that sort of thing to the name of an attack."
"Gh-!" Mongami skidded away from the Blackened Berserker, who roared like a beast after the swing of the axe-blade. "You're a tough nut, aren't you?" And as Patricia roared again, about to leap forward, a large explosion occurred. Mongami blinked twice, confused. Once the smoke cleared away, Patricia was shown to be missing a good chunk of her body, but a surge of magical energy was making it grow back.
"Sorry to interrupt, but" Mongami turned around, spotting an Archer in red and an Archer in Black. "I think we're more suited for this fight than you. Is it okay if I defeat that person?"
"…" Mongami knew it wasn't the time to start a fight. "Fine, fine, I won't argue with an EX Ranker. Good luck then." She waved before dashing off to take care of other enemies.
Hakuno aimed one of the guns while Shirou took aim with his bow again.
"Ready when you are."
I'm having a weird sense of déjà vu here.
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