Fate/Infinity Shuffle

Chapter 272 – Final Showdown:

Was it appropriate to stream an important fight just a few days after the apocalypse nearly happened? Perhaps, but simultaneously, it was a great distraction to the mind. Sitting back, relaxing, and watching an EX Rank match was probably a nice way to spend the evening, together with friends.

Maybe not to everyone, but the majority appreciated the gesture.

Same set up as usual. A Territory Card was used to offer a grander battlefield for the match. The Nine Members of the Conquerors of Deva were all rather amazed by the structure once they realized what it was.

"…Are we in a flying castle?!"

A structure made out of dull-gold stone bricks. A castle amongst the clouds. It had multiple sections: wide hallways, spiralling towers, hovering platforms surrounding it, etc. There was nothing supporting the building, so it really was flying on its own. If one incapable of flight were to fall, there was no way to come back up by the looks of it, since there was nothing that would allow them to climb back up. The group of Players found themselves in a hallway at the edge of the castle without the outer wall, meaning the could just walk over and look down to the emptiness below.

Even though allowing Mimi and Rumi to participate in the battle alongside all the others was a rightful perk, Hakuno and Jinako found them to be too big a help. Therefore, despite the kind of battle, no EX Missions were granted. If Mizuki's Team wanted to win, they had to defeat all the members of the Team 'Fuyuki Defenders'. The only thing the Conquerors of Deva did in preparation for the match was to obtain a rather specific Card.

Everybody was Installed and ready. Mizuki holding her knife and wearing the red leather jacket. Edward was already suited up in red and blue, with his hair looking like the mane of a lion. And Karen was clad in violet and holding a katana. Everybody else was sporting their usual Cards.

"Any plan in specific?" Sayuri wondered. "Or do I have to cook something up, Miss Leader?"

"Y-You don't need to put it like that…" Mizuki didn't like the tone. "Alright, I don't need to say which is our main priority and concern, right?"

Mongami grinned in anticipation. "The little brat with multiple lives, right?"

"I can take two of them out. Those who can take one, go ahead, but don't fight her for too long."

"Hit and run, hm." Isemi nodded. "Alright. I think that sounds like the best approach."

"As for the others?" Shoutarou wondered. "Or are we really just concerned about the Berserker?"

"Well…" Mizuki looked over at Mongami. A slight sense of surprise came over her when the leader turned to her specifically. "Mongami, think you can take the Lancer?"

"Oh, the girl in blue? I can give her a shot. She looked pretty annoying in the fight against the Red Oaths though."

Sayuri smirked somewhat mischeavously. "But Edward is gonna help you out, isn't he?"

"W-Well…!" Edward suddenly turned red.

"Oi! Only I can tease him!"

"M-Mongami!"

Karen couldn't help but chuckle. "Mizuki, would you mind if I thought against Saber?"

"Really? I was going to ask Sayuri to do that."

"I-I appreciate the compliment, but I think I'll stay focused on Assassin." Sayuri pointed out, chuckling rather awkwardly.

Mimi lightly punched her sister's arm. "Rumi here can stall that Berserker and Caster duo while we're all running around."

"M-Me?"

"Of course, you're our best tank." Mimi pointed out, smirking at her nervous sister. "As for me, I'll take care of that Archer that pretends to be a Saber."

"I'll scout the area." Shoutarou pointed out, twirling his knife in his hand.

"I'll help whoever needs help." Isemi pointed out, holding his scythe over his shoulders, in a rather relaxed manner. "But I guess I'll tag along with Rumi first."

"I'll fly around and help too!" Lizzie pointed out, suddenly stretching out her dragon wings.

"Guess that leaves the Rider to me." Mizuki pointed out, stretching her arms up to make sure her body is fully ready. "Alright everybody. Let's move!"

"Let's!"

With a quick motion, everybody went their different ways.

Lizzie was the first to separate from the group by jumping off to the open sky and flapping her wings in order to soar and rise up.

Then, the remaining ones started going in different paths as the interior of the castle began branching off.

The battle started.


Mizuki ran through a corridor with multiple statues decorating the wall on one side and no wall on the other. She had decided to stay close to the edge of the structure. Multiple pillars in a row by the open side of the hallway supported the ceiling above, at least apparently.

Dashing with her top speed, Mizuki kept looking for an opponent. And all of a sudden, the wall was broken through.

"GRAAHHH!" The high-pitched roar that sounded through the shattering rock gave away who had appeared. Small bare feet skidded over the floor, and the blade of the axe driven into the rock braked her completely. A young girl with red eyes and white hair growled the Assassin.

Mizuki raised her knife, taken aback by the entrance. "I wasn't expecting to find you so early."

"Grrrr…!" The Berserker's tiny hand held the golden handle of the tall axe rather forcefully. Mizuki found it odd that Miyu wasn't paired with Illya, but perhaps that was for later.

Mizuki's eyes went from red to blue. The lines of death appeared to her. "Alright. One shot."


"Eek!" Lizzie flew around the castle while evading multiple beams of purplish and blue mana, fired by the tiny Caster in purple robes.

Miyu's eyes focused on Lizzie. "Could you please stay put?"

"No way!" Her wings retracted once she reached the roof, hiding behind one of the protrusions of the structure. "I'm not getting fried, not now, not ever! … Eh?" An odd sound came from above. Lizzie looked up and panicked. "Ahh!" She leapt over to the side, getting out of her hideout in order to avoid the giant block of ice that broke apart upon impact. Then, a stream of fire came into her viewing. "No no no!" Her wings stretched out and flapped them hard, the flames blown away by the strong wind. The idol let out a sigh and turned to the Caster, arms stretching up in anger. "Hey! What's the idea?! If you use fire, what little I have of clothes will burn!"

Miyu let out a sigh. "So annoying…"

"What was that?!"

"I'll finish this." She raised a finger and a purple orb with surging electricity within it manifested. With a simple flick, the sphere was hurled over and increased in speed the more it travelled.

Lizzie gasped, flinching in the process. Maybe she could take the strike. The orb came into contact and… "…Eh?" Lizzie looked down, examining her body, confused. "Why is nothing hurting?"

"E-Excuse me?!" Miyu was taken aback. "You have Magic Resistance?!"

"Of course I do! All Lancers do!"

"Lancer?" A question mark could almost be seen above Miyu's head. "With those clothes, I thought your Heroic Spirit was a recent one. Maybe an Assassin. But your Magic Resistance…"

"It's A! I'm a Lancer with Magic Resistance A! What's wrong with tha-?" And suddenly, she realized. A look of surprise quickly became smug and mischievous. "Magic Resistance A… cancels a ton of spells, doesn't it?" The spear that doubled as a microphone appeared in her hands. "Can you even hurt me?"

"…" Miyu remained silent for a few seconds. And without warning, she dived towards the empty space beneath, not so different from a bird.

"Hey! Get back here!" Lizzie jumped and sat on the pole of her weapon, which began to hover. The idol Lancer was in pursuit!


A heavy downwards swing. Sidestep.

A strong sideways slash. Duck.

Mizuki did her best to evade the fast swings of the Berserker. Despite her immense strength, Illya wasn't slow at all. She had no real weakness when it came to her parameters, her skills were simple but effective, and her Noble Phantasm added a layer of protection that was beyond belief. Some research about it was made beforehand. The demonstration of it during the battle against the Red Oaths raised many questions, but a useful post explaining the details of it was found on the Game's Site.

God Hand. The Noble Phantasm representing the twelve labours of Heracles in the shape of Heracles' own sturdy body. On top of becoming immune to any Attack below the A Rank of Strength, it offered a stock of twelve lives. And whatever killed him once, he would grow super resistant against. Nigh immunity. It was possible to take more than one life in one attack, granted, but it was extremely difficulty. It would be impossible without a Noble Phantasm, and not just anyone would be able to do so.

But Mizuki knew that she was able to take at the very least two lives off the stock.

For now, she was focused on evading. One strike from Illyasviel's axe and she'd probably go down. It was a battle of Eyes of the Mind, as both were relying on the skill to battle one another. The moment one outplayed the other, a killing blow would be dealt.

"Grrrrr… RRAAAHHH!" Illya wound up her body, her flexing arms and axe behind the body. Her legs jumped and she spun over like a wheel, the blade of the axe forming a full circle before even being close to Mizuki. The Assassin stepped back. The blade struck the floor so hard that a shockwave ran through Mizuki, making her struggle. She crossed her arms in front of her body out of instinct, a natural way to protect herself from an unknown danger.

The small Berserker proceeded though. Her feet weren't even able to reach the floor, but that didn't matter. She exerted strength with her arms and lifted herself over the pole of her weapon. As a result, she landed on the pole of her weapon. Immediately after, Illya jumped forward with a pulled back fist.

"!" Mizuki could tell what was coming. And taking into account how she wasn't even connected to the ground, it meant she had to block the attack. Even if a tiny fist, Illya's strike would probably be able to shatter bones. So, she moved the prosthetic arm that came with Installing to be the one receiving the attack. Illya punched it, and while sturdy limb, it couldn't withstand the strength of Heracles. The only reason why it didn't snap was because nothing was stopping Mizuki from moving. Her back hit the floor and she bounced back, a pained grunt escaping her mouth. She skidded over the stone floor until the struck it with her knife, stopping her completely.

Illya's right foot struck one of the bricks behind her, and the way the rocks moved obligated the blade to spin over. The handle moved over and was caught by her two hands. Lifted over and positioned to swing horizontally, Illya jumped forward, ready to slice Mizuki in half.

The older teenager's eyes turned bright blue and she stood up, moving forward fast. She reached the middle of the axe's handle and placed her knife just in the right place for the blade of the knife to cut through a red line. The pole split in half, the lower one completing the swing of Illya's arms, while the upper portion spun away, stopping once the blade struck the wall and buried itself there.

Before Illya could properly react, Mizuki turned to her and stepped forward.

"Suishiki." The Assassin dashed around Illya and finished the attack with a swing of her arm. Almost unssen, multiple lines of death were traced and Illya was about to fall apart into pieces.

"G-Grr…?!" While disjointed, her body refused to actually fall apart. Sparks of red and yellow surrounded her diced body and made their best to pull her together and rejoin her.

The lines of death were something one couldn't become resistant to, as severing them means 'the end of one's life'. Therefore, while Illya would recover, she wouldn't become resistant to having her lines cut, but rather Mizuki's knife itself.

"Illya!" Miyu's call of worry caught Mizuki's attention. The Caster summoned her magical staff and waved it, conjuring multiple magical beams at once.

"W-Whoa!" Mizuki didn't even think twice about it: she ran away from the hallway, re-entering the castle and getting away from the angry Caster.


KLANG! KLINK! KLANG!

Two different kinds of metal crossed multiple times in a short amount of time. It ended with a foot blade above an Archer's head, blocked by the crossing of black and white short swords.

"Hm. I have this odd feeling I know how to fight against you."

"Really? How weird. I've never seen a Heroic Spirit like yours, but I have a sense like we've met before."

Shirou spread his arms out, pushing Mimi away, who performed a backflip and skated backwards.

"Oh? Perhaps… Hm. That would make some sense. But that's a conversation for another time."

"Before we proceed." Shirou raised a hand. "I feel compelled to ask this of you, but I'm currently in a relationship. I don't know why, but I feel weary… I would appreciate if you did not kiss me."

Mimi blinked twice, slightly confused. "S-Sure, no worries." A part of her wondered just what kind of relationship the two Heroic Spirits had in different lifetimes.

Once the odd moment passed, the two put on more serious faces. Shirou restarted the confrontation by hurling his two blades at the Alter Ego. Mimi was quick to destroy the projectiles with a hard enough sidekick.

Once Kanshou and Bakuya fell to bits and pieces, turning to dust when they hit the floor, Mimi found Shirou approaching while holding the Peerless Sword Durandal and thrust it towards her chest for a quick, killing blow.

The sword was stopped by a precise thrust of her knee-spike, the two metal objects stopping each other and relying on the very tip for stability. The two crossed looks for a brief second and the two weapons were thrust upwards with a loud KLINK!

Mimi jumped back and flipped backwards, her leg cutting the air in the motion and firing a cutting-wave of energy at Shirou, who blocked the attack with the use of Durandal. A strong enough strike cancelled the wave but destroyed the sword.

Shirou put on a smirk as a pair of red and white blades appeared in his hands.


"Guess we found your target, Sayuri." Shoutarou pointed out, raising his knife.

Sayuri's eyes focused on the Assassin in the black cloak and with the white skull mask over his face.

"Two opponents. I suppose it's fitting I hold two Cards." Issei pointed, revealing a a set of dirks in his hand. They were sent out in quick throws, one after the other.

Sayuri stepped in front of Shoutarou and deflected the knives with swift strikes of her sword. Once the black projectiles hit the floor, Shoutarou took the lead and hurled his knife. Instead of evading though, Issei let the knife slash the bandages that bound his demonic arm. Once ripped apart, he raised it above his head and locked his eyes on Shoutarou.

"Zabaniya!" His arm stretched forward, aiming for Shoutarou's chest, until… "Gh-?!"

Sayuri's arms shook as she did her best to keep the demon arm from moving, having plunged her Katana into the demonic palm.

Shoutarou reached over and grabbed the Assassin's wrist. "Sayuri, go!"

Without the need to reply, the Saber pulled her sword out and dashed towards Issei, ready to perform an attack. But once she was close…

"Install." The arm vanished from Shoutarou's hand and a long sword blocked the path Sayuri's blade was taking. The black cloak was gone, replaced by traditional Japanese clothing.

"Shoutarou, I'll take care of this. You go back and take a different route."

"Gotcha!" Shoutarou didn't even argue. He turned and ran back the path the two came from.

Issei couldn't help but smirk. "A duel one-on-one? I'll admit, I haven't had one in a while."

"Then I'm at an advantage." Sayuri leapt back. "Just the other day I thought against that Card."

"Hm. Don't underestimate me though. Having about three years of experience is harder to defeat than a thief who's had it for a few minutes."

"I'm quite skilful myself though." Sayuri pointed out, taking a deep breath afterwards. "Ascension!" A burst of wind and the Coat of Oaths appeared over her clothes.


Mizuki finally stopped running once she found herself in a safe place. She breathed heavily from the scare that was Miyu.

"I-I've never seen a kid so angry before…" Mizuki admitted to herself. She wondered just what kind of relationship Miyu and Illya had for the Caster to react in such a way.

"Terrifying, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I guess Cards in the hands of younger people really isn't the best of ideas." …Wait, who spoke? Mizuki immediately realized the situation and ignored her fatigue in order evade the nail-like dagger that was headed for her spine. She turned around and quickly spotted the Rider, Matou Sakura, who withdrew the weapon back into her hand.

"Would you mind if I were your opponent?"

The knife was raised alongside a smirk. "Not at all."

Sakura's lips curled. "I'm glad. Blood-Fort Andromeda."

"Wha-?!" Before Mizuki knew, a dome of red and crimson lightning suddenly surrounded Mizuki and started sipping the Mana out of her body. "Ahhh!" Mizuki yelled in pain, but it was mostly due to the shock. With a glare of blue, she stepped forward and quickly cut the now visible sigils on the floor with quick swipes, quickly breaking the Noble Phantasm, as it could no longer manifest. With a heavy breath, the Assassin composed herself. "That's a low blow, isn't it?"

"Not necessarily. I wanted to mainly gauge you."

"Gauge me? In what way?"

"Mana." Sakura couldn't help but giggle. "I have a useful gimmick, you know?"

Mizuki went from staggered to confident. "I'm aware. Because it's the same gimmick as one of my Teammates." She drew an Archer Card. "Install!" The blue kimono and the red jacket were replaced by a white shirt and a purple skirt. "Instantly winning just because my Mana Stat is below C doesn't sound like fun, does it?"

"Hmmm…" Sakura thought for a moment, lightly tapping her cheek with an index finger. "I guess so. A battle wouldn't be entertaining if it only lasted a second. But" Suddenly, the locks of the heavy blindfold were released, making it fall on the floor. "that doesn't mean I should go easy on you either." She eyes opened up, revealing an unusual colour and oddly shaped pupils.

A heavy pressure fell upon Mizuki's shoulders. "Gh-! This…" She could feel herself becoming slightly weaker. A rank down to all of her parameters. "This… won't be enough!" She glared at Sakura, launching a spiral of red and green.


"Will you stay put already?!"

"Not in a million years!" Rin laughed at Mongami's face of anger. Red bullets flew about, but none of them were able to reach the leaping Lancer. On a higher floor, in the spacious rooftop, a flat surface like any other place of the building, but without any walls or ceiling to limit the Lancer's movements. "Avoiding projectiles is my nature!"

"What a load of bull! Why is that even a Skill?!"

"M-Mongami, please calm down…" Edward feared for his girlfriend's state of mind.

"How?! Even if you enhance my weapons, she's just gonna keep dodging."

Edward looked over at the Lancer, who stopped and turned to the two, flashing a cocky, toothy grin.

"I had an idea."

"Huh?"

"You'll see." He requested, as the lightbulbs decorating his shoulders flashed yellow light. Sparks ran through his body and he moved forward, fast, hovering just above the ground and pulling back a tight fist.

"Hm?" Rin was somewhat surprised by his physical approach. She stepped aside just as he swung his fist. "Oh? You're one of those Casters, huh?" Even though he failed the punch, Edward quickly crouched down and spun around with a stretched out leg. A clear attempt to make her trip, but quick hop from her legs made it so the Blue Lancer wasn't affected by it.

As she quickly turned her red spear around to quickly thrust it into Edward, the Caster aimed at her and let out a roar of a lion. Rin's eyes widened as a beam of light struck her away. It didn't hurt all that much, and landing was easy enough.

But that was odd…

"Why didn't my Magic Resistance cancel it?" She wondered to herself. Even if at Rank C, a simple Mana Blast would've been shrugged off, right? Suddenly, a bullet struck the forearm holding the red spear. "Ah!" The surprise certainly helped. "What in the…?"

"Way to go, Edward!" Mongami grinned like a kid, withdrawing her arm and resting the firearm over her shoulder. "You sure that Caster is only for special occasions? He pairs up really well with me!"

"I-I'm glad you like him, but I'm not exactly comfortable with him just yet." Edward admitted, rather awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

Rin, in the meantime, was concerned. "I shouldn't dodged the bullet… Why didn't I? And why is it hurting so much?"

"Yo, your Lancer is the Demi-God Cú Chulainn, right? Yelling Gaé Bolg during that match gave it away. That man has done so much stuff in his legend that if he weren't restricted to a Class, I could've actually been afraid of facing you. But I'm a God Killer." The rifle was aimed again. "These bullets are gonna hurt way more than they should, you hear?"

"God Killer?" Rin drew a quick connection. "So it's because of my Divinity… Hm. I just have to make sure you don't hit me then. As for you though." She turned to Edward and narrowed her eyes. "You disabled my skill, didn't you?"

"E-Eh? W-Well, yeah…"

"Hm. I see." She shut her eyes and let out a sigh.

"You aren't mad?"

"Of course not. This is just a match. Nothing to get mad about. On the other hand," Rin pointed the spear towards the right in front of Edward and carved, with the tip of her spear, a rune on one of the bricks. Edward was confused by the odd-looking character. Rin withdrew her spear and snapped her finger, making the brick burst. The small explosion destroyed some of the surrounding bricks. As a result, the floor right underneath Edward fell apart.

"Ahh!" He fell to the floor beneath.

"Edward."

Rin sighed. "I wouldn't hear the end of it from Luvia if I got beaten by a gimmicky Caster. So!" She prepared her spear once again. "Do you surrender, Archer of Deva?"

The rifle vanished from Mongami's hand and she drew the katana. With a serious face, she answered back. "Not in a million years."

"Ohhh?" Rin smirked. "Let's go then."


The centremost room held a duel between sword fighters. A proper Saber against a madness-corrupted Berserker. An invisible European sword kept crossing with a brilliant Japanese katana. Karen had a stronger attack power, but Ayaka was definitely faster. The Saber of fuyuki triggered the wind surrounding her sword for propulsion. The way it was positioned made Ayaka spin like a top, building the momentum for her to swing at Karren. The berserker thankfully managed to stop the strike from reaching her, holding the katana steady, but the impact was too strong. Karen was pushed away, her feet sliding over the rock floor.

Karen let out a breath. "You're quite strong."

"Thank you." Ayaka composed her body. "I was surprised to see a Berserker able to fight like that. But I don't think it's the first time I see something like this. Eternal Arms Mastership, correct?"

Karen smirked. "If you were my student, I would give you a top grade."

Ayaka tilted her head. "Student? But aren't you Illya's age? D-Do they let young people teach so early…?"

"…" An eyebrow twitched. Perhaps those words weren't something correct to say.


Rumi never thought she's see the day where something so small would stop her attack.

"W-W-What?!" Rumi couldn't believe it. Illya's tiny fist stopped one of her hands.

"This is what happens when you underestimate the power of Heracles." Miyu pointed out, hovering far behind Illya on their side of the corridor. Isemi stood not too far behind Rumi, however.

"Heracles… A really troublesome hero." He looked at his scythe. "Would this work to take away one of her lives?"

"I-I don't know, try it!" Rumi said in a panic, stepping away from the furious-looking child.

"Honestly, what did that girl do…?" Miyu was astounded. Illya was currently fighting bare handed, which wasn't a problem to the Hero adept in all forms of fighting besides Magecraft, but what happened to her weapon was inconvenient. Despite her efforts, Miyu couldn't find a proper way of joining the pieces of the axe that had been split by Mizuki. "How does a knife cut through metal like this? Well, this will end up being crude, but…" Instead of complaining any longer, Miyu made the two halves of the weapon hover in front of her and put them together, like the pieces of a puzzle. But instead of unifying them together or restoring them to their original state, since both of those attempts ended in failure. It was impossible to recover something that was cut through the lines of death. However, instead of 'restoring the object', Miyu decided to 'join them together. With a hot enough flame, the pieces of metal would weld together. It wasn't a proper restoration, obviously, but it worked well enough for now. As Illya was in a Berserker state, her control over her armament only went so far. It was up to Miyu to take care of it. "Catch."

"Rr!" Illya reacted immediately, jumping backwards and easily catching the weapon in her two hands. Quickly enough, she proceeded to attack Rumi again with strong and heavy swings. The Alter Ego managed to hold herself together, using her large hands as both a shield and a weight to keep her in place.

Miyu's eyes darted to the weapon. She could tell that the pole would split in two once again if Illya kept fighting in such a way. The sound of fast, but small, flapping wings caught her attention.

Wearing the Winged Sandals, Isemi flew over Rumi, who stepped away to recover while Isemi executed some sort of attack.

Illya's neck bent up and almost snarled at the smiling Rider. His hand reached for the literal bag of tricks and he summoned the head of the slayed Gorgon. "Cybele!"

"Illya, get out of the way!"

"Gr?!" A beam of pink and purple was fired by the eyes of the monster's decapitated head.

As they were essentially the same, the Noble Phantasm worked in the same way: if the opponent's Mana Stat was C or below, immediate petrification. Illya's was at B though, meaning that her body would be petrified, but rather slowly. It started on her feet, reaching her knees in just a moment.

"GRAHH!" Illya moved around, but tripped over, the odd feeling of having stone for legs making the Berserker incapable of proper movement.

"Why you…!" Miyu quickly waved her staff. Attacking Isemi or Rumi would be nigh useless, since their Magic Resistance would cancel her offensive spells. So, she used Magecraft to manipulate the bricks and create a wall between the four members through the ones that made up the floor and the ceiling. Isemi and Rumi stayed on one side while Illya and Miyu stayed on the other. "Rule Breaker can't pierce her…" As the wall of rock kept pushing the Rider and Alter Ego, the Caster attempted to heal the Berserker from the petrification from her natural abilities. Rule Breaker's power could cancel the effects if it stabbed Illya or the head of Medusa held by Isemi, but both choices wouldn't work out. Illya's God Hand would reject the dagger from even piercing her body, and approaching Isemi would be a bad idea.

The petrification stopped in place for a moment, but it didn't look like it was going to retract. "How powerful is this spell…? There should be a way to heal it." If she had access to a different Noble Phantasm, it would be solved in less than a second.

CRASH

Rumi broke through the wall of rock with a single punch.

The other fist was pulled back at the distance. And that gave Miyu an idea. Instead of healing the petrification, she instead sped it up. Before Illya knew, her body had become rock. Rumi hurled a rocket punch at the Berserker of stone and her body broke apart. Rumi gasped as her fist returned and re-joined with her arm. Miyu then cast a spell that joined all the stone pieces that Illya was back together. Red and black sparks surrounded it and the grey stone returned to being white skin. The Berserker shook her head in an odd sensation of dizziness.

Isemi leapt over his teammate, already with the head of the gorgon gripped in his hand. "Cybele!" The beam was used again, hitting Illya without any difficulty. The attack struck the Berserker, but she shrugged it off like nothing happened. The petrification didn't occur either. "What?!"

"Grrr…!" Illya gabbed her axe again as Isemi saved the Noble Phantasm back into the bag.

"Rumi, we might be in trouble."

Miyu heard a sound coming behind her and her eyes narrowed. "Illya, I'll live this to you." The Berserker nodded before jolting forward. Miyu, on the other hand, floated down the corridor and spotted someone scratching the back of his head while staring at a gap in the ceiling above.

A quick aria from her made multiple blasts of Mana make their way towards the man in blue and red.

"Wha-?!" Edward was struck by one of them and immediately panicked, standing up and turning to face his opponent. "I'm not going down so easily!" He warned, the lightbulbs of his shoulders lightning up. He crossed his arms in front of his body and braced himself from the impact of the beams. After being pushed back, Miyu fixed the hole in the ceiling and prepared her staff once more.


Mizuki was in a hard brawl against Sakura. The pressure of the Mystic Eyes didn't let her act as freely as she wished.

Thankfully, she could attack back at a long distance. "Hah!" Mizuki fired a spiral at Sakura, but the Rider bounced off the floor and landed on the wall. The Archer was taken aback by the opponent predicting the spiral's path. She turned her head to attack Sakura again, but the Rider hurled a nail-dagger. "Gh!" In a sort of panic, another spiral was fired, twisting the dagger and the chain attached to it around. But Sakura was nowhere to be seen. "Huh?" Amidst the confusion, she suddenly spotted the Rider again. Right in front of her, close to the ground, and staring at her upwards. The position and the movements, needless to say: Sakura was like a snake. "W-What?! How?!" Instinct? Eye of the Mind? How was Sakura able to predict and evade the invisible spirals?

The Rider made a quick and accurate leap and quickly stood up behind the staggering Mizuki. The Archer's gasp was interrupted when a chain was suddenly tied around her neck.

"Experience." Sakura let out a giggle, shutting her eyes and ceasing the Mystic Eyes, as they were starting to tire her. Using them was rather similar to fighting at full power with the use of a Noble Phantasm. But this was practically check-mate. There was no need to keep them active.

Due to the strangle, Mizuki gasped for air. The high endurance was both a blessing and a curse. She could remain in play longer than usual, but the suffering would propagate if she didn't do something. Sakura had access to Monstrous Strength and was making good use of it.

With Sakura behind her, Mizuki couldn't use her spirals to counter. Her strength wasn't anything spectacular either. Her right hand grasped the chain and her shaking left hand reached for her Cards. The sudden drawing of a Berserker Card made the others fall off.

"Hm?" Sakura was curious about one of the Cards that fell.

"Ins… tall!" The maid uniform was replaced by a white turtleneck, a dark purple miniskirt, and black leggings. The Berserker with red eyes suddenly hurled Sakura over her body, slamming the enemy against the floor. The chain was let go, allowing Mizuki to leap back and recover. Only then did she notice all the dropped Cards.

And one of them was in Sakura's hands. "Well, this is familiar." The standing Rider pointed out, holding the Avenger Card. "I wonder if you'll be mad if I borrow this."

"GRAHHHH!" Mizuki roared at Sakura, which only made her giggle more.

"I'll take that as a yes." The Rider leapt back to create distance. "Overlap Install." A black flash of light surrounded Sakura as the Avenger's corruption took over and shifted not only the identity a bit, but also the Class.

Sakura's hair grew much longer and split into multiple sections, some of which taking the shape of black snakeheads. The blindfold was back on, though its appearance was different. The black dress was changed into a set of revealing pieces of bronze cloth, focused only on covering her breasts, crotch and hips. Her forearms and exposed legs became coated in yellow-gold scales, which also appeared on her thick snake tail that had grown out of her lower back. Multiple strips of black cloth flowed down her body.

CLASS: Avenger

IDENTITY: Gorgon

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil

STATS:

- Strength: A++

- Endurance: A++

- Agility: B

- Mana: B

- Luck: D

- Noble Phantasm: A

CLASS SKILLS:

- Avenger: B

- Memory Correction: C

- Self-Replenishment: A

PERSONAL SKILL:

- Monstrous Strength: A+

- Demonic Mutation: B

- Mystic Eyes: A++

- Scream of Fear: A++

NOBLE PHANTASM:

Pandemonium Cetus 'Forced Seal, Pandemonic Temple': Anti-Army A

Breaker Gorgon 'Self Seal, Dark Temple': Anti-Unit C+

Mizuki glared at the smirking Sakura as she kept rising, getting taller to intimidate her opponent.

…BONK

Sakura's top of the head hit the ceiling of stone. Even though she maintained the intimidating look, pretending that it didn't happen, the pink blush on her face gave away her feelings of embarrassment.

The Berserker blinked twice before bursting out a loud laugh.

"Why you…!" Sakura's tinge of pink quickly turned red.

Mizuki quickly collected the Cards on the floor and placed them in her pocket before growling at Sakura, the red nails growing from her fingers to show the disposition for battle.

The multiple snake heads hissed in return. "How hard do you bite?"

"RAHH!" Mizuki swooped in to slash Sakura from underneath, an upwards swipe!

The Avenger leaned back just enough, thanks to the tail where she supported her weight upon. The movement was simple. Once Mizuki's uppercut was finished, even though the Berserker follow up the attack with a quick kick, the snakes made out of Sakura's long hair lunged forward and trapped her, biting down on her limbs and keep her in place.

"Grrr! GRAHH!" Mizuki roared as she tried to flail about, to no results.

Sakura slammed Mizuki down against the stone floor, the snakes loosening their jaws to let go of the Berserker. Once the opponent bounced off the ground from the impact, Sakura moved forward and swiped her hands, once each. Her nails left behind a streak of purple smoke, showing the path of her slashes. Mizuki's body suffered damage and was pushed away.

When she was about to hit the floor the second time, she purposefully rolled over to recover faster. Her feet lifted her body up and the Berserker continued growling at the Avenger. Suddenly, Mizuki's pupils shrunk and an odd aura enveloped her body.

"Hm? A Noble Phantasm?" Sakura was confused as to what was happening, but her assumption was weird. Even if she didn't know what was happening, she decided to keep her distance: the snakes glared at Mizuki and fired thin beams of pink through their eyes.

Mizuki crossed her arms and the beams hit her, but instead of piercing through, they were deflected past her body.

"W-What?!" Sakura was shocked. Even if she didn't have the strongest grasp of 'Gorgon', she knew one wouldn't be able to simply shrug off the attack so easily. On top of that, Mizuki's Endurance only reached Rank B!

Or so she thought.

A luck check occurred and the answer came to Sakura.

Endurance: B – A++ (+ 1)

She couldn't understand how exactly Mizuki's defences raised to such a level. It was unheard of for her. The impression it gave off was that it was some sort of Noble Phantasm that raised her defences, or something similar to that. She moved in and whipped her heavy and long tail down at Mizuki, slapping it thrice, but just like the beams before, the attack was simply shrugged off.

"?!" Sakura was so shocked that she slid away, wondering just what exactly was going on.

Mizuki leaned forward and placed a hand on the floor. She glared at the Avenger and the aura's colours shifted, originally being golden and now becoming red.

Endurance: B

Strength: A+ - A++ (+ 1)

"It happened again?!" Sakura gasped just as Mizuki leapt forward, using her arm strength for extra propulsion and preparing to slash with the other. The Avenger slid out of the way, and just as Mizuki went past her, the reptilian tail tied its end around one of Mizuki's ankles. "Hah!" Sakura let out as she swung her tail around, slamming Mizuki against the wall of stone and creating a hole right through it as a result.

Mizuki landed on the floor of the neighbouring room and roared again in rage. She was about to jump out to attack Sakura, but a dome of red surrounded her completely and started rampaging. Mizuki looked forward and found Sakura holding out a hand with a purple orb in front of it. The orb vanished when Sakura closed her fist and the attack took place, the dome having the same effects as Blood-Fort Andromeda.

"GRAHHH!" The Berserker roared in pain as the Mana started getting sucked out of her body, replaced with pain.


Oriental katanas kept trying to slay the opposing wielder, but neither would let it happen.

Sayuri's battle with Issei hinged on the other making a single mistake. The two were evenly matched. They started out with equal Parameters, but Sayuri's increased via the Coat of Oaths Noble Phantasm. However, Issei's much longer sword offered him a greater reach. In addition to the certain-killing fighting style, one wrong step would mean a quick defeat.

Sayuri made a move, dashing towards her opponent to perform a thrust with her sword. Issei replied with a swift side slash.

"Too fast!"His reach was too long for her to avoid this slash and proceed with the attack properly. With sharp reflexes, she instead jumped over the blade with a side flip, avoiding the slice just in time. Issei did not seem concerned though. When Sayuri decided to shift to a slash instead of stab, Issei had already withdrawn his arms. The moment the blades crossed, sparks flew.

Issei held the hilt with both hands but drew back the left one and adjusted his glasses that had slightly slid down his nose. The gesture made Sayuri flinch. Letting go of the hilt meant less strength to exert on the struggle.

But that was part of the scheme. What appeared to be arrogance was just a ploy to throw her off. He raised the sword holding hand and whipped it outwards with one strong motion, pushing Sayuri off of him.

The Saber stepped away, but once her footing would be recovered, she would strike back. That was the plan, at least. Even though he swung his arm outwards, Issei's sword raised to neck level and was thrust forward to pierce through Sayuri's neck. She was quick to react, in part due to her Eye of the Mind. Her katana raised and she used the flat surface of her weapon as a shield. The strike was strong enough to push her farther back, but at least she was out of his reach.

"Seriously, how can I get past him?!" Sayuri gripped her sword tightly and gritted her teeth. She leaned forward: Reduced Earth. In a second, she cut the distance down between the two. This time around, it was Issei's Eye of the Mind that reacted. Once Sayuri appeared in front of him, his body spun over one heel, getting out of the way from the thrust. His sword turned and he swung it to slice across her back. Predicting the attack, simply off the fact she missed er strike to begin with, she flipped backwards over the blade, evading the cut. Then, when the blade returned to slice her again, Sayuri used her sword to block the attack, once again, being pushed back as a result.

Once her feet finished dragging, she held up her sword again, but suddenly heard…

"GRAHHH!"

"Mizuki?" She looked back where the voice came from. "Sorry, duty calls." She quickly struck her sword into the floor and used it to pull a brick out of the floor. She then kicked the brick with the sole of her foot.

It was an easy projectile for Issei to defend himself from. A quick swipe of his sword split the stone in half. But the moment both halves of it hit the floor behind him, Sayuri was already gone.

"Hm. We'll rematch later then." Issei adjusted his glasses again and drew his other Card. "Install."


The Berserker roared in pain as the attack of the Avenger plundered her life force. While it wasn't a full fledged Noble Phantasm like the one belonging to her Rider-self, the advantage over this weakened version was that Sakura didn't need to set up the symbols to create the bounded field. A simple exchange of strengths and weaknesses.

The longer Mizuki stayed inside the dome of red, the more mana Sakura stole for herself. And the lack of Megic Resistance meant it was nearly inevitable for Mizuki to escape.

"Lightless!"

"Eh?"

Almost out of nowhere, a Saber appeared right in front of Sakura, with a drawn back sword. "Three-Stage Thrust!" The sword moved forward. Even if Sakura were to be able to block it in time, the nature of the attack would make it worthless. The blade of the sword entered Sakura's palm and ran into her arm.

"AHH!" Sakura moved away, removing the sword from inside her limb. Simultaneously, the dome around Mizuki vanished, setting her free.

"You okay?"

"Hh!" Mizuki nodded once, as the two glared at the Avenger, Sayuri holding her sword and Mizuki with her claws ready.

Sakura held her injured arm, odd-smelling blood dripping out of her hand. It had the scent of honey from an insectivorous plant. The Avenger growled due to the pain. "…Ascension!" The blindfold split in half, revealing her serious eyes as golden winds surrounded her body. The Avenger's cloths turned pur white, almost angelic, and golden wings sprouted out of her back.

Monstrous Strength: A+ - Huge Monstrosity's Outrage: EX

Pandemonium Cetus: Anti-Army A - A+

A breath of white steam emerged from Sakura's mouth. "I could get used to this form."


Despite his low Agility, Edward as able to put Miyu on a run for her money. The two Caster dashed down the corridors through different methods. While Miyu hovered about, her cape acting as a sort of pair of wings, Edward used bursts of winds out of his Mana.

"Stay still!"

"No!"

Miyu spun over and multiple magic circles appeared all around her. Five thick beams of pink and purple were fired at the Caster of Deva.

Edward stopped in his tracks and bumped his fists together, making rainbow sparks coat them. He turned around, arms raised like a boxer, and hurled his fists with quick jabs. They all struck a beam the moment they reached him, and they all bounced off his hands, striking the walls instead of him.

"How in the…?" Miyu couldn't understand what was going on. Instead of exploring the matter she joined her fingers and then separated them, creating an orb of fire in between her palms. Then, she hurled it at Edward. The orb grew in size to be able to swallow Edward in one go.

The lightbulbs of his shoulders suddenly flashed bright yellow and electricity began surrounding his body. The Caster leapt into the fire and emerged on the other side. Even if the idea was for him to be undamaged, Edward could feel burning pain in spots of his body.

"That's how strong her Magecraft is, huh?" It astounded him just how much power Miyu had in terms of Magecraft potential.

"H-How did you do that?!" But the idea was working. Since she relied purely on Magecraft, Edward would manifest his Noble Phantasm in bits and pieces to essentially 'cancel' her attacks, or at least become impervious to them. Cancelling the mystery of her attacks would probably confuse her and intimidate the girl. Of course, nothing would be 100% effective without trouble until he spoke the name of his Noble Phantasm, but for now, the intimidation was working.

But suddenly, a sharp pain. "?!" Edward fell onto one knee. An object had pierced the back of his right knee. "W-What the-?!"

A black dirk.

"Apologies for the delay, Miyu." Issei's voice made Edward turn around. The Assassin had his demonic arm freed from the restraints already, and more dirks remained in his human hand. "Would you mind taking a more 'physical' approach?"

"A-Ah, yes!" Miyu reached for the inside of her cloak and threw a set of dragon fangs. The moment they hit the floor, the fangs sprouted something akin to roots and suddenly took a humanoid shape. Or rather, a skeletal shape. Headless warriors, the only bone above the neck being a fanged lower jaw. There were twelve in total: four held daggers, four wielded regular swords, and the last ones dragged around two-handed cleavers.

"Foot soldiers?" Edward pulled the dirk out of his leg and flinched. Standing up felt odd, but his Mana was put to work, healing the wound as fast as it could.

Surrounded by Dragon Tooth Warriors, with the Hassan of the Cursed Arm on one side and the Witch of Colchis on the other.

Edward let out a breath. He wondered just for how much longer he could keep the name of his Noble Phantasm a mystery.


"This is not fun, you know?!"

Mongami become increasingly more annoyed at Rin. The two fought in close-quarters, cursed spear against katana, but every time the Archer summoned a set of rifles, the Lancer would almost automatically get out of the way.

"You think it's fun contorting your body automatically?" Rin wasn't all that happy either. The back pain would be much worse if she were Uninstalled.

"Why you…Huh?" Mongami's eyebrows rose. "…Quick question."

"What?!"

"What classifies as a projectile?"

"E-Eh? Why are you asking such an obvious thing?!" Rin's anger grew. "Arrows, bullets, thrown swords and spears!"

"Ah, alright. Just checking."

Rin couldn't understand the intent behind Mongami's question, nor why the annoyed Archer suddenly became… dumbfounded? …What was that sound?

Suddenly, a blunt pain! Something struck her back with great momentum behind it!

"AH!" Rin tripped forward and rolled. She took a stance while still crouched and growled like a dog of sorts, only for it to be broken, as she spotted the opposing Lancer standing where she once stood, rubbing her head with both hands and a somewhat pained look.

"Oww… That hurt more than I was expecting."

"…Lizzie?"

"Yeah?"

The Archer looked rather angry. "Why didn't you skewer her?! Why a headbutt!?"

"B-Because you would be mad if I stole your kill!"

"…" Mongami blinked twice and sighed. "I hate that you're right."

"Headbutt?" Rin was initially confused but put the pieces together. "Y-You used yourself as a projectile?!"

"And it totally worked!"

"It just worked because I didn't recognize that sound…" An arrow cutting through the air made a rather distinct noise, compared to the wind disturbance Lizzie's body made.

"Doesn't matter anymore! It's time for my grand debut!" Lizzie struck a very idol-like pose. "Ascension!" With a glittering pink flash, Lizzie's clothes changed. The Lolita-style dress went from black to pink, heavily decorated with multiple frills. The horns were now hidden beneath a tall top hat on pink and white stripes with roses around it, a pair of squirrels and a tiny pig as ornaments it as well.

Rin blinked twice. "T-Too much pink…"

"You're all in blue!"

Rin was about to retort, but once again, the warnings rang in her head. She leapt up high, escaping the path of the bullets. Lizzie froze in fear for a second., but the bullets wouldn't hit her anyway due to the angle.

Rin somersaulted and spotted Mongami once again aiming at her with a rifle. The bullet was fired, but it was blocked by the pole of the cursed spear, the hit pushing her away, as no ground was there to brake her. She completed the flip and landed on a different portion of the roof, commencing an escape through the Disengage Skill.

"I'll go after her. You help the others!" Lizzie pointed out as her wings grew and she started chasing after the Lancer. Mongami let out a sigh.


Karen's sword was swung over the ground, creating a a shockwave of electricity to run over floor. Ayaka evaded by jumping over it and following it up with a downwards slash to split her in half. The short adult used her katana to block the strike. Ayaka's feet reached the ground after bouncing off the opponent's sword, and immediately started a crossing of blades with the Berserker. A flurry of swings and strikes.

"So fast!" Karen's speed could only reach to about half of Ayaka's, meaning she would be overwhelmed at some point. As a result, she utilized Mana Burst (Lightning) to make electricity course through the metal of her weapon.

Foreseeing this could have consequences, Ayaka released the sheath of wind. Karen managed to remain in place, but the Saber made her body loose, allowing the strong winds to push her away. After a few metres, Ayaka moved the hilt of the sword so it would be horizontal. The powerful wind made the swordswoman spin around, building up speed and momentum. Once ready, she used footwork and slight tilts of her weapon to spin back in Karen's direction.

The Berserker gasped and the two resumed the multitude of slashes at each other. A thunderstorm against a raging tornado.

"I-I definitely can't keep up!"

"Dangerous Game!"

Ayaka stopped her barrage of attacks when another Berserker stepped into the scene, delivering a powerful punch to her chest plate to drive her away from his ally.

Ayaka's sword ceased its gust of wind and revealed its shining blade at the two.

"The sacred sword Excalibur… Are you intimidated, Shoutarou?"

"Ksha! Not even one bit."

Ayaka smirked. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She was about to step forward, but suddenly looked beneath her. The two Berserkers were confused and looked down as well. That's when the vibrations started…


"PANDEMONIUM CETUS!"

A shriek echoed through the castle. Only two Players witnessed the event of Sakura's body transforming as the magic circle of blood manifest in front of her body.

Even though it was supposed to be saved for the final moment of the match, Mizuki swapped Cards and Overlapped Shiki with the Saber Class.

The Monster of Gorgon manifested in its completion, even if just temporarily. A liquifying beam of darkness was fired and cut through the entire castle. While its effectiveness on inorganic materials was low, it broke through rock without a problem.

Mizuki and Sayuri evaded it just in time, getting out of the way through cutting the walls that trapped them with Mizuki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

"What in the-?!" Edward panicked when the floor beneath him began to shake, while he punched away the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.

"What's going on?" Shirou and Mimi were just as confused.

"What now?!" Mongami didn't look happy.

While the beam wasn't in anyone's path, it quite literally opened up the castle. Walls and divisions were no more.

The monster reverted back to the angelic Avenger.

The 10 Conquerors of Deva and the 7 Fuyuki Defenders were in one large arena now. Everybody either took cover from or evaded the debris.

"Sakura, you could've given a heads up!"

"S-Sorry Rin. I… needed space." The Avenger's face turned red.

Miyu snickered a little. "Sakura became bigger again?"

"M-Miyu, please don't say that sort of things!"

"Agreed." Issei adjusted the skull mask. "Such disrespect is unfit for an EX Ranker."

"Let her be, Issei." Shirou chuckled, waving a hand in front of his face. "Miyu is just a kid."

"Hold on." Mongami interrupted. "Is she an Avenger? She never pulled that stunt before."

"S-She stole my Card…"

"Damn it Mizuki! How did you let that happen?! Our plan for the end is ruined until we beat her!"

Ayaka couldn't help but giggle to herself. "They look lively."

"GRAHHH!" Illya interrupted the atmosphere. She leapt towards Mizuki, axe over head.

Mizuki suddenly turned serious and her eyes became blue. She jumped towards the Berserker with a spin.

The Berserker landed and almost fell apart into pieces again. The axe though, was chopped up into multiple pieces, with no way of being restored.

The battle had officially restarted once Mizuki landed.

"Sis, I need to recover Mana!"

"I'll cover you!" Rin landed in front of Sakura. The Avenger had the advantage of restoring magical energy given some time.

"How many lives does Illya have?!" Shirou asked, moving to his little sister's side, blades in hand.

"Right now, 9!" Miyu pointed out, stretching her makeshift wings and setting up multiple magic circles.

Issei's demonic arm began radiating with orange and Ayaka's sword became invisible once again.

Edward approached Mongami and tapped her shoulder twice.

"Hm?" He leaned in and whispered. "Oh? You wanna steal the show?"

"W-What?!" He blushed at her teasing grin. "N-No! I just want to kill two birds with one stone!"

"I know, I know. Don't panic. Alright, I'll help you out."

Edward couldn't help but smile. "Thank you."

Mongami drew her sword and rushed towards the King of Knights, following Mizuki. The two katanas swung at the armoured individual, but Ayaka blocked both slashes with her holy sword.

"If I give you an opening, I'm beaten." Ayaka pointed out, referring to Mizuki. Then, her eyes shifted to Mongami. "And you have quite an advantage over me. I feel surrounded." With little warning, Ayaka's sword slid away from the two Japanese blades, but instead of them proceeding forward, a powerful gust of wind blew Mizuki and Mongami away.

Isemi readied his scythe and shield. His target: Shirou. The black blade struck the shield, while the white blocked the path of the scythe.

"You look like the protective kind."

"She is my little sister. Only a heartless monster would not protect their siblings." Shirou delivered a kick to Isemi's stomach, pushing away the Rider. Before Isemi knew, multiple sets of black and white, spinning blades were heading this way, and Shirou's swords grew much longer.

"Hm!" Once Isemi recovered his footing, he flipped backwards while spinning his weapon around, the scythe shattering through the fragile blades. But he was open for Shirou to slash. Luckily for the Rider, a Berserker stepped in the way.

"Take this!" Shoutarou, fearlessly, snuck his way to Shirou, standing right in front of the Archer, between the two extended blades, and delivered an uppercut right to Shirou's chin.

"Gah!" The Archer staggered back, rubbing the hurt area with the back of his hand.

The Rider flashed a thumbs up, making the Berserker grin.

"I am the bone of my sword."

"Huh?" The two looked forward. Faster than they anticipated, Shirou had gotten rid of his swords and loaded a Fake Spiral Sword onto his bow. Isemi reacted just in time, stepping in front of Shoutarou and raising his shield.

The impact triggered an explosion sending the Rider and Berserker behind him far away.

"…You feeling better, Illya?"

"Rrrr…" The Berserker of Fuyuki growled as she was able to move again. A great amount of steam kept emerging from her body.

"Not as strong as your usual, but it is better than nothing. You can't go around without a weapon." With the sound of sparks, an axe equal to Illya's destroyed one.

Multiple dirks were hurled, but Mimi deflected them with the use of fast kicks of her bladed feet. However, the Assassin retrieved them as he closed in on her.

Mimi spun over one foot with a stretched-out leg, planning to cut Issei down, but the Assassin became cloaked in a black smoke and leapt over her. The plan was to evade the attack and counter at a distance, but it was stopped by the hands of an unlikely person. As he approached the ground, Rumi delivered a heavy fist. The Assassin in black was slammed into a wall from the sheer strength of the attack.

Mimi followed up, skating towards Isemi, but the Assassin's long arm reached up to the debris and pulled himself up, evading the stab that was aimed to his chest. Mimi's foot got stuck in the rock of the destroyed structure. Issei's hand pulled out the chunk of rock he had used to elevate himself and dropped it onto Mimi. The Alter Ego was struck and she held her hand in pain.

"Ow! That hurt, you jerk!"

"I'd like to remind you just what exactly we're doing."

"S-Sis, please don't start a fight!"

"We are in a fight!"

Issei couldn't help but sigh. "And Shirou wonders why I refrain from dating."

Multiple beams of mana were fired down towards the nimble Saber of Deva. Sayuri used fast and smart footwork to evade the path of the five beams as she attempted to approach Miyu.

"Haiyah!" Karen spun over and fired a beam of electricity straight at Miyu through her sword. The Caster brushed off the lightning with a wave of her hand, a green barrier appearing to protect her body. Once the lightning ceased, Miyu almost flinched, as Sayuri had followed the path of the purple light and prepared to stab through her chest with a katana. But something about it didn't feel right…

"Three-Stage Thrust!" Three simultaneous thrusts. The first pierced through the barrier, and the following two reach Miyu. Or rather, an illusion left behind by her. "What?!"

"That reminded me of Issei's schemes." Miyu pointed out, firing five beams of Mana at point blank. The Saber was driven towards the floor below them, landing next to Karen.

"Can you fight back?"

"I should be able to." Sayuri pointed out, brathing heavily and standing back up. "…!" Suddenly, she coughed out and threw up blade.

"S-Sayuri?! Are you okay?!"

"M-More or less…" She gave Karren a weak grin. Her face spelt out just how sick she was feeling.

"Weak Constitution?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Alright. I'll take care of this." Karen pointed out, her katana releasing purple sparks of electricity as she stepped in front of Sayuri.

As Mizuki began sparring with Ayaka again, Mongami took a glance and spotted Illya moving around in the battlefield. "Alright. Let's do this." Mongami turned to the Berserker and pointed her sword.

"Three Thousand Worlds!" A set of three thousand arquebuses appeared all around Mongami, in a set of three lines, aiming in all directions. The Fuyuki Defenders gasped for a moment, but all of the firearms focused on a single target. "FIRE!" The rifles fired a bullet each. All of the volleys flew towards the small Berserker.

"Illya!" Shirou and Miyu yelled in worry. The Berserker may not have possessed Riding, but her Divinity and Mystery was through the charts. At Rank A, a Demi-God that ascended to the Olympus, and a Hero of many mysterious deeds.

The roar had a lot of pain behind it.

"GRAAHHHHH!" It heavily damaged her, as it managed to pass through God Hand's invulnerability. The attack not only damaged but also pushed her far back, towards Rin and Sakura.

"What the-?!"

Rain took a stance, but… "Rin, watch out!"

"Huh?" Suddenly, someone landed right in front of Rin.

"Pardon the intrusion!" Lizzie tied her arms around the Lancer of Fuyuki and took flight before anything else could happen.

"Ah?!" Rin couldn't understand why she was in mid-flight.

Illya stopped right in front of Sakura. The Avenger coiled around the Berserker, a layer of protection.

"I'm not letting anyone hurt Illya any further."

"I'm sorry then."

"Huh?" The two looked above and a Caster descendant fist first. Edward dived towards the two.

Sakura stiffened her expression and used her golden wings to protect both herself and Illya. Edward's impact almost had him bounce back, but he landed on the wings just fine.

His eyes turned serious and the lightbulbs began to flicker. "…World Faith Domination!" A storm of multiple colours erupted from his body, swallowing Illya and Sakura at once.

While Rin was as good a target, the Lancer could become a problem to him. His main worries were the large Avenger and the sturdy Berserker.

"Sakura!" Rin yelled in worry as the hurricane of rainbow electricity consumed the two girls.

The Noble Phantasm ceased and everybody could see Sakura being Uninstalled and Transported away, the Avenger Card left behind. Illya, on the other hand, almost looked like she was petrified, about to crumble into dust. It was hard to tell just what kind of impact that attack had had on here. Did it only take a live? Or did it take more?

Edward landed on the ground and quickly grabbed the Avenger Card. "Mongami!" He hurled it across the field. The Archer caught it without a worry.

"Thanks, Edward!" Mongami couldn't help but grin widely. Edwardsighed and smiled.

"She's really cute when she does that."

"Gáe Bolg!"

"?!" Edward suddenly felt pain run all over his body. He looked down to his chest and spotted the blade of the red spear sticking out.

"Sorry, Ed! She overpowered me!" Lizzie apologized, still in flight.

Rin pulled the spear out and Edward gasped out blood before Uninstalling and Transporting away.

"Hmph!" Rin spun the spear over her hand. "Eye for an eye."

"Time for the concert!"

Rin looked behind her, spotting Lizzie stabbing the spear into the floor in front of her feet. A magical circle formed and a large castle erupted from it. The Fuyuki Defenders were all taken aback by it, mainly due to its appearance.

"Are those… speakers?"

Lizzie used her wings to get on top of her spear. "Báthory Erzsébet!" She took a deep breath, and then… she roared! "UWAAAHHHHHHHH!" Heart-shaped sound waves blasted through the entire battlefield. The Ascension made her Noble Phantasm's power raise, from E- to E+!

Rin was blown away until she struck her spear on the floor. "This… Gh!" A headache surged. She covered her ears. "Ahhh! This is terrible!"

"My head…!" Shirou covered his ears while doing his best to stay in place.

"D-Don't insult my girlfriend! She's the best singer ever!" Mizuki's retort, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, was drowned by the sound wavs.

Someone used Rin as a stepping stool.

"Huh?!"

"Pardon me." Issei apologized as he got closer to Lizzie. He wasn't immune to the sound waves, far from it. But to ignore the opportunity would be foolish, he thought.

"Zabaniya!"

His demonic arm stretched out, flapping like the wings of a bird of prey, and flung itself towards Lizzie. The hand touched the left side of her chest.

"A-Ah?!" Lizzie staggered, confused as to how someone managed to reach her. And most importantly, why someone touched her chest!

Issei landed, using his hand to stay in place. As someone without Magic Resistance, he was feeling the most pain out of his teammate. Miyu was too far away to be affected the same way he was.

A beating heart manifested above the palm of his demonic hand. "It's time for it to stop." His hand crushed the heart simply by gripping it hard enough.

"?!" Lizzie's eyes suddenly went blank and a drop of blood fell out of her mouth. The Castle stopped booming out sound waves and suddenly crumbled into dust as Lizzie fell off the spear. The moment her body hit the floor, Lizzie Uninstalled and was Transported away.

"Lizzie!" Mizuki called, as it was a natural instinct.

"Why you!" Shoutarou dashed towards Issei. "We already lost two, huh?! Gonna bring you down then!"

"Wait, Shoutarou, don't!"

"Install." Issei swapped Cards.

"Take this!"

"Tsubame Gaeshi!" With a quick turn, the Assassin performed the secret sword technique. The three simultaneous slashes cut through Shoutarou's body. The Berserker fell apart defeated, resulting in the same fate as Lizzie and Edward.

Rin couldn't help but chuckle. "We're still one short."

"Should we try and solve that while Illya recovers?" Issei wondered, as he adjusted his glasses and joined Rin's side.

"Shirou!"

"Hm?" The Archer turned to the Team Leader.

She extended a hand. "If you wouldn't mind."

"Oh? Leader, are you really going to use your secret weapon already?" Shirou chuckled. "Alright. Trace on." The Archer projected the Sword of the Victorious and passed it to his Team Leader, who caught it in her free hand.

The King of Knights holding both the Sword of Selection and the Sword of the Lake gave off an intimidating aura.

"What in the…" Sayuri could feel an odd power coming from Ayaka.

The Saber of Fuyuki dashed forward, towards where most of her opponents stood.

Mizuki was the first to cross swords.

Ayaka smirked. "I already know your gimmick." The sword that crossed the with the katana was the 'true' Excalibur, something that could never be cut apart. The 'fake' Caliburn was the one used to push Mizuki aside.

"?!" Mizuki was pushed away due to the strength behind it. Caliburn's power would rise if in King Arthur's hands. Mizuki happened to have a high Endurance, so she wasn't hurled away so easily, but the red blood from the wound started staining her kimono. "Kh."

Sayuri stood up, using her sword as a cane. "Is she going all out or something?"

"Don't tell me she was only using ten percent of her power." Mongami sighed, placing a head over her forehead. "Seriously, out of all of them, she's the most annoying."

Without a word, the Berserker of their team ran forward.

Shirou raised an eyebrow. "Her eyes…"

"Hm?" Rin caught his words.

"Her eyes aren't focused on anyone in particular."

Karen leapt up high. Since Miyu had joined her teammates' side, they were gathered in one place. Perfect. "Ox-King Storm Call - The Inescapable Net of Heaven!" The sound of thunder quaked through the area as four bolts of lightning struck the floor. She landed alongside doppelgangers of herself, each holding a different weapon.

The original was quick to cross her lightning imbued blade against Ayaka's two swords.

The Karen holding a spear of ice attacked Rin. The one with a katana of fire started fighting off Shirou. The copy with the golden axe sparred with Issei. And the one armed with the bow of wind fired arrows at Miyu, who evaded them by flying around like a bird.

The sparring lasted a few seconds before the light footsteps of another Berserker began speeding up.

"…NineLIVES!" Illya roared as she ran straight towards the commotion. Carrying her heavy axe, as she ran, she delivered multiple strikes in a quick fashion. She ran like always, but whenever she was close to a Karen, her arms would move at blinding speed.

Block the axe, behead.

Stop the arrow, thrust into the chest.

Deflect the icy blade, crush the skull.

Impede the path of the katan, slash the spine.

The four copies vanished into purple dust. Even Illya's teammates were confused by what was happening until they all spotted the young girl running like a madwoman.

Karren spun over her foot and delivered a lightning slash at Ayaka. The power behind the attack was too strong, even if wielding both swords and using them to block.

"Ah!" Ayaka was pushed away and fell onto the floor. Illya used the chest plate as a platform and used it to jump over. Karren looked up and froze. The ninth strike of the Noble Phantasm was about to be delivered.

The axe cut her down, entering through the shoulder. Karren fell back and Uninstalled, Transporting away.

"Virgin Laser – Palladion!" Two voices in unison. Illya gasped, as another Noble Phantasm robbed a life from her. Mimi had ben thrust through her body with Rumi's power and strength.

"One more down…!"

"EX-!"

"Huh?"

Mimi's eyes widened as a brilliant light was headed her way. No, that wasn't it. She was the one heading to the light.

"CALIBUUUUR!" Ayaka didn't fire a beam of heat. Instead, she performed the same kind of attack she did against Akane in the battle against the Red Oaths. A rapid slash that split Mimi in a perfect half, the radiating mana making Excalibur look like a hot knife slicing through butter.

"Mimi!" Rumi called in worry.

"Follow up attack!" Excalibur wasn't the only one shining. "CALIBUUUUUUURN!"

Caliburn 'Golden Sword of the Victorious': Anti Unit B/B+/A+

"Eh?" A bright yellow beam of light, thinner than one would expect, flew across the field, passing through the hole in Illya's body and hitting Rumi. The initial collision didn't hurt, but multiple bursting orbs of light began surrounding Rumi. "A-Ah!" The burning light consumed her, it's power being far greater than she expected.

The twins were out.

"Crap, we lost our hard hitters!" Mongami complained, seeing how her side was losing members by the second.

Sayuri looked around. "Hey, Mongami?"

"What?"

"Where's Isemi?"

"Isemi? He's right he-" She looked to her left, only to realize the Rider was gone. "Where did he go?!"

Mizuki looked up and spotted the white winged horse, flapping its wings.

"I guess it's up to me to do what Lizzie and Karen were interrupted from doing."

The Rider used the bridle to force the Pegasus to speed up and become a white meteor, heading straight to the Fuyuki Defenders.

Rin leapt far back and crouched down, surprising Shirou and Issei.

"Rin?"

"I can handle this!" The Lancer dashed past them in the blink of an eye, a gust of wind rising from it. Then, she jumped high, taking aim with her spear. The mana in the air all gathered around the tip of the Noble Phantasm. The cursed spear was surrounded by a menacing aura of red.

Rin's arm muscles bulged and her eyes focused on the dashing horse.

"BELLEROPHON!"

"GÁE BOLG!"

Rin hurled the spear. It flew straight to Isemi. The attack was usually made to strike the floor below, but instead, it was hurled straight at the descending Rider.

Rin knew she had this confrontation won. It wasn't the first time a situation like this happened. After all, Sakura had the same Noble Phantasm. The EX Rankers would spar with each other to improve themselves and never lose the habit of fighting. Whenever Sakura attacked with her Noble Phantasm, Rin was the first to respond by hurling the Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death.

The collision created a bright explosion of white and red, the colours attempting to overpower one another.

Rin was simply waiting for gravity to bring her down, so she could join Shirou and the others.

But something emerged from the large orb of red and white. "Eh?!"

Isemi, thought heavily damaged, could still move. He could still fight. With the winged sandals, he flew his way towards Rin. And while the Lancer was about to summon her spear into her hands to hurl it again, Isemi was one step ahead.

His hand had already reached for the bag that encased his Noble Phantasms. And from it, he pulled out the head of the monster Perseus was famous for slaying.

Rin almost gasped, but she then realized.

"Oh. Sakura, you dumb idiot…"

"Cybele!" The eyes of the gorgon opened up and a beam was fired straight towards Rin. With her Mana Stat at Rank C…

She smiled only to herself. "If you could've beaten me all those times, just go ahead and do it. Did you think I would be mad?"

The Lancer was petrified, top to bottom.

The moment she hit the floor, she joined the list of defeated Players.

"Rin!" Shirou yelled, angered by her defeat. Isemi landed behind both him and Issei, with grace thanks to the winged sandals.

"My…" He let out a pained sigh. "That spear… did a bigger number on me than I expected."

As Ayaka crossed swords with Mizuki, Sayuri and Mongami, keeping them all at bay, Issei and Shirou turned to face the Rider.

"…Ah. It hurts to move. Oh well. I'm just about out of Mana as well." With his signature smile, the Rider turned around. The stoic Assassin and the angered Archer approached with blades. Far away from him, the Berserker recovered. And just behind the Saber holding the two sacred swords, his three teammates. "Well, hard to believe we've gone this far ever since I met those three and Lizzie. I wonder if they're having fun. Maybe they're too nervous to have fun. It happens. But I've helped them as much as I could. I can do only one more thing. Well, I guess two. The first is…" The Rider raised the Monster's Head, aiming it at the Assassin, while the Archer would be left unscathed. "And the second… good luck, girls. I've helped you as much as I could. No hard feeling if you lose though."

The monster's eyes opened up. The name of the Noble Phantasm was spoken, and as Issei turned into stone, Shirou slashed Isemi's body with the signature pair of blades.

Two more Players were out of the competition.

The sides were now almost equal. Ayaka, Shirou, Miyu and Illya on one, Mizuki, Sayuri and Mongami on the other.

The three sword wielders pushed Ayaka away with a simultaneous slash, destroying Calliburn in the process.

"Shirou!"

"I'm on it!" The Archer ran towards his leader, ready to supply another Caliburn.

Mizuki raised her voice though. "It's time! Let's go!"

"Alright!" Sayuri and Mongami drew a second Card each.

The plan was simple. If they were the last three remaining… they would go all out.

They even went as far as getting an additional Card for Sayuri to use without Mongami giving hers.

"Ascension!"

"Overlap Install!"

A flash of light, and two bursts of fire, one blue and one red.

Mizuki's kimono changed to obtain a more beautiful floral pattern, and her hair grew.

Sayuri became Devil Saber, and Mongami turned into the Demon King Avenger.

Mongami adjusted her hat and flames ran up her body, changing her appearance to be more wild-looking, the long hair being tied in a massive bun. Her katana was replaced with an odd weapon: a long blade combined with a long-barrelled Gatling-gun.

"I'll shoot down that bird and get rid of the red boy over there."

Sayuri raised her immensely long katana. "I'll stall the Berserker."

Mizuki's eyes turned blue. "The Saber is for me then."

The three dashed in separate directions.

Mizuki immediately began sparring with Ayaka. While the Saber of Fuyuki had the advantage of possessing a second sword, even if susceptible to being cut through her Mystic Eyes, Mizuki noticed something.

"She's not used to holding swords with only one hand." Ayaka was talented, no doubt about that, but some moments felt like Ayaka missed an opportunity to deliver a strike due to lack of habbit. Probably the consequences of it being a «secret' weapon, in a way.

But that didn't mean Mizuki would have an easy time fighting her. It was a given that Ayaka had greater prowess. She would always block slashes with Excalibur and counter with Caliburn.

Ayaka ended up kicking Mizuki away and jump back to create some distance. She raised both holy swords and bright beams of gold began manifesting.

"CALIBURN! EXCALIBUUUUR!" The maximum potential was nowhere close to it. It wasn't all that different from the version of the attack she used to defeat Mimi. The slashes of light fell towards Mizuki, but she didn't look worried.

"I still don't like looking at those lines, but… I've gotten quite used to spotting them." A single slice. The pristine katana cut through the gold with ease, making the beams vanish in an instant.

Ayaka let out a heavy breath and smirked. "So… I think I got you figured out." And she moved forward again.

Not too far from them was the match between a sturdy Berserker and a swift Saber. Illya was frustrated. The Devil Saber just wouldn't stay still! On the other hand, Sayuri couldn't sting her, not even once.

"Too weak?" She jumped over the heavy axe. He sword couldn't even break Illya's skin. The invulnerability was an obstacle that the entire team was set on getting rid of. Illya was bound to be one of the last opponents they would have to face, so Sayuri knew that it was up to her to take a few lives. Once she figured out that normal strikes wouldn't work, she decided to use something that would definitely work.

Illya jumped and spun over like a wheel. Sayuri managed to evade with backwards jump. The gold sparks ran through her weapon.

"Decisive Blade." She moved towards the Berserker and vanished. Illya's vision was filled with multiple golden lines, her entire body struck multiple times in what seemed to be just a single second. Sayrui reappeared, skidding over the rocky floor. The sparks around her sword turned black. "Eternity Three Stage!" She trust the katana and fired a powerful black beam that pierced through Illya's body once again.

The Berserker's eyes went blank and she fell to her knees.

Sayuri let out a sigh and placed her weapon over the shoulder. "That should be at least 3 lives, right?"

"Illya!" Miyu yelled in worry, but before she could fly over to her friend's side, multiple bullets pierced her body. "AHH!"

"Witch, I suggest you don't ignore me that easily." Mongami pointed out before blocking Shirou's attack. The two blades were blocked by the blade of her unusual armament. "And just how mysterious are you?"

Shirou's eyes hardened and his arms moved fast, attempting to break through Mongami's defences, but the Avenger didn't let him through. However, thanks to the Clairvoyance and greater speed, Shirou managed to strike Mongami's shoulder. However, it made her grin.

"Burn."

"Huh?" A fiery explosion ensued, much to Shirou's confusion. The sword in his hand shatter and his arm received a burn. "Argh!"

"So," Mongami aimed her gatling gun at the Archer. "still in the mood to fight?"

Shirou didn't answer with words. He hurled the remaining sword of his pair. Mongami blocked it easily with a quick swipe of the long blade. However, Shirou had followed the boomerang-like sword, holding a peerless sword to skewer through her chest.

"Hah!"

"RAHHH!" Mongami essentially roared as the blade of her firearm became engulfed in searing fire. The two swords clashed, and the peerless sword was knocked off Shirou's hand. He staggered back, breathing heavily as the sword faded to bits.

"GRRAHHH!"

"Huh?" Mongami looked over and barely had any time to react. Her weapon was placed horizontally above her head to block the heavy axe that was coming her way. "What in the-?! Sayuri, the hell!"

"I-I don't know how many more lives she has!"

Mongami struggled to keep away from the Berserker and the Archer simultaneously, using a combination of her muskets and special armament to keep them at bay with the use of fiery bullets and burning slashes. "And why didn't you stop her?!"

"She's immune to my sword and SOMEONE didn't keep this Caster distracted enough!" Sayuri was evading with quite some ease, but Miyu wasn't going easy on her. Being so high above and firing so many kind of attacks, most of which were being cast through 'High-Speed Enchantment', meaning that they were probably powerful spells that even her Magic Resistance B wouldn't be able to cancel.

"Ahhh, to hell with this then!" A tower of fire surrounded her, keeping Shirou and Illya at bay. "Ascension!" The fire ceased, revealing her form with the red hair. "Sayuri, Mizuki, I suggest you take cover!" She kicked Shirou away and jumped up high to evade Illya's follow up attack.

Torrents of fire appeared around her as a devilish cackle came out of her mouth. "Wahahahahaha! Behold! The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven! No…" The flames suddenly dispersed, as the upper half of a giant skeleton with six arms stretched out its arms. Behind it was a giant version of the crown Oda Nobunaga wore, and each palm of the six hands burned with red fire. "This is the Demon King of a Thousand Worlds! Papiyas Metamorphosis!" The skeleton released a roar and fire burst from the crown behind it, a torrent of fiery meteorites flying up towards the sky and then turning down to strike the opposition.

Papiyas Metamorphosis (Hajunhenjou) 'Demon King of a Billion World (Sanzen Daisen Ten Maou)': Anti-Divine A-

Mizuki and Sayuri fled behind Mongami, utilizing their skills to cut down distance during a dash. The area of effect was focused on the four remaining opponents.

"GRAHHH!" The meteors of fire consumed Illya completely. The hero Heracles committed suicide through burning his body. Adding on top of that the anti-divine properties, no matter how many lives remained, the Berserker was defeated.

"Illya!" Miyu yelled, before she herself was engulfed in fire. After being struck twice more, the Caster was defeated.

The Instinct and Clairvoyance users evaded around the various giant pellets, fleeing in order to remain. But their abilities only went so far.

The meteor shower caught up to them.

"Ayaka!"

"Shirou, what are you-?!"

Giant blue of red encompassed the area. Mongami gently returned to the floor, arms crossed. Mizuki and Sayuri could tell that someone remained amidst the smoke.

Once it cleared, it was made obvious what happened. A Red Archer had a missing arm and burning wounds, a victim to the Noble Phantasm.

The Blue Saber, however, was completely fine. Ayaka looked over at her teammate with a rather confused look. Shirou simply smirked. She looked above and noticed a four-petalled shield protecting her from the resulting attack.

"S-Shirou, why didn't you-?"

"Leader, come on." Shirou sighed. "If someone can beat them, it's you." The shield vanished alongside the Archer.

Ayaka suddenly felt a weird sort of pleasure placed upon her shoulders. She looked over to the three remaining opponents. And one of them could cancel her strongest attack.

If wielding the two holy swords was her 'secret' weapon, what she was about to do was something even all of her teammates had no idea would be possible.

"Hakuno! Jinako!" She yelled towards the skies above. She knew the two were listening in. "As an EX Ranker, I demand to execute this right! Send the Cards of Shirou, Rin, Sakura and Illya to me!"

"Oi!" Mongami immediately objected. "The heck is up with that?! If you wanna use a bunch of Cards at once, bring them with you from the start!"

"I'm not going to rotate my usage of them." Ayaka clarified. The Rankers obliged. A beam of light fell down, landing right in front of her feet. The Archer, Lancer, Rider and Berserker Cards were carried through, all of which taken into Ayaka's free hands after she put down the two swords. She looked over at the three and put on a smirk full of bravado. "I've never used this more than once before. You have earned the right to see it." And she shut her eyes.

Archer – sliding timeline.

Lancer – Class shifting.

Rider – steed provider.

Berserker – Rank A Divinity bearer.

She fanned out the four Cards and spoke up.

"Ultimate Overlap Install!"

The Saber became surrounded in a tall pillar of light that astounded the three sword users.

And then, the opponent emerged from it as the light slowly ceased. Ayaka showed herself clad in bright white armour. The weapon she carrier, a holy spear of unspeakable beauty. Instead of walking on her own, Ayaka had the help of an always-present steed, a white stallion clad in armour like her.

CLASS: Lancer

IDENTITY: King Arthur (?)

Alignment: Lawful Good

STATS:

- Strength: B

- Endurance: A

- Agility: A

- Mana: A

- Luck: C

- Noble Phantasm: A++

CLASS SKILLS:

- Magic Resistance: B

- Riding: A

PERSONAL SKILL:

- Mana Burst: A

- Charisma: B

- Blessings from the End of the World: EX

NOBLE PHANTASM:

Rhongomyniad 'The Spear that Shines to the Ends of the Earth': Anti-Fortress A++

Despite what she seemed to exhibit, something felt wrong. Ayaka's mere presence gave off a pressure. It couldn't be measured by parameters in the traditional sense. Something felt truly overwhelming.

The steed walked forward, neighing lightly. Ayaka aimed her spear at the three.

"Eh?" Mizuki's eyes widened. "Watch out!"

The three dispersed at the command. A beam of light was fired from the spear, and the impact of it against a wall of debris, an explosion of yellow and white decimated the rocks, turning them into mere pebbles.

The three were astounded but didn't lose face for more than a second. Mizuki and Sayuri dashed towards the Lancer while Mongami lingered behind, summoning a red katana and using it to send an erupting, burning slash of fire.

Ayaka gave a simple command to her stallion. The horse jumped up and stomped once brought down by gravity. The landing released a shockwave that knocked both Mizuki and Sayuri away, off their course of action, and blew away the slash of fire.

"What the-?!"

Mongami's questioned was followed by Sayuri drawing out her long sword and attempting to cut down the Lancer, but the holy spear blocked her path of attack. And once that was done, Ayaka quickly spun her weapon around her arms, blocking the upcoming slash from Mizuki, then Sayuri again, and the pattern continued until, suddenly, she seemed to have vanished from their eyes.

Each one of the Sabers was struck twice by swift, invisible strikes, powered through Mana Burst and sending them far back as she ordered the horse to gallop towards the Avenger.

Mongami drew her gatling gun and summoned multiple rifles. "Eat lead!" A rain of red, burning volleys were headed Ayaka's way. Maybe taking the horse out of the equation would be a great enough victory, in her opinion.

Ayaka shut her eyes for a fraction. She suddenly opened them, revealing a golden glow amidst the loss of colour.

All of the bullets suddenly deviated from their target, ending up hitting rocks instead of Ayaka.

Mongami gasped and followed it with a growl. "Why you…!" The firearms vanished completely, and she dashed, both of her feet caught in crimson fire. "Take this!" Mongami spun over to deliver a powerful heel drop to the armoured knight.

Ayaka moved her spear like it was as light as a feather, even though it looked as heavy as an anchor. She used it to block Mongami's foot and, with a swing, launched her upwards. Then, a beam of light was fired. The target couldn't escape it. The bright light swallowed Mongami. She joined the list of defeated Players.

The horse turned around, and Ayaka's divine eyes focused on the Devil Saber approaching her with sparks all around the long blade.

"HMPH!" Through Mana Burst, her arm whipped at an incredible speed, making the spear slash Sayuri's body before she could reach the Lancer. Sayuri let out a yell of pain as a red line of blood erupted from her skin and she fell to the floor, the katana bouncing away due to being dropped. The moment she set up, the holy spear pierced her chest. Sayuri's eyes went blank, and once the holy lance was pulled out of her body, just like all the others before her, she was Uninstalled and Transported away.

Ayaka jumped off her steed and immediately blocked Mizuki's slash. The two glared at one another with their unnatural eyes. The ones that could perceive death and the ones that stared at the end of the world.

It was odd. Had this happened before? Definitely not with Mizuki and Ayaka. Perhaps in a different reality, atop a different building, and in different classes. It was nothing to pay one's mind at though. It was simply something that made the two chuckle for a second before the two completed their slashes, pushing each other back, only to reconnect in a similar fashion. Despite its cylindrical nature, the lance cut in the same fashion a sword did.

Once separated again, Ayaka aimed her spear and fired a beam of light. Mizuki cut through it with the katana and, when close, struck the spear from underneath, making Ayaka's arm point upwards. Then a spin over a heel to slice across the Lancer's neck.

The blessings occurred again. Ayaka moved, no, she was almost teleported away from the danger. Mizuki was surprised, but couldn't let her body flinch. She blocked the down-coming spear with a sturdy katana and stepped back, creating distance between the two through a flash-step sort of technique. Ayaka wondered why the Saber had moved so far away, but the air began to shake. The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were being used at their full potential.

Ayaka's stallion ran past her and she climbed onto his back before the steed leapt towards the bright sky above.

The spear of the end became engulfed in light and was aimed dowan at Mizuki, even if above the clouds.

"Removing Restraints!" The metal sheets that once bound themselves around the weapon no longer held back its power. "Releasing light from the end of the world... That which pierces the sky and connects with the earth! Anchor of the storm!" The horse began to gallop his way down towards the final opponent. "RHONGO-MYNIAAAAD!" The spear created a comet-halo, making Ayaka resemble a meteorite making its way to destroy the planet below.

A single breath. "The dream will end here." She took a leap of faith. "Death Perception... Vanish in the nothingness between Yin and Yang." Mizuki's eyes glared at the shining Lancer. It was hard to see them properly. Were the lines even there to begin with? They should be, right? "…Mukushiki!"

A bright flash of white. A strike and a slash collided.

The outcome came down to a near draw, but one was victorious.

It truly was the end of a dream.


ONE LAST CHAPTER TO GO! Boy, this was a pain to write.

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

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Until next time!