A/N: Hey peeps, sorry for the late update, but I recently got a few new games for my Xbox and PS4, so that kind of took a bit of my time while I was trying to write this chapter when I was having a case of writers block. I would occasionally get flashes of inspiration while doing that, so that's why it took a bit longer this time around. But again, once or twice a week, I never said when during the once a week part, simply that I would do so as close to the middle of the week as possible. Now, before I start the reviewer review, one quick thing, NO foreign langauges already. I cannot read what you said, so I am not even gonna bother trying to understand it. I made my postion clear enough times already, so those of you all still doing that are officially on my blacklist for comments, and the guests who are doing it are ignored. NOw, onto the Reviewer Review:
1.) The whole thing about the Shroud of Martin not being a NP, yea, that was actually me taking a few liberties based on canon lore I know about. Some Heroic Spirits can imbue the properties of a NP into an object if it has a strong connection to them in some way, even if it wasn't originally one or had any actual connection to their legend. For an extreme example of this, Berserker Lancelot's NP in Fate Zero was literally taking anything he could get his hands on and use as a weapon into his noble phantasm. I simply used a leap in logic by applying this to the Shroud of Martin. While it may have been a lesser Mystic Code while EMIYA was alive, when he became a Counter-Guardian, it gained the traits of a NP, therefore, it became a lesser one in my fic.
2.) The whole 'Mantle of the Champion' thing was not a typo, it was deliberate. From my understanding, if one thinks of Authorities as something comparable to Noble Phantasms, then they would have a name with a second one associated with it, for example, Excalibur also being called the 'Sword of Promised Victory'. I simply used that here as a reference to the fact that authorities in Campioneverse are comparable to NP in Nasuverse from my understanding. Also, to my knowledge in canon as well as certain fanfics, Authorities can be used by mortals if given willingly as a loan by the Gods in question, such as with Susanoo giving Ena permission to use Ama No Murakume No Tsurugi. Noble Phantasms can be used by others, so long as they were entrusted to them by their originl wielder or acknloged by the sentience of steel within them. That's my justification.
3.) Yeah, I have a bit of a plot device that is actually canon for just WHO Berserker is gonna end up getting it on with. And, no, I shit you not when I will reveal just what that girls fetish was, it is canon. You can find it on her page in the Campione Wiki page. Though I will say, he will get a bit of a kinky threeway relationship, but with which canon female characters, I won't say yet.
A bit long, but now, onto the disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own either 'Campione!', 'FATE', or any other franchise referenced, as they are the property of their respective publishers and creators. Any ideas from fics used will be referenced and credited to the best of my abilities. This story if an AU of Marcus Galen Sands 'God Slaying Blade Works' with a heavy emphasis on 'WHAT IF', using the 'Harem Ending' of Nua Realta, references to other fics credited as used, a meshing of canon lore from both franchises in a manner that makes sense, and my own original ideas thrown in every now and then. This is a FREE FANFIC of a FANFIC, meaning an unpaid FAN-MADE FICTION of a FAN-MADE FICTION that I wrote for no monetary gain whatsoever. So if you paid to read this, then you got ripped off, and if you do not like it, then you do not have to read it. Nobody is making you.
And now:
Story Start
God Slaying Blade Works: The King of Wrought Iron
Eighteenth Blade: Strategic Planning, Fated Encounters, and Surprise Revelations
Unknown Location
Third-person P.O.V.
Guinevere was watching the magically recorded image of the battle between the God-slayers and the [God of Steel] she helped that Chinese Devil King free for what seemed to be the hundredth time already. That deity of steel was most definitely not the King of the End. She had known it was possibly a dead end, but she also knew that sometimes Gods will end up merging with other legends added onto their own over time. But what confused her was not the Eastern Steel divinity she unleashed, it was none other than one of this lands Devil Kings. She just could not fully make heads nor tails of it. That Eighth God-slayer obviously has some connection to her beloved King of the End, and yet...there is something else that she just cannot figure out…
To her knowledge, the Children of Pandora are mortal humans who have successfully defied fate itself in order to achieve the impossible act of slaying a god, but something is off about the Eighth Devil King's abilities that aren't something any mortal human mage should ever be capable of achieving...there is only one thing she can think of, but if it was true, then how did he become a God-slayer then? Having such a lineage should have disqualified him from becoming a Devil King...unless his heritage was somehow stripped or at least weakened to the point he was no different from a normal mortal human mage...but if so then that would mean-
"Oh, what troubles thou so, Lady Guinevere? Thee shan't makes such a face which unbefits the Queen of the Divine Ancestors, oh Witch-Queen of Briton."
...no...it cannot be HIM...turning around, and to her barely suppressed anger, is none other than the traitor who wounded his own King and broken his oath of fealty to her beloved King of the End…
"...[Mordred]…"
That one word was filled with such venom and malice, it was a miracle she did not spit the most vile of poison out along with the name. There was such hatred in that one word, it would have made even a [God of Steel] as powerful as the Strongest Steel whom she had served loyally all this time back up out of pure self-preservation instinct. She didn't even need to ask what he wanted, the sheer wrath on her face asked the questions for her, yet the Knight of Treachery and Black Knight of Betrayal didn't even flinch in response, he merely chuckled…
"If you are here to stop Guinevere, then-"
"Stop thee? Now why wouldst I do that, when thine actions are granting mine desire? If anything, Lady Guinevere, I intend to help thee."
The sheer look of confusion on the witch-queen's face was one of absolute befuddlement, much to the Black Knight's amusement. Why wouldn't he interfere, if she was his enemy, then why would he help her, rather than hinder her? She couldn't figure it out, and the Knight of Treachery was loving her stupefaction at the idea, and decided to clarify for her.
"Thou sees, I was attempting to emulate thine King of the End when he bested me. I admired him, and so I sought to attain the same title as he hath, and usurp the title of the Strongest Steel from him. When he slew the Devil Kings of the time, I went about doing the same whilst he slumbered. When I found myself weary and in these lands, I choseth to slumber beneath the earth, just liketh the King of the End. But during mine slumber, twas only to be found and sealed by mortal mages to prevent mine reawakening. But mine allies woketh me from mine slumber, and told me all about the Devil Kings of this era."
Guinevere's eyes were widening in horror at what she was told, and it wasn't all that she felt, the witch-queen of Briton suddenly felt a deep-seated dread within the pit of her stomach...he couldn't be trying to-
"' Artus shall meet his end at Mordred's blade in mutual strike which ends them both, whilst mortally wounding the Knight of Treachery with his blade, resulting in grievous wounds for both.' Wast that not the legend thou hast spread, Lady Guinevere?" [Mordred] began to chuckle at her horrified face as realization dawned upon her as to her enemy's intent. "Mine allies were very forthcoming of thine attempts to awaken thine King. Tis rather amusing, that thou's attempt to reawaken Artus would result in the birth of an entirely new god, but that just giveth me a means to achieve mine desire. For that reason, I shan't hinder you in the slightest, for by helping thine objectives will grant me mine desire."
Guinevere could not believe what she had just been told. Her ears had heard him correctly, her eyes acknowledged the madness held within his gaze, but her mind could not process it or even accept it as the truth. Had she, in her attempt to awaken her Beloved King of the End, truly gave his greatest enemy and the biggest threat to Artus's life a means to slay him...but if that was true, then that would mean…
"...you're wrong. It's a lie, it cannot be true..." Guinevere's rebuttal was weak even to her ears, and [Mordred] merely chuckled in response, his eyes gleaming with his maddened desire to usurp the position of the Strongest Steel from the King Who Appears at the End of Eras…
"Oh, Lady Guinevere. Thine loyalty is admirable, but there are times whence ones own loyalty becomes the source of their betrayal, even if it was not intended to do so. Thou can keep telling thyself it was not a betrayal all thee wishes. Twill not change the fact thine own attempts to reawaken Artus hath only aided his enemies."
The strength left Guinevere's legs, forcing her to her knees at the proclamation. His eyes, while they burned with his maddened desire, also show he would will it to be true if he so had to in order to obtain her Beloved King of the End's power and strength. As the Black Knight left, he did so with a maddened laughter at her suffering and misfortune...had she truly in her desperation to revive Artus only succeeded in orchestrating his downfall…
NO, she REFUSED to believe it! The Witch-queen of Briton began to feel rage at the sheer depth of [Mordred]'s madness born from the desire and his obsession over her beloved King's title and position as the Strongest Steel. If he were to become a threat to her King, then she merely needed to eliminate him before he possibly could attempt to carry out his plans. It would be easy to attempt, all she would need to do is find an ally who would aid in her attempts to eliminate him. And who better to aid in slaying an enemy Divinity than one of the God-slayers. There were currently Four Devil Kings in Japan at the moment: two currently sealed by the Eastern Steel Divinity, one currently running and hiding to recuperate his strength for the battle to come, and a fourth one who has recently arrived to this land via the mortal's form of air travel in pursuit of yet another of her fellow Divine Ancestors whom had drawn the Foreign King's ire.
Now, it would simply be a matter of figuring out which among the four of them would be willing to help her eliminate the Knight of Treachery, and which of their capabilities was able to ensure they finished the job of killing him…
Scene Change-Nikkou National Park Camp Grounds
Illya P.O.V.
We had finally begun to relax when we found a safe enough place to rest for the remainder of the night. Liliana-san's [flight] spell took us to a nearby camping grounds where there were still some people who had not been affected by the Monkey King's Divine Aura. These people were completely ignorant of the disaster, and were simply too far out of range from the Saitenguu Shrine to be caught up in [Sun Wukong]'s area of effect for his influence like those other unfortunate individuals had been. I had found out from Erica-san that [Sun Wukong] had drained the life force out of a large area, and those people who had been drained were the ones who were turned into the monkeys we had seen earlier. The only way to turn them back was if [Sun Wukong] were to be slain, and right now the only one currently present to do that was injured and currently trying to recuperate from his injuries and regain his strength.
While we were attempting to get a cabin rented by the camp grounds so we could rest, we ended up meeting two individuals. The first was that student of the Empress of the Martial Realm, Lu Linghua, who had managed to get away from the Divine Beast and the transformed humans he drew away by giving them the slip. In fact, we were surprised to find out he had actually gotten to this camp ground before we did, and proceeded to ask for a couple of cabins with room for about a dozen to fit in for the night. He truly was good as his word at getting them drawn away then meeting back up with us, though that doesn't make him our friend, considering we found out he had helped Luo Hao free the Monkey King so she could settle some fight that they had but never finished a long time ago. I only didn't see him as completely bad when I found out his family was similar to Robin Hood and his Merry Band: Outlaws who were rebels opposing injustices performed by authorities, rather than criminals who were evil villains. Or in terms as Shirou would put it: his entire family was Chaotic Good in moral alignment.
While we were resting, however, we received an unexpected visitor in the form of the second individual we met here.
"So, may I ask how King Emiya and Empress Luo Hao are doing? From what I can gather of the situation, if the Monkey King is not stopped and the petrification not ended by his defeat, then within the next few months, the landscape could be permanently altered and those two could become imprisoned eternally, with the unfortunate people caught up in all this remaining transformed as the Great Sage's subjects forever."
The Witenagemont Princess asked us as she explained what she had discovered and why she was concerned about all of this. It had actually caused a bit of an uproar among Kusanagi-san's entourage when she declared she was one of Shirou's women and was planning to become one of his wives after he had cured her illness that nobody else could cure and even healed her body in the process enough to get around mostly on her own without being in constant pain. She said she would still need a bit of rehab to deal with the atrophied muscles, but other than that, she was completely healthy now. Her question however, brought back my attention to the question I wanted to ask earlier…
"Kusanagi-san. I want you to tell us exactly what happened and what Shirou said to you when he was imprisoned by [Sun Wukong]. I want to know, and you are the only one who can tell me." I said to him, although my voice was calm, my face apparently caused both the King of Ruin and a few of the others with him to back away slightly in fear. While I may not know the exact look on my face right now, it is very clear what I was thinking: Shirou was going to be getting a massive lecture once this was all over, depending on the situation.
After regaining a bit of his courage Kusanagi-san began to explain what happened, what was said, and proceeded to explain how Shirou volunteered to stay behind to give him a chance to escape, something about him already making a way for him to get out when he attacked the Monkey King and freed Hikari-chan from being possessed by him. As we were listening, the others were slightly fearing for Shirou and Luo Hao's safety, but both myself and Linghua-kun were relatively calm compared to them about the whole thing. Although I was most certainly feeling anger, then exasperation, before finally resignation, I did not feel an ounce of fear for Shirou's life. Linghua, on the other hand, was absolutely calm and did not flinch in the slightest.
"...by the way, why aren't you two more worried about Emiya-san and Luo Hao? I know those two are strong and tough, but you aren't even the slightest bit afraid for their safety at all?" Kusanagi-san asked us with obvious confusion to our reactions.
"Indeed, while it is understandable to be worried somewhat for King Emiya and Empress Luo Hao, you two don't seem to have a shred of fear or worry about them. Are you two truly so confident that they will survive this ordeal?" Erica-san asked me and Linghua in response to Kusanagi-san's question. The response from the Lu family heir was a guffawing laughter at their worry for his master.
"If [Sun Wukong] was trying to kill my master with this method, then he would have to wait for years to do so before it had actually managed to kill her. Her training makes her capable of lasting through those kinds of conditions for at least that long before she'd ever meet with death. Besides, she was only imprisoned within a seal, not killed. So long as she is not dead, I shall gamble on the chances of her surviving this and making a comeback."
"...I see, and what about you, Illya-sama?" Liliana-san asked me curiously.
"I don't doubt for a second that Shirou is alive. And even if you showed his broken and battered corpse, I still wouldn't believe he was dead. As much as I love him and though it might be an unflattering comparison, but it is still an accurate one nonetheless: Shirou is hardier than a cockroach on steroids. He is just too stubborn to die and stay dead." The sheer depth of faith I had for Shirou's survival seemed to unnerve them somewhat, but they didn't know him like I did.
"...I see...well, then I guess we ought to take a bit of a rest while we still have the chance to do so. Godou needs to get healed, and since he cannot be healed magically except internally thanks to his resistance to magic, we'll just have to do what we can to treat him." Erica-san sultrily explained, and the knowingly suggestive grin as she said this caused Kusanagi-san and the rest of his girls to blush fervently in response. We all knew what she was doing and what she was implying, but simply chose to ignore her for the time being.
"…Miss Einzbern, if I may have a moment to speak with you in private for a moment..."
The Witenagemont Princess asked me, and while she was very subtle about it, it was very clear just what she wanted from me. Nodding my head in acknowledgment, I followed her to the front porch outside the cabin for a measure of privacy. While normally it would have been a valid concern to have eavesdroppers, due to the fact it was late at night and early into the summer season, the camping grounds were not exactly very crowded right now. As the two of us stood on the porch, I could not help but notice the weakening mystical presence that the Witenagemont Princess seemed to be emitting, it was almost like...oh, so that's it..
"...you're not really here, are you? That is a rather interesting spell that you are using, one I wouldn't mind trying to learn, if at all possible." I could not help but comment, after all, what she was doing was not really all that different from the vessels used to summon Heroic Spirits into their respective classes, albeit this time it's a living person merely projecting their own soul, rather than summoning a hero of legend's soul back into the world and among the living.
"No, I am not. It is most certainly impressive that not just one but both the Japanese Kings have some rather talented individuals as their followers and companions." Princess Alice smiled, her face showing her respect for such talented individuals. But she also showed she was not a foolish airhead with her next question, despite her rather bubbly attitude. "However, the thing I wish to speak to you about is due to the matter of my time beginning to run out. I would have ran out sooner, as I was planning to buy King Kusanagi a chance to escape from those Divine Beasts, but thanks to you, I didn't need to. King Emiya's followers are all quite the subjects of gossip, though you in particular are quite the interesting subject of debate among the Witenagemont."
She was looking whimsically away while sounding nonchalant, but the way she said it spoke volumes louder than even a God's Authorities destroying an entire country ever could. I instantly had a suspicion I knew where this was going, but felt I was not liking it one way or another what her question would be.
"The Witenagemont was under the impression you were some form of Divine Descendant only four or five generations removed, or possibly a Divine Ancestor, just like the Gorgon Medusa became for King Emiya. But we both know you aren't either, now are you? I have been wondering this for a while now, and I have been trying and failing to figure out a way to learn what I wish to know, but since I am currently on a time limit, I will just not beat around the bush and simply be blunt about it..."
Princess Alice turns to look at me after her rather casual statements, then asks a rather blunt question that I already knew was coming. Though I may not like the insinuations or the bad memories associated with the question, I knew I would have to give her an answer...
"...just what are you, Illyasviel von Einzbern? The Witenagemont cannot find any mention of any 'Von Einzbern' family living in Germany anywhere, and we have records going back over five hundred years when it comes to mage families. We also have no records of any 'Tohsaka' or 'Matou' families among any magic practitioners in Japan."
Yep, I knew it. But then again, that is the billion yen question. Just what am I? I already know what I was, a human/homonculus hybrid and miracle child born of a union between the greatest homonculus ever created from the workshops of the Einzbern family, and a human spellcaster and mystic assassin so good at killing off other mages, they gave him his own title out of a mix of fear, respect, and hatred of him and his capabilities. However, the fact she even went so far as to look into the other members of Shirou's harem and her future sister wives just to try and learn the answers she sought...it did not sit right at all, and I doubt Shirou would have been too happy about that either. I think it's time to try and give her a half-truth to get her off my back about something she has no right to ask about without gaining our trust first...let's see if I am as good as Shirou at this...
"That's because the Matou was once known by a different name a long time ago, but changed it out of fear of being pursued and hunted down for researching forbidden magic on vampirism. And as for the Tohsaka Clan, they were once members that was part of a very exclusive mages association that was isolationist and made up of mainly researchers, and by exclusive I mean as in by invitation only. It was an academically driven organization, researching magic for the sake of research without actually putting it to good use with very loose morals and little to no regard for human rights to any mages with rare or unique magical abilities, people like Shirou before he became a Campione, and tended to not have very much respect for Asian mages, whom they had considered 'Backwater Country Bumpkins', so its understandable why you might not have heard of them or either of the Matou Family or Tohsaka Clan before now. As for my family, I wouldn't be surprised if you never found anything about us. While your records may go back what, five hundred years or so, the Einzberns have been around for over a thousand, and even if you had heard of us, I doubt you would have actually found any recorded documents about us. After all, you were most likely only looking through known human mage families. The Einzberns are a mage family who specialize in a specific form of Alchemy, and hasn't had a single pure human member born into it in almost a thousand years."
It wasn't a lie, but at the same time, it wasn't the whole truth. The Matou Family was technically originally the Makiri, but she wouldn't have any records of them. The Tohsaka Clan was technically associated with the Clocktower, but they don't exist in this world, and by hinting at their darker side it would be enough to get her to understand why we don't want to talk about it. And as for the Einzbern Family...well, that's obvious given how I am technically a deserter and a traitor in their eyes...Huh, what do you know. Looks like I may be just as good as Shirou, if not only slightly inferior to him in the art of telling half-truths. I got the reaction I had hoped for though, as the Witenagemont Princess widened her eyes in realization as she understood the unsaid implications of what I just revealed about myself and the Shirou's other girls…
"...you're a homonculus..." her words were a barely audible whisper, so quiet it would have been easily missed were I not expecting and looking at her response as she put the pieces together from the clues I had dropped for her. I don't think she expected a response, but I felt the need to correct her on her partially mistaken assumption…
"Half-homonculus. I am something of a miracle child to my family, with my mama whom I am the spitting image of as the greatest creation of my family's alchemy, while my papa was actually a human spellcaster, a magus who was a specialist and an expert in anti-mage combat and tactics, so much so, he was even given his own title out of fear, hatred, and respect for his achievements, a title inherited by Shirou, whom was his adopted son and heir after papa saved and reluctantly trained him to the best of his abilities before he died from a Divine Curse he was afflicted with the day he saved Shirou's life and pulled him from those cursed flames that fateful day ten years ago."
The revelation I gave into both my and Shirou's origins was a shock to her, as she understood there was only one horrific fire caused by a divine curse ten years ago in this world, and it was its version of the Fuyuki Fire…
"...the Kyoto Disaster..."
I simply smiled a sad smile, before I continued. "Yes, and that's not even the half of it. While papa was raising and training Shirou, I had been lied to by my family, and tricked into hating and wanting to kill Shirou, while thinking papa abandoned me for him. They even modified my body in a torturous process that reduced my lifespan to a measly ten years at best when I had finally met Shirou for the first time, and using my magic would only hasten my inevitable death. But when I met him, and found out what had actually happened, I discovered papa hadn't abandoned me, but rather, my grandfather had kept him from ever seeing me again simply out of spite, and had lied to me for ten years. I was raised to hate the only person who could have been my one true family left in the world, but when I was in the greatest danger to my life imaginable, I was saved by the very adopted brother I was raised to hate and had even tried to kill not even a full week before."
I noticed out of the corner of my eyes she was staring at me in disbelief of such a tale, and horrified by what I had told her, but still did not wish to interrupt my revelation to her of my own past. So I decided to wrap it up with a summary of what happened and give her an idea of Shirou's character...
"But now, thanks to Shirou, not only did I find out the truth of the matter, but I also am no longer dying. Using a combination of his magic and his authorities, he restored my body by healing the damage done to my body from the modifications. I will live the full lifespan I was originally supposed to have, but still retained the modifications the Einzbern Family did to my body. I am going to live, and I intend to do so with the one I consider my true family and the one I fell for and came to love from the bottom of my heart. Also, you should know that Shirou had also saved both Matou and Tohsaka in a similar manner, from similar situations. He just cannot seem to help himself whenever it comes to anyone he finds in distress and cannot ignore those crying out in despair from the cruel circumstances others unfairly seem to force them to suffer..."
I turned to her, and continued as she stared wide-eyed at me as I finished answering her question. I would tell her my tale, but what he did for the others is not for me or any one else to say. Instead, I gave her an idea of what she was getting into and just what kind of person Shirou was so she could be prepared for what being with Shirou entailed…
"...that's simply the type of person Shirou is, after all, what he went through in that hell was enough to make one thing indisputable...he cannot stand watching others suffering around him and do nothing to save them from their own despair, for his 'heart is glass'."
...I looked her in the eyes as I said those last words, and the look of dawning realization on her face was one I doubt she makes very often. Gone was the deceptively cheerful and air-headed girl, and in her place was an uncannily sharp woman with a bubbly personality as she understood the full weight of what I was saying and the metaphorical gears spun a mile a minute in her mind as she processed what I just said...
"...that's...I don't have any words to even say to that..."
...if her eyes widened any further, then they probably would have popped out of her skull, or at least they would have if she was actually physically here. I simply nodded silently at her words. She was about to say something, before she suddenly looked to the distance, as though some sound only she could hear was drawing her attention.
"...It would seem my time is up...I thank you for indulging me in my questions, and for trusting me with this personal information and I apologize for any painful memories you had to relive. I will make sure your trust was not misplaced, and probably get those old codgers to back off a bit by only telling them a few bits while not revealing the more personal, painful, and private ones. I hope to see you in person one day, Lady Illyasviel von Einzbern."
"And I as well, Princess Alice Louise Goddodin. I do hope your physical therapy and rehabilitation goes well."
With that, the Witenagemont Princess dissipated into thin air as her ectoplasmic pseudo-body broke down after she dismissed her spell and her soul returned back to her physical body. That is most definitely a spell I would love to learn, if for no other reason than to spite Old Man Acht for what he did to me by learning a spell that is similar to the Einzbern's lost Third Magic. If that was not enough to kill the old bastard from a heart attack, then Shirou's wielding of SIX True Magics would finish him off with an apoplexy. It would serve him right that the one to attain the lost sorcery of the Einzbern would be the adopted son and heir to the man he had unjustly persecuted simply because of his own stupid ego and his refusal to accept and admit his mistake by denying the fact that the Grail had been tainted by our family's failed attempt to win it by cheating years ago. It may have been a bit vindictive of me, but he was a bigger monster even worse than my papa ever could have been. As bad as Emiya Kiritsugu the Magus Killer might have been, he at least had a code of conduct and standards for what he did and very good reasons for why he did them. Was my papa a bastard for some of the things he did? Yes. But was he a total monster? No, he was not. That made him a far better magus and man than my 'grandfather' ever was in my opinion.
Turning back to the cabin, I could hear Kusanagi-san and his harem speaking about [Sun Wukong]. I recalled the tidbit of information I read from the dossiers the Committee gave Shirou that he let me have a bit of a peek at that he had an authority that could severe any divinity, but had the restriction of requiring he had the knowledge of the authority or divinity he was facing beforehand in order to use it. Deciding to not interrupt them, I simply turn to look back at where we had left Shirou and Luo Hao.
"...Shirou, you better not do anything too stupid, or else you will have far worse than just a Heretic God's wrath to deal with..."
I had no doubt in my mind he would survive, but at the same time, I also knew him a bit too well. He did tend to be a bit too reckless and stupid with his decisions at times, but he wasn't going to die here, of that I had absolute faith in. After all, if fragmenting his own being and scattering the remnants over all of existence itself could not kill him, if the Kyoto Disaster could not kill him, if the curses of All the World's Evils could not kill him, if the hellish flames of Fuyuki could not kill him, if taking a [Gae Bolg] to the heart could not kill him, if fighting Berserker toe-to-toe in a battle of pure brute physical strength could not kill him, if fighting Servants as a human could not kill him, if Gilgamesh could not kill him, if a literal Dark God of EVIL could not kill him, and if fighting both Gilgamesh and Angra Mainyu together could not kill him, then there was no way anything that [Sun Wukong] did to him would ever succeed in killing him.
All I had to do was wait for him to come back and keep his promise to all of us. Shirou never breaks his promises, because it's a part of his origin to never stray from his chosen path until he finishes what he seeks to do, after all…
...he is a sword…
Scene Change-Plutarch's Mansion in the Netherworld
Plutarch P.O.V.
And so, the threads of fate long since severed have begun to weave back together again, with the future that was once sought hindered has once more begun to start coming to fruition…
The Demon King of Chaos meeting and befriending three of his fellow Devil Kings…
The Empress of the Martial Realm finding herself humbled by the one whom she had insulted and who called her out on straying from her own path, while unknowingly giving her advice for an idea of something to try during her own training later…
The Companions of the three Asian Devil Kings meeting and befriending one another…
The American Devil King chasing after an enemy who threatened her territory and her cherished people under her protection, and encountering her Asian peers in a rather historic event unforeseen in all of recorded history…
The Gods plotting in the shadows for various reasons, both good or ill, all revolving around his return, both his long-lost relatives and divine love interests, as well as his enemies who wish him or those he cherishes harm…
And The King Who Appears at the End of Eras starting to stir from his self-imposed slumber from whence he does not wish to be awakened from...
...the tapestry of fate that was once thought destroyed beyond any repair has begun to repair itself with your return, and my role as it's temporary overseer shall soon finally come to an end, as the rightful owner of the [Records of Akasha] has returned. So then, how will you fare this time around, and will you finally succeed in what your ancestor sought to achieve so long ago by attempting to defy fate itself...This [Plutarch] most certainly wishes for you to fully awaken your lineage and awaits eagerly to finally be freed of his burden. I simply cannot wait, Emiya Shirou, Child of [Muramasa], Scion of [Masamune], and the Devil King of Wrought Iron who sits atop the Throne of Heroes…
...for the End of an Era is merely the beginning of a new age...and I eagerly await to see what you will usher into existence with your arrival and return to the world, my late master and I would most certainly wish you the best, and hope you find the happiness that was wrongly taken from you, and that the Heart of Glass once more fills with the emotions that was stripped away from you, when [Alaya] decided to try and steal your powers for herself...I look forward to the day I can finally be released from my charge, and meet my death finally…
...and I cannot help but wonder how my master would feel about how you turned out, as the last living descendant and heir of [Xiphos], what he would think of how you turned out, one living blade, to another...
A/N: AAAAaaannnd that's the chapter peeps. I know it may have been a bit short, but to all of you all waiting for the ac tion, the next chapter I release will have a bit of action to it, and I am going to make this one a five part instead of my planned four part, as I couldn't fit it all into only four chapters. Think of this one as the calm before the storm, so to speak, in the Monkey King Arc. Next time though, I will bring Annie Charlton, AKA John Pluto Smith into the fray. Also, to those of you all wondering, I made another reference to another fic here, called Fate: Xiphos by AkkhilesCosmos. And before anybody asks, the Xiphos in the title is spelled in Greek, but the story itself is in English. Also, how do you all like the reference I made about that my Shirou is Xiphos' descendant? Although he hasn't finished the fic yet, I felt it would probably be a good way to describe Shirou's lineage while also trying to create a bit of backstory for it. While used his idea for a God with a connection to Shirou, I have no intention of taking any credit for the original idea, it all goes to him. And look it up, its a good fic so far, even if it has only been around for three chapters.
Until next chapter, PEACE OUT!