A/N: Hey guys. This chapter took me a while to get out, but just so you all know, Venus finally starts to make her moves, and this ones a long one. Over 13.500 words this time around. And with 13,000 favs and over 14,000 follows, this fic is surprisingly popular...I must REALLY be doing something right. Not many review this time but enough for a quick Reviewer Review:

1.) That whole Dark Souls reference was actually entirely coincidental on my part. I have never played the game, nor have I ever owned the game. It was actually my reference to how Susanoo got Ama No Murakumo no Tsurugi by pulling it from the tail of the Ten-headed serpent Yamato no Orochi in myth and legend. In Fate, Muramasa's NP, Tsugumari Muramasa was said to e his attempt to produce an imitation of this very sword, a divine construct forged by mortal hands through sheer skill alone. That's a bit of a hint for just what this sword can do, but more than that, I will not say.

2.) The whole Shirou pranking Zelretch was actually a reference to a Fate/High School DxD fic called Draconian Fate Works. I found it was just too perfect a plot point to use, and it will have signifigance in the sequels I plan for this fic down the road after the epilogue chapter. As for Iri and Kiri's reactions to Shirou's harem and them now being grandparents...let's just say there will be a reason why I'll omit it for the foreseeable future...

And Now onto the disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own 'Campione!', 'Fate' or any other franchises referenced in this fic, as they are the respective properties of their respective owners, authors, and creators. This fic is an AU of Marcus Galen Sands' fic 'God Slaying Blade Works' with an emphasis on 'WHAT IF', the 'Harem Route' ending of Nua Realta, a meshing of canon lore in a manner that makes sense, and my own original ideas thrown into the mix, using references to other fics credited as used to the best of my abilities. This is a FREE FANFIC of a FANFIC, meaning an UNPAID FAN-MADE FICTION of a FAN-MADE FICTION. I make no money off of this, 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

Twenty-fifth Blade:Fleeting Peace and Sword's Usurpation

Emiya Manor-Shirou's Forge

Shirou P.O.V.

*Tunc!* *Tunc!* *Tunc!*

After having finished negotiations with the Committee's representative for my business arrangements I had wished to discuss, I was working the forge, trying to forge a new sword for my personal use and my personal use alone. The idea for this sword was something I saw within the [Unlimited Blade Works], but for some odd reason despite being visible for the most part, the blade was completely intangible and a conceptual armament where I could touch it within my reality marble, yet I could not trace it into existence without some physical weapon to serve as its actual form. It was then I had the theory, and I plan to test it later after I finish with this one sword…

*Tunc!* *Tunc!* *Tunc!*

After my initial trip to the Netherworld, I made a second and third trip, and each time I wound up coming back with a very valuable material for forging while searching for information on my heritage and my past...

*Tunc!* *Tunc!* *Tunc!*

The first time I found rare materials from the dragon I slew, in the form of Dragon bones, fangs, claws, and scales. These alone would have been invaluable crafting materials for any magus, but what I found within the runt of [Nidhogg]'s liter was also a metallic substance that apparently all dragons seem to develop within the base of their tails and in some parts of the rest of their bodies. This metallic substance was actually very useful for this personal project I had in the works for a while now, but couldn't find the materials to make it work until now, as this stuff was just what I needed for this particular sword to work…

*Tunc!* *Tunc!* *Tunc!*

The second time I found myself in the Netherworld, I wound up facing a pair of golems made of pure Mythril and Orichalcum respectively. It turned out that some mad magus apparently made the pair of golems but was left to wander the boundary between life and immortality for whatever reason; now that one instance was something I found interesting when I found out just what happened to that particular fool when I used [structural analysis] on the two. Turned out the guy had run afoul of one of the resident gods and that was the reason it created these two golems to protect himself, only for said magus to be killed by his own creations, as ironic as it was to learn. They were a bit tougher to deal with than the dragon, if only due to how hard the metals used to make them were, but they were invaluable materials to produce just what I was trying to craft...

*Tunc!* *Tunc!* *Tunc!*

The third time I just so happened to find myself facing a second Divine Beast in the form of a feral child of [Inukami] itself. This spawn of the Japanese Black Wolf Deity had apparently gone rabid from too much isolation to the Netherworld, and not enough contact with others. As a result, it became fiercely territorial to anything or anyone who trespassed upon its domain. A few quick merciful anti-beast and anti-divinity blades later, and I found myself with the very valuable materials in the form of a Divine Wolf pelt, fur, leather, fangs, and claws. I also kept its eyes and such, but not so much for me as for the girls; they'd find better uses for that than I would ever be able to…

*Tunc!* *Tunc!* *Tunc!*

Using the materials for each of these, I began to forge a physical weapon with the intention of making it a conceptual armament at the same time. This was simply an experiment on my part, trying to infuse an empty sword with the conceptual nature of a weapon within my reality marble, but unlike the other weapons I produced, this particular sword had no physical form of its own, therefore it should theoretically be easier for me to give it physical form to utilize it with. I also designed this blade to be a part of a pair with my Gem Sword…

*Tunc!* *Tunc!* *Tunc!* *FSHhhhhhh*

Having taken the time to make sure I got it right and very carefully worked with the materials I had obtained with my own hands, I began putting the finishing touches on my newest original work. I could not help but smirk a bit in wry amusement at what it turned out as. It was a sword with a rather unusual appearance with obvious Oriental and Occidental influences of both East and West. It was a blade the size of a buster sword, with the grip of a trench knife, but had the bladed edge of a knuckle knife around the grip on the guard. The blade itself was rather thick, with a single edge like a katana, and a two-handed handle like a European great-sword.

It was shaped with an obvious curve almost like a saber or scimitar, but with the size and weight of a buster sword, and had the same length as Kojiro Sasaki's [Monohoshi-Zao]. Its durability made it nigh unbreakable with the materials I used to forge it. Certainly it might not have lasted against a God with normal materials, but this sword was forged using both Mythril and Orichalcum, metal alloys of supernatural origin along with the parts of different Divine Beasts, so it wasn't going to break so easily with those two materials as their core metals, in addition to the bones, scales, and fangs of two Divine Beasts.

I had also taken to decorating it with practical use in mind over aesthetic or simply looking pretty. The embellishments were limited to the dark-green lines spread across the silvery white of the alloy I created using the Orichalcum and the Mythril to produce this new alloy that I was the only one in the world to currently possess or had the ability to produce. Wrapping the handle and sheathe with the treated black leather from the Divine Wolf I slew to obtain it from, I also took to lining both the blade's edge and the inside of the scabbard with the scales from [Nidhogg]'s runt and the fangs from [Inukami]'s child, giving the already sharp and strong blade an even keener edge that was somewhat serrated.

Aside from weapons or authorities specifically designed to harm them, the only thing that could harm dragons were weapons made with the parts from other dragons. And these scales I used to line the sheathe were stronger and thicker than the ones I used to line the blade, ensuring it wouldn't cut through the scabbard I made for it, in the form of a harness to hold the edge of the blade and the tip, but be flexible enough for quick draws as needed. I also forwent any enchantments other than the latent magical properties of the materials inherent from the forging process, which brought a wry grin to my face when I actually used the damned thing as I thought of the reaction of anybody receiving the business end of this monster of a blade.

When I designed my Gem Sword, I had the basic design of this weapon in mind as a pairing for my duel-wielding two-sword style. In a manner of speaking, its a gemstone version of this new weapon, but a combat-ready version of Zelretch's [Jeweled Sword] mystic code. I figured if one of these two would be used to help me with my sorcery, the other would be a bit different. Like Kojiro Sasaki's [Monohoshi-Zao], this new creation of mine is completely mundane, save for the materials used in its creation being of supernatural origin. There is a reason for this, especially considering what the name of this sword is going to be, and what it represents to me.

I smelted both metals into a special alloy that was only possible with my particular talents with mystical crafting, creating a unique alloy of pure, spiritually-infused Orichalcum-Mythril ingots. Due to my rather unique background, I can produce spiritually-infused ingots of much greater quality than anyone else could ever hope to duplicate. EMIYA had once come across a deranged blacksmith's wraith who was dabbling in forbidden practices to produce spiritually-infused ore sometime during a mission in life, but said final products all wound up being cursed as the result of using live human sacrifice to produce them. Taking the knowledge gleaned from his tools and process, but without the human sacrifice, I produced an even purer, untainted version of said ingots that only the existence that is 'Emiya Shirou' could ever produce, through the process of spiritual infusion to try and imbue this weapon with the conceptual weapon I saw within my inner world.

I am probably the only person in the world to even successfully attempt this. After all, I was born from the [nothingness] of the void, shaped into a [sword] by the sheathe [Avalon] acting as the mold, and given purpose through the borrowed ideals of a fool's impossible [dream]. Since the fire essentially stripped me of my origin, it was then replaced with 'nothingness', until my Old Man replaced it by implanting the sheathe [Avalon] inside me to save my life. By doing this, the [nothingness] of the void was given shape, changing both my element and my origin to [sword], but was still devoid of purpose, therefore still worthless and frail with how hollow and empty I was inside. That was where the [dream] I inherited from my Old Man came into play...speaking of my Old Man…

"I just finished up the majority of the work on my latest personal project. I'll be finished in a couple minutes Old Man." I spoke without turning my attention away from what I was doing. I didn't even need to turn to see who it was, so I just kept finishing up the wrappings and the assembly of the blade and accompanying sheathe itself. I designed it to have a similar disassembly method to a katana for easier maintenance. As I finished assembling the blade, the figure who approached stopped in the doorway before he spoke.

"I was just watching you work a bit Shirou. It still impresses me just how good you've gotten at working a forge in the five going on six years since I last saw you...though I still have a hard time wrapping my head around what you told me happened..." The one who spoke was none other than Emiya Kiritsugu, the Magus Killer, and the man I call my father. After my revenge pranking of Zelretch, I used the wedding rings he gave me for both my Old Man and his wife, Irisviel. I told the girls what I was doing, with both Aya and Reki curious as to what the man who raised me after the disaster which resulted in the boy they once knew being lost in a sea of flames and reborn as Emiya Shirou.

When I recalled their souls, they were a bit surprised at first by the changes, in addition to both my and Illya's appearances. When we explained the situation to them, it took them a bit to process it, but a letter left for them from Zelretch inside the box along with their wedding rings to the both of them telling them it was true got them to accept what we said as the situation, but wrapping their heads around the fact they've been dead for nearly six years for my Old Man and eleven for Irisviel was something they were still trying to readjust to...though Iri's response to the fact she was going to be a grandmother was rather...interesting...to say the least...I'd heard of being baby-crazy, but she was Grand-baby-crazy, especially given how she reacted to finding out just how ludicrously popular I was with women...as for my Old Man, he was rather...I don't even want to think about his reaction to my and Illya's relationship…

...the look on his face was beyond description with mere words alone...

"I know how you feel, Old Man...If somebody told me about a year ago that I would become a King of the Moonlit World with a harem of beautiful women and several children on the way, I'd have checked the guy into the nearest insane asylum's mental ward and had him thrown into a rubber room..." I responded while my Old Man gave me a rather wry grin at my comment. While he might have mellowed out a bit as a result of his curse and how he died, he was still the Magus Killer, and was giving a few pointers to the Dragoons who had come to Japan for the formation of the new mages association I had begun to create. "Also, I need to send word to the Committee about sending representatives who are obviously under the weather to negotiate. I sure hope that Koizumi-san feels better soon..."

My Old Man simply looks at me like I was an idiot for that, but I simply chalk it up to me not noticing something due to my lack of social skills, before he shakes his head and tells me something that makes me sweat bullets in sheer cold terror of what he just told me…

"...you better get to the kitchen soon Shirou. Iri was wanting to cook something..."

I suddenly stop what I was doing, put the newly finished sword down, as I ran out of the forge and into the house proper, not caring at all about appearances. I found out the hard way from the last time Iri set foot in the kitchen that she was actually a horrible cook. I don't know what she did wrong, but she was just as bad as Fuji-nee in the kitchen, if not worse...I honestly do not even remember what in the Root's name that abomination she fed me was, but whatever Fuji-nee made, she obviously learned how to cook it from Iri, as the taste and way they caused my mind to forcefully forget the experience altogether was exactly the same. I flat out banned Iri from ever setting foot in my kitchen ever again afterwards. Though that doesn't stop her from trying to sneak into the kitchen when she doesn't think I'll catch her...

I didn't even wait for my Old Man. The second I heard the words 'Iri', 'kitchen', and 'cooking' come out of his mouth, I had to intervene. Running into the kitchen, I caught the perpetrator of the crimes against all things culinary trying to get the oven to turn on by messing with the stove top. Keyword being 'tried'…

"What do you think you're doing, Iri?"

...only to freeze as a cold sweat broke out over her forehead and began to sweat bullets as she knew she was caught. The last time she tried to cook, I flat-out banned her from ever being in charge of cooking ever again.

Not even waiting for her futile attempt to answer me, I grabbed her by the wrist, dragged her out of the kitchen while I turned off the oven and the stove. I was not going to let anything she did within my sanctuary to allow her to ruin my kitchen. For the next two hours, I subjected Iri to a lecture on how the kitchen was a sacred place, holier than holy for any household, even more so than a magus' workshop, and she very nearly ruined mine the last time she tried to make the aberration that she called cooking.

A few hours later

Godou P.O.V.

It was late at night, and the Kusanagi household was just about to fall into the peaceful embrace of sleep…

Bang Bang Bang

Ding-dong Ding-dong Ding-dong

...at least until somebody began to bang on the front door while simultaneously ringing the door bell. Groaning as I dragged himself out of bed, it took me about a couple of minutes to finally get to the door to figure out just what the fire was…

"King Kusanagi, an unknown Heretic God has suddenly descended! We don't know which one it is, but they're not showing any regard for using their Authorities indiscriminately! People are suddenly falling ill left and right for no reason, and fires are breaking out from its presence! We need your help to slay it, I implore you!"

Any traces of sleep were ran out of my brain as adrenaline suddenly shot through me faster than a god moving at godspeed. "I'll be right there! Just let me get dressed first!" Running back into my room, I began to get dressed, as Shizuka suddenly appeared behind me in a drowsy mental state and asked a question.

"Onii-chan...who was it?"

"Shizuka, I need you to go back to bed. It's about that job."

My little sister suddenly woke right up at that. She knew I didn't like talking about the work I do as a God-slayer, and its something she picked up on after training with Emiya-san. She turned around and came right out of her room a few minutes later fully dressed and wearing what could only be called a combat suit...okay, I'll bite… "Where did you get that outfit, Shizuka?!"

"I got it from Illya-senpai. She and Emiya-senpai made it for me with my magic in mind. It has the materials to make any mystic traps I might need on me. I know I might not be able to deal with the god in question like you can, but at the very least I can help you keep innocents out of harms way."

"Shizuka, no. Not tonight. You aren't trained in combat, so you won't be of much help in this situation. And I am not letting you get anywhere near this case. This God is making fires and spreading diseases just from its presence alone. You are not coming."

Before she could argue, I walked up to her and broke a certain trap she had and triggered it, causing her to fall asleep from the gas it unleashed knocking her out. Putting her back into her room real quick and tying her to her bed to ensure she doesn't get out again tonight, I rush back out to the car waiting outside.

"How far are the girls? Have you contacted them?" While I hate dragging my girls into this, I also know they make up a core part of my strength, and as loathe as I am to admit this, their help will be needed for this fight…

"We have contacted them and began having cars find and bring them to the scene right now. The Committee has it contained for now, but we need to deal with this god and soon..."

Getting into the car, I just hope we can deal with this soon before too many people get hurt…

Persephone P.O.V.

I could not help but grin at the sight. My plan was actually beginning to finally go right for a change. The God-slayer believes that [Apollo] has manifested for a while, but in truth he hasn't actually appeared yet. The agents of the Committee currently there are all actually being controlled by me at the moment. In fact, that was the only reason this God-slayer hasn't caught on yet; the Children of Pandora have an uncanny sense for hostile intent. While this Kusanagi Godou hasn't shone much of that talent, it would be better safe than sorry.

It's the other God-slayer we were targeting that made it more difficult to plan this out without going awry. Emiya Shirou somehow had developed some means to detect Gods as they manifest. It was simply theory at first, before I scryed into his home and discovered the artifact one of his lovers created. The talent needed to make something like it was most certainly impressive for one so young to achieve, but that made the situation that much harder to plan around.

So the solution we came up with was simple, yet effective: take control of a few of the mortal mages who work for the Devil Kings of this land and have them bring King Kusanagi to the place where [Apollo] will begin drawing their attention first. He will believe the god he was called upon to battle had been there for a while, when in truth my ally will only actually unleashing his authorities about a minute or two before the God-slayer gets there. This will ensure that it is only Kusanagi Godou who battles [Apollo], and not Emiya Shirou.

Smiling at the way my plans are finally going right for once, I begin to make my way to the location where I am to meet up with my other allies once their part of the plan is finally completed...yet why is it that something about this King Emiya seems to attract my attention so…

Scene Change-Emiya Manor

Shirou P.O.V.

The Emiya Manor was interrupted from the sweet, peaceful embrace of Morpheus as a massive alarm like a shrill bell began to suddenly ring throughout the estate, waking the whole household in the process. My reaction was by far the most extreme, as I actually shot out of my bed in a battle-ready stance and a sword traced into existence before all the cylinders in my brain finally started firing up properly and I realized just what the alarm was for.

When Illya designed her Mini-Atlas Guide, she created it to react differently based on the amount of Prana, or its divine equivalent, based upon whether or not the god in question was trying to sneak around or using its Authorities. Based on the way this reaction was, this was one god who wasn't being subtle at all...it was trying to get found by anyone willing to battle it…

After realizing the situation, I began to get dressed, donning my new combat attire of black pants, black steel-toed boots, white shirt, and blue jacket. I also put on my newly recreated and improved version of the body armor Archer had worn. While still not quite there yet, it was closer than I was before, and it would be a bit stronger than the last one which was trashed by my battle with [Mordred].

"Shirou/My King!" I turned around only to see Arturia, Reki, and my Old Man rushing to my room o figure out what was up. Ilya then appeared not fr behind them, but was wearing her bright pink pajamas and a Pikachu hat that she had taken to wearing to bed. When the others turned to look at her, she had been somewhat out of breathe as she answered the unasked question on all our minds…

"Shirou...its...the station...the god's...there...right now..."

...oh shit...I had noticed that one of the places where the Mini-Atlas Guide had glitched at was the location of the local train station. Supposedly it was the subject of a terrorist attack, but the anomalies in the incident stuck out in my mind and I decided to label that station under my 'to watch' list. Turns out I was right to do so now…

"...okay, Reki, Old Man, you two get ready to move out. While I deal with the god that's descended, you all try to help anybody who's been caught up in the area of its influence. As for you, Illya...you might want to get dressed if you coming along too..."

Reki and my Old Man nodded a bit in understanding, while Illya let out a bit of a squeak of embarrassment at being caught in such attire, though given how she ran all the way to both her mystic code and then here, it was understandable how she seemed like she was out of breathe after having run a marathon…

"Shirou...are you sure about bringing Illya along for this?" my Old Man asked me in concern for Illya's well-being as well as my own. He was already told about my circumstances and how I was one of the only ones in this world able to deal with Heretic Gods causing trouble upon their descent into the mortal plane. But just because he was made aware of it and logically understood it, that didn't mean that as a person he had to like it.

"I am. In case you didn't know Old Man, Illya actually helped out a lot the last time I had to deal with a Heretic God by assisting Godou-san and helping out with the Divine Beasts during the Saitenguu Incident. She won't be fighting; that's my and Godou-san's job. The rest of you all are simply to support us and get the innocent bystanders who got caught up in the situation out of there and to safety."

"My King is right, Kiritsugu. The Committee would erase the memories of the surviving victims and alter them in a manner to make sense while protecting their lives at the same time. They exist for the sake of protecting the mundane masses of Japan from the supernatural while simultaneously keeping their existence a secret from them. But they can only deal with the damage control or mitigate the God's by redirecting them elsewhere before they cause too much damage; they can't actually do anything about the gods in question. That's where the Devil Kings like King Kusanagi and your son come into the picture."

My Old Man definitely didn't like it from his face, but understood that me and Godou-san's powers were needed for these kinds of situations. After taking a few minutes to grab their respective gear, Illya, Reki, my Old Man and I all boarded the [Vimana] and took off right for the scene of the latest god's appearance...but something about this doesn't sit right with me...it just screams ambush, and they obviously had planned this out...as Archer knew best from experience, nothing is worse to face as an enemy than a prepared enemy with the time to get ready for you beforehand…

Scene Change

Apollo P.O.V.

I gazed around at the various mortals around me as I took in my handiwork, taking great pleasure in the chaos bound to draw the attention of the resident bastard child of the cursed with. This was good; very, very good. Just as I had intended from the start with this action, and according to the plan laid out by my allies for now.

All about me was absolute and utter chaos. In one place, the mortal men and women there are downed by their bodies being wracked by countless diseases, dropping them from the pain or ailments caused resulting in them suffering weakness or illness inflicted upon them by my Authority. Elsewhere, the mortals there are writhing upon the ground, groveling as visions within their minds are seared into their memories of future events, causing them great agony and driving them insane. And scattered amongst these individuals are the mortals who simply sit still, completely entranced by a tune within their minds that only they can hear beyond ay mortal's ability to perform.

As all this is going on, there is not an ounce of darkness, without any lights on yet being as bright as the midday despite not being daytime and being the time for my sister [Artemis]' time to reign supreme. Such is my power as the Greek God of the Sun, Music, and Poetry. This domain is where the mortals shall pay tribute to my presence for the time being, before having to move elsewhere.

Yes, this is how it should be so, as the proper hierarchy stands. The Gods stand above mortals, so these humans should simply bask in our presence and be at our beck and call, such is the proper way of the law of nature. Yet even so, there are the aberrations known as the bastard children of Pandora, that cursed witch's defying of the natural order. It was merely a bastard child of Pandora who slew me so long ago, despite being barely more than a child at the time to become one of the accursed Devil Kings at the time, the humiliation of my defeat at mine slayer's hands being oh so infuriating.

It was only out of repaying the debt I owe these temporary allies of mine that I agreed to even help them out, so long as they aid me in slaying my slayer in retribution for his humiliation of me. Once this is over and done with, I plan to go and deal with the brat as I planned to do from the beginning.

"Lord [Apollo]." I turned my attention to the one who appeared next to me, and felt a twinge of desire not born of mine desire for battle before squashing it down mercilessly. It would do no good for me to let myself be taken by my fellow Greek God's Authority now. Turning to look at her, I notice that [Aphrodite] is currently hiding her divine aura and assuming a mortal appearance for her part of the plan to come. She certainly picked a mortal form with poor taste in mind, given she assumed a form similar to that of her original incarnation.

"King Kusanagi is almost here. I'll get into my place soon. How do you plan to greet him?"

I smiled a cold, cruel smile at that. Oh, I have a very good idea on how to 'greet' this bastard of Epimethius…

Godou P.O.V.

Okay, I knew something about this situation wasn't right as I walked into the station. I've seen what happens with gods appearing in the past, yet something about this screamed different, and not in a good way. Every time I ever met a god in the past, there was always this feeling of not caring about the mortal lives who called the area they appeared in at all, but this...I had seen [Verethragna] and [Melqart] not care about them at all. In [Verethragna]'s case, he simply wanted a good fight with a worthy opponent and the humans who got caught up in it were of no consequence so long as he got what he wanted. [Melqart] simply wanted to return the land which was his domain by sinking them back under the waters themselves. As for [Athena], she was a danger simply by her presence causing her to radiate darkness and death just by being there. Even [Sun Wukong] merely let out his Authority over a wide area, but that was simply to turn the humans into monkeys so he would have subjects to rule over, but this...this was different…

This was clear in intent. Whoever this God was, they were deliberately causing the humans who lived here harm, actively going out of its way to do it. The people who were still here were being subjected to horrible illness or insanity by this god's power, and it made me angry. The rage within me at this blatant lack of regard made me recall the words that Miss Bazett once said about deities: The Gods are fucking jerks. I now know the truth in that statement, as I am seeing firsthand just how right she was. Though I only wish it wasn't so true…

"Welcome, bastard child of the cursed witch."

I immediately noticed the enemy in question before me, as I knew this was no mortal man. The aura of superiority this man gave off, along with the supernatural presence this guy gave off was beyond anything a human could ever hope to radiate. The fact he was dressed in an outfit right out of the ancient Greek's armory was also a rather big indicator.

"Are you the one causing all this trouble?" I asked the god before me, knowing full well the answer but felt the need to ask anyway. What I heard next caused me to feel a mix of emotions…

"Indeed, I am the Great God [Apollo], and I have come to this land to vanquish you Devil King!"

That caused me to feel both elation of hope and the crushing despair in an instant upon hearing his true name. I knew that god, as I had already bested his authority before when I severed Voban's authority which he became a Campione by slaying this very god before me. Yet said hope was quickly crushed as I realized that all though I knew this god and even recreated the [Golden Sword] to severe his authority in the past, I had already forgotten about the knowledge itself. Since it was imparted upon me through magic, the knowledge had faded with time, so even if I know this god, I still can no longer use that trump card as its knowledge has long slipped away from me.

In other words, this is going to be a rough battle...

Before I could think any further, the god in question drew the bow from his back and proceeded to pull the string as he notched an arrow trained upon me. "There is no further need for talk boy. When a snake and a mongoose meet, it is inevitable for the two to fight to the death, just as is the case with the gods and the killers of gods. When we meet, only one of us can survive the encounter."

"That is the reasoning of some stone age sav-WHOA!"

I didn't even get to finish the statement I was trying to make. It would seem as though this god wasn't interested in letting me try to even reason with him or let me speak logically. Then again, gods tended to not follow human logic at all, but this one didn't seem all too willing to talk from the get go. As I dodged the arrow he let fly, I heard the sound of cracking from the wall right behind where I was standing just a moment before. As I chanced a look, I saw that the whole wall directly behind where I was standing crumbled down to the floor.

Okay, now I know I do NOT want to get hit by one of those arrows. Getting hit was a BAD idea. I needed to find a way to counterattack before-

I just barely managed to dodge the second arrow swishing past me, coming just barely past the end of my nose, missing me barely by an inch, before having to roll out of the way to avoid the avalanche that was the wall right next to me. As I glanced at the wall, I instantly knew I could not stay in place for too long and before my mind even had a chance to decide, my body began to instinctively move and dodge the volley of arrows that [Apollo] began to fire at me. I knew this was going to be a hard fight, but this was getting ridiculous…

"Hmmph, I see that you devils still don't die so gracefully nor so easily." The godly archer commented as he notched a third arrow onto his bow. "Had you been a true mortal and not the aberration to the natural order as you are, then you would have never seen the shot coming, much less avoided it. The cursed fate of your ilk still seems strong, I see."

As I began to dodge and run around to avoid being an easy target, I ran through my options. Counterattack, I needed to counterattack. Thinking very carefully about my options, the Authorities I could currently use against him were the [Bull], the [Raptor], the [White Stallion], and [Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi]. I can't use the power of the [White Stallion] here right now, as it would bring the building down around me with everyone still inside being buried alive along with me, and that wouldn't be enough to kill a God. I can't use the [Ram] either, not since it would drain the life-force of the already hurt innocents caught up in this gods arrival. And while the sword-god is by far my most versatile Authority, I would rather wait to use it by saving it and the [Raptor] as a pair of trump cards for later in this fight. Which means…

"As the one who holds all victory in my hands, I am the strongest. Man and devil, all enemies, all who harbor enmity will be vanquished. Hence I shall smash through all enemies in my way!"

...since [Apollo] is obviously far stronger than a normal human, he is the perfect candidate for using the physically strengthening power of the [Bull] Authority. After calling upon this Authority, I begin to feel its power suffuse my being, my skin strengthening to the point it could tear through walls of solid concrete like rice paper. As I kept moving, I noticed there was a little cafe stand behind me, separated from the god solely by my body between the two. This gave me an idea…

Grabbing two of the circular tables that were laid out in front of it, I proceeded to throw them at the god like a pair of Frisbee. The God was apparently not surprised by this, but was shockingly enough caught off-guard by the second one hitting his side. While this would have been enough to incapacitate a mortal opponent, for a God like [Apollo], this was merely an annoying hindrance for no more than a few seconds. But in those few seconds, his aimed bow and notched arrow were now out of alignment.

Not wasting the opportunity granted, I rushed him fully intent to take advantage of this few second window. However I did not expect him to manage to get his arrow back into place and proceed to start firing it right at me so fast. It was only a fraction of a second, but I was too slow by a fraction of a second, and that was enough. Suddenly the world itself seemed to slow to a crawl as the adrenaline rushed through me in a surge of seemingly time-slowing perception as I entered a state of hyper-awareness in response to the threat.

I didn't even have time to think. It was only a fraction of a second, but my instincts saved my life. Had I tried to think, I would have died wasting that faction of a second to dodge whereas my instincts made my body move before my mind realized the correct course of action. In that split second, the [Raptor] activated, boosting my perceptions of the world and giving my body the chance to keep up with my mind's perception of the threat before me. I saw the arrow radiating a small concentrated flame of divine power. I saw the minuscule twitch of his arm's muscles as they began to release the arrow, before I dodged the arrow and moved several feet out of the way...only to wind up on the ground from the explosion caused by the fired arrow's impact upon the small cafe.

Internally I began to groan at the sheer absurdity of the power behind his arrows. [Apollo]'s arrows might not be very large, but the sheer force and power behind them was something I knew was going to be a handful to deal with. If this battle kept up, then he was going to bring the whole damn building down around us, and the people here would end up buried alive regardless pf whether or not I was the one responsible. I suddenly smelt the smoke, and a quick glance around confirmed my fears. Groaning internally at the situation, I realized the building was now beginning to catch fire from that last explosion caused by that last arrow from [Apollo]'s bow.

"It would seem you are rather quick on your feet, Bastard of Epimethius. Perhaps I should employ upon some aid for this fight in order to run you down." The shadow beneath [Apollo] began to stretch and writhe as if it were alive and its own living thing, before a pack of divine wolves suddenly popped out. I couldn't help but mentally groan and berate myself for forgetting this. Of course he would have this power, it was the same Authority that Voban first used against me, as it was the Authority he gained when he first obtained his Campione status. So it was only natural for this guy to have it, as he was also [Phoebos] as well, as it was his original identity...

My nose began to prick at the scent of smoke as I looked around and saw that small fire that was started by his last attack had begun to quickly spread into massive building fire...just great...I just cannot catch a break here, can I...I need to draw this guy away from here somehow and fight him elsewhere, in a deserted place where nobody is around to get hurt…

Shirou P.O.V.

After landing at the location where the god was detected, I noticed there was a large number of magus from the Committee already here, which caused a few things to stick out to me. As far as I was concerned, the Committee didn't have a way to detect gods that manifest, but then again, the reason why they took so long to respond during the Saitenguu Incident was probably due to them being too far away from their 'main office' so to speak. Even so, this response time was rather odd in how fast they got here.

When the [Vimana] landed, I jumped to the ground followed by Reki, Illya, and my Old Man as they followed me to the nearest Committee agent trying to direct the others into containing the situation as best they could. 'What's the situation?" I asked the senior member directing the others. It was a portly man of seeming middle-years and a balding head of hair. He turned to me and immediately complied with my question., but before he could answer me, a surprise voice came from the side.

"King Emiya?"

I turned and saw that both Blandelli-san and Kranjar-san had stepped out of a car and began to approach the situation. If they were here, then that meant… "...Godou-san's in there fighting with the Heretic God behind all this, isn't he?" I asked the Committee agent in charge, and he simply nodded sheepishly at my obvious question. While I was getting the situation explained to me, I found my worries only compounded by what they told me. Supposedly this god was causing trouble for a short while now, but Godou-san only arrived a few minutes ago before I had.

"Do we know which god it is?" I asked, hoping to at least get an idea as to what we were dealing with.

"Yes, the God in question called itself [Apollo], but we're having problems getting the remaining civilians out of the building. Originally, there were about two hundred people inside the building, but we managed to get about half of them out, though they were suffering from crippling weakness or illness caused by the deity in question. The problem was after King Kusanagi began to battle with [Apollo] a fire broke out, so now we can't get to the rest of the civilians trapped in the building."

Hmm, this could be troublesome...turning to Blandelli-san and Kranjar-san, I asked them what was an obvious question, as I ran through my options of what to do and how to proceed. "So, are you two going to go and help Godou-san?"

"Of course, King Emiya. Wherever Godou goes, I will not be far behind." The Diavollo Rosso boldly and proudly proclaims, her voice and posture both full of confidence and determination. "It's only natural that wherever he goes, I'll be right there next to him to offer him all I can."

"Indeed, it is only proper for a knight to stand at the side of their lord, King Emiya." Kranjar-san answered my rather redundant question, and I couldn't help but grin in response. Godou-san really had taken to making his girls a part of his strength, and he recognized this fact. While I knew Godou-san was by no measure weak on his on, his full power required his followers to be by his side to bring it out, and his full potential along with it.

"Very well, I'll stand aside and lend aid to the Committee's efforts to try and get the civilians out, though I'm beginning to feel somewhat unneccess-" The rest of my comment was cut off as a huge explosion suddenly blew a hole in the side roof of the building along the top of the building.

"...maybe you girls had better go aid your King before Godou-san ends up accidentally leveling the whole building..."

They immediately nodded in acknowledgment of my statement before running off to do just that. As they ran off, I looked to the building itself and approached a few of the Committee agents trying to get into the building. Reki and my Old Man were both aiding the representatives in their attempts to give medical treatment to the victims they've pulled out, but couldn't get back into the building in order to pull any more people out.

"What's the situation over here?"

"King Emiya, we were trying to pull anybody we found within the building out to safety, but the fires breaking out are preventing us from getting back in or from reaching anyone else. The God in question must have a strong affinity for fire, as neither mystical or mundane means are able to put them out. We can't reach them in time at this rate."

The man's response causes me to frown at that. It's clear they have been trying and are still trying to put the fire out enough to get back in there, but aren't having any success at all. Now, what to do...I have a few Noble Phantasms that could probably put the fire out, but rescuing the people trapped would be far too difficult for just me to do myself. If I used [Lord of the Dead] to summon souls capable of traversing the flames, that would get them to the trapped innocents, but they would not be able to safely bring them through said flames uninjured...so then how…

"Clad in the steel of heroes of ages past, I hereby don my Regalia of Champions. Though who arbitrates law and order unbiased and without prejudice, take command of thine forces and marshal thee Iron Legion to heed mine call, to arms!"

As if the words themselves caused something within me to shift into place, the spell words for the Authority allowed me to take a new armor, and a new form, but this armor didn't so much as boost my abilities, as it gave armor not only to me, but a matching mantle to those here along with me from the Committee. Just like the last time I used this Authority for that time I used the [Caster Regalia], my outfit began to morph into a new attire, but one that was armored with my clothes taking shape into the form of metal plate-mail and a cloth tunic and cape. The [Shroud of Martin] on my left arm merged into the cape this regalia bore, just like the last time, but this time, it wasn't a lightly armored mage, but a medium-armored commander it transformed into.

The outfit in question was a silvery metal medium plate-mail, with chain mail in the joints, and a crown made of wrought iron in the shape of blades encircling my head in the form of a circlet like a gear with blades and swords pointing upwards and downwards in an alternating pattern within the notches of the circlet. From the crown of swords my face was then encased within an enclosed helm protecting my head, yet seemingly giving me a 360 degree view of the world around me. The clothe of the cape also wrapped my body, morphing the [Shroud of Martin] into its design, just like with the [Caster Regalia]. The armored boots I wore were the same silvery color as the rest of my attire, but the chain mail was black, with the cape and clothe covering the armor like a tunic bearing the white, blue, and red of my jacket, shirt, and the holy shroud that adorned my left arm.

In my hands I held a spear that appeared in the form of a battle standard with a bladed spearhead at the end, with the flag in question having my symbol on it, a sword stabbed into an anvil encircled by a gear, and on my hips appeared a pair of one-handed short swords, black for the left and white for the right. As I activated this aspect of my Authority, [Regalia of Champions], I instantly recognized just which armor this was from the statues on the hill of swords within my reality marble. This was my [Ruler Regalia], the Mantle of the Just Arbitrator, and unlike my [Caster Regalia], its strength lied in commanding and enhancing my followers and subordinates abilities, not my own strength or power.

The Committee agents were all suddenly decked out in matching armors to my own, but ones that enhanced their predominate traits. Some were light armor, while others were plate-mail. Some were simply plain while others ornately decorated. I could also sense everything they sensed as if I was seeing it myself, and the armors seemed to give them enhanced magical capabilities, or superhuman physical ability and endurance to others. Other than enhancing their strengths, giving me the enhanced senses, and expanding my perceptions to their point of view, I was entirely unchanged or unaffected. After all, this Authority wasn't for enhancing myself, but rather for strengthening my followers by enhancing their skill sets while letting me sense their environment surrounding them. Despite their various differences in both design and appearance, each armor had one common theme. They were all the same shade of dull steel gray, like the color of wrought iron.

"Shirou/My King?" I turned to look at my family only to blink in surprise at what I saw. Apparently, this Authority saw those I called my family as subject to its protection as well, but recognized them as those I put slightly above others in my desire to ensure their safety, as their armors were unique and showed them to be above the rest of the magus from the Committee agents present...

For Illya, she was donning a light armor similar to my [Caster Regalia] that accented her skills as a magus, but in her colors. Coupled with her pure white hair and blood-red eyes, the pale blue and light lavender colors of her armor reinforced her appearance as that of a snow fairy...

For Reki, he was wearing a light armor with pieces of medium plate-mail here and there with leather and chain mail between the joints for extra protection without sacrificing mobility, with his weapons case strapped to his back in an all-black ensemble. All in all, it basically looked like a plate-mail version of his Dragoon Battle Uniform...

Herakles was sporting a new armor that resembled a fully armored version of his [Berserker] Servant attire back during the [Fifth Holy Grail War], but with modifications to allow him the use of his bow, with a combination of his [Archer] Servant attire thrown into the mix. It most certainly covered his face and torso with what could be called a steel lions pelt, but it wasn't the Nemean Lion's pelt he wore in his [Archer] form, and had obvious metal vambraces around his wrists and ankles, but with nothing between the metal bands covering his body almost like a series of metal shackles, reflecting his nature as a maddened warrior...

As for my Old Man, he suddenly sported an attire that looked like an [Assassin] version of Archer EMIYA's usual black-and-silver body armor and holy shroud combo, but with his face hidden by a mask and goggles and his firearms, explosives, and combat knives strapped to his person on his back, thighs, chest, and hips respectively. It even had a similar color scheme to the red-clad bowman's own look, and for some odd reason, I felt a flash of memory from Archer's integrated memories of a certain fellow Counter-Guardian of the Assassin class with the exact same ensemble for a brief moment...

Shaking my head to clear the surprise, I decided to delegate what we needed to do right now. Since we didn't need all of us here to deal with the fire and save the survivors trapped within, I made a decision. I felt uneasy about this situation, as the enemy had obviously planned to attack here ahead of time and chose this location beforehand, I gave my instructions. "Reki, Old Man, I want you two to go and help Godou-san out. You two specialize in long to mid-range combat, while Godou-san and his girls don't have anybody who can do that very well, if at all. The rest of us will try to rescue everybody else who has been trapped inside the building."

Reki, Illya, and Herakles understood my intentions instantly, but my Old Man decided to ask a question that obviously bugged him. "Shirou, why don't you help him while we deal with this?"

I just shook my head as I answered. "Because Old Man, there's an unspoken rule that says Devil Kings cannot directly interfere with or aid a fellow King's battle unless they are requested to do so. Besides, this fight is different from all of his previous fights. All the prior gods Godou-san fought at least had some sense of honor, and had little to no care for the humans caught up in their battles. This one deliberately went out of its way to hurt humans. Go help him Old Man. He's somebody who's a bit like I was when you first found me and was still learning about the dangers of the Moonlit World."

Any further arguments were immediately shelved, as my Old Man nodded in comprehending understanding of my reasons and turned to run alongside Reki to aid Godou-san. Turning to the burning building before me, I decided to forgo the front door as it had been inaccessible due to the divine flames beginning to spring up there. Instead I walked up to the wall about fifteen feet away from the front entrance to the building and motioned for Illya, Herc, and some members of the Committee to follow me while the rest rushed into the building from the main entrance after both Reki and my Old Man.

"Herc, minding helping me with opening up this wall here as carefully as you can? Try to remove this section of the wall without bringing the building down after I cut a section of it out." Herakles simply nodded as I took the spear in my hands and cleaved through the wall, cutting cleanly through the wall in a manner to create an impromptu doorway for three fully grown men to walk side-by-side through while still having a bit of room to spare. I made sure to use [Structural Analysis] beforehand to make sure I didn't hit any support beams or load-bearing sections of the wall before I opened it up. Herc then grabbed the wall and pulled it out carefully while setting it down on the ground. Now with the opening granting entrance to the building without the flames impeding them too much, we can begin rescue operations. The only question is-

*BOOOM* *CRASH*

"...looks like we don't have to worry about the god anymore..." Illya could not help but comment and I felt the sheer incredulity of the situation was enough to make me chuckle in bitter amusement, if the situation wasn't so serious...

As I was beginning to walk through I saw Godou-san and the god in question flying out a window as it exploded around them, running away from the building like a pair of hyper-sonic cannon balls in the direction of an abandoned park some distance away, with Kranjar-san, Blandelli-san, Reki, and my Old Man following behind not long afterwards, but it would still take them a bit to get to him. I only hope my bad feeling about this whole thing turns out to be me just being paranoid, but something tells me my E-rank luck isn't going to be helping me this time in the slightest. If it wasn't for the shout of help from the Committee agent inside as a section of the roof caved in, I would have probably saw no need to stick around...even though he should still be fine, Godou-san was used to fighting heretic gods, but something about this doesn't feel right, and it's making me anxious…

I can only hope I'm just being paranoid, but something tells me there's something more going on here than I am aware of...

Scene Change

Godou P.O.V.

This fight was not going very well for me, but it finally started to turn itself around about a few minutes ago. When [Apollo] begun to summon the wolves and attacked me using his arrows, it started to get real dicey for me. If things didn't change and fast, I wasn't going to make it out of this one. It was then at that moment that the wolves were cut down by both Erica and Liliana's swordplay, and [Apollo]'s arrows were thrown off by a barrage of gunfire from a few different barrels, accompanied by the unusual spell words I had never heard before in a surprisingly monotone voice...

"Time Alter: Accel"

And a barrage of bullets fired from both a sawed-off shotgun and a pistol unloaded upon the group of divine wolves with a speed of which would have given a machine gun reason to turn green in envy as spent shells and bullet casings flew about him and landed on the ground around him in a shower from how fast he was firing them. Chancing a quick glance, I noticed it was what looked like an armored Dragoon, with another guy in a goggled mask wearing a suit of light armor that just screamed assassin with the way he moved and the air he carried himself with after unleashing that barrage of death and hail of bullets...

"Kusanagi Godou? My son Shirou sends his regards. Reki and I are here to help, while he works to evacuates the people still trapped inside the building." The 'assassin' looking guy says while firing off rounds at the divine wolves, mowing them down with mechanical precision and experienced ease, as though this was nothing new to him. While his attire screamed killer-for-hire, his actions showed he was somebody willing to help those in need...I believe Emiya-san once referred to guys like him as an 'anti-hero' once, but I can't quite recall when he did...

Emiya-san pretty much was aware of the unspoken rules of not directly interfering with his fellow King's battles without being requested to do so, and it seems he decided on a little indirect help in the form of sending somebody to give me a helping hand. I couldn't help but feel a slight surge of gratefulness to Emiya-san for thi-wait, he said his 'son' sent them to help me out, so then is this guy- "Don't take your attention from me, bastard child of Epimetius!"

I just barely dodged the next couple of arrows this guy fired, only to have it just barely deflected by Mr. Emiya and Reki's gunfire. This was getting too dangerous. Using the [Raptor] gave me the speed I needed to keep up with this guy for now, but eventually the pain would force me to stop using it and be unable to move for a short while as I rested. They were keeping his attacks just barely from hitting me, but we needed to take this someplace else before the building came down on top of all of us…

Taking a quick glance around as I spun to dodge his next arrow, I spotted a window to the right of my current position, just behind the Greek God before me, and a certain park through it in the distance...that's perfect; just what I needed right now…

Turning and running towards the window in question at godspeed, I dashed through it, with the god being tackled by me like an American footballer slamming into an unprepared player as I made a mad dash towards the lone surviving window on this floor, if not the entire building. Had the God been prepared, then he wouldn't have been caught off guard like this. But thanks to Erica and Liliana dealing with the wolves by using Erica's iron alchemy and Liliana's bow impaling them and creating a path for me, I had a direct way to the god in question. Normally, he'd have skewered me before I could get to him, but thanks to both Reki-san and Mr. Emiya blinding and interrupting his stance with exploding bullets and concussion grenades, I made it to the God and grabbed him no problem. While they might not have been much in the scheme of things and not been more than a nuisance for gods in general, they knew what they were doing, and this chance they gave me by giving me this opening let me send both the God and myself flying through the window and right to the empty park in the distance as I grit my teeth in preparation for the incoming pain I knew was coming from the rough landing using the Greek God's body as a cushion for the impact to myself.

While I was being driven to the site of the god's appearance, I made a mental note of this particular park as a potential spot to battle in the event I needed to relocate the fight elsewhere. Nobody would be there at this time of night, and there shouldn't be anybody to get dragged into the fight to force me into restricting myself in order to avoid hurting them. This park was closed right now, which made it perfect for me to chose to send us both to, and I made a mental note of its general direction as I arrived and as I fought the entire time.

"You..." Oh, right. Now wasn't the time to focus on anything else but the very angry god before me who wished to fight and kill me right now. "You...How dare you?! How dare you treat me in this manner?! You will pay for this insult you...you bastard son of a traitorous witch, I will have your head on a plate for this!"

I instantly began to dodge three golden arrows from the deity's bow fired at me in raid succession. I then began to dodge running back and forth as I noticed his shadow beginning to seethe and writhe as more wolves began to spill out from within it. "First I am going to pin in place with an arrow each to both your hands and feet. Then I am going to have my pets chew your limbs after they tore them off. Then I am going to burn..."

I wasn't listening as the god described in very lurid and graphic detail how he was planning to torture me in retribution for his perceived humiliation as I had apparently insulted his pride. I however was more concerned with what my next move would be. I knew I couldn't keep using the [Raptor] for much longer; it was a miracle I wasn't suffering the backlash from overusing it yet, but that was bound to change sometime soon. Luckily, the current location gave me more options than the previous battlefield. There was a large building in the form of a bandstand nearby that was just perfect for this situation.

Using the speed of the [Raptor] to get around the field until I was across from the building with the god between the bandstand and myself, I released my power of speed to trade it for the strength of destruction…

"May his spine be crushed; his bones be broken, his tendons torn, his hair ripped from his skull; may his blood, spilled over the earth, be churned into a bloody froth. I shall become one who buries fangs into the sinner's flesh, so that the will of the Lord: Thou shalt be purged!"

As I said the first word, the Authority of the [Raptor] faded away, and replaced instantly with the destructive might of the [Boar], manifesting with me between its two front legs and its head right above me. As I finished the spell words invoking the power of the divine beast, it roared an earth-shaking battle-cry that made the ground itself tremble and showed the promise of the destruction to come as it glared at the god before me. As the shadows roiled around the Greek God, the wolves surged forth, howling in response to the challenge of my [Boar]'s promise of violent death and destruction.

But even with the sheer, overwhelming power before him, [Apollo] seemingly didn't look fazed at all. In fact, he simply looked uninterested, but the arrow he notched this time was black instead of gold like all the others he fired before...this is a bad sign...the fact he was oddly calm was a dead give away that he was planning something…

I unleashed the power of my [Boar] upon the divine foe before me, as I collapsed to my knees in pain as the backlash from overusing the [Raptor] finally kicked in. Roaring in response to the enemy before it, my summoned divine beast charged through the pack of wolves undeterred as the [Boar] carved a path of complete destruction through them to [Apollo], but he seemed eerily calm, as he uttered the spell words that were the reason for his confidence…

"I heal what was broken, I treat what is cut. In the name of my son Asclepius and in my names of Paion, Epikurios, Oulios, and Loimios I call upon the powers of the healer to break the taboo and aid against the foe that stands before me."

...as he uttered these spell words, I saw a pale mist covering his black arrow, and just as he finished the final word as the arrow fully covered the shaft from tip to notch, he releashed the arrow right into the path of the charging divine beast unleashed upon him.

In the past, I knew that the [Boar] had been injured or even defeated, as I had seen it with my own eyes, such as with [Melqart] giving it a severe beating, or when Luo Hao utterly crushed it, but never before had it ever had a feeling of being truly defeated. The rage and strength it had never truly faded with its defeat...until the arrow that [Apollo] fired at it, that is…

Whatever he did to my [Boar], it didn't so much roar or squeal as it seemed to scream in pain as wounds began to rip its body apart, its divine blood showering the ground around its freshly opened wounds as its bones began audibly breaking and shattering within its body in sickening crunches and snapping sounds, before it fell to the ground, not moving at all and utterly defeated. As I gasped in pain from overusing the [Raptor], my eyes were glued in horror to the sight before me, before the god spoke up again…

"It is most certainly a powerful beast and a formidable force to reckon with, but it was a poor choice of power to wield against me."

His calm voice drew me out of my disbelief as he walked out from around the fallen from of the [Boar], with his bow drawn with yet another arrow upon me, but I wasn't able to move much, even if I were to use another Authority to try and fight back. Gasping for breathe and making it look as if I was out of breathe more than I really was, I decided to try and buy time…"Wha-What...did you...do to my...[Boar]?"

"Your beast is a powerful creature." [Apollo] answered with a rather smug tinge in his voice as he continued to calmly walk towards me, never once lowering his arrow from being trained right at my chest. "It was clearly a powerful servant from whatever god you slew to usurp it from. However, even for all its bestial might and formidable power, it was still no math for my [Taboo] Authority."

"Wha-what...did...you...do?" I asked him again in my attempt to buy just even a few more precious seconds, taking care to be gasping it out in my attempt to exaggerate my breathlessness...

"How many times has your beast been wounded in the battles he had fought in the past at your will? And even before that, how many wounds has he suffered through the pains of in service to whatever god you slew to attain him from? In his existence how many wounds and injuries has he sustained and endure, only to be healed and recover from? I am god to many things, but among my Authorities are the powers of healing as well as the ability to inflict the blight of illness and create the cause of the infirmities. I simply uniting these two powers, I created the taboo power which causes the countless injuries the beast suffered in the entire millennia of its existence to be unhealed and inflicted upon it at once."

...that...was a very chilling thought and a terrifying power…I thought back to all the injuries I suffered since becoming a Campione, and I honestly doubted I would even have enough of myself left for even the power of the [Ram] to bring me back with. Its no small wonder the [Boar] went down so easily in that case…

"Now die accursed child of Pandora." [Apollo] said as he released the arrow right a my chest, fully intending to kill me right here and now…

Scene Change

Shirou P.O.V.

"...help...me..." I heard a weak voice coming from the direction of some rubble that made me frown somewhat. I was sure that section had already been cleared by the Committee...had somebody been missed? Or is it something else...the suspicious nature of the location already had me on edge, but with this, my bad feeling about this whole situation was suddenly coming back with a vengeance. The armors granted by my [Ruler Regalia] had allowed the Committee to pass through the wall of flames unhindered, and with the wall granting them an evacuation route for the trapped civilians, it was no problem getting in and getting them out. The fires themselves also turned out to not be spreading nearly as fast as we initially believed. With the opening Herc and I created, we now had a means of evacuating the civilians still trapped in the building...the problem was with actually evacuating those suffering from the god's divine aura.

Some of them were too weak from illness to move on their own and had to be carried out. Others were frantically lashing out at anyone and everything due to the visions being forced upon them, as they were in no condition to understand what was going on. The rest were simply sitting in place not reacting o responding to anything as whatever music they were subjected to kept their undivided attention. Thanks to the armors, getting them out wasn't the problem. The problem was the fact we were outnumbered and lacking enough manpower to get everybody out in a reasonably quick enough fashion. Which was why I was here in an isolated part of the station as I searched for anyone still trapped in here. For the most part everybody had been evacuated, but I was just doing a double check to make sure there wasn't anybody still inside the burning building.

"...please...help me..." the voice called out again for help. Moving to the source, I found a woman buried beneath the rubble up to her left knee, effectively pinning her in place behind a counter, along with a fallen sign on top of her that hid her almost completely from view had I not heard her call for help. That would explain why she wasn't found earlier; she was possibly knocked unconscious by the debris, with the sign covering her almost completely from view, therefore she was missed by the Committee as they passed her by unnoticed.

Lifting the rubble up after moving the sign off of her, I reach my armored hand out to pull the woman out from under the rubble, and I notice she was quite the attractive woman physically speaking. She had dark brunette hair somewhat covered in soot hanging freely down to her hips, with a golden-yellow shirt dirtied slightly by dirt and grime and a black short skirt hugging her hips. She also had on a pair of dark gray leggings, ripped slightly and covered in ash from the debris and the flames. As she looked up at me, I noticed her eyes, before a sudden question surged forth from my mind as a sudden desire began to swell within me body, despite my own wishes or desires…

"Thank you, my hero. My name is [Venus]. I am most thankful for your assistance."

SHIT, I knew something wasn't right here…I..must...re...sist...

...before the King of Wrought Iron could react, the goddess used her Authority to force him under her sway. He had tried resisting, but she used her Authority to forcefully usurp his heart for herself…

...His last thoughts before being put under her sway were of concern for his family and his close friends, and fear for what she might make him do to them whilst under her thumb unwillingly…

Scene Change

Godou-P.O.V.

After just narrowly avoiding an unhealing arrow to the heart from [Apollo] courtesy of a gambit by Erica giving a whole new meaning to the phrase 'leap of faith', I managed to finally begin turning things around. After destroying the area from the [White Stallion] being freed of the Greek God's usurpation of it, he was essentially charred and only still alive from sheer rage and desire to kill me. I wound up having to mercy kill him, if for no other reason than to stop him from hurting anyone else with his actions.

After words Erica, Liliana, and myself ran into both Reki-san and the other guy who was with him, but they were out of breath and not wearing the armor they were wearing a little while ago…

"Slow down, Reki-san. What happened?"

"It's my King! This whole battle was a trap meant to capture him! While you were battling this god here, another goddess had somehow taken control of him and took him away! We now have the very real chance of Japan becoming a second Pompeii if we don't do something, and soon!"

This caused my blood to freeze in my veins and my mind to suddenly screech to a halt...Emiya-san got captured by a god's authority taking control of him...I could only utter two words in response to this mess we now had to deal with…

"...oh shit..."

Scene Change

Unknown Location

...and so the Sword of the World was unwillingly usurped by hands unworthy of wielding it, defiling and tainting it with a divine whore's hands as she violates it with her unworthy touch...all whilst raging from within at the blatant disregard for his own will, nor even acknowledging his wishes in their entirety…

...so, Blade of Humanity...how will this change you? Will it be for the better, or will it break you from the rage of how your will is ignored...This would most certainly be interesting enough to watch...enough so that even I would find your answer to this conundrum worthy of paying attention to...to see if you wind up like me, or if you truly take a different path, to avoid my fate…

Let us see what choice you shall make, Emiya Shirou, my foolish and naive past self...I look forward to seeing what the one who gave rise to me will do...even if I cannot do more than watch what you are doing...nor can I remember what choice even I made, in the end...

A/N: And that's the chapter this time. For those of you all wondering about the nature of the battle between Godou and Apollo, look to Marcus Galen Sand's fic GSBW to get a rough idea of how it went down. I wanted to show the battle, but the chapter was getting too long, so I needed to wrap it up. Shirou's currently being controlled, and Venus/Aphrodite is going to be having a field day with him under her sway while it lasts. See you all next chapter, and next time I plan to do an updated Servant Stat sheet for Godou. Till next Chapter, PEACE OUT!