The True skull: You said: "Servants aren't strictly biological and thus exhaustion shouldn't play a role in battle which is what I considered wrong." Yes and no... It's a little more complicated than that... The Servants may not be biologically human, and their Servant nature does not allow them to feel hunger, cold, fatigue and they do not need to breathe... THEORETICALLY. In practice, the Servants are based on what they were during their lifetime. If a Servant was not (alive) able to breathe underwater (like Lancelot) he can no longer regenerate his Mana when he is underwater. If you have seen Fate Stay Night (the Anime) or FSN Unlimited BladeWork, you have seen that Artoria needs to eat, sleep, and shows signs of exhaustion several times... why? When a Servant sees his reserves of Mana fall faster than his Master supplies him in Mana... he runs out. This is strictly speaking magic exhaustion, but the symptoms are those of physical exhaustion. Because the Servant continues to feel things like if he had a material body. That's also why a Servant feels pain.
Boyzilla: Thank you very much, I am touched to hear so many compliments from you. I'm glad I managed to finally explain the strategy of Hakuno.
All Hail Hakuno Kishinami, inheritor of the Moon.
Franco 1234: Who?
DeathUser: This is the first time that a Review of each chapter has been given to me in three days by a single person. Let's try to answer chronologically:
Chapter 1: I agree, Hakuno is unique. In the rest of the franchise, what characters do we remember, especially? The Servants. The best example is in Fate/ Apocrypha, apart from Sisigou and Shirou Kotomine, all the Red faction Masters play only a role of Background character... and Shirou Kotomine is in fact a Servant!
Hakuno, on the contrary, is more important than her Servants. Sincerely, a duel between Tamamo no Mae (class Caster) and Gawain (Saber) under the noon sun... it is a suicide, no Caster could defeat the Knight of the Sun in his full glory! But Hakuno defeated him, and Gawain had Leo as his Master... and the young King was far from weakening Sir Gawain. And it's just ONE example of Hakuno's talent.
Chapter 2: I think that's why I find Hakuno so interesting. She's largely...empty. A past of only seven weeks, a life that can be summed up to an environment that has nothing normal, all she knows about the world is the Moon Cell Automaton, the Seraph, and the Grail War. Hence her Love/Hate Relationship with the alien computer...
Chapter 3: I didn't think of a relationship of this sort... It's just that Artoria's behavior pushes her to get emotionally involved with her Master. In fact, I would never understand that the Knights of the Round never understood that Artoria was very emotional...
Chapter 4: Kraulen looks like a lot of people I've met before. I often feel that my life is about explaining and explaining over and over again and not about dragons or unicorns or over myths, but about everyday things. But people are stoned: "I wasn't there, I didn't see anything... so it's false!"
The Church of Hakuno Kishinami listens to you my son!
Chapter 5: You just pointed out the very reason I wrote this FanFiction. Artoria is an endearing mixture of arrogance and humility, clairvoyance and blindness...
The creation of the Round Table, the exploits of her knights is the very reason for her entry into legends. And at the same time... the reason for her fall.
And yet... in her lifetime Artoria wanted to take on all responsibility on her shoulders and after her death... she took on her shoulders all the guilt of the fall of Camelot. Even when she wants to fix her mistakes, she does so with the same arrogance that is the cause of her failure. She doesn't understand and is about to repeat the same mistakes... Not to listen to the other members of the Round Table, not to open up to them... and vice versa of course.
I like the Knights of the Round Table because of that. Hollywood portrays them as paragons of chivalry, incarnations of justice, nobility, etc... But, in the end, when you read the books, you discover something completely different. They are human, very human... arrogant, brash, often thoughtless, and resentful. Texts give us tasty dialogues... or how two knights insult each other with a lot of nice words... the Round Table reunions are often disputes where everyone defends his interests and makes a fool of his neighbor.
Luckily, this time Hakuno is here!
Chapter 8: Thank you very much! The purpose of the banquet is to make it clear that Hakuno does not want to be the cheerleader of the Bretonnia's army. That this role is painful to her and that it doesn't suit her... and I wanted to create a bond of Sympathy (in the etymological sense of "feeling the suffering of the other") between the reader and Hakuno. I write with a true synopsis and so the reader had to understand why Hakuno would venture to Marienburg with a single Servant. It will be noted that I have previously insisted on the perception of the world of Hakuno... the result of her stay in the Seraph. And yes, it's that to work with a synopsis, I always prepare events well in advance. For example, the separation from Artoria was... because of Lancelot's invocation as Berserker-class Servant. It would have been impossible to make Lancelot and Artoria work together.
Chapter 9: This chapter is a continuation of the previous one. I confess that I did not write it with a desire to explain or condemn war, just to give a little more depth to Hakuno's malaise and therefore her choice to go to Marienburg. I'm glad someone thinks this passage has a higher meaning... although it's still involuntary.
Chapter 15: I think Hakuno is "Lawful Neutral" at least at the beginning of Fate/Extra. But her mind is barely awake. She seeks to survive (but if she has to kill others for it) and seeks meaning in her life. Then, later, I'd say it depends on the Servant and how you play the character.
For Morganna... I know her story better than most people who just classify her as "the supervillain of the Arthurian legend".
To sum up, quickly, Morganna is one of the four children of the Duke of Cornwall Dumero and his wife Igraine. But Igraine was so beautiful that Uther wanted to "possess" her (I wouldn't use a word as noble as "love"). Merlin gave Uther the appearance of Dumero and this is how Artoria was conceived. Of course, Dumero discovered the truth and sought to avenge his abused wife... Uther killed him at the end of a bloody battle and then captured Igraine (war booty). As for Morganna (a little girl at the time), she was sent to a nunnery to be raised according to the Christian faith... and that she renounces paganism. You may not have understood it, but the character of Sakura Matou/ Dark Sakura in Fate/stay Night is inspired by Morganna.
Chapter 16: In my idea, Hakuno is not the queen of King Arthur, but the new Lady of the Lake. I do not reject a HakunoXArtoria affair for homophobia or any other reason of this kind. I just don't think Hakuno is emotionally mature enough to create a relationship like that. As for Artoria... we see it well in Fate Stay Night, it was not Artoria who went to Shirou, but the opposite. Even if Saber becomes aware of possible love sentiments (which are not guaranteed, Artoria tends to be dense in this field) she refuses to talk about it so as not to hinder her role as Servant. On the other hand, I think Artoria knows that Hakuno lacks emotional maturity and will therefore refuse to disturb her with what she feels.
Author's note: I would never complain again about the lack of Review... it took me an afternoon just to answer.
Cor autem praevaricator
(Heartbreaker)
"Poison kiss is the sharp edge of the stylus. Crimson triumph, are the lips of red blood. Delectable grief is the soul of the mortal who goes out. Dance of the enchanting and exquisite blades, pain is only part put off. Howling herald who proclaims the ultimate and eternal victory, in the embrace of Slaanesh let yourself fall, for he is our Dark Love and our Black Lord."
- An anonymous Slaanesh Daemonette
It was already late night when Hakuno slipped out of her home at Doodkanaal. While Gawain rowed and Bedivere stood at the bow, Hakuno sat in the middle of the boat they had borrowed.
The city had changed enormously in the few days that had passed since the arrival of Hakuno Kishinami. The streets and canals were now empty... the eager crowd of the inhabitants, the crews of the ships that had come down to the docks to party, the merchants who were doing business in the taverns filled with laughter, music, and light...
It was all gone.
Marienburg was bathed in a silence made of terror and oppression.
The wharves were now covered with long cracks and from time to time tiles or bricks fell into the water of the canal. Houses had already collapsed and others that had become unsanitary had been abandoned...
Marienburg was dying, the victim of the terrible curse that the Slaanesh's Demon Prince had cast upon the city.
Bedivere turned to Hakuno, his long cape snapping in the wind, masking his missing arm:
"Master, I would like to know how you intend to make the demon manifest?"
Kishinami was batting eyelids... In fact, she hadn't put a lot of thought into it. Her experience of the Seraph had taught her only one manner to fight an opponent: go down into the arena... and the streets of Marienburg were the closest equivalent. Except that no Enemy_Program appeared as soon as we went out... at least in the Old World.
Bedivere sighed and shook his head. Despite his usual composure, he showed a slight sign of amusement... He was getting to know the Inheritor of the Moon.
"You didn't think about it?" He coughed in his fist, embarrassed by the proposal he was going to make. "We're going to have to improvise... "
Bedivere hated improvising. He was the kind of person who was only happy when everything was planned, with plan B for all phases of planned operations. That made him an effective individual, a perfect steward but also... a very boring individual. Among the Knights of the Round Table, only Artoria and Kay got along well with him.
Always busy rowing, Sir Gawain raised his head:
"We can sit in a big square and shout a challenge. If this monster has any sense of honor, he is up to the challenge."
Lancer nodded pensively his head, but with a slight expression of spite:
"I expected no less from you, Sir Gawain, the perfect embodiment of the chivalrous spirit. But it will not work... There is nothing chivalrous about our enemy."
The Knight of the Sun appeared to consider...
"I have another idea, but... "
If Gawain had not had his hands on the oars, he would have risen to bow to Hakuno:
"Master, I think Bedivere is right. The demon is cowardly. Despite all his power... he hatched vile plots... before striking in the shadows without showing himself." The knight's face reflected an expression of haughty disgust. Gawain did not only despise this behavior because it was "wrong" but especially because it was "non-chivalric". And for someone who spent every moment of his life posing as a perfect knight... that was the worst crime.
Hakuno had turned around to look at her Servant and made a cute head tilt. Although being the Servant most used to this Hakuno's twitch... Gawain became entangled in the movement of the oars and the boat approached a platform. Clumsily retaking control of the boat, the Knight of the Round explained his idea:
"I think the best way to attract the demon is to keep us astralized, Lancer, me, and Berserker, close to you, Master. Then draw the demon's attention. Seeing a teen girl alone, this coward will not hesitate to attack."
Bedivere showed a slight surprise that annoyed Gawain:
"I must admit it's a good plan. Nevertheless, it puts you at risk, Master."
Hakuno clasped her hands together on her chest, but a resolute expression immediately appeared on her face. She nodded:
"Get the attention?"
The two knights exchanged a look, Gawain - more accustomed to the prolixity of the young Japanese woman- answered her question:
"You could sing, Master."
"Good idea!" Hakuno smiled, raised her head... then frowned... "Except I don't know any songs."
"None?" asked Gawain.
Hakuno suddenly remembered a tender face that leaned over her, a hand caressing her forehead. Who was this woman strangely resembling a version... uh... more endowed of Artoria? The woman wore a red dress and sang to her a lullaby (in falsetto register!) so that she fell asleep. Hakuno rejected this memory (?) and concentrated on the present:
"At least one... I think."
"Ne vagi, ne, blande puer, ne parvule, vagi;
Blanda rogat blandum Lucia Luciolum.
Ne vagi, ne lacrimulis corrumpe misellis
Turgidulosque oculos turgidulosque genas..." (1)
Surrounded by the silent and obscure patricians' mansions which were built around one of the largest squares of the city, Hakuno sang... tone-deaf... It is true that she had never sung before (2).
In the dark, cold and sinister atmosphere of the city, her voice was not reassuring and finished transforming the night into a scene of a bad horror film.
And Hakuno sang... sang... sang to have a hoarse throat. When the sun rose, the demon had not appeared.
The star of the day illuminated the poor houses cracked by earthquakes but no one came out. Even as the day began, only the craziest and most determined inhabitants dared to risk their lives in the streets. The clashes between the mercenaries of the Directorate and the insurgents, the day before, had terrified the citizens.
Nevertheless, Hakuno felt that someone watching her. She turned to a shadowy street and saw individuals dressed in herds and dirty bandages that concealed their hands and faces.
As always, when Hakuno was interested in something, the Regalia reacted. A translucent holographic window appeared, marked at all four ends by the Moon Cell Automaton logo.
The poor beings who came forward painfully leaning on primitive crutches or pushed into roller boxes were... lepers.
As always the information from the photonic crystals' supercomputer was flawless. Hakuno learned that a leprosarium was to the south of the city and that the nuns of the convent of Shallya who cared for them had been massacred by a band of Black Hat who had gone mad.
Without anyone to take care of their wounds, the lepers had left the sanatorium to beg in the streets... except that they made flee the few people still brave enough to leave their homes.
Confident in the protection offered by the Scabbard of the Sacred Sword, Hakuno advanced to the poor souls.
Accustomed to inspiring fear or at least disgust, the lepers were surprised to see that Hakuno wanted to help them. They would have followed the Inheritor of the Moon to the end of the world because her presence offered them great solace.
Coming out of an adjacent street where they had materialized, Bedivere and Gawain joined Hakuno:
"Master, what do you want to do with these... sick people." The face of the Knight of the Sun showed denunciation.
Hakuno put a moment to think about it. At first, she simply wanted to bring these poor people to the thieves and then heal them using the Scabbard.
However, as she walked the streets, the Moon Cell's Sovereign had seen the looters, mercenaries, and Black Hats flee from the miserable troop. This gave her an idea. She nodded firmly:
"Find me a big boat, we'll go to Rijker's island."
Sir Bedivere looked at her with surprise, wanted to say something, and changed his mind. His forehead folded as he remembered all the information that the Moon Cell had given him in preparation for his invocation in the Old World. Rijker was both Marienburg's main fortress and its state prison. The garrison was made up of Bretonnian's renegades hated by a large part of the population... which guaranteed its neutrality in the internal struggles between the Directors. Lancer agreed when understanding Hakuno Kishinami's plan:
"Brilliant, Master!"
Hakuno offered him one of her rare smiles in response.
As for Gawain, he hid his incomprehension with a bow. Another odd tactic?
Obviously, the landing of the small army of Hakuno's lepers caused a movement of panic among the Bretonnian guards. They run away behind the walls as the harrows fell and the castle defenders lifted up the drawbridge.
More was needed to stop the little Inheritor. She focused on the mental link that bound her to her third Servant:
[Berserker, materialize inside the ramparts and open the door!]
[RRRrrrRrr... RRRrrrr!]
Hakuno looked towards the white ramparts and the numerous towers with conical roofs that strengthened them. There was suddenly a horrified scream and...
"RRRRrrr... RRRRRRRR!"
Kishinami covered her ears with a grimace of pain. When Berserker shouted, it was heard from afar. For Rijker's jailers, it must have been worse...
Noises of metal striking the metal, leaking noises, cries of fear and pain sounded for a few more moments. Then, on the ramparts, the Sovereign of the Moon saw the Bretonnians begin to run, abandoning their bows and their halberds in their desperate flight.
A few moments of silence preceded a sound of chains. The drawbridge fell loudly. Behind, the doors and the harrows had been smashed as if by a furious mammoth's charge...
As for the guards' reinforcement... when they saw the blank teen girl in command of an army of lepers, horror grips them all. They, in turn, fled.
The garrison, repeatedly besieged and each time victorious, was thus defeated by the fear of leprosy. Fight of Dark Elves, daemons, Skavens, or Night's Goblins... why not... but an army of lepers? The idea of rotting alive terrorized them.
Leaving the lepers in the outer courtyard, Hakuno entered the inner perimeter of the castle.
Hakuno immediately understood that something was wrong. Apart from the guards at the gates, the fortress was empty, as if deserted. And a smooth smell, a mixture of crushed roses and honey bathed the old walls... Instinctively, Kishinami shivered. She recognized this smell. She had smelled it in the catacombs of the old elven city... it was the smell that emanated from the Demon Prince.
"There he is!"
Bedivere and Gawain, who had also recognized this smell, invoked their weapons.
Advancing through the sinister fortress, the little Sovereign reached the inner courtyard, which was used for daily prisoner walks. There too, no sign of life. The door of the chapel of Morr was open and the interior bathed in darkness. Hakuno looked up at the prison windows. All were closed and she did not hear a sound.
In front of his Master, Gawain advanced the sword under the arm, ready to strike. He reached a door that led to the main dungeon and pushed it with one hand. The door turned on its hinges with a sinister squeak and a whiff of the sweet smell of the demon sick Hakuno's stomach.
Alvarez Carpio talked a lot about Rijker's island with the Japanese teen. It is thanks to the Estalian sailor that she knew well the reputation of the place. And the sailorman had described a place filled with the cries of the prisoners. Why such a silence?
It took her to gather all her courage to enter the dungeon. The staircase leading to the dungeons resembled the very entrance of the underworld.
The walls of the jails were covered with sickening pink silt that palpitated softly. Having already seen this phenomenon, Hakuno knew that it was the flesh of the Demon Prince. This monster had the power to infect what he touched with his chaotic presence, turning living beings into deformed mutants as to the stones of the old fortress... the Inheritor frowned... she didn't know what the monster could do with inert matter, but she was sure it couldn't be innocent.
"So this is where our enemies took refuge after we drove them out of the catacombs," Gawain murmured.
Bedivere replied with a simple nod of the head. The daemon's pink tentacles had invaded every room. Sickened, he looked with pity at the guards entangled in this viscous mass. On all sides, imploring glances were directed at the newcomers, while a concert of cries for help resounded in the corridors of the prison.
Most of the Bretonnians, half-engulfed in this living jelly, struggled only weakly. Inexorably, they were swallowed up, little by little overwhelmed by this magma of desires made flesh.
The jailers, falling into madness while the demon devoured them body and soul, cried out their repentance for the years spent torturing the helpless prisoners of this sinister prison. Living, they knew the horrors promised to the damned of hell.
"When you think it took only one night!"
Hakuno nodded as she heard Bedivere's remark. Indeed, yesterday the fortress was still firmly in the hands of the Bretonnians. The guards had also participated in the repression of the insurrection. Then the demon prince had arrived...
"We must free these poor people!"
Sir Gawain looked to Hakuno. The teenager turned to one side, then to the other, her eyes widened by a mixture of fright and disgust. The Knight of the Sun breathed a sigh... he knew his Master better than any other of her Servants and knew that it was perfectly useless to try to talk some sense into her. For the blond knight, the torturers had received only what they deserved. The only form of pity he was willing to offer them was a quick death...
Among the prisoners of the loathsome mucus, he identified a man in rich armor and wearing a typically Bretonnian helmet surmounted by a Hand of Glory and adorned with a veil of silk and a fine gold crown designating the man as a Viscount.
" À l'aide, je suis le Vicomte Louis de Becq, sortez-moi de là et je vous couvrirais d'or!" (3)
Taking his greatsword, Gawain slapped several powerful blows, making a pink liquid with a heady odor spring. Unfortunately, in return, the daemon tightened his grip on the captives. Hearing the cries of the prisoners redoubled, Hakuno ordered the Knight of the Sun to ignite Galatine.
Here too it proved vain, the monster's flesh scraped but through the translucent matter, it was easy to see that the damage was also transmitted to the prisoners of the demon who were howling horribly.
It was no use.
Hakuno concentrated, making appear the Scabbard of the Sacred Sword. A dazzling golden light spread and the blessing of the Avalon fairies attacked the horrible pink substance. Around Louis de Becq and some guards closest to him, the translucent flesh evaporated like water on a plate of scorched iron.
The freed Bretonnians fled immediately...
Unfortunately, the demon reacted just as quickly, retracting its tentacles and taking most of the guards away.
The good news was that the simple prisoners, far less corrupt than their executioners, were almost all freed.
Hakuno spent the rest of the day using the Scabbard of the Sacred Sword to heal the lepers and the skinny prisoners, the wrists and ankles injured by the handcuffs that had chained them to the walls for years.
While Hakuno organized the survivors to lead them to the thieves, Berserker materialized spontaneously. The Black Knight watched the drawbridge chains. Intrigued by his unusual behavior, his Master joined him. Berserker turned to her, his body was surrounded by only a few volutes of fuliginous smoke, and Kishinami realized that berserker's armor was not really black, rather anthracite. She vaguely guessed decorative motifs, but the details remained blurred, unclear. One could really discern only the scarlet glow which filtered through the visor of his helmet, his blue horsehair feather, and the four bands of cloth that hung from his shoulders.
"Rrrr...ma... rr... magic Rrr."
Hakuno blinked. The Servant came to say something understandable.
"Magic? What is magic?"
"Rrr... ains...chrrrr... ChrrRRrains! Ma...gic chains... rrRRRRr!"
Hakuno looked at the drawbridge chains and extended a hand:
"Code Cast: view_status"
Indeed, the chains were magical, bewitched to capture and retain. You could use it as a weapon... provided you were a giant of some sort or be called Berserker.
"You can take them if you want."
That's all the Black Knight wanted. He pulled out the two lengths of chains and... they disappeared (4). Like Hakuno herself, the Moon Cell Servants had an invisible "inventory" where they could store objects. What was worthy of video game creatures as they were, ultimately.
The next day was devoted to planning the final revolt. First, Hakuno forced the insurgent leaders to stop the attacks on the mercenaries and the Black Hats. It took all the diplomacy of Sir Gawain to convince the rebels that the fighting only strengthened the Demon Prince and that he was the real adversary to be defeated.
Nevertheless, the two directors who had joined the rebellion, the leaders of the thieves, the merchants, and even the crowd waiting in the streets... all accepted.
In the eyes of all the rebels, Hakuno Kishinami was... a saint. She had saved people whom everyone believed to have lost, healed lepers, and defeated the Demon Prince twice. The Sovereign of the Moon was the only person who could still save Marienburg.
Alvarez Carpio listened to the debate without participating. He was far too aware that he was only a swordsman and a sailor... and that the battle that was to come would oppose the "Master" and the Demon Prince. The inhabitants of Marienburg, even the Directors, are only extras.
When a messenger approached him in a panic, Alvarez felt sudden anguish in his stomach. The first words of the courier startled him:
"Lucie's house has collapsed!"
He shook the man by the shoulders:
"Lucie?! Is she okay?"
"We're afraid she's under the rubble!"
Instantly forgetting the battle plans of the little Sovereign, the demons, and the shenanigans of the Powers of the Ruin, Alvarez ran as fast as he could.
The building where Lucie lived was nothing more than a heap of ruins. A crevasse had just opened, splitting the neighborhood like an axe and the house was in the middle. Leaning over the gaping abyss Alvarez Carpio drew a puff of sweet air perfumed with the fragrance of the flesh of the Demon Prince. Was Lucie a new victim of the monster that haunted Marienburg? The sailor clenched his fists, filled with helpless anger...
Casting a furious look at the onlookers who had gathered around the ruins, the Estalian began to descend cautiously into the abyss. Rocks rolled under his shoes. Guided only by a ray of sunlight that passed between the broken beams and the heaps of crushed bricks, Alvarez went always farther in the den of the demon. A smell of cut flowers, perfume, and honey floated in the depths. A simple human being, the Estalian felt a strange mixture of disgust and attraction. Divided between the desire to escape and the desire to go in search of the daemon, Alvarez clenched his teeth, collecting every ounce of his fighting spirit to continue to search the ruins.
He finally found Lucie. The young blonde woman was lying on a piece of the floor of her house. She did not appear to be hurt, but her face was pale. Seeing him, the thief straightened herself up slightly, signaling her to step back. But her hand fell back defeated by weakness:
"Go! Go! It's too late to save me!"
But Alvarez had not come all this way to give up now. He grabbed the young Bretonnian to take her on his shoulder... Except that when he bent down he discovered that an arm of Lucie was trapped up to the shoulder in an ugly pink slime... The Demon Prince was absorbing his friend! Seeing that fine tentacles were already rising on his wrist, the sailor retreated, seeking to free himself. He struggled with rage, but the violent emotions were Slaanesh's allies, and his servant fed on them. In return, a flood of filthy thoughts poured into the sailor's mind. Little by little, Alvarez lost the struggle while the lukewarm mass attracted and enveloped him. Inch by inch, Alvarez Carpio plunged into the ocean of pink gelatin. When his head was submerged, his mind collapsed in turn.
A few moments later, the tentacle of the daemon withdrew leaving behind only a few puddles of gelatin with a too-sweet smell.
The final battle had just begun.
In spite of the instructions of Hakuno Kishinami, the citizen of Marienburg rebelled. People were fed up with insecurity, war, taxes that left them nothing but misery. Above all, they just have enough. How could the Directorate persecute them while the Demon Prince enjoyed real impunity for all his crimes?
The Directorate had allowed the city to sink into corruption and decadence by lure of profit. They had destroyed all that was good in Marienburg, transforming the city into a magnet for all the human passions that were the very essence of Slaanesh.
Just as the city was about to disappear ravaged by dementia and the Powers of the Ruin... six of the Directors were clinging to the rubble of their palaces, amid earthquakes and the inevitable engulfment of Marienburg. Obsessed with their desires, blinded by the greed, the spirit poisoned by lies, they had sunk into an abyss of perversion devoting themselves completely to the Demon Prince.
In fact, they were just puppets whose wires were pulled by the Demon Prince, a nightmare creature dancing in the darkness of madness. His specialties? Corrupting souls, deforming bodies, lying, cheating, deceiving... betraying.
Even as the Directors worked to protect the daemon, he smiled peacefully, watching the Marienburgers kill each other. He would leave nothing of this city but ruins engulfed in the mud, witness to the infinite power of his god and the power of the passions that enslaved humans.
The last act of the tragedy began with a new earthquake. The streets were violently shaken, the cobblestones jumped off the ground while new scars appeared in the middle of the ruins. Buildings collapsed everywhere as long tentacles came out in multiples places.
In the middle of Paleisbuurt, the large square in front of the New Palace stared at the center of the network of tentacles lifting the ground, from which emerged a humanoid silhouette more than eight meters high.
She was beautiful...
She was hideous...
The top of his body was the bust of a beautiful, topless woman. One easily forgot the long horns that adorned her forehead, the pink color of her skin, or that her hairs are fine tentacles, in view of the perfection of her forms.
But underneath her hips...
Two shorter arms ended with crab claws that snapped greedily. She had no legs. The lower part of the daemon body was nothing but a filthy swarm of pink, sticky tentacles.
The crowd, revolted and mercenaries mixed, looked at the Demon Prince with amazement. It emanated from her a very sweet smell, an insurmountable charm, and pure Chaos waves. Her red lips opened in a smile promising ecstasy as she spread her arms in a gesture of invitation:
"I'm Heartbreaker Demon Prince of the Lord of pleasure, the Supreme Snake. Do you think you have experienced all the pleasures and sufferings of existence? Poor little humans so limited, so fragile, little minds, little memory, little desires... My God has shown me that there is no limit to suffering and pleasure, nor even any difference between them. In the service of Slaanesh, I have known areas where pleasures and indescribable pain are one. Come with me, I will show you…"
Next chapter, the grand final of the Marienburg's Arc.
(1) This is the beginning of the lullaby Naenia secunda ad vagitum sedandum. Roughly translated, it means:
"Don't stray kind baby, don't stray tiny child;
Lucia asked Luciolum gently.
Do not stray in the poor corrupt tears
Turgid eyes, turgid cheeks..."
My Latin is rather clumsy... I stopped practicing years ago.
(2) And with Nero as a singing teacher (!) Hakuno is astonished that the demon does not come to her? Slaanesh is the most artistic of all the Gods of the Ruin. Faced with such a desecration of the musical art, the Demon Prince hid in the depths of the city, his hands on his ears, sobbing frantically.
(3)" Help, I'm Viscount Louis de Becq, get me out of here and I'll cover you with gold!"
(4) Theoretically, a Servant cannot astralize with an object that is not part of his legend. Lancelot is an exception because of Knight of Owner: A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands ... This Noble Phantasm allows him to transform any object comparable to a weapon into a "pseudo-Noble Phantasm". That's probably why Berserker Lancelot has the Fate/Zero F-15 as Noble Phantasm in F/GO and Fate Extella Link.