Saber deflected a golden Noble Phantasm with a mighty swing of her sword. "What are you playing at Gilgamesh? Why are you attacking me?" she yelled, glaring up at the King of Heroes who stood on the steps above Saber. She glanced back to the woods where Lancer was still resting.
No, I can't expect any help from him in this fight. Even if he was at full strength, he would be much help against that, Saber thought, looking at the dozens of portals glowing behind Gilgamesh, each one having the head of a weapon poking out of it. So far, Gilgamesh had been shooting the Noble Phantasms one at a time, allowing Saber to deflect them.
"What's wrong my dearest King of Knights? Are you tired after putting down those rabid dogs?" Gilgamesh mocked, watching Saber's movements carefully. Saber growled and faked a charge up the steps. Immediately a barrage of weapons came down on the path towards Gilgamesh, shattering the stone stairway and making it clear that Saber wouldn't be able to approach. Looking back up at Gilgamesh, Saber noted that the portals had already rearmed with the next wave of Noble Phantasms.
"Answer my questions King of Heroes. Why are you betraying your word to the TSAB?" Saber demanded.
"Oh? Do you think I would go back on even the slightest of my whims?" Gilgamesh asked.
"You are interfering with their attempt to stop the Grail War. How is that not breaking your word to not interfere in the Grail War?" Saber yelled, trying to deflect a shot Noble Phantasm back at Gilgamesh. It missed horribly, flying high over his head.
"By ensuring that the Grail War cannot come to completion, I'll limit the damage that Angra Mainyu can cause. And I can do that by ensuring that you don't die," Gilgamesh explained.
"If you don't want me to die, you certainly are going about it in a weird way," Saber yelled, dodging the next couple of Noble Phantasms.
"Your intent cannot hide from the King's sight, Saber," Gilgamesh said, sternly. "I know you do not intend to survive this battle. And it is unacceptable for you to escape my grasp in such a manner. You belong to me, and only I shall decide when and if you are allowed to pass from this world."
"For the last time, I'm not your possession," Saber yelled, charging in her rage. Again a barrage of Noble Phantasms met her charge, but this time she tried to break through. She ducked under the first shots, and deflected the next. A step forward had her bounce a hammer so it blocked the next shot. The next had her miss, and take a Noble Phantasm through her hip. She gasped in pain, and barely blocked the next attack, which forced her back a step. A mace clipped her head, causing her to fall back. She deflected the next three shots and than screamed in pain as two lances shot through her knees, impaling themselves into the ground and rooting her in place.
"Indeed. For after tonight you will no longer be able to deny it," Gilgamesh said, as if he was stating a well known fact.
"The TSAB will never just let you abduct me," Saber said, panting with pain.
"It does not matter. I fully intend to hand you over to them for safekeeping," Gilgamesh said, launching another couple of blades down at Saber. "They shall ensure you don't do anything reckless. They shall heal your injured body, soothe your troubled mind, and finally they'll give you back to me in exchange for my favor."
"They would never act so dishonorably," Saber gasped, as she tried pull one of the lances out of her legs. Gilgamesh watched her jerk in pain for a second before distracting her with another launched Noble Phantasm.
"Of course they would. Oh, perhaps not these young heroes you've allied with. But their leaders? They will choose to sacrifice the individual for the sake of the many as leaders have done since my reign ended," Gilgamesh said, crossing his arms. "As a king you know I speak truth. Did you not do the same dozens of time in your own rule?"
"You're right," Saber admitted, grimacing. "But that makes my path clear. I refuse to be some trophy to be awarded to one such as you. Therefore I shall defeat you here and now!" Saber raised her blade, its wind sheath blowing away to reveal Excalibur's golden brilliance.
"I'd expect nothing else from my headstrong fiance. But worry not Saber, I shall carve proper obedience into your body before this night is over," Gilgamesh said, mockingly, as he drew a particularly odd sword from his collection. "For you my dearest, I'll use my greatest treasure."
"EXCALIBUR!" The beam of golden light shot up the mountain.
"Enuma Elish," the beam was met by a rupture of red light, and the colliding blasts created a massive windstorm, knocking down trees and throwing up dirt. The shockwave tore Saber from her spot and threw her down the stairs. Smoke rose from her body as she struggled to her feet.
"Oh? I'm quite impressed. Do you still think you can win after barely withstanding a fraction of Ea's power?" Gilgamesh asked, his lips curled up in a cruel smile.
"Don't mock me," Saber spat, raising her sword once again. "Excalibur!" Another beam of golden light, this one much thinner and weaker than the last.
"Enuma Elish," only to be swatted down again by the overwhelming power of Ea. Saber screamed in pain as she was battered and pushed into the dirt. Her armor in tatters she glared up at Gilgamesh as she pushed her sword in the dirt to prop herself up.
"Are you sane woman? Do you really think you can do anything to me in that condition?" Gilgamesh asked, his eyes narrowing. "No, you don't. You have something else in mind. You cowardly bitch!" Gilgamesh roared, launching a dozen Noble Phantasms. Saber didn't bother dodging, and smiled triumphantly even as her left arm was cleaved from her body.
"Ex-cali-bur!" she shouted with the last of her strength, swinging her sword horizontally. The crescent of golden light was barely a flicker. It splashed harmlessly against Gilgamesh's golden armor, as Gilgamesh stomped down the stares, gritting his teeth. He glared at the rapidly disappearing Saber who only smirked in return. "I will never be yours," she proclaimed one last time as she faded into golden motes of light.
"Don't think you've escaped just yet Saber," he growled, scooping a drop of Saber's blood and preserving it in a vial. "I'll find a way to bring you back into this world, and you will be my bride."
/*/
Avenger glared at the globe of curses that was slowly forming itself into a miniature titan. "You've got to be kidding me. What are the odds that useless girl would summon him at that exact moment?" Avenger yelled in frustration. "In which case I'll just have to work out my frustration on the lot of you!" He yelled, lunging at Bazett, who barely deflected the claw-blades as her squad of TSAB troopers tried to lay down covering fire. Unlike the Sins though, they were unable to land even a glancing blow against Avenger as he attacked.
"Hurry...up...and...retreat!" Bazett gasped, already suffering several light injuries in the first few seconds of Avenger's savage onslaught. Combined with her earlier injuries, she was leaving a stream of blood as she was forced back towards the TSAB squad.
"Not an option. Avenger is a priority target, and we can't afford to lose track of him. His interference in our other operations could be devastating," the TSAB squad leader said, firmly. "We need to hold on until reinforcements can arrive."
"Glad to hear you're taking me seriously. But you're delusional if you'll last long enough to get help," Avenger sneered. Bazett just frowned and did her best to keep up with Avenger's attacks but with only one arm she wasn't able to protect herself adequately. She'd deflect one blow only to get cut somewhere else. And Avenger's pace was only picking up.
I'm not going to last for much longer. I'll have to take the offensive if I want to survive the next minute, Bazett thought to herself. She watched Avenger's blows carefully and stepped into them. The stab from Avenger's right arm went wide so Bazett grabbed his wrist and pulled him in close. She brought her knee up into his chest, even as his left claw-blade carved through her ribs. She slammed her head down in a brutal headbutt, forcing Avenger to the ground and stomping her foot down on his leg which shattered like a twig. She leaped away desperately to avoid his counter attack, which instead of hamstringing her, merely cutting through her heel instead.
"Now! Barrage and bind him," The squad leader yelled. A flurry of spells shot overhead as Bazett fell down, unable to land properly with half a foot.
"Well done," Avenger said, smirking, even as he was bound by a half-dozen different colored chains. "But you seem to be forgetting something. I'm not your only opponent," he added, jerking his head to point behind him. The Mini-Titan lumbered forward, a dozen tentacles sprouting from its body. They lashed out at the TSAB mages, covering the last ten meters between them in a flash. Caught off guard, the mages weren't able to put up any shields. Three fell immediately, their skulls impaled on the tentacles. Another was dragged screaming into the black mass of the Mini-Titan itself. The others were lucky, their Barrier Jackets were able to withstands the blows that fell upon them, and though they were battered and bruised, they were still alive.
"Not this time," Bazett hissed, bringing her arm down in a karate chop and rescuing another TSAB solider from being consumed. The man thanked her and resumed firing, as the horde of Sins were closing in rapidly. Bazett dragged her missing heel across the dirt, crudely drawing a rune in her own blood. "Come on, we need to get some distance from that thing," she said, leading the remaining squad members towards the horde of Sins.
"Not so fast," Avenger said, charging forward from the Sins, in a fresh new body. He butchered the first TSAB member in front of him, tossed the corpse at another, and darted forward to attack Bazett once again. This time, she was far too slow. The claw-blades carved into her hamstrings, making her fall face first into the dirt. She tried to lift herself up with her remaining arm, but Avenger stabbed down through her shoulder, crippling that arm as well before pushing his knee into her back.
"Now than, before you die, you can watch your remaining allies die first," Avenger snarled in her ear, lifting her head up by her hair. True to his word, the remaining TSAB members were being overrun by the Sins. With so many casualties and in such an open place, they had no way of culling the Sins fast enough. Bazett was forced to watch the Sins tear her comrades apart one by one.
"You bastard. You won't win," Bazett growled, weakly.
"Do you want to know a secret?" Avenger asked, leaning down to whisper in Bazett's ear. "I don't care about winning. I'll kill every human I can, until I'm stopped or there is no one left to kill. Now I'd love to take the time to coax some screams out of you, but I'm in a hurry. Let's see what other 'operations' I can ruin." The last thing Bazett heard was Avenger's wicked laugh before she felt a sharp across her neck as his blade opened her throat.
/*/
"You damn fool!" Archer cursed, throwing brought his blade down on Rin as he materialized from thin air.
"No!" Only to be slammed back as Nanoha just straight out smacked him in the chest with her stave. "No more fighting."
"Not really up to me anymore," Archer said, cracking his neck as he took stock. Down an arm, bleeding out from his stomach, and low on magical energy. Honestly, he's done more with less. A shame what he had to do was kill the past version of one of his closest friends. "If you step aside, I can do as my Master ordered and we can go fight Avenger. I'm not happy about this, but with that Command Seal, I'll have to do my best to kill her, and that means going through you if necessary."
"I won't let you slaughter someone in front of me. I'll beat you into submission first," Nanoha declared, one eye bleeding blood, shaking legs, and a voice full of determination.
"What happened to you?" Rin whispered, staring up at Archer with teary eyes.
"I was just taking my frustrations out on Avenger and things got a little out of hand," Archer said, smirking.
"That was horrible, you jerk," Rin said, a shaky smile forming. "Now hurry up and kill me so you can go save the world."
"He can do that without killing you! Why are you so stubborn about this?" Nanoha demanded. "Can't you cancel the Command Seal or something?"
"No, once they've been invoked they can only be canceled by another Command Seal," Archer said quickly, forming Kanshou in one hand. "Still, they do have a limited duration. Hold me off long enough, and the Command Seal will fade."
"Well than this will be simple," Nanoha said, with a faint smile.
"Will it?" Archer mused, launching himself forward. He threw Kanshou and Nanoha deflected it with a well placed pink bullet. Archer formed a copy of Bakuya as Nanoha raised her staff in the air.
"Shine!" she called, a brilliant pink light flooding the area. Nanoha, Rin, and even the terrain around them were covered in the blinding light. Archer merely snorted.
"Do you really think a mere bright light will be enough to blind me?" he asked, sardonically.
"Yaaaah," Nanoha yelled as she charged. Archer sighed, turning to protect the side with his missing arm. He caught the swung staff on his sword and pushed Nanoha back.
"Really? This was way too predictable," Archer mocked. "If you want to save Rin, you'll have to do better than that." And that's when several pink orbs took him out at the legs. As he fell he threw his blade at Nanoha, getting a clash of pink energy from her as she was forced to shield herself. He reformed Bakuya, and got back on his feet to find Nanoha across the clearing, her staff pointed at him, and two drones at her side.
"Now Raising Heart!" she ordered.
-Axel Shooter, Barrage Mode- The device chimed, a virtual river of pink bullets firing at Archer. He dodged and deflected most of them as he retreated, a couple shots getting through and battering his already broken body. He ducked behind a tree, the cover reducing the onslaught significantly even as the bullets began curving and ducking around the terrain.
"What's wrong Nanoha? No giant death lasers today?" He called, planting another copy of Bakuya into the dirt. A wet cough answered him. He glanced past the tree to see Nanoha standing in place, hacking her lungs out even as she kept her stance steady and kept up the barrage. He could see flecks of blood coming out with every cough and frowned.
It looks like she's in worse shape than I thought. Her body looks like it can only handle one big spell, if that. There's no way she can defeat me in her current condition. She's probably trying to buy time for the Command Spell to wear off. Not a bad idea but un- Archers thoughts were cut off as a shot blasted through the tree he was using as cover, smacking him directly in the back of the head. As he fell forward, he turned his fall into a roll, rising to his feet smoothly, just in time to see dozens of pink orbs rise out of the bushes. I see. If she could shoot through the tree in the first place, all those other shots were just setting up this trap. Well done Nanoha, Archer thought, before blacking out as the bullets smashed into him.
When Archer came to, he was wrapped in magical chains and contained within a pyramid shaped barrier. He looked up to see Nanoha pointing Raising Heart at him, and breathing hard.
"There. That should keep you contained until the Command Seal wears off," Nanoha said, wiping blood from her mouth, leaving a smear across her Barrier Jacket.
"Perhaps. But sadly, I've already won," Archer said, grimly, creating a copy of Bakuya in his hands. With a glimmer of will, the first Kanshou he threw flew out of the woods, and another sent the other two copies of Bakuya towards Kanshou, all of the blades converging on Rin's position.
Not as precise as I would like, but it'll suffice, Archer thought, his stomach falling as he heard the sound of Nanoha loading a cartridge.
-Flash Move- Raising Heart intoned. Archer blinked and Nanoha was holding Rin in her arms, with the three copied blades sticking out of her back and chest. Her bleeding eye was completely closed now, and she was coughing up blood all over Rin.
"Why?" Rin asked, horrified.
"Don't worry. It's not as bad as it looks," Nanoha said, giving Rin a bloody smile. She pulled the blade out of her chest, revealing that only the first couple inches were covered in blood. "See? My Barrier Jacket protected me from the worst of the damage. I'll be fine."
"If your insides don't melt first," Archer said, breaking the chains binding him. He projected Gae Dearg the Crimson Rose of Exorcism, and swiped it through Nanoha's barrier, shattering it instantly. "Just hand over Rin. You tried your best, and I hate to say it, but this time you lose," he said, grimly, walking towards Nanoha.
"Never," Nanoha said, clutching Rin closer to her chest.
"Well unless you've got some other trick up your sleeve, I'm going to walk over there, pull her out of your arms, and execute her," Archer said. Nanoha said nothing, just standing her ground and glaring at Archer.
"Execute? Sounds like I came in at the exact right moment," Avenger said, emerging from the woods leading to the path, followed by nearly a hundred Sins, their voices raising in triumphant howls to form an unholy cacophony.
"Avenger? I'm happy to see you," Archer said, grinning savagely.
"Why? Why don't you go kill your Master, or that girl in white? Can't tell which one you were gunning for really. No need to let me interrupt," Avenger said, idly twirling his two claw-blades.
"Because you're giving me an excuse to go all out," Archer said, taking a deep breath. "I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to Death, nor known to Life. Have withstood the pain to create many weapons. Yet, those hands will never hold anything. So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."
The world around them disappeared as Archer's Reality Marble formed around them. The air filled with the heat of freshly forged blades, as the Sins' noise was drowned out by the grinding of great gears. Archer smiled even as he felt his body begin to fade away.
"Looks like this is my finale. Prepare yourself to survive my greatest attack," Archer said, raising a hand in the air. Nanoha winced and lifted Raising Heart.
-Wide Area Protection- Raising Heart said, a pink shield forming around her and Rin. Archer glanced at them and smiled. He brought his hand down, and a storm of blades buried everything.
/*/
Lancer walked down the stairs. He still wasn't healed, but after seeing Saber's Noble Phantasm he knew he had to return to the fight. So with a stiff leg, burning arms, and a wheezing lung, Lancer made his way to the bottom of the mountain. Once there, he found a Nanoha and Rin supporting each other as they slowly began climbing the mountain. Nanoha's Barrier Jacket was in tatters, and she was bleeding from multiple wounds and was barely conscious. In comparison, Rin was barely scratched. She was bleeding from a few wounds, but they were pretty superficial and minor.
"Shit. First job given to me by my Master, and already I'm messing things up pretty badly," Lancer cursed, coming over to the two girls. "I thought she could handle you pretty easily. What happen to make her push herself so hard?" he asked Rin.
"I summoned Archer-"
"Really? I thought you had more honor than to call your Servant to fight for you after promising not to," Lancer interrupted, glaring at Rin.
"To have him kill me," Rin finished, glaring right back. "Nanoha had defeated me, and I decided it would be for the best if Archer made a contract with her instead. So I ordered him to kill me. But she defended me instead."
"And beat Archer considering you are still alive," Lancer said, raising an eyebrow.
"Kinda. Avenger interrupted, so Archer used his Noble Phantasm to attack me and him at the same time. Nanoha protected me, but was pretty badly hurt in the process. Avenger and his Sins were killed, but..." Rin said, trailing off.
"But he'll just respawn and bring in more, yeah, I got it," Lancer said, frowning as he scratched his head. "So what are you doing now?"
"I owe her a debt for saving my life. The least I can do is get her to safety," Rin said, firmly. Nanoha mumbled something, but Rin just shook her head. "I can't just ignore what she did for me. Not after I made all those declarations about my pride. Besides, since I'm not a Master anymore, I guess the geas no longer applies to me," she finished with a weak laugh.
"Alright, that sounds fair to me," Lancer said, tapping his lance against the ground. "So what's your plan?"
"I have no idea. I'm just going to bring her up to the rest of her group and take things from there. Do you have any advice?" Rin asked.
"No. Saber and I defeated corrupted versions of Berserker and Rider. I took a few moments to heal, and I saw Saber employ her Noble Phantasm multiple times. After using it so many times in the same day, I imagine she's faded away by now. What about Archer?" Lancer reported.
"Between his injuries from Avenger, his fight with Nanoha, and his Noble Phantasm? He's gone. Even with my prana reserves, that's way too much to handle. And I'm pretty sure he was deliberately drawing as little of my reserves as possible," Rin said.
"So Archer is gone huh?" Lancer said, shrugging. "I guess that leaves me and Avenger?"
"Yup!" Avenger said, cheerfully, arriving with a new horde of Sins. "Archer was a real pain in my ass, so I'm going to go ahead and take that out on you, Lancer."
"As if I'm scared of someone who needs an army in order to be a threat," Lancer said, laughing mockingly. "You girls go on ahead. Shirou and Illya should be on the top of the mountain. You can meet up with them there. I'll take care of Avenger."
"Bold words. Do you really think you have something that can stop me?" Avenger asked, walking forward.
"Sure I do. He's called Cu Cuchulainn," Lancer said, smirking as he approached Avenger. "You girls run along now. I'll handle this." With that, the battle began. Lanccer's spear shot forward, and Avenger desperately defended against Lancer's attacks. Lancer didn't let up, Gae Bolg struck again and again, forcing Avanger back, step by step. Whenever a Sin would try and get around, Lancer would dispatch them in less than a second.
"Take this!" Avenger yelled, allowing himself to get impaled in order to bring his blades down on Lancer's hands. Lancer merely stepped back, catching Gae Bolg by the butt end of the spear, yanking it back and readjusting his grip.
"Well that was pathetic," Lancer said as Avenger respawned from a Sin. "You got any other tricks up your sleeve or are you just going to keep dying at me?"
"Save your breath Lancer. You're going to need it. That trick may not have worked, but I've got millions of tries to figure something out. And my Sins will overwhelm you soon enough. With sheer numbers if nothing else," Avenger spat, as dozens more Sins began emerging from the woods.
"Pff, do you even know who you are talking to? I'm the man who held off an entire army for three days. I can handle a bunch of low class shadow monsters no matter how many there are," Lancer said, laughing as he twirled his lance around, casually dispatching another three Sins. Avenger just snarled and resumed the attack.
/*/
"What happened here?" Nanoha asked.
"Don't worry about it," Rin grunted, half supporting Nanoha as they made their way up the shattered steps. "Proboaly a fight between Servants. You sent yours up earlier right? Considering Lancer came back down, I think yours won."
"They're not mine," Nanoha said, faintly. She shook her head. "That's not important. Shirou and Illya would've kept going, so we'll meet them at the top."
"Sure thing," Rin agreed, trying to ignore the blood trickling down the back of her neck from Nanoha's arm. "We sure hurry though. With so many Servants defeated, the Grail should manifest soon."
"What do you mean by manifest? And does it have anything to do with that Titan up there?" Nanoha asked. As she spoke the Titan paused in its latest attempt to swat the TSAB and began to compress in on itself.
"I'd say so yes," Rin said, dryly.
"Raising Heart, open a communication line to Chrono. We've got important intel for him," Nanoha said, pausing. "Audio only, please," she added, meekly.
-Yes, my Master. Handshake protocol identified Device Durandal in use. Opening audio channel-
"Nanoha, did you do that? The Titan just stopped moving and we are reading massive power fluctuations near the base of the mud," Chrono said, breathing hard over the line.
"Sorry Chrono, that wasn't me. Tohsaka says it might be because the Grail is manifesting now that enough Servants have been destroyed," Nanoha said, keeping her voice upbeat.
"You have Tohsaka? Good work. Now hold on a second," Chrono went quiet for a few minutes, while they kept climbing. "Okay, Amy has run her analysis on what's happening. Fluctuations isn't the best word. Contractions would be better."
"You mean-"
"Yes. Some entity is coming out of the Grail. All of these Sins, the Titan, they are basically the shadow of the real Avenger. All the energy from the dead Servants is basically opening the way for it to be born where it will promptly destroy the world. It isn't open yet, but it's only a matter of time at this rate," Chrono said, grimly.
"Lancer! You have to go help him," Nanoha said, urgently. "We left him fighting Avenger at the base of the mountain. If he loses-"
"The portal will open fully, almost immediately," Chrono said. "I'll send all available agents to help him, but honestly, that consists of basically me and maybe one or two mages. Everyone else is either exhausted or too busy evacuating the remaining civilians."
"I can still help. I'll turn around and back him up!" Nanoha said, stopping.
"Nanoha you only do audio calls when you are half dead and pushing yourself beyond any sane limit," Chrono said, sighing.
"No I don't," Nanoha said, with a nervous laugh.
"Uh huh," Chrono said, dryly. "Can you take a deep breath for me Nanoha? As deep as you can, and than blow that air out."
"Um I'd-"
"That's an order Nanoha," Chrono said, sternly. Nanoha reluctantly took a deep breath and immediately began hacking up blood.
"That's what I thought. No, you had the right idea. Go rendezvous with Shirou and Illya. If they've rescued Sakura, good. If not, well they're officially out of time. We're pulling out," Chrono said, grimly.
"Pulling out? You can't mean that Chrono! We can still save this city!" Nanoha yelled, before stopping to cough some more.
"Don't be ridiculous Nanoha! You barely have the energy to talk to me, let alone fight. We've got, at best, a half hour before the True Avenger is born, and whatever civilians who aren't already in one of our barriers has surely been killed by the infinite army of Sins that is bearing down on your position as we speak," Chrono yelled back. "Even if you could somehow come up with a spell to fix everything, you'd die before you finished casting it! I'm not letting you throw your life away for nothing, not when you know what that'll do to my sister!"
"That's not fair," Nanoha said, subdued.
"Nothing about this is. But we do our best regardless," Chrono said, sighing deeply. "So we can at least make sure Shirou and Illya don't get left behind. Once we have them, we'll empty the barriers, and deploy Arc En Ciel."
"That's...no! You can't!" Nanoha yelled. "That won't just destroy Fuyuki, that'll wipe out everything in southern Japan! And that's just the initial blast!"
"You've got to be kidding me. You'd do that," Rin finally spoke up, her voice horrified.
"Rin Tohsaka I presume?" Chrono said, coldly, practically spitting the words. "If our calculations are correct, within ten minutes of being born Avenger will wipe out all life from here to London. Unless you've got some miracle to shut down this Lost Logia, I'll thank you to not blame me for cleaning up your mess."
"Chrono, that's not fair," Nanoha said, disapprovingly.
"Just do your job Nanoha. I'll see you back on the Arthra," Chrono said, ending the transmission.
"Tohsaka are you okay?" Nanoha asked, glancing over at Rin.
"Shut down the ritual," Rin mumbled, gnawing on a thumb.
"Can you?" Nanoha asked, surprised.
"No. Not at this stage. It'd be like turning your car off the moment before you get in an accident. It's too late to make a difference," Rin said, pulling Nanoha faster as she started to get excited. "But this whole True Avenger thing, the giant mud Titan, the Sins, none of that should be possible. The Grail is supposed to grant wishes, not give birth to some demon god. But do you know how it does that?"
"A little. Illya told us that she would contain all the Servants and be able to use their energy for the wish," Nanoha said.
"Exactly. So if the problem is that the energy of the Servants is opening this portal, than we just need to use that energy up!" Rin said. "Come on, hurry up, we don't have much time before Captain Jerkwad there decides to wipe us off the map." The pair did their best to get up the last few stairs as quickly as possible, getting up to the edge of mud lake, where Illya and Sakura were carrying an unconscious Shirou towards the stairs.
"Sakura? You're all better, thank goodness!" Nanoha said, cheerfully, giving Sakura a bloody smile.
"Nanoha? What happened to you?" Sakura yelled, her eyes wide and horrified.
"Don't worry it's just a flesh wound," Nanoha reassured Sakura, swaying a little from blood loss.
"Right. We need to move fast. STAB is about to make the Counter Force feel inadequate if we can't figure out a way to fix basically everything in, oh, the next five minutes or so," Rin said, all business. "Also Nanoha's bleeding out, and she renewed her stupid binding so I can't actually use any magic to heal her."
"I'm fine," Nanoha said, sitting down suddenly. Illya sighed and moved over to her, murmuring gently as faint silver wires began sewing her worst injuries together.
"I don't know what you expect us to do. We saved Sakura, yay. But it looks like the Grail is about to manifest and Lancer doesn't have a nifty Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm we could use to obliterate it in a precision strike," Illya said, as she worked. "Not that it would work. All that mud is forming a protective shield around the Greater Grail, and so long as that exists, the Sins and the Titan can't be stopped."
"Well why don't we do something about that mud than? It's just active mana isn't it?" Rin asked.
"If you consider thousands of curses to be active mana, sure it is," Illya said, dryly, looking at Rin like she was an idiot.
"Just channel it into the Grail. You are the Lesser Grail prepared by the Einzberns correct? We can use a wish to drain away the mana, and than destroy the Greater Grail to deactivate it permanently. In fact, let's use the wish to destroy the Greater Grail! Two birds with one stone," Rin said, nodding proudly as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Umm, that won't work, Nee-San," Sakura said, frowning.
"Why not?"
"Because Avenger gets to decide how the wish is carried out, and any result will include destroying humanity and maybe the planet to go along with it," Illya said. "I can channel the mana, but I can't do anything with it. So all I can really do is keep the door shut for now. Which is surprisingly easy."
"I'm helping," Sakura said, softly. "I can feel Avenger trying to push his way back into my mind, but the energy from Berserker and Rider is showing me where the passage from him to me is, and that's helping me keep it closed off."
"You have them? I see, that's why I only have three," Illya murmured.
"What do you mean?" Nanoha asked, twisting around to look at Illya.
"Stop that, you are making it hard to sew you up," Illya said, slapping Nanoha in the back of the head. "And it's complicated. Long story short, Sakura is like me for some reason, and that's making it easier to do my job as the Lesser Grail. But that doesn't really matter, cause we can't do anything with the mana we can access."
"So to summarize, we need to destroy the Greater Grail to prevent Avenger from coming through and destroying us all. But we can't get to the Greater Grail because of all the black mud in the way. Which is comprised of countless deadly curses. Even if we could get to the Greater Grail, we still don't have a powerful enough attack to actually destroy it," Tohsaka said, tapping a finger against her lip.
"I can do it," Nanoha said, gently pushing Illya back and standing up. "My spell, Starlight Breaker, gathers ambient mana and turns it into a destructive blast of energy. Those curses aren't being controlled by anything, so they should be sucked right up. And the blast should be more than enough to take out the Greater Grail as well."
"No way can you cast a spell that powerful in your condition. You barely made it up those steps!" Tohsaka protested, moving and standing in front of Nanoha.
"I'll be fine," Nanoha said, not meeting Tohsaka's eyes. "And if I'm not, well, it's still worth it right? My life for the lives of millions of people, or maybe even the entire world. I can live with that," she added, shrugging, even as she rubbed the sleeve of her tattered Barrier Jacket against her eyes.
"Wait wait wait wait," Illya and Sakura yelled, running over and grabbing Nanoha. "You can't/there's got to be/do this/another way!"
"This is the other way. The alternative is Arc En Ciel wiping out half of Japan," Nanoha reminded them. "Besides I might not die. My body is pretty good at handling lots of mana."
"I'm designed to handle those levels of mana too and I'm pretty sure that would still melt my Magic Circuits. Even at my best, it'd permanently stop me from using magic ever again, and you aren't at your best," Illya said, glaring at Nanoha.
"Isn't there someone else who could cast the spell?" Sakura asked, desperately.
-I can- Raising Heart said, suddenly.
"What? Raising Heart, you can't do this on your own. You need someone to channel the mana for you," Nanoha said.
-Illyasviel's function will suffice- Raising Heart responded.
"You want me to wield you? Like I said, I can't handle that much mana on my own, and I'm not at my best either," Illya said, frowning.
"I'll help," Sakura volunteered, taking a step forward. "I'm not much good at magic, but I should be able to channel some of this mana. It seems almost...instinctive."
"Raising Heart, if you handle casting the spell, it'll destroy you," Nanoha said.
-Confirmed Master- Raising Heart said.
"Is that alright Raising Heart?" Nanoha asked softly.
-I can be fired, my Master- Raising Heart said, confidently.
"Okay. Than let's do this. Raising Heart, extend barrel to maximum length," Nanoha ordered. Raising Heart complied, the staff extending in length until it was nearly twice its original length. "Okay, Illya, Sakura, come here and grab on. Raising Heart will register you as temporary users. Let her into your mind, she'll guide you in channeling the mana. I'll get the spell set up, and I'll aim it, but that's all, everyone understand?" Everyone nodded and got to work. One magic circle in white formed under Illya, while another in purple formed under Sakura. A giant pink circle formed in front of them, each point of the triangle forming a magic circle of its own.
"Nanoha! What do you think you're doing?" Chorno's voice suddenly demanded.
"Ah! I nearly forgot to tell you! We've figured out a way to save everyone! We're channeling all the mana from the black mud into the biggest Breaker spell ever," Nanoha said, quickly explaining. "You should get out of the way," she added.
"That's...dammit Nanoha, you better be alive at the end of this so I can yell at you properly," Chrono cursed, before switching off. There were a few seconds of silence as the mana continued to gather silently.
"Wow, you can see it shrinking pretty fast," Rin said, eyes wide as she stared up at the rapidly diminishing Titan. "This is going to be absolutely terrifying isn't it?"
"By the way Tohsaka, can you grab Shirou and come stand by us? It's going to be hard to aim this, so the safest spot will be within the magic circles," Nanoha said, her eyes closed as she concentrated. There was a faint humming as the mana was gathered faster and faster, as Raising Heart began to heat, before glowing a bright cherry red. Sakura and Illya merely tightened their grip on the super-hot Device, ignoring the sizzling of their flesh. Before long, the night had been obliterated by the new sun in the sky. The orb was gigantic, so big that Rin couldn't even see its edge from underneath it.
"It's ready," Nanoha said. She softly kissed Raising Heart's gemstone, burning her lips. "I'm going to miss you my beloved partner." She took a deep breath and raised her staff so it was pointing straight up. "Firing! Star-No, Holy Supernova Breaker!" She brought Raising Heart down, til its tip touched the earth beneath their feet. And with that the sun fell.
/*/
"Gae Bolg!" Lancer yelled, launching his Noble Phantasm and slaughtering hundreds of Sins. He laughed as more Sins rushed forward, his lance already in hand, even as Chrono rained down spells from up high.
"That's the third time you've used that. How much mana do you have?" Avenger demanded, angrily.
"As much as I need," Lancer said, grinning widely. A bright light appeared behind them. "What's that?" he said, sparing a quick glance.
"We've got to go!" Chrono yelled, swooping down from the sky. "No time to explain, just grab on tight!" he yelled, grabbing Lancer and flying up as fast as he could.
"Wait, don't interfere with my fight! I was having so much...by Morrigan's Tits what the Hell is that?!" Lancer asked, staring at the rapidly forming sun.
"Nanoha's solution to the Grail War," Chrono said, in a sort of blank monotone that spoke both to his massive irritation and resignation to what was about to occur. Sure enough the sun fell down the mountain, obliterating the Sins charging up the path, before sinking into the earth. The ground began to glow pink. All of it, from Mount Enzou all the way out to Kotomine Church and beyond. "She's aiming it, that crazy girl," Chrono said, in awe, as the pink curved to avoid the Einzbern castle.
The glow intensified, and Chrono quickly starting getting even more altitude. Off in the distance, Lancer could see a golden light rising up above the clouds before the entire landscape erupted in pink magic. It rose high into the sky, obliterating every inch of even the tallest skyscraper as the city was consumed in the blinding pink light.
Author's Notes: And that is that. The Grail War is officially over with the biggest explosion seen on the planet. There will be a wrap up chapter next, and than a series of epilogues, but those will all be pretty short in length.
As for this chapter, well lets see if I can't premempt some questions:
Nanoha vs Archer: Both are in pretty critical condition here. Nanoha can't fly, and could only really do one big spell before collapsing, so she makes do with a bunch of little spells. Archer isn't in much better shape. As we see, when he uses his Noble Phantasm, he immediately begins fading away. Which is why he didn't use it at the start of the fight. He has to try his best to kill Rin, but she didn't specify how, so he has some leeway in his methods. As is, he did win the fight, though it was a lot closer than expected, and would've killed Rin if Avenger hadn't shown up. Nanoha was able to survive his Noble Phantasm, because he didn't have the mana to use anything fancy in his Reality Marble, he just hit everyone with a massive swarm of nameless blades.
Also Archer was trying to resist the Command Seal by attempting to fulfill it's conditions poorly.
Rin starting to help Nanoha is a lot like why she helps Shirou in canon. She cannot stand being in debt to someone. As for the geas, since she isn't a Master anymore, and doesn't have access to her mana anyways, it doesn't work on her.
Lancer vs Avenger: I couldn't work it into the story, but Servants are empowered/weakened by their individual legends. Delaying an army from the defensive position? That's basically one of Cu's legendary feats, so that helps. The other thing is that he really is one of the best Servants to fight Avenger. He can keep his distance, without becoming vulnerable when Avenger gets close, with a Noble Phantasm that can clear out massive numbers of Sins without being prohibitively expensive mana wise.
Raising Heart: I figure Raising Heart can cast spells, and just needs someone to direct her and fuel the spells. Which is how Nanoha was able to use magic after holding Raising Heart for all of ten seconds. Later Nanoha would become more active, but in that first fight she really just does what Raising Heart tells her to do.