It's time, it's time for the grand bout between kings, mad knights, schmuck assassins...And Waver. He's kinda just along for the ride really. It is time, for Saber's personal Blade Works! Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm no poet, but I'll try damn it. It can't be that hard can i- *To be continued.
"Are you ready Saber? Night has fallen and we've all been fed and watered, I believe it is time to begin our grand battle of legends!" Iskandar was practically vibrating in place with excitement, he had wanted to fight his enigmatic fellow red servant for a good long while now.
'Everything should be ready now. I can feel the tainted mana from the grail flowing through me, it's almost overwhelming.' Kiritsugu did quick work, while Saber was entertaining and feeding their guests, Kiritsugu and Irisviel worked on connecting their servant to the combined mana of the heroes that had fallen.
Thankfully they numbered only one and some chage with the Assassin bodies. Otherwise even a Saber class servant with a reality marble would have been corrupted by the sheer power and vile sentiment from the grail's demonic tenant. As he was now though, Saber merely appreciated the power boost that he'd desperately need for the fight ahead. Speaking of which.
"Of course, we're just waiting for Berserker, what's left of Assassin, and their master to show up...Ah, there they are." If it were anyone else Saber's comment may have come off as a biting statement, an insult to the master-servant pair that walked through the castle gates alongside the silent black knight...No. Even for someone as polite as Saber, it was still quite insulting, this was his polar opposite after all.
Kotomine Kirei, the man who could only feel pleasure by causing suffering. He was completely anathema to everything that Saber stood for. "When Gilgamesh told me that the so-called "holy" grail would summon what may as well be Satan I thought it would only be appropriate for me to at least participate." The not-fake-yet priest answered, not quite sure why this servant was so openly hostile to him compared to his polite nature with everyone else.
Granted he was only here to fulfill his duty as a priest and maybe take a peek at the source of All the World's Evil, but neither Kirei nor anyone else should know that. Right? Unfortunately for the confused broken man, two people in the room knew him better than he knew himself. Though only one cared to change their demeanor in response.
"True enough, now that we're all here let us head to our arena. It wouldn't do to have a battle in the same place where we ate." Saber didn't elaborate why he found Kirei's statement accurate, merely escorting the servants and masters to the forest just outside the Einzbern castle. Specifically, the part of it that was leveled by Gilgamesh's temper tantrum days prior.
"This should be good enough for our purposes. Now, let's begi-" Saber was cut off as one of the Assassin bodies foolishly tried to go for a surprise attack from behind, aiming for his throat. Only for the Servant of the sword to dodge effortlessly and catch the Assassin's wrist with a tight grip. "How rude. And honestly, if the same tactic didn't work when I was exhausted and injured, what made you think it would work now?"
Those were the last words the poor Hassan fragment heard before its head was torn off with all the enhanced strength afforded to a Saber servant with a nearly flawless Reinforcement skill. "There's a difference between bravery and suicidal stupidity." Shirou Emiya knew the line between those two better than anyone.
It was at those words that Lancer went in for his own assault, this time actually catching the red Saber's attention as a worthy combatant. He was followed soon after by Berserker who joined the fray with a stray log he turned into his noble phantasm, most likely ordered to do so by Kariya with a command seal.
"AAAARRR" The beast roared, quickly overwhelming Saber with his sheer ferocity along with Lancer's more calculated strikes. It got to the point where Shirou had to tap into his inner Archer and fire a pair of explosive nameless blades to get some distance. A distraction that Lancer saw coming and dodged accordingly while Berserker merely tanked it head-on.
Now that he only had one opponent directly in front of him Saber could trace an appropriate blade that could take out the most chaotic element in this battle, a blade meant specifically for enraging Lancelot, the sword that chooses the king, or at least a very very good copy of it.
"AAAAARRRRTTTHHUUURRR!" The tainted knight held out for a full microsecond before losing what little sanity he had left and charged directly at Saber in a straight line, a two-handed swing with his weaponized log. This reckless, made tracking his movements simplicity itself, where half a dozen A-ranked noble phantasms were brought out, ready and able to cut the mad knight down.
Lancelot however made it clear that his speed and durability were something to behold, dodging or outright tanking the blades sent at him and nearly breaking the copy of Caliburn the moment that his log made contact with it...Saber had seen enough and began making preparations for his trump card.
"My body is made of swords." He began, immediately sending his opponents into a panic. The remaining bodies of Assassin and Lancer went to join the fight against the crimson Saber. Whatever he was planning on doing was going to be big and they had no doubt in their mind that it would mean the end of them if he finished.
But of course, the chanting had another purpose. Even a single line was enough to improve Saber's tracing significantly. His assailants were each met with a wall of blades, most dying immediately from the hail of nameless blades while a few of the stronger Assassins managed to break through, needless to say, Lancelot followed this path as well. Lancer of course dodged the attacks magnificently, though not without considerable effort as evidenced by the sheen of sweat he had worked up.
Only the latter two opponents truly mattered of course, even if the slightly bulkier Assassins could weather the storm of blades it merely meant that they'd be slower than their more agile, deceased counterparts. A slow opponent did not survive long against Shirou Emiya. "Body of steel, heart of fire, and a soul that has reached paradise." Saber continued to chant as he cut down his opposition, stopping only momentarily when Lancer made his move.
"For master Kayneth!" Diarmuid cried, attacking with a hard thrust using Gae Dearg. His opponent's weapons, despite all their power, were still magic constructs. He would break through! Or at least that's what he thought, up until Saber simply released his weapons and caught the offending red speer by the shaft.
[Maximum Reinforcement!] [Mana Burst!]
Gae Dearg was ripped from Lancer's grasp. What was once an even match between their strength statistic turned into a one-way massacre with Saber's two skills, one of which he trained to perfection over his life, the other of which he simply won the servant lottery with a high rank. Needless to say, Lancer's face turned to rage as he brought his yellow spear down next, the quick action earning him a glancing blow onto Saber's armor but not much else as the crimson servant backtracked, Gae Dearg still in hand.
"Projected ideals reinforced and countless battlefields overcome." Saber projected his black bow, knocked Gae Dearg as a pseudo arrow, and launched it to Zelretch knows where. He would not lie, he was taking a bit of enjoyment from Lancer's face right then. "An arduous road awaits, one paved in steel and quenched in blood."
Thinking that he was being mocked, so much so that his opponent's attention did not even waver from his chant, Lancer fumed and redoubled his efforts. Or he would have if it weren't for the sudden appearance of ghostly blue flames around the Saber class servant. "Yet I needn't travel it alone, those closest to me share my-"
Iskandar's eyes widened in realization, the magic he sensed was similar, almost identical to his own noble phantasm. And that chant... It could only mean one thing. A massive grin soon joined his eyes, for a modern hero to have one too! Now he could go all out without an ounce of regret!
"IONIOI HETAIROI!"
"UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!"
Two spirals of prana, one in the form of earthly craters cracking the ground with azure flames and the other in a nearly perfect sphere around the crimson Rider servant. Regardless of their differences, the result was the same.
The World went white. And then the World was no more, and two worlds took its place. Half of the world became a scorching desert, filled with sand for miles and upon those sands stood an army uncountable, armed with the weapons of Macedonia, an extension of the King of Conqueror's dream made manifest.
However, it was the other half of this new blended world that caught everyone's eyes. If it could be described in short it would be called a brutal beauty. Emerald grass-filled hills, so vibrant was its color that even the sun appeared to shine in a brilliant green hue which danced with the cerulean blue sky.
All around there was vegetation or a facsimile of it at least. Other than the grass there was flora made from gemstones throughout the landscape, and to top it all off, a lake of crystalline water could be seen in the distance, its radiance only rivaled by the sky itself. It was a world that even Gaea would respect, a fair assessment considering that it took inspiration from a paradise from the Reverse Side of the World.
The feature that worked towards its brutality however was what truly captured people's attention. Blades. Hundreds. Thousands. An unlimited amount of steel and iron was laid bare for all to see, what truly filled the stomachs of the other heroes with dread and excitement however was the aura contained within each weapon.
"T-This is!" A single Assassin body that managed to survive the Assassin genocide barely managed to gasp out while looking at his surroundings. This...This went beyond mere magecraft, the creation of worlds. This bordered on the power of gods!
"A reality marble...Of all things, I was up against an entire world this whole time. Or two worlds I suppose." Lancer said, defeat in his voice as he took his eyes off Saber to look at Rider. Even if he got lucky and beat Saber, another titan of power was waiting for him. "And all of these weapons. They're noble phantasms aren't they?" Even from where he was standing he could see Mac an Luin stabbed into the ground a few meters away.
"Not all of them, but mostly yes. These are the weapons of heroes long past, though to me each one is more like a grave. Serving as the final memories and legacies of each hero, a veritable mausoleum in honor of the Throne of Heroes." And on a more personal level, they each served as a failure in Shirou Emiya's long path to a rightful place on the throne. One that wasn't bought at the price of his soul.
"I'll admit Faker, were these the genuine article, I would have called this soul of yours rather beautiful...No, even with these pale imitations, they serve their purpose well enough. A mausoleum hmm, yes, this would fit nicely for the lesser heroes that piggybacked off my treasures." Gilgamesh, while not impressed, did appreciate the mental landscape for what it was. It earned the privilege to exist.
The petty king's mental landscape was worthy in its own way as well. Though a bit boring upon a second viewing. It represented a rather simple dream. One of conquest and unification through conquest. A dream that placed the false king directly at odds with the world's one true king. Such a shame that it would be destroyed by the Faker's world, Gilgamesh may have even considered it worthy enough to destroy himself with his greatest weapon.
"At least this won't be boring, go on my subjects, entertain your king!" The king was promptly ignored as a veritable rain of steel descended upon Saber's opponents with only the wave of the crimson servant's hand as any sort of preamble. The final Assassin was struck down instantaneously.
And without Gae Dearg, Lancer was soon to follow if it weren't for one of Rider's soldiers blocking a falling blade with his own weapon, saving the Irish man's life. Sadly, these men, powerful as they may be, some perhaps enough to become heroic spirits in their own rights, were still only equipped with mere steel, wood, and leather. The soldier's weapon and the arm wielding it was swiftly torn off with the force of the nameless noble phantasm that he deflected.
Seeing this brave soldier's sacrifice, Saber decided that he'd rather not fight against thousands of servant level fighters at once. 'This is going to suck, I hope this servant body can handle the excess output.' Saber thought, and with a mere flick of his finger a large blade...No, he hesitated to really call it a blade, it was more like a drill than anything else and it's purpose was all too clear to those that recognized it.
Counter Guardian Emiya had once altered it into the form of an arrow, trading it's initial landscape redefining power for speed and accuracy. Now however, Saber was using it in it's original form, and as was tradition for all Emiyas, he pumped the sucker so full of mana that it resembled a lightsaber as he slammed it into the golden sand of Iskandar's reality marble.
What followed was a man-made natural disaster, the power to carve up hills which caladbolg wielded was put into full force, shifting and churning the sand beneath the mighty Macedonian army's feet. Dozens were killed instantly by the A-ranked phantasm's sheer power. Those were the lucky ones. Hundreds more were sucked into the quickly sinking sands, never to be seen again.
And that was simply one of Saber's trump cards. He had countless more blades of equal or greater power in stock, and with the help of the grail's massive and growing mana supply, he could keep the broken phantasms coming. He only needed to worry about his own body giving out, an issue that Shirou Emiya was intimately familiar with dealing with and had grown accustomed to over the years anyway.
It was at a time like this that Saber reflected the choices in his life that lead him to this point… And then he remembered that most of those choices were made by the people around him and his own distorted mind so he stopped thinking about them for his own sanity. Instead, he focused on his current and most pressing goal.
Murder Lancer.
I'd have a bit more dialogue in this fight but talking during a battle is a sin. Especially when you're fighting countless servant level opponents with god knows what hax they may have. Sadly there's also the fact that unlike Saber, Rider only has the mana reserves of poor Waver to keep up his phantasm. Meaning that if a large enough portion of his army is defeated, the rest will go along with it leaving only the Unlimited Blade Works.
Speaking of which, how did you like my version of it? And the chant for that matter? I decided to go for a more literal translation instead of the poetic version. Honestly the hardest part was keeping it at a ten count. I kept going just over or under the limit while trying to keep the new reality marble's theme consistent. A theme of overcoming Shirou's distortion with the help of those closest to him in all three routes.
Well, regardless of all that I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. This will probably be the second or third to last one for this story. Whether a sequel is made at a later date will be decided as time passes, for not though I'm just happy to complete another story so that I can focus more on the rest that I have in the bin. It hurts every time that I see a story go un-updated for six months knowing that it could have been avoided if I simply paced myself better.
But enough of my ramblings, it won't fix the mistakes I made nor will it make this chapter any better. I wish you all the best, until next time.