SentinalSlice: I don't understand why Ruby would be allowed to work for a servant. The whole point of a servant is that they are restrained to one class. To give Illya her class cards would mean that she is basically there as a heroic spirit, something that is many times more powerful than her caster self. It also makes me want to see Archer not be confined by a class as well, and instead just have the full power of his Counter guardian self.
A: That is why it was only by the power of Ophis that they will be afforded their full powers... Though, Archer's case may be a bit tad troublesome. Also, for what I have planned and to stand up with the powers of DxD, they will need their full powers.
From now on, I will do my best to personally respond to questions via DMs and will publically address them in the next chapter.
Oh, congrats to the people who figured out the cursed chapter number of the April Fools chapter... You are truly degenerates and men of culture.
I also have a quick announcement at the end of the chapter so please read the Author's Note at the end!
Chapter 29
Desert Storm
Illya gasped in pain as her hands immediately pressed themselves on her abdomen and chest. Yet, as fast as it came, the pain disappeared.
Confused at the sudden disappearance of the pain, she looked to her abdomen to look for the dagger wound inflicted by her what she can only assume to be Assassin, or more specifically, the Hassan of the hundred personas.
"Wha-?" she could only gap at the lack of said wound as her abdomen and dress remained unharmed.
In the process of inspecting her "wound", she saw the glistening sand of the now sunny desert.
Hesitantly, she looked up and inspected her vast almost unchanging surroundings. The familiar scene giving her the sense of deja vu.
"Eh?" she turned around and around as she took in her surroundings. "Eh?!"
Archer stared at Illya in surprise. He looked to Avalon and then to her body.
Was Avalon's power this fast? he asked himself with utter confusion. Sure, the scabbard of the last phantasm was certainly a powerful defensive noble phantasm but without Saber, how did it work so quickly?
The door clicked open as the doctor walked in. "I am sorry to disturb you, but I ask you to exit the room so we can perform some X-rays."
Archer looked at the doctor and then to the hidden Avalon. I can't have him see Avalon and I need to make sure Illya's health is good...
"I see... May I ask where is the toilet?" he asked, turning to the doctor.
"Oh, it's just at the end of the hall on your right."
With that, Archer nodded and stood up. Walking out, he sent a final glance at Illya before leaving.
Once he exited the room, he touched the wall. "Trace on..."
He then moved to an empty room and dematerialized, immediately moving to Illya.
Illya flew over the endless desert with a tired expression. Her weariness due to the harsh psychological effect the desert was having upon her.
While she did not thirst nor hunger, the rays of the sun nevertheless heated her tiny body. "U-Ugh..." she groaned as she scoured a place of shade. "Where's the oasis?!" she shouted out in frustration.
Having traveled for what she felt like an hour and the mentioned heat affecting her, her weariness was overwhelming.
It was then that the world decided to throw her a bone. As she spotted a tent.
Utter desperate relief filled her soul as she made a beeline for the lone tent. Her mind briefly disregarding any sense of caution or question as to why a lone tent was situated in the middle of nowhere.
Then, she landed and once she stood right outside the opening, she felt apprehension course through her. Her mind now finally catching itself in the middle of her weariness.
"Er... H-Hello?" she called out hesitantly, her hand squeezing her wand in preparation for a fight.
"Why did the grail summon us to fight you?"
She froze at the words, her body now tensed and ready to fight. "A-Assassin?" she asked hesitantly as she swiftly brought her wand in front of her.
"The accursed cup has summoned us to this world where our people thrive yet do not exist. It is an endless desert without end nor fault," Assassin spoke from within the tent, unseen to Illya. "Our mission is to kill you as all wars go for you are the enemy assigned to us. Yet, we know when our situation is strange and terrifying."
Illya remained silent at Assassin's words. Her grip slacked a bit as she relaxed slightly but her posture remained straight and prepared.
"So, child... We hope you hold the answers to the predicament."
"I..." Illya was unsure as she nervously fidgeted as she tried to conjure up what little information Chloe had provided to her. "I... I am not sure..." Yet, she did not disclose it for she was unsure if she should.
There was a tense silence as Assassin withheld any response.
Shifting uncomfortably, she readied herself for a fight. Priming the immediate deployment of her star shields, she awaited any response.
The flaps of the tent opened as Assassin exited along with someone else.
Illya felt her eyes widen in surprise as a little purple-haired girl stumbled out with a knife against her neck. The same little girl that seemingly the cause of her previous death, although the girl's involvement was up to debate.
"We know that you are hiding something. Tell us or else we shall kill her," Assassin threatened in a dangerously low tone, pushing the knife against the girl's neck.
"Eep!"
Illya reviewed her options: Tell Assassin what she knew or do not and fight them. In both cases, the girl's life was in peril and she fully knew this. Does the info matter enough to threaten the girl's life?
Once she asked herself this question, she immediately knew what answer it would be.
Taking in a deep breath to dispel the stress and nervousness that was creeping on her, she spoke. "I was told..." she began slowly as Assassin respectfully removed their knife from the girl's skin, "that this is a trial..."
She took a pause there. If she continued, would Assassin redouble their efforts to kill her in an attempt to thwart the trail?
She looked into Assassin's eye and a cold shiver overcame her body. She very much knew those eyes: cold and calculating.
The eyes of a person who was determined to sacrifice anything for victory. Eyes determined to see
"A trial that would continue and continue until..." her eyes locked onto the small gap between the girl's neck and Assassin's blade. "I have defeated you!"
Immediately, a star shield popped up around Illya and the purple-haired girl's throat. Simultaneously, a dozen of different Assassins emerged from the sand and charged at her.
The magical girl did not falter at the sudden change of odds as she prepared herself to take flight.
Only for hands to burst out from the ground and grab her by the feet. She stumbled, her mind jarred from the sudden predicament.
With her now being weighed down and with the rapidly encroaching Assassins charging, Illya's composure broke as panic set in.
She hastily summoned a mass of star shields to form a pillar around her. Now, usually, these shields would be strong and firm against all but the strongest of attack.
Yet, a single thrown knife was able to pierce these shields.
Her panic was immense as she blocked the first knife with Ruby. Then some dozen other knives homed in, ready to skewer her.
"Fuer!" she shouted in desperation, aiming it at the ground.
A massive pillar of energy exploded from underneath her, consuming her and the Assassin underneath.
The other Assassins halted their charge and awaited with weapons ready for any movement.
The pillar soon dissipated as dust kicked up and obscured their vision. Despite this, the Assassins readied their knives and threw them.
"Schießen!"
Dozens of pellets of energy shot out around where Illya had stood, the amount so close together that they hit almost all the knives and zoomed on to the Assassins.
However, they were not skilled warriors for no reason and they all angled themselves in a way that the pellets of energy whizzed past them.
Out from the dust and smoke, Illya emerged in flight, flying high in the air to gain the advantage she sought at the beginning of the conflict. Blood dripped down her right arm, a knife being embedded into it.
She winced at it before looking at the Assassins, their skull masks fixated on her form. Within those said masks, their eyes gleamed with gloating as if silently celebrating a victory before she fell.
Poison. Her eyes went back to the wound as her breath hitched. She then turned to the clumped mass of Assassin down below.
If I defeat them before the poison kills me-! Before she could even finish that thought, Ruby lit up with power as she forced all of her mana to a single tip.
"Fuer!" she roared as an utterly massive beam of energy engulfed the desert and her view. The colorful energy, however, soon gave way to darkness for her.
"Her heart stopped!" a nurse gasped as she scrambled out of the room. "Doctor!"
Archer stared at Illya's body as her labored breathing stilled before halting. His ethereal body shaking as emotion gripped him.
Underneath her pillow was Avalon, the sheathe of an ever distant utopia trying its best to keep her alive but failing.
"Illya..." he muttered with a muted anguish as he gripped the railings, crushing it. What is happening?
Then, her breathing returned and the heart rate monitor started to beep a steady rhythm once more.
Yet, Archer remained unhappy as he stood upright with fists clenched. I can't do anything...
It was clear to him now that whatever was keeping her in a coma was inflicting harm. Yet, it would seem after sustaining a certain degree of injuries her heart would stop, her wounds would heal, and her heart would then resume.
He wondered what had rendered into this state.
He looked at Illya's sleeping face before heading out. I will be back, Illya...
With resolve burning, he headed for Kuoh Academy. He will unravel the mystery of the circumstances whether through force or intuition.
Illya readied opened her eyes to find the same desert greeting her. The landscape unchanged by her display of destructive power.
Then, the pain struck her body as shock coursed through her system, almost rendering her unconscious from the sheer overwhelming pain.
Yet, once again the withering pain only lasted for a few instances before disappearing. Her body was seemingly fully healed from whatever injuries were inflicted upon her both externally and internally.
She released labored breaths as her breathing caught up to her, trying to grasp for the fleetingly dry air.
Then, she vaguely heard the distinct sound of something cutting through the air behind her.
With whatever leftover adrenaline she currently had, her body moved purely on instinct to block the perceived attack with a wall of star shields.
A dozen knives pinged off the wall.
Once her mind finally caught up with her body, her mind immediately went on overtime. Her body flew into the air, a dozen feet off the ground as she surveyed the area.
She tried to pinpoint the location of where the attacks had come from, her eyes scouring the dunes for any inconsistencies.
Her body was primed and ready to act on pure reflexes, ready to shoot down any meaningful movement of sand. Any such movement was met with a beam of energy courtesy of her.
She watched.
She watched...
And watched...
It was only when the sun had given way to the moon that she decided that she was safe up in the sky.
Conjuring a star shield underneath her, she sat on it as she continued to watch and dunes in a more relaxed manner. She hugged her legs as she remained silent.
Shirou... Chloe... Anyone... She thought silently as she buried her face into her legs. "I don't want to do this anymore..." she said silently.
Her mind was not tired and yet she craved for sleep. She craved for all of this to be merely a bad dream. If only if she did not feel the pain...
The light cast from the moon illuminated the area in a cool light. The unrelenting heat now an uncharacteristic chill.
Her mind wandered to the purple-haired girl, an anomaly that seemed out of place amongst the ranks of Assassin. Deep within her heart she fully well knew that she was indeed in their ranks, the girl's role most likely fulfilling that of a bait.
Yet, when she looked into those curious eyes, those panicked eyes, and those terrified eyes, doubt welled up within her. Was the girl truly Assassin?
Illya felt her hands shiver a bit so she shifted her hands underneath her thighs. Her mind troubled at the dilemma.
Then there was Assassin themselves.
They were not the emotionless blackened servants of her original world that were created by the class cards of the Ainsworth family. These were lively servants filled with ideals, purpose, and morality.
And in her naive innocence, she could not bring herself to kill them in a right state of mind despite herself feeling death at least twice.
"You shall fight all the servants to the death..."
Was there truly no way besides kill or be killed?
"Feeling down, hm?"
Illya felt her eyes widen as she felt warm arms wrap around her. The pale-white skin the same as hers.
"C-Chloe?"
Chloe muzzled her face in Illya's hair, causing the magical girl to straighten her back in embarrassment. "Eep!"
"You're so cute as usual, Illya," her twin complimented with her usual smugness. "Always wondering and overthinking things... An unhealthy habit you picked up from Miyu and Julian."
"H-H-Hey p-please get off me, Chloe!"
Chloe did not abide by Illya's request instead stuffing her face deeper into Illya's hair. Causing Illya to feel ticklish from her warm breath.
"You know... I had thought you would be more receptive to my appearance," Chloe said in disappointment as she messed with Illya's hair. "But I suppose I could settle with your non-resistance."
"Non... Resistance..." Illya, her mind already weary and tired, felt her indignity and temperament quickly grow. "I want this trial to end..." she muttered incoherently.
"Why do you want this trial to end? Don't you want to have Ruby again or gain your full power denied to you by the world?" Chloe inquired curiously, her grip around Illya's body weakening itself.
"I want to leave... I don't want to die again!" Illya's voice rapidly grew louder and forceful as she stood up, her body shaking. "I want to see Shirou again!" She turned around to face Chloe, her feet leaving the star shield and flight taking her body. "Please! Chloe!"
"You can't," Chloe merely said as a sad undertone and expression overcame her. "Unless you don't want to see the world as it was anymore."
On top of one of the high-rising buildings of Kuoh, sat a half-naked petite girl as she looked upon the Kuoh General Hospital. Her dull, lifeless eyes looking at the building, scrutinizing the life energies within and around the building.
Until finally she pinpointed her two subjects of interest: The child of nature and the blacksmith who could recreate any weapon. She looked away from the hospital and to the Kuoh Academy wherein the blacksmith toiled about.
Then, her form vanished as if she were mere wind.
Illya looked at the moon as she sat on the star shield in her lonesome. Her mind and heart conflicted between fear and purpose.
"Unless you don't want to see the world as it was anymore."
She looked at Ruby, the magical stick basking in the moonlight. Then she looked to the vast desert that had greeted her for seemingly 2 torturous days.
The same rolling dunes laid sprawled all about, its landscape ever-changing as winds pushed and pulled it about.
She dismissed the star shield from underneath her and used her power of flight to slowly descend to the ground, only stopping a few feet from it.
"Assassin!" she called out, Ruby readied and primed to fire.
Dozens of knives from underneath the sand greeted her but were blocked by the star shields surrounding her.
A single Assassin then appeared a few feet away from her, its form seemingly appearing from the wind.
"We admire your courage, child," Assassin complimented. "Your fear of death which had paralyzed you until the moon has begun to fall was overcome..."
Illya remained silent at the compliment as she summoned a bottle from thin air. Uncorking it, she drank it.
Immediately when she took out the bottle, dozens of knives were thrown at her only to be blocked by the star shields that popped up around her.
The assault ended as Assassin became aware that their assault was fruitless and a worthless affair. Seeing this, all of the Assassins emerged from the sand, their numbers ranging from dozens to a hundred.
"Surrender, please," Illya whispered, pleading with them.
"There is only one who can have us lay down our arms and command us from above," one of the Assassins said. "And you are not Allah."
Illya, with a grim disposition, dispelled the star shields and aimed Ruby forward.
In response, all the surrounding Assassins threw their knives and charged. Their innumerable light steps creating a not a sound and yet massive amounts of sand were kicked up, creating a cloud of sand.
The knives loomed in closer, one even touching her skin and drawing a small cut.
"Löschen."
A massive amount of energy expanded outwards from her. The dense mass of energy annihilating the knives, the sand, and the Assassins.
No one but a single person could watch the spectacle of beautiful destruction. A beautiful event that embodied the woes and sadness of a young girl.
"If you leave the trials, the built-up energy collected from the primordial entity will disperse at once, destroying an entire country and killing millions of people.
"Therefore, I ask of you... Will you fight? Will you rebel against the machinations of the sinister grail?
"Do you have the willpower, the brains, and the brawn to not falter and fall? Tell me, Illya... Have you not suffered injuries, pain, and failures greater than this?"
Illya panted as she lowered herself to the ground, her mana thoroughly depleted by her attack. Her body ached and cried with exhaustion and pain. Her soul whimpered with exhaustion and her mind was tired.
Finally touching the hard, crystallized ground of the crater that had formed, she sat down. Is it over?
She sat there, waiting for something to happen. Waiting for a portal or Chloe to appear to take her to the next trial.
Yet, none of those two appeared.
Instead, high above at the edge of the crater stood a petite figure.
Illya's heart twisted as she looked at the figure.
The figure approached her, stumbling and almost falling about to climb down to enter the crater.
Eventually, the moonlight illuminated this figure to reveal the purple-haired girl that had greeted her and the one who was used as a hostage.
"So I guess my big brothers and sisters are gone..." the girl said solemnly as she sat down across from Illya. "I heard that you needed to kill them to pass this trial."
Illya lowered her head as she responded, "Yeah." Shame rocked her being as she lamented on what she had done.
"They were quite strict... They always pushed me and used me cruelly... Yet, I love them..." the girl lamented. "For I am them and we are one..."
Illya felt a hand on her thigh and looking up, she saw that the girl was smiling as tears welled up in the girl's eyes.
"They knew that they were destined to die sooner or later. So they decided to throw away everything and end everything..."
"I-I am sorry..." Illya apologized weakly, her voice shaky.
"Thank you for killing them quick..." the girl said, seemingly ignoring Illya's weak apology. "I am sure that their souls have returned to Allah in heaven..."
The girl's tears shone in the moonlight as she grabbed Illya's hand and gently aimed Ruby at her chest. "I-... We will not keep you here any longer... So please, don't let us linger in your thoughts for long..."
Illya felt her face scrunch up as tears welled down her face as she looked away from the girl. Using the last of her mana, she pooled her mana into Ruby.
"F-Fuer..."
First trial: complete
Loading the second trial...
Heracles has been loaded... Constructing environment...
Second trial: commencing.
Chapter 29 End
I do hope you liked the chapter and it was worth the wait...
I swear people who write 5k+ word chapters are monsters... Or just put a lot of unnecessary exposition and fluff.
Maybe I should do that?
Oh, I am curious: Do you prefer these lengthy chapters or the previous shorter chapters?
Also, I was too busy playing Onward and Eu4.
Announcement: I have decided that I shall begin recommending other people's fanfictions. These must be the ones you wrote and published. Send the link to the story via the DM system. The chosen fanfiction will be featured on the next chapter of any of my fanfictions of my choosing (so don't go picking one of my dead stories lmao)
Note: I will be judging and subsequently recommending them based on my preference so I recommend sending fanfics based on my profile bio's fav mangas, animes, or games.
I just want to read some good fanfictions without looking through the archives.
SaveTheWeak, out.