Chapter 61: The Alter
Origami suddenly woke up from a jolt.
It seems that she was still reeling from a nightmare, whom she can't remember anymore but the cold sweat rolling down her cheeks was one of the proof that she was having a bad dream.
Yes, she remembers how she was fighting Jessica and her compatriots but can't remember after that.
After gathering her own thoughts and her sight wandered around the room, Origami realized that she was inside a certain hospital, laying on the bed and that her skin that wasn't currently covered by her hospital clothes were instead tightly wrapped by various bandages, except for her face.
Someone was already beside her bed and as much as she wished that it was Shidou, it was one of her compatriots back from the barracks. Her companion has just recently awakened.
"Origami, thank goodness you are awake!" Her companion said it in relief but Origami's attention was entirely taken on the television on the wall. The channel was set on emergency news.
Origami's eyes widened upon the recognition of the place that the live telecast was being broadcast despite the muffled noise due to having a bandage covering her ears.
Shidou was there and the place looked chaotic enough it concerned her to the point she tried to get up.
"W-wait, Origami-san! You need to rest!" The girl was panicking as she hugged Origami down to her bed. "You are terribly wounded earlier from wielding that Licorice!"
The girl was right; Origami was terribly wounded and weakened from abusing the Licorice and she did not even have the strength to push the girl away.
Eventually, Origami gave up and slump to her own bed. Damn her body when Shidou needed her the most. Origami could only bite her lips in frustration as she focused on the news.
"Thank goodness that she brought you here..." The girl said which took the attention of Origami. "She told me that her name was Mana." She said when Origami was looking at her with doubt.
Mana? Isn't she the biological sister of Shidou? It doesn't matter where she is currently but the time she will meet her again, Origami might be forced to thank her for saving her life.
For now, she needed to rest if she wanted to see Shidou once more.
Miku was horrified. Trembling hands cupped upon her face. It was her own fault! It was her fault that Shidou was struck down. Tears suddenly outpoured from her eyes as she slumped down.
Shidou's body was currently laid flat on the floor, blood freely flowing away from his own body. The sword he wielded earlier was immediately dissipated. He was still alive, barely.
A violent maelstrom was formed from where Tohka should be standing, battling against the barrier that Ellen constructed earlier. The self-proclaimed Humanities strongest Wizard was currently near Shidou. Her lightsaber was stained with his own blood, a proof that she was responsible for wounding Shidou as well as the demise of Tohka. She didn't bother checking the pulse of Shidou as her focus was set on the purple vortex in front of her.
If what Wescott presumed is correct then she would face an Inverse type Spirit, one that is a ridiculously powerful counterpart of their normal form, and one that Ellen would prove her strength against.
"How wonderful..." Wescott suddenly clapped, amidst the deafening roar of the vortex. "It was a success..."
Ellen only smirked. She was about to make her way toward Wescott when suddenly she noticed something unusual toward the pale man that made her stop.
"Wescott?" She asked with a concern. Wescott suddenly dropped himself on the ground, hands splayed as if he was weakened.
"-sama..." Ellen was tempted to approach Wescott to check upon his health but something was seriously wrong.
"Mable-sama!" Wescott suddenly shouted which made Ellen tremble in surprise. What. in. the. tarnation. happened?!
"I-I can't pretend anymore, I beg of you!"
Like a madman, Wescott wide eyes scurried throughout the room, his once stern, cold expression now looked like a hungry, restless, wheezing deviant.
No... this is not the Wescott whom she was loyal to. Ellen could only stare in disbelief as the same Wescott, whom she was a secretary to him, crawled on all fours like a dog.
Wescott trudged toward Mable like a mutt happily looking for his Master. "Mable-sama, please let me be!" He begged and begged for Mable.
As if this is a natural occurrence, Mable stooped down and patted Wescott's head like a pet.
"Of course, you have done well..." She cooed. Putting salt into the wound, Mable's eyes were set on Ellen teasingly with a mocking grin.
"H-How dare you!" Ellen suddenly rushed toward Mable. intent on beheading the bitch that corrupted Wescott. Mable dared her to and even have the audacity to not to move away from her own spot.
Little did she know her recklessness would lead to someone near death.
*SKLURCHHH!*
Ellen's saber took a second victim but not what she expected at the end of her own blade.
Wescott moved and shielded Mable from Ellen, and his tuxedo was now a messed with his own blood. Because of Ellen's unrelenting rage, she almost cut Wescott into two, with her lightsaber made a clean cut from his shoulder and stopped on his stomach. Ellen was in shock as she didn't expect for Wescott to personally meet his own end.
The blood was still spurting at Ellen, bathing her in his own blood.
A gruesome display.
No matter how terrifying, how genius and abnormal his mindset is, how cruel and how cold the pale man is… in the end he is still an ordinary human down to his core. A fact, that Mable, a Kiara in disguise, took advantage of.
Perhaps, in another timeline, he could have achieved getting the power of a certain Spirit but in this reality, he is now nothing more but a man that Kiara twisted his desires to her own upbringing and made him a sickly fanatic.
Mable was unbothered by the splash of blood on her own face, and was sporting another mocking, sadistic grin.
"Good Grief… you are getting sloppy, Ellen." Mable continued to mock Ellen, as the Adeptus 1 cradled Wescott's lifeless body. Ellen didn't care; she was practically bathed in Wescott's blood as she wailed and howled in grief over his slumped body.
Just like the [Princess]...
Mable just left them alone as she went on her way toward Shidou, who was still clinging to life thanks to his innate ability.
Before anyone could figure out, Ellen already teleported away together with Wescott away from this building, leaving only a puddle of blood. Mable only gave them a condensing glare as she let them escape.
She then dragged the already unconscious Shidou as she also made her way toward Miku, who seemed to be in a state of shock but thankfully is able to recognize what is a threat or not.
"N-no, please… don't hurt me!" Miku begged as she flailed her arms, an outcry from her boisterous idol persona and a sadistic bitch queen. It seemed in some way or another, Miku was forced to open her eyes.
Mable only remained quiet as she looked toward her deeply, contemplating on [Diva]'s fate.
*SKREECH*
Of course, they could not forget the growing, unstable vortex as it unceremoniously threw a dangerous flare into the area where Shidou, Mable and Miku happened to be there.
Instinctively, Mable managed to mass-teleport all of the remaining living individuals on this floor before it could touch them.
Right after that, the upper part of the building wasn't spared from such force that it almost mimicked a supernova.
*BOOOOOOM!*
After the sudden teleport, both Shidou and Miku were dropped on an undisclosed location not too far from the DEM building, which is safe to say no more than crumble right now. They are in the area where they could witness the bright purple light pulsing as it rose to the sky.
It was that time that Shidou woke up from hitting the hard concrete as his body was still in the midway through a total recovery. He then instinctively looked up toward his savior, who looked none the worse.
Mable's battlesuit was in total tatters as her whole body was adorned with different kinds of wounds and the worst of all, was a deep cut on her neck, which continuously poured out blood as it washed her whole body. That dissonant grin of hers put off Shidou as he realized that whoever the Wizard she is, she needs immediate medical attention.
"Y-you're-" Shidou attempted to describe but felt his throat lodged.
"It doesn't matter..." Mable remarked quickly. Even talking proved to be a nuisance as the blood spurted forcefully from her neck every time she spoke in syllables, thus, she reserved fewer words for Shidou.
Despite being successful at escaping the imminent danger, it is no doubt that the flare has reached her first, almost obliterating her in an instant. It is by sheer luck that only her disguise alone looked worse nonetheless and that her true form was untouch.
Such is the nature of a Bodhisattva.
The body of Shidou was weak and yet he forced himself to stand up but to no avail.
"Appreciate your concern despite me being a total stranger but you must rest for a moment..."
"But, you are literally dying!" Shidou insisted as he didn't give up.
Suddenly, Mable was surrounded by Heroic Spirits out of nowhere, cutting away her means of escape, not that she was capable of in the first place.
Seeing that the Demon Pillar hugging the tower was immediately obliterated upon the unprecedented explosion along with the other Wizards and Bandersnatches that were unluckily near the building, it should make sense that they could detect it instantly upon appearing somewhere near them, especially if it was someone whom they are very familiar with.
Thankfully, all of the brainwashed Spirits that battled the Wizards near the building were smart enough to stay back upon sensing the unstable energy but still in a range to suffer blackouts for unknown reasons, the Fraxinus ship, having seemingly recovered from the brainwash attack, is now in the process of retrieving them as Mable and Ritsuka speak.
Mable didn't bother struggling and just somewhat accepted her ill-gotten fate. She raised both of arms and opened her palms, showing that she wasn't armed as they believed.
"Mable-san." Ritsuka's voice took the attention of Mable, who somehow has mixed emotions upon encountering her Master. "...or should I say, Kiara-san." The Master of Chaldea already knew who was behind the face, especially when the said face was the one whom she already encountered in the past singularities.
She sounded cold and calculating but her eyes told her that she was sad of what was happening, if it was considered a possible betrayal.
In order to reinforce her words, Ritsuka raised her hand and showed off her command seals at the back of her hand, as they were already glowing brightly… a seemingly possible threat to a nonchalant Kiara. This is one of the rare times that Ritsuka was just as deathly serious as she wanted to.
"Fine then." Mable then just shed away her disguise like it was nothing, revealing a voluptuous nun scantily clad in clothing that showed off her curves and figure while two large horns adorned her head full of curly hair dropped down the ground. The terrible wounds she suffered from while maintaining her disguise were also gone too.
Shidou could only gawk at the revelation in front of her. Did this mean that Mable was a Spirit during the entire time? He was now confused as heck. Meanwhile, Miku just remained there, being observant but kept her silence wisely. No, she did not intend to escape here either, it's just that she doesn't know what to do next.
Despite having a degree of confusion, Shidou somewhat understood that this Mable person was somehow connected to Ritsuka, just like her other 'Servants.'
"W-wait, Ritsuka-san, Mable just saved us recently!" He reinforced his claims as he tried to look up at the Master of Chaldea. He has the feeling that Ritsuka has a way to punish her 'Servants' one way or another. "J-just spare her for god sake!" He heaved.
Ritsuka intently listened toward Shidou throughout his ordeal and just gave him a smile. "Don't worry, Shidou-kun." She truly believed what Shidou said but she can't just let Kiara get away from this for a few reasons.
"Ara, ara, thank you for your defense, Shidou-kun." Kiara nodded at him while maintaining a sympathetic stare with an innocent smile. "But there is no need to… "
Ritsuka just only looked at her with a bit of curiosity. She wanted to understand Kiara too and wonder why she did it. She thoroughly believed there was no betrayal happening in the first place after confirming her thoughts.
"Master, as happy as I would be to indulge you in my grandiose plan, I am sorry to inform you that I can't let it be." Kiara said, with sadness tinted in her voice. She didn't give any additional information.
"...unless, you will force me to… then I have no choice." She added while glancing toward Ritsuka's command seal with her glowing golden eyes, whom she was implying.
"Alright, I believe in you." Ritsuka just huffed, dropping any intimidating pressure she held on and just shrugged her shoulders. She eventually dropped her right hand down, foregoing the thought of using her command spells. "... as long as it doesn't involve innocent lives… I will let it be." As her Master decided not to act against her, all of the Servants surrounding the Bodhisattva also relaxed.
Kiara's heart thrummed with happiness as Ritsuka trusted her. "Oh, generous Master… I will promise I will not fail you." She made some attempts to hug her Master so much but decided against it.
Ritsuka always trusted her own Servants, even if in the past they have clashed with her many times and this includes Kiara herself. Alter Ego was proven to be one of an effective ally of hers after that.
The other reason was that they needed to address the elephant in the room. Ritsuka immediately pointed something toward the sky, particularly the pinpoint light that was glowing brightly in purple.
"First thing first, how should we deal with it?"
Kiara followed her and looked up at the sky and pretended that she didn't notice it earlier. "Oh my."
It is a miracle that it didn't do anything after their issues with Kiara.
With the power of her Servants currently present, Ritsuka believed they could defeat whoever it was above if needed. She was about to order them when someone materialized near her.
It was Saber Alter herself, who already donned a draconic armor.
Shidou, who was already sitting down, could only gawk once more at the new arrival. She was mystically beautiful but once Artoria's cold, piercing gaze was set upon him, he found himself unable to look straight to her.
"Saber? What are you doing here?"
"A backup, no..." Saber said but retracted once more, swaying her head in denial. "I want to personally deal with that being up in the sky." She clarified and Ritsuka could tell that she was indeed serious about it. There is no doubt that it's not just Saber Alter who could sense the explosion but also Berserker as well, not to mention Archer and the other Lancer from the overseas.
...but why was Saber Alter the only one who responded? Ritsuka knew she had no other reason to deny Saber's request… well, she wanted to see some cool fights above the sky. Of course, she believed in Saber Alter's ability to minimize collateral damage around them.
Ritsuka then just breathed deeply and looked at her other Servants. "Ok, is there anyone who would deny Saber's opportunity?"
Sarcastic as it was, no one tried to argue with the Master of Chaldea.
"Even if I am still in a state of battlelust right now, I would not let myself spoil Saber's opportunity as a fellow warrior." Scathach, the one who would be more likely to have her own way to fight the Spirit floating in the air, paved the way for Saber.
"Saber Alter, I entrusted you this fight… you must subdue that Spirit no matter what. As I could feel something worse might happen if this won't follow according to our plan." Ritsuka ordered her.
"I will never betray your trust, Master." Saber Alter declared as she materialized her own sword and walked toward where the being was currently floating.
"Alright, everyone let's do our best in preserving the city as vast as possible, seeing that we can't avoid any collateral damage, we need to minimize the damage surrounding them as little as possible."
"Hai, Senpai!" Mashu was confident, her shield can expand to as much as she can.
"Of course, Master." Circe retorted. Her protection spells can cover a land, and with the boost coming from her Master, there is no doubt they would fail it.
"Hmm..." Scathach nodded in confirmation. Her runes can provide a level of protection as well.
Kotori felt that she was trapped between a rock and a hard place. She has never thought that there is a Spirit with this tremendous mana capacity, and could possibly bent into a hellish destruction if it wanted to. they could have decided to obliterate this Spirit immediately, out of Shidou's consideration, if it weren't for Ritsuka's intervention.
That… that woman didn't specify she has another Servant at her own command…! no, she can't blame her either for hiding her trump card, as they, the Ratatoskr, also withheld information from her for the sake of uncertain emergencies.
If Ritsuka couldn't make it in time, then the Ratatoskr could have chosen to obliterate this entire city along with the Spirit via a destructive satellite, one that they vowed not to use as long as there are drastic measurements to be exploited with.
That's why they are willing to align with Ritsuka's plan to subjugate the unstable Spirit as an ally.
They have successfully retrieved Shidou, who received a rough treatment that made him able to at least ease his pain. He was currently resting at the medical bay.
Meanwhile, the other brainwashed Spirits were also being held in every available isolation room. They are confident that they will recover from being controlled by Miku's voice once they have regained their consciousness. The proof being themselves knocked out after their reckless attempt to use a cannon at the stadium aimed at her brother Shidou while being controlled. It is thanks to one of Ritsuka's Heroic Spirit that they managed to recover after being knocked out too.
Ugh, Kotori gritted her teeth as she doesn't want to remember those recent ugly memories, repressing them to the deepest part of her mind. Kotori just shook her head once more.
The only thing left to do was to trust Ritsuka to deal with it, since she had already exhausted any viable options.
She just hates herself when her brother can't do anything at the moment. The Fraxinus can only observe them at a considerable range or else they will be caught in collateral damage. Kotori doubted if the DEM could muster courage to that thing.
She was alone.
Confused.
Felt betrayed for some reason.
She was currently floating in the air, lingering in doubt. Above was the expanse of a dark night with thousands of stars glittering before her but the ugly smoke that ascended from the collapsed ground below ruined it.
She can't remember anything, besides from vague memories that she can't explain.
The boy… whoever it was… made her sad and it made her fed with conflicting thoughts.
Then she felt a sword materialized by her right hand and therefore acknowledged it beforehand. The sword was emanating with sheer darkness.
Was the sword's purpose cut the said boy apart? Would it free her from this unknown pain she currently suffered?
Before she could contemplate the sword's purpose, her attention was nudged by an individual down below. She would have ignored it if it wasn't for its reckless flaring of mana which is somewhat deliberate.
It was trying to grab her attention to it. Would she agree or not?
She decided to entertain this peculiar being and descended down the ruined ground with an undefined speed. By knowing its identity would it be worth slashing it or not?
Would it be an enemy or not? After dealing with the being below, she would have to kill the boy later on in order to free from this conflicting, disturbing emotions that was creeping upon her heart.
She has decided that she doesn't need these kinds of emotions anymore.
Her feet finally touched the ground and her judging, cold eyes were set on the individual currently in front of her.
She could feel the regal air around the woman, despite how callous she looked with those scary armor. Is she scared of this woman? Definitely not, it only made her wary.
The woman's steps were inclined with discipline and her pale face was adorned with a tight frown. Red veins seemed to crawl deeper into her cheek.
She raised her sword… yes, she remembered the name of this sword.
[Nehemah]
It reacted with a puff of dark energy as it was acknowledged by her as she pointed it toward the pale woman.
"Are you here to take me down?" She asked curiously. Whether she answered truthfully or not, she decided to cut her down once she knew the answer.
One less threat for her then.
Instead of answering, the pale woman materialized her own sword and pointed it to her in response.
"Why don't you take a guess?" The pale woman retorted back. Her sword then was covered in dark energy.
She tried to guess if the pale woman was the same as her or not...
...but it doesn't matter if she can take the matters by her own sword.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
Thus the whole area erupted with a swelling darkness.