Hello! Welcome back to my little story! I hope you have enjoyed the read so far!
Without any further ado, let us get to it!
Disclaimer: All rights go to their respective creators, and even thought some of the new Servants for this story do not exist within the Nasuverse and are my own creative imput, i still reject all rights and grant them to Type-moon.
Sunrise had just begun for the Red Faction, but they were none the less summoned to the Church by Kotomine and Assassin of Red to move their plans forward ahead of schedule, much like Semiramis had suggested.
"Good, we are all here." Kotomine exclaimed as he saw the last Servant, being Lancer Artoria and her Master, Emiya Shirou, arrive at the church. "Our plans have to be moved forward. The Enemy knows we are coming and they are moving in to intercept us." Kotomine 'lied'. Revealing that they were moving ahead of schedule to evade Ruler would definetly shed a bad and suspicious light on them so he had to make up a reason, which just so happened to be quite a fitting reasoning given that it was coincidentally exactly what was happening.
"Wait, didn't you say the Black Faction doesn't know about our activities?" Shirou interjected, remembering what Kotomine told him when they first met a day ago.
"I did, but it seems I was wrong. Semiramis was scouting the hills from where she discovered movement approaching." He lied again, Semiramis going along and giving a small nod of approval to show the other servants and Emiya that Kotomine was speaking 'the truth'.
"So we are pressed for time." Saber of Red added, letting out a very, very frustrated sigh. "Then we will meet the enemy head on. Everyone knows what they have to do. Lancer, you and Emiya Shirou will go ahead by horseback, meet them at the front. Archer and Rider will flank them from the west while the rest will get atop of Assassin's Noble Phantasm and we will strike as aerial reinforcements. You have your orders!"
Everyone nodded before they immediately went on to get with their duties. Since the Sun was rising up, they had to be a bit more discreet in movement to avoid public attention. If they were fast enough, they would meet the enemy on open plains far enough away from the city where they didn't have to worry about witnesses.
In order to do so, Achilles summoned his Chariot and offered Archer a ride on it before they stormed out, the Chariot flying high into the air and soaring away like a comet.
Artoria was a bit more subtle. She put thumb and ring finger into her mouth and whistled very loudly, to which sudden galloping could be heard, followed by a loud neighing from a Horse. And true to the audible clues, a large, pure white horse emerged from seemingly nowhere. Without any hesitation Artoria climbed onto the Horse's back and Shirou followed suit without even questioning it.
"So this must be your famous steed, Llamrei, right?" Shirou asked as he gently pat the Horse's neck and stroked it, earning a very soft nicker from it in approval.
"Indeed. One of my most loyal subjects, rivaling the devotion of my knights." She responded before she gripped the leash and whipped it, giving the Horse the order to advance.
Shirou's reaction was immediate, wrapping his arms around Artoria's body to hold himself tightly against her, which caused both of them to blush once they realised just what type of bodily contact they were having. And despite the seriosity of what was about to come, they still couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Thought this embarrassment didn't last very long as Shirou began to worry.
"You think we will face Caster of Black again? He just rolled over us without even trying..."
"We will figure a way out. And if not us, then one of our trusted allies will defeat him. Everyone has a weakness." Artoria assured him with a proud smirk before she whipped the leash again, signing Llamrei to accelerate and go at full speed. They avoided public attention by going through the woods surrounding Sighisoara, which provided excellent cover with how fast they were.
And indeed, after riding out away from Sighisoara and into the outer fields, they very soon encountered cars driving towards their direction. They counted 4 in total. Shirou, due to having a very trained and keen eye from the recent years, could already see the number of people per car and what type of personage they were. As such, he materialized his longbow and immediately armed a few reinforced arrows to fire them, aiming at the tires of the cars to cause them to tumble due to sudden air pressure release causing a near-explosive force. He fire 2 arrows, one for each front left tire of the 2 cars with the most occupants in it.
His hits succeeded, but he didn't get to incapacitate anyone as the respective servants acted quick to evacuate their masters from the vehicles.
Artoria and Shirou counted 5 masters and their Servants, thought her attention quickly shot to a very specific servant that she saw. From the moment she noticed her, her eyes widened and she ordered Llamrei to a sudden stop. "Mor...dred..." She whispered to herself upon seeing her Child, clad in grey-red armor, glaring at her while holding her Master, Gordes Musik, over her shoulder.
Mordred immediately dropped Gordes onto his ass, much to the obese man's audible complaint, before she draw her sword, Clarent, and started to slow-walk towards the duo.
Artoria got off her Horse and immediately materialized her Lance, Rhongomyniad, not even bothering with the Invisible Air around it to cover it.
Shirou gulped as he saw just how tense the stare-off between the two of them was and he could not help but go down from Llamrei as well, giving the horse a small pat on its neck, which it accepted with a soft neigh before it disappeared into thin air.
"Long have I waited for this day to come, Father." Mordred spat with pure venom in her voice. "You owe me a life!"
With the last word cried out in anger, Mordred and Artoria dashed into each others and their weapons clashed, the shockwave released causing a powerful gust of wind to burst into all directions, causing the other Servants of Black and Shirou to step back.
Artoria and Mordred exchanged some blows, Mordred continuously aiming for the neck and head while Artoria was entirely on the defence, not even retaliating after a parry, which angered Mordred and caused her to attack with more fury. Artoria still continued to Parry, using the size of Rhongomyniad to push Mordred's sword lower to avoid further aim towards her neck.
"Damnit! Just stand still and die!" Mordred roared out as she suddenly released a Mana Burst at close range, causing Artoria to leap upwards and point the lance straight down towards Mordred, who blocked with the body of the blade, pushing it up with both hands, her left hand holding Clarent by it's tip to press it upwards horizontally. This clash caused another shockwave which cratered the ground and forced Mordred to squat down to absorb the shockwave. Mordred cunningly used this clash, tilting Clarent to the side just a bit, but enough for Rhongomyniad to slip towards Mordred's left side and miss. This in turn enabled Mordred to tackle Artoria with her shoulder, then knee her abdomen and lastly kick her with the other leg, causing Artoria to fly back a few meters.
Shirou was about to help with an Arrow, but it got shot out of his bow by Archer of Black, who, together with Berserker of Black, engaged him, while the remaining two Servants, Lancer of Black and Caster of Black, kept the masters safe.
Artoria immediately got back up on her feet and took her combat stance again. She knew that Mordred would not listen to words, she never did, so Artoria had to defeat her in battle. But after she had the experience with Shirou and saw a change in her heart, she didn't want to kill Mordred. However, she had to push her close towards death, as Mordred wouldn't concede otherwise, evident by a red aura beginning to concentrate from her sword.
"Clarent Blood Arthur!" Mordred Roared as she fired her Noble Phantasm, jabbing her sword forward to fire a linear blast of pure energy towards Artoria, who jabbed her Lance forward with its tip, causing the beam to meet Rhongomyniad head on and spread apart into many fragments that severely damaged the surrounding area as a result, misfiring into every direction. Once the energy finished dispersing after being fired out, Artoria and Mordred silently locked eyes with one anothers before they dashed into one another again to resume their clash.
Shirou was very much feeling cornered by Berserker of Black and Archer of Black, who were relentlessly engaging into him. While Berserker was using her superior physique to press forward into close-range, Archer fired from the distance for support whenever Shirou got away from Berserker to make sure he was pinned down. Their teamwork was near-flawless, and Shirou had to aknowledge that to the fullest.
"I need to get to Archer first... he limits my mobility. Once I get him out of the picture, I can fight Berserker!" He thought to himself before he materialized Kanshou and Bakuya to start an aggressive offense against Berserker, the twin blades clashing furiously against her own chained sword.
"Ho! Interesting!" Berserker commented as she parried the attack and used her legs to kick into Shirou whenever she did to force him back or punish his offense, whichever happened depending on their movement. "I recognize these blades. I briefly read about them when I was researching cursed blades during my lifetime. Those are Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, the married blades."
"We don't have time for a history lesson, Berserker" Archer scolded before he fired another shot at Emiya, who only narrowly avoided it by tilting his head aside, making the bullet scrape his hair harmlessly, but left a small trail of burnt hair on him.
This evasive maneuver however left him open to Berserker's attack and she made full use of it, lunging her sword's tip straight at Shirou, who had to cross the twin blades over his chest to block the strike, causing him to be thrown back into a nearby tree, clashing against it harshly with his back. The Impact caused him to cough out in pain, followed by falling to his knees as a result.
"Give it, kiddo. You can't fight the both of us."
Shirou just scoffed lightly and nodded. "You're right. But he can"
With the cueue given, Heracles roared out loudly as he fell out of the sky and basically bombed the ground using his own body, causing a very strong shockwave and impact force to crater the ground to the point a few trees fell from the sheer force exerted into the ground.
Berserker of Black and Archer of Black immediately took distance away from the Crater, and thus Shirou, who by now recovered enough to stand up again and walked a few steps forward, standing right next to Heracles, who stood tall and proud, his right hand holding onto his weapon, the crudely shaped sword made entirely out of dense stone.
"I will take Archer of Black, you can take their Berserker of Black." Shirou instructed, gaining an approving roar from Heracles who then charged into battle against the enemy Berserker, their blades swung with such force that every single clash resulted in a powerful shockwave. Bit by bit, their battle took them away from Archer of Black and Emiya Shirou.
Archer didn't waste a second with talking. He readied his rifle and fired again. Shirou was able to deflect the bullets with Kanshou and Bakuya, thought the force behind each bullet caused him to stumble backwards, and when they were deflected, they hit something else, the ground, a stray tree, and when they did, the impact force caused slight tremors against said object.
However, when Shirou looked forward again, Archer was suddenly nowhere to be found. The redhead glanced around for a few moments to scan his surroundings, but he could not find Archer of Black wherever he looked.
Suddenly, a bullet dashed towards Shirou from his left side and he narrowly avoided it by leaning back a bit. But, in doing so, he left his back completely exposed to another bullet, hitting him straight into his right shoulder and puncturing it completely, causing Shirou to scream out in pain. The momentum of the bullet combined with the pain caused Shirou to fall forward on all fours, and the moment his eyes were at the ground, he felt the slightly hot and smoking barrel of Archer of Black's rifle against the back of his head.
"Nothing personal, kid." Archer said and was about to pull the trigger, when he was suddenly interrupted by a very fast stone flying his way, hitting the sniper rifle at the barrel and causing it to move away from Shirou, making the shot a miss which grazed Shirou's ear slightly, leaving a friction burn on his skin and giving him a ringing ear, which was still pretty painful.
Archer of Black immediately retreated with a dash backwards and saw Archer of Red drop from the sky while Rider of Red went towards where Artoria, Mordred and the others were located.
Archer of Red had his slingshot drawn and a stone loaded in it, rotating it already around the axis of his hand to fire another shot. "First warning. Surrender."
Archer of Black just hmpf'd before aiming his Sniper at Archer of Red and fired. The Bullet was countered by Archer of Red's slingshot firing another stone "Dalet!" Archer of Red announced as he threw it. The Clash of the two high-speed projectiles caused bits of metal and stone to fly all over the place.
"Slingshot... Hebrew gematrian countdown... I see." Archer of Black commented before he lowered his rifle for a moment. "Your true name is David, second king of Israel. In which case the Slingshot must be your Noble Phantasm."
Archer of Red, now identified as David, sighed slightly before making a slight smile. "Indeed. Congratulations on figuring it out so soon. I am impressed, but then again, all Servants have a good idea on all mythology containing the Servants recorded within the Throne of Heroes so having a visual clue this specific was a dead giveaway anyway" he responded before he turned his head to Shirou. "Go. I will handle this."
Shirou understood and got up, trying to leave, but as he did, Archer of Black fired another round at him, which David had to counter with his third warning shot, announcing it with "Gimel!"
"Tch" Archer of Black cursed while Shirou got away. He turned his attention back to David before he took the magazine out of his Rifle and dropped it, which then dissolved into nothing. He reached into his coat and took out another magazine, this one being pitch black and with a red skull drawn on it.
"A Skull for special ammunition? How Clichée" David commented before he began rotating his slingshot again to ready another shot.
"If I counted right, that was your third Warning Shot, Gimel. You have one warning shot left before you activate the primary function of your Noble Phantasm in the form of a fifth shot. If I can evade that, I win."
"If" David said before he sped up the rotation of his slingshot some more, readying another throw. "Bet!" He annoucned, firing the stone into Archer's direction which he countered by firing the first of his new set of bullets, which punctured the stone and shattered it like it was nothing before continuing to fly towards David and right past him, the drag force of the bullet's speed high enough to crater the ground beneath it with sheer amount of physical force enacted by its acceleration. "Damn! What kind of projectile was that!"
"You wish to know?" Archer of Black responded before readying another bullet towards him. "One of the most important factors any ranged combatant, archers, crossbow rangers and Snipers, have to consider when firing is gravity. The downward force that affects the trajectory of our projectiles thrown. Even your stones and my bullets are not immune to the influence of Earth's Gravity. Well, these bullets of mine are an exception. Special bullets made out of Tungsten which defy the laws of physics due to being laced in thaumaturgy. Earth's Gravity does not influence them, but they enact their own gravitational pull in whichever direction they are fired, creating functionally an infinite acceleration. In the concept of an Archer, simplified, it is like firing straight down."
"What!?" David gasped to himself, eyes widened as he took a step back in caution. "And how would you have such an Ability? Knowing the many gifts Archers have had throughout history, from Atalanta's Phoebus Catastrophe, Hou Yi's Constellation Alpha and Arash's Stella, Archery and the art of ranged combat goes far, but... I have never heard of anyone defying the laws of Physics."
"And you would be right." Archer of Black spoke as he readied his rifle for another shot. "That is because in their legends, they never fired downwards into a target. It was always aiming upwards. As such, the Anecdota of their achievements that is their Noble Phantasms are shaped accordingly to face the Skies and defy the Authority of Gods. I on the other hand face the Earth as the ultimate killer of soldiers and men of war. As such, I have never aimed at the sky, but at the ground, and my Noble Phantasm became the ultimate knowledge of Archery and Sharpshooting against mortal beings that tread upon this soil."
David's eyes widened in shock, but his reaction caused a distraction in his reaction, a bare fraction of a second, but enough that Archer of Black could pull the trigger and fire another bullet which pierced through David's stomach and left a large, gaping hole in it, causing him to cough out a lot of blood and fall to his knees.
"It is over, King of Israel." Archer of Black exclaimed before he turned around to leave the scenery, assured of David's certain death and defeat as a Servant. However, he would come to regret this decision, as a few steps later, he suddenly felt a massive surge of Mana behind him and turned around to see David back on his feet, a weary smirk on his face, as if he accepted death, but his slingshot was still rotating, the fifth stone prepared.
"I never... finished... counting" David spoke between coughs, gazing at Archer of Black with a defiant expression. "Alef!... You have... rejected sur...render... now face... the anger of... God..."
"I have to dodge!" Archer of Black said, but just as David experienced it before, Archer of Black now got to experience the receiving end of being struck by a projectile too fast to react to, the stone hitting him square on his forehead, causing him to fly back all the way through several trees until he came to a full stop.
"Hamesh... Avanim..." David finished voicing before he fell to his knees one more time and dissolved into nothingness, facing death. "At least... I didn't go... without... a fight..." He spoke as his last words, closing his eyes before he was gone.
Artoria and Mordred's fight was growing more heated by the second in the meantime, the surroundings the two clashed against having been completely devastated and left as craters within craters. Both of them were panting lightly as exhaustion was beginning to kick in and they had a few minor wounds on them that barely deserved much attention, except for one on Mordred right over her left brow, causing her to bleed right into her eye, rendering it currently useless.
"Damnit! Why don't you just die, Father!" Mordred cursed bloody murder as she charged her Clarent for another release of her Noble Phantasm. Despite having released it more than a few times, she seemed to be perfectly able to go for a few more shots, and Artoria knew that she couldn't fight like this forever. If this continued, she would either really die or she would have to resort to using Rhongomyniad, which would very likely re-enact how Mordred was killed at Camlann the last time.
That was not an option to her. She saw only one way on how to end this all. And so...
... she dropped her spear and just stood there, defenseless. An expression of sorrow and pain all over her. "Do it..." She said, just barely loud enough for Mordred to hear it.
This confused the Knight of Treachery greatly and she actually retracted her charge-up, calming Clarent down before growing much angrier all of a sudden, taking a step forward, then another, and then another. She suddenly dropped Clarent and dashed into Artoria, tackling her to the ground before she started to hit her face as hard as she could once, then twice, then three times and continued on seemingly endlessly, pummeling Artorias visage into a bloody and bruised mess.
But Artoria felt no pain from Mordred's fists. Her expression didn't change at all, on the opposite, her eyes were even more sorrowful as she glanced up to see Mordred's face, so consumed by anger and pain that she had teary eyes while roaring like a savage animal, growling with each strike she delivered. Yet, still, Artoria felt no pain from the fists. The only pain she felt was within Mordred's heart.
"You do not deserve it!" Mordred roared as she hit Artoria yet again before suddenly stopping, taking a deep, sobbing breath before she held Artoria by the neck-cover of her chestplate and lifted it up to close the distance between their faces until their noses could almost touch. "YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO DIE ON YOUR OWN TERMS! YOU HAVE TO SUFFER MY HATRED JUST LIKE I SUFFERED YOUR ABANDONMENT!"
"You are right..." Artoria said, the word Abandonment ringing a rather distant memory within her. She coughed up some blood as she continued to speak. "I failed... as a king... as a knight... as a parent." And as she continued, she remembered the words Iskandar told her during the fourth Grail War in Fuyuki.
"I was a Martyr to my ideals..." She started, deepening the memory she had from the Banquet of Kings back then, and recited Iskandar's words, more to herself than to Mordred. "But who would ever truly admire the rough and thorny path that a Martyr must follow in life? Who actually dreams of such an ending...?"
This caused Mordred to immediately let Artoria go and get back a few steps, which gave Artoria the room to stand up on her feet again, thought struggling a bit due to the beating she took.
"A king..." She resumed. "... must be greedier than any other, he must laugh more loudly and rage for much longer and embody the very extreme of all things, good and evil. That is why his retainers envy his very existence, and adore him as well, and why the flames of aspiration, to be just as the king is, can burn in his people. Proud King of Chivarly? A joke of a King is what I was... I saved my people once, but I turned my eyes away from the truth of what happens when I saved my people, then left them to fend for themselves."
Mordred's expression turned from anger to shock, surprised to hear everything she had ever wanted to hear from her Father's mouth. Every word she detested Artoria for never speaking... to see Artoria aknowledge the burden of Kingship that she, just once, wanted to lift from her parent's shoulders, so that Artoria could forsake her role as King and be a parent to her own child.
"I saved my people, but I never lead them." Artoria resumed after a short breathing pause and to cough out some blood in her mouth. "I never showed any of you what a King should really be. I abandoned my men when they lost their way. Then, alone and untroubled by that fact, I went on to follow my own pretty little ideals to the very end." As she continued, she remembered the expression of anger Iskandar had when he lectured Artoria about the contradiction of her own folly. This anger that she had come to understand was just and correct. As a failed King who only ever lived for the idea and now for the people in it, Artoria came to terms that she was one of history's most destructive cases of virtue-signaling. "Thus, I am no true King. I spent my life enraptured by a false Idol of a humble King who always serves others... but the truth is... I am just a little girl..."
Mordred's eyes were wide and she didn't know what to say. It was precisely because she thought, with full and blind conviction, that Artoria would never see any of the damage she did, that it was never expected to ever hear any admission from her. Mordred had no idea what to do, what to say.
"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness even in the slightest, Mordred... I was unable to enact justice where it was due, and I never taught my men to strike me down for my own misguided deeds... in the end, so many of my own men hated me that your rebellion succeeded in full swing and brittain faced certain doom. That is the only thing I deserve. Pain... to know and feel the pain of all my subject, yours more than any others."
Mordred lowered her gaze by now, staring down Arthur, which was covered due to her hair covering her eyes almost ominously, hiding the expression Mordred had.
"But..." Artoria continued, intent on finishing those last few words to her Child. "For all that it is worth... I am, truly and wholly, sorry. For everything I ever did to you. So if you have to strike me down... do it. You will be the judge, jury and executioner of all my sins and transgressions and both King and Knight."
Mordred began to walk. One step, then another, slowly picking up her pace until she was running. Artoria thought that this would be it, that Mordred would push her down and kill her now. The last thing she expected was for Mordred to run into her and hug her. Yes, full on hugged Artoria. Head laid on hre protective chestplate, arms around her to tightly pull them both in. Her hands shot up awkwardly as she didn't know where to lay them, so it took her a few seconds before she returned the hug, placing her hands on the back of Mordred's armor.
"If only I could undo a single thing of what I did to you... but I have realized my hypocrisy and even if it is still my wish, I won't try to undo my mistakes. I have to face them and go on forward. So even if it is just for the duration of this Grail War... and even if we have to kill each others... just once let me call you My Child with the pride and joy you deserve..."
Now the floodgates really opened and Mordred full on jumped from silent sobs to a full on cry, her hold tightening around Artoria to hold her more closely.
Artoria continued to just hold her in return, trying to begin her first act as a proper parent in giving Mordred the comfort she needs, even if she is the worst possible candidate for the task. It was her responsibility, and the two previous Grail Wars and their experiences helped her understand that.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Artoria and Mordred suddenly separated as they turned to the source of the sound and they both saw Caster of Black, Gwydion, clapping slowly as he approached them. "What a wonderful stage. Few things are as beautiful as the love rekindled between a parent and their child."
Mordred, jumping back to her usual demeanor, wiped the tears from her face before she growled. "Damnit, ya couldn't pick a worse time to interfere!"
Gwydion just shook his head and laughed lightly. "A worse time? You said what you wanted to say, and so did she. That I didn't interrupt for this long is already enough mercy. However, we are at war, and we have a job to do."
Mordred glanced over behind Gwydion, towards her Master, Gordes Musik, who was holding his right wrist with his left hand, his expression conflicted. Gordes, for all his brash and pompous personality, was not actually a cruel man, so he couldn't bring himself to force Mordred to kill Artoria with a Command Seal. He knew he had to, for the sake of the Yggdmillennia family, but what type of title would it be if it is built on destroying the good things in life?
And so, Gordes made up his mind, shaking his head before he quickly ran to gain distance between the other Masters, standing somewhere between them, Gwydion and the Pendragon Pair. "I cannot do it... no amount of pride in the Yggdmillennia could compel me to commit such a crime... I am sorry, Darnic, but if you really want to give the Order, then I have no choice but to desert..."
Hearing this, the Yggdmillennia masters had mixed reactions. Darnic was absolutely Furious, Roche was somewhat indifferent, Caules and Fiore understood him. To the two child Masters, Gordes did what was right and he served as an inspiration. However, the two of them couldn't do such an act as their servants were still loyal to the Faction, so unlike with Gordes, they would gain absolutely nothing from it and both mutually, and wordlessly, decided they would remain and try to steer towards the right direction while still members of the Yggdmillennia Family.
"Pfff... hahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gwydion suddenly erupted in a mad fit of laughter as he heard Gordes' bravado and resumed clapping, this time rather fast. "Oh, it has been millenia since I laughed so hard at the witness of an idealistic fool who believes in what is Right. Oh, you reminded me of Arianrhod. So naive..." Gwydion spoke, before he suddenly waved his hands around, and Magenta-coloured flowers hovered over Gordes. "... And so dead."
However, Gwydion never got to release his magic as suddenly, he sensed a large concentration of Mana above him and he glanced upwards, about 50 meters away to his left side, and he saw Shirou high in the air, holding a blood red, ominously glowing spear in his right arm, aiming it for a Javelin toss. The tip of that Spear was bathed in a dark, miasma-like energy.
"You will not kill an Innocent, good man as long as I watch!" Shirou announced before he tightened the grip and stiffened his muscles some more, ready to toss. "GAE BOLG!"
The red Spear was then thrown with enough energy to break the Sound Barrier almost instantaneously after leaving Shirou's hand, causing a cone-shaped shockwave that came towards him while the object itself fired straight towards Gwydion, who used his flowers as a shield, collecting them in large masses. "Dandelion" Gwydion spoke, his flowers suddenly hardening enough to tank Gae Bolg's toss head on, one flower after the other having turned into a Dandelion, harder than any material Shirou had ever witnessed, until the red Spear exploded in a release of energy, being destroyed, but also cracking Gwydion's flower-wall, which became visible after the smoke subdued, showing that Gwydion's left arm was slightly injured, three cuts along the sleeve of his robe, one drawing some blood while the other two were just miniscule scratches on the skin.
"W-w-w-w-wha-!?" Gordes stammered as he watched, quickly hurrying over to Saber of Black to hide himself and follow the two knights, who had picked their weapons up by now and were creating some minor distance away from Gwydion.
The Welsh Mage just dusted his wounds off with three strokes, the third one immediately causing a change on the visible aspects, showing his wounds healing immediately, followed by the clothes doing the same, followed by any dirt on his cloth being erased. He looked as if he never even got exposed to a breeze. "Most interesting." Gwydion then began as he stared at Shirou with an Analytic expression. "Gae Bolg is the cursed spear that belongs to the Child of Light, Cu Chulainn. How did you possess it, and how were you able to use it?"
Shirou answered the first question without saying anything by silently projecting another Gae Bolg in his hands, followed by taking an offensive combat stance, the tip aimed downwards while he held the lance with both hands. "The idea is simple. Cu Chulainn created the curse that reverses Cause and Effect. However, the ability to aim for the heart with a True Strike is all the spear's doing. Anyone who has the spear can use that part of the Ability as it is not the user's skill, but the Item's own Ability. So while I cannot reverse cause and effect, I can still aim for the heart. This goes for all non-divine Noble Phantasms."
Everyone was surprised, to say the least. Due to Shirou displaying the creation of another Gae Bolg replica, it was easily figured out that he used projection and reinforcement, but to use it to such versatility as to replicate a Noble Phantasm's power, even if a weakened, fractioned portion of it, was unheard of.
Gwydion let out an amused chuckle. "Well what do you know? Seems like I made a mistake sparing you the last time because I wholly believed that our Saber of Black would do it. I guess my belief in her title as Knight of Treachery has been..." Gwydion stopped for a moment to suddenly amass a large amount of blue Lily's around him. The sheer Mana in all of them startled everyone, causing Roche even a slight sense of Panic as he knew exactly what was coming next. "...fatally misplaced."
"EVERYONE RUN!" Mordred suddenly announced, panic written all over her face as she picked Artoria up over her shoulder as if she was a damsel in distress before dashing as far as she could away from Gwydion.
"Hold up, Mordred! Set me down this instant!" Artoria complained, shaking and struggling, but the fatigue of their earlier combat and the pain from all the literal face beating started to really kick in.
"No can do, Father. Gwydion is about to destroy that whole place. We need to be a world away from here, from him!"
Shirou meanwhile was taken aback by the sheer pressure of mana exercised by Gwydion. His blue Lily's started to circle around him and rise high into the sky, their mana only increasing in concentration. "Did you know that every type of flower represents a divinity?" Gwydion began to monologue, opening up with a question.
"What do you mean?" Shirou responded.
"Every flower to ever exist has had a close, personal association with a god or goddess from their Time. The Dandelion represents the fortified skin of Theseus, which he ate for 30 days before he fought the Minotaur. The Red Hyacinth represents the blood of Hyacinthus, the handsome spartan Prince who was loved by Apollo, who upon his death gave his life and soul to the white Hyacinth flower, turning it red with his blood. And the Blue Lily represents Ishtar when she was at her worst. When she ascended the Ebih mountain and destroyed it, some texts say that a fragment of the Mountain shot itself deep into the earth and its divine energy flooded the tulipes on the ground above, morphing them into Blue Lilys. The Blue Lily stands for a time in which Ishtar terrified even An, the King of all Gods during the Sumerian antique."
When Gwydion finished explaining, the Lily's above him formed a circle, and when that was finished, they suddenly disintegrated, and a hole in the sky opened, showing the night star above them.
Shirou could only watch in terror at what came next.
The whole damn Planet Venus slowly emerged from the hole in the Sky, and as it did, it started to shine brightly in a blinding light of golden yellow, then shrank down to about the diameter comparable to a grown man's height. Afterwards, it turned deep purple and shaped itself into an Arrow, pointing straight at Shirou.
"Know the wrath of Ishtar. Jabal Hamrin Breaker"
Welp, gonna cut it here and torture y'all with some heavy suspense :D
As always, if you liked it or disliked it, R&R with a Why, and I will see you pretty soon!