Chapter 16: The Aftermath

All hell break loose and Shidou knew it but he couldn't help it. His body moved before he could even think.

Kurumi deserved a second chance.

Even if she did horrible things in the past, Shidou insisted that she deserve—no, needed the second chance to live without repercussions. She doesn't' need to be killed needlessly. Even If she threatened him to eat him, he doesn't care.

It's his desire to save all of the Spirit.

Even Kurumi, the worst Spirit he could ever face, deserved one.

Gàe Bolg…

So he wondered when did he jumped forward as Ms. Scarlet was about to release her spear at Kurumi. Even though the other clone already has been forming a barrage in front of original Kurumi. He felt that it is not enough.

If he placed himself in front of Ms. Scarlet, he hoped he she will hesitate.

How unlucky he was.

So he must face this consequence with his very own life.

At least he was brave enough to do this.

He closed his eyes and waited for the worst outcome to occur.

Scathach knew that her noble phantasm was unstoppable and she was proud of it. Her prodigy was excellent to the point the spears themselves decides where they will impale. That's why she was blessed (cursed) with divinity, which disallowed her to become with death.

She has now condemned Kurumi to death using her spear as she knew she was too dangerous to live. If she was allowed to live, then Kurumi will continue to terrorize this world.

At least, she could provide this world a temporary relief.

But what made her perplexed by the moment her body was about to throw the cursed spear was that the boy threw his body in front of the trajectory, which made her more perplexed.

No one has ever throw themselves in the harm's way, especially if its an activating noble phantasm. Scathach knew that she must pull back her attack or at least hold back her spear.

But she was too late, and Shidou was too late.

The spear, even though she was still touching it, was no longer within her dominion. Her muscles were already on contract on giving the spear the boost.

…Alternative!!!

It was just too late. There's no turning back. The dye has been cast.

In order to kill Kurumi, she must sacrifice Shidou too.

Does Scathach regret this decision, absolutely not… unless, Ritsuka was involved. This is not the first case Scathach has killed a human being but she couldn't help but reconsider, which is impossible by the way this time.

Time seemed to slow down for her.

Only a miracle can achieve the impossibility.

Unless…

Unless…

By my command seal, Lancer…

Her master's voice and she listened to it intently. She can hear her clearly. Even if her master couldn't finish her words, she could already hear the intent.

Salvation.

Salvation for both of them.

Do not let them be killed!

Absolute Obedience and twisting all of the physics. Her Master can achieved this small miracle and Lancer was glad that she brought it up in order not to strain her Spirit Origin that great.

Her Noble Phantasm has a law and as the Queen of the Land of the Shadows, she has the ability to rewrite it accordingly on a whim. By tweaking it slightly by the runes and her own willpower, she can prevent the death of both Kurumi and Shidou by margin; even if she can't prevent the spear to thrust through their body.

She'll at least let them pierce their non-lethal area and let the spear graze their heart for a price. Then its up for Kurumi and Shidou to do what they can do.

She's the creator of Gàe bolg for god sake!

*squelch*

At point-blank range, it pierced through all of the clones, through Shidou and finally its target, Kurumi then bursting from her back.

*BOOM*

It proceeded outward and upward and created a humongous shockwave as it pierced the sky, creating a big hole from the clouds.

It was a mess. A bloody mess.

All of the clones were dead.

Shidou's chest has a medium size hole on his chest where it could be seen through. Lancer immediately caught his body as he limped down, unconscious.

Kurumi wasn't at her best condition either; she suffered the same fate as Shidou and hole can be seen on her chest either. Even her angel Zafkiel suffered too, as it has now a large hole. Her Zafkiel was stained by her own blood and yet she remained conscious and still standing.

By the usage of her runes, Lancer managed to plugged the holes on Shidou's body before blood will leaked out.

Ritsuka's command seal were absolute and Scathach was sure of it.

Shidou was still alive but unconscious.

Kurumi herself was alive too but now too weak. Nightmare looked at Lancer and then at the rest of the individuals who are on the rooftop. She tripped and immediately she used her flintlock to support her weight.

She underestimated Lancer by a wide margin and its her own fault.

Now she's at the death's door. Her newly-acquired hole spilt blood all over Astral Dress and she couldn't do a thing about it until Lancer decided to plugged it too using her runes too. Scathach placed Shidou beside unconscious Mana.

Kurumi was confused. Why?

She was now kneeling in exhaustion and confusion. She also eyed three individuals that came out just recently.

It was Tohka in her limited Astral Dress, Origami in her AST uniform and finally a masked individual with an outstretched arm and a glowing hand. Kurumi smirked for a moment.

Whoever it was, she was definitely involved in this timely intervention. Weak with an exhaust Mana, all of her clones disappeared. It seemed that this is her defeat then.

"Shidou?" A new arrival that came from the sky and all of the attention were onto the new individual.

Definitely a Spirit with her Astral Dress that took the form of a kimono.

Ifrit. Kurumi remembered with her now fuzzy memory. Ifrit was Shidou's adopted sister, in other words, Kotori herself.

Kotori glanced toward her brother and witnessed the large wound on her chest then everything was broken.

Kotori's world was broken. Circle of fire erupted around her, burning anyone who dared to enter her territory.

Who's the culprit then? Kotori glared toward Kurumi. She's definitely involved. Her anger rose and she only recognized Kurumi due to being influenced by her Spirit Powers. The rest were just fillers, good for nothing.

Perfect timing because Kurumi was terribly weakened and has no more tricks up to her sleeves. She'll make her pay by her own life.

Camael!

Kotori raised her arm and a large axe cannon appeared. She'll intend to incinerate her to ashes. Collateral Damage be damned!

Slowly but surely, her cannon gathered energies from the tip as the fiery singularity by the muzzle continued to grow large. She heard voices anywhere but nothing can be heard for Kotori. She must deal with Kurumi as much as possible.

She hurt her brother!

She'll pay with her own damn life!

*WOOOSH*

The cannon fired and a stream of fire spewed forth. Kurumi could not avoided it. Kotori smirked with content.

Kurumi will surely be killed.

A large shield interrupted her view and placed itself in front of Kurumi, blocking all of the fiery beam with ease. Kotori recognized the shield amidst the fiery inferno.

It was Knight.

The recent Spirit that appeared not long after.

How dare she interrupt her kill, Kotori forced her cannon to increase the fire rate but even with intense heat, the shield didn't budge. It was impossible to melt or force it.

Either way, Kotori just continued firing whoever was protecting Kurumi. She considered them traitor as well.

The rooftop was now a living inferno and nothing could stop it.

Until…

*THUD*

A blunt force to her nape made Kotori unconscious. Her whole world was darkened in instant.

Kurumi woke up with a blaring headache. She instinctively held her head in pain. She reeled back from the recovering and felt her body limp. Slowly she opened her eyes.

It was blurry for a moment and when her sight eventually sharpened, she realized she was looking at the ceiling of some unfamiliar house.

No, scratch it, it is some mansion she didn't remember visiting and she was on the bed. Kurumi looked around her environment, her mind set into suspicion. She can't exactly remember much what happened yesterday and her head still hurts. She kept on caressing her head and his body until she realized her upper top was naked.

No, more like heavily bandaged, especially the area where the spear impaled through.

Kurumi widened her eyes in disbelief.

She thought she was already being killed on that day… or was she? Is this this afterlife? Touching her pale skin proves that she was much alive. She checked herself again if she still retains her abilities and she still has it.

It was weird. That Lancer's spear just made her reminded of her death and she knew that someone also helped her, but who? It was just impossible for someone who is the worst Spirit to date.

"Ara ara, you are now already awake." Someone, somewhere commented upon her, which made Kurumi materialized her flintlock as she instinctively pulled the sheet up to her chest. When she checked her lower parts, she realized that she was just wearing her underwear.

It would rude if someone saw her in underwear.

She immediately pointed the flintlock to the stranger.

The stranger was no other than an ordinary nun. Kurumi thought that she was just an ordinary nun at the first glance but when Kurumi paid attention, she realized she wasn't.

Kurumi insisted to herself that the nun was a Spirit.

"Oh how rude… when I let you sleep in the monastery to have you recovered." The nun reasoned. Kurumi now realized that she was indeed in a monastery, albeit an empty one.

"Why I am here? Why I am not dead yet?"

"Why? You'll be recognized at once when you are to be sent to any hospital only the monastery can heal and hide you from the world when you are weak and wounded. Of course it was a human nature to help each other's, don't we?"

"No. You're lying! You are not even a human…"

The nun wasn't even offended by it, instead she was deeply amused.

"Fufu, never thought a Spirit can figure out my nature…" The nun immediately approached Kurumi carefully and Nightmare could see how she looked alienesque despite she already looked like a human being.

Those eyes.

It didn't belong to this world.

"Even though I am no nurse… I have enough credibility to see through your wind. Although, Ms. Nightingale was the one did the patching and healing through the days."

Kurumi focused on one detail. "D-days? How many days has passed?"

"Days? Sweetie, you've been unconscious for three days."

Kurumi felt her heart missed a bit. Three days? She's been unconscious for three days.

"I won't worry about it, if I where you." The nun was already beside her bed, content on sitting beside her. Kurumi could smell her tempting fragrance, one that made her feel strange. Kurumi already deduced that the nun was a dangerous individual. The nun was about to touch her, only to realize that she was reaching for the sheets and pulled it down as her calculating eyes observed the patches and wounds.

She teasingly patted the wound area, which earned Kurumi a blushed. It should be impossible according to the Nightmare. Also, she felt embarrassed a little when she let her chest (although nicely covered by the bandages…) exposed to the nun. Again, she thought she already been dulled by the extremities but it gave her a benefit of the doubt.

"You're recovering rather quickly… it could have been your nature as a Spirit but overall it's a good news." The nun reported as her strange, yellow eyes moved expertly as it absorbed every details then she stood up and gave her a genuine smile before she left her alone.

"You might felt refreshed a few after and although the gates are open for you to escape freely, I might recommended staying for a little bit to for Nightingale to give a thumbs up. She'll be here the sooner she arrived."

Kurumi knew it was good news. The nun meant for her to choose two things: to escape or to stay for a little bit for a quick checkup. She admitted that whoever Nightingale it was, she's not a bad doctor, she did a good job on making her wounds non-existent but the ugly scars were another story.

The nun already gave her some loose clothes to wear for a meantime and Kurumi was obliged. She trusted the nun already. If not, the nun could have killed her while she was unconscious.

At least she deserved to know her name.

"What's your name…" Kurumi asked her abruptly.

The nun immediately looked at her curiously. "My name? Oh I thought you've never cared."

"…Sweetie, my name is Sessyoin Kiara... do remember that name."