"Backs to the wall and shields up!" Rin shouted, and they all rushed to do as she said. "So long as we have a wall at our backs, it will be difficult for him to do his high speed charge attacks. Once he shoots his feathers at us, he will have no choice but to fight us at close quarters. If he ever started to build distance, immediately return to the wall and bring your shields back up."
Even as she gave out orders, the rain of feathers started, slamming against their shields like a heavy hail storm, and no sooner did the storm end than the monster himself did his usual follow up attack, dive bombing with a spear thrust.
This time, the one to receive the attack was Misaki, who was launched straight back onto the wall hard enough to crack the stones.
"Bastard!" Elysha shouted, rushing forward, her eyes beginning to glow red as her speed and strength increased along with her madness.
Considering their difference in size and Elysha's speed, being a level 8 speed-type combatant boosted by madness enhancement, one would think that Elysha would have no trouble slipping past the monster's guard, but surprisingly, her first approach was countered by a swing from the monster's spear, sending her flying across the floor before she came to a stop and charged again.
In the meantime, Issei, Ayako, and the members of Polaris moved around to encircle the monster, applying pressure on all sides, allowing them to slip through its guard, while Shinji stayed back throwing Firebolts at the monster's head, guarding whenever they were deflected back at him.
"Take this!" The large ax wielding member of Polaris grunted as he hit the monster with his 'Full Force' skill, an attack that would one shot a level 2 monster.
The attack bounded off of the monster's armor as if it was nothing, but produced a reaction all the same as a bit of conceptual damage leaked through into the monster's body.
Issei also went in on the monster's right, getting in a few swift hits before backing off as its attention turned to him, giving Elysha time to unleash her fury on the opposing side. With her 'Sonic Blade' and 'Blade Rondo' skills, Elysha was able to deliver 12 hits before the monster even had time to react.
Believing the monster staggered, Melissa started to move in, hoping to get her chance to cut off the monster's wings. Unfortunately, sensing it was being overwhelmed, the monster beat its wings and took to the sky again, forcing everyone back to the wall to get ready for another round.
"Keep us guarded. We are still healing her." Rin said as she and Sakura worked on healing Misaki's injuries from the first time around.
Shirou glanced at them and then back to the flying monster, running numbers in his head with the help of 'Mind's Eye I'.
The target of its next thrust was definitely going to be Rin, Sakura and Misaki. They were too vulnerable at the moment, and putting extra bodies between them wouldn't help with the speed and weight of the monster's attack.
He needed to offer up a better target.
"Shirou, what are you doing!?" Issei shouted as Shirou discarded his shield and ran forward as the next rain of feathers started.
While everyone else was blocking the attack, Shirou boosted his strength and speed as much as he dared with his magecraft, and used 'Mind's Eye I' to predict the trajectory of the attacks and avoid them before they even started.
Then as the monster came down towards him with its thrust, he performed a last second dodge that barely let him get out of the way of its attack.
His head was hit by the chunks of stone kicked up by the attack, hard enough for him to take actual damage, but that hardly mattered. He was too focused on his next action.
He opened up the Mystic Forge on top of the monster's spear, and before it could pull it back, he split the spear in two, causing the head of the spear to remain behind as the monster staggered back in surprise.
Its reach crippled, the others were able to go on a much more clean offensive.
Theresa grabbed onto Melissa and with a series of Accel Dashes, she got the both of them behind and above the giant as it was trying to bat at the fighters at its feet with the remains of its weapon.
Melissa activated her Morale Burst, 'Prime Cut' and as her butcher's knife glowed with white light, she brought it down on the monster's right wing, slicing it clean off.
It gave a roar of pain and tried to take to the air once again, only to just fall to the side.
The Seekers were dog piling it now, trying to finish the job, dealing more and more damage as the monster could only flail around to try to defend itself. It looked like it was all over. It would only be a matter of time before its HP hit 0.
Then the giant let out a massive screech.
=*Giant Eagle Headed Warrior used Deafening Screech: All targets are dazed.=
Everyone was struck dumb by the sound, clapping their hands over their ears, trying to block out the noise, and their actions became slow and sluggish.
With watering eyes, Shirou looked up as the monster as he took the time to get up and direct its next attack, one aimed in vengeance for its lost wing at the dazed Melissa.
Without even thinking, Shirou expended the 'Morale' needed to break free of the daze and rushed Melissa, barely making it in time to push the girl out of the way only for the monster's hand to slam down on him, grabbing him instead.
"Shirou!" Sakura screamed in panic as the monster jumped up and away from them.
Despite not being able to fly anymore, it still could jump great distances, and made it up on top of one of the pillars that light the room that were on either side of the bridge.
Holding Shirou up, the monster started to put the squeeze on him, slowly squeezing the life out of the boy.
"No!" Sakura panicked, sending a Shadow Bolt at the monster, which it deflected back at her, requiring her to dodge out of the way.
Issei and Theresa attempted to charge it through the air, but were pushed back by a wave of feathers from the remaining wing.
"Damn it. Use your Morale Bursts!" Rin shouted, hoping that someone's skill would do something.
=Issei activated his Morale Burst: Deva Form=
A third eye appeared on Issei's forehead and he became covered in lightning as he flew through the air towards his enemy, striking him from all sides.
Sadly, the attack's lightning damage was negated, and the rest of the damage he did was not enough to convince the monster to let go of the man he had captured.
The skill also only lasted for 5 seconds, before Issei started to fall back down to Earth.
=Ayako activated her Morale Burst: Hold the Line=
=Allies standing next to Ayako gain boosts to their Strength and Defense and no longer take knock back.=
Again, an amazingly powerful skill, but useless in this situation.
=Sakura activated her Morale Burst: Astral Projection=
A white haired duplicate of Sakura appeared behind her, one with an overwhelming presence to it. But even when it threw its shadow chains at the Named Monster, attempting to bind it, the monster's armor dispelled the attack.
=Theresa activated her Morale Burst: Triple Steal=
=Party members gain 'Life Steal', 'Mana Drain', and 'Item Thief' on all attacks.=
=Shinji activated his Morale Burst: Death Knights=
Theresa's skill had no visible effect, despite being incredibly powerful, and Shinji summoned ten bone knights around him. All of which was useless to solve the current problem.
"I didn't want to have to do this." Rin said looking at her ID before looking up at Shirou, who was still being choked. She swallowed and bit the bullet.
=Rin activated her Morale Burst: Summon Hero=
A magic circle appeared under Rin's feet and words she knew well formed unbidden on her lips.
'Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone.'
'The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg.'
'The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.'
'Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut.'
'Repeat every five times.'
'Simply, shatter once filled.'
'I announce.'
'Your self is under me, my fate is in your sword.'
'In accordance with my need, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer.'
'Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.'
'You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!'
The magic circle gave off a giant flash of light as Rin felt all of her MP drained out of her, causing her to collapse to her knees.
She panted for breath, her head spinning as a three segmented symbol glowed on the back of her hand, and on the display screen of her ID was a picture of a card depicting an archer with an arrow drawn back.
"Hm, now this is a new scene." A bored and cocky voice came from above her, causing Rin to look up at the Hero who she had summoned, a man who was around six feet tall, with bronze skin and ashen white hair. His silver eyes observed his surroundings with disinterest, until he spotted Rin. "So it's you again. Should have known."
Rin blinked in confusion, not understanding why this Hero acted like it knew her, before realizing she didn't have time for this. "Archer, help us kill that monster!" Rin demanded, pointing towards where the monsters still stood, trying to squeeze the life out of Shirou. Archer looked over at it and started to laugh. "W…What is wrong with you!?"
Archer stopped laughing and looked back towards her with a smirk. "Why would I bother to help?" He said, causing Rin's heart to sink. "I don't sense any Holy Grail, nor do you seem to have summoned me properly. I will be gone in a few minutes regardless if I help you or not, so I don't see why I should bother. Let the boy die. I don't care."
"You…" Rin growled, gritting her teeth before holding up her hand with the command seal on it. "Archer, I ORDER you to kill that thing and save my friend!"
Archer's playful smirk turned to a look of annoyance as one of the three segments of Rin's command seal was consumed. "Tch. fine." He said, clicking his tongue before a large black bow manifested in his hand, along with a long red sword that twisted itself into an arrow.
"Wait, it can deflect arro…" Rin started, but Archer ignored her, simply firing his shot.
The red arrow ripped through the sound barrier as it went towards the monster, only for the monster to block it with its wing, causing it to be reflected back at the sender… only for it to change directions yet again in mid air, returning to the monster and punching a hole straight through its chest and out the other side.
The monster froze before starting to fall, his grip on Shirou loosening as it fell to the bridge, Theresa taking the chance to rescue the boy.
"Shirou!" Rin shouted along with Sakura as they both ran as fast as they could to him in order to start healing him. "Shirou, are you alright?"
The boy didn't respond, but he did cough up blood and looked at her in the eyes with what was probably meant to be a smile of encouragement.
With structural analysis, Rin was able to determine that Shirou's vitals weren't damaged beyond repair. He was beat up, but he would live. "Thank goodness."
"So, Master, would you agree that I have completed the task that you asked of me. The boy has been saved." Archer said, sounding more than a little bit resentful for being ordered to do something against his will.
Rin bit her lip, not wanting to piss the Heroic Spirit off any more than she already did. "Yes. Thank you, Archer."
"Good." Archer said as his last order was confirmed to be over. A pair of white and black blades appearing in his hands. "Die."
Rin was shocked as Theresa jumped in between Archer and Shirou with her shield raised, taking a swing from the summoned hero that sent her flying backwards, hitting Shirou as she went and sending both of them flying down the stairs, Archer in quick pursuit, his blades at the ready and his eyes locked on Shirou.
"Archer, stop! That's an order!" Rin shouted, consuming her second command seal in order to bring the summoned hero to a stand still. "What the hell do you think you are doing!?"
Archer didn't respond to her, he just kept his eyes on Shirou as the rest of the party formed a wall between the two of them, Shirou looking back with a confused expression.
"I won't let you get in the way of my objective." Archer said, one of his swords disappearing to be replaced by a twisted looking knife. "Rule Breaker!" He shouted, stabbing himself in the leg, before once again running downwards towards Shirou with blades drawn.
"Archer, I order you to kill yourself!" Rin shouted.
'…Wow. She actually said it this time.' Archer thought, though he had already cut the contract between the two of them.
The Seekers attempted to stand in Archer's way, but he batted them aside with ease, knocking them down one by one and even knocking Elysha clean out with a blow to the back of her head with his pummel.
He pushed his way forward until he stood above the still dazed and injured Shirou. "Die. And take your worthless dream with you." Archer said as he raised up his sword, prepared to deliver a finishing blow.
A wooden box landed at his feet and suddenly opened. White light poured out of the box, surrounding the surprised Archer.
…Then he was gone.
"Th…Thank goodness." Madoka said, falling to her knees after having tossed the teleportation trapped box at 'Hero's' feet.
The entire party was in a mixed state, having just gone through both the Named Monster and the out of control summoning, but there was still one question that dominated all of their minds, one that Ayako voiced for all of them. "Who the heck was that!?"
Archer blinked as he found himself suddenly teleported out of the underground room with the bridge and into a large red stone desert-like area.
"No…" He growled in frustration.
So close. He had been so close to finally ending Shirou Emiya and putting a stop to it all. But just like every other time, the opportunity had been snatched away from him at the very last second. If he had just swung a moment sooner instead of trying to let the idiot know the exact reason he was about to die, it would have been over.
Archer cursed his E-rank luck and his inability to succeed in this one simple task, even with functionally infinite numbers of attempts.
He could feel the magic power that had brought him into this world slowly fading, and once it was fully drained, he would disappear. He only had enough power in him for a few more minutes, even with his Independent Action class skill. That was not enough time to find the idiot again and finish the job.
Pig-like grunts drew the angry 'hero' out of his brooding, and he looked up to see several large and fat creatures with tusk-like fangs growing out of their mouths.
The creatures attacked Archer, who effortlessly killed them… and then drained them of their souls and lifeforce to bolster his magic power reserves.
They weren't powerful, but they would last him just a little longer.
He wouldn't give up that easily.
They are in a world where an unknown system created by a Divine Being gives normal individuals with no magical talent access to greater mysteries. Where the lady running the box store has her own personal pocket dimension in her basement and several individuals have the capacity to distort space and time. Think about it. Every time Madoka uses her storage, she is ripping a hole in reality.
Rin summoning Archer isn't that outlandish.
And stop telling me that this came out of no where. I literally had Rin look down at her ID two chapters ago and had is stay 'Morale Burst: Summon Hero', what did you think was about to happen?