Water Trial Finale

Well...

This surely was something.

That was what Castiel Emiya thought as he took in the situation at hand.

The blonde teen stood hunched over slightly, a bit winded judging by the look of exasperation on his features. A mild bead of sweat rolled down his forehead whilst he held both Clarent and Hrunting in his hands, with his Wings deployed. Though, he didn't deploy his Golden Foundation Armour just yet, even as his instincts told him that would have to change in the near future. Not only that, but his pants looked to be shredded up to his knees, while his upper clothing looked to be missing its sleeves. Other than those things, he didn't have that many injuries aside from some bruises and a minor concussion from that one hit to the back of his head.

As for the other two: Dellinger and Hammond, well they could be described as being in similar states to him, the former more than the latter though since he kept his distance while the former kept Castiel occupied with close combat. Dellinger himself looked to have lost the hood section of his hoodie, as well as his sleeves with a single gash over his stomach area. A gash which came from Hrunting and seemed to be profusely bleeding. Though, the guy looked like he was trying to stop the bleeding with his willpower alone, either that or he didn't consider it as much of a problem... not like it had even in the beginning when he freaked the fuck out and bawled like a little bitch. He had to stop when he had seen the Heir try to exploit this to go after his comrade on that large golden throne of his. Aside from them, his legs didn't look like they were in very good condition judging by all the cuts and bruises adorning them either from Castiel's own light attacks or his sword slashes.

Other than him, Hammond the one on the large throne, looked to be much better in comparison. He didn't have as many wounds, or rather it would be more accurate to say he didn't have any at all. Instead, his Bazooka lay on the ground behind him, discarded when he no longer had any ammo for it for him to switch to a rifle instead, one which fired rounds which would have put those at least mid to ultimate class down like rabid dogs. Castiel would know, he'd seen them in action himself, and only by manipulating the light energy around him did he manage to stop them from hitting him. Those rounds had moved so fast that even with the absurd abilities Hrunting had, the sword itself found it difficult to keep up with the barrage. That, and Dellinger usually kept it occupied leaving Castiel with few options to deal with them. Thankfully, his wings defended him well against those rounds, though every time he would miss Hammond would order his Slaves to move him to another position. Not to mention his atrocious treatment of them, whenever a Slave fell down unable to work anymore, he would just let them be dragged by the collars of their necks, not even caring one bit about their health.

It was something which spurned the Heir on through this fight..

Although so far it had been a stalemate.

On one hand, the human/Fishman Hybrid called Dellinger had been keeping up with the Heir to the Tohsaka Tower, keeping him on his toes with the use of temporary duplicates to fool him and strike at places where he would have expected the least. Fortunately, he had his perception-based prowess to thank for being able to keep up with the guy, though sometimes perceiving them didn't mean he could block in time. Even with his defences being enhanced by Blut Veine, this hybrid definitely packed a wallop. If that wasn't enough, the guy tried to pull a few sneak attacks from out of his ass by trying to gore Castiel with some spear-like headbutts, using his horns as makeshift weapons of their own. Fortunately Castiel had been able to keep those things from impaling him, this asshole even having the nerve to try and target Castiel jr a few times.

Prick.

As if sensing his thoughts, a sadistic chuckle escaped the effeminate bird's lips, revealing his large fangs as his eyes grew progressively redder. "Kyahahahahaha! You liked the thought of me cucking you, don't you deny it."

At that, Castiel's brow twitched irritably, though the past attempts at making him an eunuch already irritated him enough. "I'm so going to 'enjoy' ripping off your freaking horns for those stunts, you fuck tard!"

"Oh, now you're talking my language! Come on then, lets go! It'll be more fun when I stomp on you beneath my heels!"

After yelling that out, Castiel folded his Wings defensively, quickly succeeding in blocking several kicks which were aimed at his vitals... although he positioned two near his junk for precaution's sake. Dellinger's laughter filled his ears, mocking him and grating on his nerves immensely. Just as the effeminate Fishman Hybrid flipped backward, Castiel thrust his Wings forwards and released a series of bullets made from Light. They moved that fast too, though Dellinger practically weaved through them with ease.

Tilting his head, the Heir reflexively dodged a bullet aimed for the centre of his skull. Although, with field he knew that it had been coming right away. Still didn't deter the reflexive action he'd done, but anyways he glared towards the source of the bullet: the slave master guy sitting atop that throne of his with that signature arrogant, smug look on his face.

Yeah, how could he forget that ugly mug? Hammond, who took on the role of artillery like the mortars used by the human armies throughout the world, was a way worse piece of shit than Dellinger could ever be. Sure the latter was a sadistic asshole in combat, but Castiel had dealt with such people before and he could tolerate them a bit better. It helped that he'd been dealing with Nico's shit for a while, and he had so far proven that even with his flaws, he wasn't necessarily a bad person. THIS guy though? Utter shit head, no doubt about it. Over a thousand spells from Caster felt like a light punishment for him in the Heir's eyes.

In battle, he'd be even MORE annoying if that were even possible. He would launch sneak attacks from long range, either with his rifle or a series of cannons which were arranged in various positions around his throne. Cannons which bombarded Castiel's position like no tomorrow without even a care for Dellinger's safety. Though, considering the banter that the two had shared previously, Castiel rightfully assumed there was no love between them whatsoever. It helped that the mentioning of Dellinger's status as a hybrid between human and Fishman had been exposed prior to this battle, since it struck a chord in the young Heir.

Thinking about the lessons he had learned about the Fishmen from his teachers when he was a kid, Castiel recalled how hybrids between Fishmen and Human were greatly looked down upon by the majority of both races. They'd be hunted on sight, worse than the supposed witch hunts back in medieval times, or the Roman's hunting of Christians back during their campaign to conquer the world. Then again, Hybrids of different species were generally disdained by the various mythological races anyways, since they went against the norm, and yet still the majority of them had such Hybrids simply due to how powerful they were, so they could use such Hybrids as weapons over other races.

The life of a Hybrid would never have been easy, ever.

Shaking his head to push those thoughts aside, Castiel put his focus back onto the battlefield. So far, he had analysed the movements Dellinger used against him so far in this fight, how he attacked with his legs down to the muscles which were used for the whole process. Ge ran it through his brain like a thousand or so times, deciphering everything about it down to the tiniest detail. No way would it surprise him anymore, though he couldn't help but note the differences. Dellinger may be considered fast, but that would only last him so long against someone who could strike over vast distances. Someone like Castiel himself or even Nico, he'd seen some of his moves like how he would Warp around launching those red orb things all over the place. Guy could run circles around some of the faster opponents, even if Castiel felt like it wasted movement. It worked for him, and that was all that mattered in his eyes.

Aside from him, Hammond didn't seem like the type who would last very long in direct close quarters combat, and in ranged combat the two of them seemed mostly equal. Though, that would only last until he either A: got knocked out by a surprise attack to the back of his head or B: expended all his Ammo Clips (though Castiel got the feeling Zelretch wouldn't let something as minor as that interfere with one of his trials). If he wanted toget rid of that asshole and the Slaves unwillingly accompanying him, then he'd have to either pull a fast one on Dellinger and get in close, or he could play the attrition battle and wait for his chance to strike. His mind worked overtime, and soon enough the blonde Heir concluded that the former plan held more of a chance to succeed than the latter.

'Alright, time to go kick some ass...'

With those thoughts in mind, Castiel got into a battle stance with his dual swords at the ready. As a result, his opponents did the same, though he didn't look that worried. After all, when the arrows of Grandiva clashed with the bullets from that Rifle of his, Castiel quickly determined that his weapons had different levels of firepower to them, much like a certain half-cyborg badass from a certain movie sequel revolving around a fourth-wall Breaking troll of a Mercenary. Dea-something, the Heir couldn't recall it since it had been a while since he last saw the movie (though Emily sure as hell loved it). However, as a downside to having so many weapons, Castiel had noticed that the Fishman Slave owner hadn't used them all at once, just kept switching them out. However, just before he moved to attack, Castiel noticed him taking out another weapon, one which seemed like it spoke a very 'different' story.

It looks like one of those older machine guns that spin releasing a whole fucking lot of bullets, and look and behold it started spinning quickly and magical bullets started being launched by it.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

However, as the bullets flew at him, Castiel found himself quick to react, remembering the time when actual human technology caught him and his people off guard when they were on bodyguard duty that one time. "Castiel" He muttered under his breath, putting his Wings in front of him for protection, again thinking how ridiculously unfair his Wings really were. The reason? Oh nothing much just that every bullet which tried to hit him got deflected as if they were hitting their equivalent of a brick wall. The name power of the Shield of Godseemed just way too practical, though like all powers, they had a downside. That downside or this power was that whenever he attempted to pull more energy from his Evil Core, his angelic capacities waned and, depending on how much evil power got taken, they may even stop in its entirety, which now that he thought about it, seemed kinda weird since his angelic holy power perfectly counter balances the evil energy.

Why couldn't both be used? Why was it that whenever he tried drawing too much of either the other gave him trouble?

Before he could ponder more however...

"Pistol High Heel!"

A voice suddenly shouted as a piercing pain erupted like an explosion from Castiel's back, exactly the spot that was less guarded by his multi-natured wings and where he had put a lot of defences and reinforcements to protect. If hadn't for his paranoia of doing that, then Castiel felt that he would have been gravely injured just now. Not that this pain didn't suck dick though, as he felt some of his internal organs shaken out of correct position. Not only that, but Castiel distinctly noticed that his spine got a few cracks, and considering how his body wasn't to be underestimated at all, he can only say that this was a good assassination attempt.

"Kyaahh, what a big dummy. To keep showing your back to me, you got to be dumb." Dellinger exclaimed in his already super annoying voice, bouncing from one foot to the other. All the while, the young Heir spat some silver blood from his mouth, wiping his lips clean with his forearm while glaring heatedly at the Hybrid of human and Fishman. 'Fuck, I already am sick and tired of this charade.' he thought to himself from within his little barrier of protection. 'Looks like I'll need to deal with him fast, otherwise he'll make things way too annoying. But first...'

As the bullets keep hitting Castiel's shield, he discreetly opened a small hole in it, nothing too big but more then enough for him to look outside from it.

And that was already more than enough.

Using his Divine Eye, the blonde teen controlled the light energy that was naturally in the area around Hammond. There wasn't really very much though, since this place was currently heavily empowering for water, something of which the Heir admittingly sucked dick at, but despite this there was still enough for what he wanted to do next.

With some discreet Light Manipulation, Castiel promptly transformed it into a sphere of small knives and launched them directly at the slaves holding the palanquin. When they launched, the Heir couldn't help but frown to himself, while he knew they weren't doing of this in their own accord, and were actually being forced to do this, in the grand scheme of things this was his best shot in utterly owning this bitch, so he would take it anyway.

SCHULUCK- SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK- SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK- SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK- SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK!

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Screams rang out throughout the area underneath the slave owner's platform, screams which came from his Slaves when the knives quickly and promptly impaled their bodies, more specifically their various limbs. Not to mention that some of them even lost several senses like their sight, hearing etc when the knives impaled the bodyparts responsible for the usage of those senses. Their screams soon got followed with gargling sounds as a result of this, before the Slaves lost what little strength they had left.

With their bodies pierced, Hammond fell to the ground and stopped his fire for a brief second, looking completely startled at what just happened, and that alone would be all Castiel would need as he stopped using the power of his Name and insted took out his trusted bow Gandiva.

Pulling the string, Castiel quickly released an arrow just as Hammond managed to try and counter fire against him, but if that Fishman expected the result to be the same... then he'd be kicking himself in the ass soon. See, the difference from last time was that while Gandiva's arrows are about as destructive as his Execution Arrow, their penetration ability couldn't be matched and its capacity of combining light, fire, and the Divine Flame of the Vermilion Bird are an extra good reason for him to use it.

The result was that the magic bullet Hammond sent my way was pierced like tofu together with his brains that splattered everything behind him before the arrow hitting the ground far away and exploding in flames.

Not wasting time, the Heir used a mana burst from his left leg to launch himself to the right, Dellinger's leg missing his head by a single breath. Not waiting for him to continue his annoying kyah kyahh thingy, Castiel quickly launched himself at him, his sword cutting through his neck easily. Though, he soon narrowed his eyes when he noticed something had gone wrong with that statement. It had been too easy, way too fucking easy compared to the previous instances of this fight. There wasn't even sound of flesh being teared apart and blood gushing out, which means-

"Danto High Heel!" Came the voice to his side as a kick was already right by the side of his neck. Instinctively, Castiel reacted, his senses informiong him just how dangerous that kick could have been should he have allowed it to connect. Though, he could only focus in protecting his neck and not attack, so he jumped following the trajectory of the kick, putting all he had into his Blut Venne, Siegfriedspell, and Reinforcement magecraft while hoping his Angelic Foudation Armor would keep him alive. Nevertheless, it may as well have contacted him without those things for all the good that they did, as a sharp pain coursed through his neck, all the while he got launched more than 100 meters away. If it weren't for all his focus in pin point defence, Castiel could have become like the tens of thousands he'd killed in this trial, nothing more than rotting meat.

Cursing at his lack of tact, the Heir spotted the ever annoying Dellinger springing towards him like a bullet, also noticing that the other Fishmen who had been blinded before was waiting quietly on the side, his position in a iai form, ready to attack anyone that approached him. Smart, considering that he can't see it is better to stay in the defensive and be careful of possible attack instead of running around literally blindly.

Anyway, Dellinger was the biggest trouble right now. His smirk as he saw Castiel's neck sprouting a large bruise that was likely in all shades of the rainbow already made him even angrier at the bastard.

Deciding to try out something potentialy stupid, the Heir decided to put away all his weapons. If he had kept using them, then chances were that it would be potentially harder to hit him, as using a weapon like mine may expand his attacking area, but it also created trouble in super close distance. hand to hand combat however, didn't have that issue, instead hand to hand fighters suffered from long range problems depending on their styles. In Castiel's case, he had short to medium range down pat thanks to the style he got taught since his childhood.

As his weapons vanished into the breeze, the young Heir closed his eyes and emptied his head of all thoughts. He had his energy focused for a one hit and finish it kind of attack, no flashy moves and no tentative of making more than necessary.

'Like Kuzuki-sensei taught me when teaching me the principles of his Snake art of killing, when you face an opponent bear handed you must focus in preferentially vital areas and in case of necessity to incapacitate by attackig the joints.' The male recited in his mind, opening his eyes with a steely expression shining from them, enough to give Dellinger pause. 'Reaching the opponent in the most perfect way, never miss a second and never let an opening pass me by, end it with the least amount of fanfare as possible.'

As he focused in this, Castiel saw Dellinger close the distance between them once again, his kick aimed right at his head so he stepped slightly to the side and in front. This resulted not only in his attack missing, but for Castiel to close in and get right up into Dellinger's space, perfect for his counterattack. Getting closer, the Heir put his right hand and left hand upon his extended left, and put enough strength to bend his leg to the side on the knee. Dellinger cried in pain to respond to this, but the moment Castiel finished that, he continued his offensive, karate chopping him in the neck to stop his breathing before punching him in the liver and at the same time hitting his head on the side to destroy his ear drums.

Several vital areas hit and some of his senses lost put the Fishman Hybrid into a state of panic, something which Castiel noticed and couldn't help but smirk at, delight shining in his mismatched eyes like a ravenous beast. To try and save his own skin, Dellinger tried to blindly bite on Castiel's neck with suddenly appearing teeth, teeth shaped like shark fangs. He probably wanted to use this ability that he hadn't used till now to catch he young Heir off guard, however that attempt failed fiercer than Castiel's flames when said teen dropped his centre of gravity and body to avoid the impact, before taking advantage of his new position to focus his energy in one finger and pierce him right into the Femoral artery, an artery that carries a considerable amount of blood. If one got cut open like how he had just done, one would DEFINITELY call this a fatal injury, one with no chance of salvation unless one had strong enough healing abilities.

But, Castiel didn't plan on depending on this to kill him. It would take too long for it to take effect and take away his life, but the reason for him to do this was much easier to understand: Blood loss. With less blood circling through his veins, his body would weaken considerably with time as a result, and with his damaged mobility and balance he would be hard pressed to run away or evade the Heir's strikes as the continue fighting.

This match is over...

SLICE

...And just like that a kill steal happened, as that three times dammed Nico decided to come and take away my kill after I had secured it. He literally appeared from out of nowhere like a blur, right beside the Fishman. Just as he did... Dellinger's head flew off his shoulders and landed somewhere in the distance, bouncing several times before coming to a stop.

Not like he cared though, Castiel found himself way too salty over what his 'companion' had just did. Turning to him, the Heir glared at him, indignation and anger shining in his eyes like search lights. The next thing he knew, Castiel could not help but speak in a scolding voice. "Dick move man, I was going to finish him off and you just HAD had to go and butt your head in where you were not required. The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Oh, calm your panties dumb face." Nico retorted, holstering his Rebellion sword over his shoulder like a gangster. "I was only in a good mood to kill and saw a nice target so I decided to take a swing." He continued, his voice a bit weird and his tone even weirder as if he was more frivolous and relaxed than Castiel had ever really seen him before. He had to admit, it caught him by surprise a little. "I gotta say, you have some decent moves for a brat. Not as good as mine but not everyone can be a genious like me."

Hearing those words however, ignited a sense of rivalry inside him, not liking the fact that Nico was looking down on him. It basically insulted his pride as a leader, and he would not have that. Castiel crossed his arms in response, turning his head sharply to the side in indignation and annoyance, especially when he recalled how this battle even started. "Humph, if only it wasn't for those two dip shits that decided to stop me in a moment of enlightenment…" he began, gesturing to the now dead Fishmen known as Dellinger and Hammond by throwing a thumb behind them. "I would be able to beat your demonic ass with a hand behind my back."

Instead of causing him to shudder in nervousness however, Nico (?) just chuckled merrily at him, finding no small amount of amusement in those words judging from the smirk he wore. "That is the spirit, keep going like this and maybe one day you can become as awesome as this manslayer here." he stated... before the sound of his stomach growling reached his ears. Looking down at it for a moment, Nico (?) stared like he didn't know what was going on, until a flash of realization dawned in his eyes and he looked over to his companion. "Anyway, do you have some food and booze? I need something after the last fight."

'Well, isn't this something...'said companion commented sarcastically in his mind. Still, there wasn't any hostility radiating from him right now, so he didn't feel the need to teach him some manners, he wasn't that petty. Shrugging his shoulder. the Heir took out some summer whisky he had bought on the last trial and a few apperitizers and gave it to him. 'No idea if he can even eat those but he did comment how Gourmet Cells work for him and these have those cells so they might work. I did prepare many things for this trial, food and drinks of all kinds was just one of them for obvious reasons.'

Taking those in his hand, Nico (?) started gulping down the Whisky as if it was waterbefore releasing a burp. "Good drink! Fuck, if I could take this sort of drink more often I would be made!" The teen yelled in refreshed joy, all the while those Tentacles of his came out and devoured the other dishes that he had received, sending the taste sensations throughout his body. They ate by splitting their tips in two, showing a series of long maws filled to the brim with sharp, crimson fangs and hollow red interiors. They soon retracted into him afterwards, almost too fast Castiel noticed. "But hey, are you going to face that fishy freak there?" He questioned, while pointing Rebellion to the side where the Fishmen was still in position to strike. "I think I'll be having this body go on a complete sword overhaul whilst I go and lecture a certain someone about idiotic swordplay."

You know what? No longer could he give a fuck anymore. He'd already faced way too many enemies today, so if he wants to take that one go on.

"Go on, just be sure that most of the points of these two goes for me, I did more than half the work for them anyway." Castiel replied with a shrug.

"Keke, I am liking you now kiddo. Thanks."

"I am happy that you feel this way, but I don't swing to that side. My namy girlfriends and fiancees would kill me if I were to be with a man. Also, even if I were into this, I could do better." he retorted with a smirk, and Nico could only laugh even harder at this.

Who would say, he'd obviously being possessed by a Heroic Spiprit (Castiel had been used to it thanks to Sereity and Achilles), and in all fairness it actually made him more approahable. Maybe if he were like this more often he would not look and feel like a downer who would be making sad poetry on the side, A.K.A. a emo edge lord.

Seriously, he hoped he learns from whoever spirit is possissing and fusing wih him, it would do him some good.


Opening his eyes, Nico groaned as he felt his consciousness stir once again... which also meant that an insane headache would soon follow, which it did. The teen cursed when a pulse of pain shot through his mind like a waterfall colliding with the ground that was his brain, forcing hi to cover his head with one hand while getting to his feet. The last thing he could recall was fighting against Hyouzou and their fight being a stalemate. Though, it had felt like his opponent had the upper hand the moment that he got those damned Steroids in his system. Then, he had tried to do something (something he couldn't quite recall yet, for some rason), before something happened and he felt like... someone took his place, or something. Or rather, someone had tossed him aside while he still was in his body, taking the wheel sort to speak.

"Ugh... what the heck...?"

"Kekekekekeke! About time ya woke up, brat."

His eyes opened wide the moment that he heard an unknown, foreign voice. 'Either I'm even crazier than I thought, or...' the teen thought soon trailing off as he examined the voice inside his head. It wasn't Biko's, his Demon Persona sounded sorta like how he did whenever he entered his DPU Form. Nor was it his Ghoul side, as it had this distorted, hollow-like tone to his voice. Not to mention the bouts of twisted inanity, madness and the loud volume. Even so however, hearing that voice felt very familiar to him, and there was only ONE person he could think of who had that kind of laugh...

Looking up, Nico saw two things: One, he was still standing within the vast desert of his Inner World, and according to his senses he wasn't that far from the Coliseum which represented his desire to fight. Two, there was someone standing before him, arms crossed with a look of annoyance and exasperation on his face. His making him a male... but one that Nico quickly recognized. Though, there were a few difference. "I... I know you... you're Okada Izou!" the male exclaimed, pointing a finger at the speaker whilst his headache pretty much disappeared without a trace.

Yeah, that was right, he remembered this voice from when they fought so long ago. Only, this guy looked a lot different than back then: for one he didn't look a tiny bit like his previous form, his skin looked like a full-blooded human instead of an undead, his strength felt much greater than back then since he felt no such restrictions made by Mundus. Not to mention that, instead of one Katana, the guy had two in a crossed position at the back of his waist, positioned so that he could draw them easily in case of an ambush.

He also looked, like he mentioned before, quite annoyed. "Ugh, if THIS is what my bloodline has come down to, I'll have to go find the Shinigami and beat his ass so I can come back and kill you on sheer principle alone." The man remarked, a sigh escaping his lips before he appeared right before the redhead, poking him on the forehead. "And you call yourself a swordsman with such shoddy swordplay? Ugh, that just makes me gag! Watching you fight was like seeing a child trying to swing a stick in the most clumsy of mannerisms possible! Seriously kid, did you grow up in a cave or something, cause that display was just downright cringeworthy!"

Whilst the man went on his... ranting, Nico could only stand there, gaping jaw and all, with shock coursing through his system and replacing the normal blood. He couldn't even muster up the sense of self to get mad at this guy insulting his self-taught style, such was the shock that he found himself in. His brain temporarily ceased functioning, unable to process what the heck was happening before his very eyes right now, all the while memories of the LAST time he had met this man constantly plagued him. This ended up in him releasing simply one word, and even then the word was spoken barely over a whisper. "...What...?"

Eventually, as in after a full 3 minutes, Okada Izou finally finished his rant, and heaved a heavy sigh afterwards. "Whew, now that THAT's outta my system..." he mused, now looking much less annoyed and more... stern, for lack of a better word. He then turned back to Nico, who just shook his head and recovered from the verbal assault that happened just now. "Alright kid, now listen up." he stated, getting Nico's attention. "We're here, talking, pretty much because I can't stand it. The way you fight with your sword, relying on mystical bullshit like its your everything, its just atrocious. If it weren't for that, then I wouldn't have even bothered solidifying this connection and starting this fusion process with you, but your sword skills are so freaking PATHETIC that I just can't ignore you any longer. As my descendant, i'm not going to let this stand. Once the process is complete, during which I'll be keeping control over this body to show what a TRUE genius of the sword is like, i'll let you retake control. BUT!" He stated sharply, before Nico could ask him any questions. "Once you finish up with this fucker of a trial, you get your weak ass back in this Inner World you got here, and we'll spent that time rebuilding your sword skills from scratch. No lip, you hear? This genius will ignore you otherwise, maybe chop off your tongue since you can take what I dish out."

Nico... could only nod, all the while managing to regain enough mental clarity to note to himself to ask Castiel what the fuck was going on with him right now.


Meanwhile, outside...

"#Whistle#... looks like whatever Heroic Spirit is Possessing Nico is a sword-based one..." Castiel muttered to himself as he sat on the ground, watching the goddamn massacre happening before him... whilst eating some popcorn with a cup of pudding for desert.

In front of him, like he said, a massacre was taking place between the Possessed Nico and the last remnants of the Fishmen. Between the frenzied shrieks of rage, screams of fear and pain, he could hear the guys' mad cackling as he tore apart each and every one of those poor sods with just a simple sword. Rebellion he recalled its name being.

Looking at the style and movements, Castiel quickly determined who the Heroic Spirit was who'd went and possessed his companion in the first place: the Assassin-type Spirit known as the Manslayer, Okada Izou. Castiel could tell that this was the case due to how the style he was using, the Manslayer Style, rivalled that of that Heroic Spirit. Looked like a similar case to Serenity back home, he figured (gods, he missed them, Serenity and his girls. He'll try to spend all the time he could with them to make up for this) since Nico showed similar symptoms to what happened with his girlfriend.

The Manslayer style... 'If I think about it, it actually fits Nico's combat style... a little too well I'd say.' the male thought, frowning. All the while, he just watched the massacre take place, finding the manslayer style Nico was now using to be a superior version to the one that he himself used. No surprise there, considering who he'll likely be learning it from in the near future. Although, part of him wondered how the hell this could be a thing, since Nico wasn't a part of his world and thus shouldn't have any connection to the Heroic Spirits there.

'Maybe I'll ask him when this is all over..' Castiel thought, before something else caught his attention. 'Cause now that I look around...' looking around, the blonde Heir couldn't find any signs of the Fishman leader, Hody Jones. The one who had that Trident of Poseidon under his control. Not a single damned trace, something which concerned him. Only when he looked upwards, though, did he finally find the guy... floating outside the bubble in a fairly muscular form with the Trident about to be thrust forward to puncture something... he instantly figured out what his plan was, and he gritted his teeth in annoyance. 'Looks like we'll be having some trouble on our hands, soon!'

True to Castiel's predictions, the moment that the possessed Nico slaughtered the last of the Fishmen, he quickly detected a bloodlust source above him and looked up, his eyes narrowing as an annoyed groan escaped his lips. "Ah, shit..."

POP!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Instantly, the mad-looking Hody cackled as he pierced the bubble with his Trident, popping it right after and filling the whole place with water. It poured in like a rushing tide, instantly pulling the small island into its depths, destroying it alongside any surviving Fishmen thanks to the surge of water pressure. Any chance they had to scream, the possessed Nico had took it, leaving them unable to even scream in their last moments on this plane of existence.

All the while...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hody laughed, throwing his head back while spreading his arms up into the seas above him. "HAHAHAHAHA! YES! THAT WILL SHOW YOU PUNY WRETCHED HUMANS! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO DEFY DESTINY! WE ARE THE CHOSEN FEW, WE DESERVE THE RIGHT TO RULE OVER THE SEAS AND THE LANDS! THE HUMANS WILL PAY WITH THEIR LIVES, THEY WILL BE OUR TOOLS, OUR TOYS AND OUR SLAVES FOR ETERNITY, JUST LIKE THEY DID TO US! ANY FISHMEN WHO DENIES OUR GLORIOUS KINGDOM WILL ALWAYS MEET THIS FATE AS WELL! WE WILL RETURN TO OUR WORLD, OUR WORLD WITHIN THE DEPTHS AND CONQUER EVERYTHING LIKE DESTINY INTENDED FOR US! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Back with Castiel, the teen frowned to himself, having cast a spell to help his body function better underwater. His whole form looked to have been covered by a bubble layer shaped like him, fitting him snugly like a second skin. Nothing like normal bubbles though, as it wouldn't break even under intense pressure, allowing him to fight at his optimum potential underwater. Still though, eh couldn't help the sheer fury escaping him at how callously Hody had killed off his men, writing them off like they were nothing. It was an affront to him, an affront to the leader inside, thus boiling fury kept him warm in these cold depths. He'd make that disgrace of a leader pay with his life for sure, if it was the last thing he did, but first...

"Hey, Okada, Nico, whatever! You alright, or do I need to save your ass again?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good kiddo." Nico, still possessed by Okada, responded dully whilst rubbing the back of his head. An aura of crimson energy radiated from his form like a second skin, similar to Castiel's little bubble spell the Heir noted. "Still, those Fishmen were fun, been a while since I got to strut my stuff so freely..." he began, before glaring towards Hody in annoyance. "Though this future piece of sharkskin ruined it for me, so i'm a little annoyed."

Castiel nodded, feeling particularly annoyed himself. "Yeah, I feel you there, dude." he remarked, fighting in the depths like this would be far more annoying than fighting on dry land, mostly because Fishmen had better combat ability underwater. They had more water for their fishman karate, they could move faster and strike fiercer than they would on land. They didn't even need to worry about breathing since they had both gills and lungs, meant for different environments. 'Is there anything I can do to bring things back to an even playing field...? Oh yeah, there's THAT! Its a long shot, and I may pretty much lose any semblance of my angelic powers during it, but its damn well worth a try.' he thought to himself, before looking to his companion who looked to be readying himself by entering a combat stance. "Say, before you go in there, mind keeping this guy off my back for a bit? I wanna try something on him that, if it works, will bring things back to an even playing field."

"Huh?" Momentarily, Nico blinked when he heard Castiel speak, getting his attention before he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Sure, whatever. I'll whip this fucking shark into some sashimi, maybe roast him for a barbecue. Quite fancy some sharkskin myself." he remarked thoughtfully, a small smirk forming on his lips as he made to charge at the enemy.

Castiel smirked at this as well, finding some competitive spirit rising within him at those words. "Hah, don't get TOO ahead of yourself, but sure. Go right ahead, I'll be sure to pick up your scrawny ass when I'm done." he retorted, getting some amused laughter from the possessed Nico as he blasted forth. All the while, Castiel closed his eyes and began to gather his evil energy. Readying it for what he wanted to do. 'Whelp, here goes nothing...'


As he flew through the waters towards the insane Hody, the Possessed Nico chuckled to himself as he sensed Castiel's body start getting overtaken by that Evil Energy inside of him. Oh, how he would RELISH the thought of being able to take on the sword once more, that Fishman would serve as one of the many victims he would claim before letting Nico take control. He knew that had been Okada's thoughts just now, but honestly thanks to this fusion process he didn't feel like himself right now. It felt... it felt like their personalities were clashing with each other, mixing and meshing like two animals but of opposite sexes sniffing each other out, examining each other.

Just before he could do anything though, Nico noticed something in the mad Fishman's hands, something which he twirled like a pair of helicopter blades whilst cackling insanely, then charging back at him. The entire thing looked to be a Trident of sorts, but it was coloured a glowing sea green colour with a rather large, pointy tri pronged end with each blade being shaped like waves. The entire thing looked to almost feel... alive, similar to the feeling he sometimes got with IF, a feeling which originated from every cell in her body working like they were all of a hive-like mentality. Though, Nico didn't feel this as much as when it had been on land.

At first, he wondered that the hell kind of weapon that was, what abilities it had, how it was going to be used by the enemy, but then the possession's effects kicked in. Slowly, but surely, Nico's thought process shifted from the 'what' to the 'how', such as how it would be used in combat, how long its reach could be in comparison to a sword, how he could get past its guard, and how skilled Hody would have to be to use it to its fullest potential. Thoughts, ideas and plans for different scenarios flowed through his mind like a river...

Which then got pushed down into the depths of his mind when the possession simply told him to do one thing: Kill.

Instincts took over, and when Nico noticed Hody's Special Trident approaching his head for a quick stabbing, the redhead twisted himself to the left, ending up a the Trident's right side whilst swinging from an upward position downwards. This resulted inn Rebellion slamming into the Trident's shaft and, with a quick jerk, Nico slammed it into the base of the tri pronged blade, forcefully yanking Hody forwards with the combined force of the Great Way of the Buddha and his own physical ability. With that done, Nico used the momentum to twist around and slammed Rebellion's pommel into the back of Hody's head, causing him to stagger before he launched a series of slashes over his back.

The slashes cut deep, way deeper than what Rebellion could have done normally. Though, it may be because of Nico currently being possessed by a swordsman whose skills were way up there, way better than his current level, but meh. The cuts drew much blood, almost like miniature pillars themselves, turning a deeper colour when they mixed with the water. Hody however, didn't let that stop him, as he twirled around to face his opponent, all the while swinging in a backhand which Nico dodged by flipping over it. "Puny human! Don't think such scratches will kill a chosen one!" Hody bellowed, laughing as he charged forth, swinging his Trident towards the redhead's neck in a series of rapid fire stabbing motions. If one were to attribute his speed currently, then they would record it as quicker than lightning.

Nico however, had the reflexes of a Heroic Spirit thanks to his current possession, which allowed him to practically dance through them like an expert before dashing past Hody and stopping behind him. Several slashes adorned the Fishman's arms. 'Hmmmm, looks like these Fishmen are no joke under water... something about it hardens their flesh and raises their defensive power. Not only that...' The male's eyes narrowed when he noticed that there was water covering Hody's wounds and, when the water vanished, it revealed untouched flesh. 'Looks like that Trident's using the water surrounding us as a means to heal him. Odds are, that it has some other abilities too... too bad that this guy...'

"Hahahahahahahahahaha! Die, worthless human! Diiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!"

'His intelligence stat is at an all-time low, so using those abilities in this condition he's in will be impossible.'

Nico hummed in thought as he ascended upwards, dodging a torrent of water that the Fishman launched at him via his Fishman Karate. Thanks to his current berserker-like state (which honestly reminded him of his OWN berserker mode now that he thought about it), he likely wouldn't be able to use that weapon's full power. That was what his 'normal' self, or what remained of it that he could bring to the surface thanks to his current state said anyways, all the while the Heroic Spirit Possessing him made Nico scoff while rolling his eyes. "Man, this is such a chore, I've already had over 30 chances to kill you already in that last chance, but all I'm meant to do is stall you fucker so the kid and his companion can pass this stupid excuse for a trial." Nico muttered to himself, although his voice distinctly took on the vocal tones of Okada before reverting back to normal near the end. "Well, at least I got to sample some fine booze."

His musings got halted, when he sensed a burst of danger right in front of him. Nico's eyes sharpened, narrowing like the Trident which was coming towards him whilst being covered in a layer of water, cutting through the ocean depths like a blade. Nico quickly and promptly twirled his form around the strike, weaving past Hody and unleashing over 80 different slashes in one instant using about... well, 60% of his full power. His full power with the Manslayer Style was meant to absolutely kill the enemy with no mercy, and he only restrained himself thanks to the favour that he was doing for that blonde kid. Not to mention that, thanks to his possessing of the redhead kid, he can't use any of his mystical bullshit since he himself was blocking them. Nico could probably have forced say his Kagune to come out, but such a thing could have interrupted the fusion process, something Okada knew fist hand that Nico was well aware of.

Hody didn't let up this time however, as the possessed Teen quickly found out when he turned around, injuries healing from the water around them before dashing towards him at high speed, quickly launching an all-new offensive. They consisted of a series of wide-angle, open-ended slashes, stabs, thrusts and the like to try and get at Nico's vitals, putting in some of his Fishman Karate into the mix. However, Nico merely dodged them with ease, sidestepping some of them and parrying others, making use of his footwork even when in the depths. If this were in other circumstance, Nico wouldn't have been able to perform some of these manoeuvres... thankfully for him, that wasn't the case.

'Tch, this guy... his berserker behaviour makes predicting how he'll attack next real fucking annoying...' the redhead male thought to himself, twisting about and pivoting through the onslaught. He also deflected several strikes away from him, leading to a series of watery explosions all around them which were caused by a combination of both of them. These explosions filled his ears with sound like he had been in a chaotic, unending warzone, making anything else that may be happening around them to be pretty much unheard of. It was a good thing he had experience then with berserker opponents, such as the Khornate Demons and those affiliated with him, otherwise this would have been much harder.

Flipping backwards, Nico vanished in a burst of speed to avoid a torrent of water from Hody's Fishman Karate, reappearing behind him. Hody then pushed himself upwards, avoiding a series of powerful sword swings, then backwards whilst he twisted himself around, ending up lunging at him with his fangs bared, intending to bite into Nico's shoulder and tear his arm off. Unfortunate for him, at the last second before he could chomp down, the redhead swiftly pivoted multiple times around him, allowing him to avoid the lunge as well as deal several deep slash attacks. Hel if he hadn't accidentally messed up the trajectory of one of the slashes, then Nico could have indeed chopped of Hody's weapon arm. 'Fuck! The Kid's body's not that easy to control. That must be because his skills as a swordsman aren't like this genius me, which makes it harder for it to keep up. Whelp, no matter, this me isn't renowned as a genius for nothing so I'll just work with this. The process still seems to be going strong as it should be...' the internal Heroic Spirit thought to himself.

Whilst he thought of that, Hody laughed like a hyena, rearing his head backwards as his injuries healed themselves from all the water around him. "Hahahahaha! Yes, now do you see?! Your futile struggles to survive are pointless against those chosen by the gods! This artefact!" Hody, after yelling that, held up his Trident in a revering manner. "This came to me from the Gods of the oceans themselves, they blessed me for my glorious conquest of the pathetic human species! Nothing will be able to stop me, not without incurring divine retribution!" he proclaimed, before laughing his ass off-

"Oh, fuck off already!"

SLICE-SLICE!

Dashing past his opponent, Nico swiftly swung Rebellion and perfectly severed Hody's hands from his body. Shock registered onto the Fishman's face at this happening, his bleeding red eyes trembling violently whilst his maw hung open. "Gods? Deities? Meh, they don't concern me very much, all I need is a good sword, and I'll pretty much slice through anything. Super Powers? Don't need em, as I'm sure you'll be finding out soon, fishface." Nico retorted, shifting his head so that he could glance behind him out the corner of his eye. This allowed him to see how the water around them pretty much reattached the hands back to Hody's arms, though the male simply rolled his eyes at the sight. The aura of the Heroic Spirit possessing him flared slightly, and inside him Okada felt a certain 'clenching' take place within him, as if he had finally gotten an anchor into the real world like when a Magus summoned a Heroic Spirit for the Holy Grail. This caused him to smirk inside. 'Looks like the process is just about done. I think I'll let the kid handle himself for now, looks like things will be wrapping up soon... and this guy's getting boring, plus I wanna see how these 'other people' inside the kid's head fight. Hopefully they won't be as boring.'

No sooner had Okada thought that, did the possession diminish, leaving Nico in full control over his body. A sharp gasp escaped his mouth, eyes widening temporarily as his body slumped forwards, before the teen straightened himself up again and held a hand over his temple. "Ugh... looks like... I'm back in control..." Nico muttered, shaking off the cobwebs inside his mind before he looked towards Hody, who looked positively livid at him. Whilst he had SEVERAL questions about what just happened, right now he'd have to push them aside to do what he had to for the time being. Fighting whilst being possessed by Okada showed him a couple things, things which he felt... quite hard to take in. The fact that he was probably no better than a retarded idiot for thinking that he actually was decent with a blade. Compared to Okada's swordplay, even when he and Nico fought back at Halo Mountain, the redhead felt like an utter dumbass.

'At least we were able to buy enough time for Emiya, Nico. Take solace in that at least...'

'Huh? Wait... I can sense a large build-up of sinister power coming from...'

Nico's eyes widened when he realized what Biko meant, recalling what e had originally been intending when he had been possessed still. Glancing over to where Castiel had been, the teen could only smirk as he held Rebellion in a ready stance, his left eye turning into its Kakugan form when he detected what he did. 'Whelp, took that guy long enough...'


As Nico was thinking that and facing Hody Castiel was going through his own battle. He had decided that if he could use the fact that the Evil and Holy energies cannot mix and one repels the other he could use that to his advantage.

He first created a 'cocoon' using his wings, his black and golden wings covered his body as he started focusing on what to do next. he first pulled as much holy and sacred energy from his magic core and put it all around his own soul, protecting every magic circuit until its origin to the best of his ability before he simply let the evil energy flood his body.

It was like a sludge covering everything, he only focused on making sure that the Evil energy would never leave his body and spread, instead he started actively tainting his entire being with evil and curses. It was painful, excruciatingly so, as if he had put needles passing right through his body in every pore he had and was filling them with pure concentrated pain, but Castiel soldiered through it.

Little by little he felt like his body was, for the first time, fully tainted by Evil. Only his magic circuits and soul were not affected by it due to how Holy energy repealed and stopped the infiltration, but it was not enough. Castiel wanted more.

And so he started pulling more and more Evil and Curses towards his body. His body growing more and more grey as his hair lost color and started enlogating, his flesh was covered in claw marks as if he was attacked by a beast but as more and more evil energy covered him the claw marks started to change, where before it looked like something made by a mad beast in anger it now lookied like something artistic. The marks slowly and painfully changed to become like tattoos cut open by a knife, words describing every type of evil thought, feeling, or action covered his entire body, but despite that and the nausiating feeling those words would cause to anyone who saw it there was still a certain type of evil beauty in it.

As Castiel started opening his wings they also changed. No more were they covered in dual colors fethers, now it was a dark black tainted with a red similar to blood, in the fethers now appeared mouths with the tougues out and blood shot eyes, it was like his entire being came out straight from a nightmare and if not for his absurdly strong willpower he would have long descended into madness.

As he stopped the transformation from going any further Castiel could not even breath properly, everything in his body hurt and every more hurt as well, but the fact that this power was strong, it was undeniable.

Raising his eyes slowly towards Hody he saw the mad monster trying to launch a wave of water against him, the trident of Poseidon shining as he made a torrent of hundreds of tons fly towards Castiel.

It was useless.

"Failure." Castiel murtered, and with that the attack failed and dispersed without managing anything. A darkness spread from his form and corrupted the water and everything around him, even the power from Poseidon's weapon could do nothing against this corruption.

Hody saw this but due to how his mind was growing more and more insane he could not understand what this truly meant, but due to sheer instinct he avoided as from that darker and muddy water that now surrounded Castiel hundreds of tentacles and creatures started appearing. All were deformed and had twisted expressions like if they were crying in pain. They launched themselves at Hody, no control was over them as they advanced as if a flood towards Hody who started desperately defending himself.

SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH

Hody tried his best, his control over water ensured that he cut down most of the monsters and attacks that approached him, but with time despair started appearing in his crazed mind as the water around him was getting harder and harder to control, his body getting constantly weaker and he could feel as if his entire body was being damaged in a way much deeper than what any flesh wound could ever compare.

But it was just the beggining of the terror that Castiel now simbolized. The monsters started circulating around Hody instead of attacking him, the body of the creatures dismantled and instead of taking form as a beast they now were just a dark smoke, but when tens of thousands of them were around it covered the entire area into a dome.

The dome negates all light from appearing, Hody could not see anything and even the sea's energy seemed to have been cut off and no longer could he feel the power of all the sea empowering him. Castiel just stood there as he muttered quietly to himself the next curse.

As the word was said it took effect, Hody suddenly felt like ants were eating his body, every vein was in fire and every nerve felt like it was drowned in cold. His body was fine one second but suddenly his long white hair started falling as blood started leaving his mouth. Cough after cough pieces of flesh were released as his body started shivering in cold. If there was any light there anymore he would not be able to say, his eyes were no longer able to see even if there was light around him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT IS THIS?" Hody asked, before coughing out his own toungue!

"Hoh, to think you could still think, impressve. You now suffer fromSICKNESS, a curse of humanity. Enjoy." Castiel said slowly, the curse taking effect with time as Hody felt dozens of terminal sicknesses hitting him at the same time.

But that was not enough. That was FAR from enough.

He waved his hand slowly and Hody felt a different type of fear as his mind started slipping away. He started to forget about everything, his home, his first years, his friends, his family, his objective, even his own name was forgoten by the time the curse of forgetfullness passed, just an empty shell was left.

But even so it was not enough, Hody was still holding the trident due to its own mystic powers, and for Castiel that is something that should never happen. That weapon is a symbol of someone he respects, a weapon simbolizing an ally of the Tower, and for it to be held by a parhia like Hody was an insult to its glory.

And so, Castiel decided how to kill him. With a thought two more curses ran through the area, and suddenly Hody started to beat himself violently. Even as his body was barelly functioning and his mind was no longer there he was still affected by the curse of Violence and Self-hatred, causing his already weakened and empty mind to register itself as the enemy. Hody started biting himself, punching his own face, and using the trident to clean his bones from the meat in it. When Hody finally died he was no more than a bag of broken bones with some flesh attached. But even so Castiel decided to give the finishing touches as the darkness started consuming all that was left of Hody, his power and soul was no more than a healthy meal for the darkness within Castiel.

As this ended Castiel started receding the evil energy, pulling it back in was not easy as the evil wanted to continue wrecking havock, he could feel as if the evil was acting like a rabbid dog trying to find ANYTHING to attack and defile, but as time passed little by little the evil receeded and everything returned to how it was before.

And like that this trial ended, the whole ocean covered in a gloomy and dark energy as Castiel floated in the water more relaxed than he was for longer than he could say. Like if a suppressed desire that even he didn't know about was satiated, even if just a bit.