Chapter 17 - War's Purpose
Kingdom of Assyria, many years ago
Semiramis, before she had pointy ears, sat on her bed and stared out at the night. For a brief moment, she just stared and remained silent. Taking in the peace.
This tranquility would soon end, but not loudly. As she felt a pair of arms slithering around her waist. The female monarch turned around in surprise only to find her otherworldly lover sneaking up on her. Semiramis moaned as she felt a tender kiss around her neck as Naruto felt closer to her.
"I didn't disturb you did I?" Naruto asked the queen.
"A bit, I was enjoying how quiet it was before you showed up." Semiramis said making him grin.
"I just wanted to see you again, your majesty." Naruto said as he gently held her arm.
"When are you one for titles? Also, calm down with the affection! Are you an animal in heat!?" Semiramis asked as Naruto continued with his kisses.
Naruto chuckled as he was pushed away, "I already told you Semi, I wanted to see you." he said.
Semiramis gave him a suspicious look, "What is your reason?" she asked.
Naruto moved away from the bed and kneeled in front of her, "Semi, I know I made a bad impression and I get you might think that I'm more of a headache than anything else. To be fair, I thought you were a shrew that was pretty evil. Seriously, I get where you came from but killing a king does seem a bit evil." he says making her glare at him.
"What are you on about?" Semiramis asked.
"Semiramis of Assyria." Naruto began to say as he gently held her arms. "I'm in love with you and I wish to be with you for the rest of my existence." he said surprising her.
"Please stop saying foolish things." Semiramis replied thinking he was messing with her.
"Semiramis I love you! I never felt like a human until you entered my life!" Naruto said in a serious voice. He slowly stood up and looked into her eyes, "I don't care what I am anymore, but what I do care for is you. I want to be by your side. I want to lie with you in bed every night. I want to keep telling you how much I love you every night." he continues to say.
Semiramis remains silent as her words aren't enough to describe her reaction. As it only became more difficult once Naruto reached into his jacket pocket.
"I was unable to find something to match your beauty and elegance. Substitution is bad, but I decided to substitute your traitors for my devotion to you." Naruto says as he opens a box and presents it to Semiramis.
Semiramis covered her mouth in shock, "This better not be a joke! Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze of the otherworld! You best not be playing tricks on me!" she said as her eyes became watery.
Naruto smiled as he got on one knee, "Semiramis, Wise Queen of Assyria. Please, will you grant my life more significance and marry me?" he asked.
Hearing this question, tears fell down her cheeks. There was no way for Semiramis to answer this question. Than to stand up and embrace Naruto in a tight hug.
"Yes, yes I will marry you." Semiramis said between hiccups.
"Now now, no need for tears. My queen, rather, my wife is a strong woman. One who's side I wish to never leave." Naruto says before cupping her face and kissing her.
As the kiss became more passionate. Naruto let go of his fiancee's cheek and gently slid the ring onto her finger. For Semiramis to admire after their affection had ended.
Modern day, with Semiramis and her daughters
Semiramis smiled at such a fond memory.
It was an ironic memory, as she never expected the fool who annoyed her to death would become her spouse. As mentioned before, Semiramis had a disdain for women who would fall for men. Especially women who would one day become mothers because of how much their status would lower itself. Therefore she hated the idea of mothers, especially her own for loving a normal human man and abandoning her.
The only thing Semiramis had to be grateful for in having Derketo as a mother is having divinity in her blood.
Yet Semiramis enjoyed this feeling, being a mother and loving how close she was to her daughters and extended family. That still didn't mean she had any love for Derketo. All the former queen did was learn to love family, Derketo abandoned her so she gets nothing.
"Mama, come over here! We're taking a family photo!" Albedo called out.
Semiramis smiles as she stands up, "Be patient daughter, the world will still be standing before then." she said as she approached her daughter.
From there, the group had taken many photos. One of the all the mothers, one of Semiramis and her daughters, the wives of the sins, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, aunts and nieces, grandmother and granddaughters, thus ending with a large group photo thanks to a cloning technique Albedo knows.
"Hold on, Naruto's been complaining about never learning the clone technique. How do you know it Albedo-chan?" Diane asked.
Albedo looked away in embarrassment, "I peaked at grandpa Minato's secret scroll and spent night and day to make the jutsu into magic." she said.
"But Naruto kept mentioning it whenever he's on down time!" Diane exclaimed.
"Hehe, I wanted to give to him on his birthday." Albedo said nervously.
"Daughter, don't teach your father the technique. I can only stand one of him." Semiramis said with a face full of worry.
Albedo giggled, "Infinite versions of papa!" she said reminding her.
Semiramis grimaced, "One is all I need. I can't imagine the others. Though, he would be in real trouble with a spineless wife." She said.
(Canon Hinata Hyuga sneezed)
Albedo giggled, "Then someone wouldn't be able to keep papa in check. Or even Zeref for that matter." she said.
Everyone laughed at this while not noticing the stray orb flying past them. Hopefully not revealing a timeline filled things that no one wishes to see. Although it should be concerning that orbs with the ability to show another dimension is just wandering around.
Unfortunately, the good times would end as the sky started to darken.
"There aren't any clouds, so why is it dark?" Elaine asked.
"Is it getting late already?" Elizabeth asked.
Semiramis narrowed her eyes, "We need to leave." she said.
"Why?" Diane asked before noticing the sky slowly turning into a shade of red.
Her answer came in the form of a bright red surge of energy in the far distance. That was beyond suspicion and should be something worth being worried about. Especially as all the women could sense a heavy amount of mana heading their way.
"What is that?" Diane asked sounding concerned.
"The end." Semiramis answered as the wind started to pick up.
"Mama." Nigredo said sounding nervous as she reached for her mother.
"Stay close daughter." Semiramis said as she started to emit her own aura.
With Shirou
What was meant to be another date. Turned into a disaster and not in the way you would think. Most disasters in a date are usually something involving getting into trouble or ruining a date by spilling a drink on your date's outfit. However, now would be a perfect time to blame Shinji. As it appeared that it started with him trying assault Sakura and something awakening within her that created this giant blast of energy to appear.
Luckily with Saber being her overprotective self. She was able to keep Shirou away from the initial blast that would have killed him. A good thing too as it Shirou is the only one that can calm Sakura down.
As it appears that whatever the worms were doing to her had taken it's effect. With the girl now adopting a new hair color as her body was darkened and covered in red lines with a heavy amount of dark energy surrounding her.
"Sakura!" Shirou called out.
The girl he referred to gave Shirou a twisted smile, "Shirou-kun." she muttered as she sounded happy.
"Sakura, what happened?" Shirou asked as he slowly tried to approach the girl.
Sakura giggled, "I'm free Shirou-kun. Brother Shinji can't hurt me... can't hurt us anymore." She said trying to reach out for him.
Then scowling as Saber pulled him away, "Shirou stay back! Your friend isn't in the right state of mind!" She said not liking the energy leaking from Sakura.
Sakura herself, only leaked more but presented a more hostile aura. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Saber as if she was a great threat.
'If uncle was here, he would have made a joke about Sakura being some crazed yandere.' Shirou thought as he wished Naruto was here. Especially since it appeared that Sakura now looked angry at Saber, "Duck!" He yells as he pulls down Saber.
Saber was thankful for her master's help as Sakura fired a powerful blast of magic towards them. While Shirou was his reckless optimistic self. He wasn't Naruto who was way too durable, but started being more intelligent like him. Because now he saw a good reason to start running.
"We need to lead her out of the city!" Shirou said as he spread his demon wings and picked up Saber.
"Shirou." Sakura called out as she started flying towards him.
"Why is it that with this level of danger, I can hear Naruto making bad jokes about yanderes?" Saber asked.
"Why do I feel like Grail Wars are meant to tear apart the planet!?" Shirou asked as he used all his might to fly away as quickly as possible.
With Naruto
Naruto was still carrying Ilya around when he saw the giant blast, "Ok don't worry Ilya. Aki's been kidnapped and Shirou might be fighting the devil or something." He said.
Ilya whimpered, "I liked it better when this was just a game about fighting Irish Hercules." She said.
"Well you were the master of regular Hercules or Heracles or whatever his name was." Naruto said as he landed on the top of the building.
Taking the moment to stop and pay closer attention to his surroundings. He started sensing a greater presence of demons. Along with the fact that the sky started changing color. Making Naruto feel like he's in some kind of apocalyptic movie. Along with the fact that Shirou could be seen in the distance trying to avoid Sakura, though he couldn't tell it was that sweet Matou girl.
"New papa, don't make bad jokes about yanderes." Ilya said.
"I wasn't!" Naruto said as he dropped his equipment and spread his wings. "Now hang on! Shirou has a stalker and I have to save him!" He said as he flew after his son figure.
At the same time with Arthur
Arthur continued to run and Gilgamesh's attacks. Though it was difficult with the fact that he had Ayaka in his arms. Even more so that Gilgamesh was using his stupid laws from ancient Uruk as an excuse. The one where anything he says is the law and anything he deems as work against the law as a crime. So for some reason that logic lets him be ok with killing Ayaka if it meant killing Arthur.
"Surrender yourself now and you may face execution like a man." Gilgamesh offered.
"I don't think I like either option." Ayaka muttered.
"Just hold on, my uncle should still be at home." Arthur said as he tried making his way towards the Emiya residence.
"Hiding behind another man like a coward? Is this what defines a king?" Gilgamesh taunted.
"At least when I ran things, I kept it in my pants!" Arthur said mocking Gilgamesh's lust.
An actual truth too. Despite for some reason being called a hero, Gilgamesh was so dastardly back in the day that he would sleep with women who were already married. The truth behind him earning the status of hero was mainly his story of obtaining immortality and understanding of the reason behind why he was put on the earth. Surprisingly enough this did annoy the King of Heroes.
"You dare mock me?" Gilgamesh asked.
"For an almighty king, you sure are deaf." Arthur said taking a page from Naruto's playbook.
Unfortunately this only encouraged Gilgamesh to keep attacking with a greater number of weapons. On hitting Arthur in the arm and making him crash into the arm. Luckily enough, he turned his back towards the ground to soften the fall for Ayaka.
"Are you ok?" Arthur asked seeing Ayaka nod.
"Personally, I would never see another's life to be preserved over my own. Yet, I can see why when I see that woman's face." Gilgamesh said as Ayaka was scrambling to look for her glasses. "A lovely face, but what interests me is one's ideals. A strong graps of one's own ideals is what makes a true beauty. Someone worthy of being a queen." he said making Ayaka blush and Arthur angry.
"Ayaka take cover, I think I can…"
"Look out!" Ayaka yelled out.
Arthur looked up and saw something barreling down towards them. Just as Gilgamesh prepared to continue unloading weapons from his Gate of Babylon. He was hit by what appeared to be Naruto who was holding Sakura in a choke hold.
"Sakura-chan you need to drop the crazy! You're becoming some kind of a… super yandere!" Naruto yelled before being blasted off.
"Called it!" Shirou and Ilya said from a distance.
"Is there a joke here I'm missing?" Arthur asked.
"Namikaze sensei!?" Ayaka asked sounding surprised.
Naruto turned his head and saw Arthur and Ayaka, "Did I ruin someone's date?" he asked before sensing several weapons barreling towards him. Naruto immediately turned around raised his palms, "Walls of Jericho!" he calls out only for some of the weapons to shatter his wall and pierce him.
Naruto groaned as he felt one of the weapons, a spear, pierce his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Gilgamesh standing over a seemingly deceased Sakura. It's most likely that he decided to hit Naruto by piercing through Sakura's body.
"Bastard." Naruto muttered as he tried prying off the spear.
Deep down concerned by the weapon. From what he could guess thanks to little Gil's help. This was his older self and was the servant Kotomine used in the previous war. Knowing all of this, Naruto realized that Gilgamesh relies on his Gate of Babylon which is filled with some of the most powerful weapons in human history. Obviously enhanced by the power of human beliefs making many of the weapons stronger than they normally would be.
So Naruto's concern would be wondering which weapon hit him and if it can effect him. That and hoping Sakura had a lot of metaphorical plot armor to help her survive being hit by so many weapons at once.
"So much for the might Foriegner. A sentient in this world powered by otherworldly abilities. So tell me, how is it that a simple spear pinned you down?" Gilgamesh asked smugly.
"I'm guessing school was outlawed because you failed. Otherwise you would understand the physics behind your super weapons." Naruto replied making the golden king frown. "But let me ask you this." he says as he rips out the spear. "How is it that with so many beautiful weapons, with so many with great history, of such great power to the point where they are amazing treasures. You decided to throw them around like you're at a cheap carnival stand?" he asked.
"I have no reason to explain myself mongrel. Even if you're my supposed ancestor." Gilgamesh said not caring Naruto's insults of his weapons.
"Little troublemaker can't play by the rules so I guess he's gotta make his own rules." Naruto said as he signaled Arthur to regroup with Shirou's party.
"As a king, it is naturally my right to do so." Gilgamesh said as he continued to unleash waves of weapons.
Naruto ran away from the line of fire and started running across the walls of the nearby buildings. Watching as every weapon embedded itself into a wall. Naruto glared at Gilgamesh as he started pulling out his own weapons. Summoning Strom'kar to his side, Naruto dashed at Gilgamesh and jumped through a small opening that the next wave created before landing a large cut onto the arrogant king's chest.
Gilgamesh finding himself in close distance combat, grabbed one of his many weapons and blocked the heavy sword's next attack. Only now, he was stuck on the offensive as Naruto's greater strength and speed made it easier for him to perform rapid strikes. Then finding himself taking a kick to the stomach and just barely blocking another sword strike that made him stumble back.
As the two continued their sword fight. Neither noticed Sakura struggling to stand up as she smiled. The girl gave a sickly sweet smile as she looked at Naruto and Gilgamesh fighting.
"And now take this!" Gilgamesh said as he summoned the Chains of Enkidu to pull on Naruto's sword.
"Chain Lightning!" Naruto shouted as he removed one hand from his grip and blasted Gilgamesh in the chest.
"Why you!" Gilgamesh said as he skidded away.
Before he could counter Naruto's attack. He felt a sharp pain in his legs. Which was immediately gone. Unfortunately it wasn't the pain itself that was gone.
"What… is this?" Gilgamesh asked now looking fairly afraid.
His leg was severed and being pulled away by some red mass. Gilgamesh fell down again and turned around to find Sakura's sweet smile.
"I underestimated you." Gilgamesh said as he now directed his attacks onto Sakura.
Quickly finding his weapons useless against her. For each weapon that made contact with the purple haired girl have become corrupted. There was no way to describe what Gilgamesh witnessed. They had penetrated her body and went through the other side, yet Sakura still stood in good health.
The weapons as already mentioned, were corrupted as they had turned black and fell apart.
Sakura smiled at Gilgamesh before making a biting motion. Making a chewing motion with her mouth afterwards as if she was eating something. Instead of a real meal, all there was is the remaining bottom half of Gilgamesh's lower torso.
Naruto gripped his sword tightly, "Sakura, I have no idea what they did to you, but I'm not letting this continue!" he said as the girl frowned at him.
Sakura suddenly appeared in front of Naruto and tried to hit him with some weird wave of darkness. Which Naruto avoided by putting himself inside of a Perfect Cube. He took this moment to study Sakura's behavior and attack patterns. Hoping that he can find a way to restrain her without killing her.
"Sakura you can talk to me! I'm very reasonable and you're a sweet girl!" Naruto said trying to get through to her.
Sakura completely ignored Naruto and continued to batter at the barrier. Making Naruto sigh as he went through his weapons. As he did, he noticed that as Gilgamesh's remaining body parts were disappearing due to his death. He left behind a giant golden cylinder. Naruto nodded and got serious as he summoned his Momon armor.
"Fine, if you're not going to do as teacher says. Then I think it's time you get detention." Naruto said as Sakura tilted her head. "It's a form of punishment used in Western schools." He tried to say but the possessed girl couldn't care less.
Naruto let the barrier go and slashed through the black aura that Sakura used in her attacks. Once clear, he dashed for the cylinder thinking it had some worth before it had the chance to disappear along with the deceased King of Heroes. However, Sakura refused to let him get out of her sight and dragged him back by summoning a creature made of black mass. Naruto struggled to break free as it felt more like a gelatinous substance than a solid with great strength.
Even worse, it turned into a giant dome and started shrinking down in an attempt to crush him.
(Madkid -Rise)
"Nice try! Stardust Roar!" Naruto yells as he blasts a powerful silver beam from his mouth. Naruto spread draconic like wings as he escaped the dome, "Someone is getting impatient." He said noticing Sakura's annoyed face.
As Sakura continued to summon various dark creatures to combat Naruto. The Foreigner class heroic spirit pulled out another weapon in the form of a shield. Instead of hiding like a coward or getting defensive again. The shield started glowing and changing form.
"Shield Prison!" Naruto calls out several chains move around Sakura's dark creatures.
Before the now white haired girl realized it. She was bound and trapped inside a giant ball made of chains. Naruto added several more chains just to keep the girl in place until he could think of another strategy. For he took this chance to take the cylinder and hid it inside his many vaults.
"I bet Gil knows what to do with this." Naruto said before dealing with the shadowy creatures.
At the Emiya residence
Rin, with Luvia's help, carried Archer to Shirou's home where Meliodas and the other men were preparing to defend the building. Before she could say anything, Merlin appeared in front of the Tohsaka heiress.
"Rin, as much as I'd like to ask why you brought your friend here or why Archer is injured. I need your assistance." Merlin said making Rin feel a bit nervous.
"Ok teacher." Rin said after putting Archer down. "What is going on anyways?" She asked.
"My nephew, if he isn't already serious, would crack a joke and blankly say the apocalypse. Though from what I can guess, this was a partially man made magic." Merlin explained.
"So someone used their own power to unlock this power?" Rin asked to the best of her understanding.
"That's my hypothesis at the moment." Merlin said as she tried adding magic circles to create a barrier around the compound. "What's worse is that only half of us are outside and into the city." She added.
Rin grimaced, "Well what if..." she was interrupted by the sight of Shirou and everyone else arriving.
The group quickly ran in and saw the mess of things. Luckily not a literal mess outside of Caster's Master and Archer being unconscious and needing treatment. The mess being everyone scrambling around and preparing for the worst as they could hear something demonic in the distance with Naruto likely fighting in the distance in hopes of disabling Sakura.
However before everyone could form a plan. Ilya tugged on Shirou and Rin's clothes with sad eyes.
"What? Is something wrong with her?" Rin asked.
Shirou bent down to reach Ilya's height, "Something wrong Ilya?" He asked sensing that homunculus was filled with a multitude of emotions.
"Brother Shirou, I was at the church where that priest works. When papa approached him, he started talking about my real papa and everything he did." Ilya says as tears appear in her eyes. "He said that the grail is also corrupted and he let it get worse until papa stopped it last time. Now..." Ilya started to shake.
"Ilya take deep breaths. What did Kotomine say?" Shirou said concerned for what was really going on.
"Mr. Gowther." Ilya called out.
"Do you wish to reveal what you saw?" Gowther asked seeing Ilya nod. "Very well. Broadcast." He said as he shared what Ilya had witnessed at the church.
Rin winced as she backed away gripping her head. While Shirou only gasped by the truth. Rin shook her head trying to deny the fact that Kotomine is actually a monster that was saving her as a backup catalyst for the Holy Grail when Ilya was meant to die. While Shirou couldn't handle the thought of the life he knew was caused and practically controlled by Kotomine's actions. Or at least that's what his dark side was trying to tell him.
"Lies!" Rin exclaimed.
"What happened?" Merlin asked.
"That priest let the city burn ten years ago! But that's not even the worst part!" Shirou said as he glared at Rin.
"Why are you giving me that look!? That Kotomine must have been a fake or lying to mess with Naruto!" Rin argued.
"Wrong, even when my son is being a knucklehead. He can sense lies and most high level disguises." Meliodas said pointing out his son's detection abilities.
Rin shook her head, "None of it makes sense! Kotomine was loyal to my father!" She continued to argue.
"Yeah, the same one that abandoned Sakura! When she was getting abused by Shinji while you just ignored her existence Tohsaka!" Shirou yelled angrily.
"You don't know anything Emiya!" Rin yelled back.
"I know your dad abandoned one of his daughters because of a stupid tradition like he's still in the dark ages!" Shirou yelled as he saw Rin glare at him angrily. Though Rin wasn't the only person he was angry at, "And you!" He yelled as he pointed at Saber who looked surprised.
"Yes?" Saber asked.
"You were Kiritsugu's master, were you planning on hiding this or did you choose to hide this too?" Shirou asked.
Saber winced at her master's tone, "Shirou, my issue is separate. As a heroic spirit, I'm just a duplicate of the previous Saber. I have her memories, but none of her experiences. I wasn't sure how you would react or if telling you would pose a risk." She answered.
Shirou balled his fists, "Even if it wasn't 100% you, I understand if you thought I was weak at the time, but I thought you trusted me Saber. Just like how I've been trusting you." He said as Saber did look somewhat guilty.
"Kid I get you feel like you're angry at the world. But you can't save everyone." Ban spoke up.
"Ban is right Shirou, there's only so much you're capable of. You can never change the past, but you can work to help the present to save the future." Elizabeth added.
Shirou shook his head, "Well Naruto is out there fighting Sakura!" he said surprising everyone including Rin. "I don't know what happened, but something woke up in her and she might have killed Shinji! So now she's possessed or something!" He continued.
"That must explain the explosions." Merlin muttered as she saw another blast.
"Things aren't looking good over here! I think Foreigner is attracting more of those demons!" Robin yelled from outside.
"Has anyone noticed how quiet Zeref's been?" Meliodas asked.
Everyone looked around the room and down the hall. Immediately realizing that Zeref must have gone missing again. That or he's waiting to show up out of nowhere again like a stereotypical hero.
"I guess we can't rely on him, but what we can do is try to keep calm." Ban said only to hear some debris crash into the yard. "Ok, maybe that was a bad thing to say." he said disregarding his earlier statement.
"No, Ban is right. It doesn't matter who did what. All we can do is prepare for what's happening now." Meliodas said as tried getting everyone to cooperate.
Outside
King flew over the yard to get a good look of what was going on in the distance. Robin was watching from the rooftops as Achilles stood over the wall.
"How big of a mess does it look?" Achilles asked.
"My nephew is trying his best to hold back for some reason." King replied as he wasn't aware of the Sakura incident yet.
"He's tough, so why isn't he just one shotting whatever he's fighting? Without destroying Fuyuki I mean." Achilles asked.
King pondered on this, "Maybe it's something important in relation to catastrophe." He said.
There would be no more time to think as Robin spoke up, "Look alive! Flying rats!" He said just as winged demons arrived.
King raised his hand to summon Chastiefol to his side, "Chastiefol Form Five: Increase!" he says as he launches several blades through the barrier.
A good thing about Merlin's barrier was that attacks could go through into the outside but couldn't reach anyone on the inside. As King blasted through the chunks of winged demons. Naruto arrived with his armor covered in heavy scratches.
"What happened?" Achilles asked him.
"I'll explain inside. You three stay out here." Naruto said as he went to explain what was going on.
Only filling in what Ilya has not already told them.
With the girls
"Imperial Wrath of Zephyr!" Elaine shouts as she blasts a wave of small demons away.
"Heavy Metal!" Diane shouts as she turns into iron to block a large attack.
Meanwhile Albedo was in full armor while protecting Semiramis who was cradling a crying Baby Shirou. Leaving Nigredo to strike at an anything that was getting too close to her mother and the infant.
"Mother, I'm afraid we're surrounded." Albedo told her.
"I could attempt to create a small barrier long enough to contact your father." Semiramis suggested just as a larger arch demon towered over Albedo.
"Filthy creatures." the demon said.
"Lesser creature!" Albedo said while pointing at the arch demon who looked offended.
But before it could try to strike. The arch demon was sliced perfectly in half by a blond man with big eyebrows and red tips.
"Flame Breathing Third Form." The man said.
"Who are you?" Albedo demanded.
The man stood proudly, "It is I! Pandora's Actor, taking on the form of a swordsman's I once came across!" he said.
"Papa sent you?" Albedo asked.
Pandora's Actor nodded, "Of course, anything for his… beautiful wife and daughter." he said trying to stifle a perverted giggle.
"Keep it to yourself!" Albedo yelled angrily.
The doppelgänger nodded, "Yes, of course! Also, I've been tasked with giving you this reverse seal!" he said as he handed it to Semiramis who was still calming Baby Shirou down.
Semiramis turned to Elizabeth, "Please hold him." she said as Elizabeth nodded and took the infant. "I need time to work on this." she said as everyone else nodded and fought against the incoming demonic beasts.
"Tempest Falls!" Elaine calls out as she sends several tornadoes at her foes.
Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation!" Pandora's Actor yelled as he cut through the demons that managed to get through the barrier.
With Diane and Albedo smashing through the various demons that got behind them. Long enough for the seal to activate.
"It's ready." Semiramis said as everyone minus the doppelgänger went into the circle.
"Are you not coming?" Albedo asked.
Pandora's Actor shook his head, "I'm afraid not, I have a second mission." he answered.
"Please come back alive!" Elizabeth said thankful for the doppelgänger's bravery.
"You are most welcome!" Pandora's Actor said as the women left him to deal with the incoming beasts.
Pandora's Actor cut through the larger demons that were getting in the way. From the looks of things, they either detected sentient life that was not similar to their own or seek out anything that's fighting. Using his superior speed, Pandora's Actor sped past the many enemies that were in the way. Running towards wherever he felt was the source of the Grail. Though difficult as it appeared that most of the demons were appearing from various areas.
After about a half hour of sprinting around the city. Pandora's Actor found something else rather than the Grail.
"Lord Zeref?" Pandora's Actor asked.
Zeref shut his book and turned towards his father's creation, "I see my father sent his puppet. Thank you for rescuing my mother by the way. I was about to head there myself when I noticed you had arrived first." He explained.
"And what are you doing here?" Pandora's Actor asked.
"Looking for the Grail as well. Though I think I've detected another enemy amongst us." Zeref said as he faced another direction.
Pandora's Actor moved his head to see where his creator's son was looking. Immediately spotting a black substance appearing with a scary looking elderly man in a robe appearing above it.
"Identify yourself!" Pandora's Actor demanded as he pulled out his fire coated sword.
The old man laughed at the demand as he sent a giant wave of insects at them. Zeref narrowed his eyes as he opened his book again to summon his own familiars.
Back at the house
Having reunited, Naruto reiterated what happened earlier along with everything else. From Kotomine's reveal up to Sakura being possessed. With Semiramis adding her part about how much of the town is being overrun.
"And we can't do much from here." Merlin pointed out.
"Even if we could, that barrier won't be able to hold out too long and we have two injured and one defenseless." Ban said as he looked at Archer and Shuichirou along with a nervous looking Ayaka.
Naruto then slapped his hand on the counter, "And then there's Aki! Crap!" He exclaimed.
"The nurse?" Luvia asked.
"She's a master in the Grail War and she was taken by the Assassin. Not only that, but that means Mordred and her teammates are in danger too." Naruto said as he gripped his forehead.
Semiramis gently put an arm on her husband's back, "And it would be a great risk to go after them." She said.
All the while Saber's hands turned into fists. Just thinking about Mordred made her calm exterior break. Saber is always pushing towards the main goal of winning the war by using as much just means as possible. Yet, a part of her was yelling at herself to do something about Mordred even if she was the enemy again. So all she could do was stay silent for the moment.
As everyone contemplated on their next step. Naruto took out a small device to scan his mana reserves. Seeing that they were still relatively high, he had a good idea of what would help. Then there was another small detail that could help in another great way.
"Aunt Merlin, is it ready?" Naruto asked her.
Merlin raised a brow before realizing what he meant, "I was hoping to get it ready sooner, but I think now is the perfect time." She answered.
Naruto nodded, "Good, I was just thinking about speeding up the process." He said surprising Merlin.
"What are you two planning?" Semiramis asked suspiciously.
Naruto smiled at his wife, "Something that might be a game changer and possibly help me use one of my Noble Phantasms if it's strong enough." He answered.
A while later, center of the city
While Naruto had given Merlin the last minute tools to deal with a special plan he suddenly came up with. However for now, they had to deal with the current situation with a method Semiramis had to help with adjusting. Reminding everyone that her good looks weren't the only reason she became a monarch.
Though, none of this would be possible with Naruto's draconic mentors who were in his their aid once more, Naruto used a portion of his mana to summon all four of them. Thus beginning the individual plans for five groups.
Team 1, would be Luvia, Elaine and Merlin staying back at the house as Archer and Shuichiro heal. Ayaka is also forced to stay behind as it would be unsafe for her. All the while Merlin works on the last minute project.
Team 2, Rin would go to her house to obtain some weapon Rin thinks would be very useful in this fight. At the same time, she thinks she could at least save Sakura in some way with said weapon.
Team 3, Semiramis and Albedo with baby Shirou would be riding on the Hanging Gardens once Naruto had unsealed it. Though, they would also be carrying a few secret minions Naruto had kept in storage like he did with Pandora's Actor.
Team 4, The Seven Deadly Sins and Elizabeth would be assisting with the civilian evacuation along with suppressing the hordes of demons.
Team 5, Shirou and Saber would look for Aki's servants and hopefully find a lead to Aki should they still be alive.
That left Naruto with tracking down Pandora's Actor and hopefully Zeref. The former should already be close to wherever the Holy Grail is. So he brought Arthur, Medea and Achilles due to the great power their own Noble Phantasms and skills have.
With Shirou
Shirou hanged on tightly for his life as did Saber, "So what was your name again?" He asked the dragon.
"I am the Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon." Odd Eyes answered.
"Do you know where you're going?" Shirou asked it.
"Yes, you just need to keep pouring your magic into the cellular device. My pupil temporarily allowed me to locate the signal where he was previously contacted." Odd Eyes answered before looking confused. "Strange, I detect a similar mana pattern like the woman sitting next to you." Odd Eyes said.
Shirou looked confused as well, "Just one or more?" He asked.
"Multiple, if this woman carries more than one servant it might be them or an equally powerful group of creatures." Odd Eyes answered as he turned around and followed the pattern.
"Be ready Shirou!" Saber said as she prepared her sword.
"I know!" Shirou said as his demon curse mark appeared on his face.
After a few minutes of travel, Shirou and Saber saw the shadowy figures. The same ones Naruto was fighting when he was dealing with Sakura earlier. Though it appears that Sakura isn't the only one capable of summoning them as they were attacking Frankenstien's Monster while Mordred was carrying Astolfo over her shoulder.
Shirou immediately started to spread his wings and jumped down to save them.
"Still reckless, even in the end Shirou." Saber said with a weak smile.
"That boy is either very brave, or a knucklehead like his ancestor." Odd Eyes said as he came closer.
"Hellblaze!" Shirou shouted as he scared away most of the creatures.
"Hmph?" Frankenstein grumbled.
"I'm here to help, my uncle got the call and told us what happened." Shirou said as he pulled out the sword he bought from TenTen's shop.
"That was over three hours ago!" Mordred screamed angrily as the waves kept coming.
Only to be pushed away by the beams from the jewels on Odd Eye's body. As the dragon landed, Saber quickly cut down more of the shadowy monsters. Before stepping closer towards Mordred and offering her hand.
"All that matters is that we're here isn't it?" Saber asked.
Mordred was surprised by her mother's gesture. Yet she smiled at the genuine kindness before accepting it. Saber smiled back only to frown as she realized that Mordred dropped Astolfo's unconscious body on her arms.
"You carry him. For a girly boy, he weighs a ton." Mordred said before jumping onto Odd Eyes.
Saber sighed as she carried the feminine boy, "This is another reason I prefer to avoid alliances." she said as they all started to evacuate.
"Hellblaze Wave!" Shirou shouts as he unleashes another large wave of flames to push back the shadowy creatures.
"Eh?" Frankenstien asked.
"When the hell did the kid learn that!?" Mordred asked.
"It's a long story Mordred." Saber said as Odd Eyes quickly escaped.
With Rin
Rin wiped away the hairs blocking her face as she saw her house, "It's right there!" She exclaimed.
Dark Rebellion Dragon nodded, "Search with haste. There's no telling how many more creatures are on their way." it told her.
"Don't worry, this weapon has been passed down in the Tohsaka line for many generations. If anything, it's a bigger game changer compared to whatever Foriegner has planned." Rin explained as they landed.
"Very well, I will guard your home as you search." Dark Rebellion told her.
A while later, inside the home
Rin scrambled through her basement to look for her tool. Unfortunately, while Rin was a gifted mage, an amazing one with a bright future as well as great skills as a master in the Grail War despite having a weaker servant. Rin is horrible at maintaining a house and knew nothing whatsoever about keeping her home clean and organized. Taking up to a half hour just to go through one chest.
"And it's not here." she said with a rainy cloud over her head.
To reiterate, Rin is an amazing mage. So amazing that with how long it took her to go through her cluttered home. She must have learned Time Magic in order to find what she was looking for within about another hour or so.
Outside
Dark Rebellion was also forced to push back the large hordes that were coming, "What is taking that girl so long!?" he asked very angrily.
Just as Rin came running out with an item wrapped inside of a rag, "Let's go!" she said.
"Do you not know how long you too girl!?" Dark Rebellion asked angrily.
"Oh shut up. It's been only about 20 minutes." Rin said unaware of how much time she had taken.
With Zeref and Pandora's Actor
Pandora's Actor appeared right above the grinning Zouken, "First Form: Unknowing Fire!" He shouted as he cut through the elder man's throat. The doppelganger sheathed his sword despite Zouken appearing relatively well, "Impossible!" he exclaimed.
Zouken let out a soft chuckle, "A little barbarinism is natural in this world. Sadly for you, a sword capable of bursting into flames is not enough anymore." he said mocking Pandora's Actor.
Zeref narrowed his eyes as Zouken summoned more insect familiars, "Death Predation!" he said unleashing a giant black sphere that started to kill all plants around him.
Zouken narrowed his eyes as he escaped via a burst of black essence. His familiars weren't as lucky and were all turned into dust once the large dome of darkness had made contact with them. Zeref continued to study Zouken's movements as he saw the elder man trying to escape them.
"You are clearly eager for the Holy Grail. Yet you realize the dangers. So why run?" Zeref asked.
"I do not need to answer you, boy." Zouken answered.
"I suppose so, but let me ask you this. What was the purpose of you infecting the girl. Sakura I mean." Zeref said briefly catching Zouken's surprised face. "That's right, I studied the worms alongside my great aunt. You used that girl as some sort of test subject, a guinea pig. As if you were giving her some kind of power of some sort." he said.
"If you are that intelligent, I suppose you saw it from my insects." Zouken said with a light chuckle. He stared at Zeref with his disturbing eyes, "Tell me boy, do you know what greed is?" he asked.
"It's a sin, most confuse it for just wanting more money. When in fact, it's the desire for more. Money's just an obective towards getting what you desire, but often times humans do the most despicable things to obtain their desires." Zeref explained as if it were trivial.
Though Pandora's Actor giggled at the thought of desiring women for himself. Beautiful ones too with amazing bodies.
"Very good, so you must know that I've gone far to win this Grail. Especially using my adoptive granddaughter to be the vessel for humanities evils." Zouken said confusing Zeref. "My son was too weak and my other son failed to win ten years ago. Leaving my granddaughter as the only candidate only for my true grandchild to almost screw it up." He explained.
Zeref glared at Zouken, "You took an innocent child and tortured her. Abused her to be used as a puppet for your desire to obtain otherworldly power?" he asked.
"It is as you said boy. Many would go far to achieve what they desire and that is all you need to know." Zouken said disappearing in a burst of darkness, but not without leaving a large wave of insects behind.
"Piercing Bullet!" Zeref shouted as he destroyed the wave of bugs.
"Zeref-sama?" Pandora's Actor asked as he reverted to his true form.
Only to step back in fear as he saw the young man's eyes turn black as his curse mark appeared, "Humans are despicable Pandora's Actor. Whether it's this world or in my father's world of birth. They disgust me." he said as an old memory entered his mind.
Flashback, ancient Assyria
(Fairy Tail OST - Zeref Theme)
An adolescent Zeref sat on his father's lap as they looked over the window to see the kingdom of Assyria.
"Papa, why am I different than the other kids?" little Zeref asked.
Naruto gave a weak smile, "I asked myself that when I was your age Zeref. It's because we're not human, no matter how much we look it or how much we relate or wish to relate." he answered.
Zeref looked at himself, "How are we different?" he asked with sad eyes.
"Zeref, you don't come from a normal family. Many would envy to be related to power. Many would fall to greed just to obtain power." Naruto told him. He let out a deep breath before continuing, "Putting aside your mother's status as a monarch. The thing between her and myself is we created by powerful deities. Yet, brought into the world by humans." he explained.
"So why can't we be like the humans?" Zeref asked.
"Because even if we experience the same functions and emotions as them. At some point, they sacrifice themselves to give into their selfishness. Even more so than what your mother and I have done in our lives." Naruto explained as Zeref frowned.
"Are humans bad papa?" Zeref asked.
"Anything that can think for itself is capable of good and bad Zeref. It's a matter of perspective and of who gets harmed." Naruto answered as he ruffled his son's hair.
End of flashback
Zeref shook his head of these thoughts and made sure to avoid unleashing his killing intent. As that would often cause his body to unleash dangerous abilities like Death Predation.
"Follow me puppet." Zeref said as he lead Pandora's Actor deeper towards the Holy Grail's location
"Yes sir, let me change first." Pandora's Actor said as he transformed into someone who looked like a dark haired Meliodas.
"Is that my great uncle who I've heard about?" Zeref asked.
Pandora's Actor nodded, "Naruto-sama did his best to copy the man. For reasons aside from having another powerhouse to assist him." he answered.
Zeref's lip was briefly raised, "So does that mean…?"
Pandora's Actor shook his head, "Your father said I would not survive containing the former demon king's commandment." he said interrupting Zeref.
"A shame, very well." Zeref said with slight disappointment.
With Semiramis
The Queen of Assyria carefully looked around the city through a transmission mirror. She could see the destruction the demons are causing and the little chance for the civilians to escape. Luckily her in-laws and their closest friends are dealing the beasts. Though Semiramis thought that now is a good time to summon her own little army.
"Albedo prepare the emergency containers your father left." Semiramis ordered as Albedo brought her a strange container to refill her mana. "And with help from your father. this may actually be entertaining, fufufu." she said.
Albedo giggled alongside her mother, "What next mama?" she asked.
Semiramis smiled as she let her power surround the room, "I think it's time to turn the tides of battle." she said before Albedo pulled something out.
"Papa said to never use these unless the situation looks dire." Albedo said as she revealed tubes similar to those seen at a bank.
"A familiar summoning?" Semiramis asked as she read the names.
Diablo
Zenos Road
Sadao Mao
Mephisto Pheles
Demon King (Queen)
Euclid Lucifuge
Luminous Valentine
Madama Butterfly
Damocles
Jashin
Ainz Ooal Gown
Semiramis blinked several times in surprise, "Is your father mocking me? Did his stupid story have an actual truth?" she asked.
Albedo shrugged, "I'm not sure, but papa claimed these were just some of the few he'd captured and often needed help with a few of them." she answered.
"I think it's best we keep those hidden for now daughter." Semiramis suggested before dropping off her own little army.
Outside the Hanging Gardens
Robin whistled as he watched the demons tearing through the city. With signs of military arriving within the hour. It looked like too much of a mess to deal with, but it's not like he can run since Albedo still has the dog collar around his neck.
"So much for sticking my neck out for others. What do I get?" Robin asked himself as he sat by the ledge. "I get killed by people I helped and now I'm a slave to a girl who's heart I broke." he said with a sigh.
Only to jump up and take a defensive stance once he noticed several skeletons approaching him from behind. Only to notice Albedo raise an army as a signal.
"Put down your weapon Robin Hood. These are my mother's Dragon Tooth warriors." Albedo said referring to the incoming battalion of skeletons.
"Holy crap, well at least that will give those civilians hope." Robin said as he saw the skeletons being transported down into the battlefield. "Better them than me I guess." he said before facing forward again.
With Naruto
Having transformed into his dragon form, Zarc. Naruto used his great speed to fly past the many threats and towards Pandora's Actors location. With Arthur, Medea and Achilles struggling to hang on.
"How far is he?" Arthur asked.
"Around the corner. I can sense Pandora's Actor's signature. He should be deep down… there!" Naruto said as he changed angles and flew towards this red mass of energy.
"For a grail, this thing does not look one bit holy." Achilles said.
"Western religion is so strange." Medea commented.
"It's not the real Holy Grail from the Era of Jesus of Nazareth. It's just based on the design." Naruto replied as they landed moments later.
As Naruto reverted back to his humanoid form. Medea started summoning magic circle around her.
"The magic around here is very dense and malicious." Medea said as she liked the amount she sensed but it felt like a poison to her.
Naruto nodded, "Reminds me of Jashin's Avatar." he said remembering a weird experience he had as a child.
"I don't know what that is, but that aside. I literally think that if we go deeper. We'll either enter the gates of hell… or find the not so holly, but rather demonic grail." Achilles said as he pointed to the entrance with his spear.
Medea grimaced at the idea of either, "To be fair, I didn't do many nice things to stay alive. In the end, I suppose I won't have my wish so long as Shuichiro is safe." she said.
(Fate Zero OST - The Dream Before Dawn)
Naruto nodded, "I can agree to that. In the end, we just want to survive. I guess the war was an excuse for dead people to come back and tear each other's throats out for greed." he said.
Arthur held his shoulder as he started thinking about something, "Let's just hurry." he said as he started working on removing his sword's restrictions. "By the way uncle, what's the plan when we find the grail?" he asked.
"I'm going to destroy it and send it back to wherever it came from." Naruto answered nonchalantly.
"Eh!?" All three asked.
"The thing is corrupted. All it's ready to do is create living nightmares and burn the world." Naruto replied making the three sweat drop. "Besides, if I run out of power while trying to get us there. Arthur can blow it up, Achilles can save us with the shield and Medea can try to bypass any magical lock in the way." he explained.
All three sighed, "It's live or die then?" Achilles asked receiving a nod from Naruto.
"Come on! We're wasting time!" Naruto said already running in towards the Holy Grail where Pandora's Actor and Zeref already are.
Back at the residence
"How are they looking?" Luvia asked Ayaka.
"Stable, I think they'll be fine Luvia-senpai." Ayaka answered.
Luvia smiled, "I never knew you were good at medicine or magic Sajyou-san." she said.
Ayaka poked her fingers together nervously, "I have a unique history.." she said.
Luvia nodded, "Very well, I assume you are secretly better than Tohsaka hohoho!" she said with a giggle.
Ayaka blushed, "No, I could sense Tohsaka's power. Comparing me to her is like comparing the earth and the heavens." she said.
Luvia snorted, "Don't sell yourself short. Some of us never had the advantage of a powerful mage." she said referring to Merlin who revealed her true self.
"Although, Rin does remind me of my own sister." Ayaka said surprising Luvia. "Not too much though, my sister Monica was a strong mage too. Though she didn't have magic circuits with quality equivalent as my own." she said.
"Let me guess, inferiority complex?" Luvia asked.
Ayaka nodded sadly, "I loved my sister dearly and I wanted nothing more than to be close to her." she answered.
"Poor girl, I think you should understand how scary the magus world is. Especially someone as old fashioned as Tohsaka." Luvia said before her face started to soften. "To be fair, I can't help to pity what we learned." she said referring to the revelation of Tokiomi and his disregard for Sakura.
Something that could have easily happened to Rin if she was the younger child.
"That's why I feel bad senpai. Deep down I want to think that things will get better in the end for them. Unlike what happened with me and my own sister." Ayaka said as she was very depressed about her own sister's fate.
Before Luvia could say something encouraging. They felt the whole building shake. Luvia and Ayaka ran outside into the yard to see Rin struggling to hang onto Dark Rebellion Dragon. With her crashing onto the yard and breaking the barrier.
"Big sister." said a dark voice.
Rin winced as she looked up to see a smiling Dark Sakura, "Sakura!" she cried out.
"Bye bye." Dark Sakura said as she prepared to hurt Rin.
Rin immediately pulled out the cloth and revealed a strange looking sword with a blade that had the appearance of a rainbow colored gemstone. Unfortunately, Rin never had the chance to utilize it's power as Sakura was about to kill her. Yet, today was not the day Rin Tohsaka would meet the end of her life.
When the attack landed, something else came in it's way. A bright flash of golden fire had collided with Dark Sakura's attack.
"I'm not one to jump into fights that do not concern me. As a student of Lady Merlin, I will make an exception." said a gruff voice.
For a brief moment, Dark Sakura could sense the burning heat of the magic that had entered the battlefield. Rin could see the brief moment of sheer terror that was on Dark Sakura's face.
"Who..?" Rin tried to ask.
(Seven Deadly Sins OST - Sunshine Theme)
"Run little girl. This lion has been at rest for far too long." Said the gruff voice belonging to a tall muscular man with a tattoo of a lion on his back.
Rin was about to ask about the man when Merlin appeared and pulled her away, "I think you should step back Rin. I'm afraid my number one admirer will be too much for you to handle." Merlin said with a smile never leaving her face.
For Dark Sakura, it appeared that she was ready to fight in hopes of wounding her foe. Long enough for her to run and better prepare herself as the heat surrounding him was too much for her mind to handle at the moment.
"I think you should run as well." the man told Dark Sakura who looked surprised. "For nothing can defeat the the one who wields the power of the sun." he said as he pulled out a giant one handed axe.
Long live the Sin of Pride, the champion of the sun, Escanor.
TO BE CONTINUED…
NOTE: Sorry for the extended delay guys. Stuff came up and there's only one chapter left unless some minor details pop up. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter because the long ride is almost over. But don't despair, more stories are coming up shortly. A few unique ones you might even enjoy more or less.
Remember to check out my poll as well!
