Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or Highschool DxD, or any of its character's, and make no money off of this.


Here it was…

My first step…

The blazing sun up high…

The dancing sand in the wind…

The location of my target up ahead.


Chapter 14:

The lion king and the time Empress


''Almost there…'' Segrif Zepar whispered in a haggard tone, he really needed a drink, both to quench his thirst but also take his edge off the problems at hand. The procedure was long and straining, the process of it draining him both physically and mentally.

He was well aware that his fiancée was quite gifted intellectually and the plan to perform mind altering magic on her even with the help of the stone he procured wouldn't be an easy task. By now any normal devil would have long succumbed to his influence, but not Sona Sitri, she kept on fighting and resisting over and over again denying him.

Yet, even she had her limits.

A strained breath escaped the Zepar heir's lips as he backed away from his chained prisoner and took a seat on a nearby chair, taking a gold trimmed handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away the sweat pouring down his face. ''F-Finally… it's complete…''

A heavy silence in the room as neither him nor Sona made any sounds. After catching his breath he got back up and walked over to her, slowly lifting her head up, looking at the girls dull purple eyes. There were many things he had to check before he could jump to any conclusions. ''Tell me, what is your name?''

''… Sona Sitri.'' She responded mechanically.

He gave a small nod. ''Good… now, who am I?''

''… Segrif Zepar.''

''Now, what am I to you?''

''… My fiancée''

''Are you going to marry me?''

''… Yes.''

His lips curved slightly at this answer. ''Perfect, now tell me, what made you change your mind considering our difficult relationship up until this point.''

It was at this moment that her features softened and started appearing like her usual self again. ''After a long and insightful conversation with you I realized that a marriage between us would be most beneficial to both of us and our respectful houses. While I may not love you at the moment perhaps things will change in the future, so I am willing to give a chance to our relationship.''

A smile spread all the way to his ears, he just loved it when things went his way. It would have been so easy to turn her into a simple drone, but that would have been too obvious to even the stupidest of people. He would have been immediately caught red handed the very moment someone with any bit of knowledge in demonic magic laid eyes on her, so he instead opted for a subconscious suggestion, implanting the idea in her mind in a way that she herself will process and see things without realizing that she was influenced. The beauty of this method was in the implementation and finesse of its execution in contrast to a brute force method like permanent hypnosis which was constantly active and able to be sensed or noticed if one knew what to look for. The method he used was the opposite with how subtly it influence's the targets thoughts, requires no extra energy to sustain it, nor can it be sensed or traced easily even by experts. In a matter of minutes even the dullness of her eyes and her almost machine like manner of speaking will be gone and no one would be able to tell what happened to her.

''… Marvelous, this stone is probably the best investment I ever did… second only to Shahnaz that is.''

The Zepar heir started to laugh in a hysteric fit, as this was just perfect once again relishing how everything was going his way. His mad laughter stopped suddenly, his hand gripping desperately on its opposite, trying to stop the violent shaking it was going through. His fingers were bending and contorting uncontrollably in every direction in angles and positions that would normally cause them to break.

He was hyperventilating, ragged breaths going in and out, the veins in his eyes becoming large and visible for all to see. It was only after a minute had passed that the sudden spasms started lessening.

His teeth were grinding against each other in annoyance, he didn't like what just happened, not one bit. He clicked his tongue as he quickly made his way to his cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine, casting aside proper manners and decorum he started pouring it down his throat like a common drunkard. The cool wine went down hard and fast with him not even able to enjoy the taste. However he had other things to worry about at the moment, he was well aware that his body could become rather unstable whenever he pushed it too far but he didn't expect such a thing to happen so soon.

After going half way through the bottle he stopped and let out a tired breath, checking his arm, the spasms had ceased but the concern of another attack was still there. The first thing he would do when this was all over was give himself a proper checkup, there was definitely something wrong with him.

He shook his head and focused his mind back at the matters at hand, there were still things that needed taking care off. ''…Now my dear, after I rest up for a bit we can go and stop your peerage from ruining my base.''


The sounds of running could be heard through the dark corridors of the base. A door was forcefully opened and from it the woman that had previously shot Shirou's hands popped out. She instantly hid behind the door and looked behind checking for any potential pursuers.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips, satisfied with herself that she managed to outrun the Sitri peerage. She was never so glad that she was turned into a Knight as much as she was right now.

While her running away from them might have seemed like a cowards move, she didn't have a choice at the moment. Long range fighters like herself needed large and open spaces in order to fight properly, and the staircase where she tried ambushing the Sitri group was right next to the corridors, fighting there would have put her in a big disadvantage, lacking proper vantage points and limiting her mobility. As such she had to retreat to the middle levels and wait for them in one of the open areas. Who knows maybe she could get lucky again and shoot the redhead again… though now after getting a better look at him, it was a shame he was an enemy. She found him quite the handsome specimen with his golden brown eyes, strong looks, and athletic body.

The things she would do to him, like take his head and shove in between her-

''[Eletha, come in!]'' Whatever fantasies the long eared woman was having were brutally interrupted when her Queen contacted her via a magic circle on her ear.

While she was feeling a bit awkward being caught daydreaming like this, the thing that was really putting her on the edge was what her superior was gonna say. ''Oh, hey there Shahnaz…''

''[What's going on down there, why aren't the others responding?!]'' the Zepar Queen demanded, the concern for her comrades visible in her voice.

''Weren't you watching the fights?'' Eletha scoffed slightly, knowing full well how her superior liked keeping an eye out on everything she could like some creepy stalker.

''[I was but one the Sitri bishops started blasting fire balls all over the room and struck my surveillance wards, I've been in the dark ever since. Now tell me what's going on down there and why aren't the others responding!?]''

Her burrows knitted in annoyance, she really hated how Shahnaz always overreacted to every little thing, and really things weren't that bad if you asked her. ''Well… thing is they all came down with a sudden case of getting their asses whooped.''

There was a heavy silence on the other side, but she clearly heard something crack. ''[… Care to repeat that?]''

''Yeah… I'm not sure myself about what happened but when I went back to check how things were going, I found them all down for the count.''

''[… This doesn't make any sense, they were all winning their fights, and their opponents were barely keeping up with them and… wait a second, why weren't you with them?]''

''I was initially, but things were looking pretty easy so I didn't stay to help out.'' She admitted, omitting the part about her going to get a bite to eat instead.

Eletha could clearly hear the sound of Shahnaz grinding her teeth. ''[… You do realize that because of your ignorance the others lost.]''

''Hey don't put the blame on me! It's their fault they lost not mine!'' she snapped at her queen, like she had any right to comment on her actions when she didn't even bother coming down and helping out herself.

Shahnaz wanted to just let go and start giving a lecture to the uncooperative member of the group, but calmed herself down, for she didn't have the time for this. ''[… Forget it, now is not the time. Return to the upper levels and be on standby. I will join you shortly and we will fight together.]''

Eletha opened her mouth to comment upon this but momentarily stopped herself, a condescending smile creeping on her face as a thought emerged. ''[… I'm sorry Shahnaz, but could you please repeat that, I couldn't quite make that out.''

''[What? Eletha what are you talking-]''

She cut her Queen off before she got the chance to finish. ''Sorry but I can't hear you very well, all I'm getting is static sounds. I will call you back later, bye.''

A gasp could be heard from the magic circle, Shahnaz realizing what Eletha was doing. ''[Eletha don't you dare hang up on-]''

She cut off the communication, clicking her tongue in annoyance, when it came to Shahnaz she just couldn't stand her. ''Stuck up bitch, just because she is our Queen and masters favorite she thinks I need her help to deal with some kids.''

Her devil wings manifested and she took flight, sitting herself on a balcony far away on the other side of the room.

''Speaking of which, they should drop by any moment.'' She raised her hand to the side and her jade bow manifested in it. Now that she had the proper fighting area, all she just needed was the right weapons. With a flick of her fingers dozens of arrows of different sizes, shapes, and designs manifested around her ready to be used at any time. ''I have to be sure and give them a proper entertainment.''


''So Shirou got any plans against that long eared bitch?'' Saji asked as we all made our way through the tunnels.

The moment that woman saw that her little surprise attack failed she instantly turned around and ran away from us. I for one didn't want to let her escape and tried to catch up to her, though as I expected she wasn't going to give me an easy time doing that. As soon as I started closing the gap she started shooting arrows at the walls surrounding me, the arrows then exploding on impact and blocked off the pathway. Even though it took just a couple of seconds for Tsubasa to punch her way through the impromptu wall, by the time that was done we lost all track of the enemy archer.

''Be on the guard at all times. There's no telling when she could pull another ambush on us.'' I explained as I peeked from the edge of a wall, scanning the next tunnel for any potential vantage points. The knowledge that she could snipe us at any moment was putting everyone on the edge, especially since she seemed to have a thing for doing surprise attacks.

''When it comes down to using a bow while it's quite fast and precise if used correctly, its weakness was the time it needed to nock an arrow, take aim, and shoot it. When we find her we must scatter around to confuse her, if we're all over the place she won't be able keep up with such a large number of targets. We must try to cover the distance between her and us, but we have to be careful for her arrows so try to be near anything that can act as cover if you find yourself unable to block or repel them.''

They all nodded as we shortly reached the end of the tunnel, I gestured to them to stand by. The new room was quite large as well as very similar to the one where we fought the first wave of enemies a bit ago.

The sound of steel cutting the air invaded my ear.

I instantly backed away and pushed everyone further back into the tunnel, no more than two seconds later an arrow pierced the wall where I previously stood, a strong electric discharge was released where the arrow stabbed into.

The wall crackled and blackened from the discharges intensity. If that thing had hit me it would have turned me into a charred piece of meat.

I reinforced my eyes and scanned the room from a distance, searching every nook and crevice for the enemy archer. After a second or so of looking around I found her positioned on a railing on the opposite side of the room, a condescending smile visible on her face.

''The others were such idiots. Why bother fight when we can just keep you at bay.'' She spoke arrogantly, loud enough for us to hear her from all the way down here. Not wasting any time she brought her bow up drawing another arrow from the many surrounding her, aimed, and focused on us.

''Momo, Reya, form a barrier around us quickly!'' I roared as the enemy released her arrow.

Fortunately the girls were fast enough to form their barriers right when the arrow was about to reach us. The sudden clash caused static shocks to fly everywhere.

When the light show was over I breathed in relief as the girls were able to block it without any problems. It was short lived however as soon after a new arrow clashed against the barrier, and this cycle kept repeating itself over and over again.

This was a rather annoying predicament we were in.

Reya and Momo may seem able to hold the barrier up together, but the enemy kept shooting arrows one after the other.

We're at a stale mate.

Her arrows may not reach us but that goes the same for us, while she keeps firing like that we can't advance either. This was a matter of endurance as it stood, either our barrier would get taken down or the enemy runs out of stamina.

At least, that would normally be the case… but this time it wasn't as another factor came into play.

Each clash between the barrier and the enemy's arrows were causing small aftershocks around the entrance of the tunnel chipping away at its structural integrity. If this went on the tunnel itself would cave in and bury us here.

I had to come up with a plan quick.

As I kept nagging my head for any possible solutions I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw Tsubasa staring at me with curious look in her eyes. ''Say Shirou, you said we needed some cover to get close to her right?''

I nodded lightly at this. ''Yeah, but we don't have any close by.''

''Then let's make one!'' Tsubasa smirked as she made distance between herself and the rest of the group, turning to face one of the tunnel walls. She pulled her arms backwards and then violently jammed them in the wall, her fingers digging the stone wall. ''Tomoe!''

The mentioned knight stared at her friend for a few seconds, confused by what she wanted from her. Her eyes widened in realization as she understood what she had to do, she drew her sword and performed four deep cuts on the wall Tsubasa was gripping.

When Tomoe backed away Tsubasa let out a sharp hiss, the veins in her arms throbbing and bulging as she pulled back, and her well defined arms looked like they were about to rip through her shirt. When the giant chunk of wall was ripped away I realized what the blue haired rook was planning. I couldn't help but give her a nod of appreciation and a approving thumbs up. ''Good thinking.''

''Girls on my signal bring down the barrier.'' Both Reya and Momo nodded on my order. I waited for the right timing, memorizing the interval between each arrow.

Right after the enemy shot a new arrow I gave my signal to everyone. Tsubasa already knew what she had to do as she charged forward with the section of the wall in front of her. ''Follow Tsubasa!''

As the barrier went down right before the block of stone reached, arrows started raining down on it but it held firm, the sheer size and density of the block was proving a strong cover for all of us.

Everyone kept close to Tsubasa as she pushed it forward, now that we were out of the confines of the corridors we could come up with a way to stop the enemy archer.

I ran to the end of the impromptu cover and took a quick glance towards the enemy. She was very annoyed as she placed a new arrow in her bow, a different one compared to the others. ''Not enough.''

A quick structural grasp of the arrow made my hair stand on edge. I tried to call out to the others but it was too late, the arrow already hit the block and exploded on contact, everyone was sent flying in different directions from the shockwave.

I stumbled and rolled a couple of times but reinforced my hands and stabbed my fingers into the ground stopping myself but also allowing me to position myself. Apparently right on time as Tsubasa was about to crash into me, I managed to catch her by the waist and stop her as well though albeit barely as I nearly toppled over. The others on the other hand weren't so lucky and got scattered all across the room.

There wasn't much time to come up with a strategy even though the explosion caused a smoke screen to form around us. While I could see the others to some extent, I'm fairly certain the enemy wasn't able to see us.

I had to do something quick before it cleared up.

''Tsubasa are you okay?!'' I asked the girl that probably took most of the damage since her hands were connected to the block of stone when the explosion took place.

There was an annoyed scowl present on her face when I asked her this. ''That psycho bitch just used some bomb arrow on me! How do you think I feel!?''

Her unfriendly reaction aside, there were no visible wounds. At least she didn't get injured.

''So, any ideas?'' The bluenette asked me cautiously.

''None at the moment.'' I admitted bitterly, coming up with a proper plan on the fly wasn't easy you know.

''Dammit that elf bitch is really asking for it.'' Tsubasa growled as she punched the ground in frustration.

That was something that got my curiosity. ''Elf bitch?''

''Duh, didn't you see her ears, only they have ears long like that.'' She replied as she gestured to her ears. Now that she mentioned it the woman did indeed have very long and sharp ears. So that's what an elf looks like, it might have been interesting meeting her under different circumstances considering how popular elves were in modern media. Whenever I stepped into a book store I would always see an elf on a light novel cover, so it made one wonder on how a real one really is. Unfortunately, now wasn't such a good time to find out. ''That bow of hers is also a big pain the ass.''

''Quite…'' I mutter as I recalled the weapon she used, my eyes blinked a couple of times as I just realized something critical. ''Wait, that's it!''

Tsubasa was staring at me confused from my sudden outburst, but I focused on the matter at hand. The dust was still hanging above us so I couldn't see the enemy.

I had to do something about that.

I traced Kanshou in my hand as I took aim. I couldn't see the enemy so I had to find her with a different way. A deep breath escaped my lips as I reinforced my hearing, searching for her possible location as I took in the surroundings. It didn't go as I wanted since I kept hearing the breathing, grunting, and talking of the others scattered around room.

A smirk formed on my lips however as I soon heard a very familiar sound.

The sound of a bow string being pulled back.

My hand instantly reacted and threw Kanshou in the direction of the sound, clearing its way through the dust as it made its way towards the enemy. With a sharp hiss the blade burst out of the veil of dust, making the elf woman's eyes go wide as it quickly approached her. She didn't waste any time and changed her aim to the incoming blade, shooting her arrow at it, yet while it didn't destroy Kanshou the shot managed to deviate the trajectory so that it went away from her.

It didn't matter.

All I needed was a good look at her bow.

The pathway made by Kanshou gave me that opportunity.

Structural Grasping was done.

''The ability to create Demonic Arrows of different attributes according to the will of the user…'' I muttered as the information got processed in my mind, eyes slowly widening as I understood the nature of her weapon, her sacred gear to be exact. ''I see… so that's the Jade Archery sacred gear Ruruko thought I possessed.''

No wonder the pawn mistook my bow for the Jade Archery, its overall design is very similar my own, the only major difference being its color.

Information has been processed, history revealed and comprehended.

It was time to counter attack.

I raised my hand to my ear and channeled a little bit of prana to it, activating the communication spell placed on me by Reya. ''Everyone stay scattered around!''

''Wait, Shirou you said we need cover to get close to her.'' Momo protested on the line, something which I expected considering what my previous orders were.

My lips couldn't help but morph into a small smirk as the dust finally cleared. ''Change of plans, I have a better idea.''

The enemy had an arrow nocked in her bow and ready to strike, her eyes drifting around the battle ground for the first target to put down. Naturally her eyes landed on me, a deep annoyance was present on her features the moment our eyes met, she was clearly feeling pissed that she didn't get to take me out the last two times. Unfortunately for her, there won't be a third time.

''Trace On!''

Since I was dealing with a bow user, why not try and show my own archery skills?

There was clear confusion present in her eyes as I summoned my black bow and simply pointed it at her without any arrow set, instead my empty hand was positioned against the string as if I was grasping an imaginary arrow. My action sparked rage in her eyes, no doubt what I did was interpreted as a taunt by my enemy.

I could tell she wanted to hear me scream as she released her shot.

My reinforced eyes kept track of the arrow, the projection in my empty hand was complete. A swift pull and my arrow was unleashed towards the approaching one.

The two mirroring projectiles met and clashed. A stale mate created by the opposition of the very same existence. All that could follow was only a small explosion and the flabbergasted expression of the elven archer.

''W-what the!?'' The gasp that escaped her lips was showcasing the unbelievable amount of denial she was currently feeling. ''That was my arrow!''

Indeed it was.

It was quite simple to replicate, it didn't even begin to compare to the amount of strain tracing a noble phantasm put on my body, and compared to that her arrows were a walk in the park.

As long as she uses her bow against us I will trace any arrow she fires and cancel it out.

I sent some prana to the communication spell and turned it on, it was time to put things into action. ''Try to get close and take her out, I will cancel each of her shots with my own.''

''[Yes/Alright/Damn straight/Will do!]'' The collective responses were all I needed to hear.

It was also enough to get my opponent out of her shell shock state, ignoring me and trying to snipe the now approaching enemies.

She set her sight on Tsubaki and unleashed a Blaze arrow at her. I traced a copy and destroyed it before it could reach her.

My action caused the enemies features to darken, the sense of advantage she felt was slowly getting ripped away from her and instead replaced by a feeling of dread.

She instantly threw her arm to the side, multiple arrows began materializing around her. She took three of them carefully placed them in her bow, using a unique form and position with her fingers around the string that I never saw before. I studied Kyūdō during my days in the archery club, while the Japanese style was what I primarily learned, I also researched other forms of archery out of curiosity as well. Still among the various styles and techniques I never came across a style that allowed the user to shoot three arrows at the same time in such a way.

This was probably an elven style of archery.

A style I promptly imitated via through her traced arrows history.

The arrows were launched and I replied back with my own. Once again they exploded from the clash before they could even reach their target.

My action must have been some sort of trigger to the woman, the blood in her face drained away leaving it pale and her expression on her face morphed into despair. She seemed to have given completely into it and in a panic tried to rely on shooting arrows one after the other, each different from the previous one, a desperate attempt to get rid of the incoming enemies before they could reach her.

I was beginning to feel sorry for her.

Each arrow she shot was getting traced by me after it got recorded in my mind. In a sense she was making me stronger by doing this.

Gale arrow, Shredding arrow, Cascade arrow, Frostbite arrow, Shock arrow, Bomb arrow, Doppelganger arrow, Poison arrow, Shrapnel arrow, Smokescreen arrow, Diamond Arrow, Illusion arrow, Smog arrow and the list kept on increasing.

With every exchange my repertoire of arrows increased as I continued cancel out her attacks with my own. With the risk of sounding arrogant, to an opponent that relies on weapons, I am their ultimate bane.

The skill and technique she honed that was developed over the course of many years, it was all revealed to me, analyzed, and assimilated in a matter of seconds.

Stealing and imitating what others dedicated their entire lives to accomplish.

A cruel and sad truth, however that was simply what I was.

A fake.

The others drew in closer, the panic on her face kept increasing by the moment. It went on until she suddenly dropped her head down and gritted her teeth in frustration. ''Dammit.''

She placed three copies of her Smoke arrows in her bow and took aim. I took a moment and blinked confused as she was aiming her weapon at her own feet.

Just as Tsubaki-senpai was about to reach her she shot her arrows downwards, the area exploding in a giant cloud of smoke around herself.

She was trying to conceal herself!

''Tsubaki-senpai did you get her?'' I asked quickly using the communication line, with that smokescreen around her I couldn't spot her even with my reinforced sight. Meaning I couldn't counter any arrows until it was too late.

''[No, I almost had her, but all I managed to do was nick her arm slightly.]'' She reported coldly to me, no doubt the missed opportunity was making her feel bitter.

Dammit… she could be anywhere in that smokescreen, the more time we waste the more chances to regroup or take someone out she will have, there had to be some way to get rid of it.

I looked around and thought fast, my eyes landing on the two bishops. ''Reya, Momo, do you any of you know any wind based spells to get rid of the smoke?''

''[On it!]'' Momo acknowledged with a confident voice.

Moments later a powerful blast of air was sent at the epicenter of the smoke, exploding and scattering the dark veil clearing the area. As the last traces vanished I scanned the room for the enemy archer.

I spotted her on the railing on the opposite side of the room. Her face was grim and pale, beads of sweat dripping on her face as she stared at me. The thing that got my attention however was the smile on her face, she had little to smile at and yet she still did it anyway.

From her cloak she pulled a syringe with a glowing green substance in it, she eyed it for a couple of seconds until she let out a dry chuckle. ''Never thought I would test this thing out mid battle but it seems like I have no choice.''

She removed the cap on it and stabbed it in her left arm injecting the mysterious liquid. As the contents of the syringe were emptied into her bloodstream, the veins in her arm started growing and pulsing. An ear piercing shriek filled the room as she fell to her knees and grabbed her arm in pain.

''What is she doing?!'' I heard Saji ask in shock as he caught up to me, I honestly didn't know what to tell the blonde pawn as I was just as confused as he was.

That feeling was further solidified when the elf's arm suddenly bulked up and began contorting violently. The flesh on her arm was getting wrinkled and uneven, starting to somehow flow down towards her bow, spreading over it, and almost like it was trying to merge with it.

Her demonic aura flared and built up around her bow, concentrating in it as the flesh was attaching itself to it. With a final scream the aura stabilized, the mutation of the arm subsiding, displaying the final result. A grotesque abomination from what once were a soft arm and an impressive bow.

''H-Ha,ha…'' the enemy laughed with a strained voice, a side effect from all the screaming she previously did, her eyes were large and dilated as she raised her bow hand towards me. ''Try this on for size!''

Strips of flesh from her deformed arm peeled themselves backwards, throbbing and growing, morphing themselves into the two new arms interconnected with her bow fused arm. She drew the normal hand to the bow string and created nine arrows. In an unrefined display she drew back all the arrows and shot them simultaneously. ''Master was right! This drug truly upgrades my sacred gear.''

It didn't matter; even if the number of arrows increased I will still cancel them out.

I raised my own bow and structural grasped the arrows, beginning the tracing process-

Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error.

A sharp jolt ran through my head as I tried to trace the arrows, my eyes locked onto the incoming projectiles.

There was no time to cancel them out at this point.

To my own surprise the pain I felt was dull not sharp, and for some reason I found myself scattered on the floor. I looked at my leg and saw a familiar glowing cable. Before I could speak up the cable started retracting and pulling me back at a fast pace.

I got up and glanced at Saji as he glared at me. Even though he just saved me he didn't seem so happy about seeing me. ''Emiya what gives?! Why did you freeze up like that and didn't copy those like before?''

That was good question…

I scanned the room to where the new batch of arrows hit and tried to trace them again.

Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error.

To my own surprise it failed once again. ''I can't…''

''Why?'' He snapped at me, the concern quite noticeable in his voice. ''You didn't have any problem before!''

I lifted my hand and traced one of the earlier arrows, it appeared in my hand without any kind of problem. Something wasn't right… those new arrows had something that made them untraceable. I once again looked at them and further reinforced my eyesight to look for any missing details. The only thing different about them was the bits of flesh sticking out of them… wait… that wasn't my flesh, I didn't get hit by those. After eyeing the projectiles for a couple of more seconds I noticed something that shocked me, the bits of flesh were alive and attached to the arrows itself.

I realized what may have happened that led to all of this. ''I don't know what she injected herself with but she somehow turned her arm into some kind of pseudo chimera and it merged with her bow, her arrows now are living flesh.''

''So?''

''I can't trace living matter!'' I all but snapped at him, projection only worked on inanimate objects, otherwise it wouldn't have been a useless spell by a magus point of view, even if it were to just temporarily create living matter out of prana it would still be a very useful ability, especially in the healing arts.

''Dammit! '' I clicked my teeth as I grabbed Saji by the shirt and pulled him down, narrowly dodging three arrows. I called my bow and started tracing and shooting the arrows I recorded earlier towards the new organic ones. My eyes narrowed as they got destroyed on impact yet the enemy arrows were still in one piece. It seemed that these chimera arrows were also stronger than her earlier ones. This wouldn't do, I had to change my strategy.

''Everyone group up! With how things currently are staying scattered won't do any good!'' I ordered to the group. With how the arrows were now it would be impossible for me to keep up.

I traced arrows once again and overloaded them with prana, making them broken versions, with no time to waste I shot them at arrows directed at the others trying to regroup. It wasn't enough to get rid of all of them but I at least managed to destroy the vital ones.

Due to how many arrows the enemy was shooting at the same it was difficult for me to properly counter all of them.

When the others arrived they started putting out defensive measures. Momo, Reya and Tsubaki-senpai formed a magic barrier while Tsubasa ripped two slabs of the floor and placed them in front of us as extra protection. Ruruko was helping Tomoe patch up Saji's arm, one of the arrows cut his arm quite deep and he was bleeding fast.

This barricade wouldn't last for long and I had to come up with something. The slabs immediately started cracking; the arrows will soon start hitting the barrier. Through the cracks I saw something that put me on the edge, the arrows weren't simply breaking their way to us, no, they were literally eating their way towards us. Earlier before the arrows had just flesh parts coming out of them, now the arrow heads somehow mutated into various animal heads.

This was bad, real bad.

The substance she injected herself with must be causing mutations to take place in both her body and her sacred gear. At this rate there's no telling what she may turn into if left alone.

What to do…?

There are far too many arrows for me to cancel out and the current weapons I can project aren't going to do me any good in this situation.

Dammit…

I was well aware that I have only two or three chances left and I shouldn't use them recklessly but I can't think of anything else.

I will have to endure the pain once again.

Search start.

Protection… I need strong protection to help us cover the distance and reach the enemy.

Searching…

Not for me specifically, it has to be something that could protect the others while they go after her.

Searching…

Something that could protect all of them… regardless of how far I was.

Match found.

The wall that protected the brave soldiers of Rome.

''Trace On!''

I felt the blood boil in my veins as the new noble phantasm was getting traced as I tried to endure the pain. My body on the other hand wasn't doing that well as blood began leaking from my left eye as the weapon took form. It manifested and wrapped itself around my arm, rusty red in color and lined in gold. It was an oval roman shield arched inwards on both sides. Twelve stars were placed on it, six on the upper half and six on the lower one, each star having four points. Within the very center of the shield was a star much larger than the others, within it the symbol of Mars was glowing proudly.

I planted my leg firmly on the ground, trying my best not to stumble from the backlash that will soon follow. The others were focused on me, curiosity to what I was planning to do. ''Listen carefully, when that barrier breaks charge forward and whatever you do don't stop.''

There was obvious confusion in their eyes, but the sound of the barrier cracking took away any time for me to further explain. With a final crack the barrier shattered and the mutated arrows started raining down on us once again.

I dashed forward and put myself between the incoming arrows and the rest of the group, shield up and ready to intercept.

As the arrows started clashing against the shield I gritted my teeth, while it may be able to block the arrows I still felt the impact. I had to put things in motion right away. ''Now!''

On my command everyone scattered in different directions and charged straight towards the enemy bow user. She noticed this and started preparing a new volley of arrows to fire, I had one shot to make this work and I wasn't going to waste it.

Truth be told I had no idea what kind of backlash this will have, but this was the only solution I could come up with.

It was time that I tapped within a noble phantasms true power.

''Scatter and protect the Eternal City!'' I chanted raising the shield in the air, the symbol in the center glowing brightly in azure light. ''Ancile!''

The feeling of having hot rods of iron shoved in my body surged through me, my prana was also getting drained at an alarming rate but I pushed on.

The light died down and the power of Ancile now surrounded my body in the form eleven identical shields. The only noticeable difference was that the copies lacked the jewel in the middle star.

Fighting the intense pain my body was feeling I scanned every arrow that was shot, visualizing every trajectory and target.

Everything was set.

I raised my main shield and focused.

Two arrows at Tsubaki-senpai. One at Reya. One at Momo. One Saji. One at Ruruko. One at Tomoe. Two at Tsubasa.

Ancile flashed as I relayed the command, the copies responded and flew forward at their respective destination. The arrows were just about to hit their targets, explosions took place all over the room, when the smoke cleared all targets were unharmed, and a shield hanged in the air right in front of them.

Everyone was shocked by this sudden turn of events, Tsubasa asked the question that was on everyone's mind. ''Shirou what the hell is that?!''

''No time!'' I shouted, keeping my focus on controlling the shields. ''Go get her!''

Not wasting any more time they started advancing once again, the enemy archer noticing this tried desperately to stop them but each arrow she shot was being intercepted by my shields. The terror was quickly building up in her with every step closer the others got to her. ''No! Stay back!''

My eyes were shifting in every direction, eyesight reinforced and focused, my shields dancing in the air blocking and deflecting every shot directed at my comrades.

Arrows kept rushing relentlessly, the despair in the user could be noticed as her aim was slowly deteriorating. It all went on until she suddenly stopped, widened eyes slowly drifting at her bow arm, pupils dilating as they saw the cable wrapped around her arm, pinning it down, a smirk forming on Saji's lips as he immobilized the enemy. ''How about you stick around a while?''

''Tsubasa!'' Tomoe shouted at the bluenette as she was quickly approaching. ''Blast me at her!''

A smirk formed on the rook's lips as she understood what her friend was planning. ''Yes!''

When Tomoe reached her she jumped in the air, Tsubasa grabbing her by the back of her shirt quickly twisted around on her heel once and launched the teams knight at the enemy.

Tomoe used her wings to glide herself in the air, drawing Juuichi Yosamu and preparing to strike. The enemy upon witnessing this went into a complete state of hysteria, jabbing the tips of her arrows in Vritra's lines in desperation but unable to break through them.

A splatter like sound filled the room as Tomoe rushed past the enemy archer, a scream of unimaginable pain followed soon after, blood gushing violently as her mutated arm was cut off from the shoulder down.

The enemy wasn't restrained anymore but the pain was overshadowing any other thought she may have had, making her lose the unique chance to run away. She had a chance but wasn't able to take it, Tsubaki-senpai had reached over and hit her in the back with the blunt edge of Houtegageki.

The strike sent her flying into a nearby wall, bones shattering on the impact, and her body dropping on the floor. There was no movement from her, the others already assumed it was over and started to breathe in ease.

I wasn't that hasty to make assumptions.

Eyesight reinforced and fixed on her form, I scanned her carefully, she may have been down for the count but you could never be certain. There was a slow shift under her cloak; a small crystal like amulet was slowly pulled out. I quickly structural grasped it to see what it was.

Shit!

''Stop her! Don't let her user it!'' I tried to call out to the others but it was already too late, she had already shattered it.

A teleportation crystal.

A bright light flashed around her, the others assumed it was something else and quickly backed away. ''I-If she feared using this damn pawn so much… Then I might as well see what all the fuss was about!''

The light slowly died out and next to the fallen archer there was a man standing. He was around my age and had bright orange hair with matching eyes, his body was covered in some kind of paper talismans in a language that I didn't recognize, but the most out of place aspect was the look in his eyes. They were blank and flat as he gazed around the room. The man was here, but he seemed like he wasn't mentally aware of where he was or what was going on.

''Kill them!'' The archer ordered, the boy nodding sluggishly as he slowly turned around and raised his arm, a golden battle axe manifesting in it.

Chills ran down on my back as I saw it, and I didn't even use structural grasp on it.

The boy leaped towards us aiming his axe at Tomoe. Fortunately, his speed wasn't on the same level as our team's knight and she was able to easily dodge the blow.

When the axe was brought down it began glowing in dim golden light as it struck the ground.

The whole room shook violently.

The ground where it hit fractured and actually split in two, a deep ravine forming beneath the blade of the axe. I almost toppled from the quake that spread along the room; the others however weren't so lucky and fell down from the sudden shaking of the ground.

This was bad! One strike from that could split one in two if it landed a directly!

I had to stop it.

Straightening myself I dashed towards him and threw my arms to the side and started projecting.

''Gah!'' My body suddenly started convulsing violently, my sense of direction ruined, and I fell to the ground unable to control the sudden spasms.

''Shirou!'' Momo somehow managed to reach by side and held me in one spot. I could feel her trying to heal me, and by her distraught reaction she wasn't enjoying what she was seeing. ''I don't get it… there is no wound. Why isn't it stopping?!''

I wished I knew what to tell her, the only thing I could do was grit my teeth and try to calm myself. The spasms were reducing somewhat but my body felt like someone shoved red piping coals down my throat. ''S-Something isn't right…''

''Do you think even once before taking action?'' Archer remarked with clear irritation present in his voice, the kind that made me imagine he would smack me up on the head if he could. ''Invoking a noble phantasms name like that… even if it's a weak one, that kind of power output is even more dangerous than projecting multiple noble phantasms at the same and to top it all of it just had to be a shield of all things.''

It was after I processed this that I realized what happened to me. Sella did warm me about the true nature of noble phantasms, their full power and abilities usually get invoked when the user calls forth their true name. I never attempted to do something like this before, probably because the weapons that I had traced up to this point had powers passive in nature, not requiring their true name to use them.

My body was already under a lot of strain from those multiple projections I did earlier, by invoking Ancile's true name on top of tracing it, I further shot myself in the foot.

In my current state I don't know how many projections my body can handle before it totally gives up on me.

''Haa!'' I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't notice the approaching enemy. The only reason I wasn't hit by his axe was because Momo grabbed on to me and pulled both of us aside.

The room once again shook as the golden axe split the ground.

I gritted my teeth and shook my head, there was no time to even catch my breath. The enemy turned its blank eyes towards me, it was obvious that he wasn't truly aware of what was going on, but the sneer on his face when he stared at me was making me feel like there was still an subconscious instinct driving him, one that was telling him that I'm a danger that must be eliminated.

He leaped at us and brought his weapon from an upward arc, the desire to crush me was oozing from the weapon. Before I could think of a proper counter I pushed Momo away, not wanting her to get caught in the crossfire.

There wasn't any time left for me to retreat however, all I could do was narrowly dodge the next strike. The impact even though it didn't land directly still affected me, the sheer force of the shock wave created by the attack made me lose my footing and stumble down. In an attempt to keep myself up I desperately tried to grab on whatever I could find to sustain myself. The only thing that was in my reach was the handle of the enemies axe.

That was a mistake.

The moment my fingers came into contact with the enemy's weapon something deep within me seemed to resonate violently.

I didn't know what happened but in the very next moment my vision went white.


What's going on here?

Before I knew what had happened I woke up in a different location. I took a look around and didn't have the slightest clue to where this was. In the distance there was nothing but an endless void of darkness so I couldn't find anything to point out where I am.

I scanned my surroundings carefully and the only thing I could compare this place to was a graveyard of some sorts. I counted around and there were twelve monuments placed around in a large circle, with an additional one placed in the very center of the circle.

The reason I called it a graveyard was due to how all of the monuments were broken beyond recognition, victims to the ravages of time or the plundering of those who didn't have any respect for the dead. A light suddenly manifested behind me, my shadow extending far away. I turned around and gazed at the source, a monument like the many others was before me. Curiously the light around it seemed to intensify as the broken fragments on the floor started to glow similarly and slowly began floating upwards, reuniting little by little, and reconstructing the broken monument. With each piece added the monument started to turn recognizable again. Finally the last piece returned and the light shined brightly, the cracks within the monument disappearing, and revealing the monument in its former glory with it depicting the image of majestic lion holding a battle axe in its mouth.

Even though logic dictated I shouldn't touch anything around me until I figured out where I was, there was something in me that was pulling me closer to the monument, my hand slowly reaching and grasping it.

That was when my mind felt like it was getting ripped apart.

So many images, sounds, scents, and feelings flashed through my mind with me unable to discern them apart from one another.

It all eventually ended when my mind blacked out.


He stood alone…

He couldn't remember how long ago he gained awareness or how he even came into existence.

Nothing but the dark and empty void surrounded him.

All he knew was that he existed, nothing more, nothing less.

There was nothing else for him besides simply existing.

No reason, no duty, no desire, nothing.

A rather sad existence… that was the conclusions he reached after so many eons of solitude.

If that was the case… then he shall create a reason for his existence.

''Let there be light.''


A desperate gasp for air was all that came out of my mouth the moment my eyes snapped open. Bullets of sweat were running down my face as I tried to makes heads or tails of what I just saw. The whole monument thing aside, what was that vision at the end?

There was literally nothing, just an empty voice, and everything was engulfed in a brilliant light before the vision ended. Those whispers that I heard… it was like a mixture of different voices overlaid on each other, those of a man, woman, and child.

That wasn't normal.

Was that vision tied to the enemy's sacred gear?

That was impossible… I didn't even attempt to structural grasp it; somehow I was forced into performing it… but by whom?

Even so, the last vision wasn't something that I ever encountered while structural grasping other objects, even when I used it on Saji's sacred gear, while it did show me more than anything I ever structurally grasped before, it wasn't on this level.

There was something special about that sacred gear… and now that I realize just what it is and what it does, the situation turned even grimmer than before.

That man was a ticking time bomb.

After a quick scan around the room I saw the others engaging him, using long range blasts and attacks to keep him and his dangerous axe at bay. Someone must have pushed me aside when I blacked out and they started ganging up on him.

The idea wasn't bad, but only under the condition that they ended things immediately.

''Guys we have to stop him before it's too late!'' I shouted as I tried getting up from the rubble, while my mind was still spinning from my recent mental trip I went through, at the very least my body got enough time to recover and calm down a bit.

Perhaps the noise was muffling my voice since no one seemed to register me, instead they all focused on the enemy at hand, which appeared to be getting more and more agitated, his demonic energy flaring and fluctuating violently around himself as he tried to defend. For the first time he opened his mouth and spoke. ''I… I d-don't feel so well.''

''N-No!'' He growled as his eyes seemed to get more life into them, like he was suddenly awakening from a deep slumber and was finally realizing what was happening around him, fear, confusion, and despair quickly showing on his face. ''Don't! Leave me alone!''

The others didn't heed any of his words and just went on with their assaults. This only made his energy to go even wilder, his negative emotions completely ruining any control he had over his power.

As the attacks kept hitting the light around his axe kept shifting and pulsing like a raging heartbeat. Before I could even speak cracks began forming on the axe, quickly spreading all over it.

Oh no!

''Everyone, retreat now!'' I shouted violently, reinforcing my vocal chords in order to produce a stronger result, which worked as everyone instantly backed away, right before the enemy exploded in golden demonic energy, ripples scattering all over the room.

''AHHH!'' the enemy kept screaming in pain as his body began contorting, growing, and morphing. Out of despair to make the pain stop the man began bashing his head violently against the floor, not caring about the pain and injuries he was inflicting upon himself. ''RAHHHH!''

The human screams had come to an end, what took their place were the haggard roars of a beast.

A final explosion of aura took place around the man's body, obstructing our view of him for a couple of seconds. As the light died down a lump of air got stuck in my throat as I stared at the beast the man had turned into.

Fear and awe were mixing together as I gazed upon it visage, that of a glorious golden lion. If it's gold like fur wasn't eye-catching enough, it sheer size was also imposing, probably five meters tall. A single jewel was embedded within the center of its head.

The mighty beast turned its head towards the female archer, the latter who was staring in disbelief, a desperate wish that what she was seeing wasn't real. ''H-How could you try to cage such a beast master Segrif?''

There a noticeable reaction from the lion upon hearing the name of the Zepar heir. Golden eyes turned red in rage as it pounced upon the elf.

''Gahhhh!'' There wasn't any time to react or even comprehend what was going on for the enemy, before she knew it she was staring down at the golden claw piercing through her chest. The lion pulled its paw away and it's prey hit the ground with a loud thud, the ruined internal organs spilling out of the giant puncture wounds, blood and gore surrounding the now dead body.

''I-It killed her…'' I heard Ruruko mutter in fear at the gruesome display of the lion.

''Its own ally.'' Momo remarked equally shocked as our team pawn.

I glance down at my hands and clicked my teeth as I saw how they were trembling. Perhaps knowing exactly what we are facing wasn't a such a good thing at the moment, that information made me know what I was dealing with and my body couldn't help but feel on the edge knowing what sort of danger we're in. ''Guys, right now we aren't facing a regular foe, but a rampaging beast.''

The lion turned its attention to us, eyes filled with rage and bloodlust, the killing of one of the people that wronged its previous host didn't quell its desire for destruction not one bit.

No, it wasn't just enraged by Segrif and his peerage, the true source of its seething rage was towards the imprisonment it suffered for so many centuries within its sacred gear.

For being turned into the Regulus Nemea sacred gear, one of the thirteen Longinus.

''Gaoooooo!'' the Nemean lion roared in anger as it was finally set free of its prison.

And it was out for blood.

With a thunderous roar and lightning like leap it rushed to us, the others not being able to keep up with its speed I had to make immediate counter measures. The lion was aiming for Tsubaki-senpai so I activated the powers of Ancile and placed six of the shields in front of her, right in time to block the incoming claw strike. The sparks and sound of the shield breaking apart caused everyone to turn their heads towards the sources, eyes dilating in shock and fear.

The shields weren't able to block the strike, the beast's claws shredding through them like a hot knife through butter, but at the very least it was able to deviate the path of the attack, from dead on to merely grazing Tsubaki-senpai. The slight change from the strike ripping the shields let the team's queen to somehow react and back away narrowly avoiding the claw that would have ripped into her.

In panic or fear the group's two bishops began blasting it with magical spheres while Tsubasa was yanking and throwing huge pieces of debris at it. While this assault was taking place Tomoe rushed over to Tsubaki and quickly pulled her out of the fire zone.

Ruruko went to where Tomoe took cover and ripped a piece of her skirt, tying it around Tsubaki-senpais arm as the previous encounter with the lion left a deep gash on her left arm. The scary part was that the lion's claw didn't even make contact with her, the sheer air pressure generated by its strength was enough to injure her like this. If its claw would have made even slight contact it would have probably severed her arm on the spot.

I took a step forward to rush and help them but my vision suddenly went blurry, dizziness taking me over as I stumbled forward. To my surprise I didn't hit the ground and when I looked at my left side I understood why as I saw Saji holding on to me.

The look on his face was one shared by the others at the moment, pure fear. ''Hey Emiya… be honest with me… what our chances of escaping that thing?''

That was a question that showed how desperate the situation was. Saji wasn't asking how to beat it, as he probably realized that it was impossible in our current condition.

The noise of the assault ceased, the two bishops and our rook haggardly gasped for air, the first two from magical exertion while the latter from physical one. There was a dead silence in the room, everyone starring nervously at the cloud of smoke where the lion got bombarded.

I could feel each sweat drop run down my body, the tension was so thick that I could cut it with a knife. Each single second I spent staring at the pillar of smoke felt like hours.

In an attempt to get the edge out of my system I traced a pair of my twin blades and threw them at the smoke in spite of the pain it caused me.

Clank!

My eyes went wide as the two blades bounced out of the smoke, as if they hit something that they couldn't lodge themselves in, let alone cut through. Akin to throwing a coin at a stone wall and hoping it would leave a crack.

There was a pair of glowing lights that ignited within the smoke, my blood ran cold as a beastly roar was unleashed once again causing the smoke to scatter and revealing the beast and its current condition.

Not even a scratch.

All of those attacks weren't even able to nick away a piece of its fur.

It was said that the Nemean Lion from the Greek myth was a beast with a hide that couldn't be pierced by any weapon and that it took the mighty Herakles to wrestle it and choke it to death to finally put it down. If this lion was even a fraction like the one from legend then there is no doubt.

We can't beat it… I doubt that anything I can project at the moment can get past its golden hide.

There was only one solution I could think of…

I pulled myself away from Saji and straightened myself, taking in a deep breath in.

There wasn't anything else I could do.

''Saji, I will keep it busy, take the others and go save Sona.'' I told my fellow pawn in a heavy tone, my hands twitching in fear as the beast was scanning the room, pondering over which prey he should go after.

Before I could step forward I felt a strong grip on my shoulder, when I turned around Saji was glaring daggers at me. ''Don't fuck with me you reckless bastard! You expect us to just let you fight that thing alone?!''

''We don't have a choice!'' I snarled at my fellow pawn. ''In our current state we can't beat it, the least that can be done is for someone to keep it busy while others escape. I'm not planning to fight it all the way through, the moment everyone is out of danger I will fall back and catch up to you guys.''

The way the blond pawn was gritting his teeth was showcasing how much he was unsatisfied with my answer. The complaining however didn't get to be addressed as I felt the sudden tingling from the communication spell placed on me.

''Saji, Shirou dodge!'' upon hearing Tsubaki-senpai's desperate shout my eyes went wide and focused at the lion, the sneer it was showing and the glare was revealing who were its new targets.

''Gaooo!'' The lion let out an enraged roar as it lodged at us.

Boom!

There was an explosion that came from one of the side walls, the force of it instantly reached the lion and sent it crashing at a nearby wall, making it breakthrough it, and couple of more walls behind it.

An awkward silence filled the room, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of debris falling down on the floor.

''What the fuck was that?'' Saji's question was probably what went through everyone's head at the moment. I myself was just as shocked as he was.

I looked at the wall from where the explosion came from, while there still was a lot of smoke surrounding the opening, there was a particular thing that got my attention. There weren't any burnt or melted parts around the edges of the opening that you would normally see from a regular explosion. From what I could tell, the explosion seemed to be caused by a powerful impact, but I don't know of any method of creating an impact of this scale considering that the sheer force behind it also sent two-three tone lion flying like it a paper doll.

I narrowed my eyes as I heard footsteps coming from the hole, a silhouette became noticeable within the smoke. ''I was wondering what was causing such a ruckus, but imagine my surprise finding a secret hideout and if that wasn't enough here we have a bunch of devils here fighting a legendary beast.''

From the smoke a tall man emerged, sporting black hair and a pair of vibrant violet eyes. He was probably a couple of years older than me judging by his features, but what caught my eye was his body. His clothes weren't flashy or skin tight by any means but I could tell that this man had an extremely solid and muscular physique underneath them. The kind of muscles that you normally wouldn't see on one his age, the kind of muscles one couldn't get without years of constant training.

His overall demeanor appeared relaxed and a hint of curiosity was in his eyes as they scanned the room, trying to discern what was going on here.

I heard a gasp come from our teams Queen, when I turned to look at her I noticed the awestruck look she had. ''Sairaorg Bael?!''

''Hmm?'' the man looked over to the long haired girl and curiously tilted his head. ''Wait, aren't you Sona's Queen, Shinra Tsubaki was it?''

Wait… Sairaorg Bael… I think Sona mentioned him once… oh right, she said that he was the strongest devil in her generation, but also the one she holds most respects towards.

''W-What are you doing here?'' Tsubaki-senpai with a perplexed voice asked the very question that was going on through my mind.

''These waste lands are on the borderline between the Zepar and Bael territories. I always come out here to train since I tend to break stuff in closed quarters.'' He explained casually to us as he crossed his arms. ''In fact I was in the middle of my training session when I suddenly saw a huge wave of demonic energy burst out of the sands. When I went to check it out I found a hole that lead all the way down here into this place.''

Wave of demonic energy?

Ohh, he must be referring to what Tomoe did when she used the Senkyouka against that Sasha guy, the attack did end up breaking its way up to the surface. Well it does confirm this guy's story but it doesn't exactly make things all fine and dandy.

The roar of the Nemean lion echoed through the room as the golden beast slowly stalked towards us, this time its source of anger directed at the newcomer that sent him crashing through the walls.

Sairaorg was momentarily surprised by the lion, silently whistling as he unfolded his arms. ''Seems like you have quite the situation on your hands. Mind filling me in about what's going on?''

As everyone grouped up near me Tsubaki-senpai went on to answer the Bael devil. ''Segrif Zepar abducted us and is keeping our master Sona at the upper levels, we are fighting to rescue her.''

The man simply gave a gruff nod. ''Segrif you say… should have expected him pulling something like this sooner or later, that man always was giving me the wrong vibes.''

As the lion approached Sairaorg narrowed his eyes at the beast, shortly changing his focus at us, focusing on the wounds each of us currently had. After a couple of seconds of pondering he let out a soft sigh. ''I can see you had a rough time till this point.''

''Sorry to break it to you but in your current conditions fighting this beast is outright suicidal.'' He stated as he walked past us and with a swift motion he took off his shirt and threw it in the air. The very moment the piece of fabric touched the ground a loud crash was heard, there right in front of us the Bael devil was pinning the lion in place with nothing but brute strength, his veins in his sculpted arms were throbbing violently as they were wrapped around the lion's neck like a vice. ''So how about you leave this to me and you all move on?''

Tsubaki-senpai was somewhat able to pick her dropped jaw back up and trying to collect herself to answer, sadly the others weren't faring any better considering that what the man did was the equivalent of a regular human stopping a raging bull with nothing but his bare hands, I was also equally dumbfounded by what I just saw. ''… Do you think you can win against it?''

''That's a good question.'' he grunted as his arms tightened around the beast, jamming his shoulder right up its chin to keep it from trying to bite him. ''Whether I can do it or not doesn't matter, I will take this challenge head on!''

The electrifying voice of the man certainly was able to put everyone at ease, Tsubaki-senpai nodding and calling all of us to move out. As everyone was making their way out of the room to let the Bael heir go wild I stopped mid-way through and stared at him. This action was noticed by the man and he decided to see what was still keeping me here. ''Got something to say friend?''

There were many things I wanted to say, but they weren't meant for him, no, they were meant for me since I was letting someone else clean up my mess.

It left a deep bitter taste in my mouth.

I shook my head and tried to focus back at the situation at hand, as much as I want to stay back and help him out in my current condition I would probably be more of distraction than genuine help and there's no telling what other opponents there are still left. I couldn't let the others fight alone.

Being forced to choose between which people to help… was truly sickening.

I grit my teeth and gave a light bow to the man. There wasn't much I could do at the moment; the least I could do was cheer on for his victory. ''Good luck!''

''You've got some nice eyes there, sharp and strong.'' He laughed through his teeth, clearly having a hard time keeping the beast at bay. ''What's your name Devil of Sitri?''

''… Emiya Shirou.''

The smile he gave me was genuine, albeit a little strained since he was busy pinning the lion. ''Pleased to meet you. When this is over let's sit down and have a proper chat.''

''… I will make tea.'' I replied as I left the room, soon after I did I felt two great power sources ignite behind me and waves of tremors were unleashed.

It wasn't something I wanted but I have to leave that beast to Sairaorg Bael.


The air around us was slowly getting warmer as we made our way to the upper levels, and getting closer to the surface area. The temperature aside I had a hard time breathing properly, my lungs felt like they had stoves in them, and each time I breathed in and out I felt like I turned them on and off.

I was probably the most physically fit out of all the members of the team and yet I was the one falling behind. Trying to keep up with them while conserving whatever prana I had left was proving a real challenge especially since my body felt like it could fall apart if I made a single misstep.

''Aghh!'' a jolt of pain ran through my chest as I was turning around the corner, making me stumble down and almost bashing my head against the wall.

''Shirou!'' Upon my sudden fall everyone stopped and turned back to check on my condition. Reya helped lay me against the wall, lightly slapping my checks to help me get rid of the dizziness. ''Please hang in there.''

I tried to calm myself, taking slow breathes to ease the burn. ''I'm fine… just starting to feel the backlash from overdoing things.''

''Can you still go on?'' Momo asked as she wiped the sweat away from my face.

''I'll be fine…'' I muttered haggardly as I tried to lift myself up but my trembling legs were refusing to do as I wanted. To my luck Saji grabbed onto me and helped me stand up.

Judging by the looks everyone had they weren't sure of what they should do. The only one that wasn't matching the group in their concern was Saji that looked more irritated than confused. ''You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up right away.''

''You sure about that Saji-senpai?'' Ruruko asked of her fellow pawn.

This suggestion from Saji really didn't stand well with me. ''Saji we don't have time to waste and-''

''Shut up!'' he snapped and head-butted me, making see stars for a second. ''I'm not in the mood for breaks either but we can't have you passing out on us now!''

I opened my mouth to comment but stopped myself as I realized that he was right. We are so close to saving Sona and I can't afford to pass out now. If I stay put for too long I probably won't be able to go on anymore but if I don't take a break to catch my breath and calm myself I won't last either.

Just for a bit… just a little too cool my sizzling insides.

I could only hope that nothing happens in the meantime.

''… Sorry for being a bother.'' I sighed in resignation, letting the others know to go on.

My pessimist way of answering only got me a glare from Tsubasa. ''Suck it up already will you, nobody's perfect.''

The others chuckled briefly for a moment before the turned heel and started advancing once again. The last one to leave was the groups Queen, her mismatched eyes staring into mine, bitter concern present on her face.

''Saji, take care of him, okay?'' Tsubaki-senpai said as she followed.

Saji only scoffed at this. ''It's the least I can do.''

''Try not to get lost!'' Both Saji and I sighed at Tomoe's shouting.

No words were shared between us, the silence kept on hanging above us until everyone else was out of hearing. It was at that time Saji narrowed his eyes at me and spoke. ''You can act tough all you want but unlike the girls I can recognize when a guy is acting tough and pretending everything is under control. You really aren't doing that good are you?''

My eyes stared in surprise at the man keeping me from falling. It seems I underestimated him, he was sharper that he let on.

''I'm not sure, my body is running on fumes at the moment.'' I chuckled bitterly, my gaze shifting towards my free hand, clenching it a couple of times, yet the slight trembling didn't cease. ''I have no idea how long I will last, that being said we have to reach our master before I completely black out.''

This bit of information made the blonde pawn click his teeth in irritation. ''You're overdoing things.''

''I have no choice.''

Bam!

My eyes drifted at the wall that Saji punched in frustration, pieces of the cracked surface sticking to his fist as he pulled it back. ''You're not the only one that has to solve everything! We can fight even without your help!''

So that was how it is… can't really say I don't understand where he is coming from. I could sugar coat it to make things easier to handle, but as things are I'm sure that would only make him angrier.

''Saji, stop lying to yourself.'' I sighed bitterly, knowing that the truth was only adding more salt to the wound that was this man's pride. ''If I didn't offer you and the others support earlier you would have all lost, and in the worst case even died.''

My hand reached for my eyes and gently rubbed them, trying to get the stinging feeling out of them.

''I heard that everyone has went on stray devil hunts long before I joined, but it was just putting down mindless monsters, it can't even begin to compare to our current situation.'' My hand slid down, letting me make eye contact with my comrade. ''You must realize that this whole thing is way over our heads and the only reason we reached this far is mostly dumb luck.''

This set the Sitri devil over the edge and yanked me by the shirt, I could see the desire to punch me in his eyes, he pulled his arm back and glared at me, yet his fist never came. It just kept hanging in the air for a few brief moments before he let down and averted his eyes in shame.

''… I know dammit and I feel like shit since I can't do anything without help, and I'm dead sure the others must feel the same way.'' He admitted bitterly, like a child admitting to his parents that he was caught stealing. ''You think you're being useless? Try getting your ass saved by someone else sometime to see how it feels.''

I didn't comment upon this, hoping the day others suffer for my sake never comes.

After about a minute of silence I took a deep breath and exhaled in ease, the burning sensation having reduced to more bearable levels. ''That's enough for me, let's get going.''

He nodded silently as he let go and made way for me. As I went running I heard Saji mutter under his breath. ''Try not to go dying on me.''


Saji and I were rushing through the tunnels trying to catch up to the others while also trying to keep an eye out for any other enemy attacks. My little break took about three minutes so the others shouldn't be that far up ahead.

We reached a new room and the moment my eyes took notice of what was inside I felt my blood boil in my veins.

''Guys!'' Saji was of similar emotional state.

Everyone was scattered across the room, each sporting several thin cuts on their bodies and bleeding profoundly from them. They were all at the brink of exhaustion by how haggardly they were breathing.

All of this while only a single person was sitting in the middle of the room without as much of a scratch on her person.

It was Shahnaz, the woman that accompanied Segrif the first time we met.

Our sudden appearance was noticed by our comrades, Momo was first one to speak, failing to keep her left eye open from the blood dripping down due to the cut above it. ''Shirou, Saji… watch out… that woman is dangerous… we couldn't even lay a finger on her.''

The woman also took notice of us but didn't seem bothered by it, rather she seemed eerily calm about everything.

''It seems like everyone is now here.'' She remarked with a slight nod, her eyes gazing hopefully towards us. ''I guess you wouldn't be willing to put an end to all of this fighting would you?''

While the sizzling rage in me was telling me to stop wasting time, my mind was struggling to keep my emotions in check and try to solve the situation in the least dangerous way possible. ''I ask you, would you stop if you were in our shoes?''

Her black eyes faltered and avoided eye contact with mine, an attempt to hide the shame she felt. ''No, I wouldn't, but I think too much blood has been spilled already. If anything I would like to solve this peacefully.''

Saji's rage skyrocketed at this remark. ''Your asshole of a King abducted us and our master! We almost got killed at the hands of your crazy comrades! You just beat everyone up to a bloody pulp! And worst of all Tsubaki-senpai almost got raped by one of your goons! I can't believe you have the nerve to ask for a peaceful resolution!''

I would have expected acting ignorant, gloating at our misery, or at the very least indifference. The woman's eyes showed none of that, they only showed disgust, at what was caused by her own side.

''I wish I could refute you but most of what you said is true.'' Shahnaz admitted in shame, her black eyes narrowing at us.

''Everything is just one big idiotic move on my master's part, I agree. My comrades, if I can even call them that are people who became deranged in their quest for power, each of them were kind people at first but the enhancements my master performed on them changed them both physically and mentally. I also tried asking your friends to back away peacefully but they wouldn't listen, I didn't attack them, everything I did was done in self-defense.'' Her brows briefly knitted in disgust before continuing on. ''Also as for that pig of a man that was put as your guard, I would have put him down myself for what he was about to do behind my back.''

''Why you-!'' The only reason Saji didn't pounce at the woman was due to the iron grip I put on his shoulder.

''Emiya?''

''Shahnaz was it?'' I asked simply for confirmation, the woman answered with a nod. Perhaps it was a foolish move on my part, but there was strangely a side in me that wanted to trust the woman. ''If you want no more blood to be spilled then please step aside, we never wanted any of this to happen but had no choice but to fight and I'm sure that at some level you also never wanted any of this to happen. Let us go save our master and everything will be over, no one has to get hurt anymore.''

The woman's face cringed at this suggestion, almost like it was causing her pain. ''I can't…''

My teeth began gritting as I saw her struggle, not understanding her devotion to her master even though she knows what kind of man he is. ''Is obeying your masters orders more important than listening to your heart?!''

''You wouldn't understand!'' she snapped at me, her voice strained and sharp as her our gazes meet, a spark like blaze present in her black orbs. ''I know he isn't a good man, but I owe him far too much to betray him.''

So this is how it is…

My arms fell to the side and clutched the air, my twin blades tracing in them. ''… Then you leave us no choice.''

''So it would seem.'' The enemy Queen nodded solemnly as she prepared herself for combat.

I threw Kanshou at her and dashed right after it, she didn't make any attempt to dodge and instead shifted her cloak in front of her. There was a clank sound and the black blade was sent flying in another direction. That only confirmed that this woman was hiding a weapon underneath that cloak. If the wounds the other girls have are any indication the weapon she is using should be something along the lines of a short sword or a dagger. I reached her and aimed to strike her open guard but the woman wouldn't let it be that easy for me.

My teeth clicked as my sword made contact with her cloak but didn't pass all the way through it. The woman had blocked my strike from underneath the cloak with her hidden weapon.

''Gahh!'' I grunted as the Zepar Queen's leg hit my liver, sending huge jolts of pain through my whole body. My eyes trembled as they tried to ignore the pain and get back my focus, dropping myself on my knees to dodge the next roundhouse kick. I responded in kind and delivered my own kick at the woman, but unlike me she flipped backwards and dodged the strike. As she landed on the ground she looked curiously at me. ''Going for my vitals from the start, you certainly aren't wasting any time.''

She casually leaned to the left and let Saji line pass by her, the pawn had attempted a surprise attack but failed. The woman turned her head and gave a dry look at the blonde pawn. ''Not as experienced as your friend are you?''

Shahnaz side stepped just in time to dodge a thrust strike from Tsubaki-senpai and slash from Tomoe, the woman didn't appeared phased at all as she looked at the two attackers. ''Even if you all join in it won't change the end result.''

Her blasé attitude was really getting under everyone's skin, even the calm and collected Tsubaki-senpai was sneering at the opponent.

The others had managed to recover and had surrounded the enemy. With a sharp battle cry they all attacked the enemy Queen together. The only one who stood behind was me, not because I didn't want to help or was too exhausted to do so, but there was a thought that keep plaguing my mind and wouldn't let me join in until I understood it.

Something wasn't right here.

As the Sitri peerage kept on assaulting the woman, she would casually dodge every strike thrown at her. It wasn't a matter of superior speed or advanced technique; she simply stepped away as if she was avoiding a falling leaf.

Her way of dodging just wasn't normal in my eyes, and I kept having this weird sense of déjà vu from time to time as I watched her move.

There was no reaction from her before she dodged those attacks. From all the enemies I came across up until now they would always make some sort of physical reaction when they perceived that an attack is incoming, a twitch of the ear, the eyes drifting in the direction of the source, a shift in the guard, or something, yet this woman reacted like she knew for a long time that the attack will come from that direction and she had time to prepare herself.

Aghhh! And to top it all off this nagging feeling, whenever I see her dodge an attack that she shouldn't have been able to dodge due to the timing or position keeps popping in my head. It felt like it was literally screaming at me that something isn't right here.

''Again she keeps dodging us no matter how we attack!'' Momo snapped in frustration as the enemy had been constantly dodging her fire blasts, and if the way she was breathing was any indication Momo won't be able to keep this up.

Unfortunately she wasn't the only one.

Everyone was gasping for air as they kept on pressing their relentless assault, hoping that the enemy will make even just one single mistake and having the chance to take her out.

Ruruko tried to get a drop down on her, the red spear I gave her positioned to take out her arm. The attack was unsuccessful, Shahnaz side stepped and the moment the spear stabbed the ground spun her body around and delivered an elbow blow to the poor pawns face.

Tomoe tried to come to her junior's aide going for a horizontal slash against the enemy, but like the others her moves were somehow seen through by Shahnaz who simply blocked the sword with her hidden weapon and followed up kneeing the Sitri knight in the gut when she was in her reach.

Saji tried to ensnare her with his sacred gear but it backfired horribly, just as the line was about to reach her she grabbed the end and swung Saji to the left side, right into Reya who was just about to launch a large scale magic blast.

''What the hell is going on?!'' The frustrated voice of the pawn roared. ''It's like she can predict all of our moves.''

No… predicting is one thing, but with the current amount of enemies attacking her in such a chaotic fashion it should be nearly impossible to simply predict all of what is about to happen so easily.

It was like she naturally knew what we are all about to do.

Shahnaz seemed to have noticed my calculating glare, and it seemed to have sparked her interest. She began speaking as Tsubasa tried to sneak attack her from her left side. ''The blue haired girl will sneak attack from my left side.''

The sweat on my back turned cold as my mind came across a possible answer towards the enemies' ability.

Wait… don't tell me.

''The Queen will thrust her weapon four times from the front.'' Shahnaz said as Tsubaki-senpai dashed towards her and thrust her weapon towards her four times, but every one of those four times were dodged by the enemy Queen.

You have to be freaking kidding me!

Saji stepped by me and was about to speak, the shocked expression he had told me that he came to the very same conclusion that I did. ''Your next line is going to be: 'Holy shit Emiya! This chick can see the future!' ''

''Holy shit Emiya! This chick can see the future!'' Saji said in a panicked voice, the color draining from his face as he just witnessed firsthand the mind blowing event before him.

He wasn't the only one, everyone heard the woman speak what was on Saji's mind before he managed to say it himself. Everyone was sitting rigidly in place, trying to come to terms of what's going on.

No wonder no attack could reach her. It was never a matter of us being unable to do it, our opponent just was able to see what we were going to before we even attempted it.

Precognition… of all powers and abilities she could have had it had to be that!

Shahnaz took a step forward and rearranged her cloak, she was looking as unmotivated as always but there was a bit of concern visible in her eyes.

''Sorry to disappoint you all but getting past me is impossible since I can gaze into the future and see everything that you can possibly attempt.'' She claimed boldly to us, clearing everything up so we can properly assess how impossible this ordeal is. ''Please do us all a favor and lets cease this battle.''

That was enough.

Since I was low on prana I should preserve any weapon that is still in usable conditions, as such I tied Bakuya around my waist with my shirt and traced my bow in its place. Slowly stepping forward my eyes were locked on the enemies black ones.

''You know… for someone that can see the future you sure are asking a lot of something you already know we won't do.'' I remarked as I position myself in proper shooting position. ''Just as you can't step aside, we also cannot stop here.''

My words seemed to have a sort of motivational power to them, the others broke out of their shocked states and prepared themselves to fight back once more.

''Then take your aim bowman and taste despair as your arrows never hit.'' The Zepar Queen declared as she took stance.

I traced the gale arrow I copied from earlier from the enemy bow user and shot it at her, but Shahnaz dashed a fraction of second before the arrow got released, the only thing that the arrow was able to do to her was violently ruffle her cloak.

The prana consumption was relatively low so I traced more of them around me. I began a violent assault of arrows upon her person and for the first time in my life I was truly experiencing the frustration of not hitting my target.

As I kept firing arrow after the other the nagging feeling kept repeating in my head continuously. Although this sensation was beginning to annoy me, I couldn't help but feel like something was amiss here. How peculiar… the arrows I used belonged to her own ally, so she probably must have seen them on some occasion and yet she didn't seem to be surprised that I was able to replicate them.

I changed the arrow to a less destructive one and gestured to Tsubaki-senpai to move in, the queen nodded and dashed straight to Shahnaz and began thrusting her weapon at her once again. Shahnaz was blocking the strikes with her hidden weapon while simultaneously avoiding my arrows.

The nagging feeling once again began bugging me, my eyes narrowed as I saw Shahnaz dodge another attack by the pole-arm wielder.

Wait, didn't Tsubaki-senpai nick her arm?

Shahnaz dodged another attack and got close to Tsubaki-senpai and kicked her in the ribs, sending her flying away, before jumping upwards to dodge a surprise attack from Tomoe.

Ahh! That feeling was getting worse each time it repeated. Weird I could have sworn that Tomoe managed to slash her.

This is bad, not even with me adding support fire while working with the others against the enemy is doing anything. She is still able to avoid any real damage somehow slipping away from every attack. Her movements were fluid and precise without any waste to them, as such hoping to exhaust her is out of the question, especially since all of us are low on stamina to begin with.

Her ability to see the future is too much.

No, stop rushing in and think things through. There has to be some kind of weakness or limit to her power, if she could truly see the future like she claims then our rescue attempt shouldn't have worked in the first place. She could have seen it happen and prevented it, or at the very least she could have gazed into the future once our escape took place and informed her allies on how to stop us.

If her power was truly seeing into the future we could have never got this far.

Yes… this nagging feeling that has been bothering me all this time… there's more to her power than what she lets on. Either there's some sort of limit to her power… or it isn't even what she claims to be in the first place.

I don't know what led me to do it, but I picked the sword tied around my waste and ran my thumb on its edge cutting it deep.

Once again I took aim and prepared an arrow to fire at the enemy, pulling the string back and waited for perfect time to release my attack.

Now.

The nagging feeling returned as I was about to attack. ''Huh?''

I cut off my assault right before I could fully enact it, my body frozen solid in one spot, a shocked expression crawling on the enemies face as she saw my sudden stop. The reason I stopped was due to a brief glance at my thumb.

The cut I made on my finger… it vanished. It didn't heal, I intentionally made it deep enough to take a bit of time to close up. It was like a drawing was wiped clean off a canvas.

The missing pieces of the puzzle finally put themselves in place, realization hitting me like a sledge hammer. So that's how it is… no wonder she's been able to play us this whole time.

I know what she is doing, but in order to confirm it, I need one final piece to truly crack the puzzle.

The enemy was still stunned by my sudden change of action so I took advantage of this. I shifted my bow slightly and shot my arrow, however I didn't aim at her directly.

My aim was her cloak.

The gale arrow I used did the trick, it rushed past the black eyes woman and the air force generated by it shredded part of the cloak revealing the one weapon she was desperately trying to hide from the world to see.

It was risky, from previous experiences what I am about to do can have negative side effects that can prove fatal in this battle but I can't back away now, this was the turning point of the fight.

One glance was all I managed to get before the woman desperately hide it once again with the rest of her cloak.

For some just one glance wouldn't have made much of a difference, but to me it was all that I needed. My structural grasping had instantly kicked in and revealed to me her secrets.

Shahnaz dodged a magic blast from Reya and jumped on a nearby railing, her expression was quite different from the uninterested one she had earlier. ''What did you just do?''

''I understand now…'' I muttered slowly, gathering the attention of everyone in the room, lifting my finger accusingly at the enemy. ''You don't see the future… you rewind it.''

Her eyes went wide in shock, pupils dilating in sync with her skin draining of color. ''That dagger you keep hiding… it's a unique sacred gear said to be on rival the Longinus class ones…''

''The dagger containing the essence of time itself, a fragment of Zurvan, the founding Zoroastrian God's very existence.'' I grimaced as I went on; somehow the word Zoroastrian was giving me the bad vibes even though I have limited knowledge about it. ''A tale never recorded, left to be lost within the sands of time, that of a lone Persian prince that possessed the same sacred gear, however it originally was just a powerful dagger, lacking the dominion over time. It was when the prince had encountered the remnants of Zurvan's spirit and fought the former god from dusk to dawn. When the final strike was dealt to the old god the blade had pierced the stream of time itself and it empowered the dagger, the sacred gear had evolved into something new and unique, and from there on it became known as Dustan's Dagger, the blade that had pierced the flow of time.''

''Impossible…'' was all she able to whisper, her voice strained and dry, the shock of me realizing what her powers truly were but also knowing the lore behind it had left her completely flabbergasted. I had to admit that the tale behind the dagger was quite interesting, and to my surprise there wasn't any after effect like when I used structural grasping on Saji's sacred gear or on Regulus Nemea.

Perhaps my mind is adapting to structural grasping them.

Whatever the case may be, I gladly welcome it, last thing I needed was me blacking out in the middle of this fight.

''Umm, Shirou isn't rewinding time even stronger than seeing in the future?'' I glanced to the side and noticed that Reya and everyone else was staring at me with uncertain eyes. ''I mean she can just rewind to whenever she isn't in danger and then she knows everything that will happen right?''

''It's not that simple.'' I corrected her as I straightened myself, my eyes never ignoring the enemy. ''The user first needs to create an dominion where the daggers powers can be used, as long the user is within it she can rewind the time in the area. This whole room is probably under her territory so as long as we are within it she can rewind the time. ''

Everyone took in and started looking sharply around the room, I myself didn't notice it up now but around the corners glyphs were carved in obscure places. An idea could be to try and destroy the glyphs but there are too many of them and by the time Shahnaz notices what we are trying she can simply rewind back.

''It has some limits though… for one thing the user can't use it without a small cool down period between each rewind and the user can only rewind about a minute of time at the most. Another thing is that the people affected with the exception of the user don't realize time is being turned back, the only exception is in the case if the people involved become aware of what the daggers abilities.'' my eyes narrowed as the enemy Queen has begun collecting herself. ''Up until now since we didn't know of the dagger we couldn't realize that time was being turned back, but now that we do and know about its existence our minds will remember the events.''

''So, um, how do we beat that?'' Tomoe asked as she readied her black katana.

I took a second and contemplated the options we had and there was just one solution that came to mind. ''The only available option we have is to separate her from the dagger. The trigger to rewind is a switch on the weapons handle, if she can't press it she can't use its abilities.''

Everyone nodded at my plan and prepared themselves for the counter attack; the enemy on the hand seemed to get out of her shock state and narrowed her eyes at me, trying to discern what she was facing.

''What are you bowman?'' she spoke softly, no anger or frustration, just pure curiosity.

That question made me ponder for a bit… what was I truly?

What part of me truly defined what I was?

Was I a devil?

A warrior?

A magus?

None of those felt like they described me accurately, even though I technically all of them.

A tired sigh escaped my lips, that was something I could ask myself on a later date, for now I had a job to do. ''Just an everyday high school student.''

To my own surprise the woman didn't take my answer negatively, quite the contrary, it caused her to chuckle lightly. ''You say that and yet you somehow unraveled my sacred gears true powers. It's such a shame that I never was able to achieve balance breaker, it might have made things easier for me.''

Balance breaker… I never encountered one before but from what I could make out from some of the books I got from Sona, a balance breaker is basically an evolved form of a sacred gear, much more powerful than its original form.

The fact that she doesn't possess one is a blessing; her powers were already a nightmare to begin with, if they evolved to a higher level I tremble at the thought of what she could achieve. Now that I think about it when I finished structural grasping her sacred gear, there seemed like there was a gap within its layout, like a cog missing within a bigger machine, a similar experience that I had when I did the same with Saji's sacred gear. Perhaps that is a sign that the user has yet to achieve the balance breaker.

''I guess there's no need to hide it anymore.'' Shahnaz remarked as she tugged the collar of her cloak, throwing it away with one swift pull. ''Now I have to fight seriously.''

The moment the cloak hit the ground my eyes found themselves unable to look away from the enemy Queen. I'm starting to believe that she was wearing that cloak for more than simply concealing her weapon, the attire she was sporting was something I sure wasn't expecting from someone like her. She was wearing a revealing armor that divides down her chest and torso showing her toned abdomen. For her extremities she was wearing long knee high boots with black gloves, all of which are covered in metal plates, around her left thigh she has strapped a short sword.

If someone asked me what I thought of her chosen battle attire I would probably stay silent, it was like someone fused together battle armor with erotic lingerie and threw a sword in just to be there.

''Wow… that's one hell of an armor.'' Saji remarked silently, trying his best to keep a straight face but small drizzle of blood pouring from his nose wasn't really helping.

''Huh… an exhibitionist.'' Tsubaki-senpai threw her own two cents, nothing present on her features except for a perfect poker face.

''Excuse me?'' Shahnaz instantly snapped at this remark, her face flushed in beet red. ''I don't want to hear that from someone whose school uniform looks like it was designed by a middle aged pervert.''

Before I knew it that insult sparked a big fire within the feminine members of our team, every one of them was glaring daggers at the woman, with the occasional colorful swearing thanks to Tsubasa. How odd, it was like a literal fire was burning in the background behind the girls.

''To be fair our threads are a bit flashy for a high school uniform.'' Reya remarked sheepishly, trying somewhat to defuse the situation. ''I mean seriously the skirts are way too loose, at the smallest breeze you get an entire catalog of panties. Not to mention the whole design of the corset thing over our dress shirts, it's like they were specifically designed to make your breast stick out.''

There was a weird unanimous nod between the girls, like fellow victims of the same suffering empathizing with each other. Strangely enough though I found Shahnaz also had the same look on her.

My hand reacted by sheer instinct and decided to offer me a very generous face palm.

Women and their damn concern over fashion seemed to be universal apparently.

I structural grasped Shahnaz's armor and weapon in order to get myself back on track; the end result gave me mixed feelings. The sword wasn't anything special; the armor on the other hand was the problem. ''Guys, stay focused. Its design aside, that armor is actually magically enchanted and increases the swiftest of her movements. Up until know she was able to counter our attacks since she would know where they would hit, but in order to dodge all of them one would require both incredible speed and mobility. That's where the armor comes into play, it can make a regular person have the mobility of an Olympic gymnast, now add that to a devil with a Queen piece. The real challenge starts now.''

I intentionally left out the fact the guy that forged that set of armor was a hopeless pervert with a fetish for skimpy dressed female warriors, so much that he modeled most of his armors after all kinds of crazy designs from all kinds of video games. Enemy or not I pity Shahnaz for having to wear that, pros outweighing cons be damned.

Tension rose in my muscles as I nocked an arrow while taking aim, tracing and firing a bomb arrow at the enemy, the latter bending her back to the limits and narrowly dodging it. With a spring like elasticity she jerked herself back up and dashed towards me, Dustan's Dagger in her right hand and the other sword in her left.

Her speed was nothing like before, now she was serious. I fired arrows one after the other and she would narrowly dodge them, even when the others joined in to take her down she would avoid them and continue her path towards me. My guess is that she deemed me the most dangerous opponent here, so the best solution was to take me out quick.

She reached in front of me and readied her blades to strike, I immediately went for the Bakuya tied around my waist to block her, but my hand stopped mid-way, for the sight of the enemy exploding in a pillar of fire had such an effect. A quick glance to the side let me see that Momo was responsible, quite the shot might I add.

My nose tingled as a sandy scent invaded it, my eyes widening as I returned my attention at the burning enemy, drawing my sword to take a swing and stop her before it was too late.

The edge of the blade cut through the fire and began eviscerating through the enemies arm. As it was about to cleave through her the world around me seemed to slow down and eventually stop, the flames sitting perfectly in place, even my body refused to move anymore, my eyes managed to drift a little bit to the side, catching the sight of Shahnaz's smirk within the flames.

Her thumb was pressing on the daggers switch.

The blade was glowing in dim gold light as sand like particles were released and sent from within the daggers pummel.

Before I knew it, everything began moving in reverse.

The blade of my sword was retracting itself and the wounds made by it were closing back, the fire it cut through was reuniting, my body was returning to its original spot before I launched my attack and finally the explosion was compressing itself back into a fire ball which returned back to Reya's hands.

As Shahnaz returned everything to the very moment she was about to strike me she took her thumb off the dagger and time returned back to its normal flow.

We were back to where we were moments ago.

Shahnaz leaped backwards and dodge the blast, picking up one of the broken arrow heads when she landed back on the ground and thrown it towards Reya, piercing her in the shoulder.

Dammit.

With the way her rewind works every action is a pattern to her. Everything starts in point A and finishes in point B in for her and once she sees the two points she can make everything work in her favor, now that I know of her ability once the rewind is finished I have to change my destination, creating a new point C instead. It does not work all the way through to defeat her, but at the very least it robs her of her precognition advantage.

We need to disarm her before she gets the chance to rewind time.

''Everyone! Hit her with everything you've got and don't stop no matter what!'' My voice roared as I brought my hand up in the air, dozens of the arrows I copied from the elf bow user manifesting around me ready to be fired.

''Yes!''

The others grouped up in different pairs and cornered the enemy Queen, the first pair was Saji and Ruruko that took her right side, the second team composed of Tomoe and Tsubasa blocked her left side and Tsubaki-senpai chose the rear. Momo was the only one that stayed behind to treat Reya's bleeding shoulder.

The sound of my bow string echoed through the air as I started firing arrow after arrow, in synch with the battle cry of the others charging at the enemy Queen.

Enemy as she was, there was still respect to be given to her standing against us by herself and not backing away in spite of the difference in numbers.

She never flinched when the weapons of her enemies drew in closer.

First was Tsubaki-senpai, she brought down the Houtegageki on her and eviscerated her left arm.

Shahnaz had rewind time and crotched right before the attack, swipe kicking Tsubaki-senpai and aiming to stab her as she fell down.

Tomoe and Tsubasa both caught up and prepare to slash and pummel the enemy from opposite sides with their respective weapons. When Juuchi Yosamu pierced and Járngreipr made contact with her face I clicked my teeth.

Her finger was already on the daggers switch.

Time had rewind again, when the Knight and Rook were about reach the Zepar Queen unfolded her wings and moved them strongly forward, creating enough force to push herself backward in the air. The two friends almost smashed into each other, stopping at the very last moment, yet when they looked up they both paled as Shahnaz charged a last ball of demonic energy and blasted it at them.

The explosion that followed was a powerful one. The fires however didn't last long and immediately dissipated, revealing that Tsubasa tried tanking the blast with her gauntlets but she wasn't fast enough and the blast still managed to burn both of them deeply.

That wasn't enough for Shahnaz and she immediately charged another energy blast and fired it at the still struggling duo. Much to her own surprise her attack missed even though she had ample firing range.

Shahnaz found herself not moving anymore, glancing down at her leg, her brows knitting together when she saw that Saji had pinned with his sacred gear, probably yanked onto her the moment she released the blast and the sudden change in position caused her attack to deviate from its original course. She didn't heed him too much attention and turned her head back and took notice of Ruruko that was gliding at her at full speed, Gae Dearg held forward like a giant dart.

Blood was sprayed in the air as Ruruko's attack passed through her enemies left side, leaving a giant evisceration on the enemy, a large section of her stomach and spleen getting shredded along the way.

A haggard cough escaped Shahnaz's mouth together with large quantity of blood, droplets of red raining down on the floor, together with small golden lights.

I couldn't even get the chance to shout about it, she had once again triggered the dagger.

Time began rewinding and the fatal wound she received was returning back to its uninjured state. We found ourselves back to the very moment before she released her second magic blast. Knowing what was to come she used her wings to shift in the air and change position just as Saji was about to catch her with his sacred gear. Not wasting any time she twisted herself and pointed her attack to the girl that had previously eviscerated her. Ruruko was caught like a reindeer in the headlights and didn't have time take any defensive action, the magical blast hitting her dead on and exploding on impact.

A loud thud was heard as her smoked and burned body hit the ground. The burns were mostly superficial but the force of the impact clearly messed with her sense of direction by how she couldn't seem to pick herself up.

My teeth were one step away from breaking due to how hard I was gritting them. This had to be some kind of sick joke… All this time while she was fighting and taking everyone down one by one she was doing all of that while avoiding and deflecting my arrows.

This isn't going anywhere! Think Emiya! Think dammit!

There has to be a way to separate her from that dagger.

She keeps rewinding whenever she is critically injured and when that happens she knows what will happen.

If I could change my attack to something else right after the rewind happens…

Huh?

Wait a second…

No, not change it.

Delay it.

There might be a way for me to stop her.

My eyes narrowed as a discarded my bow and picked the sword tied around my waist. A bowman won't work for what I'm planning, this is a job for a swordsman.

''You know I had enough of your cheat like ability.'' I claimed loudly as I began walking towards her, tracing my swords twin counterpart.

The black eyed queen stopped herself from unleashing another magical blast at Saji and turned he head back to face me.

''Then by all means stop me.'' She replied simply, no form of animosity present, just a matter of stating facts. ''Try to defy time all you want, you will only find despair.''

''Bring it on!'' I shouted as I began rushing towards her, as it currently stands with my current amount of prana and stamina I have only one chance to take her down so I have to make it count.

The enemy was by no means underestimating me; she wasn't going to let me get close to her if she could help it. As such she waved her hands and several magic sigils manifested in the air and a barrage of magical blasts started firing at me with incredible speed.

The first blast was approaching fast on its course and was only a few seconds away from hitting my shoulder. How ironic, where previously I was the hunter that used ranged attacks on her and she was target, now the roles were reversed and I was the prey.

It was only natural that I respond the same way she did.

The grip on my blades tightened and I slashed at the incoming blast cutting it in half, the now separated halves of energy passed me by and exploded. Unlike the previous blasts these ones were far smaller and not as powerful, but they were much faster and far greater in numbers with a lower charging time.

Will I reach her first or will she take me down?

This was the question that everyone which witnessed me dodge and slash my way to the enemy must have had.

My muscles screamed in pain, I was already in very poor condition from the start and this was only adding salt to the wound. If that wasn't enough, even though the enemies magical blasts wasn't denting Kanshou or Bakuya, the residual heat of the blast was quickly heating them, the skin on my palms were getting slowly burned in the process.

My only solace was that the pain wasn't going to last for long as I entered the planned range. I planted my foot firmly in the ground with a powerful stomp, sent Bakuya flying at the enemy. Upon seeing this Shahnaz immediately dismissed her long range blast and brandished her dagger and sword once more, her features clearly bracing for the impact but softened as Bakuya embedded itself at the ground of her feet.

The blade hadn't missed the target.

What she didn't know however was that it wasn't supposed to hit her in the first place.

I immediately threw Kanshou to the opposite direction its white counterpart flew, spinning wildly completely off track from the target. Judging by the somewhat pitiful look she was giving me she probably deduced that I wasn't able to aim anymore given my current condition, not that I would blame her considering how much I was currently gasping for air and how my body wasn't able to stop shaking from the strain I was putting on it.

Let her believe what she wants, it was now or never.

I traced another pair of my twin blades, teeth grinding against each other in an attempt to endure the pain. With one final push I rushed towards the black haired queen and prepared to give her a taste of my steel.

Others would have probably taken this as a challenge and faced me just to prove a point. Kurosaiga was such a person, and he would have fought me to claim victory the traditional way, by proving his skill and power.

However Shahnaz wasn't like that; she was a cautious warrior, her fighting style wasn't either a direct or close one, and she sought to exploit the openings that were created whenever she rewinded time. Because of this I knew that she wouldn't try to face my attack.

She would rewind time, but only if she was faced with an attack that she couldn't dodge or block and ended up critically injuring her.

The moment I was in range and brought my swords to slash her she tried to step back and dodge, It was a calculated reaction, dodging at the time when I couldn't change my attack.

My swords would cut through the air, almost nicking her.

That was the normal case, but she didn't know that breaking through the limits wasn't something I did just with my body.

I also did it with my swords.

''Overedge!'' I shouted and poured my prana into my blades, making them grow from short swords into long swords.

Making the twin married swords long enough to reach the enemy.

A strained gasp was heard as the edges of the blades ran through the woman's body, the two arms that she used to raise her guard at the last moment flew in the air together with blood and pieces of flesh, the twin blades having cut through them like a hot knifes through butter.

My eyes sharpened as they took this opportunity to finish this once and for all, yet my body faltered for a single second as I saw the woman's visage.

She was smirking.

Panic overtook me with the possible explanation.

My eyes snapped towards the direction of dismembered arm and silently cursed.

The thumb of the dismembered arm was rigidly pressed on the daggers switch.

She had managed to press on it a split second before her arm got severed.

Golden particles erupted from the dagger and spread once again around us.

Time was getting rewinded once again.

Everything was quickly turning back, stopping around the time I was about to reach and strike her. As she knew of my plan to separate her from her dagger in a very literal sense she immediately backed away and put more distance between us.

My body kept going on its track regardless of what happened. In spite of all of this there was a contradicting reaction coming from the corners of my cheeks.

I was smirking.

At the sight of this confusion laced with panic grew in the woman's eyes, not being able to understand why I was reacting in such a way given that my plan failed.

That was where she was mistaken.

My plan didn't fail, it was about to reach fruition at this very moment.

''Gahh!'' A pain filled scream escaped the woman's mouth. Her trembling black orbs drifted towards her right hand and at the black blade that stabbed it from her back. The reason the blade didn't pass all the way through was because it got stuck because of the pummel on the other side. In any case it hit its mark. ''My hand!''

She was obviously no stranger to pain from how she was able to endure so many attacks gravely injuring her up until this point and never stop. However it was more precise to say that her mind was used to it, her body though still felt it very much. It would still react from the pain if the proper wounds would be dealt to it.

The reaction that I bet everything on was the natural reaction she would have when Kanshou unexpectedly stabbed her hand, and my bet paid off.

The pain caused her hand to loosen its grip and let go of the dagger, an action that made her eyes widen, as she desperately tried to recover it with her still working hand.

This was what I planned for.

I pulled back my arm and threw my left blade at the dagger, the sound of steel clashing filled the room, the two short weapons were sent flying in different directions.

Dustan's Dagger now way out of the woman's reach.

All of this had shaken the woman beyond her limit, unable to react anymore when I reached her and ran my blade down from her collar bone all the way to her waist.

Blood erupted forth and the time empress fell dully on the ground.

By some miracle I was able to stomp my foot down and keep myself from also falling. I couldn't relax, after everything that happen and every time she ended up rewinding time whenever she got critically injured there was no way I could calm down without making sure she stayed down.

My tired eyes drifted at the woman's unmoving body, there were no movements from her but she was still conscious. Her broken black eyes made contact with mine and stared in contemplation, as if searching for an answer she couldn't find.

''H-How?'' she muttered silently, there was no anger or frustration over her defeat, just a sad curiosity. ''How were you able to bypass my time manipulation?''

There was really no need to answer this woman, for all that happened I could very well just ignore her and simply move on.

Yet… there was a part of me that respected her for her ability and character. To me, now that everything was said and done, she wasn't a real enemy like those that came before her. She never gloated or took pleasure in the pain she caused us, no, as far as I could tell this was just as painful for her.

I couldn't think of her as an enemy, if anything she was an obstacle that simply had to be overcome.

One that I came to respect, just like I did with Kurosaiga Ichirou.

''It's not that difficult once you understand the pattern you used.'' I sighed as I rubbed the back of my neck, it was definitely stiff after all of this. ''The only times you used that rewind of yours was when you sustained a critical blow, then once you reversed time you would dodge or deflect that blow.''

She gave a slight nod and gestured me to continue, knowing that there was more to it than that.

''It was kind of a gamble but I thought that maybe if I could make an attack that would take more time to reach you perhaps you wouldn't notice it. My twin blades have a power of attraction between each other, always causing them to try and reach for one another. When I threw that first blade I faked out my intention and purposely missed so you wouldn't bother deflecting it. The second blade that I used I hoped you would let it fly away, as it kept hovering in the air until it began changing direction being drawn back towards its twin close to you, but it would take more time to do so. That was when I jumped in and forced you to rewind time, once you were back before the injury you would have backed away… right into the incoming blade.''

The sight of realization hitting her was akin to taking a hammer to the gut, the pained and sorrowful expression she displayed was telling me the amount of disappointment she was feeling. ''Dammit… dammit all.''

''It's over Shahnaz-san.'' I spoke in a stoic tone, even though I was the one that won, I didn't feel any sort of satisfaction from my victory, the opposite in fact, I felt disappointed that I couldn't have solved everything without all of this happening.

''Y-Yes… yes it is.'' She nodded as she started silently sobbing.

The footsteps I heard informed me that the others managed to patch themselves up and catch up to me. No words were spoken, the others probably understood that I was struggling with this conflict and allowed me to speak what was on my mind without interrupting me.

''Why?'' I muttered between my gritting teeth, it just didn't feel right, all of this. ''Please tell me why do you go so far for a man like him.''

There was so much information within that sacred gear, giving the short amount of time I had on hand short cuts had to be made so I couldn't read into its full history. I only scratched the surface and managed to get the general gist of what it's capable of doing unable to touch upon the wielder's history. The risk of me blacking out like the time I structural grasped the Nemean Lion was also there, if that would've happened I have no doubt that Shahnaz wouldn't have ignored such an opening.

''He gave me a purpose.'' She muttered softly, her black eyes drifting at the devils near me, her gaze faltering when it fell on Saji and Tsubaki-senpai. ''Sacred gear users have always been rare gems for the strong to collect. That doesn't apply to devils exclusively; Heaven, the Grigori, and all other pantheons have their collectors. Even humans have different groups and organizations that recruit them.''

There was a heavy silence and a void like look in her eyes, as if she searched for something and yet couldn't find it. ''I can't remember when it happened but after my sacred gear manifested I found myself owned by an Efreet slave merchant. He was an insane sadist that kept torturing his slaves, when I fell into his hands it was the same time I ceased to be a person. Over and over again, he would take his time and torture me always finding new methods and tricks to use on me. I was his favorite toy, one that could never be broken no matter how much damage he did to my body. My sacred gear may have restrictions and limits but whenever I would be close to death it would forcefully activate and reverse everything that caused my demise.'' Her eyes became empty, no light, and no emotion. ''I was denied even the freedom of death.''

''Segrif often made deals with him, buying rare exotic beasts from him to use in his experiments. That was how we met. He killed my former master when he learned that he had been double crossing him, and took everything that he owned for himself. When he freed me I was expecting him to claim me as his own possession, but what he said to me was the very reason that made me follow him even to this day.''

''What was it?''

''He told me I could leave if I desired, that for the first time I can chose for myself. I could have walked away, but I chose to follow him…'' she paused and gazed at the empty air, searching for something that wasn't even there. ''Was it out of gratitude? Or was it because I didn't have anything else?''

''Before I joined him I was nothing but a nameless slave without any reason in life. Segrif was the one that gifted me with my current name, he noticed I was of Persian descent and named me Shahnaz, an old Persian name that translates as 'Pride of the king', one that he chose because he wanted me to become his pride.'' The series of emotion kept shifting on her features, from nostalgic to sad, to longing, and then to disappointment. ''I saw the kind of man he was in time, he wasn't by any means a good person, but he wasn't a truly vile one either, but as time went by he kept changing and becoming worse.''

I found myself silently tightening my fist bitterly after hearing this story. Perhaps it was just pity, but there was something about it that just rubbed me the wrong way with me, I couldn't tell what it was exactly but it felt like it wasn't the first time I heard of something like this. Someone still caring for a person that was abusing them and knew that they weren't good and yet still stood by their side in spite of all of that and continued to endure all the pain that came with it. Maybe it was my eyes playing tricks on me from all the fatigue, but for a brief moment I could have sworn that Shahnaz had long purple hair. My hand reached for my forehead, trying to clear my mind, a sigh followed my when I put it back down. ''… If you could rewind back to that point when you could have walked away, would you chose differently?''

''… No.'' she replied without a moment to waste. ''That was my choice to make, I may bitterly regret it but I will never deny it.''

No matter how much I tried and wanted to control my reactions, I couldn't stop my eyes from closing in sadness. Before I knew it I was slowly walking away from her, searching sluggishly among the rumble. When I found what I was looking for I slowly made my way back to her, noticing the shocked reaction from everyone as they understood what I was doing, Saji was one step away from cutting my way off but was stopped when Tsubaki-senpai threw her arm in front of him and gestured to him, to all of them to let me be. I could only nod in appreciation at our Queen, she in response narrowed her mismatched eyes, hoping that I knew what I was doing.

I slowly knelled next to the fallen Zepar Queen and picked up her hand, staring into her black orbs as I handed her the object that only belonged to her. ''It could have ended differently if you simply have chosen not to raise your blade against us.''

Her tired eyes stared at Dustan's Dagger back into her hand, her perplexed gaze wondered back at me. It was so simple yet she struggled, her thumb shaking above the daggers trigger, just one single push of a finger, that was all it would take to rewind time back and prevent this defeat from happening, and yet she was so torn between doing it. Her black orbs soaked with tears even further as her dagger dropped onto the floor, accepting the sympathy from the very person she tried to kill only moments ago. ''It doesn't matter… whoever wins today is irrelevant… both you and my masters struggling will become only senseless actions… in the end everything will be for nothing…''

''I couldn't agree more!'' both my eyes and Shahnaz's snapped open upon hearing this familiar condescending voice.

We all turned to face the direction from where it came from, and there he was, the very cancer that had caused this nightmare in the first place. Segrif Zepar leaned against the entrance with his arms crossed in a manner displaying the utmost arrogance of his nature.

Shahnaz for one paled even further, fear painted all over her face. ''M-Master!''

Upon hearing getting addressed the Zepar heir narrowed his eyes at his queen, there was anger present in them but the emotion that seemed to predominate in them was pure pity.

''Truly… to get defeated by such greenhorns, you disappoint me Shahnaz.''

Those words must have felt like knives from how Shahnaz would flinch in shame when she received them.

After everything that she had done… after all that she went through… this was all she got in return.

This has gone on for far too long!

''Where is Sona?!'' Tsubaki-senpai screamed the question that we all have been demanding from the first moment we woke up in that rotting cell.

''Yeah! What did you do to her you sicko?!'' Saji for one looked like he was about to strangle Segrif should he get his hands on him.

''Sona?'' the wavy haired man tilted his head playfully to the side, acting like he was talking with toddlers. ''Oh, why she right here.''

With an over exaggerated hand gesture he stepped aside and let us saw the person sitting right behind him.

There she was, unharmed and free, her constant stoic expression present on her face as she slowly walked in the room.

''Kaichou!''

''Is there any need to shout Saji?'' Sona remarked while narrowing her eyes, the same expression she always made when Saji was doing something exaggerated.

That casual reaction… something was definitely wrong here. There was no way Sona would act in such a way after everything that happened. I noticed it, Saji noticed it, and everyone else noticed it too. The one that confronted her about this was her best friend. ''Sona… are you okay?''

''I am fine Tsubaki, now cease all of this hostility.'' She informed us with a stern expression, causing everyone to pale and panic at what she was saying.

''B-But Kaichou, he abducted all of us! We fought our way and almost got killed to save you!'' Tomoe argued desperately, hoping it will help Sona snap out of whatever state she was in.

The king of the Sitri peerage didn't seem to react negatively at this, all she did was sigh tiredly. ''I admit that the whole abducting part on Segrif's part was rather rash, but we have talked things over and reached common ground. Also while I appreciate your efforts if only you have waited patiently all of you could have met me without any need for violence.''

Seeing all of this, after everything that happened with Shahnaz, with everything that we endured and overcame until this point… it really began getting under my skin. My neck turned slowly towards the Zepar heir, and if the way the others flinched and stepped back when I turned around was any indication I probably was giving the man a beyond murderous glare. ''What did you do to her?''

Segrif Zepar appeared to have took an involuntary step backwards when our eyes met, his skin losing some of its color even though he was still maintaining his calm and victorious smile. To my own annoyance Sona stepped in between us. ''It's nothing that concerns you Shirou, now be so kind and lower those weapons.''

''You!'' I couldn't keep the sneer from escaping, I felt like I was slowly and steadily losing it, having grown tired of all the literal bullshit that we've been through in the past twenty-four hours because of this man.

Segrif took notice of my seething rage, but his eyes seemed to have finally noticed the injured state my body was, his confidence seemingly returning as he reached the conclusion that in my current state I wouldn't pose a threat to him.

Little did he knew that an injured and cornered beast was far more dangerous that a healthy one.

''I'm so sorry to burst your bubble boy but you heard your masters orders, after all I don't imagine any of you would like to be reported for insubordination and possible behavior of strays.'' He commented as he stepped in front of Sona and elaborated with an all knowing shit eating grin on his face, one that was just begging to be punched. Regardless, the point he was making was valid, with how Sona was there was no telling what she may say or do, and for all that I know Segrif can manipulate the facts and make it seem like we were the bad guys. This knowledge made my hand tightened around the hilt of my sword, I was one step away from lunging at this man, especially when that condescending smile of his kept growing. ''So the little swordsman wants to rebel, come at me then, I will need a cut or two as proof of you going astray.''

You know what... I don't give a damn anymore.

The urge to end this once and for all filled me as I turned around and started walking towards the Zepar heir in spite of hearing the others telling me to stop.

''Oh, there was one thing I forgot to mention Segrif.'' Sona remarked offhand as she took a step right behind him.

''What is it my dear?'' He asked sweetly, yet he didn't bother to turn and look at the woman behind me.

Wooshhhh!

Eh?

I blinked once, then twice, making sure I wasn't hallucinating because for a brief moment I saw a flash of blue in front of me and next thing I knew Segrif came flying right past me.

To further confirm, I turned around and checked, and it seemed like I wasn't wrong with what I saw. As there I saw Segrif smashed against a wall, large bleeding wound at the center of his spine, and a lot of water around him.

My neck moved almost mechanically back into place and I saw Sona there with her hand extended, a magic sigil glowing dangerously in it, and yet it paled to the ice cold fury present in her eyes.

Regardless, I wasn't prepared for what she said next.

''Go fuck yourself.''


Halloween Omake:

Shirou was sitting in his kitchen and vigorously rubbing his eyes as he talked on the phone. ''Okay, Tomoe, remind me again why we are hosting the party at my place?''

''[Because last year some of the candy we got had liquor in them and then someone thought it would be really hilarious to use a spell and increase the power of alcohol in them. The end result ruined Kaichou's house and she banned us from hosting any Halloween party at her place ever again.]

The left eye of the sword magus twitched violently at this remark. ''Need I remind you who that certain someone that spiked the candy was?''

The Sitri knight whistled innocently at the question. ''[Oh come on we all had a blast that night.]''

Shirou's face went grim as he recalled the pandemonium he had to face that night. ''Sure you say that, but the only ones who had to deal with the chaos were Saji and I since we hadn't touched any of that candy you rigged.''

''[Okay maybe we went a little overboard.]'' Tomoe laughed awkwardly as she recalled some of the stuff they did that night, like Reya and Momo filing the bath tub with chocolate syrup and getting in it naked at the same time. Or Tsubasa and Ruruko casting random spells on candy and then eating them to the point that they began puking rainbows, actual literal rainbows. Or Sona prank calling every teacher at Kuoh and telling them they were fired. Or how she went out and bought a goat and brought it in the living room… she still had no idea why she did that. However the one who took the cake both literally and figuratively just had to be the Sitri Queen. ''[Though you didn't seem to mind it that much when Tsubaki-senpai started clinging onto your body like a snake.]''

A cold shiver ran down on Shirou's spine at that particular memory. He would have never imagined that the usually stoic and serious girl could get so clingy, touchy, and devilish when she gets drunk. Keeping her hands above his belt and lips off his neck was the hardest battle he had ever faced. ''Don't remind me… the two of us couldn't talk or even look at each other for a whole week because of that.''

''[Now! Since we are holding the party at your place we won't try any funny stuff.]'' The Sitri knight stated proudly.

''And how do I know you won't?'' Shirou asked skeptical.

''[Simple, two words.]'' The amusement and playfulness has all but vanished at that moment. ''[Your mother.]''

Shirou opened his mouth to comment but stopped and pondered for a bit, nodding when he realized the truth in her words. ''…Point made.''

''[Now come down here and open up since we're here!]'' She shouted on top of her lungs, so much so that Shirou actually heard her from outside.

Shirou got up from his seat and straightened his costume. This year he decided to dress as the main character of one, if not the only anime he actually liked and watched. He was dressed into a pure black kimono with a red rosary strap that kept a giant sword tied on his back, his hair was also different, while it still retained its usual haircut the color was now closer to orange than his usual auburn.

What can he say, he really like shows with swords, and that one had a lot of them.

The costumed boy reached the door and slowly opened it, just as he heard some footsteps behind him. ''Sorry for the wait.''

''You're friends Shirou?'' the person behind him asked with a giggle.

''Yeah, they're here so I have to- aghh!'' Just as he was about to fully open the door he caught sight with the corner of his eye of the person behind him and slammed the door shut that very second.

Blood rushed to the boys head giving it a very vibrant red shade to it, his hand instantly covering his eyes to block any image of the woman in front of him. As his vision got obscured the magus in training snapped in outrage. ''Iri, what the hell are you wearing?!''

''My costume?'' Irisviel tilted her head innocently unsure of what the problem was.

''Where did you get that... that… that thing?!'' Shirou's outrage continued as he pointed to the costume that his mother was wearing.

Irisviel simply sparked and did a spin on her heels in response. ''Oh, I received it in the mail, isn't it just spooky?''

Shirou just wanted to bang his head against a wall since Irisviel had apparently mistaken spooky for sexy. The costume she was wearing was probably supposed to be some sort of demon or succubus costume, but it was completely disregarding the scary elements involved and instead was cranking the sexy ones up to eleven. It was overall a skin tight purple leotard, one revealing an outrageous amount of cleavage and her navel along with detachable sleeves and collar together as well with a pair of thick thigh-highs. On her head were two thick demon horns and a matching set of purple demon wings coupled with a tail which was somehow wiggling on her back.

Any normal straight male would find this display a most erotic and sensual experience.

However to Shirou this was just disturbing and very embarrassing.

This was his mother after all.

''Someone kill me, please.'' He was inwardly cursing himself that he made the sword on his back out of papier-mâché, he really wanted to use the blunt edge and knock himself out cold.

''You don't like it?'' Liz asked as she walked next to Shirou.

''Like it?! Liz can't you see that its- aghhhh!'' at some point Shirou took his hand off his eyes to look at Liz for some salvation, but was instead bombarded by another shocking image.

''What?'' Liz tilted her head mechanically, unsure to why Shirou almost fell on his butt when he saw her.

''You too Liz?!'' Shirou roared in frustration as he desperately covered his eyes.

Unlike Irisviel that could be described as a 'sexy demon', Liz on the other hand could have only been described as a 'Dangerous beast'. The costume had an overall purple wolf theme judging by the ears and tail it had, and the fur trims that it on the thigh-highs and elbow gloves. The middle section on the other hand was mostly lacking any cloth, revealing a pair of black panties for the world to see and the only thing covering the rest was an amalgamation of strings and two lone tuffs of fur covered the two vital areas on her rather abundant bust.

Shirou was beginning to have a mental breakdown due to these turn of events. Wondering if Halloween changed from dressing up scary to dressing up erotically.

The two Einzbern homunculus ladies still failed to see why Shirou was covering his eyes like his life depended on it. ''Oh stop be so uptight Shirou, its fun dressing up once in a while.''

''Hey Emiya! What are you doing man aren't you gonna open up?'' Saji roared from outside, quite pissed since Shirou literally slammed the door in their face.

There was a moment of revelation within the swordsman mind. He was supposed to host a party in his house… and the two ladies in front of him were dressed like that.

The gears twisted in his mind as he straightened himself and faced the door with burning determination. He traced a hammer, nails and a lot of wooden planks and proceeded to block the door using them.

''Shirou what are you doing?'' Irisviel asked bemused as her son kept nailing plank after plank.

Shirou took a moment and spoke, his eyes never leaving the door. ''Protecting the integrity of my family.''

The boy then began reinforcing the planks and door to further increase the security of his family home, never once noticing the person peek her head out of the kitchen.

Sella was silently thanking Shirou that he didn't let anyone in. Maybe she could endure getting seen by him but she would have certainly died of embarrassment if someone else saw her in the so called 'Trick or Treatment' costume that Irisviel asked (forced) her to wear. She also couldn't help but wonder how deranged a nurse would be to wear something like this.

It was a weird Halloween party that year for the Sitri house. Tomoe somehow assumed it was some kind of game on Shirou's part and they tried for the rest of the night to break in the Emiya/Einzbern house, while Shirou attempted to stop them.

That night was a long one for the steel magus but through sweat, blood, determination and a lot of chocolate syrup he succeeded in the end.

Kiritsugu was truly proud of his son when found out.


Author notes:

Huh… so I'm alive… guess that's a thing.

Hey guys long time no update, glad to be back. This once again took me a lot to write since battle scenes can be a real pain to write, you try to add different twist and elements to them so you often end up brainstorming for different ideas, I should know that I rewrote the fight with Shahnaz twice until it turned out decent enough.

Ok so I tried listening to my readers and tried to stop dragging this arc anymore that it should so I tried ending it in this chapter, however this chapter originally ended with over 35000 words and then I thought to myself 'How the fuck did this happen?!' so I decided to split it in two parts. Part two is done so expect it in about a week.

Now I could have scrapped the whole fight against that elf girl but after all the time and effort I put in writing that fight it would been a major waste on my part.

Now about this chapter, if anyone is going like 'Why the hell did Sairaorg drop by this chapter?! I'm not reading this anymore!' I have been foreshadowing his appearance for a while. It would have been stupid not to do it. Also about the Regulus Nemean, it is stated in the dxd canon that its original user went berserk and killed its master before the canon started. Now the term before is vague so it could have happen just a couple of days for all I care, so since this is a bit before the canon starts it just works together and since his former master was never mentioned i decided to make my OC be that master. I made it so it all worked in the context of events, if shirou never pissed out segrif he wouldnt have attempted the whole abduction right away and Regulus would have went berserk by himself and killed everyone. It all works if you think about it.

Regarding that Jade Archery sacred gear. Its basically Kiba's Sword birth but as a bow and arrow version.

If any of you are wondering how Shahnaz looks like in her battle armor, just google 'Shahdee' and click images. Yeah, her design is based on her.

I tried finishing it by Halloween but failed miserably so I hope it's not too late for the omake I made. FGO players will instantly recognize the costumes worn by homunculus ladies.

Speaking of FGO I have good news and bad.

Good news is that apparently some guy on reddit found a way to make FGO work on nox emulator again, so rejoice, those who wanted to play but were unable can now join, just look it on youtube there are some tutorials to how make it work.

Now the bad news. I HAVE E-RANK LUCK!

Seriously… I kept grinding for quarts and completely failed the Jalter banner, and if that wasn't enough I didn't get any other gold servant as compensation. Maybe the Merlin banner will be better… oh who am I kidding I will certainly bomb that one as well if I don't use paid quarts.

Well if anyone is interested in friend requesting me here you go: 514964531, but don't get your hopes too up, I've been playing for about two months so not much to offer, yeah… not even a single 5 star.

I thought I understood gatcha hell… I was so blind to the pure and utter abyss it truly was.

Anyway wait check for update next week, if not feel free to roast me.


Now about the NP's that appeared in this chapter:

Special thanks for DPSS for suggesting this idea.

Ancile: The Eleven Forgeries

Owner: Mars/ The Salii

The shield of the Roman god Mars. One shield fell from heaven during the reign of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome. He ordered eleven copies made to confuse would-be thieves. One of the Pignora Imperii, it was said that as long as Rome preserved the original shield they would be masters of the world. It is Rusty Red in color but is lined in gold. It is an oval roman shield arched inwards on both sides and it is worn on the elbow. Each shield has 12 stars on it, 4-pointed stars, six on the upper half, five on the lower half and one on the center. The original shield also has the symbol of Mars within the center star.

Type: Anti-Unit/Barrier

Rank: D Rank/ B Rank

Range: 0/30

Max Nº of Targets: 1/12

Under most circumstances, its power are very basic. The one who holds the original shield can manipulate the forgeries at will. As an Anti-Unit Barrier Noble Phantasm it is very cheap costing a very small amount of prana to maintain. The most problematic aspect of it is the mental exercise of controlling the 11 forgeries at the same time. However, this shield does have a more powerful ability. When in the heart of the Roman Empire (modern day city of Rome) it is possible to dismiss the forgeries and increase the defensive power of the original to one comparable to the original rampart walls of Rome. This protection however does not extend pass the original shield in any way, shape or form.

In regards to Shirou, it is an extremely useful NP. Not only is it cheap to maintain, it is also very cheap to Trace. Since it is only a single NP Shirou can essentially Trace 12 shields for the price of one. Does have its downsides though. Since the shield must be worn on the elbow to work, Shirou can only use two of this NP at once (only two elbows obviously). Also, while he finds the D Rank abilities of the shield very useful, it is not the case for the B Rank ability. Even if he meets the conditions to use it, he is unlikely to do so since not only would the protection only extend to the original shield, he must dismiss the forgeries to use it. Essentially, it is similar to sacrificing the protection of others to protect himself, a true anathema for Shirou.


Don't forget to review... no seriously review; I could use some constructive criticism.