Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or Highschool DxD, or any of its character's, and make no money of this.
I sat on the blazing sands.
Eyes sharp and focused to the distance.
The target took flight and was running away.
It was time to put things in order.
I shot the first bullet of many to come.
Chapter 15:
Wir sind der Jäger
''Go fuck yourself.''
Those words somehow kept repeating over and over in my head as I stared at the Sitri heiress.
This day I find just kept getting weirder by the minute.
I was under a lot of stress, the others also probably were as well but still we were somehow managing to keep things together somewhat. That being said, all of us were staring with eyes the size saucers at our student council's president sudden swearing. It also didn't help that she did it in such a monotone and direct way.
All of us were so taken aback that no one knew what we were supposed to even say in response. Somehow her best friend managed to work up some courage and call out to her. ''S-Sona…?''
''Sorry about that everyone, I had to act like he wanted to make him drop his guard.'' Sona explained as she dismissed the magic sigil and used her now free hand to arrange her glasses. ''Also I apologize for my swearing, I'm usually far more composed but I'm just a little bit absolutely livid.''
I didn't really dare to comment on this. To be fair though, any person would probably be pissed after going through what Sona experienced. Witnessing the sight of her friends and comrades beaten and bloodied must have only added even more fuel to her already blazing anger.
''H-How?!'' The haggard breath of the Zepar heir brought our attention back to him as he was struggling to pick himself up. Curiously he took a gem like object out of his pocket, fingers grasping it tightly. ''There's no way you could have resisted the power of the gem. You should have succumbed to its mind manipulation powers.''
''Correct me if I'm mistaken, but didn't you say it yourself that the gem weakens a person's mental barriers in order to make them more susceptible towards manipulating ones mind?'' the Zepar heir gave a gruff nod at this, everything came into place with that bit of news, now we knew what he tried to do and why Sona was acting the way she did earlier. ''Have you ever considered that my mental defenses might be stronger than you estimated?''
He opened his mouth to protest, but seemingly stopped half way through, the realization hitting him quite hard.
''People often call my passion for chess and other brain games rather boring but they have another purpose other than simple entertainment, they help me train my mind, something that is crucial for one that is supposed to lead others. In time the gem probably could have perhaps weakened me enough for your half-baked brainwashing attempt to work properly, but by my estimate my peerage would have already reached us and stopped you.'' She stated with a proud smile. ''All I had to do was wait for the right moment when you thought you succeeded and simply act like it worked.''
The revelation made the man's face grow red in anger, throwing the gem that failed him aside in a fit of rage. ''Y-You contemptuous swine, you were messing with me this whole time!''
At his tantrum Sona couldn't help but let a small sadistic smile spread across her face, the sight of Segrif struggling to pick himself up must have felt rather pleasant to her. ''I wouldn't move that much if I were you Segrif, that blast damaged your spine, unless you want to aggravate it and make the damage permanent I suggest you stay put.''
''… Ha, ha!'' he chuckled bitterly as he glared at us with murderous eyes. ''You think this is enough to stop me?'' With an inhuman motion he straightened himself up. ''After all of the struggles that I went through, after all the humiliation, you think I will stop when I am so close?!''
To everyone's surprise he ripped his top off and revealed his naked upper body. Physically there wasn't anything to be envious of, overall he was skinny with not much muscle mass, but the thing that got my attention were the numerous scars present on his body. What was special about them was that they were far too clean and precise to be obtained from battle, or by accident, those scars came from something else.
There was an influx of demonic power around the bleeding wound on his back, the flesh around it seemingly coming alive and knitting itself back together. ''… He's healing?''
Reya was incorrect about this; his wound didn't heal per se, but rather it patched itself together, the strands of flesh forcefully reattaching themselves to each other.
Fixing the wound wasn't the end of it, the demonic energy spread quickly all over his body, with his muscles quickly gaining mass and hardening. After a bright flash of light the process was done and he now had a physique that would make Olympic body builders green with envy, but there was more to it than that. His chest, arms, back, and shoulders now had sharp spike like armor covering them. His teeth had grown into fangs, his fingers were sporting claws, and his knuckles were covered in bone like spikes.
I see… he did it to his peerage, so there was nothing stopping him from doing the same to himself. Now I knew what those scars on his body were, those were surgical scars.
''He is a chimera hybrid too?!''
I ignored the sudden pointing out of the obvious from Ruruko and instead changed my attention towards Sona, who to my own surprise seemed shocked to the core at what she was seeing. ''Segrif have you truly lost all reason?! You went and turned yourself into a chimera?!''
''… I told you didn't I?'' he chuckled arrogantly, somehow his voice became deeper after the recent transformation. ''In order to gain power and make my sorry excuse of a father acknowledge me I went out of my way and operated on myself. All it took was a lot of money, time, and a mountain of failed experiments. However I did it, I succeeded in perfecting the chimerafication process.'' He dramatically spread his arms towards the ceiling, like a scientist gloating about his discovery. ''It's still in its infant stage but in time I will gather enough resources and genetic materials to further enhance myself, I will become the perfect being!''
''Do you think you will get away with all of this?!'' Saji roared at the man that was the source of all we had to endure till this point. ''We may be beaten up but we can still kick your ass you doping son of a bitch.''
Perhaps it might have been easier to miss it before he transformed, but now that his muscles have bulked up his veins were also thicker and more noticeable; as such they were really throbbing when he heard the insults from our team's blonde pawn. ''Well then, I guess at this point trying to keep all of you alive is pointless.'' Segrif nodded to himself, he clearly just had enough of us. With a flick of his fingers several magic sigils spread around the room, from each sigil a figure was slowly emerging. ''So I will have you play with my little creations.''
Abominations.
That was the first word that came to my mind when I saw the mismatched visages of the creatures that appeared in front of us.
Beasts of various races I couldn't even recognize were meshed together into one single body, limbs and different parts that shouldn't belong there were present on each of them. Their eyes however were glowing red and contained a thirst for blood; claws and fangs were growing and sharpening in excitement for its new prey.
Unnatural monsters made in the image of the beast slayed by the mighty Bellerophon.
Chimeras.
At one point when we were making our way through the tunnels I did wonder that since the Zepar family apparently were well versed in the creation of chimeras it was somewhat weird that we didn't see or encounter any of them.
I really jinxed myself back then.
''Now then Sona, perhaps seeing your friends getting slaughtered in front of you will be enough of a shock to weaken those amazing mental defenses you possess.'' He lifted a hand up and a new magic seal appeared. Somehow my instincts kicked in and immediately I bolted right next to Sona.
When I reached her I honestly didn't know what I was doing, my body was acting on auto pilot in spite of the strain it was under. Next thing I knew I grabbed Sona and threw her towards Tsubaki-senpai and the others. A moment later some sort of wall type magic barrier was generated in the room separating me from everyone else.
''Shirou!'' Sona shouted as she unleashed a powerful blast of water at the magic wall separating us, but much to her own annoyance the barrier didn't even crack let alone shatter from her attack.
Segrif probably wanted to make Sona see her friends suffer and die while not being able to do anything to help them. To make her agonize in despair as her peerage were ripped limb from limb as he mentally drove Sona into a corner weakening her mind before trying to bend her to his will once again again. Not on my watch if I had anything to say about it.
''Once again you just have to be thorn in my side boy!'' I heard the man berate me in his usual arrogant tone but I chose to ignore him and instead focused on Sona as he continued talking. ''You know, ever since I met you I wanted nothing more than rip out those annoying eyes of yours.''
I scanned the other side of the barrier and counted the number of chimeras on the other side. The numbers didn't seem that good, with it being ten to one odds for the chimera's side. Given the current condition the others were in even if Sona joined in to help them I wasn't entirely sure if they could handle it. ''Guys do you have anything left in you to take care of the chimeras?''
Everyone looked at me for a brief moment before giving out a collective sigh, Tsubasa being the first to respond. ''You know Shirou, at this point I don't give a fuck anymore. So let's go all out and make that bastard fear the Sitri name.''
The blunt reply of the blue haired rook made everyone smirk as they picked themselves up and prepared for one last stand. I also had a small smirk of my own form on my lips, but it was just to reassure them, deep down I couldn't keep this uncomfortable feeling under control, as I was forced to let them fight the chimeras on their own leaving me with Segrif. There were probably other options I had, yet this was the best scenario I could think up on the spot. ''Then I will deal with Segrif.''
I was about to turn when I saw Sona knocking her fist on the barrier. ''Shirou wait! You're barely keeping yourself on your feet as is, fighting Segrif in that condition is far too reckless.''
I knew that...
What I was doing was outright stupid. I did manage to recover some Od in the few minutes between the fight with Shahnaz and now but it probably won't make up for all the wounds and overall fatigue I was currently wracked with.
Yet in spite of it all, there was no way I could stand down.
''I know you are concerned about me but the ones that need your help the most at this moment are the people behind you.'' I gestured to the others that preparing to fight the chimeras. ''We managed to scrape our way here with my half-baked plans, but with that number of chimeras and the others worn out as they are they need your help and guidance. I know you're frustrated by everything that happened and would like to take this guy on yourself, but please, leave this to me. I will make sure he will regret messing with the Sitri house.''
Violet orbs looked deep into my own, brows knitting together as her lower lip quivered in frustration. She probably wanted to find a counter argument to what I said but as things stood she knew deep down that there wasn't any other choice and I was right. Her head dropped down and her bangs covered her eyes, she stood there for a few brief moments before lifting herself back up and gazed at me once again.
''Geez, why do I have to deal with such a reckless idiot.'' She spat in frustration as she turned around and looked at the battle about to commence. ''I think fighting those beasts would be a good stress relief at the moment.''
She didn't turn around to look at me, but she gave me her last order before departing. ''Don't you dare die on me.''
''I will try, you be careful also.''
''Don't worry I don't plan on fighting those monsters.'' She threw her arms to side and her demonic energy flared violently. Several magic sigils spread around her and from them pillars of water erupted, almost immediately those pillars began compressing and taking form. In a matter of seconds those pillars had assumed various shapes of all kinds of animals and beasts, such as multiple hawks that flew in the air, serpents that slithered on the ground, a pride of valiant lions, wolves that grouped together forming a pack, and many other creatures. All of them ready to strike at her behest. ''I will shred them to pieces.''
She jumped on the back of a water horse and charged into the fray, her aquatic constructs following their creator, and slaughtering the first wave of chimeras.
As I witnessed all of this a smile formed on my lips.
Guess I wasn't the only one that's been training since the Kurosaiga incident.
I would have liked to watch her show off her new skills but I had one last job to do.
As I turned around I was greeted by the scrutinizing gaze of the Zepar heir. ''Facing me alone, there's a fine line between bravery and idiocy boy.''
''How peculiar.'' A dry chuckle escaped my lips in response to this. ''I don't know why myself, but ever since I first met you I had the unusual urge to punch you in the face. This is something I never really experienced with others, yet in this case I think I will make a special exception just for you Segrif.''
''Don't use my name so easily you low class filth!'' He raised his arm and pointed it towards me, bone like shards began shooting forth from his knuckles like a machine gun.
I immediately began evading the bony projectiles by running around the room while also scanning this section of the area for anything that could tilt the odds or work in my favor. At hand I only had a single pair of my twin blades, but I doubted they would be enough on their own. To my luck the other blades that I used against Shahnaz were still here and reachable. Bit by bit I was slowly recovering some Od as my heart continued to pound but it was still not enough for the long run, so any weapons I could collect and have at hand would be indispensable.
That was easier said than done though, Segrif wasn't going to let me gain any advantage and began using his other arm as well, instantly doubling the amount of fire power aimed at me. With the way he kept shooting I couldn't advance to any of my other blades that were scattered around and pick them up.
Well then, if he likes long range combat then two can play at that game.
As I dodged the bone shards I stabbed in the ground the twin blades I carried and traced my bow together with a couple of arrows I copied earlier, shooting back at him. The first arrow hit his shoulder and stopped the rain of shards, giving me the chance to shoot more arrows at him, nailing him in the leg, liver and chest.
There was a brief silence as Segrif stopped moving, yet something wasn't right.
The arrows hit their mark, but there was no blood.
I further reinforced my eyes to get a closer look, and grit my teeth at what I saw. The arrows appeared to have cut his skin but weren't able to reach pierce through the flesh beneath it. Apparently the sections of his body that weren't covered in bone armor were instead covered by a type of layer made of tiny almost unnoticeable scales, resembling something like biological chain mail.
Those arrows weren't normal ones either, they were Shock arrows. When they hit mark they discharge a powerful electrical surge, enough to carbonize the flesh on a normal human.
It didn't even flinch Segrif.
He was a chimera hybrid, which meant he could potentially possess many different traits from a mass assortment of creatures. There was no telling what else he could be hiding with his body.
A sly chuckle was heard as he straightened himself, then with a powerful flex of his muscles he pushed the arrows outside of his body. ''I don't know how you are obtained Eletha's arrows, but you will need more than that to injure me.''
I clicked my tongue and decided to try another strategy, tracing another arrow in my hand. I took aim shooting it at the ground in front of Segrif, the arrow exploded in a giant cloud of smoke and covered the area. Taking advantage of the smokescreen I dashed to recover my other swords while he couldn't see me.
It didn't take me long till I reached Kanshou, then I ran towards Bakuya, using its black counterpart to find it by relying on the twin swords attraction to one another. I followed the pull between the blades until I reached a pile of rubble where connection felt strongest, I immediately flipped the debris aside and found the white blade.
''Gah!''
The very moment my hand wrapped itself on the handle I felt several painful stabbing sensations on my back. My head turning slowly around only for my eyes to widen in shock, there were multiple bone shards stabbed in my back.
I tried my best to endure the pain and understand how this happened as I looked around. The smoke screen was still far too thick for Segrif to see anything from it. As I contemplated how he hit me I heard the sound of footsteps coming from the smoke, a few seconds later Segrif emerged from it and shocked me with his new trait. From the palm of his hand a long tentacle like appendage was growing upwards, and at the very top of it a large eye was glowing.
Dammit, he must have grew that thing until it reached the ceiling where the smoke hadn't spread and kept track of my every move while waiting for the right moment to strike.
''I guess that takes a whole new meaning to back stabbing doesn't it?'' the Zepar heir stated smugly as he grinned at my injuries.
I honestly didn't know what hurt worse as I barely repressed a groan, the wounds in my back or this guy's failed attempt at comedy.
A quick structural grasping of my own body put me on the edge. The spikes didn't pierce any major organ fortunately but with them in my back I will slowly bleed out from my wounds, I was already in a bad state to start with, now it was a race against time as to whether I could beat Segrif or weaken from the blood loss and die.
''Give it up boy, those precious swords of yours won't change anything.''
My eyes narrowed dangerously at him. ''These swords are all I need to defeat trash like you.''
I brandished both blades in hand and dashed at him, the other pair was strapped around my waist, the only thing left was to hope my body wouldn't break down before I could finish this fight.
Each step had me ducking and weaving, the hail of bone shards he was shooting at me was relentless, but from the way he aimed it was obvious he didn't take any marksmanship lessons from his knight, yet he made up for his low accuracy with a large number of continuous projectiles. Despite his ongoing attack however I continued to close the gap between us, but it wasn't easy, each time I dodged pain surged in my body from the open wounds on it.
When I reached him I saw the smile of my adversary faltering, I shifted my body and brought my blades down from a vertical angle. The bone armor on Segrifs arms seemingly liquefied and morphed into two long blades attaching themselves on the back of his arms, right in time to block my strike.
It annoyed me that those bone blades didn't shatter on impact. They must have belonged to some strong beast since they were able to trade blows with my blades. Yet, it gave me an unusual amount of pleasure seeing his face contort in pain from the sheer pressure the impact of my blows put on him.
Taking no time to waste I began exchanging strikes with the Zepar heir and with each blow I slowly realized the extent of his talent at close combat.
How talented he wasn't at close combat that is.
He was barely managing to block my blades while I continued dealing damage to him, both from the blunt force of the exchanges, but also from the slashes he wasn't able to block slicing into his flesh. It was frustrating that his body was constantly patching itself back up whenever I cut him open, but there had to be a limit to how much damage he could take.
Especially considering how he was sweating and slowly gasping for air. Apparently someone had been avoiding stamina training that's for sure.
My swords and his bones clashed once again, reaching a standstill, but it wouldn't last long as I was slowly overpowering and pushing him back with every exchange. The only dissatisfaction I had was that I was forced to be so close to his face and that blue hair of his.
Huh?
Blue?
I involuntarily blinked, why would I think that Segrif had blue hair when it really was black?
My distraction ended when I saw a light that was building up in Segrifs throat, one that was quickly rising to his neck. By sheer instinct I bent my neck at the very last second, narrowly avoiding a laser like blast that erupted from my opponent's mouth.
This unfortunately made we weaken my guard, giving the Zepar heir the opportunity to break our deadlock and jab his bone like blades at me.
Due to the positioning and lack of time I couldn't block the strike with my swords so I poured my strength into my legs and pushed myself backwards in a desperate attempt to dodge. My brows knitted in pain as I couldn't fully avoid the blow, my left side getting hit, leaving a deep gash right beneath my heart.
I stopped my fall with my palm and pushed myself aside, putting distance between me and the Zepar heir.
''Quite the desperate last stand you are putting up for a man with one foot in the grave.'' He chuckled in arrogance, perhaps as a means to keep his bravado going but he wasn't fooling me, he was definitely getting worn out.
I spit a bit of blood to the side, whenever it was because of the coppery taste or the disgust I felt for the man I wasn't too sure. ''The more I hear you speak the more I feel bad for Shahnaz-san, having to deal with the likes of you for such a long time.''
''Ah, Shahnaz yes, I truly struck gold with her. For those who work in experimentation knowing in advance even by a single minute what reactions will take place will save one months of work and resources. The breakthroughs of my research were all thanks to her. '' His eyes became glazed and sharp, gazing towards the barrier and at the passed out woman lying behind it. ''Though we will need to have words about losing to filth like you.''
Hearing him say that about the woman who dedicated her life to him and suffered so much because of it... At that very moment… something inside me snapped.
''No.'' I stated coldly, dashing forward, the adrenaline pumping through my veins causing the pain to numb. When I was close I jumped up high and did a spin in the air, pouring prana in my arms and blades to empower them as, throwing the twin blades at him, piercing through the armor like skin and jamming themselves deep in his flesh of his abdomen. I didn't give him any time to breathe, picking up the other pair of blades on my waist and dropping on Zepar with a powerful slash. He did try to block me but the force behind my fall added extra force to my blows, enough for my swords to cut through his bone blades. When my feet touched the ground I sprung upwards and stabbed my swords into his shoulders. Pushing him backwards and pinning him right on the nearby wall. ''You won't!''
He couldn't run away or dodge, and if my guess was correct he wasn't used to the arduous strain of combat. Whether it was the fatigue of battle or physical pain from injuries I could see the exertion apparent on his face. If that was the case then I'm going to keep giving him a heavy dose of both.
Making other weapons to do that at this point was just a waste of time and prana, all I needed was this body of mine. That being said I reinforced my fists and started pummeling him where he stood. Fists with force and hardness of sledgehammers began causing the man immense blunt pain, first it was his gut, the moment my fist buried itself in his flesh his eyes almost popped out of his skull together with his stomach contents. That sight really made me give in and start bashing his face in.
He tried to reduce the damage and formed a bone mask to protect himself but I only took that as a challenge to hit him harder. After about five hits with my fists it cracked open like a coconut revealing his face which was now left wide open. The scaly skin he had did offer him some protection towards piercing and slashing strikes but against blunt force damage they were only delaying the inevitable.
As my fists kept mutilating his face my mind couldn't help but wonder what was I even doing? It was confusing me, I never took it upon myself to make even bad people suffer and yet I was continually beating his face in with my fists. I could have easily delivered a precise strike to the back of his head knocking him out and getting things over with. There were many times before when I beat up bullies and delinquents but that was in order to protect others and set an example so they wouldn't do it anymore. Even at the time with Kurosaiga, when I saw him brutally beat up everyone I didn't feel the kind of animosity I held towards Segrif.
Why did he keep getting under my skin to such a degree?
And why was that whenever my fists made contact with his face for a very brief second I would see someone else in his place, a boy my age with blue seaweed like hair.
At some point he tried to use that laser blast with his mouth again, only this time I was expecting it. When I saw the glow rush from his throat to his mouth I grabbed his jaw and forcefully shut his mouth closed with an iron grip. Panic instantly became present in his eyes as his mouth and throat started glowing and swelling uncontrollably. At the very last moment when his body started to swell up and burst I jumped away, narrowly dodging the explosion that forcefully erupted from his mouth and throat.
I coughed heavily from the smoke that resulted from the explosion, the stench of burnt flesh and blood invaded my nose as my eyes narrowed at the person still pinned to the wall. As the smoke cleared I clicked my teeth as I saw him still struggling, the explosion while not very big in size certainly did a number on him. His front section of his throat and lower jaw were now gone, the bloody and gory insides were exposed for the world to see, yet somehow his tongue managed to survive the explosion but now only further empathized the ugly image before me with how it was dangling in the air.
The thing that truly bothered me though was the fact that his body was still trying to patch itself back together even after that. His demonic energy was surging violently in an attempt to close the gaping wound but that flesh wasn't closing up properly. A sense of foreboding hit me and I could feel that something was very wrong.
''No!'' He shouted, or it was more precise to say he hissed out of his wind pipe, I wasn't sure how he was still able to speak despite his disfigurement, whether his vocal chords were also part of his chimera traits and were more durable or he was using some kind of devil magic to speak I had no clue. What I did know was that his demonic energy and body were starting to go out of control. ''Not now of all times!''
There was an influx of demonic energy scattering wildly around him as his body began convulsing as if he was having a seizure, random muscle parts began starting to grow and expand uncontrollably at uneven sizes. The grown parts weren't something along the lines of buffing up, he was literally getting bigger and bigger, so big that he managed to forcefully detach himself from the wall with his size alone.
''Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! STOP!'' he cried desperately at his body to stop but it wouldn't listen to him, no matter he how much he begged. As his body kept expanding I backed away to avoid getting caught under it and stared at the giant that was forming before me.
I silently gulped as the growth somewhat stabilized but the end result wasn't pretty. What was once a man of my height now was a fifteen meter tall abomination; a giant blob of deformed flesh trying to keep itself up on its mismatched feet. It was a monster straight out of a horror movie, especially when one looked at its giant deformed face, the swollen eyes, and the hanging anteater like tongue in totality were truly disturbing to behold.
''Father! Why?!'' He roared, the bone blade on his right arm kept mutating while also simultaneously growing as its changed form from a blade morphing into something resembling a spiked mace. Another thing that changed were his eyes, there was no longer any color in them, only two white sockets. That coupled with the sudden random outburst told me two things, his body was unstable and he was most likely going mad. ''I tried to be a good boy, why won't you love me?!''
His empty eyes spotted me and his body quivered violently at my sight, thrusting his bone weapon directly towards me. I somehow managed to run away and avoid the blow, the size of the weapon making it easy to know where it would hit, but the force behind it was no joke. The whole room was sent shaking and the floor got severely damaged when that strike hit the ground. ''I just wanted to make you proud! It's not my fault I wasn't born strong!''
What was he even on about?
I could tell that he wasn't in the best state of mind at the moment but what was all this he was growling on about?
''Sister!'' He cried out in pain as he began thrashing his bone mace in all directions, causing destruction and mayhem everywhere he went as he smashed apart the surroundings. Suddenly he stopped and started grabbing his head desperately, rubbing it vigorously as he waltzed around dazed and confused. At one point his legs got tangled together causing him to fall down, resulting in a mighty tremor from the impact when he hit the ground, yet this didn't seem to matter to him as he kept on sobbing. ''Why couldn't I kill you!? Why do I have to love you?!''
This whole display… what he turned into… those words he kept spouting, I slowly started to connect the dots and got a general idea of why he did what he did. One may sympathize with him once they understood the reasoning behind his actions. I could understand him at a certain level, the feeling of wanting to make your father proud of you, the desire to know if your loved… but it didn't really matter to me in this situation, and it didn't change how I felt about Segrif. All it did was just add one more reason to the pile of negative emotions I felt towards him.
''I can't help but pity you.'' I remarked bitterly as I watched him struggle on the ground. ''What was originally just simple wish twisted you to this degree.''
My words seemed to have caused more reaction than I wanted. His disfigured head lifted itself and glared at me with blood thirsty eyes. With a mighty push he put himself back up on his feet and raised his bone weapon dangerously at me. Snapping out of his madness and focusing his fury at me.
''DON'T PITY ME!''
The primal roar vibrated through the air as he crashed his mace, sending debris flying everywhere. I barely managed to dodge all the incoming slabs of stone and continued to think of how to beat this behemoth.
With how big he became I won't be able to bring him down the old fashioned way, so it looks like I will need to think outside of the box. Just like how aunt Maiya told me, I need to take everything in account, plan accordingly as I weigh my options, and note my surroundings on what to look out for or can be used to my advantage.
The room definitely had seen better days, and the way Segrif was rampaging about it, the room probably wouldn't last much longer either. It was a good thing the barrier he made earlier didn't come down when he lost control of his body, at the very least the risk of him going after the others was reduced.
That also means I can take Segrif down without fearing they will get caught in the cross fire.
Steeling myself I scanned the room for any good vantage points and to my luck there was one that was suited for what I had planned. Though considering the current state of my body and numerous injuries I had whether or not I can actually pull it off is questionable, I didn't have a choice but to risk it though. Time was running out and I can already feel myself getting weaker, my body will definitely be put to the test for this one.
I poured prana to my limbs and reinforced them to the very limits I was able to, not wasting time I proceeded running like the wind towards the broken staircase. When I reached the area I had in mind I jumped on the wall and pushed myself against it upon contact, spinning myself in the air and started side running along the wall to the reach the other side of the broken staircase. Forcing my way through with sheer momentum I wasn't able to land properly on it and almost fell down, I barely managed to grab hold of the edge with my hands at the last second. Pulling myself up right away, I narrowly avoided getting squashed by the bone mace of Segrif who took notice of me. The shock waves from his attack made it hard to maintain my balance and footing but I couldn't afford to fall now. Even more so since I wasn't sure that if I did fall now if I would be able to get back up at all.
As I ran up the damaged staircase I found I was smirking to myself as Segrif came chasing after me; though the danger increased because of it I was also spared me of the trouble of baiting him to my location. I was on my last legs already, the quicker I get this done the better. I shortly reached the top of the staircase and soon after came face to face with the giant disfigured mug of the Zepar heir.
I climbed the railing and took notice of the swing the monster was preparing; when the bone mace was unleashed I prepared myself for worst, when it was a few meters away from me I jumped forward towards the mutated giant. While in the air I traced another pair of my favorite blades, and braced myself for a rough impact. To my abysmal luck the walking mass of flesh decided to try and avoid me, so my target had shifted from where I planned to land and I ended up stabbing my blades into his shoulder instead. An action which caused the monstrous goliath to scream in pain, causing him to swing around wildly in a desperate attempt to fling me off; so naturally I could only hold onto my blades in desperation hoping my grip wouldn't fail me as I struggled to keep hold.
When he saw that it wasn't working he used his free hand to grab me. The moment his fleshy fingers wrapped themselves around me I pulled one blade out his shoulder and stabbed it in his hand, eliciting another shriek of pain from him, so much so that he threw me upwards just to get rid of me rather than crush me himself.
That was a massive mistake on his part, in fact he accidentally helped me out.
When I began descending back down I managed to catch onto the skin under his eyes. Considering how much it had swollen from the beating I gave it earlier it would have been hard to miss.
I stared the monster literally in its eye, positioning myself briefly as I was about to take away the light of that eye, Kanshou being the last thing it would ever see in this world.
It roared in anguish as the black blade pierced its eye, bringing his hands up desperately to get rid of me. I didn't give him the pleasure of grabbing me this time and I let go of my blade, letting myself fall down. Although I was falling I had no intention of directly falling to the ground alone. For one thing, I wasn't sure if my body could handle the shock or strain simply collapsing on the spot upon landing. With that in mind I steeled and prepared myself for a slimy experience.
I grabbed Segrif's giant hanging tongue and held onto it like a lifeline. Not wasting any time I began building my momentum swinging left and right, using the disgusting organ as an improvised rope. When I gathered enough momentum I let go and started running against his deformed collar bone, reaching up to his right shoulder.
Once again the Zepar heir felt the cold touch of my blades on his body. Trying desperately to throw me off his pierced shoulder but was having a difficult time considering that I blinded him on that side. As his hand came at me I ran over to his neck, reaching his other shoulder and stabbing it similarly to its right counterpart.
The pain was becoming unbearable for Segrif and he tried to grab me once again, only this time I wasn't giving him any shots at squashing me, the moment his hand came in close I slashed his index finger clean off, causing him to shriek even louder in agony as waterfalls of blood erupted from the open wound.
As he was busy trying to deal with the pain from losing his finger I ran over to his neck once again and climbed up his head using his hair as make shift support. When I reached the top I slid myself down the front and took a large swing with Bakuya, stabbing it into his left eye, taking away his remaining source of vision.
The stumbling of the behemoth intensified as he couldn't see anymore; running in complete disarray as he swung his bone club wildly about both left and right.
It was now time I finally put down this monstrosity before my adrenaline completely ran its course causing my body to crash.
I slid down on his belly and landed underneath him, immediately pulling back to avoid getting crushed by the rampaging abomination. When I was far enough I traced yet another pair of my twin swords expending my Od nearly to its limits and waited for the perfect timing. My eyes were fixed on the legs of my opponent. The very moment he turned his back on me I threw both blades at him, the blades became razor sharp whirlwinds cutting the air and flesh they encountered on their path.
An agonizing shriek echoed throughout the room as the blades severed both of his Achilles tendons, not wasting any time I lifted my hands and grabbed the blades that returned spinning to me, dashing forward to the monster that had lost its footing and was quickly coming crashing down.
Jumping atop from one raised slab of debris onto another I made my way to the falling body and with one strong leap I landed on Segrif's calf landing on the bloody and greasy road of flesh and running all the way towards the nape of his neck. I struggled to keep my footing on the slippery surface as I was gasping for air while fighting through the constant pain and burning sensation my body was currently in. Every breath I took felt like it may be my last and every step forward was sluggish and heavy but still I pushed on.
One may call me a complete nut job to try and take down a monstrous giant of this caliber with just Kanshou and Bakuya, however there was something I realized along the way. The swords that I used to initially pin him against the wall were never pushed out of his body when he transformed, instead they were absorbed inside his new body as his flesh grew and expanded.
That meant they were still there.
As my foot stepped on the nape of the goliath beneath me I positioned my twin blade at the very center, closing my eyes and concentrating I felt out for my blades. Every weapon I trace is like an extension of my own will, if I wish for them to disintegrate back into prana it will happen regardless of the distance between us. That being said I am always linked at a certain level to everything I trace, as I am the very power source for them to exist.
I could feel them, a faint pulsation like my very own heartbeats. There were two sources in my hands, two wrapped around inside his flesh, several in the distance on the other side of the barrier, and the ones I traced and gave the others to use. It was a strange feeling, even though I am supposed to only feel the weapons, I can also feel them being used at this very moment, that little tidbit put me at ease, knowing that the others were still alive and fighting on.
All the more reason to end this and go help them.
I increased my focus, trying to locate my lost weapons within the sea of deformed flesh. It wasn't an easy feat; the amalgamation of mutated demonic flesh was making it feel as if I was I searching through a violent snowstorm for the main road.
Badum! Badum!
There! It was faint but I could feel them!
''Trace Overedge!'' I muttered as I channeled the last remains of my prana, keeping myself reinforced to deal with such a behemoth of a monster left me almost dry, but I still had probably enough left in me for one last stunt. The blades I held were stabbed deep into Segrif's flesh, making him realize in between his grunting that I was on his back. While he did try to throw me off it was already too late, neon cylindrical marks had spread over his neck section creating a link between the weapons I held and the ones buried deep within the flesh. ''Burst!''
Blood erupted like an artesian fountain from the neck area, the now Overedge variation of the twin married swords shredding their way outside from within his body. A choking breath was heard as the giant finally went silent, its mutated body stopped thrashing down on the floor like a puppet that got its strings cut.
I scanned the body for ten long seconds, there was no more reaction from it, either it was dead or out cold. Whatever the case may be, it was finally quiet.
Wait… quiet?
I jumped up and off him walking a few meters away, staring into the distance behind the barrier, I saw Tomoe waving weakly at me with a very strained smile. Her clothes and body had seen better days, but she didn't seem in any life threatening condition. Right behind her was everyone else sporting similar states of exhaustion and wounds, even Sona who was the last to join the fray was pretty roughed up.
I could see the sea of chimera corpses surrounding them as I headed to them, a tired but relieved smile began forming on my face.
I involuntarily raised my hand cupping my mouth, a dry chuckle escaping my lips in ease, a heavy weight getting lifted off my shoulders as I saw that they were all alright and alive.
Can't believe I'm saying this, but I owe one to Segrif for creating that barrier, if not for it keeping us separated they would have most likely got caught up in the Zepar heir's rampage while fighting the chimeras.
Odd… now that I think about it… Segrif is out and yet…
The barrier was still active.
Out of nowhere the color in every single one of the Sitri peerage's faces drained away and dread filled in its place. ''Shirou, behind you!''
Shunk!
There was no time to react. Seeing everyone safe made me relax far more than I should have, so much so that I involuntarily let my guard down, opening me up for an unguarded direct attack.
Blood erupted violently from my mouth, a hot dampness was spreading from my upper body all the way down to my legs, my trembling eyes slowly looking down at my chest, at the massive bone like spear erupting from it.
''Nooooooo!'' I heard someone scream in despair, yet my ears couldn't make out who it was, the ringing sound in them made it impossible to do so.
My head struggled to turn back, it was almost mechanical how it managed to turn and look at the source of my predicament. The neck section of the deformed giant was shredded and butchered beyond repair, and yet there was still something there. Hanging merged within the walls of bloodied flesh with my swords stabbing through his mangled body he laid there bare, an utter victorious smirk present on his lips. ''H-Ha, ha, you're dead kid.''
Segrif was still alive.
Somehow he managed to reform his original body within the sea of mutating flesh, narrowly avoiding certain death.
My eyes then stumbled across his extended arm pointing at me, at the bone member that connected us.
His bone spear had pierced through me shredding both my lungs and my heart.
Air no longer had any place to go, blood no longer had an engine that made it circulate.
Everything went black as my arms fell lifelessly around my body.
I lost.
Huh?
Wait…
Didn't everything go silent?
I felt something…
It was a warm feeling…
Like the warm sands of a beach tickling all over my body.
I knew this feeling… I've experienced it many times today… no way… she didn't.
My vision slowly returned, arms gaining back their strength and organs began restoring themselves.
I saw them… the golden sands dancing around me, the very mark of founding Zoroastrian God Zurvan's power.
My body wasn't responding to my orders, it was doing all of this forcefully. My head was turning back forward to see the horrified face of my comrades, faces which were becoming less and less horrified with each passing second to the point that their color returned. The blood that splattered on the floor when the strike was dealt was levitating and returning to the wound, the spear itself retracting and leaving way for the flesh to restore itself to its original state.
I blinked in astonishment as everything had been rewritten and a moment later time resumed.
Out of nowhere the color in every single one of my friends faces drained away and dread filled them in its place once again. ''Shirou, behind-''
I jumped away with whatever strength I could muster, barely managing to avoid the surprise attack from Segrif. My arm was nicked however, with a deep laceration present on it but compared to the hole I 'had' moments ago, this was a mere paper cut in comparison.
As I crashed roughly on the floor I managed to turn myself around and glare at the Zepar heir, right in time to witness the utter shock forming on his disfigured face. ''T-This is… Dustan's Dagger?!''
His eyes went a feral red, the veins in them throbbing as they drifted towards the barrier. At the very spot where the woman he knew as his Queen was leaning up against, her body was struggling to stay up, and her face contorted in the most pained expression I have ever seen. Her tears were pouring down on the glowing dagger she used to save me. ''I'm sorry.''
The woman that all this time had been fighting for her master's sake has finally chosen to do what she believed was the right choice, and yet doing so was a painful task for her. Her sense of morality and duty clashing with each other, ripping her on the inside as she saved the one boy she was supposed to kill and truly betrayed the man who gave her life meaning.
''Shahnazzzzz!'' The roar was no longer anything rational, but pure animalistic blood lust. The desire to rip her to shreds for daring to betray him in such a way was palpable. His once limp body became invigorated once more, the giant hand raising itself to catch and squash the traitorous Queen.
In a single moment, blood and gore was sprayed all over the barrier. Shahnaz's trembling eyes stared in disbelief at the arm and chest section of her master that seemingly got shredded into a bloody paste. ''Gahhhhhhhhhh!''
The only screams of agony that were heard were those of Segrif Zepar. Those and the sound of deformed flesh sizzling fast, the wound inflicted on him was akin to a powerful acid, burning viciously and spreading at an alarming rate.
My arm was hanging in the air pointing at the man, steam rising from it as if someone poured water on red hot iron. It happened in an instant, so fast that I myself couldn't properly register it.
There shouldn't have been any prana left to produce something of that scale. There was no involvement from my mind. The only thing that reacted was my body alone, instantly tracing and somehow blasting several weapons in his path, with a force so great that it was like Segrif had shoved his hand inside a meat grinder.
The weapons didn't stay for long.
The moment they finished their job they evaporated into thin air, not even lasting long enough to get a proper look and structural grasp them.
I didn't see them properly, but it knew what they were.
Holy swords.
However whatever happened was irrelevant at this point, something inside me simply flipped on, there was a single directive in my mind.
Protect.
''You will hurt her no longer!'' I roared as I glared at the monstrous man, slowly walking towards him with my worn out half broken body.
The glare I had must have been something else as he began cowering in fear with every step that I took. That or he came to the conclusion that the weapons I just used on him were enough to kill him for real. The current case being the way his flesh was disintegrating with every breath unable to restore itself.
Fear finally began taking over and he started struggling against his own fleshy construct. Sprouting bone blades to cut himself free from the flesh that bonded him to the goliath body. The sound of my footsteps drawing ever nearer was making him panic even further and doing a sloppy job of it, until finally he simply elected to forcefully rip himself free.
His body fell down with a loud thud, and immediately began trying to crawl away from me. His legs kept attempting to patch themselves back to functioning state as he clawed his way in a desperate gambit to escape.
Such a pitiful sight...
If only my body wasn't so messed up I could have ran up and caught him to end this farce once and for all.
I was only a couple of steps away from him, however as rotten luck would have it his legs somehow patched themselves together with enough flesh and bone to stand up once again. He turned around and waved his tangled hand in front of me, a magic seal flashing and an object getting blasted from it. ''You're not the only one with holy weapons.''
I tried to dodge but found my body unable to react, my eyes could only study the incoming glass vial, and it appeared to contain some kind of glowing water.
''Shirou, that's holy water! Don't let it touch you!'' I heard Tsubaki-senpai scream from afar.
Holy water… of all things it had to be that. I never came across any of it since I became a devil, but from what I previously read it was very deadly to devils, akin to getting splattered by searing magma.
Dammit… my body was far too messed up to move out of the way.
I could only pray that it wouldn't be enough to stop me.
Glass shattered on impact and water splattered all over my face as I braced myself for the worst.
The reaction was almost instant.
My eyes blinked confused.
The holy water didn't burn me at all.
Either Segrif was scammed with a very good fake, or I wasn't affected by it at all.
Such a thing… should be impossible right?
My fists clench as I saw my target still moving. Dammit, now was not the time for worrying!
''He's escaping.'' I gnashed my teeth as I saw Segrif open a hidden door in one of the walls, leading to the desert outside with the crimson sands blowing with the wind.
His body mutated once again, two grotesque mangled devil wings forming on his back, but functional enough to successfully take him up in the air.
As I saw him begin to fly away something in me seemingly snapped and I couldn't keep myself or my voice under control making yell out in a rage. ''Shinji!''
I tried to force my body to move faster but it was barely functional with every muscle seemingly strained, however that wouldn't have made much of a difference since I lacked even the basic devil wings to go after him. ''Dammit I won't reach him in time!''
After all that happened… after all the physical and mental pain everyone was put through… after the numerous times someone almost died… was I about to let the cause of it all escape?
No fucking way!
Risks be damned, I will not let him get away!
Once more!
My body trembled uncontrollably as I traced my bow and took position. My breath ragged and uneven as I focused myself putting everything I have into this last act.
Just one last projectile!
Don't break on me my body!
Search start.
Something… anything that I can shoot with this bow, a sword, an arrow, it doesn't matter.
Searching…
Something that will take him down in one blow.
Searching…
A projectile I can shoot, a shot that will reach him no matter where he goes, something that will hunt him down to the ends of the world.
Match found.
The Hound of the Red Plains seeking for blood, always trailing after it.
''Gahhhh!'' I roared in pain from the strain that erupted in my body, once again I felt like a red hot iron was shoved down my spine and twisted repeatedly. My eyes could barely keep track of Segrif with how they were cringing in pain and my vision turned hazy but still I pushed on and traced my last weapon.
''Steel is my body and fire is my blood.''
Neon energy danced around my hand as my sword materialized. Although calling it a sword was a bit of a stretch considering how it looked. The shape was like a pitch-black spear with a few small edges coiling around the thin core, spiraling around it and somewhat curving outward. The modification it had undergone through altercation had taken away most of its usage in a sword fight, however it made it able to be used as a projectile instead.
No time for a broken phantasm, couldn't have made one anyway, my prana levels are zero, but it is not required in the first place.
All I need is one good arrow.
''Sick him.'' I muttered and took aim, struggling to pull the string back as crimson demonic aura began leaking from the projectile. Perhaps by some kind of instance of dumb luck Segrif seemed to have reacted when my weapon began generating demonic aura. At that moment he must have felt death creeping upon him and attempted a last ditch effort to save himself. In a strained jumble of movements he activated a magic circle underneath him, my teeth gnashed in frustration when I saw the letter formation on it and recognized them. It was a teleportation circle, he was about to escape.
It was now or never.
I tried pulling my arm back but stopped mid-way.
My body stopped moving as it reached its limit, my arm seemingly got jammed into place and refused to move a single inch further. The wound I got when I dodged the last attack, made it so my arm was unable to function properly and draw my bow to its full length. In addition the slow but constant blood loss from my back I suffered near beginning of the fight further sapped my strength.
Anger boiled in me at that very moment as I realized that I couldn't shoot my arrow and there was no time to switch hand's. Even if this arrow doesn't require an accurate aim to hunt its target it still needed a powerful force to fire it properly. If I can't generate enough firing power it wouldn't matter Segrif Zepar would escape.
Bang!
A gun shot echoed through the desert, blood erupted from Segrif's throat the very next moment. Whatever happened didn't truly matter, since the shot was enough to interrupt Segrif just as he was about to teleport away.
Someone just bought me an extra five seconds, something I wasn't going to let go to waste.
My arm still refused to budge and I didn't have the time to change arms.
I had to improvise on the spot.
With no other idea coming to my mind I bit down around the wrist of my drawing arm. If my arm wasn't able to pull all the way through I decided to use my teeth for it. The taste of copper filled my mouth as my teeth dug their way into my flesh and I tasted my own blood, with one final push helping me climb the very last step towards the summit I took aim.
My fingers let go of the string, demonic energy igniting as the projectile fired off. A breath of ease escaped my mouth at that moment as I knew that it was checkmate.
Dodging something rushing at you at Mach 10 speed would be quite the challenge after all.
I let go of my hand and spit out a mouthful of blood, gazing as the weapon shredded its way towards Segrif with unimaginable speed, blood had begun to rain on the desert sands as the weapon ran through his chest without any resistance and bursting forth from the other side in a bloody mess. The Zepar heir finally went silent, his broken and mangled body fell down on bloodstained sands.
''Hrunting…''
A sword that was always seeking blood, aiming for the spot where it can obtain most of it, always guiding the wielder to strike it no matter how untalented or inexperience he may be.
It was the weapon of a hero from one of the oldest epic poems of English literature.
A weapon belonging to the Geatish hero who had slayed monsters like Grendel and its mother saving a kingdom in the process.
No long or fancy name needed, for he never cared for either.
He was known simply as Beowulf.
Now that he was finally down I could properly think again and there was one thing that I had to see. With great effort I managed to move through the broken wall and get a look outside. Someone had shot Segrif before which meant they could still be around.
I looked around in the distance for any trace of life, to my own surprise I saw someone, far away from our location. There wasn't much I could make out with what I was seeing, just a person wrapped from head to toe in black cloaks with a sniper rifle tied to his back and if the overall size and frame of said person was any indication it was a male.
For some reason I think I saw that person before.
There was a heavy moment when he seemed to take notice of me. No reaction was shown, he simply turned around to walk away.
''Wait!'' I roared on top of my lungs to get his attention, stopping in his tracks. His head turned around and gazed in my direction, no features visible through the hood that covered his face. ''Who are you?''
No answer.
All he did was point his hand towards Segrif and nudged his head.
I looked at that direction and took a moment and thought about it, Segrif seemed out of commission at the moment but he could always wake up if left alone and still do an emergency teleportation. I had to make sure and secure him first lest all my effort be in vain.
When I turned back to the mysterious sniper, I only saw the empty dessert as he was gone.
I sighed and started trudging my way towards Segrif, even though there were so many questions I had they could wait till later.
When I dragged Segrif back in the base and tied him up my body finally couldn't take the abuse anymore and fell down to the floor. The harsh landing aside, the cold floor was a welcomed treat for my burning body. As much as I detest Segrif, I have to give him credit for how durable he was able to make his body with his experiments, any other devil would have died a long time ago with those kind of wounds, even Kurosaiga wouldn't have survived having his chest skewered by Hrunting. While he lacked the skill and ability that the deceased stray devil had, he made up with up with his insane durability and constant regrowth.
I can't help but fear what could have happened if any of the others would have faced him instead. With how his body was not even a single one of them could have put him and I was the only one who had the means to do it.
Things really turned in my favor when his body began mutating, he was in a state that can no longer be classified as anything but a monster, and that was when Kanshou and Bakuya truly shined as they possessed a unique anti-monster propriety within their blades, making it so their cutting power skyrocketed against him and each cut inflicted by them caused unimaginable pain and damage to the deformed flesh giant.
I noticed it before with Kurosaiga, they seem to cause some minor pain and damage to devils when they cut them, but nothing unmanageable. As such their power wasn't in full effect before he began mutating, it was only after he lost control of his body that my swords gained the needed advantage.
Huh… now that I think about it I wonder how a fight between Segrif and Kurosaiga would have went. In terms of skill and ability Kurosaiga outclassed him but that nasty regeneration Segrif had could keep him going. Though, now that I think about Kurosaiga could've use the Senkyouka wave attack to destroy his body completely, if he spammed it over and over again it would have let Segrif with literally nothing left to regenerate. However if Segrif mutated in that giant abomination before Kurosaiga finished him off things might have turned differently considering that Kurosaiga had a pretty straight forward approach to battle and he might have tried to fight the blob of flesh head on but that would have been reckless and he could've been taken out in an instant if the deformed Segrif landed even one good blow.
Man… thinking about all of this was tiring. I guess that in battle the one that is the strongest doesn't always win.
As I stared at the broken ceiling I heard footsteps approaching. With a tired sigh I asked as they reached me. ''Is it over?''
Tomoe scratched her cheek awkwardly at my question, getting rid of some dried blood she had on her face. ''Well we defeated the chimeras and took down the big bad boss, so I think that's a wrap.''
She did have a point, however the experiences we went through today was making me skeptical of leaving my guard down.
Saji helped prop me against a wall, he also wasn't looking too good. With how his shirt was shredded and the lacerations were placed on his abdomen it looked like the chimeras tried playing Tic-tac-toe on it but failed miserably. ''You still alive and kicking Emiya?''
''… I think I am.'' I answered a bit uncertain, considering that I have wounds that would have killed a regular person many times over and I am still conscious I'm quite surprised I didn't pass out a while ago.
He simply nodded and crashed next me, letting out an exhausted sigh.
The moment really didn't last long as he instantly bolted away, in fact the others did the same and made way for our King to walk in front of me. Given the arctic glare she was directing at me I honestly couldn't hold it against Saji for bailing on me like that.
With how messed up and exhausted I was I couldn't really give a damn anymore so might as well get this over with. ''… You're a pathological reckless idiot, you know that don't you?''
''S-Sorry about that master.'' I muttered awkwardly as I tried to rub the back of my head, but cringing as I touched a bone shard that was stabbed in my back instead.
The Sitri heir crossed her arms and continued to glare at me. ''I'm honestly struggling to decide if I should congratulate you for taking command of the group and keeping everyone alive or reprimand you for getting yourself half killed in the process.''
That seemed fair, given how many mistakes I made today I kind of deserved it. ''Ok… so what will it be?''
A frustrated sigh escaped her lips, she was clearly as tired as I was. ''I'm not even going to bother, right now everyone is exhausted and beaten up, I'd have to be a total bitch to nag at you now.'' She threw me one last icy glare before she went on. ''Don't think you're off the hook though, when your back to full health you're in for a lot of complaining.''
Even though I knew that will be a drag, I couldn't help but chuckle lightly. ''Now that's the Sona Sitri I know.''
The arctic glare had seemingly melted and in its stead a warm smile formed.
''All of that aside… I talked to Tsubaki and she told me of all you had to do and endure to make sure that everyone survived.'' Before I could even talk or react she knelt down in front of me and pulled me in a hug, my head resting on her shoulder. I was taken aback by the sudden display of affection from Kuoh's resident Ice Queen. The feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment were forming at an alarming rate but they subsided when I felt something warm drip on my neck. ''Thank you, for staying alive and keeping everyone safe, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.''
There wasn't much I could say in this situation, I simply returned the hug and patted her on the back in silence not wanting to ruin the moment for her.
The embrace didn't last long as Tsubaki-senpai let out a dry cough in her hand, causing Sona to instantly put some distance between us, her face looking in any other direction besides the one I was in.
Okay… things were now really awkward, so might as well change the subject. ''So what are we supposed to do now?''
Tsubaki-senpai cupped her chin and pondered for a bit. ''No clue, Sona what is the standard procedure for dealing with the aftermath of an abduction?''
''Honestly I'm as lost as you are.'' Sona admitted as she was back to her normal serious self. ''I guess we should try to inform the proper authorities about everything.''
Well that made sense, after all that we went through there will probably be a lot of repercussions. At least for the Zepar house since Segrif was the one responsible for everything. That made me remember something important and scanned the room looking for her. I spotted her resting against a wall, passed out and yet her expression seemed so peaceful. With a bit of effort I managed to raise my hand and point at Shahnaz. ''What about her?''
Everyone went silent and pondered on my question. If I would have asked this earlier there wouldn't have been any room for doubt in their minds but after what she did it shattered whatever impression they had of her before, even for me.
She was our enemy, one that fought, blocked, and hurt us and yet she threw away everything and condemned herself by betraying her master, by saving my life when she could have easily just run away when things started going south.
The others were truly conflicted because of this.
''… I'm not certain what will happen to her Shirou.'' Sona admitted somewhat disappointed. ''She used her powers and saved you from certain death, something I will never be able to repay her for, but it won't change her involvement with what happened today. All of this isn't some minor incident that can simply be written off, there will be an investigation and trial for what happened.'' She took a moment and rubbed the bridge of her nose, the prospects of what will probably take place was obviously giving her a headache. ''She may not be pardoned but at the very least we can try to get her punishment lessened.''
I bowed my head and stared at the ground, my hand tightening in a fist.
This wasn't fair… it wasn't fair at all. After everything she went through and was forced to endure she finally stood up and did what she wanted to do for herself, no order or duty involved, just her very own desire to do the right thing.
In spite of that she still had to face trial.
I had to do something.
Boom!
The room shook violently as the sound of an explosion reached us. I instantly looked over towards the next room and I saw through the opened door that Segrif was still out cold so it wasn't his doing. It was someone else. ''What was that explosion?!''
''It was like a meteor just crashed near us!'' Momo yelled as she tried to keep herself up.
I focused and used the tiny bit of Od I recovered to reinforce my ears. There was a stomping sound approaching, like someone riding a horse but it was somewhat different. There wasn't any of the hard noise made by the hoofs, it felt softer, like a paw or something. My eyes widened as I just remembered what happened earlier, and the beast we left in the lower levels. ''Guys… didn't we forget about someone down there?''
Everyone looked confused at me, Sona especially, the others however quickly realized who I was referring to. Before any of them could answer there was a loud noise and from a nearby wall the majestic golden lion came crashing through.
I momentarily prepared to trace a sword but stopped when I saw the man on top of the lion. Sairaorg Bael was riding the Nemean lion like a mighty battle steed.
''Sairaorg?! What are you doing here?'' Sona asked in shock as she saw who was approaching, huh, Tsubaki-senpai must have omitted the part where Sairaorg dropped by and saved us. Her eyes were one step from popping out of her head as she saw what Sairaorg was riding. ''And is that the Nemean lion?!''
From the lack of blood lust in the lion, I could only deduce that the Bael heir had managed to tame it, whether it was by force or common understanding I didn't know but it was clear that the two of them went all out before that happened. Sairaorg's was covered from head to toe in giant claw and bite marks that would have put down a regular man a long time ago, while the Nemean lion was covered with every inch of fur with blood and bruises, some of its fangs were broken in half, his paws was missing a majority of its claws, and it's left eye was so bruised and swollen that it was forcefully closed shut.
While both of them were quite injured they seemed to be concerned by something else entirely. Sairaorg Bael the man that generated this aura of confidence and sheer masculinity was displaying a very disturbed expression, a combination of primal fear and concern.
Heck even the lion looked terrified.
As the lion landed in front of us as the Bael heir looked dead serious, never bothering to get down from his seat, not out of arrogance, but rather trying not to waste any time. ''Look there's no time to explain we need to out of here now!''
''What's going on?'' Sona asked in complete confusion, but who could blame her since she had no idea what Sairaorg was even doing here.
''I told you there is no time! She can be here in any-''
The world itself had turned cold.
It was like I was suddenly dragged from a warm field to the freezing plains of Antarctica. The very core of my being was shivering at this unknown malevolent presence I was suddenly feeling.
''W-What is that power?!'' was all I managed to mutter as I tried to keep myself together, something which the others were all failing to do, everyone else with the exception of Sona and Sairaorg were down on their knees crumbling under the intense pressure that was getting stronger with every passing the second.
This power was like nothing I ever felt before, even the time Vincent Ronove displayed some of his strength wasn't anything close to this scale.
''Emiya Shirou… if you have even the slightest spec of value towards your life, run, run while you still can.''
Shit…
If even Archer was scared of this unknown power then we were in a danger beyond mere words.
As I struggled to stay on my legs I glanced over at my master and saw the expression of fear on her face that I had never seen before on her, a sort of fear that was deeply carved into her mind. Her eyes were trembling as she was muttering over and over again. ''N-No… not her… anyone but her…''
''It's getting closer!'' Ruruko screamed in fear as she grabbed onto Saji's arm desperate for any form of protection and security.
I looked over at the Bael heir for some answers but hesitated, although he was keeping an overall stoic impression I could see the large bullets of sweat running down his face, even the mighty lion was trembling in fear. ''… Sairaorg-san what is that thing?''
There was a loud explosion in the other side of the room, a wave of arctic cold rushed over us the moment the wall was taken down. The lion rider could only gulp as he answered. ''… Winter is coming.''
Insert Ost- Hunter x Hunter Rasetsu
For a brief second, my heart had stopped beating.
The image I saw of the 'thing' that emerged from the smoke had shocked me to my very core. I didn't know what it was, it resembled a person at first glance but it was impossible to make out its features. Its body was shrouded in a veil of pure demonic energy, dancing around at immeasurable speed, like blue and black smog, yet giving it an appearance of something ripped out of a most horrible nightmare. Each step it took would freeze the spot where it touched, spreading around the room like a disease that wanted to freeze everything to death.
Whatever self-control I had over my emotions in times of crisis seemingly crumbled under the pressure exuded by this thing. I couldn't contain my voice and simply shouted in fear. ''W-What is that thing!?''
Everyone looked the same, scared beyond words. The only one who appeared to still have some composure left was Tsubaki-senpai that placed her hand over her face and muttered. ''… We're fucked.''
The thing scanned the room, the place where eyes should be had two white swirling lights in its place instead. They focused on Sona for a moment, its disposure seemed to relax by a small degree but the sheer bloodlust oozing from it wasn't quelled one bit. A slit formed in the area where the mouth was normally at, and a distorted voice slowly hissed. ''Where is he?''
Each word was like a whip of ice, no one dared to speak, even if they knew the answer to the question of this abomination. Sona lifted her hands up in a surrendering manner, but they still trembled in fear. ''W-Wait please everything is over, there's no need to-''
The thing glared at her for a brief second, silencing her. It then looked around us and scanned each of us, her focus stopping when it reached me. It lifted its arm and pointed at me. ''You, pretty boy!''
I gulped silently, looking at the others hoping that I was just imaging it and there was some other male in the room that fell in the 'pretty boy' category. ''I-Is she referring to me?''
''Where is he?'' the thing whispered in its distorted voice, my eyes widening as I realized that the thing just warped in front of me. My head turned slowly at it and my blood ran cold, any bit of sweat I had on my body was quickly turning to ice. When the thing saw that I wasn't answering she grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me down to its level. It would have looked funny considering the thing was quite small, but in this case this act only terrified me further as I gazed into the swirling white abyss of its eyes. My shirt had already turned to slab of ice and my body was following suit at rapid pace, at this rate I would become a Popsicle but I couldn't find the courage to move under this things gaze. ''Where. Is. He?''
My mouth somehow managed to open and words forcefully made their way out, my hand slowly lifted itself and pointed to the next room. ''… I-If you're asking about Segrif Zepar, he is in the other room tied to the radiator.''
The thing let go of my shirt and proceeded to walk towards the other room, air finally returning to my lungs, as a sensation akin to an iceberg was suddenly removed off my shoulders. The thing stopped in its step and turned around to look at me again.
''Thank you !''
I blinked a few times and pinched myself.
D-Did that thing just strike a pose and wink at me in a cutesy manner?
Perhaps I'm starting to go delusional from mind shattering from fear, or from all the blood loss and wounds that I got today.
Or maybe it was both.
Just as I was about to breathe at ease that the thing was leaving, Sona stepped forward and called out to it. ''N-No, please wait, it's already been taken care of, there is no reason to-''
''Stay.'' The thing ordered and Sona complied without any other words.
As the thing was walking away Sairaorg-san pulled out a paper with a magic circle on it and threw it on the ground, the magic circle quickly expanded and began glowing underneath us. ''Everyone grab onto me, were getting out of here!''
I nodded and was grateful for his quick thinking, the faster we were out of here and away from that thing the better.
Everyone complied and grabbed onto the lion, any fear they might have had of the beast was eclipsed by the fear towards that thing. I was about to join in as well, but a sudden realization hit me.
There was so much risk involved but I couldn't ignore it. I turned and ran away; ignoring the calls I was getting from the others. When I reached her she woke as I picked her up and began running with her towards the circle.
''W-What are you doing?'' Shahnaz muttered in pure bewilderment, her tired black eyes trying to discern what she was seeing.
''… I'm not leaving you behind.'' I stated simply.
She bit her lower lip as her eyes closed back, a single tear running down her face as she whispered gently. ''… Fool.''
''Shirou get over here already!'' I heard them call out to me, the circle was glowing and was about to activate, as such I reinforced my legs and jumped forward, landing in it at the very last second.
When the lights of the teleportation finally ceased I felt an ease unable to be put in words, I was never so scared in my entire life. This wasn't about just my mind feeling the terror, my body itself was reacting, no, it was more precise to say it was unable to react out of pure fear. If that thing would have attacked us... there was a high chance I wouldn't even be able to gather the courage and stand up to it.
That thought truly terrified me.
''Are we safe?'' Reya asked as she tried to calm her breathing.
''I almost pissed myself back there.'' Saji muttered in shame, not that I could blame him though.
''Ditto.'' Tsubasa nodded in agreement.
I put Shahnaz gently on the ground and picked myself up, checking out my surroundings. It seemed the veranda of an estate at the start of the blood stained desert. If I keep in mind what Tsubaki-senpai said before this is probably somewhere in the Bael territory, I looked at the distance and all I could see was an endless desert. It was hard to believe that we were somewhere out there just moments ago.
Ease finally filled my body and I was soon followed up by a wave of extreme fatigue that threatened to knock me out at any second but for the moment I was still standing. ''Could someone tell what sort of God forsaken abomination was that?''
''That God forsaken abomination you mentioned Shirou-'' Sona tried to explain but went silent as a giant pillar of azure light exploded off in the distance, temporarily blinding us. When my sight returned my jaw dropped while my eyes became the sizes or saucers, the desert, and I mean all of it was turned into a frozen waste land. Sona on the other hand face palmed herself and let out and exhausted sigh. ''… was my sister.''
Somehow my mind had enough shocks for a single day and decided it needed a reboot.
That being said I passed out on the spot.
The combination of exhaustion, wounds, and jaw dropping surprises were just too much for me.
Within a dark room a man sat and was silently watching a crystal ball. A battle between a lone swordsman and a deformed monstrosity being unfolded within it. The man's smile growing ever so slightly as he saw the sheer determination of the sword wielder as he faced the foe before him.
Unbeknownst to him a man with grey hair stepped into the room. ''Well boss we managed to track down that potential recruit you wanted.''
''Did you now?'' the man hummed at this, never taking his eyes off the crystal ball. ''Will she join us out of her own volition, or will have to be more persuasive with her?''
The grey haired man simply scoffed. ''Fifty-fifty if I were to be fair. She recently had a bit of an ethical squabble with her superiors at the church so she may be more inclined to join us. If I go personally the chances will go up since the two of us are old friends.''
A smirk spread on his face. ''Then you will accompany me when I go and recruit her.''
''Roger that.'' His comrade nodded as he walked behind him, peaking at the fight his boss was watching, curiosity sparking in him as he saw the red haired youth suddenly unleash a wave of magical weapons at the inhuman abomination. The man almost choked when he saw this, the sheer number of holy weapons and their quality was simply ridiculous. Now he was really curious. ''Who is that by the way?''
''Oh, him?'' A bemused smile formed on the man's face, it truly was a genius move when he had the members of his faction infiltrate the underworld black market and had them sell magically enhanced items. Not only were they able to accumulate war funds for his future plans, but also it also served as a source of Intel since all the items had an advance form of clairvoyance magic placed on them that worked like surveillance cameras. He knew that he would gain valuable Intel at one point or another but never did he dream he would find such a valuable gem in the filthy hands of the devils. ''A very intriguing candidate for our faction.''
The majestic spear he held in his opposite hand glowed in a dim yet divine light in response to his feelings.
Things are bound get very interesting.
Omake: (Warning EX-Rank level of cringe, read at your own risk)
Saji stared with blank eyes at the frozen landscape, ignoring the fact the Shirou just passed out. Somehow after all the shit he went through today his mind just decided to not give a damn anymore. ''Wow… she really 'let it go' didn't she?''
There was a collective cringe from the group at this line, Tsubasa for one looked like she bit on an especially sour lemon. ''… Saji there is no word in the Japanese, English, or whatever language you want that is strong enough to describe how cringe inducing that was.''
''I thought it was funny.'' Ruruko muttered somewhat embarrassed.
''Of course you would think that Ruruko.'' Reya rolled her eyes as she knew why her friend had said that.
''Could be worse.'' Tomoe remarked. ''At least no one is singing the song.''
Momo for one had enough of this idiocy and just face palmed herself. ''What kind of retard would do that in a situation like this?!''
Sona just sighed as her left eye twitched and she rubbed her forehead, if only she knew.
Song: FROZEN | Let It Go
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A voice could be heard through the frozen corridors of the Zepar base.
A kingdom of isolation
And it looks like I'm the queen
Every inch and every corner of the base was now frozen solid, an image that would have looked right at home within the underworld region of Cocytus.
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I've tried
The bodies of the peerage that had fought that day where all now just frozen statues, their last expressions of fear and horror forever carved from when they tried to escape the icy calamity that engulfed them.
Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
In the middle of the room where the Sitri peerage made their last stand someone was spinning innocently in the middle of it all.
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
Well, now they know
She danced around an ice statue like a child, small sparks of ice flying around her forming into small frozen flowers as they hit the ground. A very beautiful yet very deadly display of her powers over and skillful manipulation over ice.
Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
The body of Segrif Zepar sat frozen in place with a look of pure and undiluted despair forever etched upon his visage. The figure radiated an aura of primal fear that can no longer forget the utter horror of what he had felt before him. Whether it was from what the woman had did to him, or from hearing her horrible singing voice the cause remained unknown.
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
Serafall Leviathan then turned around smug smile, winking and blowing a kiss as if someone was there watching her.
The cold never bothered me anyway
Author notes:
Yeah… can't believe I did that omake.
My little sister recently made me watch Frozen with her and that damn song just stuck in my head and before I knew it I wrote that thing. Though when you think about it, that song fits Serafall scarily well.
Oh and apparently when Serafall is angered beyond reasoning she looks like Gon Freecss when he went berserk in his fight with Pitou… yeah…
Ok so usually Serafall is introduced in the open class thing in most fics so I decided to introduce her in a more memorable way. Just a heads up to Shirou that the wannabe magical girl must not be angered, forget Sirzechs and his Super Devil Swagger, Serafall is the one that is to be feared.
While she may be a childish and kind person by nature, if you mess with Sona… well you saw what happened.
Well at least we can all agree that Segrif got what he deserved in the end. No more dealing with the obnoxious prick. Hope my next OC won't suck like him, but hey, he is a stereotypical devil noble, so it's kinda mandatory that he is hated. Also must point out that when Shirou use Hrunting on it it wasn't in its magic bullet from, it was shot a any other arrow... or sword in this case, and that's why it didn't explode on contact and simply screwed him, so the whole bit about him surviving doesn't seem that impossible.
I wonder if it was a bad move on my part to introduce Sairaorg and skip his fight with the lion?
About Shahnaz, I will conclude her character next chapter. So there is no need to worry that she will become a plot device that can repair everything if it goes to shit.
As you can see this chapter had a decent length and if you combine it with the previous one it would have been one huge thing to read so it had to be split in two. So originally the arc was supposed to have 4 chapters left, and i end it in two. I tried listening to my readers and speed things up so there were some things that i had to cut.
Some people are probably wondering where do I go from here. Well next chapter is an interlude and a new arc starts after that, my last arc.
No, not the last arc I'm writing, my last original arc before the canon timeline kicks in.
Anyways I won't go into details, but next arc will only involve Shirou alone, so no other Sitri members for a while. On the other hand some other canon characters will make appearances and be involved, but no it won't be the main Gremory guys, it will some other dxd characters that don't really get attention. While it may seem pointless and I could just jump ahead to the canon time frame, i need it to set up some events for future alterations.
Also next chapter will shed some light regarding Shirou's unusual devil condition, so those who waited a long time for that, please wait a little longer. Since it wont involve any battle scenes it may be done much faster than the last one.
In other news I want to thank all the people who added me on FGO, I was fairly surprised, I half-filled my list. Also bind your accounts, I didn't do that and I almost lost mine last week, I really dodged that bullet and by some miracle I was able recover it just in time to grind the hell out of the Christmas event on the very last day and I got my first saber face (if you don't count Bedivere).
Now about the Np's that appeared in this chapter
Hrunting: Hound of the Red Plains
Owner: Beowulf
Abilities: Same as canon
Type: Anti-Unit
Rank: A
Range: 1
Maximum number of targets: 1 person
Don't forget to review... no seriously review; I could use some constructive criticism.
