FATE/CATBOX FICTION
Chapter 32: The Enemy On Both Sides
Inside the Clock Tower's meeting room within the belfry, the assembled Mage Lords could not believe what they were looking at. Some gigantic steampunk monstrosity of a cat had emerged from a massive Gate and terrorized all of London's citizens. Due to their high vantage point, the gobsmacked Mages were looking directly into the cat's shining yellow eyes… and it appeared as though it was staring right back at them.
"Wha… W-What abomination is this!?" the Gaiuslink Lord yelped, nearly falling off his seat as he tried to scramble for the exit. One of the Enforcers stomped her foot upon his back and jammed her spear into his shoulder, causing him to cry in anguish.
"This cannot be… Lancer of Akakor has become one of the Evils of Humanity?" Rufleus murmured.
"No, you ancient corpse," 19-Y replied, remaining as calm as ever. "Mother just said she was an Artificial Beast. She doesn't consider herself to be strong enough to stand with the real seven Beasts. Besides, she doesn't really need to destroy humanity as a whole – her raison d'etre is to just render Mages extinct."
"But look at the size of that thing! If she rampages like this, she's going to kill ordinary citizens regardless!"
"That's what we're here for."
As 19-Y said this, she and her sisters' humanoid forms began melting as inky puddles of colored mud. The warrior-type Enforcers reconstituted into hideous cats that could murder entire crowds of warriors with a single slash of their grotesque talons. 19-Y was programmed to be a clerical-type Enforcer, so her transformation was not as jarring – she was now an ordinary Korat, with fluffy grey fur and glistening violet eyes that could stare into one's soul if gazed upon long enough. Her mouth retained that obnoxiously vapid smile as she strutted along the table as if she owned the place.
"I see it now," Inorai muttered bitterly. Unable to use her Magecraft to fight back, she quietly sunk back into her seat and glared daggers at 19-Y. "It was Lancer herself who sent you girls to serve us, not the Family Tree. She wanted to render us Mages impotent by relying on you for every last thing, right down to cooking our meals and running menial errands for us. Then when the time came…"
"Astute as always, madam," the cat replied psychically as she daintily stretched her body. "Yes, it's exactly as you say. Without the Gates, your Magic Circuits, and us Enforcers to help hoist you on your petards, you Mages are little more than sentient sacks of meat. How does it feel, being reduced to an ordinary human that your kind would gladly sacrifice for their experiments?"
"That's still one thing I don't understand. Why are we unable to use our Magecraft, or summon Servants?"
"You know about the Nega abilities that the Beasts possess? Mother's is Nega-Lineage, a manifestation of her hatred toward Mages culminating as total nullification of all Magic Circuits across the globe. A nice little gift from the fetid desires of man that tainted the Grail Terminal, which was one of many factors that caused her soul to decay so much."
"…"
"If you want anyone to blame for this, point your fingers at Marquis de Sade. Whether he knew it or not, he was the one who set this world's future towards a path of inevitable destruction."
"…"
"Oh my, cat got your tongue? He he, that's fine with me. I'm getting tired of talking with you anyway. Even if you somehow escape from us, Mother will devastate this place so much that not even the cute little mice taking shelter in Albion's corpse will be safe. Girls, if you would please."
On 19-Y's command, the other Enforcers immediately ravaged the entire meeting room and anyone within it. Blades, teeth, and air sickles lashed our everywhere, destroying tables and chairs, tearing up the fancy Persian rugs, and slicing apart the Twelve Lords in a savage display of carnage and mayhem. Inorai barely got out of her seat when her stomach was carved clean through, ripping her into two and causing her upper body to collapse to the ground. The elderly woman lay there on her side, staring ahead at nothing in particular. Her mind numb from the pain, she could only make out quick flashes of movement. The sounds she heard were especially disturbing – the elongated, distorted howls of giant cats, and the sickening crunches of fresh meat as they feasted on her butchered colleagues.
Inorai's mind wandered to the distant past, when she was an inexperienced Mage in her 20s studying under Giselle Brugger in Akakor. The Akakor Grail War was just about to start in September 1925, and Giselle had summoned her Servant as a representative for the Family Tree's Conservative Faction. Inorai had met that Servant only once, shortly before she left Akakor. That one meeting was still vivid in her memory, since her young, immature self was taken aback by how such a petite little child could ever function as a full-fledged Lancer-class Servant.
Yet, the little girl was never insulted. In fact, Inorai's indignation barely seemed to matter to her. As Inorai began to board her plane back to London – a Junkers F 13, considered state of the art in 1925 – the unnamed child Lancer hurried as fast as she could to bring some luggage that the Mage had forgotten. Huffing and puffing, the girl uttered some of the kindest words Inorai ever heard in her embittered life as a Mage shuffling through the petty and scandalous political sphere of Mages:
"Please take care, Lady Valuleta. Master and I will pray for your safe return home."
How did Inorai never figure it out until now? How did she not realize that the Enforcers possessed the same face as that Lancer? Could she have done something to save Giselle's Servant from enduring such a brutal fate? As those questions raced through her mind, her eyes slowly closed as she eventually slipped off her mortal coil, never to awaken again.
19-Y hopped off the destroyed table, callously strutted past the dead Inorai like she wasn't there, then leapt onto the window facing the Artificial Beast. She sat upon the windowsill and stared at the behemoth cat. She wasn't afraid at all. She just purred quietly and gazed forth. The meeting room was completely silent now. With the Lords dead and the rest of the Mage's Association in total disarray, the other Enforcers had left to hunt down more victims that were trying to escape from the Artificial Beast's presence.
Then the cat quickly glanced up to the sky. The clear afternoon sky seemed to possess a peculiar hint of murkiness, as if a solar eclipse slowly started to darken London.
"You must hurry, Mother," 19-Y urged. "The Pruning has already begun. Complete your revenge, then escape before this timeline is erased."
Cliste Alter – now officially calling herself Nagual – heard 19-Y's warning and nodded quietly. The Thurisaz Rune was growing stronger and stronger as she allowed it to absorb as much magical energy as it wanted. As it was a Rune representing the brute force that the Norse giants once possessed, its potency increased so much that it could be equivalent to wielding a clenched fist from such a titan. Once she felt it was ready, she pointed up into the sky directly above the Clock Tower, and the Rune shot forth as a thin beam from her finger. It rematerialized as a gigantic magic circle hovering over the facility, encasing the surrounding area in a cylindrical barrier.
Nagual balled her hands together into a singular fist, raised her arms over her head, then slammed down like a hammer. The Rune responded to her motions, and the magic circle became a 'ceiling' that instantly smashed upon the Clock Tower. The devastation that followed was absolutely harrowing for Waver to watch. He trembled helplessly as he watched his former alma mater be decimated beneath the Rune's destructive might. He couldn't imagine how many teachers, classmates, staff, and other folks had been instantly crushed to death. Even more than that though, he wondered what would have happened to him had he remained at the academy. His eyes followed the giant clock face on the tower as it crashed upon the ruined streets – it was the only thing that remained relatively intact from the destruction.
"Mr. Velvet…" Lexy moaned worriedly as she watched the teenager panic.
Nagual didn't care about what anyone present thought of her rampage. Keeping her back turned to the Chaldeans as they struggled against her Enforcers, she thought about what to do next.
This should throw the rest of the civilized world into total chaos. By the time they're able to mobilize against the Beast, I will have already left this world behind to face its destined Pruning. Yet, if the Atlas Institute become involved in the countermeasures, that could become a problem.
She was aware of how Atlas was an organization comprised of alchemists who developed weapons and devices of such incredible power that they were forbidden from leaving its halls. Nagual didn't want to imagine what sort of tools they could use on her when she had only just woken up as a juvenile Beast… and not even a real one, at that. Maybe the alchemists would have trouble against the genuine Beasts, but due to her nature as a false Beast, she still possessed a number of weaknesses that could be exploited. There was also the interlopers from Chaldea that she needed to be concerned of. While she didn't have to worry about Mages and/or their Servants attacking her from the outside, she didn't like having the Chaldeans running amok in her personal sanctuary. Should she get rid of them now and risk giving Atlas enough time to prepare? Or should she rush straight to Egypt and annihilate the alchemists, hoping the Enforcers would do their job well enough?
As Nagual stood there on the platform Rune wondering what to do, she sensed an indomitable presence quickly closing in on her. She whirled around and spotted Cuchulainn as he leapt from the many pieces of rubbles to reach her height.
"CONNLAAA!" he raged, then descended upon her while madly swinging Gae Bolg. Nagual leapt backwards to avoid a potentially lethal attack, then clumsily tumbled and hopped along some more platform Runes, keeping her stance low so she could somersault beneath his frenzied spear swings. When she found an opening, she conjured a Ken Rune between her cupped hands, then unleashed a focused burst of wind at Cuchulainn's chest. This sent both of them flying into opposite directions – him towards the Artificial Beast's open maw, and her further into the Preservatorium.
In a panic, Cuchulainn realized he was going to fall outside and be caught in Nagual's Nega-Lineage, which would prevent Ritsuka from maintaining his Spirit Origin. He screamed while plummeting, but kept his wits together enough to grab one of the Beast's giant metallic fangs and swing his body several times around it like a pole. The momentum allowed him to circle back into the monster, and he glared around for where his opponent escaped.
Nagual descended upon the Chaldeans like a rocket, keeping her eyes trained on Ritsuka as she issued commands to all of the Servants. In the back of her mind, she thought, It's a shame, but I'll have to leave Atlas to be eradicated by the Pruning. Getting rid of these two Mages is far more important right now.
She landed in a crouching position, wielding her obsidian spear behind her back. She noticed movement, and three familiar figures rushed in to block her way.
"That's quite enough, little miss," Spartacus implored. "We don't want to fight you, but if you insist on continuing this oppressive riot, I will have no choice but to rebel against you!"
Leonidas nodded. "He's right. None of us want you to do something that you will regret. By my honor as the King of Sparta, I will make you see reason!"
Sanson appeared disturbed as he murmured, "I failed to notice how terrible your insanity had become. I understand that you want to exact revenge on the Mages, but this is not the way to do it. Now that you have spilled too much blood on your hands, I must do my duty and help you rest in peace."
Nagual didn't seem particularly moved by their conviction. If it had been Cliste, she would have been tormented from having to fight her friends from the Nevada Singularity. Since it was Nagual though, she only saw them as total strangers. Her glare was cold as she retorted in a low grumble, "See if I care."
The Caretakers attempted to surround her, and she calmly ran straight at them. She didn't want to waste time screwing around with these guys, so she sent a silent command for some of the Enforcers to intercept them. She was so quick that Spartacus barely saw her jump as he swung his gladius. He glared upward, then suddenly stumbled backwards on his heels after she slammed both of her feet against his face. She leapt off and left the gladiator to fall on his back as she sailed toward Leonidas. He directed his shield upward to defend his torso, and she landed on it while stabbing her spear at his face. He parried with his own lance and batted her off with a mighty strike.
As she tumbled in midair, she spotted Sanson preparing to swing his sword at her abdomen. She twisted her body in ridiculous contortions to avoid the blade, then grabbed his messy white hair and vaulted herself onto his shoulders. She conjured a small Ansuz Rune that exploded against his back, sending him hurtling towards a surprised Leonidas. Both men collided with each other and slid along the ground as Nagual abandoned them to be overwhelmed by some Enforcers. Not only did she want to focus on killing Ritsuka or Waver, she also needed to be mindful of Cuchulainn still pursuing her. She needed to act quickly and decisively if she wanted to turn this battle in her favor.
Nagual scurried toward Ritsuka, who was standing behind Mash. The Shielder bashed a giant cat away with her weapon, then noticed the young Beast approaching.
"Get behind me, Senpai!" Mash implored to her friend, then raised her shield and chanted, "This is our homeland, which will heal and wounds and calm all anger… Manifest yourself! Lord Camelot!"
She activated her Noble Phantasm, and the shield shone bright blue with eight ethereal lines surrounding it. An image of the grand white castle Camelot materialized around her, symbolizing her stalwart resolve to protect everyone around her. With this barrier activated, it would be incredibly difficult for her enemies to cause serious harm to those around her. The protection wasn't perfect, but if one were to swing a sword at a Servant's flesh, it would be more like cutting into stone.
However, Nagual paid not attention to Mash's determined efforts. As she came closer to the lavender-haired Demi-Servant, a miniature portal that shimmered numerous hues opened between them, and the Beast hopped into it.
"What!?" Mash yelped.
Just then, an unexpected shimmer of multiple colors glowed a few feet away from Ritsuka. Nagual jumped through the luminescent portal, outright bypassing Mash's Noble Phantasm by crossing into the Kaleidoscope and reappearing wherever she pleased. In fact, Servant skills related to barriers, evasion and invincibility didn't mean anything to her since she could just teleport right past such defensive measures with ease. One might also consider that she could slip through a portal to avoid taking an offensive Noble Phantasm head-on.
Mash lost her composure and shrieked, "Senpai!"
Ritsuka barely heard her friend's outburst as her eyes met Nagual's. She readied her spear in a cleaving motion, intent on cutting off the astonished Mage's head.
CLASH!
Nagual suddenly twirled back in midair as something large and heavy repelled her attack. She elegantly landed, then vapidly stared at what had blindsided her. Right before she could kill Ritsuka, Cuchulainn managed to get between them and strike Gae Bolg against her weapon. The blow was so intense that she still felt the reverberations in her hands even a full minute later.
Cuchulainn fiercely glared at Nagual, then glowered in a deep, bitter tone, "You threatened my Master…"
Although she was looking at him, it also felt like she was ignoring him. He could tell she was in no mood for conversation – she wanted her enemies to die, no questions asked. Any other Connla would be distraught to have to fight him, but this one didn't care in the slightest. Somehow, her lack of emotion disturbed Cuchulainn more than if she were to be expressive about not wanting to duel him. As far as she was concerned, he was just another one of the idiot Mage's meat shields to dispose of. In that moment, he realized just how much of an Alter Servant she truly had become.
Even when being confronted by so many enemies at once, Nagual wasn't going to be cocky with Cuchulainn. If there was any Servant she needed to exercise the greatest amount of caution for, it was him. She remained stoic as her much larger opponent leapt directly above her and plummeted while pointing his spear at her head. She jumped back faster than one could blink, vanishing as a visible bullet of wind an instant before he violently shoved Gae Bolg into the ground. He immediately chased the small girl throughout the Preservatorium – both figures rushed and hopped along the walls and trees in a crazed frenzy. She maintained a tight defensive stance by avoiding his attacks, but was unable to find a chance to strike back as he continued madly pursuing her. She could tell that riastrad had claimed some of his sanity due to the frustration of his spear swings constantly missing her, and she grew more anxious as she gazed at his livid expression.
Although she didn't regard herself as the Heroic Spirit Connla any longer, that familiar terror she experienced when fighting Cuchulainn in her previous life was still there, deep in the back of her mind…
Damn it. Of all the hundreds of possible Servants, why did he have to show up?
"HRRAAAAAGH!" Cuchulainn screamed and swung Gae Bolg horizontally with all his might. Nagual lithely hopped over the strike, which dug through the metal wall and severed a line of wires in its destructive wake. It also caught the bottom portion of her poncho-like cloak and tore part of it off into shreds, revealing more of the black-and-red bodysuit she wore beneath. Luckily, this made it easier for her to use her obsidian spear as she dropped over him upside-down and thrust the onyx blade at his face. He raised his spiked crimson lance over his head and managed to block her. Sparks showered around them as she calmly slipped past and bounded toward where the Terminal used to be.
As Nagual landed on the greyed grass, she quickly glanced back over her shoulder and spotted Cuchulainn falling upon her as a black tailed silhouette. She thrust her free hand forth and conjured several Ansuz Runes on the ground where she expected him to land, repurposing them as impromptu land mines. The moment his feet touched the earth, the sigils exploded and engulfed him in plumes of searing flames. She retreated out of the curling smoke with a few long backward hops, hoping to lose him and return to killing Ritsuka and Waver unimpeded. She knew that the best chance she had for victory was by eliminating the only two Mages unaffected by her Nega-Lineage skill. Otherwise, she was going to be swarmed by Servants from every possible direction.
Nagual took cover behind a thick cluster of leaves on a nearby tree branch, then panned her eyes across the Preservatorium to look for the Masters. Although Ritsuka always remained behind Mash, Waver was out in the open using his spells to help fight the mutated Enforcers.
If I remember correctly, that Clock Tower Mage became a Pseudo-Servant. However, he only has one actual Servant at his disposal, and that Servant is busy trying to keep the Beast occupied. If I can get rid of that Mage, that should eliminate his Servant at least.
She quietly pounced off the branch, making sure to stay out of Cuchulainn's sight as she crept along the grass toward Waver, who was oblivious of her presence. Her dark clothes helped her blend in with the blackened foliage, although the disguise wasn't perfect. One of her white tails poked out of the grass by mistake, exposing her to another Servant as he ran directly toward her flank. Due to his Presence Concealment, Nagual didn't hear him coming until the clopping of his shoes alerted her.
"TEYAAAH!" Izo shouted and rapidly slashed his katana at precise points of her body, seeking to cut out her vital organs as efficiently as possible. She managed to roll out of the way, but not in time to avoid suffering some deep lacerations to her arms, legs and abdomen. She spun her spear and engaged in a vicious duel with him for several intense seconds. Although she fended him off well enough, she was baffled as to why he was responding to her attacks with such frightening accuracy.
In truth, Izo remembered all of the skills that Connla used in his fight with her earlier, and realized that Nagual was using the same techniques. His prior experience with Connla allowed him to read Nagual's movements and anticipate what she was going to do next. Since the Terminal's influence did not extend to the jungle on Akakor's surface level, Nagual did not know about that particular fight happening. Izo certainly wasn't going to tell her anything – he enjoyed the thrill of gaining a major advantage over his opponent, then butchering them to pieces without giving them a chance to think about why they were so weak.
With a powerful upward strike, Izo blasted Nagual off her feet and sent her flying backwards, slamming against a tree. He roared and pointed his blade at her heart, seeking to stab through it. To his surprise, Nagual quickly opened a multicolored portal behind her and practically melted into the tree backwards, disappearing moments before the fatal blow could hit her. She emerged in a second portal behind Cuchulainn, who was busy watching Izo's fight with her. He noticed her and yelped as he saw her conjure a Ken Rune, toppling him away with a concentrated wind torrent. He tumbled along the grass in the same direction that Izo was heading toward, leaving them on an imminent collision course. Reacting on instinct and shock, Izo swiped his sword at Cuchulainn's spear as they narrowly missed gouging each other out.
"'Ey, watch where yer goin', asshole!" the ronin barked angrily. "Do ya want me t'skewer ya or somethin'!?"
"Don't get too wrought up, punk," the spearman retorted with a snide smirk. "Whenever the kid's overwhelmed by multiple enemies, one of her favorite tactics is turning them against each other."
"Shit! Slippery lil' rodent!"
As Cuchulainn and Izo argued with each other, Nagual scurried along the grass to find a new hiding spot. She struggled to think of a new plan to thin out the number of Servants before she could consider killing the Masters.
Maybe if I lure them close enough to the Beast's mouth, I could blow them back outside with a Rune and let my Nega-Lineage-
Before she could finish that thought, an intense burst of bright white light stunned her. Since her eyes were already used to the darkness, the sudden flash made her eyeballs scream in agony. She gasped and clawed at her eyes to protect them, furious that she had no idea what the hell was going on. In that moment, a third Servant joined the fray by throwing a flash grenade in front of Nagual's face as she was fleeing from the other two warriors. Due to the very darkness she relied on to get around, she failed to see the black object being lobbed in front of her until it was too late.
Before Nagual could regain her vision, she heard someone running up to her and shouting in a deep voice, "Chronos Rose!"
She didn't understand what was happening. A knife or short sword gouged her flesh at blinding speed, not allowing for her to get a read on her opponent's previous strike before she was sliced into again. The Servant finished his onslaught with a particularly strong strike to her face that made her tumble along the ground for several feet. When the livid child looked up, she could finally see Kiritsugu aiming his Thompson Contender at her forehead. He pulled the trigger, and her widened eyes became disturbingly blank. Somehow, through reflexes that would make gods jealous, Nagual nudged her head to one side a fraction of a millisecond before the bullet could hit her. It struck her hair, leaving behind a clean circle upon the short white locks. For just those few moments, Nagual and Kiritsugu's glares seemed to compete with each other to see who's gaze was chillier.
She was backed into a corner, with the three Servants blocking any potential escape for her. Although she wasn't perturbed from fighting a three-on-one battle, she was certainly growing more annoyed with their resistance. She shifted her eyes toward Waver's group, who were protecting the still-asleep Connla from the Enforcers.
Damn it, Geal. This is all your fault. If you had just minded your business and concerned yourself with your world's problems…
"Now we've gotcha right where we want ya," Izo taunted as he pointed his katana at her.
"Don't get cocky," Kiritsugu warned him. "They say a cornered animal is when it's most dangerous."
"Hmph. She isn't going anywhere," Cuchulainn smirked. A potent crimson aura engulfed Gae Bolg like tickling flames. If he could activate the spear's curse, there would be no way for her to escape. Even if she retreated into her portals, it would defy logic and follow her endlessly until it pierced her heart. That was absolutely the one Noble Phantasm which Nagual could not allow to be deployed – her fate as the Child of Cuchulainn, who died from Gae Bolg's curse, would guarantee death for her, and that outcome would be repeated every time she was summoned as a Servant. Although she admitted that she had a multitude of flaws despite manifesting as a false Beast, that was the one she was most frightened of.
Without batting an eyelash, she stepped one foot forth, raised her black polearm before her in an elegant pose, and closed her eyes in concentration. In an eerily calm voice, she murmured, "Necoc Yaotl." †
Before the three Servants could do anything, a waft of acrid grey smoke enveloped them in a whirlwind. Soon, they discovered that they were standing in a black mountain range comprised almost entirely of obsidian, likewise darkened by the starry night sky. No one other than Nagual was present with them. The change in scenery was so dramatic that Kiritsugu could only attribute it to one thing;
"You're trapping us in a Reality Marble, huh?"
She didn't reply.
"Big mistake, kid," Cuchulainn smirked. "You should've used a Noble Phantasm that would've killed me then and there. Now you'll never get another opportunity like that."
Although she wasn't laughing at him, the tiny twinge in her eye was her equivalent of howling in mirth at his stupidity. She then asked, "Who said that was the only Noble Phantasm I was going to use?"
"Gh!?"
As Iskandar and Lexy continued fending themselves against the horde of mutant cats, Waver rested Connla's head on his arm and shouted, "Hey, wake up already!"
"It's no use," Roman told him through the communicator. "She's not going to respond no matter what you do."
"Is she all right?"
"She must have slipped into one of her vivid dreams the moment Cliste's Alter woke up. Heck, she could be paying a visit to Cliste as we speak."
"So what do we do in the meantime? We can't just fight against these things forever!"
Da Vinci frowned hard, which was incredibly rare for the cheerful inventor, as she murmured, "I'm more worried about something else."
"What is it?"
"Alter called herself Nagual. What is that supposed to be, anyway? It doesn't look like a trait belonging to either the Nekomata or Schrodinger's Cat."
Sigurd, who was standing next to Roman in Chaldea's Command Center, replied, "That term came up several times in my research into South American lore and culture. If Europe has the werewolf, then Mesoamerica has the nagual. It is essentially a human with the ability to shapeshift into an animal, with the jaguar being the most prominent due to the Aztec belief of it being the bravest of beasts and the symbol of war. It's also said that the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca had a nagual form of his own, which was indeed the jaguar."
"So you're suggesting that Alter has been influenced by Tezcatlipoca somehow?"
"I wasn't entirely sure at first, but when I saw that obsidian spear of hers, that confirmed it for me. Tezcatlipoca is a god of many concepts such as the night sky, hurricanes, obsidian, jaguars, and conflict, to name a few. Due to Akakor being located in South America, some of Tezcatlipoca's influence may have tampered with the Grail Terminal and burrowed its way into Cliste's heavily-damaged Spirit Origin."
"So she represents three different types of famous felines, not just two!?" Roman blurted.
"So it would seem. Schrodinger's Cat hid her mutation from the Counter Force, Nekomata was repurposed for the Artificial Beast and the Enforcers, and Tezcatlipoca affected her personal combat capabilities. All of that on top of Connla's cranial Runes and the Terminal granting her the Second Magic, allowing her to jump between parallel worlds."
"A Beast that can escape the Counter Force by leaping across dimensions…" Roman murmured in horror. He suddenly clenched his teeth as he yelled, "Hey, do you know what this means!?"
"Unfortunately, I am already aware of what this insinuates," Sigurd murmured. His glasses sparkled unexpectedly as he cried out, "She is more than capable of coming to our world and attacking Chaldea directly!"
All of Chaldea's technicians and Servants who were present blanched in terror. Roman slammed his hands against the console and barked, "As if the stakes couldn't get any higher than this! We have to find a way to destroy Nagual so that she doesn't jump to our world and destroy Chaldea! If she does, we can kiss our chances at stopping the Incineration of Humanity good-bye!"
Waver raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Incineration of Humanity?"
"Ah, that's nothing for you to worry about. Our world, our problems, and all that," Da Vinci dismissed him. "I must say though, I'm willing to bet the King of Mages is having a good laugh at our expense."
"Ahhh, this is a total disaster!" Roman gasped and grabbed his hair. He quickly faced Sigurd and ordered, "Get every Servant available on standby mode! We need to be absolutely ready for such a worst case scenario!"
"I'm on it!" the swordsman replied and ran off.
"Da Vinci, analyze Nagual's Spirit Origin and determine if there is any sort of weakness we can exploit!"
"Already doing that," the inventor reported as she typed fervently in front of a monitor.
As Roman continued issuing orders to the technicians, all he could really do in the meantime was pray that Ritsuka's team could kill Nagual before the situation escalated any further than this.
Nagual glared ferociously at Cuchulainn, Kiritsugu and Izo. She hunched forward unnaturally and made her spear disappear in a furry of black smoke. Her red eyes widened, almost morphing into a cat-like shape, and her mutating hands gradually became covered in white fur. Her legs bulged and shifted like tumors. She began whispering some shockingly familiar words:
"Slaughter, without exception. Liberate all curses, without moderation."
Cuchulainn couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was attempting to use Curruid Coinchenn against them!? The familiar dark aura engulfed Nagual's entire form, obscuring her grotesque transformation from their view. When the aura dissipated however, no was was prepared for what emerged from the haze.
As her namesake implied, Nagual had morphed from a human into some sort of half-human, half-feline hybrid. While her upper body was human, her lower body transformed to that of a white-furred cat standing on its hind legs. Her lower arms and hands were replaced with crimson blades parodying the Curruid Coinchenn talons. The claws on her feline feet were just as long and spiky. Her thorny twin tails looked very similar to Cuchulainn's massive centipede-like tail, except that hers were white instead of black.
However, none of that registered in the horrified trio's minds. The only thing they focused on was her face… or lack thereof. The child's face looked as though it had been scooped out with a giant spoon, leaving behind nothing but a pure black void in its place.
She focused her freakish face on Cuchulainn, and continued murmuring in a chilling echo, "Be prepared to face despair itself."
All he could helplessly gasp was, "Connla…"
What followed was pure carnage. Whereas Curruid Coinchenn was a display of brute strength, this strange parody of it was a bloodier version of Laoch Gan Finsceal's blinding speed and precision. Nagual's claws slashed back and forth with such intensity and fervor that tiny swishing sounds could be heard even from outside the Reality Marble. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of lacerations covered Cuchulainn's body, soaking his bodysuit in blood. Countless droplets of blood spattered the ground and trees like bright red paint. Soon, she leapt in front of him and conjured a black mass of pure hated in front of her dominant claw. He couldn't do anything except grit his teeth and bear the inevitable agony.
She thrust her talon into his chest, then released the name of her Noble Phantasm in that same creepy whisper:
"Tepeyollotl." ††
Several variants of the original Connla's leaf-bladed spear exploded out of Cuchulainn's back, spraying blood everywhere behind him that showered upon Kiritsugu and Izo.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
† - One of Tezcatlipoca's epithets, which means, "the enemy on both sides."
†† - The Aztec god of darkened caves, earthquakes, echoes, and jaguars. It's said that Tezcatlipoca wore Tepeyollotl's animal skin as a disguise to trick gods into not knowing who he was. This blends together Connla's Identity Concealment and how Cu Alter wears the bones of Curruid for his Noble Phantasm.
