Fate/Division by Zero
Chapter 7
Sidequest – Part 2
That moment
Tohsaka Manor
Tokiomi picked up his glass of whiskey, only for it to crack from the rim downwards. Some of the brown liquid began to seep through the line of distorted crystal, chilling his thumb.
"Something wrong? Max asked as he gently reloaded the magazine of his Ingram.
"I'm not sure..."
He placed his glass down on the table. Tokiomi wasn't foolish enough to believe in superstition. Facts and magic were all he placed his faith in. Omens and portents of doom were just figments of his imagination, tingles of dread stemming from fears in his past. None of them related to the present and what he was facing at this moment.
Nevertheless, there were always those tiny nerve endings tingling at the back of his neck which got to him. They weren't tickled by wind, nor were they an itch waiting to be scratched. This was the anti-thesis to the frisson, that exhilarating effect and chills from listening to your favourite audio or moving scene in a film.
Tokiomi felt the dread descending his spine, chilling him literally as his skin cells reacted to the imaginary cold. He felt a hunger in his stomach, his digestive juices started to react violently from this feeling, as the unease grew exponentially.
"Something's wrong, Max. I can't put my finger on it..."
Expanding his senses outwards, the Servant frowned, "I'm not getting anything unusual from the surroundings."
"I don't think it's related to my boundary. It's just a feeling." He tried to wave it off, only for Max to click the magazine into place in the Ingram.
"A gut feeling?" He looked up at his Master's eyes, "I've taught myself that while it can be ignored, there's always a reason for it. Are you getting any inkling of what it could be?"
"No, that's the problem." Tokiomi shut his eyes, "I just don't know where this is coming from."
"If you're not sure, we should wait here until night to find Caster. It's dangerous to run to a possibility if you don't know where it could be stemming from. It'd make us an open target to other Masters."
Tokiomi sighed, "You're right... I don't know what's going on, but we've got to be careful."
Staring at the small pool of liquid on his coaster, the Tohsaka's mind began to race in accordance with his pulse.
10:30pm
Einzbern Castle
As the streets emptied of people returning home from work and nightly establishments, Maya returned with every form of merchandise she could find regarding Saber, or Link as his True Name was listed. Thankfully, there seemed to be a misconception regarding his name since there were name users calling him Zelda in those shops, where in fact it related to the Princess in the story.
Kiritsugu promptly threw all of the items into the fireplace, bar one copy of each game and console, in order to erase its existence. He stored the copies, which would be used for research, in his safe hidden in the manor. There wasn't any time to play the games sadly, but Navi was irritatingly helpful in describing their adventures in gleeful detail. She apparently shared memories with Link of that time, even though she wasn't around to experience it herself.
After she got too curious about the Contender and squashed herself into the barrel, with just the wings poking out Kiritsugu threated to fire one of his precious bullets into her. A forced departure later, Midna materialised sending Navi away.
"She is kinda excitable, but I like that about her. Don't blame her for being so cheery all the time."
"Be that as it may, it does distract from our job, which is to end this war." He glanced up at her, "Not that fighting to save your own fictional world isn't hard."
"Tell me about it. I know our lives are just the figments of a development team, but what we went through was real. Reality in your world is very different." She floated over to him, "So, why did you request for me now?"
"I know your abilities from the fight you were in. I was more interested in your recon abilities." He looked down as her floating figure seemed to latch onto his shadow. "You can move from shadow to shadow? Are you attached to Saber always? How far can you travel?"
Midna smirked, liking his way of thinking.
"I'm not a fully-fledged Servant, I'm just a familiar of Link. I don't have the necessary power to manifest on my own in this form. While I haven't tested this here, if I push myself, I could give you a range of 500 metres."
Kiritsugu sat at the table with Midna floating cross-legged in front of him.
"I'm not like that Assassin you faced; I don't have Presence Concealment to such an extent. At most, I could be a scout for you. It would take a bit of Link's mana though to keep a lookout for long periods."
"Every advantage we have would be good, but I don't want it to be a detriment to our Servant." He looked at Midna closely, "Are there more familiars I can communicate with?"
"There's only one more, though I'm not sure he's going to call her out."
A news report appeared on the TV, Kiritsugu unmuted it to hear the reporter.
"... explosions were heard in the docks of Fuyuki harbour. Police were dispatched to the scene to find the bodies of the recent missing persons. We've been informed that the police are looking for an extremely dangerous individual, one that must be psychologically unsound. They've requested assistance in order to identify the bodies. Currently there are no suspects and no eyewitnesses..."
"Excellent, if it was in the docks, that would make sense. Caster's yellow robots would be easy to hide there. He probably some other means to hide his presence too, so we can't expect anything more in terms of what the police would find."
"So, if they found it, this means he left his workshop. He's either setting up a new one..."
"Or is ready to move on to something else. He has a plan in mind, and I don't know what it is."
Meanwhile
Outskirts of Fuyuki
A small hand clutched a faintly glowing device which resembled a compass, only it didn't point North. The twin-pigtailed girl panted, feeling the cold air of night reach her bones. Placing it back in her pocket, she turned a corner.
Rin shivered inside her small red coat as she walked through the streets, tracing the path of the magic left from when her mother disappeared. The empty streets didn't seem welcoming, and there was a heavy feeling in the air, as if it were the high pressure just before a rainstorm was approaching.
Exhaling, her breath was visible in the air before dissipating, and her rosy cheeks began to sting. Covering her face with her hands as she walked heating herself up, she didn't notice the tall man as she bumped into him.
"Ahh, I'm sorry, sir."
She backed meekly away, and then felt the compass vibrate in her pocket, glowing wildly through her jacket. The person in front of her was off the charts in terms of magical energy. He had to be the one who spirited away her mother, as his eyes held a faint blue outline.
Taking a stance, she prepared the small amount on magic in her hands to hurt him as he reached out with his own massive hand.
Only for him to pat her head, rubbing it softly.
"Who are you? Where are your parents?" He shook his head, "This time of night, in this cold, is no place for a child." The gentle hand retracted from her and pulled out a small furry hat from his bag, "Wear this, it will keep you warm."
As he handed it to her, Rin spotted a younger man next to him, though it was more like a child in comparison.
"Are you okay Ri-" He paused at seeing the girl, "Oh, hello there, are you lost?"
The compass glow faded slightly, but was still bright enough to show that this boy was a mage as well. She traced the area with her eyes, trying to figure out a way to escape, or hide, since the only mages in Fuyuki right now were part of the Holy Grail War. Being enhanced by magic meant they would catch her easily, but she was small, and could easily squeeze into small gaps to vanish.
Just as she was about to do that, a noise startled all of them, followed by a massive wave of energy.
"Did you hear that?" The tall man turned away, and looked off at the mountain, "It sounded like the earth parted."
"You mean an earthquake? That would last longer here."
Rin's compass demanded to be held, and so she pulled it out surreptitiously, and it pointed directly at the mountain in question.
"It's not an earthquake, I think it's very dangerous there."
"We should find a police station for you, that way you'll be safe there." The boy said.
"I'm looking for my mother, she went missing." She spotted how the boy started a bit, "Who are you?"
"Heh, sorry, my name is Waver, and this is my friend, Ri-yan, yeah Ryan."
"Well, it's only fair I give my name too." She sniffed huffily, "My name is Rin."
"Nice to meet you, Rin." 'Ryan' smiled down at her, "I hope the hat fits."
Indeed, when Rin felt the fur on it, it felt unique and real. Homemade stitch marks lined the inside of the fur hat, with a section to cover her ears, and a small leather strap to keep it on in case the wind picked up.
Placing it on her head, the heat grew exponentially, until it felt like she was lying in bed. The heat passed through her body, despite only her head and ears being covered.
"Wow, this is really good, thanks, Ryan." She had to smile a little when looking up at him.
"Keep it, I can make more." His eyes narrowed as they flitted to one side, "I think we should take you to a police station, now. We need to investigate that explosion."
Waver was also moving closer to Ryan, sensing something wasn't right.
Rin sighed, "Thanks for the hat, Rider, I'll treasure it forever." She looked up earnestly at his pained expression, "Waver," She looked at the boy, "My mother is missing, is there a Servant here that can teleport?"
"A-Aah..." The flustered boy now began to scratch his neck, "I-I don't know what you mean..."
"There's no point hiding it, Waver. 'Ryan' here has far too much magical energy to be a normal human, so unless he's a Dead Apostle, he has to be your Servant." She sighed, putting her hands on her hips, "My father is Tokiomi Tohsaka, the Master of Archer." Rider growled a little, "I think a Servant, or someone close to them, teleported my mother, because it left a magical signature here. And that explosion is pure magical energy."
She pulled out the compass, to which Waver gestured to borrow. He looked it over and nodded, "I've heard of these. They're rare, but simple enough to use." He placed his hand on it and felt energy wash over him, "It's got to be Caster..."
Rider looked over at Waver, "Then there's no time left, we have to get there, now. His workshop was just a prelude, and now he has someone with power." Rider's modern-day outfit reverted to his steel and fur-lined garb for battle, "We must hurry."
"Sorry, Rin, but we have to leave you here, it's too dangerous."
She lunged forwards and gripped Waver by his waist, "I'm not letting you leave an innocent girl alone. Take me there too. My father and the other Masters should already be on their way there."
Staring down at those furious eyes, Waver faltered, and Rider chuckled, "That's a strong girl. Just like my Sofie, with a burning heart to keep the cold hills of Windhelm away." He patted Waver on the shoulder, "Master, you're going to have to hold onto her tightly. We're taking a shortcut."
"What do you mean by -"
"MEY ONT PAAK!"
Within seconds, the dragon rose from beneath them, phasing through the tarmac, and having them land on the dragon's back immediately, as it rose above the city, then wings beating hard to create a sudden burst of speed and high winds for the unwary neighbours beneath.
Rin squeaked as she grasped at the dragon scales, trying to get a hold, but Waver held his arms around her to keep her safe. She began to lean into him, and closed her eyes as the distance from the ground grew.
"How long ago was your mother taken?" Waver asked as Rider took the lead, guiding the dragon.
"A few hours ago. I can't get in contact with my father, so I chose to track her down myself."
"Why didn't you just go to him yourself?"
"There's no easy way to find him, he might not be at home. Or worse, he could be fighting with the others."
"But, why did you trust me?" Waver asked as the dragon breached the edge of the city, heading over the forest, "I'm a Master too."
"That's true, but out of everyone, father mentioned that you were the most reasonable person, apart from Kirei Kotomine."
"I... I suppose I should take that as a compliment." He felt his ears pop gently, "We're descending now, stay close to me, Rin."
"Okay..."
The trees parted as Meyontpaak landed, crashing onto the ground and disturbing the earth.
They were on the outskirts of a shrine and were facing the main building after the wall surrounding the property.
"There was a powerful barrier surrounding this land. Meyontpaak got us through easily." Waver noted, "Caster has powered up somehow."
"Of course I have, silly boy." A slow clap emanated from the door as Caster materialised into reality from his teleportation, "I've managed to get myself a strong location on top of a leyline convergence, not to mention another pure resource which is helping to power the Key."
Rider cracked his knuckles after leaping off the dragon, "So, you were the one who was kidnapping all those people…"
"Kidnapping?" Caster raised his eyebrows halfway up his forehead, "Why would I do something like that?"
"So… You're saying it wasn't you?" Waver stepped up next to Rider, keeping an arm in front of Rin to keep her back.
"For you, people going missing at night means that it must be a horrid kidnapping. For me, it was refuelling." Jack's grin widened, "Human lives are more valuable than Eridium, and that's what I need right now." He raised his hands up, in a mock surrendering gesture, "I've realised that my way of thinking is wrong, so I've decided to stop now."
Unsheathing his sword, Rider stepped forwards, "This isn't going to help you any longer. You've already killed so many innocents."
"Now, now, Rider…" Caster lowered his hands to placate him, "Ahh, I see our other guests have arrived."
Four more landed lightly at equal distance from each other, but all facing Caster.
Saber and Irisviel were to the left of Rider, whilst Archer and Tokiomi were to the right of Waver.
They all nodded at each other, only for Tokiomi to pause at Waver, "Rin, why are you here?" Archer pointed a gun at Waver at this question.
Rin shook her head, "I was looking for mum, Rider found me and escorted me here."
"Ahem, what a lovely family reunion, but I should finish my earlier monologue." Gathering their attention back again, he smiled, "There's no need for any more bodies to power the Key, since this era has something mine doesn't."
Raising his arm and typing a few commands into his wristpanel, a purple glow shone brighter from behind the shrine, and a purple shield grew from there. Inside was a stream of purple energy flowing into a semi-conical stone-like object.
Above the Key was a person hovering in mid-air, screaming and clutching at her chest, which was where to purple energy streamed out of."
"Mages possess the greatest power of all. I'd like to thank you for this opportunity." He bowed deeply.
"A…Aoi…"
The Tohsaka head was still, his jaw agape, staring up at his wife suffering from what looked to be an agonising event.
"Mum!" Rin tried to claw her way towards Jack, but Waver held her back with difficulty, until Rider shoved them both back.
"▄▬▓██▓████▀!"
The unearthly blade swung by the side of Caster, who only teleported away a second before.
"Tut tut, Berserker…" He ducked under another swing of the hunk of metal, "Wow, you seem angry, even for someone like you." The rust and dying grass around his feet brought him back to reality, "Okay, I get it, no time for pleasantries."
A massive boom, much louder than any of the previous ones when summoning a Loader echoed around the shrine. The travel distance from the sky was also much slower.
"Shit!" Archer grabbed the shocked Tokiomi and leapt to the side. "Everyone, get out of the splash zone!"
Doing as he said, the other Servants forced their Masters back from the frontline, as a huge explosion of soil and wood crashed next to them in the woods. From the trees near the lake, a giant yellow Loader rose to its full height, and stared down at the people.
It was at least ten metres tall and had four giant turrets on its body
"Multiple targets acquired. Commencing extermination."
"Thank you, Saturn, please fulfil your duty to me." Caster teleported away behind the massive machine, closed to the purple shield.
"That doesn't look good…" Rider commented as the Loader opened out its turrets, along with several smaller ones growing out from its body.
"No, it doesn't…" Archer stepped up beside him, eyeing him carefully, "Can you give me a lift?"
The dragon behind Rider huffed its disapproval with a snort of flame, before lifting its back foot.
"I don't suppose a more elegant way is permitted for me?" He sighed, before Rider grabbed his shoulder.
"This alliance only lasts until Caster is dead, you are needing of a favour from us, so accept what you're given."
Groaning, Archer moved to the claw while Rider jumped on the back. Meyontpaak was gentle in grasping him as they flew towards Saturn, who had now started firing the turrets, sending heat seeking missiles as well to the gathered troops.
Saber grabbed Irisviel and blocked the bullets with his shield as they leapt in closer to the behemoth, spinning in mid-air to avoid the missiles.
Berserker roared and started to thrash around on the spot, before submerging into rusted metallic soil.
Caster watched from a distance, grinning as the Vault Key began to spin more. "Just a little more, my dearest…" He grinned at the hapless woman screaming above him providing the energy he needed.
Rider managed to avoid most missiles until Archer shouted beneath him, "Now! Release me!"
Happy to get rid of the dead weight, Meyontpaak did so, and could see what he was planning.
"Bullet Time."
Archer landing on top of a missile, now paused in flight and used it to leap to another one further away, and another, and finally one more, until he was in the face of Saturn. Switching to the Striker, a fully automatic drum-fed shotgun, he fired continuously until the ammo ran out, and reloaded.
He repeated the firing sequence twice until a total of thirty rounds were a metre away from its faceplate, before time resumed its normal flow.
Instantly, the shots ploughed into the eyes of Saturn, who growled in a distorted electrical fashion, the sockets sparking wildly.
"Super-per-ficial d-damage to ocu-cu-lar receptors." The voice returned to normal, "Deploying countermeasures."
"Shit…"
Archer saw the expanding field of energy emanate from the centre of Saturn, and grew outwards in a spherical shape, engulfing him in its energy, sending tendrils of electricity over his limbs and contorting his body from the shockwave.
Rider leant back and Meyontpaak followed suit, pulling up to get out of range from the blast. Saber landed on the ground and brought out a staff, which surrounded him and his Master in earth, dispersing the shocks.
At the feet of Saturn, the ground began to shudder and cave in as the soil was now corrugated metal revealing shards of metal and a deep reddish hellfire beneath them. Stepping out of the hole, Berserker leapt from the hole left behind and stabbed his blade into the right foot of Saturn, shearing off a layer of metal and plastic, revealing the wiring underneath.
"Right foot outer coating penetrated. Engage."
Kicking outwards, Berserker flew backwards into a tree, but not before Saber crossed his path and plunged his sword into the cables and swiped upwards in a blaze of white.
Most of the right leg began to separate from Saturn, but it managed to maintain its balance on one leg.
Rider jumped off his steed and shouted down at the Earth.
"Fus Roh Dah!"
Meyontpaak also swept in and breathed fire onto the face and remaining leg of the machine, catching Rider on the way down.
This time, there was no holding back, as Saturn launched all its missiles and fired on all targets at once. The skies were darkened from the number of projectiles, and no matter how much they tried to avoid them, Rider and Archer were struck by the onslaught.
Saber stood his ground and launched upwards, this time to the inside of the leg and continued to destroy the innards.
"Perhaps I could be of assistance too…"
Midna popped out and her hair started to rip shreds of wires and cables, power junctions, and anything that sparked inside the machine.
"C-Core compromised… Initiating self-destruct."
"Uh oh…"
The inside of Saturn began to glow as energy gathered in the unbroken wiring and capacitors, soon turning into small fires.
Saber bit his lip and using Midna's hair like a whip flung themselves out of the opening in the leg.
However, it was too late, the concussive explosion struck his back, and forced Midna to cry out audibly before vanishing again. The second and third explosions propelling him into the walls of the shrine, and deep into the floor where the rubble fell on him.
Caster shook his head, "I guess you can't hire good employees any more…" Shrugging, he turned to face his guests, "What do you think?"
Tokiomi was wordlessly raging, firing flame bullets at the blue shield around Caster, causing no damage to him or the shield itself.
Irisviel stood there, holding Rin behind her, as Waver panted to their right.
A hand landed on Tokiomi's left shoulder, "Enough… You can't hope to beat a Servant."
The usually calm Tohsaka whirled round and struck out with his right fist, only to hit a defeated face, riddled with squirming lines of worms, and greyed out eyes and hair.
"I want to kill him too; you need to let everyone have a chance at him."
Kariya didn't feel the punch delivered to him, since his pain receptors were only tuned to the crest worms eating away at his flesh. Also, the thoughts of Berserker deadened him to most mental forms of pain anyway.
Tokiomi blinked, and a semblance of recognition returned, "Matou… What have you done…?"
"Anything…" He turned back to Caster, "To save Sakura from hell."
Caster watched his audience and smirked, "It's so lovely to see you all here, at my moment of triumph…"
An indicator on his wrist flashed up. 97%... 97.2%... 97.4%...
"Let her go this instant!" Irisviel stepped forwards, "Civilians are innocents in this war!"
"Oh really? Even if they're related to the warmongers?" His eyes glanced at Tokiomi, and then to Rin, "Perhaps I can choose another sacrifice to take her place."
"Yes, take me instead." Tokiomi stamped down his cane, "Swap her out for me."
"Oh, that's so tempting, Master of Archer, however…"
A little trumpet jingle announced 100% from his watch.
"You don't get to save the girl this time…"
Aoi screamed as the purple gas left her body faster, flooding the Vault Key beneath her. Her body grew frailer and grey, draining itself of all fluids as she became nothing more than a husk.
Her eyes swivelled down to them as her husky voice could only whisper three words.
"S-Sorry… Husband… Daughter…"
Without further flourish, her body and clothing disintegrated into ash, also being sucked into the Key, which now swivelled and clicked into place in the flooring.
"M-Mother…?"
Rin tried to get around Irisviel, but this time Waver shielded her eyes as Tokiomi fell to his knees, his glassy eyes filling with tears.
"Thanks to your help, I now have what I need to kill you all, Masters and Servants alike." He looked up at the sky, "Perhaps this planet could be placed under new management."
The ground began to rumble and crack, although, the air around them began to shatter as well revealing a new dimension behind it.
"You'll need to excuse my manners, he's a bit temperamental right now, because he's been locked away for millennia. Once you're gone though, he'll help me rule Earth."
Caster crashed his heel down into the circular button at the top of the Vault Key, and reality snapped in a literal shattering of glass.
The shrine, forest and the city at the foot of the mountain were gone, and now replaced with what could only be described as the centre of an active volcano. They were stood on strips of land surrounded by lava which was rising and descending slowly as if it were breathing.
The Servants were also there, albeit further away within the large opening.
The sky was dark, and had an abnormally large moon, with a bigger space station orbiting it in the shape of the letter H.
"Where have you taken us, you monster…" Kariya clenched his fist, feeling the worms writhe in his fingers.
"Oh, how quaint. You call me the monster yet know nothing about my time." His vision darkened as the light from the moon was overshadowed by a ginormous creature, "Perhaps I should introduce you to the real monster."
It was easily the size of a skyscraper, and looked like it was made of igneous rock with symbols etched into it. Impervious to the raw lava sluicing off its body, it stared down at everyone, revealing its multiple deep orange eyes. The maw of the wild animal-like dragon opened, and its resounding roar bellowed outwards, crashing into the walls of the open cavern, causing rocks to tumble into the lava.
"Warrior!" Caster smiled upwards and then returned his gaze to smirk at the Masters in front of him, "Kill…"
Author's Notes
So, 6 years to write this chapter. As you can imagine, life has taken me to different places, but to rekindle my passion for writing, I decided to start from one of my stories.
I never forget my fanfics, and always remembered how the various series were going to end, every single one. It's just a shame I'll never get the time to write them all, nor for everyone else wanting to know what was going to happen.
Still, here's two Servant profiles. Note that some knowledge of Fate/Grand Order is needed to understand the latter portion for the scale of the disaster which could follow.
Class – Caster
Master – Ryuunosuke Uryuu
True Name – Handsome Jack
Game Series – Borderlands 2 onwards
Alignment – Chaotic Evil
Theme Song – Hero's Pass Combat - Borderlands 2 (UST)
Battle Theme – Handsome Jack Boss / Warrior Boss - Borderlands 2 (UST)
Base Skills
Strength – D
Endurance – C
Agility – A
Magical Energy – EX
Luck – A
Class Skills
Item Construction – B+: Can summon Loaders of varying types, such as scouts, infiltration units, generic footmen, up to Badass level bosses and Saturn, the largest of all.
Magic Resistance – B: While his energy is based on technological means, his summoning as a Servant has converted this ability to shrug off the majority of normal attacks and even some greater magecraft.
Personal Skills
Sadistic Charisma – A: As the CEO of a corporation with zero morals in who or what lies in their way, he has the charm to captivate his employees to the point of murdering others and towards ruining an entire planet.
Golden Rule – A: Has a near limitless fortune from the mining operations, weapons manufacturing, thievery, and so on, that his company holds perpetuates.
Independent Action – EX: Unusual for a Caster. However, given that his energy source is equitable to money and magical energy siphoned from people, limitless income and resources means unlimited magical energy to maintain his body.
Knowledge Outside the Domain – B: A lower tier from the Existence Outside the Domain skill which is associated with Foreigner Servants. He was provided information from an ancient artefact by an extinct alien race, with glimpses of the future and temptations of unlimited power.
Mask of Concealing Beast – A: The antithesis of the Mask of Concealing Beauty. The mask worn by Jack hides a horrifically scarred and mutilated face, which was injured seconds after being granted the above knowledge skill when the artefact was punched into his face. His mask can still portray emotions and hasn't affected his charisma in any way.
Immoral Cruelty – EX+: At this rank, no one in existence (either past, present, or future) can see their actions as good or justified in any way. Jack has committed child abuse (to his own daughter), torture, terrorism, and genocide all from a personal to a planetary scale. To top it off, he enjoys seeing people in pain from his actions. Perhaps before his daughter's death the rank would have been lower, however, it never stopped his actions leading to her death.
Noble Phantasm
Restraining Collar – Total Submission
Originally powered by the strange energy Sirens possess in his timeframe, now these require simple mana to function. It forces a person to be obedient to any command Jack gives, including self-sacrifice should the need arise. They also are unable to break the collar even if their physical strength is immense due to its skin adhesion.
Only one can remain materialised, so it isn't possible to have two collars in use. At this rank, all normal humans and mages can be controlled. Any creature or existence at an equal or greater rank can break out of the control, so it wouldn't be possible to control Servants, Divine entities, Magicians, Dead Apostles, and True Ancestors.
Rank: A
Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
Range: - 1
Maximum Target: 1 person
Release of the Warrior – The End of Existence
The Vault key is merely a conduit, and not the Noble Phantasm itself. Like Avalon, the sheath of Excalibur, the key is the original artefact from Pandora, the planet it was located on, and held in storage by Jack, only to be brought to the Grail war. Its potential power is magnitudes above what any mage could generate in their entire lifetime.
In its original incarnation, it can be charged with Eridium, a special ore. When entered into the appropriate keyhole, it would release the Warrior, an unheard-of Beast upon the planet Pandora, which would be under control of the holder of the Key.
However, in This Grail War, the Vault key can be charged with the magical energy of sacrificed humans. Once fully charged, it can merge with Gaia to connect Earth to an 'instance' of Pandora, transporting the surrounding people there. Using Gaia's definitions and ability to generate nature spirits, the Warrior is born from the will of Pandora's new ego, to protect that planet from humans by exterminating them.
This version of the Warrior is one of the Transcendent Kind, on par with a True Ancestor. Given its rank, it should be classed as a Beast, yet it is only a Juvenile Beast like Beast III/L or III/R, so no Counter Force of Pandora is generated to protect Humanity. Jack also ensured that the Vault key would only obtain knowledge of Gaia, and not Alaya, to prevent any hindrance to his plan.
When the key is activated, the version of Pandora that appears isn't the actual version, more of a Singularity, for that version of Pandora, or a crisis event due to changes in history which would affect humanity. Once the Warrior has defeated the foes in the Singularity, it will transfer itself to Gaia via the key, and commence the destruction of Humanity on Earth.
These are related to the Warrior's potential damage when released:
Rank: EX
Type: Anti-City Noble Phantasm
Range: - 1000
Maximum Target: 1000 people
Class – Beast Λ
Master – Holder of the Vault Key, Caster (Handsome Jack)
True Name – The Warrior
Game Series – Borderlands 2
Alignment – Lawful Evil
Theme/Battle Song – Warrior Boss - Borderlands 2 (UST)
Base Skills
Strength – A
Endurance – EX
Agility – B
Magical Energy – A
Luck – D
Class Skills
Authority of the Beast – A: Gains advantage over attacks on Servants and Humans. Can form Volcanic Crystalisks, a tri-pedal creature with a hard shell, from the lava flows, and Volcanic Rakks, flying beasts which dive bomb at intruders. These enemies are as weak as they are numerous.
Independent Manifestation – C: It exists in normal time and space and can appear wherever it needs. Soil and lava are preferred for maximum effect, though when it rises from the earth, it would form a natural link from magma to the surface.
Personal Skills
Monstrous Strength – EX: Unbelievably powerful. There are no words to describe how strong this creature is. One swipe can carve out dozens of metres of soil, wiping out anything in front of it.
Nega-Apocalypse – A: The embodiment of the Sin of Wrath. Communication is impossible, nor is retreat an option. Nothing can oppose this monster, nor can it be reasoned with until all life is extinct.
Biological Superweapon – A: It possesses the strength to throw lava-filled rocks, breath flames, and a laser in its tail blasting Eldritch Eridian energy at enemies. On top of this, it's got a high resistance to any elements, as it is a creature from the depths of Pandora encompassing all of them.