AN- I didn't chose the Berserker Beats On Protagonist Lifestyle- it chose me.
Chapter 13
Lily took a deep breath and tried to put the thought of their Master out of their head. They had a job to do, and while the sounds of the other battle didn't sound too pleasant, they couldn't afford to give this fight anything but their full attention.
For a moment, the two Saber Class Servants sized each other up, preparing for that vital first clash of blows. It was a rare opportunity for fellow swords masters to meet, doubly so in a Holy Grail War where normally only a single sword user is called upon. Because of this fact, both fighters were a mixture of wary and excited. This was a fight to the death, but that didn't mean they couldn't get caught up in it.
Both of them had Masters' they had agreed to protect until the Grail was reached, therefore neither could accept dying in this battle.
And then- as Berserker of Blue roared in the distance- the two charged. They met in a clash of steel, and the fight was on.
It became immediately apparent that the fighters shared little in common- they had very distinct styles when it came to combat. One thrust, the other cut. One had heavier strikes, the other used lighter blows. A rapier, and a longsword. Speed and beauty, against control and power.
Thrust after thrust, Saber of Grey unleashed. In turn, the King of Knights blocked or dodged each and every strike, countering in return with their invisible blade whenever the opportunity presented itself, only for the Chevalier to narrowly dodge at the last second- having already lunged into another wave of attacks.
A minute or so- that was all it took for the Saber bequeathed the name Lily to realise something rather interesting.
Namely the fact that they were winning.
Not immediately noticeable, but for a fighter of experience and the Skill Eye of the Mind (True) it was blatantly clear that they had the superior position. Arthuria's blows were powerful, for sure, but she didn't seem quite as powerful as Lily had feared from a legend on the level of King Arthur. And she was fast, but it wasn't like they were having too much difficulty evading her attacks. Hell- her skill with her blade was ridiculously good (Technically superior for sure, though not quite as elegant), but Chavalier d'Eon was no stranger to the sword either.
Quite frankly, it was shocking just how well they were performing against King Arthur herself.
Lily broke off their attack, and leapt back. "You aren't at your best, are you?"
"I'm afraid not." Admitted the Saber of Blue. "My Master is receiving tutorage from the Lady Einzbern, but he has yet to be able to properly supply me with Prana."
At that, Lily smiled. King Arthur as one of the most famous legends in the world was meant to be overwhelming and yet so far she'd underperformed despite the legacy she had left behind. Lily's reason for their advantage was clear- the power of their Masters.
Lily was fortunate enough to have a Master with ridiculous Prana levels. His spellcasting capabilities were lacking, but he made up for this by being able to provide as much Prana as they could possibly need. Arturia however, had an inadequate Master unable to properly supply the Prana a Servant of her tier required to fight at her best.
The end result was that while Saber of Blue was the superior Servant both in terms of Stats and power, Saber of Grey was winning because their Master could allow them to fight at their best, while the other could not.
"You know, I challenged you earlier because I feared you working with Hercules to overwhelm us, and so sought to isolate you. Stall for time." Lily admitted, settling into a stance as familiar to them as could be. The angle of the blade, the positioning of the legs… it all came together into a perfect form. "But now I see that for a change I actually have the advantage. I feel I should press this advantage, no?"
Saber of Blue settled into her own familiar stance- ready to strike at any given point. "Very well. Come at me, and I shall shatter that blade with my own!"
"Very well then. I shall stake my pride upon this strike- the pride of the Royal Family's Lily!" A deep breath, tightening of the blade and the mental preparation- they were ready to unleash it- their Noble Phantasm. "Fleur de Lys: Sword Dance of Falling Lilies!"
It was beautiful- that was the only way to describe the attack that Lily released. Perfect in every way imaginable. A strike which represented the true nature of Chevalier d'Eon- Duality. Balance. Refined and pleasing to the eye, and yet functional to a fault. Delicate, yet strong. Dazzling, and yet firm. Powerful, though hardly brutish.
This was Fleur de Lys, the blade that summed up their history as a spy, as a fighter, and as a person. A contradiction of handsome and beautiful. So disarming in fact, that merely by viewing the technique your physical Parameters would fall- and the very idea of defence impossible to grasp.
For how could you possibly wish to act before a sight as beautiful as the unfolded lily, shining its radiant blade upon the battlefield?
And then, the technique ended with a single thrust- meant to slay a foe in an instance.
Such was the nature of the Noble Phantasm: it distracts and disarms with its outwards beauty, before allowing its inner steel to deliver a sure death strike.
Yet despite the nature of the attack, of Lily's beauty when in action, and the cumulative weakness Saber of Blue suffered both from having an inadequate Master and from being exposed to their Noble Phantasm, Arthuria did not fall.
Truly, her dodge could be described as only as Instinctive. Even though her active mind couldn't possibly conceive acting before the strike of the sword, her body still moved itself to escape the swift thrust. It was close- almost impossibly so, but through either Luck or design, Arthuria pulled through. The thrust struck her armour at an angle- shattering through it with the force of the blow, but only piercing the shoulder in a non-lethal manner.
"You dodged. I'm impressed." Chevalier d'Eon smiled a little as she raised her blade for a follow through strike. "It takes a certain calibre of person to be able to resist the effects of my Dance."
"A cowardly technique, removing the ability for the enemy to even resist." Arthuria commented with the smallest of frowns.
Saber of Grey shrugged her shoulders. "Be honoured that I fight you with all I have, King of Knights. I would not insult either of our honours by not taking you seriously."
"Very well then. I shall endeavour to cut you down with the full force of my own power." Arthuria resolved. It was worrying that she'd need to spend even more of her reserves to use her more powerful techniques, but it seemed they would be necessary.
"We'll see if you even have the time to do so, or if I shall strike you down first." Lily chided, readying herself to active her Noble Phantasm again once more. After all, her Noble Phantasm was oh so cheap… she would Dance for as long as it proved necessary.
XXXXXXXXXX
Hercules was truly worthy of his legend- that much I could admit. Even in the midst of his madness, he was still one of the greatest of heroes to ever walk the face of the Earth.
And right now, he was walking all over my Servants. With a spiky steel tipped boot.
"▄█▄██▄█▄█▄███" Hercules roared, batting aside yet another attempt to mow him down by Rider's (Now rather battered) Chariot.
"Rider!" screamed Medea in distress, firing another barrage of projectiles at the hulking titan- if only to slow him down for a split second, because god knows that after she'd taken a single one of his lives using them they had become basically useless against the Demigod.
Fire had likewise become useless after she incinerated his face off using one of her strongest flames- only removing another of the bastards many lives.
Though to be fair, I was doing no better. Battling was pointless due to God Hand and my own Servants lack of high levelled attacks, but retreat was just as difficult.
["Any progress? Can we teleport out?"]I mentally asked Medea, who shook her head in annoyance.
["Teleporting was more my elder forms specialty, and even then I could only really do it in my Temple."]She admitted. ["I could probably pull it off due to the Mana you can provide, but I really don't think I could move more than one or two of us."]
So, we were still in the same mess. Doing that would be just leaving the others to die or would be very costly in terms of Command Seals to pull everyone else back to me. At this point, I was almost tempted to use a Seal upon Caster, just to see if that could give her the oomph to get us out of here.
But for the minute, we were holding. So if teleporting was out, then Rider was our best bet, but she in turn would need a massive distraction and something to slow down Berserker so we could all escape. Just another thing we couldn't really do.
"You should just give up already." Ilya noted, almost bored at our performance. At her command, a Familiar of glowing string seemed to manifest, before diving at me.
"Teíchos!" I chanted, activating my shield barrier to once more soak the suicide dive- and then Shirou shot another one of his arrows at me and almost made the shield shatter.
"Someone's been teaching that boy to Reinforce his arrows." It was the only way to explain it. If he and Ilya were allies, then it stood to reason that she'd likely helped him unlock his Circuits and would teach him a trick or two- and this was it. He was tapping into his inner Archer as opposed to Saber- overloading his arrows for extra piercing power- uncaring of damage as the arrow breaks anyway at impact.
Regardless of how he learned to do that- the end result was the same- I was forced to dispel my shield and resummons it once more, opening me up for a moment for another of the damned Familiars to try and skewer me.
"Stay away from my Anchin!" Berserker cried, then swept her crimson fan in a wide arc. From the swing, a sphere of fire appeared and met the bird mid-air. It had surprised me to learn that Berserker did have an actual attack she could use- however, her fan was merely enchanted, so hardly on the level of a Noble Phantasm. She could literally only match a single Familiar with any single blast.
A normal Magus was literally a better aid in combat than my Berserker, but she still had a hell of a lot more offensive capability than me.
"Time to change tactics." I decided, before quickly sending off a mental message. ["Caster, switch target to the Masters!"]
As horrible as it sounded, Ilya was only mortal, and so therefore the weak link. I really didn't want to have to kill her, but if I targeted her then maybe they'd have little choice but to repeat…
"Oh wait, Berserker is ridiculously fast and just jumped in front of the attack, and now Ilya has decided to target the Masters."
"Sword of Boudica: Sword Without Promised Victory!" My Rider called out the true name of her Noble Phantasm, and from her blade she seemed to unleash a wave of separate mana projectiles. This was her strongest single attack- a B Ranked Anti-Unit blast of overwhelming force. And yet, it still would not so much as singe Berserker of Blue's ridiculously tanned skin.
If it had not been enough to return Hercules' attention to her (Just in case any stray shots struck his precious Master), then I would have called the whole thing useless.
"Well, at least the situation is no worse than where we started."
Ilyasviel manifested another Familiar, though this one shaped itself into a sword. Then, three more appeared too- and all primed themselves to fire. "… it seems I spoke too soon."
"Teíchos!" I repeated- flooding my scarred shield charm with all the Prana I could. One after the other, the Familiars struck my wall- and then the sphere shattered, and the charm broke in turn.
"Anchin!" Berserker screamed, then threw herself in front of me. Shirou's follow through arrow pierced her side, knocking her to the floor.
And thus my defences were broken, and my only backup down on the floor.
Truly, only a fool would choose to go on the attack.
"Yaaarghh!" I roared, and then I reached into my pocket where I found my last resort waiting for me. I lobbed the vial with all my strength at the Homunculus, then smiled in satisfaction as one of the Familiar's automatically lashed out in defence- shattering the vial and sending the paralysing potion straight at Ilya.
I had no doubt that this attack would fail- at the very least, a lot of the liquid would be lost in the process of getting to her. Still- it distracted her. It let me fish out a different vial and ram it down Kiyohime's throat- this one a healing potion. Almost immediately, the shattered arrow was pushed out of the wound, and the skin started to flesh itself back together.
"That was a dirty move." Noted Ilya, rubbing her arms lightly now that she'd been forced to discard her outer coat to prevent the potion from reaching her.
"Yeah, well you're Bullshit, so stop being so smug about everything." I countered, as my Berserker of Grey got to her feet. She was shaky, but resolute. I didn't have to worry about her abandoning me- she believed me to be Anchin, and would fight to the end due to that delusion. I was still in a position of weakness- but not completely fucked.
The girl with hair like snow shook her head, almost sadly. "That potion almost went in my hair. It's not nice to meddle with a lady's hair."
"I wasn't actually targeting any specific part of you." I pointed out.
"Shut up. I'm getting tired of this. Nobody is dying." And then, she looked me dead in the eyes and spoke the words I feared the most. "Berserker, kill the Master!"
As I've said so often before, a Command Seal is absolute. And Ilyasviel Von Einzbern had just demanded my death. And Hercules was a man who damn well got something done when he wanted to, and had overcome twelve ridiculously horrible labours through sheer willpower (And bullshit Demigod powers) alone. Even as fallen as he was, this single mindedness had not changed.
Hercules was going to kill me with all his strength, and he wouldn't let anything get in the way.
I opened my mouth to cry out that rushed Command Seal order to Medea to evac us (No matter how costly it would be), when I realised I couldn't. As in, my mouth wasn't working. I understood the problem almost as soon as I started actually using my meagre abilities as a Magus- thick bands of Prana were weaving themselves through my body like the mystical equivalent to a boa constrictor- invisible and fundamentally a supernatural effect that locked up my motions.
With my eyes (That I could shakily move), I was able to see Ilya still staring at me- a smug grin on her fairy like face. The brat was using her Mystical Eyes of Binding upon me to stop me from being able to physically utter a Command Seal.
Medea noticed this but couldn't actually do anything- at the end of the day, it was my body being bound, so she could only stall. "Μαρδοξ!" she chanted, staff glowing like the sun. A wall of glass appeared behind Rider- ready to defend with the full might of Medea's Argos spell. She'd told me once during her time hammering the basics of Magecraft into my head, that her spells had high conceptual focus, and that she often took inspiration from her contemporaries at the time. This spell was said to be as strong as Hercules skin- now we'd see what broke first. And then, she announced the spell twice more- layering them atop each other.
Still, I wasn't content to sit back and wait for my incoming death by giant tanned giant. So, since Ilya thought she could bind me then there was only one thing I could do- literally the only thing I had going for me. I was going to have to break those chains myself.
Deep within, the imaginary turbine factory roared into life, and I activated as many of them as I could. Uncaring of what I was using them for, and even forcing to life those that I hadn't ever seen fit to use before, and then I threw them at the Mystery binding me. The moment the enchantment broke was painful, as my own body warmed up due to the oversaturation of Prana running through me and the phantom sensation of nerves burning, but it did its job- the chains were thrown lose, and for the first time since this fight began, Ilya scowled.
Because maybe, just maybe, even someone like me could pose a threat.
I immediately began my order. "Caster, get us- grgh!"
The assault was unexpected by sheer virtue of the fact that I had never even conceived the idea that Ilya would immediately recast the thing I'd just shown I could successfully break. So once more, I flooded my body, seeking to overwhelm the effect through sheer weight of Prana. The effect held- because Ilya had almost as much Prana to work with as me (Almost- 70 percent of her body were Magic Circuits), and the vast majority of it was going towards trying to enforce this effect in only one little, tiny area of my body.
My mouth and tongue. My body was mine, but my words were not, and I had the feeling that this really wasn't going to go the way I wanted.
Still, with the majority of the effect broken, I could look away at our little Magus-to-Magus duel to see the rest of the fight. Not good. Berserker was still charging, and Rider had just been thrown aside with a massive crack as the earth around her broke under the force of Berserker's charge.
"No, no. My beloved…" Berserker whispered at my side, in worry. I ignored her.
"Chariot of Boudica: Chariot Without Promised Protection!" Boudica cried from her spot in the crater, doing all she could to protect me even with half the bones in her body broken. If she couldn't stand between us, her Chariot would have to do. The mount vanished, and then the conceptual wheels of defence manifested around me- the last resort.
I needed to get us out of here quickly. Every defence had been provided by now, but none would hold for long. I grit my teeth, and I pushed, forcing the full weight of my Prana down into the area of my body Ilya was still stubbornly holding. I imagined a tornado of Prana- shooting straight through any defences and uprooting anything daring to remain.
My mouth finally opened, and I had the chance to speak. So, I said them. "SABER! To me!"
And then my Chevalier d'Eon was by my side, dragged from their own battle, and my mouth slammed shut due to a third Binding assault from the tiny Einzbern. It took only a second for them to realise what was happening, and a few mental words to fill them in. ["Attack Ilya! I need a few secs!"]
See, I knew that Ilya would do it again, trying to bind me again and again every time I threw her out. She had the Prana to spare for such an attempt, and she had the advantage in the sense that she needed to only keep me from muttering the words necessary to give an order long enough to get us out of here.
So, I needed to break the cycle. And what better way than to have my Saber assault her so she couldn't keep it up?
"Berserker!" She yelled, and he complied. Like an earthquake, he spun and was in Lily's face even as they sprinted for the other Master. Saber leapt to the occasion, however. "Fleur de Lys: Sword Dance of Falling Lilies." A stunning, beautiful blow. Like an unfolded lily, the elegant Cheavalier struck with an unbeatable attack… but could not pierce the skin at all. Unfortunately, C is just too weak a Rank to scratch the Demigod, while Hercules was too mad to even be halted for a second by the beautiful act- because he fundamentally wasn't thinking.
Consequently, a bone breaking backhand smacked them aside like a ragdoll.
"He's too strong…" my own Berserker muttered upon seeing Saber be taken out so easily and continue his charge. "I should… but then… what if he sees?"
With a certain degree of frustration, I threw Ilya's power off me a third time. Time was running out- that distraction via Saber had only been barely long enough to delay Ilya, but now Berserker was literally upon us.
"No. No. No!" Kiyohime cried, shaking her head in defiance, though it was more a plead than a denial, though the last was shouted with resolution. "Oh, forgive me, Anchin! Avert your eyes!"
And then all my fears came to fruition as Hercules began his attack. The first defence crumbled almost instantly due to a swing more akin to a hurricane of force than an attack. The legendary defences of the Argo were no match for Hercules when he truly wanted them gone. Three seconds of shocked, horrified cracking, and he was already before me and the final defence.
A deep breath, I shut my eyes (So as not to let my voice leave me in fear), and I began. "Caster,"
An immediate interruption- Berserkers roar accompanied his attempt to crush Rider's Noble Phantasm before I could so much as utter my second word "▄█▄██▄█▄█▄███"
I heard the conceptual wheels clashed with the stone axe-sword of Hercules and held for a long, impressive moment… and yet like everything else Hercules faced, I heard it splinter and tear apart. The shield of protection crumbled, and my final defence had fallen.
My second word- spoken. "save-"
A shove. My eyes opened in alarm, and I caught a glimpse of Kiyohime standing in front of me as I hit the ground. My mouth clamped shut as I hit it, and I would have curse at her for preventing me from speaking the final words of my order out of some misguided desire to protect me, had I not been caught stumped by the sparks of pale, azure light now radiating from her body, and the feeling of the Prana drainage in our connection rapidly multiplying. It was the largest single sum of power any one Servant had ever taken from me at any given time.
I had the sudden feeling that I was going to see Kiyohime's Noble Phantasm.
"Samadhi Through Transforming Flames!" she was somehow able to roar in the face of the wordlessly raging titan before its axe fell… and then the petite girl standing futilely in the way of an unstoppable man became a Dragon.
It was so bright that I had to avert my eyes. So warm that my shirt was drenched in sweat almost immediately. Around me, the fires raged and spun, and a great cry split the heavens. The world itself trembled from the sheer Weight of that roar. By all rights, I should have been terrified. It felt like I was surrounded on all sides by a pressure great enough to crush me whole- I was in the eye of the firestorm.
Yet despite this, I could only feel reassured. Because this fire… I could feel it. There was a connection there, and I understood why I felt so reassured. Because Kiyohime had somehow become this inferno, therefore standing at the centre of her blazing form was the safest place in the world for me. So long as I did not tell her a lie, Kiyohime could never possibly even conceive of hurting me, her Anchin.
Kiyohime bellowed once more- loud enough to deafen me and silence anything anyone could have said at her appearance. And then- the flame surrounding me moved with purpose. I realised that it wasn't fire- not really. I'd felt like I was in the centre of a tornado of fire merely because Kiyohime had been encircling me with her serpentine form. And now, her body shifted, and the Dragon she had become had chosen to go on the attack.
Hercules had dared attack me, her beloved treasure. And much as Dragons tended to be about threats to their treasure, she was going to burn him alive.
I could see him- Berserker of Blue. Through the fire- I could just make out his tall and dark form. And then Kiyohime charged him down- and her jaws opened wide to swallow the Demigod whole.
Her charge ended, and she spun around in another small arc, ready to charge down Hercules again. The Demigod in question had been incinerated completely- there was no question of that. But his body had already been reconstructed… making it all the more anticlimactic when Kiyohime ploughed into him once more- burning him alive before he even had the chance to fight back against the incredibly ridiculous entity which was known only as a Dragon.
Again, Kiyohime finished her onslaught- but gave another grave roar upon realising her enemy was still standing. She chose a different strategy this time. As opposed to devouring him or burning him, it was time to crush him. She circled around him, then wrapped around tight as a noose. This was a slower death- Hercules' blade was long since molten slag, but the Demigod had the chance to put up a valiant effort at trying to break the Dragon in two with his bare hands.
Kiyohime still glowed too brightly for me to tell- but it wouldn't surprise me if he'd broken through her scales through sheer strength. And then his body was crushed and thrown aside- and Berserker of Blue lost another life to Kiyohime.
"ENOUGH!" a voice bellowed- finally carving through the impossible bellow of the Phantasmal Creature. I could see her- the King of Knights… she had finally managed to catch up with us after having her opponent stolen from her mid fight… and she was visibly angry. "I am a Knight, not just a King… and knights kill Dragons!"
The Dragon my Berserker had become roared in challenge, for she had found a foe actually worthy of destroying…
… and was consequently about to die.
"KIYOHIME!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I raised my arm high- and red light shone even through the material of my shirt. I still had two Command Seals, and Kiyohime was staring down an Excalibur. Even with her new and bullshit status as a Dragon, I didn't know if she could survive a blow from the Strongest Noble Phantasm in the World. "Esca-"
"EX-"
A sudden weightless feeling. Caster, largely unharmed from the assault so far as she'd fighting at range, made her move. "Emfanízomai!" I heard her quickly say, and then it felt like I was pulled through an envelope- and my throat lost the ability to do anything but gasp frantically as two worlds overlapped around me, and then in a second, one overwrote the other.
A blink of confusion. My surroundings were different- I was further along the river's edge. I could see it- in the distance. The Fuyuki Bridge was oh so far away, and I understood what had happened. Caster had heard Saber of Blue and my Berserker of Grey, and understood that the battle had risen to a scale we couldn't imagine. Saber… Rider… herself… none of them could help, and none could protect me.
Because that area was about to be levelled- either by the Dragon or the King, and I sure wasn't going to survive that. So she teleported me to safety. She couldn't teleport everyone but moving one or two people seemed to be within her abilities.
However, she also doomed Berserker- because Command Seals only work if the words are spoken. And Caster had stolen my breath with that spell. Those few seconds it took to recover… that was all that was needed for it to become too late.
"-CALIBUR!" and then the world turned to gold- and I saw the Sword of Promised Victory do as it promised… granting victory. The hopes of the world, the pure glow of everybody's dreams, supercharged and collected into the Strongest Noble Phantasm… and then, the light was released.
By the time the glow faded- I could see the Dragon begin to fall apart into particles of light, its scales peeling off and its mass crumble. The blade has struck true… and Kiyohime was certainly dying. I didn't know where Saber was, and I didn't care, because here and now Kiyohime was my only concern.
I turned to my Caster with a look of utmost urgency and determination. Kiyohime had come through for me when no one else could. She saved my life. She used her Noble Phantasm, and caused devastation I couldn't imagine a girl like her causing. And now, she was likely dying due to using the Noble Phantasm she had desired to never use under any circumstances.
And damn it all, but despite her madness and her problems, she'd saved me… and I refused to let her die.
"Save her." That was the Command I gave. I was finally able to give Medea a command, albeit 'save her' as opposed to 'save us'. Medea was a ridiculously good Healer, and her Noble Phantasm had put Boudica and Lily back into stability after they almost died to Medusa and her bullshit Pegasus. So damn it, she would save Kiyohime. She hadn't fallen apart yet, and Pain Breaker could heal all but death itself.
Caster nodded, and then with a grimly determined look of her own, cast once more. "Emfanízomai!"
Another surge of power- because it took great quantities of power of break through a Dragons defences and affect them with Magecraft and even more so to affect something this undeniably close to death. Still, I had the power to spare, and she'd had a Command. If this couldn't save her, nothing was.
The ripple of Medea's teleportation spell wrapped around the dragon parts in the distance, and there was great resistance… but eventually the world rippled, and the Dragon's decaying corpse was dumped before us. It was even more disconcerting to see the Dragon up close, to see that strong creature wounded to such a degree. I was almost glad that a human body was in the midst of the muscle and gore of the dying dragon- Kiyohime's true self. The damage she'd suffered in battle had transferred over, and half of her entire form was gone- leaving only bloody chunks and mangled bones behind- but she was there.
I rushed to her side and grabbed the one hand she had left. I felt it- a sign of life. "Please don't die on me." I begged. The hand clenched ever so slightly. Kiyohime was stubborn, I knew she was. Hell, she even had a Skill, Flame-Coloured Kiss, just how far she was willing to go to get what she wanted. It was a symbol of her determination to wish to capture her Anchin's attention and consequently his lips, and while I sure wasn't offering to pucker up, she could definitely feel my presence. So long as the possibility of a kiss existed, no matter small, she would push aside all obstacles in her way and carry on if given the means.
She wanted to stand by my side; she wanted me to love her. Ergo, she couldn't die- not quite yet. My words only reinforced that perception. Because damn it, Yandere's are scarily predictable sometimes.
Medea had rushed to my side too- and had pressed her staff against the still enduring body. "Pain Breaker!" she declared, and so all flaws must vanish, and all wounds be repaired. Light flooded over her, and then she began to heal. Impossibly slow, but she healed. A recording in reverse: the bones snapped together, new ones appeared from nothing, flesh bubbled back into existence to coat newly made muscles, and cuts, bruises and burns of all sorts faded away to reveal porcelain skin.
"An…chin?" Kiyohime asked, her amber eyes opening. As she laid there, she seemed more vulnerable than I'd ever seen her before.
"Yes. I'm here." I told her- gripping her hand tighter. Now wasn't the time to argue against that name. I would happily accept that name for a while longer, if only Berserker survived. And she had. She'd taken an Excalibur to the face- and only survived it due to my excellent healer. Truly, Medea was earning her paycheck…
"Did you… watch?" she demanded weakly- panic in her tone. "Did you see?"
"I did." I admitted.
At this, she flinched. "Tell me the truth. Did you find me ugly?"
Upon hearing that question, I had no other option but to laugh. Was she ugly!? Truly, she had to be a Berserker, because she had the worst priorities imaginable! "You just beat the shit out of Hercules and tanked an Excalibur for me, and the question you choose to ask is whether I think you're ugly!?"
"H-hey! Don't laugh at me!" She protested from the floor- blushing a little, despite my words.
"I'm just teasing you. But to answer the question you asked… I don't. Damn it, you turned into a mother freakin' Dragon. A Dragon made of FIRE. That is AWESOME." I declared resolutely. "Geez, why'd you even worry about that? I think I like you a lot more now knowing you can kick as much ass as you can."
Because all this time I'd been asking for a Ridiculous Servant, and time and time again I'd been denied… or so I'd thought, since I'd had a bloody Dragon unknowingly slumbering besides me.
At my words, her cheeks gained the faintest of red shades. "Words like that aren't exactly poetry to the ears of a lady, you know. We are hardly meant to 'kick ass', as you say."
"Kiyohime, Badass is Badass, and knows no gender. But if it makes you feel better, you make for a very elegant dragon. Very impressive."
"I'm glad." She said, sighing softly. It seems she found that compliment more appealing than my first. "I've always considered my other form unsightly, you see. Through envy and hatred, I assumed that form and I killed you, my love. I chased you as you ran, and mercilessly burned you alive. So, I'm happy that you don't hate me, or flinch at the thought of the monster I become."
This time it was my turn to blush. I was bad with direct assaults like that, and it was difficult to not flush at an honest message like that from a beautiful girl… even though she also happened to be madder than a hatter when it came to me. "Tch. You've been a bit troublesome so far, but that's par the course for a Berserker Class Servant. Still, you took on that form to save my life, so I could never hate it. Or you, either. You're murderous as hell, but I think I can bear with you."
"Thank you then, my love." She smiled, and then before I could react she lunged upwards and slammed her lips against my own, wrapping her arms around me to pull me closer to her, and so there was no escape. For a moment, my mind utterly evaporated before her aggressive direct assault (I was fairly sure she'd slipped a tongue in while my defences were down). Then I properly understood what was happening, and found I couldn't pull away.
"Uhum!" A cheery voice interrupted. My eyes darted away from the girl kissing me, and I saw Medea leaning over with us with a distressingly cute expression. "Is this really the time!?"
"My apologies." Berserker told her with a smile, after having broken our impromptu kiss. I took the lapse in her snogging to shuffle the hell away- still completely confused by what had just happened. The Japanese Spirit didn't seem upset by my retreat, and instead licked her lips in satisfaction- and I was certain nothing would have been able to keep the smile from her face. "But is it not customary for the hero to give the beautiful maiden a kiss after the dragon is slain?"
"Bu-wha-but you were the dragon!" Medea accused. "Plus, the knight kissed the maiden, not the other way around!"
"Ah, but Anchin needed to be rescued, so I feel he matches the role of the maiden well enough." Kiyohime determined, an adorable flush upon her cheeks.
"Thanks," I glared, though with a blush of my own "it's nice to know I'm so good at being unable to get myself out of trouble."
"A-anyway, that's really missing the point!" Medea continued with a massive pout. "This still isn't the time for kisses anyway! We've got stuff to do!"
"Indeed." Another voice intervened, bringing a smile to my face.
"Boudica!" I yelled in happiness. Because there she was. Bloody and bruised, and with a pained look upon her face.
"And what am I? Chopped liver?" Lily chipped in too, limping into my line of sight. They looked to be in just as bad shape as Rider- as if they were barely putting one foot in front of another.
I couldn't hold myself back from jumping to my feet and physically pulling the two Servants into a hug. I'd honestly been worried for them- although they'd unfortunately only been at the edge of my thoughts once Dragon!Kiyohime happened. They'd both been battered pretty badly by Hercules before Kiyohime curbstomped him, and then that area was hit by both Dragon Fire and a shot from Excalibur… I'd honestly feared they might have died back there, as I hadn't been in the state of mind to check my Prana connections to them.
"… hmmph, it's not like I wanted a hug for healing them all or anything either…" Medea mumbled under her breath- not even trying to hide her Tsundere tendencies. With an eyeroll and a pointed look to the two I was hugging, we shuffled closer to the Caster, and she took the hint and joined the 'yay we're still not dead!' group hug.
"I'm so jealous." Berserker growled from her spot on the floor. Unfortunately for her, she was still trying to recover from an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm to the chest and had all but collapsed after stealing a kiss from me, so couldn't exactly get to her feet to join in.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Due to my A Ranked Endurance Skill, I was able to ignore my wounds," began Boudica. "So, when I saw Berserker transform, I decided to evacuate the field. I grabbed Saber, and I ran, trusting Caster to take care of you. Then when I saw Berserker seemingly die, I decided to track you down using our connection."
"Well, I'm glad we all lived through that." Hesitantly, I broke off the hug, and stepped away. "Honestly, I'd thought we were all goners there."
"Me too." Admitted Rider. "If it hadn't been for Kiyohime, then we would have all been slaughtered. Hercules truly is a terrifying opponent. Most of us couldn't even scratch him."
"At least he's dead." I smiled a little, at the thought. He wouldn't be troubling anyone else after Kiyohime literally crushed him. Against a Dragon of pure fire, it seemed that even Hercules had met his match. Perhaps if he'd been summoned in another Class and had his full power available to him he would have stood a chance, but without it he couldn't overcome that level of Power.
Dragons like Kiyohime made entities like Medusa's Pegasus look like a common stallion.
"Not… exactly." Admitted Medea sheepishly. "I've been scrying since the others arrived, and I can see Prana sources amidst the ruins. Like, from what I can see, it looks like everyone else escaped."
"What. The. Fuck!" I shouted up to the heavens. "That's not fair! Why did Shirou's bullshit Protagonist powers have to kick in! That should have killed them! At least one fatality, surely!? Nobody can walk off that!"
"On the other hand, were we not unlikely to all Survive as well?" pointed out Lily with a soft frown. "Really, we should count our blessings that we all escaped with our lives."
"Good point." I agreed. I'd much rather we all live through this War, than we kill all our enemies. "Even so… it just feels a little cheap, you know?"
At this Kiyohime spoke up. "Not… necessarily. I remember you said he had eleven extra lives? Well, Caster removed two of those according to that little girl. And then I surely removed many more through my attacks. I guess that Saber's Master took Berserker of Blue's out of range once I transformed, and that the Servants joined them afterwards."
"Either way, we bloodied them." Rider concluded. "They'll know not to think lightly of us. Because we've wounded them terribly so, and they'll be feeling this loss for days to come."
So there was that. Hercules was only truly formidable due to his God Hand Noble Phantasm cancelling all B Rank or lower attacks, and granting him his revivals. Now that we'd likely removed most of them, it would only take a few well-placed shots from the right Servant to bring down the weakened Demigod.
"Good work then, everyone." I clapped my hands together. "I don't think the gains we made balance out all the losses we've taken… but this was undoubtedly a win. Now let's get back to the hotel so that can settle down and properly heal ourselves."
It had been a tiring day, and now I was just glad it was over…
XXXXXXXXXX
… except that the day wasn't over. There it was, our hotel, and it was aflame. A great inferno had been started, and it had engulfed the whole building. Smoke poured out into the sky in such great intensity that it rivalled that of the damage at the Temple.
In other words, our hotel had been attacked, invaded and fundamentally destroyed.
The place I'd called home for the last few days, the table we'd had so many discussions around, and the bed we'd all shared…
They were all gone. Taken from us. And we'd had no idea that it had happened.
"What happened!?" Medea asked in utter confusion. "I didn't sense this at all! And what about Assassin!? She'd been left behind!? Why didn't the dumb bimbo warn us!?"
"Ummm… Medea, its gone." I pointed at my hand- or more accurately the spot upon my finger which was now missing its Telepathy ring. Maybe it had been struck by a stray shot, or been weakened enough to slip from my finger, or had been destroyed by the ambient power of Kiyohime's Dragon form. It didn't matter- either way, the ring was gone. Consequently, any warnings Mata Hari could have given had no way of getting through to me.
If I couldn't still feel the ever-present feeling of her sipping from my Magic Core, I would have been very worried.
And then- the flames parted, as if recognising their proper targets had arrived. From the flaming wreckage, a man emerged. A smirking blonde dressed in the typical attire of a Magus: dark formal wear, with a red coat and top hat. I recognised him almost immediately- one of the primary antagonists of Kara No Kyokai: Cornelius Alba!
"Oh, how I wish I'd actually seen Kara No Kyokai now, as opposed to stumbling across him in a wiki run!" After all- I could barely remember anything about him save for his status as an antagonist, and the fact that he was a ridiculously competent flame mage.
And by his side, a Servant stood patiently. Long, dark hair, wearing what seemed to be an ornate lab coat, and wielding a sword that glowed softly.
Alba's eyes lit up, as it seemed that he could see from my place far down the street. He turned to me, and gave me an overexaggerated bow- tipping his top hat so low it almost touched the floor. Then, he righted himself and planted his headgear back atop his blonde locks. His lips made an exaggerated set of shapes- and I recognised the silent word that came from his arrogant smirk.
"Run."
The five us didn't even hesitate. We merely turned our backs on our ruined base of operations and fled into the night.
AN- wow… in some ways I liked this fight, and in others I didn't. Fun fact- its hard to write a good ol' fight scene when your SI basically has the ability to just teleport away via Command Seal Bullshit. My first draft of this fight missed out the Mystic Eyes of Ilya, but consequently seemed silly, because what idiot wouldn't just spend the Command Seals and run away? But no- I wanted Kiyohime to go all dragony. So I edited, and the Mystic Eyes seemed the way to go. Because fun fact- the one flaw of Command Seals is that they require words to physically be spoken by the caster. The Servant doesn't need to hear them, but the words do have to be vocalised. And speaking is no free action.
