Sorry for being late! I've been indulging myself in A LOT of Elden Ring, and may have started drafting out a story for that canon...

Ahem. This chapter continues the final battle, this time from another's perspective and arena. Enjoy!

leedan632: Yes, she's a demanding one, isn't she?

N.B.: Check out the Character Sheet and Glossary Updates at the end!

"What the hell have you brought with us?!" Maria yelled, her English tinted with a touch of Latin accent. "I didn't sign up for this!"

"How the fuck should I kno- LOOK OUT!" Kelley was about to yell back, but immediately interrupted himself by lunging at her to drag her away from an incoming attack. "Hey, what's the deal with yapping in battle?! This is why I can't stand bringing girls, really…"

As the two tumbled about on a particularly large floating rock fragment, the blonde Spaniard shot back, "That's still a lot better than bringing a ticking monster bomb under our noses! Is that still Sir Dee?!"

"Are you blind? Of course not."

A sharp, Oriental-accented English answered her question, its reverberating quality indicating it's spoken with a combination of Reinforcement and Alteration to one's voice. The speaker was a newcomer to their battlefield, completely outside of Maria's and Kelley's information packets, but it's so distinctive because… well, it's so young.

Himiko pointed at the two of them, before to the Demon Pillar behind them. "Would you like to perish separately, or nailed together with that… thing? Your choice."

Kelley, as always, had something in reserve as a retort, but he was forced to bend his body nearly 90° backwards when a horizontal slash nearly took his head off. He grumbled in annoyance, more because he knew the swordsman was more than capable of killing him just then, but deliberately swung lazily so the fight could be longer and more dramatic. "Fuck off!"

"I was surprised when you leapt in to protect her," Muramasa dryly noted. "I was expecting every single one of you to throw each other in front of you so long as you win in the end."

He was about to say something else, but a violet beam just landed between the two men and Maria beside them – Himiko was floating nearby – and smashed the rock they were on to pieces. Muramasa backflipped in the air and landed on two Traced fantastical claymores, each wider than his little sisters were, while the two Nanban was scattered by the unsighted attack and crashed someplace else.

- ██████████████▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄_...

"Do you think it's speaking?"

Faced by the Empress's childish question, Muramasa shrugged. "If it is, then it can't be anything decent for a girl your age, anyway."

"I'm not a kid!" Himiko protested, flip-flopping between her cold, Empress persona and a little girl her age. "Stop treating me like one!"

"Perhaps after you've grown tall enough to actually see things when you're behind me, my beloved imōto-chan." Only the distance between them prevented him from scratching the head-patting itch his hands always had around Himiko. He couldn't see her now, but he had little doubt she's puffing her cheeks like a little squirrel, sulking even amidst such a serious situation. "…I'll leave my back to you."

"Hmph! I know! You've said that already!" Her shrill grumble made him smile, imagining her folding her arms bombastically with her diminutive frame. When would she realize it only made her cuter, and not at all as imposing as she wanted? "Should we split up?"

"I don't think so. Against an organized opponent, that's a good idea… but in front of us, there's nothing but [Chaos]. Let's just take them on as a couple, and fish for weaknesses along the way," he patiently explained, even as the two of them had to dart about mid-air several times to dodge multiple ship-sized violet beams. "Get its attention first! We can't afford collateral damage to our own people!"

Truth be told, that's standard procedure even by the bloodthirsty and warmongering Yoshitsune, but he just felt like saying it. Himiko was powerful enough to defend herself without his overprotective assistance, yes, but she'd let her powers run rampant if there's no minder around her. That's not to say she's one of those prone to be overwhelmed by their Guardian Spirits – far from it, since she was her Guardian Spirit in essence – but there's a risk her personality would distance itself from the humanity she's trying to protect if left alone under high-stress situation.

Sometimes, the moniker 'Child of Heaven' was both a blessing and a curse.

He was clad in his familiar combat garb – skin-tight composite armour, primarily black with limbs covered in white sleeves and pants; the opposite of EMIYA's red-dominated colour scheme – and summoned his futuristic bow. He didn't really have any target to shoot, however, since neither Maria or Kelley was worth spending the several precious second of aiming while he let himself open to the Demon Pillar's counterattack. Not to mention he had to keep an eye on his little sister in this chaotic battle arena…

Muramasa sensed several shocked gazes boring at his back. 'Huh… guess I never wore this in front of Chiyome, Kippōshi, and Danzō…?' He searched his memories even as his body automatically moved to optimal positions previously identified by his Pure Eyes, using the floating rocks and erupting ocean floors to dissipate anything he should've parried. As they pushed this battle farther and farther away from the main battlefields, they did earn some more breathing room, but nowhere near enough considering the size of the Demon Pillar…

…and Chiyome's full strength. Undoubtedly, against Otakemaru, she'd use Yamata-no-Orochi's complete Divine Apotheosis. He hadn't had the chance to greet his wife when she arrived late, since they're already separated, but he also sensed their troublemaking ancestor Shuten-dōji in tow. He knew Danzō's full arsenal and her range, but there's no telling what that whimsical small oni had in mind. 'Better make up some more room, just in case,' he told himself.

Just a few blows in, and both Maria and Kelley were looking incredibly worn out. Muramasa's all-encompassing blow – the same death-guaranteeing strike which forced Dee to undergo his Demon Pillar transformation – was clearly more than lethal, and only the changes in circumstances endured the brunt of the blow for them. The 'floating terrain' he was describing earlier was, in fact, solely due to how heightened their perception was and making the falling boulders, steaming geysers, and palpable shockwaves move in slow motion.

After a few more seconds, then there would no longer be any cover or landing points. It's not an issue to Muramasa and Himiko – much less the Demon Pillar which looked like it's rooting itself to the sea floor – so he was curious on how Kelley and Maria would respond. The earlier skirmish, however brief, told him they had some aerial capacity, though clearly he was much too powerful to be used as a testbed to gauge how far their abilities went in this aspect.

In contrast, Himiko was her usual prim-and-proper self, even allocating minute amount of Od to make sure no dust landed on her battle dress.

Among a sea of pristine white and flaming red, only Himiko's jet-black hair serving as the only contrast. Her skin tone was naturally very pale after spending so much time indoors, doing administrative work – though he always pointed out Kazumasu also had a similar complexion despite working under the hot clear oceanic skies, whenever this Empress complained – so it eerily matched her pure white, now-elaborate miko outfit, far more complex, flowing, and oversized compared to her daily wear. Nine glowing white ethereal fox tails swayed alongside her movements when she dodged, though Muramasa was focused on the intensity of these flame-like tendrils as an indication of her mental state. Yoritomo's notes about one of his wives, Tamamo-no-Mae, indicated beast-type yōkai's emotions were easy to read by paying attention to this area.

Nine overly-large fox ears – compared to Himiko's small, very pattable head – stood proud, similarly ethereal to the tails, and also just as white. Overall, Himiko's appearance was too bright because of minimal amount of red adorning this miko outfit, compared to the entirely red lower hakama she usually wore, with only the edges and minor inseam parts being a normal red.

She easily swatted away one particular violet beam which came too close, before shooting a warning glare at her approaching and worried-looking older brother, sword in hand and ready to leap in as usual. She's not a baby, geez!

'I'll show you how an Empress does things!'

"How annoying. I'll finish this in one shot, Aniue," she declared when he arrived by her side. The multiple eyes of the Demon Pillar struggled to follow their erratic movement, their large size being very inefficient in tracking minuscule things the size of humans. At best, it's using its magic detection to aid its aim, and was unlikely able to recognize either Muramasa's or Himiko's face even if it squinted with all the eyes it had. "Hypernova Nine Driv- Mmph!"

His large hand immediately blocked her mouth, before chiding, "Why are you rushing? There's no need for that Noble Phantasm yet. This Living Weapon of yours is already enough to safely dispatch them all." He replied her earlier glare with one he used so often when she was being naughty as a child, causing her to mentally cower. "Also, have you forgotten our current priority is still containment? Don't you think that [Beast]-Class skill of yours won't wipe this part of Nihon off the map? Hmm? Have you thought of that?"

Faced by his incessant criticisms, she could only shift her gaze down and gave up. "But… we can't prolong things like this either! Yes, only several seconds have passed, yet still…!"

"Believe in me just as I believe in you," he reassured, having removed his muffling hand and lightly slapping her on the back. "For now, let's kill the little pests. Spread your largest-scale, wide-area attack to contain this stupid, CGI-looking environmental object."

"…what's a 'CGI'?" She questioned, tilting her head adorably.

He resisted the urge to slap his own mouth, before hurriedly explaining, "Just… something like a badly-made illusory object, but palpably real. It's a Nanban shorthand."

"Oh, that makes sense." She innocently nodded.

"…right, let's go," he awkwardly pushed away from her spot, allowing a violet beam to pass between them, before leaping off to where he sensed Maria had steadied herself. "Trace, on. Break. Continuous fire."

Countless swords materialized behind him, shooting off to carpet-bomb the Demon Pillar's entire body. Each and every one of them exploded on impact, less concerned about outright damage than mere distractions. No matter how great its Conceptual Weight, his array of average Broken Phantasms sent shockwaves, shrapnel, and elemental damage enough to block out the sun itself with how flamboyant they looked.

…and that wasn't an analogy, as Himiko's Element was [Sun], befitting Amaterasu's current avatar. So long as the now-mindless John Dee was focused on too many things apart from this unruly little sister of his, she'd be safe both from outside threats and her own inexperienced mental changes.

"Cursed Layer: Broad Sunshine."

Himiko's murmur took far longer than the time it took her talisman to leave her fingers, and finished right when the spell's effect had completed. Because Muramasa was in front of her, he was protected from the intense light it emitted, but the recovering Maria and Kelley took the brunt of the missile-sized flashbang and grunted in pain. At the very least, the Spanish woman was able to instinctively draw her rapier to momentarily block an overhead swing from Monohoshizao, though the former's far lighter weight meant she was instantly driven to her knees, the oversized nodachi already bringing down and digging the thin rapier's blade into her own shoulder. A solid toe kick stabbed her abdomen before she could fully register the pain, easily breaking through her simple Reinforcement and rupturing several digestive organs, sending her crashing into the Demon Pillar's body.

Without relenting, even as she vomited out several hefty red, bloody chunks, he descended upon her mercilessly. Her rapier was miraculously undamaged – perhaps she instinctively sent most of her magic reserves to Reinforcing her blade, leading to a fatal opening across her body – but that wouldn't last. A combination of Muramasa's superior skill with both the simple spell and swordsmanship, along with far greater Conceptual Weight, meant the next strike, performed with Durandal this time, easily cleaved pass whatever defences she managed to muster in her state and bisected her diagonally in half.

Luminosité Eternelle
~ אלוהים כאן איתי ~

Yet, when his foot landed on the Demon Pillar's surface, he instantly backpedalled to avoid a wreath of sharp tentacles suddenly springing out of her insides, summoning a bright golden spherical barrier with a beautiful standard as its centre. He grunted as the Prana cost was a touch higher than he expected, since this Noble Phantasm's spirit wasn't 'his', but another Heroic Vessel's, but it's the fastest and strongest he knew how to cast. Avalon might appear instantaneous, but the preparation inside his Reality Marble to construct the Fairy Letters took a while. Rho Aias was too unpredictably weak to act as a reflexive barrier, not to mention the physical toll it enacted to its wielder.

Still, he was overreacting – a bad habit he needed to kick out, since the wealth of magic energy available to him as a Heroic Vessel had made him careless in its expenditure, in complete contrast to Emiya Shirō who had to learn to be economical – and the tentacles didn't even reach Jeanne d'Arc's defensive Noble Phantasm, such was the distance his backpedalling's first step took him.

Shaking his head in disappointment of himself, he re-summoned his bow – momentarily dispelled earlier – and notched Caladbolg II's Broken Phantasm form onto it, instantly unleashing it after nary one second had passed. Unlike EMIYA, who had to summon the original thing, Alter it, and Break it in successive order – which took a lot of time – this one was already Traced into its final form. It required a higher computational power to be spent in Unlimited Blade Works, but it's better to do it there than in the real world, regardless of how enabling the higher level of Mystery in this reality was.

Caladbolg II
~ Man, Earth, and Sky Great Rotation ~

Even before exploding, the Spiral Sword-Arrow obliterated Maria's form, before engulfing a large portion of the Demon Pillar in rainbow light, causing Dee to groan inhumanly. Yet, not a split second later, longer, thinner tendrils shot out from the centre of the explosion, overtaking Muramasa's position and attempting to draw him into whatever's emerging from the smoke next.

He had no interest in playing fair, if his opponent was already using the poor Spanish girl's body as an extension of its sphere of influence. It reminded him of the demonic creatures he and Gilgamesh fought side-by-side long ago in Babylon, when they were lulling Tiamat back to sleep to avoid her waking up and causing a Singularity the future of humanity had to deal with, though clearly far more amorphous and resilient. These things didn't really have the Conceptual Weight or outright strength of those… Laḫmu, if he remembered correctly-

[Yes, you're correct! So you do remember our time together!] A haughty voice chided in his mind, Gilgamesh's angry, arm-folding form appearing. [Hmph! Not summoning me for so long, and keep playing around with other weapons worse than me! What a prude!]

He… didn't really know what to say in return, so he focused on analysing this new creature. Unfortunately, this was taken by Gilgamesh as a clue she could continuously rant her grievances of being stuck in Unlimited Blade Works for millennia, never getting any use since there had been no instances where Ea was required. Besides, his Knight Arms, Slash Emperor, had similar destructive power and was far more familiar to him, being equal extensions to his own soul to Unlimited Blade Works, increasing her grumpiness.

Muramasa continued this dance – destroying the main body and reducing it to dust, then dodge the revived counter – until she was satisfied and calmed down into silence. [You better remember who's your first, my dear mongrel! Hmph!]

A sound effect similar to a door slam, which was of course impossible to exist within Unlimited Blade Works, echoed through his mind. He shook his head in resignation, before turning his attention to how Himiko was doing.

"It seems I'm bad at matchup with shorties!" Kelley shouted through the din of his master's current form's movement, still wincing from the earlier brighter-than-the-sun blinding spell. Because of his serpentine nature, even after Ouroboros defaulted their contract and left him for dead, he was still sensitive to changes in air movement, and was able to roughly dodge large-scale attacks which followed. "Hey, if you're the Empress, then I'll make a pretty mound of gold if I can capture and sell you! There's lots of old men I know who likes little girls like you!"

He sensed her anger spiking. 'Heh, amateur.'

Compared to the petite kunoichi who nearly killed him last time, this one was exactly that. Chiyome's emotions barely fluctuated – and even if they did, it was but a trap to lure him in – and in contrast, Himiko was like an open book. He still proceeded carefully, mindful it could just be a repackage set of different traps, but he's rather enjoying his relative freedom from unpredictable attacks.

Now, if only Dee could stop aiming at him while trying to take out these two…!

- ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄███████████████████████████!

The problem was this sound… which did not come from behind him. Rather, its source was the little girl in front of her, sounding like an otherworldly canine growl rocking deep into his very soul. The little Empress hadn't said anything in return even after his plentiful taunts, but he recognized the animalistic, conceptual, space-affecting sound as really, really bad news.

Good thing he could dodge her attacks easily. Look, another pitch-black large ball had just whizzed past, hitting the Demon Pillar instead of him, which would've obliterated his body instantly like what Maria was unknowingly going through somewhere apart from this place.

"Tsk!"

However, she was a powerful opponent, after all, and just her base instincts were enough to compensate for her anger. A decent-sized flame pillar erupted much too close for comfort, burning his bald skin horribly despite not directly hitting him, forcing him to spend the Od he needed for movement on healing instead. Healing spells never came naturally to him, either, so a giant ice spike hit him square in the back when he was slowed down.

"G-Guh!"

Fortunately, he chose to release Reinforcement and did Alteration on his body instead, making it quite a bit more flexible than normal, enabling him to bounce off the attack like rubber. Still huts, though.

He rolled and rotated mid-air to reorient himself, but something blinding white the size of the boulders they were standing on earlier smacked him square on. The hit actually felt… rather pleasant? 'So fluffy…' he remarked, confused, but the sheer physics behind several tons' worth of fur, however soft, was still considerable, sending him face-first onto a frozen ocean surface – previously prepared by Himiko while his back was turned – like a swatted fly.

- Splat!

…the ice was really, really thick, removing any chance for his haphazard Alteration to bleed off the impact and instantly crushing his innards. Being familiar with this kind of injury, a healing sacrament already left his lips before the pain could get to him, but it was nowhere near enough since he had to scramble away before the broken ice shards around him coalesce into an icy prison.

"Shit! What's with her combat tactics?!" He complained. "[High-Speed Divine Words] and an Average One Elemental affinity? Little girl, aren't you such a cheater in life…!"

"What? Jealous?" That accented English came back, ringing all around him as she concealed her presence from his senses. A ridiculous attempt to even try, considering how much larger she was in her Living Weapon form – or, to be more specific, how much her tails and ears add to her silhouette – but it worked, most importantly. "If yes, then lie down and die. If no, then stay still and let me kill you."

"You're just as good a conversationalist as that redhead!" He lambasted. "You know, if I was in my prime, then I might be interested in you!"

"Are the Nanbans around you always this disgusting and revolting?"

The reply was much too calm… which meant bad news for him.

He kept stretching his senses – what remained in this injured, lesser body, anyway – because he couldn't avoid to take any more direct attacks like that again until he recovered. Any range of combat was dangerous right now, since he only followed along because Dee was his master and the army they brought with them to be more useful, keeping these threats busy from trying to rip their throats out at the first opportunity.

- Whoosh!

He hurriedly ducked down, avoiding a spinning, multi-bladed ornate mirror slicing through the air just above him. Then, as if the laws of momentum didn't apply to it, it abruptly stopped right as he was midway through his scramble, its polished surface shining, before beaming down concentrated sunlight potent enough to instantly boil the waters underneath him.

"Found you, you little shit."

He wondered what Muramasa, a man he presumed to be this girl's older brother figure in life, would think of her coarse language. A nice thought, given that's the last one he'd have before his entire being was crushed into a single particle by Himiko's [Void]-based spell.

"Cursed Reading: Void Cleft Great Chaos Heaven."

She didn't make any effort to hide the spell name, which should clue in on its immediate effects… if Kelley had bothered to learn the Nihon language, that was. Alas, his arrogance even post-defeat meant he blocked himself off a true evolutionary path to something greater than his original self.

…or that's how Himiko wished she'd lecture this would-be corpse. Instead, with widened eyes, she saw the lump of meat expand chaotically, before exploding in sharp, dark tentacles, aimed at everything in sight. Yata-no-Kagami instantly responded even before her mind captured the true danger of the desperate attack – which turned out to be surprisingly minor – expanding a pink semi-spherical barrier in front of her. The sound of the blow hadn't reached her multiple ears before what her older brother was doing caught her attention: continuous killing without mercy, testing the limits of its regeneration.

'Well, I can do that, too…'

…but a touch slower. She excelled in large-scale complex formations, both offense and defence, since her Origin, Element, and Guardian Spirit were suitable for it. But for instant, devastating one-shot damage? Muramasa had her beat multiple times over with his killing ability, especially against a single target. Perhaps she had an edge if a genocide was necessary, but she still hadn't tested her full capability in that area because the opportunity was still a few years away.

"Hmph! A pathetic final squirm before your demise!" She coldly quipped. She should do what she could to study this new existence while also controlling how much the Demon Pillar was concentrating its attacks. Then, slowly, she'd regroup with Muramasa and decide what to do afterwards.

Himiko, with her great [Clairvoyance], was unmatched in terms of long-term planning, but her brother completely outdid her in split-second decisions, especially in the heat of battle. She remembered those days when she'd mock him and Tatsumi for roughhousing like peasants, only to be dragged into their spars and returned with sore bottoms and stiff neck. They'd really punch a toddler seriously in the face! They really did! Therefore, she didn't want to make a mistake so fatal it'd require him to shield her with his own body. As much as her bottom had tasted his spankings – because no elder in the Minamoto Clan dared to do so – she still loved him the most in the world.

Yata-no-Kagami whirred up, spinning faster and faster according to her heightened sense of urgency. It's quite a bad habit she's trying to break out of, since giving one's opponent any indication of one's mental state was plain suicide, but it's difficult since it also granted her microscopic control of its movements. The physics-defying change of direction she used to pin Kelley in earlier was a direct result of this closeness. It's fortunate her Guardian Spirit was always at hand to remove any sort of transferrable attack or curse impacting the mirror, or that would've been another major weakness she'd have to live with.

"Thunderclap!"

Unlike before, when her talismans' activation Single-Action was the act of throwing them like shurikens, thin bright lines formed a pseudo-talisman around the rapidly-recovering Kelley, before firing great lightning strikes from all directions. She intended to test whether this… new creature had any sort of nervous system her lightning would be able to affect, and the heat damage on the surface was secondary to her.

- ████!████!████!████!████!████!████!████!

The creature roared again and again, interrupted each time by involuntary muscle spasms caused by several electric arcs coursing through its body. However, while it's clearly hampered and in pain, Himiko didn't detect any lessening of its fighting spirit or conscience, meaning this hold-up would only last the spell's effects, and no more.

Fair enough. She had a lot more tools to use for this experiment.

"Merciful Sky."

A ḍākinī spell which applied Reinforcement to one's Magic Circuits, instead of physical attributes, greatly boosted her magic power for a short while. It's inefficient when considering her reserves were extremely large, but her small body meant the current her could only let out so much before harming herself, akin to a all-too-small tap being forced to channel a great waterfall. This expanded the nodes all across her body, enabling her to execute abilities more akin to Muramasa's concentrated, Anti-Unit skills. This was originally used by Tamamo-no-Mae when she was restricted and weakened in the past, so Himiko modified it to suit her own needs.

"Aphotic Cave."

Was it being empowered by the Demon Pillar? Had Dee completely lost the ability to differentiate between friend and pawn? She didn't see or feel any magical or spiritual connection form between them – and Maria, too, if her guess was correct – so how did the Demon Pillar accomplished it? There was no physical line connecting it and its two most recent victims, either… so a planted time-bomb? A delay-activation spell?

The new-Dee had finished reassembling itself to something closer to his previous appearance, but was instantly emaciated as the near-infinite Od flowing through him was being sucked out, purified, then absorbed into his opponent.

'Hmm…'

She kept pondering as her body moved automatically – a skill she picked up in long days of administrative work where she let her mind wander elsewhere as she signed and stamped paperwork after paperwork, scroll after scroll – continuing to vary the Element in her attacks to gauge what response this new-Kelley would give out. Slowly, she also shifted more and more resources to carpet bomb the Demon Pillar, using Fiery, Frigid, and Chaos Heaven interchangeably with the greater output provided by Merciful Sky, as new-Kelley's attacks grew increasingly impotent in their lethality.

So far, this level of intensity was just right to prevent any desperate transformation from the Demon Pillar and restrict its attacks to a manageable area. She could see the ocean it's rooted in was gradually being corrupted, though certainly at a much slower rate than it would've been if it's allowed to run rampant.

- Thwack!

Just in time, then, for a good ol' fashioned antagonists mutually crashing into each other. Or, in this case, Muramasa had thrown Maria straight into Dee's side, causing them to crash back towards the Demon Pillar.

"Hmm… perhaps your eagerness is the correct way to go, after all…" he mused, taking stock of Himiko's state with that gaze which promised over-mothering if she so much had a scratch on her. "Fine. Are you used to my Reality Marble yet?"

He asked because the sudden shift in dimension into a place Alaya governed proved to be discomfiting for her, as a miko so closely entwined with a Gaia-based Divine Spirit. It was this very method which he used to weaken Sefar in her various forms, severing her specialization in eradicating those aforementioned primordial deities, a similar principle which was imbued into Excalibur's real power and purpose. This effect was not apparent against other enemies, so he was quite surprised when Himiko fell terribly ill the instant she first stepped foot inside Unlimited Blade Works.

"Of course! I've come prepared!" She bombastically replied, eager to erase that overbearing gaze he always exuded only towards her. "Behold, my new Noble Phantasm!"

Opulence of Eclipse
~ Universal Mythological Mystic Code ~

Technically, only techniques passed down through the Minamoto Clan's Sorcery Trait could be called a Noble Phantasm, but that term'd been thrown around so often lately this rule was likely becoming a redundant one. There was only one condition: strength. If a technique was inferior, then let it go extinct with its last wielder, and unworthy of recognition by the future generation. However, seeing how strong the women around Muramasa had become, the elders had no qualm in letting them walk and throw this term around willy-nilly. Only Mitsuhide had yet to produce something of equal value, but that combat maniac was more eager to learning all the previous Noble Phantasms than creating a new one, since that's how her mind worked.

Still, this was certainly something Muramasa couldn't do: create an apparel-based Mystic Code strong enough to act as a literal spacesuit with this era's technology. Because, despite how beautiful the new kimono Himiko's garbed with, the strength emanating from it was incredible, combining aspects of Amaterasu and her little sister Tsukuyomi, along with every legend about the firmament she'd heard about. He was forced to blink to dispel the series of images flashing through his mind when he looked at it with his Pure Eyes: the memories of Amaterasu and her siblings being defeated by Velber, the pan-[Time] connection she had with the future Moon Cell, the twang of Hou Yi's string as he downed the 9 suns in front of him, and various scenes of terror associated with the solar and lunar eclipse around the world.

"Ta-dah!"

The hand he wanted to use to pat her head felt rather heavy and awkward, so he decided against it, knowing how much it'd annoy her. Instead, he confirmed, "Alright. Let's finish this in one shot!"

Himiko giggled at his attempt on making his voice excitable, but went along with it anyway.

I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood
My being is forged of infinite weapons
Beyond life or death, surpassing time and space
Rejecting emptiness, neglecting fulfilment
Chaotic stillness's perpetuity, silent pandemonium's transience
I dream only for an Unlimited Blade Works

Realizing what's happening, the Demon Pillar futilely charged all of its many eyes with Od, frantically consuming as much Mana as it could from the environment while also corrupting it. Countless violet dots appeared around its body, all aimed at the pair of Minamoto siblings, hastily enlarging in its haste to fire off everything.

Still, the moment the first line went out of Muramasa's lips, it was already too late even without [High-Speed Divine Words] essentially compressed everything into Single-Action speed. For this spell alone, he was absolutely confident none could match his casting speed – not even his absurdly powerful younger sister – as well as its capturing and killing ability. A cockiness neither Emiya Shirō nor EMIYA had due to their upbringing and life experiences, but one rubbed off from his very first lover, and thus very special. At the very least – he rationalized to himself – he used it for positive things!

An all-encompassing flame spread out with him as the centre, both menacing and welcoming at the same time. He was curious on how it felt when it passed through his body, since even though it's supposed to be painless and more of an illusion, others who experienced the same thing reported many different sensations, proportional to how much affection they held for him. For his lovers, it was more the former, while he was too busy demolishing his enemies to observe their initial reactions when they're first pulled in.

The inside of Unlimited Blade Works was far more beautiful than he thought he deserved to have, but he'd long had abandoned the desire to show off in favour of killing the enemy as fast as possible. It was an urgency born after having to face weapons and beings which could destroy any Reality Marble or Marble Phantasm easily if given the chance, such as Gilgamesh or Sefar, and the fact him being a Heroic Vessel made summoning it out a double-edged sword. An astronomical increase in combat prowess balanced by the risk of receiving a spiritual attack right to his core by way of damaging Unlimited Blade Works itself, much like Himiko's most powerful Noble Phantasm he stopped her from using earlier.

Well, it's not as crazy as Slash Emperor, which directly used his existence as fuel. In Babylon, during his first mission, he deliberately avoided using it until near his 'death', because doing so would instantly send him back to Alaya's lap instead of continuing to fight alongside his loved ones. After several deployments, the burden became easier and no lingering side-effect to his combat ability was present, but it's still a dangerous thing to use. It was the ultimate destructive strength, yes, but not immune to traps like absorption counters and [Fate] reversal. If it's sent back to him, then he'd gladly take the penalty for being such an idiot, but what if his loved ones were the target? Living life after such a mistake was worse than death.

The infinite expanse of blades stretched out around him, swallowing the Demon Pillar in its entirety. Its roots failed to take hold upon this sacred land of warriors and heroes, leaving it to shudder uselessly at the grave situation it's now in.

Himiko was keeping up alongside him – her flying, him sprinting on top of the oh-so-familiar hilts of the weapons – right towards their opponent not far away. Or, to be more precise, no opponent could be too far inside here, where he was god.

"One shot?" She asked, even as she'd already loaded the necessary Od for her Noble Phantasm.

He nodded. "One shot."

Supreme Goddess, ruler of Takamagahara.
Aesthetically certain, breath of the soul.
Residing in the mountains and watery heavens, Amaterasu.
Let this freely become the proof of purification.
Thy name is the Weighted Stone of Tamamo.
Become the sacred treasure, Mirror of Uka!

The white furs she sported turned bright gold, as Yata-no-Kagami overtook her and enlarged enough to swallow her entire frame, transforming her as she passed through the central mirror. Her previous Mystic Code imbued her with blue and black accents, similar to her Guardian Spirit's original form, combined with her usual white-and-red, but right now, it's completely changed into flowing white-and-gold, pieced together in sparse places to create an indecent outfit for an adult, much less a prepubescent girl like her.

Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu
~ Weighted Stone of Tamamo ~

Her nine tails, each now around thrice her size, unfurled furiously behind her. Multiple ethereal torī descended from the gear-shaped clouds and impaled the ground all around the Demon Pillar… then another set, then another, stacked upon each other and encircling it like a violet-gold tornado.

Yata-no-Kagami shot upwards, flying towards the infinitely-high sky, before revealing its true form: a gigantic ornate lens, glowing brighter than the sun inside Unlimited Blade Works, aiming square at the Demon Pillar beneath it.

- ████████████████████████████████████!

It roared defiantly, its eyes popping and self-destructing as it took a page out of Muramasa's book, turning them into Broken Phantasm to gain as much firepower as possible. It fired unidirectionally, wildly trying to break free of the torī encirclement, breaking some in the process… before it rapidly regenerated, even faster than the one it granted the now-dead Maria and Kelley to the point it's spontaneous.

The two undead were pinned by several swords nearby, the scale of the battle swallowing them and rendering them irrelevant in this world. What could two puny corpses do to shift the tide of battle? It's already impressive if they survived this one full-powered blow from Himiko, but the Reality Marble's owner definitely wouldn't let them leave 'alive'.

Meanwhile, Muramasa extended one hand, summoning a katana from the hundreds of thousands he stored inside here. It was Tsumukari Muramasa, but he's not going to use it as it was.

Another hand called forth a short tanto, glowing gold and seemingly made of crystal.

- Kacha!

He thrust the tip of the shorter blade into the hilt of his personal crafted weapon, supercharging the two of them while applying Alteration for the same time.

Technically, this was unnecessary. He could simply Trace forth the completed version of this process, but he'd long decided that was for emergency's only out of respect to the history of this weapon. Much like the care he'd take if he were to bring out Ea, Clarent, Harpe, Phoebus Catastrophe, and others, he chose to take several split seconds more to ensure the self-hypnosis process was perfect.

This was a Noble Phantasm most Minamoto Clan leaders had, if they had the slightest affinity to the [Sword]. Each had their own variation – for instance, Ibuki-dōji's took the form of a tsurugi, while the legendary warrior Yamato Takeru named it Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, implying a slenderer but similarly long blade. When Yorimitsu and Suzuka-gozen used it, it took the form of the mythical East Asian seven-branched sword. It used catalysts close to the wielder as cores: the memory of her father's and his wife's death for Ibuki-dōji and Yamato Takeru respectively, and their personal swords for Yorimitsu and Suzuka-gozen.

To him, these two were the catalysts. One he already had from long ago, and knew he's destined to forge when he's deployed in this era. One was a 'what if' from another reality, provided by Suzuka Gozen after procuring it from 'the other her' who lived up to the Sengoku Period, having the austere, humble family life this version didn't have after marrying Yoritomo: the tanto simply named 'Hide'.

A relic of himself, and a relic of another Heroic Vessel before him.

Tremble. Fear the apocalypse.
Revere the divine, worship the unknown.
This mortal, transient world. That immortal world of death.
Fragile, hollow. Essence, unravel. Perfected ideals, converge.
Come to this tomb of swords, built upon eons of devotion and dedication.
Severing karma, searching for one's origin.
The ten-fenced palace of Izumo, home of rising clouds.

The two blades merged, transforming and lengthening into an overly-long tsurugi. Its design brought to mind the current shape of Ming jian, but the geometry and finish pointed to its ancient age and divine origin, as it's around one palm wide at the base, tapering into three fingers' width at the top. Thick spine, fine edge broken up by nine separating small fangs, creating ten equal sections one hand-breadth's each. Colour-wise, it's the complete opposite of his Slash Emperor, which tended to shine much too brightly he couldn't enjoy the expression of despair his enemies showed whenever he pulled that Knight Arms out.

Pitch black, symbolizing the primordial universe. Contrast this to Slash Emperor's ability to show the [End], this was closer to Ea's ability to show the [Start]. The sword of Izanagi and Susanoo and Takemikazuchi, the creator of Three Munakata Goddesses, as well as the killer of Muramasa's own counterpart among Nihon's pantheon, Kagutsuchi, and the Minamoto Clan's Great Ancestor, Yamata-no-Orochi.

"Welcome, Totsuka-no-Tsurugi."

By the time its summoning was finished, Himiko and Muramasa were already within range. Once again, it didn't really matter how far they were, since this was merely a symbolic gesture akin to choosing a good place for hanami viewing.

To be honest, Nihon overreacted when Kelley and Cabral managed to get their hands on Yasakani-no-Magatama and attempted to escape with it. Yes, it's valuable and clearly recognizable as one of Nihon's Three Imperial Regalia… but it's merely one version among several. The Minamoto Clan had many overlapping, similar-sounding, and -functioning Noble Phantasms, each one mere variation and interpretation of an original idea powerful enough to stand alongside the first one.

""Fusion Phantasm.""

This time, it's a combination attack symbolizing [Life]. The warmth of the TYPE-SUN's first rays which gave energy to the very first creatures. The overwhelming concentrated energy of primordial Gaia's storms, supercharging and fusing the organic elements together into life.

The scientific story of creation, superimposed and passed down as Nihon legends. In essence, this was the Sorcery Trait of every citizen, not limited to just the Minamoto Clan. They're the first and still only one to realize this fact and use it to their advantage… which turned out as simply following the natural instinct ingrained in their souls.

Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu
X
Totsuka-no-Tsurugi

The [Moon] aspect was minimized, partly because TYPE-MOON came much later to affect the first [Life], acting mostly as stabilizer and regulator, and partly because neither sibling was proficient in its use. That was why Yasakani-no-Magatama, Tsukuyomi's main representative among the Regalia, was able to be carried off by strangers in the first place, unlike its counterparts which were literally melded into their wielders' body, mind, and soul. Even the [Sword], which had the most variations, was all tied to their respective owners, currently only Ibuki-dōji and Muramasa.

The [Sword] of [Storm]. The [Mirror] of [Sun]. The [Bead] of [Moon].

Just one of the three would be enough to completely eradicate this Demon Pillar.

The titanic Yata-no-Kagami shone down, like a pillar of sunlight breaking through a sea of clouds. The mysterious and ominous Totsuka-no-Tsurugi hummed intensely, its noise overwhelming everything else, arcing a perfectly straight bolt of primordial lightning – a pure expression of the most powerful Fundamental Force.

- …!

Himiko closed her eyes and cupped her ears, turning around before the attack was finished. She wasn't used to fighting in this Living Weapon form, and strong stimulus would make her ill courtesy of her enhanced senses. Even through her eyelids and ears, the light and sound were intense, sending a shiver down her back onto the tips of her tails.

Muramasa only needed one hand to launch his attack, and used his empty one to push forth with one palm covered in Sword Burst, splitting apart the shockwave from the complete destruction of what others would consider a serious threat to humanity. This was more for Himiko's than his sake, because he quite enjoyed bathing in the remnants of his opponent after driving them to inescapable despair – proof of his Heroic Vessel abilities.

It ended just like they decided earlier: in one shot.

Unlimited Blade Works instantly removed all traces of combat, including the three corpses, burnt to cinders altogether, from existence.

Character Sheet Update!

F

Fūma Kōtarō

Title: Red Wind
Predicted Class: Assassin, Berserker
Gender: Male
Height: 160 cm (250 cm w/o tail)
Weight: 52 kg (190 kg)

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Strength: C+
Endurance: B
Agility: A
Mana: C (A)
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: EX

Class/Personal Skills:

Presence Concealment: B+
Unusually low for a patriarch of a ninja clan, but actually Fūma Kōtarō's original profession was a mercenary. He's exceptionally good in subterfuge activities in Mongolia, but by the standards of the modern-day, his techniques and talent were right around average. Hides one's presence as a Servant and suitable for spying. The rank of Presence Concealment dropped considerably when preparing to attack.

Subversive Activities: B+ (C+)
An expert practitioner of traps, honed from years of warfare on grassy plains and various urban areas. He's most familiar with basic and natural materials from centuries ago, and while modern-day concepts were similar, his uneasiness when presented with new materials lowered this Skill's rank. The ability to reduce enemy's war potential in the preliminary stage before going to battle.

Ninjutsu: EX
An absolute master of a variety of basic ninjutsu, befitting the establishing master of a school of shinobi techniques. Having spent most of his life experimenting on methods of killing people, the secret intelligence techniques, combat techniques, larceny techniques, torture techniques, etc. were all known to him. Owing to how Mystery translated from era to era, his strength in this department was undiminished.

Mad Enhancement: C
A remnant of his bloodline's Sorcery Trait and eventual Noble Phantasm, Ogre Trance. Rank-Up for all parameters, but most of one's reason is robbed. However, owing to a secret training method he devised himself, he was able to gain some semblance of control even under the effect of this Skill.

Yōkai Transformation (Fake): A
Having given up his right to his inhuman bloodline in exchange for reincarnation, this Skill was born out of his forced Apotheosis contract with his new Guardian Spirit and original summoned creature, a kamaitachi. Fusing his body, originally incompatible with another yōkai because of his inhuman blood, increased all parameters except Luck, along with granting new affinity to [Wind]. It's a testament to his strength and talent he still managed to achieve what many thought as a suicidal process, as they all lost their mind, body, and eventually soul after the union.

Noble Phantasms:

Ogre Trance: Endless Rakshasa Transfiguration
Rank: EX (unavailable)

Type: Anti-Army, Support

Range: 1

Max. Targets: 1

As the Great Ancestor of the Fūma Clan's oni bloodline, he had the purest and wildest affinity to its techniques. All parameters improved to the extremes, and his stamina recovered speedily. His descendants would have a portion of their being breaking down due to overwhelming their brains beyond their limits, severe damage done to his internal organs and lifespan, and so forth. Of course, being more oni than human, he had no problem with this negative aspect of the technique.

Because of his new body, this Noble Phantasm was sealed, lacking his blood as the proper catalyst to execute it.

Character Description

Originally an oni who attained enlightenment and mastered Humanoid Compression, Fūma Kōtarō travelled his homeland and foreign nations as mercenary, trading his strength with money and worldly pleasures. Possessing the red hair similar to Central Asian prized war studs, his appearance in various battlefield and cities marked destruction and chaos. With death tolls climbing unchecked, both authorities and the underworld finally drove him away to the eastern shores of the continent, before he escaped across the sea to Nihon.

Having lived comfortably until then due to secretly being under the servitude of the great ruler of the Asian plains, he forged a path on his own with all his wits and skills, going on chaotic and thrilling adventures where he met allies and enemies alike. Treading the tense political situation of the Heian Era, facing the rise of the Minamoto Clan, forging a partnership with the magus Kashin Koji at the end of that period, and so on. Securing the backing of the Hōjō Clan, one of Nihon's largest remaining nobilities, allowed him to establish a new identity and family, settling down in Nihon from then on until his death.

Amids the chaos of the Sengoku Era, he was inadvertently and prematurely reincarnated through a backup summoning system set up by his friend Kashin Koji through the latter's memories of their relationship as the catalyst. Having no biological material to work from, Fūma Kōtarō was stuffed into a standard, high-quality homunculus body located in a secret compound.

H

Himiko (Go-Himiko-Ōhirume-no-Mikoto)

Title: Empress of Empresses
Predicted Class: Ruler, Caster, Beast
Gender: Female
Height: 153 cm
Weight: 47 kg

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Strength: E
Endurance: E
Agility: E
Mana: EX
Luck: EX

Class/Personal Skills:

Authority of the Beast: A
The signature Anti-Humanity Skill of Himiko's Guardian Spirit, it granted control over anything deriving their existence from the sun itself – i.e. everything bar the chemosynthetic creatures at the bottom of the ocean and outer space. Because Himiko herself didn't have the physique to fully manifest her Guardian Spirit, she compressed and modified this ability into something which could manipulate [Light] and [Fire] as she pleased. Rank-Up on all parameters against humans. This is separate from her [Nega-Weapon] Skill.

Charisma: B+
A composite Skill consisting of a person's charm as well as the natural talent to command or unify an army or country. Increases the ability of allies during group battles. A rare talent. At this Rank, Himiko was more than sufficient to lead Nihon as its undisputed Empress. The morale of military forces she commanded was extremely high, while also allowing her to negate the [Emergency Prerogative] Skill of her enemies. While her level of popularity was approaching the greatest as a human being internally, her lack of international diplomatic experience meant she hadn't been able to improve it.

Divinity: B
Less of possessing thick divine blood and more of compatibility, Himiko had exceeding match with her distant Great Ancestor, Amaterasu, to the point of possessing one of her avatars as her Guardian Spirit and essentially making her a demigoddess as well. Reduces [Purge Defence]; grants positive bonus against [Protection of the Faith] and [Enlightenment of the Sacred Fig].

God's Resolution: B (B+)
A Class Skill and privilege of the Ruler Class as the one presiding over the Holy Grail War: the right to use Command Spells against Servants. Each Ruler was normally granted two Command Spells for each Servant that participates in the Holy Grail War. When combined with her [Charisma], it's possible to negotiate a binding geas as strong as a Command Spell with favourable Servants.

True Name Discernment: B (A)
A Class Skill of the Ruler Class where status information such as one's identity, Skills and Parameters are automatically revealed to the owner of this Skill when directly encountering a Servant. Combined with her [Divinity], it's possible to completely bypass the Luck Check for specialized Servants with concealment abilities.

Territory Creation: A
Creation of a 'Temple', which is superior to a 'Workshop', becomes possible. However, typically, she preferred to set a weaker but nationwide Bounded Field to facilitate weaker, esoteric abilities rather than focus on specific Caster Class Skills. When in Nihon or East Asian territories (such as the future areas of Yamatai), this Skill will receive a Rank-Up.

Apotheosis: A+
Transmuting one's natural physique into a divine one, utilizing the Saint Graphs of both human and Divine Spirit. Himiko lacked the body to properly perform this Skill together with her Guardian Spirit, Tamamo-no-Mae, and the latter's true self, Amaterasu, to completion, limiting this Skill's rank. This was also due to the goddess being too high a rank for someone – even as beloved a subject as Himiko – to subsume. Carries a high risk of self-destruction after use, since it's below EX-rank.

Noble Phantasms:

Opulence of Eclipse: Universal Mythological Mystic Code
Rank: B (EX)
Type: Anti-Unit; Anti-Army
Range: 2~50
Max. Targets: 100

The manifestation of multi-solar calamity spoke of in legends; in this case, the 9 suns scorching the Earth owing to TYPE-SUN's cyclical nature. While recorded with great variety in several cultures and empires, the its origin, the embodiment of the [Sun], was one and the same. In this case, Himiko channelled Amaterasu's divine presence and passive debuff ability of just being in her vicinity, creating a Marble Phantasm around a set area of her choosing.

Its other half represented the mythical erasure of the sun by the moon, such as the legends of the former being eaten by a wolf. Born from the dark regrets of Amaterasu after losing to Velber, this side was specifically an Anti-Velber defence mechanism, though in reality it was a weapon crafted solely to kill Amaterasu herself in an ironic, hypocritical suicidal wish. Combining the two forms as yin-yang, the pair mimicked the Conceptual Weight of the foretold 'Big Crunch' – a Marble Phantasm destined to kill its own wielder.

The Bounded Field drew its strength from its simplicity: an absolutely dry, yet dark desert where 9 eclipses hanging overhead in close proximity, cleansing everything inside. This arrangement also came from the need to preserve Himiko's body, since regardless of her overwhelming talent and compatibility, Amaterasu's full power was too great for her to properly channel without restrictions. Of course, a suicidal attack would greatly increase this Noble Phantasm's power.

Weighted Stone of Tamamo: Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu
Rank: A (EX)
Type: Anti-Army (Anti-World)
Range: 30~100 (∞)
Max. Targets: 300 (∞)

One of Nihon's Three Sacred Treasures, taking the form of an ornate mirror decorated by gold and azure accents. Its eight round side extensions and two top-bottom trapezoidal 'handles' could be covered with magical energy to form fine, sharp edges in close- and medium-ranged combat. Its mirror was primarily used for scrying in its standby form, aside from actual self-grooming fit for an empress.

Of course, its main purpose was as a catalyst in a complex ritual. Summoning several circular levels of levitating ofuda and torī, creating an impromptu yet undeniably still-perfect Temple, enabling Himiko to execute High Thaumaturgy with [High-Speed Divine Words] and with infinite magic energy supply. This Noble Phantasm had a connection with the Third Magic, able to bring the deceased completely back to life, but Himiko would be required to unleash its full power and risk herself.

Originally, it was an EX-ranked Anti-World Noble Phantasm that has the range of covering a single country. In the first place, this Noble Phantasm was for nation building. A god's Authority which harvested the reconstruction of the ruined dominions due to an army of destruction, converting the power of all creation into an attack through using magical energy.

Heritage Beast: Hypernova Nine Drive
Rank: EX
Type: Anti-World
Range: EX
Max. Targets: ∞

The 'responsibility' placed upon world leaders of Himiko's level and class, where they alone decide the continuation of existence in one particular solar system. Pure, absolute, invincible destructive power holding the fighting spirit of all historical civilization to resist enslavement and genocide by outside interference, such as Interstellar Motherships or Umbral Stars. The ultimate resistance culminating in mass suicide simply to destroy humanity's attackers along with them, concentrated in an area around Himiko which would erase her existence from the Akashic Records.

A forbidden Noble Phantasm etched into the Minamoto Clan's Magic Crest, but accompanied with a Sorcery Trait which would override any system rejection whenever necessary. Its peak strength was unknown, and neither was its creator or what inspired its design.

Character Description

The latest generation of Minamoto Clans' choice as the de jure leader of Nihon, having wrestled control over the Royal Family shortly after the Heian Period. Noted for her immense magical energy and control since a very young age, her predecessors spied an opportunity to insert her in the true place of power she belonged regardless of her will, and thus had to deal with a monarch's troubles before her teens. Her identical twin sister, her backup typical of most royal families, was sent away to study with the Kōga, and now held a position within Nihon's Royal Navy.

Himiko essentially made herself irreplaceable, owing to her Guardian Spirit's decision not to approve of Kazumasu – the twin sister – as a replacement should the Empress fell. Regardless of their identical appearance, nothing much was similar between them – their likes, dislikes, hobbies, temperaments, and so on – affecting their familial bond and leaving them more akin to identical strangers instead of sisters. In contrast, she's much closer to her older cousins Muramasa and Tatsumi, while Kazumasu busied herself with her troops and considered Nobunaga more of a sister than Himiko.

Cold, expressionless, and often curt to outsiders – even at times to her own family members – this personality was cultivated from her inborn telepathic ability. Frequently going out of control when she was young, leading her to witness the depths of others' depravities in their hearts, Himiko had long learnt how to distance herself from the world she viewed as 'impure', fuelling her ambition to have not only Nihon, but also the entire world – as far as her figurative arms could control – to be a better place, lived in by better people. As a result, she's instinctively closer to those whose hearts and minds she found difficult to read, or those shining bright enough she couldn't help but be fascinated by.

Glossary Update!

F

Fusion Phantasm

True to its literal meaning, this is a combination which occurred when timing and execution overlapped perfectly. Even so, if two Noble Phantasms of opposite natures – or the fact the users couldn't find common ground between them – the result would return to [Zero]. When used around a shared Origin, this technique multiplied the destructive power and Conceptual Weight of the end result. Personalities weren't necessary, but a good relationship eased the combined calculation process and reduced the risk of self-harm.