AN: Another chapter in the compilation. Read, review, and enjoy everyone!
11.1
[Fate Grand Order]
A Chaldean's Guide to the Grand Order 4
Chapter 3.3: The Tournaments (Nerofest)
Our Loop is home to many variants, but perhaps some of the most common are the 'Tournament' Singularities. Alternatively called 'NeroFest' or 'GilFest', these singularities are technically Loop Variable. We say technically because they can be manipulated into occurring in Baseline, but have a chance of occurring without any interference. The key is their titles, as Nero Claudius and Gilgamesh are the hosts, and these 'Tournament Singularities' are caused by them as basically massive festivals basically for fun, prestige and challenge. However, while these events can be manipulated into occurring, they're not the focus of this chapter.
This chapter is to discuss the 'Super Servants' that only happen when these Events are a predetermined part of the Loop. If we end up forcing Nerofest or Gilfest, these events do not occur as you'd expect, and are likely not to have these Super Servants in them. These are the toughest optional challenges in our Loop, which is saying a lot. This chapter is not only to discuss these Servants and their various gimmicks, but the prizes for beating them. Yes, beating these Servants causes the Singularity to spit out prizes, no we don't know why it does this, but the following section will go based in order of how early they can be challenged, and by title, as all of them do have unique titles to signify that, yes, these are the 'Super Servants'
The Twelve Labors
The very first challenge. And by far the easiest. The premise is simple, you are fighting Hercules in his Berserker form at full power. He possesses all twelve lives he does normally, however it is notable that they can only be taken off one at a time. It doesn't matter how you killed him, it's one life per kill. Similarly he retains all motor functions, meaning that he is exceptionally skilled in combat, even if disarmed. The best way to put it is that this Hercules takes the best aspects of the one summoned by Jason in Okeanos, combined with that of the one that Ritsuka is capable of summoning. Or for those more familiar with 'Stay Night', combine Illya's Hercules with Ritsuka's Hercules. Powerful and Skilled. Overall, it's just that, Hercules with no exceptional gimmicks, just a straight brawl with him.
Your prize for defeating 'The Twelve Labors' is a set of five Bicorn Horns. More on those in our Reagents section.
Master and Pupil of Light and Shadow
The second fight is also simple. You are fighting Cu Chulainn (Lancer) and Scáthach at the same time. Both of them are very hard to kill and are exceptionally skilled combatants who will hold back nothing. They are utterly immune to any and all projectiles thanks to their permanently active 'Protection from Arrows' skills, and both of them have their Gae Bolg's curses permanently active, meaning they will attempt to seek your heart outright. In addition, kill one and the other becomes stronger. We normally face this one down with a team, but it's entirely possible to face this solo. In addition, after one of them dies, the other gains the ability to outright kill anyone they manage to strike directly thanks to absorbing the curse attached to the other's Gae Bolg. If they can pierce your heart, they will.
Your prize for defeating 'Master and Pupil of Light and Shadow' is five cauldrons of Black Tallow. More on those in our Reagents section.
Pandemonium
The third fight is where things stop being so simple. The fight is against the Hassans, Cursed Arm twice, Hundred Face, and Serenity. This means you are facing down 103 Assassins, all at once. Only the main body of Hundred Face, as well as Serenity and Cursed Arm possess any direct threat to most people in combat, but that's not the problem. The three main Assassins will only reveal themselves at random intervals after a certain number of back-up bodies have been killed. In addition, each Backup body killed places a powerful curse on the killer, reducing their defensive capabilities and offensive power. This starts small, but quickly adds up, making it entirely possible for a backup Body to seriously wound you if one takes on enough unique 'Spite' curses.
The two Cursed Arms, Serenity and Hundred Face's main body (Who we call Asako), also possess a unique Spite Curse. After someone has killed them, they will be inflicted with a curse that will kill them 6 seconds later. This curse is applied to one's Spirit Core as we've discovered, so while it can be removed, without a protection on your Spiritual Core or someone to remove it, this will kill you. These four are also, like everyone else, fighting at full skill and power with full access to all of their abilities.
Your reward for defeating 'Pandemonium' is five Spirit Roots. More on those in our Reagents Section.
The Second Coming of the Demonic Dragon
This fight can either be really easy or utter hell. The battle is against Siegfried and an army of Wyverns backing him up. The Wyverns are very powerful, but otherwise normal, the problem is Siegfried himself. He has his normally inactive 'Blood Armor of Fafnir' Noble Phantasm active at full power. Even the normal weakspot on his back has been removed, as we've discovered. Think of fighting Achilles without a Heel and you get the idea of what's going on here. He does have one weakness however… which isn't really a weakness so much as it is the only way to hurt him. Inflicting 'Damage over time' via a Curse or Poison, or anything that doesn't involve fire really, will stick to him, and begin to slowly chip away at him. The battle is effectively an endurance test to see whether or not you can outlast him before he kills you.
This however is not the only problem. The catch is his Disengage skill can completely cure him of any afflictions like DoT, and will force you to continually reapply them. Also he is capable of spamming his Noble Phantasm thanks to Das Rheingold. If you have any form of 'Dragon' trait as well, he is even more resistant to any damage you might inflict upon him, and can hurt you even worse in turn. Yang Xiao-Long found this out the hard way.
He is however not completely invulnerable. He can be hurt if you hit him hard enough… except after extensive testing by us during a Loop involving summoning a pair of Merlins via some sort of glitch and Gilgamesh firing Ea at him after being extensively buffed, it only barely killed Siegfried in one shot, and may it be reminded that Ea without any boosting is already capable of planet busting, and Merlin's power buffs are multiplicative. You might be better off using DoTs and outlasting him if you want to try this one solo.
Though if you hail from certain shonen Branches, or have maintained skills gained from such, you may find this replacing The Twelve Labors as the simplest challenge available.
Your reward for defeating 'The Second Coming of the Demonic Dragon' is five 'Hearts of the Demon God' and Das Reingold. More on Demon Hearts in our Reagents Section, you may do with Das Reingold as you wish.
Mother of Warriors
WARNING: Do not even attempt this fight without backup if you are Male. Even if that backup is just Senpai. It doesn't matter what species you are, if you are 'Male'. This fight will require some outside aid. Turning one's self female does negate this, but you have been warned.
This fight is the one that has tripped up people the most when attempting a Solo run through Nerofest, simply because of the very first gimmick. If you are Male, you will be permanently afflicted with a 'Charm' effect until the fight is over or the charm is somehow removed. This 'Charm' will completely prevent action by the afflicted until it is removed by outside aid, even shutting off most passive defenses from our current tests.
Before you even think about it, we warned Leman and we even gave him a mystic code that has rendered others immune to charming or other immobilization type skills, and he himself applied several layers of protections to prevent being charmed. He was charmed. It is just something this fight does when it begins. While it does break through any and all charm protections, removing it is thankfully very easy.
That out of the way, onto the fight itself. Your fight is against Medb and a squadron of Celtic soldiers. Medb herself has many, many defensive boons placed upon her that only vanish after a soldier is killed, with each boon being tied to a different soldier. You may think the soldiers are worthless, but Medb is capable of healing them from near death, giving them massive offensive boosts, and even directing all focus towards her for a short period of time as well as singling out a target. This doesn't matter much when fighting her solo, but in a team she will tend to open a path for her soldiers to directly strike at supporting allies. She's even attempted this on Ritsuka as well, forcing a rapid defensive of Senpai. She is not stupid, and will try to keep her soliders alive and direct the flow of battle. And even when she's the last one standing, at her weakest, she will still attempt to use her full power against you.
Also of note, she has another, much shorter lasting charm skill for Males, so even if you get cured of the first charm, expect to have this used on you as well. This one thankfully doesn't bypass protections.
Take down the soldiers and druids, then Medb herself. Your reward for defeating 'Mother of Warriors' is five Bloodstone Tears, and several casks of 'Red Mead', one of Medb's Noble Phantasms. More on Bloodstone Tears in our Reagents section.
History's Oldest Hero
This fight has no gimmick. That's because it doesn't need one. Plain and simple you are fighting Gilgamesh at full power, and he is completely serious. This isn't your simple 'Spam Noble Phantasms' Gilgamesh. He will use and abuse the powers and effects of every object in his arsenal, and while he will use the Gate of Babylon, he is exceptionally creative with it, not just the 'wall of doom' as it were. He will not hesitate to pull out Ea and use it while still firing from the Gate of Babylon. He has completely unsealed his Sha Naqba Imuru Noble Phantasm as well, giving him nigh perfect clairvoyance.
For reference, he gave Ranma 'A halfway decent fight'. I'm not sure what that means to anyone, but I'm fairly sure at one point they were fighting at a level where Ranma was breaking physics.
That's it, no muss, no fuss, just Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, fighting with absolutely zero restraint and all of his skill. He will show no mercy whatsoever the moment the fight starts. Good Luck.
Your reward for defeating 'History's Oldest Hero' is five Reverse Dragon Scales, a Crystalized Lore, and respect. That last one from Gilgamesh himself actually, as he does watch these from the Babylonia Singularity. More on Reverse Dragon Scales and Crystalized Lore in our Reagents section.
Be warned, failure will inflate his ego. If you think it can't get any bigger, you're wrong.
Finale
The final fight of Nerofest. To preserve it, I have been asked not to write down the actual gimmicks of the fight in this booklet, instead I will only tell you who you are facing in the Finale. Jack the Ripper, Medea, The Storm King, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, Ozymandias and Nero Claudius, all at once.
Good luck. Your reward for defeating 'Finale' is one Holy Grail, three Crystalized Lore, and the Nerofest Conqueror Statue. That last one isn't made by the Singularity, Senpai asked Da Vinci to make several of these and Senpai gives them out to anyone who manages to defeat all of Nerofest. More on Holy Grails and Crystalized Lore in our Reagents section.
11.2
[Fate/Stay Night]
The Mikasa Grail War (Co-Written by BIOS-Pherecydes)
"Thank Yggdrasil everyone's Awake," Shirou sighed in relief as he looked at Rin, Medea… and Medea Lily.
"You think that would have stopped this Shirou?" Rin questioned as she was assisting in setting up the Bounded Fields, plural, as everyone had zero illusions just how obliterated the city of Fuyuki was going to be following this mess.
"No, not really, but it makes collateral damage that much easier to handle," Shirou admitted as he looked around the field that everyone had assembled at.
This Loop, well, it was kinda packed, as some variant of the Mikasa glitch had happened regarding all of the Servants normally summoned for the Holy Grail War. It was practically luck that everyone had been Awake, even Altria who was the one in control of all her own duplicates.
"Okay, let's do a headcount," Shirou ordered, clapping his hands together as the Masters came together, and the Servants.
There were twelve 'versions' of Saber, which included Altria and her own duplicates, for a total of six of Artoria and six of Altria.
There were three of himself, or rather, three EMIYAs, his normal future self, their 'Nameless' variant from the Moon Cell, and EMIYA Alter from the Grand Order… Admittedly Shirou was surprised that of all the Servants, his future self only had two duplicates.
Bazett was currently being swarmed by all five versions of Cú Chulainn, all of whom were ready and raring to go for the main event of the Loop. There were two different versions of Lancer, a little kid version which was a Saber, as well as his Caster and Alter forms from the Grand Order. Thankfully the purple haired woman seemed to be taking it quite well.
As for Medusa, there were surprisingly five of her. Two different Lancer versions, one adult and one child, her usual Rider form, and two Gorgons, one Berserker and the other Avenger, both of whom looked very out of place among everyone else just due to sheer size alone, even if Berserker was much smaller than Avenger. Sakura was currently comforting both Gorgons over their current predicament, but she'd agreed to participate in what was about to happen anyway.
For Medea, there were only two of her. Her normal adult self, and the child version of her. She hadn't been able to summon Assassin, since apparently the position had already been filled.
Waver had been Awake and, surprisingly, the Clock Tower Lord had been chosen as a Master a second time. His Servants Iskandar and his duplicate Alexander were Awake as well and, for the sake of fairness, Souichirou and Waver had been allowed to join forces in order to even out the numerical disadvantage.
Then there was Illya and her entire crew of Hercules. His Archer version, Berserker version, and Avenger (who was exceptionally pissy but was playing along anyway for Illya's sake). There were also the Berser-Car and Megalos variants as well, for some reason.
"Anyone know where Gilgamesh is?" Shirou questioned, recalling that obviously the King of Heroes would be running around like normal… and hopefully just one Gilgamesh, not several.
"He's running around somewhere, doesn't really matter. If he gets involved, someone's probably going to paste his arrogant ass," Rin noted. "Fields are up, we're good to go."
"Thanks Rin," Shirou offered as he pulled out a megaphone, tapping it for a moment. "Everyone! Gather around so we can go over the rules!"
The chatter, bickering, and other fanfare ceased, everyone around the field turning to him as he spoke. "Now, in order to keep things fair, everyone has been provided with a single Holy Grail, so all of you have the same amount of magical energy to work with, good?"
Avenger Herc was about to protest, but the glares of around twenty other Servants made him keep his mouth shut. "Ok good, we didn't want anyone to be drained to death by Prana over-use," Shirou admitted, silently thankful Altria had been willing to provide enough Grails for everyone… of course she was also the one who'd had the insane idea for them all to actually continue with the Grail War anyway with this many copies of themselves running around.
"Tell us then boy, what prizes will the victors of this contest receive upon this field of battle!?" Iskandar shouted, punching his hands into his fists with a wild grin, as Shirou sighed.
"Rider please," Waver muttered, the Clock Tower Lord looking at his Servant, who had his child self sitting on his shoulder.
"Do I have to Waver?" Alexander asked, the little Rider smirking as Waver held his hand in his face, Shirou continuing.
"Anyway! Rules are simple, everyone's teamed up with themselves, you probably get that part, and last team standing wins. Nothing from your Pocket or powers not given to your Servant Container for those Looping," Shirou ordered for all the Loopers present… which was everyone except Hercules and Souichirou.
"That would just ruin the fun!" all the versions of Cú Chulainn belted out together, raising their weapons to the sky.
"I'm not gonna need out of Loop powers," Idol Altria boasted, hefting her guitar and tuning with a smile on her face, adjusting her glasses with her free hand.
"Maybe we should split up the Sabers…" EMIYA muttered, crossing his arms.
"We probably should…" Shirou muttered, there were six of them each, so it made sense.
"ARE YOU ALL FORGETTING SOMEONE!?" An arrogant voice belted out, followed by laughter as a Golden figure dropped in from the sky. "Did you truly think to hide this gathering from me?" Gilgamesh questioned.
"Oh you've got to be…" Rin complained, holding her hand to her face. "What is he doing here?"
"Still your tongue mongrel!" Gilgamesh scoffed with a pointed look at Rin. "I am the rightful owner of this world, I go where I please and do as I wish."
"Yeah? Well why don't you 'wish' your way the fuck out of here then?" one of the Cú shouted. "Learn to read the room. You ain't wanted here."
Gilgamesh quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?" A golden portal appeared beside him, and from it he pulled forth the strongest weapon in his treasury. "Perhaps I should teach you some manners. A hound which does not know how to heel at its master's command deserves no less than to be put down like the wild beast it is."
"Hahaha! Calm yourself King of Heroes." Iskandar called out, waving his hand. "Surely you recall our banquet, do you not?"
"Hmm?" Gilgamesh turned his attention away from those he'd pissed off, and towards the King of Conquerors. "Ah, Iskandar. I do indeed. Though, I must admit, there are more guests than I recall attending our last meeting," he mused, looking over all of the Servants and their Masters standing in front of him, before settling his gaze on the one in a black maid outfit for several moments. "Hmm…"
The Storm King nudged Maid Altria. "Fine…" the Rider complained before walking forward. "Gilgamesh."
"Oh? You have something to say?" Gilgamesh leaned forward, smirking before Maid Alter reached up pointing a finger at his face.
"This contest has many prizes, secured from locations beyond even your reach. Surely something will be worthy of a place within your treasury. After all, even you have things you desire which are denied to you. And I, most certainly, know what of that which you seek,"
Casting an appraising glance over her, he smirked suggestively. "And how would you know such a thing?"
"For I," she bopped his nose. "Am a Cute Gothic Lolita Maid!" she declared proudly, "And you will call me Sir!"
Gilgamesh blinked repeatedly at the unexpected retort, before chuckling. "...very well. I will overlook this specific transgression. You! Boy, I shall be participating in this game of yours," the King of Heroes ordered, looking towards Shirou.
"Of course you will," EMIYA muttered to himself.
"I guess this is better than the alternative," Sakura admitted as Shirou sighed.
"You know this is gonna be teams only right?" Shirou asked as Gilgamesh huffed.
"If I must, but first," he snapped his fingers. "Grail," he ordered, and a second later grasped one as Santa Altria threw one at him out of her Pocket. "Excellent," the king mused, looking over all of Altria's duplicates, rather than any of Artoria.
"You brought this upon yourself Altria," XX muttered.
"I am aware," X Alter agreed, smirking as she pushed up her glasses. "The greater the challenge, the greater the enjoyment at crushing it beneath your heel."
As they were speaking, EMIYA abruptly realized something. "I am not teaming up with him," he protested.
"Not happening," Nameless echoed.
"I refuse," EMIYA Alter also repeated.
"Nor would I, with you pathetic fools. Iskandar!" Gilgamesh belted out, a massive grin coming across the King of Conquerors' face. "Your dreamed of alliance comes true today."
"YEEEEEEESSSS!" Iskandar roared to the sky.
"Well, good to see someone's happy," Waver muttered with a small smirk.
"You know what to do," Rin whispered to EMIYA, who nodded as Gilgamesh joined Medea and Iskandar's team, making Rin's trio of EMIYAs the smallest by two.
"Got it," EMIYA noted as Shirou raised the megaphone again.
"Alright, we've got seven teams. Team Saber, Team Alter, Team Archer, Team Lancer, Team Rider, Team Berserker… and," Shirou looked to the team of Medea, Iskandar and Gilgamesh.
"Team Monarch," Gilgamesh decreed.
"Ok, sure. Team Monarch," Shirou looked back towards the crowd. "Each team will be sent to their starting positions via Teleportation, and from there all of Fuyuki is your battleground. Last team standing wins, and your prize is the Greater Grail this Loop as well as any one item from each of the losing team's Pockets. Everyone ready?"
"Ready," Artoria proclaimed, the king of knights at the head of her team with a confident smile, Excalibur planted in front of her. The Lion King raised Rhongomyniad while XX pulled down her visor on her power armor. MHX adjusted her cap while summoning Secret-Cabilur and the Bunny Lion King summoned her golden lion with a snap of her fingers, while Artoria's swimsuit wearing self spun her pistol, Excalibur Vivian.
"Willing," Altria rested Excalibur Morgan across her shoulder, her own team all checking their various weapons in preparation; Maid Alter summoning her massive rifle and her motorcycle, mounting the bike as Idol Altria tuned her guitar and her floating array of speakers. X Alter pulled up her phone and adjusted her glasses as Santa Altria cracked her neck and grinned as the Storm King raised her own Rhongomyniad in preparation.
"Able." EMIYA traced Kanshou and Bakuya, as did Nameless, Alter summoning his Glaive and one of his guns to show his own readiness.
"Always ready," Cú Chulainn noted, spinning Gae Bolg around before planting it in the dirt while his Prototype self rested his across his shoulders. Saber cracked his neck while Caster snapped his fingers, making a small ball of flames over his hand, and Alter cracked his knuckles.
"We will win," Medusa stated calmly, pulling up her nails as both her Lancers versions flourished Harpe, both Gorgon looming over the rest of the team with snakes at the ready.
"Hmph, very well, I'll win this for Illya," Archer Hercules stated, the rest of Hercules various versions all readying their own weapons, or in Berser-Car's case, revving his engine. Avenger remained silent, but not making any sudden moves.
"We will put all of you mongrels in your place," Gilgmaesh said with a laugh, snapping his fingers to summon a mass array of portals as Iskandar held up his lance, and Alexander his gladius. Medea and her Lily form flourished their staves in the air as well.
"Alright, if everyone's ready, Rin, Sakura?" Shirou asked with a quick looked toward his girlfriends.
"Begin!" Rin ordered, snapping her fingers alongside Sakura's less theatric display of magic, warpping the various teams away to begin their battle, the Masters all turning towards Fuyuki to watch from their… relatively safe distance.
"We're catching this on video right?" Illya asked. Shirou just smirked.
"Oh yeah, every moment of it."
11.3
[Fate/Grand Order]
Lessons in Crime Solving
"Miss Kyrielight, what do you make of this?"
Mash hummed as she sat beside Sherlock Holmes. In a rare twist, she and him had been the only ones drawn into this Singularity, and when Chaldea had established contact, she'd asked Ritsuka not to send reinforcements or come themselves.
She knew Ritsuka would try, if things got out of hand of course, but having an adventure on her own with Holmes was one of those things she'd always dreamed of.
"I don't believe that is a clue mister Holmes," Mash offered as she and Sherlock were looking at the room. Their 'case' of sorts was inside of a Mage's workshop, and so far was surprisingly not a murder mystery… yet.
She hoped it wouldn't be a murder mystery.
"I agree, it's obvious. Too obvious. And I believe we both know what Lord El-Melloi says when it comes to a Magecraft Mystery," Holmes noted as he and Mash were looking over the damaged globe of Earth.
"Howdunit and Whodunit, two normally important components of any mystery, are useless when it comes to Magecraft Mysteries. Howdunit lacks substance because, through Magecraft, almost anything could be possible," Mash recited looking around the room. It had been torn up, but there had been no outright clues yet. No claw marks, or burn marks. It was more akin to a tornado having gone off in the room from what she could tell.
"And 'Whodunit' similarly is unimportant, as once again, via Magecraft, anyone could be the culprit. But by contrast, as 'Whodunit' and 'Howdunit' are unimportant," Holmes took a puff from his pipe, allowing Mash to continue his words.
"Whydunit, the motive, becomes more important. Discovering the 'Whydunit' shall lead to the discovery of 'Whodunit' and 'Howdunit'. When it comes to Magus..." Mash added.
"Motive is everything," he concluded. "Look around the room again, and tell me what you see."
"...There are no actual signs of a struggle. There is no blood, no scuff marks, and while the room has been 'torn up' the damage isn't right. It's haphazard, without any form of control. Almost like it was an accident, and yet…"
"Yet we know from our clients that Lord Harway vanished in this room," Holmes remarked. "So let's look at what we know of the case. We arrived in this singularity, and were hired by Lady Harway asconsulting detective and assistant. We have three Magus still around at the time of the disappearance. Lady Harway, Miss Icecolle and Sir Norwich. Thus, we currently have three potential culprits… What can you tell me of them from our interactions with them?" Holmes asked, referring to their earlier conversations with the three mages.
Mash thought for a moment. "From the outset, it seems like Lady Harway would be the least likely culprit. From what we've seen via investigation, her marriage with Lord Harway is a happy one. They have two children, both of whom are currently away at Clock Tower, at least that's what she believes given she is unaware of this world's nature as a Singularity. I can tell she's happy about her marriage since she not only had nothing but praise for Lord Harway, but her ring is regularly cleaned and worn. Not only that-"
"The journal we found, and several letters she had hidden inside her desk. Overall, I think we can strike Lady Harway off the list of potential culprits, not just because of that, but because she lacks the family crest. The Harways may be one of the seventy-two families, but since she doesn't have the crest, and Lord Harway does…"
"It would be more likely for Lord Harway himself to be a culprit, or rather, the potential Demon Pillar active in his mind," Mash concluded.
"Precisely. We don't know the exact dates such things were to be activated, but we know the current date is June 19th, 1742, which was a very busy year for Europe, all things considered. In fact, tomorrow the city of Izmir is to be destroyed by fire, for example," Holmes provided, clearing papers off the floor and humming.
"Miss Icecolle has a poor attitude, and she's haughty. The recent Witch Hunts have driven her and her family into hiding, hence why she is here. There is a potential motive for wanting to gain the Harway Crest, or the Harway estate, but we also know from the Geas Scroll we found in the attic that she is currently under a compulsion," Mash noted.
"She is unable to act against the Harway family, yes. But that can be easily gotten around with the use of an outside agent, a familiar or even a contract with a dark creature. We know from future knowledge that the Icecolle family specialized in the 'Dark Arts', even if what exactly those are is unclear. If anything, her presence here is wrong, as she should be in Siberia, where her family lost its foundation sometime during the middle ages. The fact that she is still capable of Magecraft normally means she has no need for the Harway Crest. Infact, her presence is perhaps more because of the singularity than anything else. She's the outlying factor here. So she lacks a 'Motive' to cause Lord Harway to vanish," Holmes explained for Mash, who nodded, putting her hand to her chin.
"And then there is Sir Norwich, the current head of the Norwich family, known for their practice of adopting children into the family to give them scholarships, spreading their name and prestige throughout Clock Tower. Similar to the other two, he lacks a motive, unless that motive was to be the murder of both Lord and Lady Harway, causing the two children currently at Clock Tower to suddenly be parentless. Thus he would adopt them, sweeping the Harway Family into the Norwich Family," Mash summarized.
"Magi have done worse for less gain, but the problem with that theory is his lack of action against Lady Harway, as of current. Since I have instructed all three Mages to remain in different rooms, while making sure none of them had any way of knowing which room the other two are in, if he acts against Lady Harway, we will know, but now we come to the newest clue," Holmes said, Mash looking over his shoulder at the ground.
Carved into the wood, in the form of a clean circle, was wind damage, like a blade that had cut into the floor. "Wind damage, very clean. We're currently on the second floor, so…" she walked into the middle of the circle and stomped downward. Nothing occurred. "Okay, so it's not an escape to the floor below…"
"No, but this is a sign of Magecraft. Given our current 'Locked Room' Mystery, let's look at what's not here. There is no array, no other signs of Magecraft in recent use inside this Workshop, which is surprising. Infact, it's wrong. Magus retreat to their Workshops in order to perform Magecraft without interference, so why is it that this is the most recent sign of Magecraft's usage?" Holmes asked.
"...Lord Harway wasn't performing Magecraft inside his own Workshop… or perhaps he was, but wasn't," Mash offered.
"I see you've stumbled across a theory," Holmes noted, standing up straight again.
"A theory yes, but like you've said, theories only get you so far before they spiral out of control," Mash admitted as Holmes nodded.
"Accumulating all the evidence we've gathered up until this point. There can be only one conclusion. However, at this moment, there is no way to 'pursue' that conclusion. There is a lack of evidence to be found. It seems we must face the facts. Any way of pursuit has been destroyed, or perhaps there never was a way of pursuit at all," Holmes said as prana began to flow around him.
"A cold case," Mash noted.
"Indeed, so let's make it warmer." Holmes said before closing his eyes, putting his hands together. "『Elementary, My Dear』."
Mash knew of his Noble Phantasm. A possibility, rather than a guarantee. But at the moment, they were facing a 'perfect crime' that had no solution. Thus, the possibility of a solution was what they needed. While it did not visibility do anything, she knew, somehow, someway… A clue had been created.
A clue to their conundrum of 'Where is Lord Harway?'.
"Now, the game is afoot, let us continue miss Kyrielight, my current Watson."
"Hai!" Mash returned, excited for an adventure she'd yet to experience.
"Behind me!" Mash pulled out her Ortinax shield from her Pocket, leaping in front of Holmes and plugging up the corridor to prevent the wind from flowing through it.
"How rude. And just when we'd managed to make your way down here as well," Holmes noted, without even caring about Mash's sudden manifestation of a shield when she really shouldn't have been able to. "Seems the entire corridor is trapped then, do you know what this means?"
"We're on the right track," Mash rectified as the wind behind her shield died down, and she lowered the Ortinax before putting it back in her Pocket. "The clue we found pointed towards a secondary Workshop."
"It did. It was strange how easy the original Workshop was to access, even with the lady's permission. Even stranger how there were no signs of Magecraft beyond the bare basics to guard it," Holmes noted calmly, taking a puff from his pipe. So what does that tell you?
"That we still don't have every piece of the puzzle," Mash noted as Holmes nodded.
"I believe now should be the time to tell you of our perfect crime's biggest flaw, the one that led me to believe we were at the wrong one," Holmes noted. "Did you ever notice the complete lack of footprints? Of any kind after our investigation?"
"I did, but thought that the wind might have removed them," she admitted, and Holmes hummed.
"That is a thought, but what if there were none in the first place? Such as outside the room?" Holmes noted, Mash blinking as he chuckled. "Our man was never inside the Workshop. Or rather, he was never inside the false Workshop."
"Oh!" she blinked. "I didn't notice that."
"You're learning Mash, it's alright to make mistakes. Just as I have made it my job to tutor you this 'Loop' as you and your fellows call them. Just as James has made it his to further tutor Ritsuka," he noted, chuckling. "But that also entails that I allow you to make such mistakes, that you may learn from them. The mind is perhaps one's greatest weapon, sharper than any sword and faster than any bullet. Now, shall we continue onward towards the Workshop?"
"Right." Mash nodded, turning her head towards the hallway and looking it up and down… first problem, disarming all these traps and runes without setting them off.
"And we have arrived," Holmes noted, picking the final lock on the Workshop's magical door. "That took about as long as expected, but now we've reached our destination. The true Workshop of Lord Harway."
He nodded to Mash, who walked up, slowly raising her shield… and bashing the door open, an explosion going off the moment the door had been opened, and being contained by her shield, with only hot air escaping, causing Holmes' coat to billow. "Of course, I'm not a Magus, and neither are you, so there are limits to what we can detect and disable. Yet perhaps our greatest strength is that we are not Magi, thus we are able to predict them. A Magus' Workshop is their inner sanctum. To most, a place none may ever enter, and few shall ever discover exists. I doubt Lady Harway knew of this place, given she married into the family. Magi are notorious for keeping secrets of course, family ones more especially."
"Right, I'm so used to being allowed into the Casters Workshops…" Mash admitted.
"True, Chaldea has a lot of Workshops inside it, but remember, all except Da Vinci are subservient to Ritsuka Fujimaru. More than that, they trust them, and more often than not, you are with Ritsuka when you go to visit said Workshops, granting you entrance by proxy. In this case, we are breaching a Workshop that a Magus wants no one to enter. Should you encounter other Workshops in the future, as I'm sure you will, remember the differences between an allied Workshop and any other," Holmes explained, Mash pulling her shield back and allowing them both entry into the Workshop.
The place reeked of prana, concoctions lining the walls, and secrets of the Harway family, if not laid bare, at least visible for them to see. There was also the lack of a magus inside. "Now then, let's begin the investigation. This place is our new crime scene."
"But… nothing's wrong here?" Mash asked as Holmes shook his head.
"No, there most certainly is. Look at the wall, does that sigil look familiar?" Holmes questioned as Mash looked at the right wall, and nodded.
"A summoning spell…" she noted.
"Indeed, and here we are in the Harway Workshop, a place where several Ley Lines intersect. But let's also look at the facts. That summoning spell is our evidence. The year is 1742, more than fifty years before the 'First' Holy Grail War' in other timelines takes place. In our own, the first Grail War was in 2004, but we are not limited to looking at a singular timeline thanks to some of the Servants at Chaldea. Either way, that puts our problem in two-fold. This spell is either fifty years, or two-hundred and fifty years early," Holmes noted.
"Thus there can be only one conclusion," Mash added, and Holmes shook his head.
"There are still multiple, but only three possibilities. The first is the theory we have been running with. Lord Harway has been possessed by the Demon Pillar inside his Magic Crest, which would certainly give access to this summoning spell. The second possibility is that he is in possession of the Holy Grail of this Singularity, which could also have provided the spell. The third is that in this world, this is yet another irregularity, like Miss Icecolle's presence. We still lack evidence which of these conclusions is true, so for now we shall proceed like we have been. So first on the agenda?"
"The summoning ritual has obviously been performed, therefore there is a Servant running around, there has to be. But we've seen nothing, nor have we run into any Servants yet," Mash noted.
"Indeed, the only thing we've run into have been puppet constructs. Basic ones to be sure, but still, that is the only enemy we have faced. This leads me to believe this Servant is with Lord Harway. An Assassin would have had ample opportunity to take us out, given our lack of knowledge about their existence until this moment," Holmes concluded, taking another puff from his pipe. "Now, let's see if we can't pinpoint an identity," Holmes noted.
"...That would require a Catalyst," Mash noted, and Holmes nodded.
"Exactly, now, do you see anything that could serve as such a thing?" he asked, Mash looking around the Workshop as Holmes did his own investigation, searching for very different clues.
"...I found something," Mash noted, before bending down, picking up an exceptionally small fragment of wood, which was burned at the tip. "It looks like a fragment of wood," she noted.
"Hmm… That may be our key to what the Catalyst was. If this Lord Harway is anything, he's meticulous in getting rid of evidence. However, he's not good enough to remove every trace of his actions. Is there anything on that wood you recognize?"
"...No, it's just a wood fragment with burn marks. The rest probably has been burned to ash." She noted as Sherlock shook his head.
"Yet the wood is splintered, indicating that whatever this was, it was both smashed, and burned at the same time. That alone gives us a lot of information. Based on all the runes we've seen, what do you assume Lord Harway's element to be?"
"Wind, maybe also an element of Water as well," Mash noted, and Holmes hummed.
"Indeed, and given his apparent speciality in runes and alchemy from what we see here, it is likely he was incapable of casting a fire element spell with enough potency to smash whatever this was beforehand. Now, that's not to say he couldn't, but it would have been a complete waste of prana. The explosion that occurred when you kicked down the door was an air based one, not a fire based one. There were elements of heat, yes, but that was part of the reaction," Holmes concluded.
"So what you're saying is it wasn't the Magus himself who destroyed this object," Mash followed his logic.
"Precisely. Going by the fact it is probably a Catalyst, that means whoever we are dealing with likely has fire based powers, as well as a lot of strength. That great strength is why there are even splinters, rather than just ashes," Holmes said before refilling his pipe and lighting it again, taking a deep inhale.
"So our prospective Servant is looking to be one whose powers are fire based, and very strong, and would use a Catalyst made of wood. This leads me to two options. Either Karna or Gawain… and logic would dictate Gawain," Mash stated.
"What leads you to this conclusion?" Holmes asked, raising an eyebrow, wanting her to say it herself.
"Like you said, it is unlikely the Master, Lord Harway, would have been the one to destroy this catalyst. In fact, many Servants don't destroy their own Catalysts, since they're tied to their history, and usually of sentimental value. However there are Servants who will follow their Master's orders without question. So let's say lord Harway told their servant to smash this Catalyst. Gawain or Karna would have gone through with the order, unless Lord Harway was to use a Command Spell to enforce the order," Mash concluded.
"You make a fine argument Miss Kyrielight. Indeed, both Gawain and Karna were my own conclusions as well, for similar reasons. I presume you figured out what the Catalyst originally was?" Holmes asked.
"It was either a fragment of the Round Table, or maybe it was a piece of Karna's chariot," Mash explained, holding the fragment up. "Just holding this piece of wood up, it still feels a little warm."
"That fits the description of a Round Table fragment. Thus that means we can only come to one conclusion," Holmes said with a nod.
"Gawain."
"Precisely. Now that we've solved that mystery, let's get going. I've figured out where our culprit is heading," Holmes stated, walking over to a bookshelf and pulling out a book, the shelf pulling away. "Seems Lord Harway couldn't resist the classics… or perhaps because of what year this is, it hasn't become a classic yet. Whatever the case may be, let's go."
"Right!" Mash said with a proud smile, she and Holmes running down the cave hallway, deeper underground.
"Lord Harway," Holmes noted as he and Mash entered the large cavern, their culprit before them. "Or perhaps I should call you by your real title, Demon God Pillar Focalar," Holmes noted.
"...Sherlock Holmes, why am I not surprised you've discovered such things," the Demon God Pillar in Lord Harway's body said with a shake of his head. "I am indeed Focalor. You may address me by the name of the man before you. Gerald Harway," Focalor explained, snapping his fingers.
As he did, his Servant walked forward, Gawain, just as had been expected. Yet he was different, his armor stained black, his hair bleached white, and dark lines across him.
"You dunked your Servant in Grail Mud?" Holmes asked as Mash gripped her fists together.
"It was easier, and it has made him more subservient than normal," Focalor explained, before the blackened Gawain pointed his sword towards them. "However, it has also reversed his nature, his normal gifts changed."
"Ah, a curse of Reversal, so that would mean this Gawain is at his strongest at Night, and perhaps even more so in the dark… hmm, it seems you would indeed have us cornered," Holmes admitted, pulling out a watch. "After all, it is midnight."
"There has been enough talk. Gawain, kill them," Focalor ordered as Holmes chuckled.
"Mash?" he asked, snapping his fingers.
Before Gawain could act, Mash whipped something out of her Pocket, a small jagged dagger, and rushed forward, running towards Gawain. The black Saber grunted as he swung his sword downward, causing a crater the moment the tip of his sword touched the ground…
Because he'd completely missed Mash, who'd leapt over him and dropped the dagger point first into his back. Gawain roared as Rule Breaker pierced his neck, and then Mash spun around, dragging a golden sword out of her Pocket and clashing with Gawain's own. Excalibur against Galantine.
"WHAT!?" Focalor shouted as Holmes rushed forward, past Mash and Gawain's own duel at the possessed Magus, grabbing Rule Breaker along the way, the Demon Pillar expunging itself from Lord Harway's body and forming within the cavern, blasting at Holmes, who began rapidly dodging as Mash and Gawain continued to clash. Mash forced Gawain to continue to burn prana, now that his connection to Focalor had been severed.
"I must say, reaching this point wasn't as hard as expected," Holmes noted as he dodged another attack. "Miss Kyrielight, please finish with Gawain, I require your aid for dealing with Focalor."
"Right!" Mash broke off from her current clash with the black Saber, pulling out one of Da Vinci's many, many super weapons she'd made from her Pocket, and settled for setting number one.
Big rainbow explosion in the general direction of the target. Which didn't kill Gawain as much as fling him through about forty meters of solid bedrock and straight into a probable coma until he would dissipate from a lack of mana.
"Incineration Ritual-" Focalor started before Mash spun around, pointing the large rifle at Focalor.
"Option three, set! Fire!" she ordered, pulling the trigger.
A concentrated beam of black energy was launched at Focalor, a Replica Black Barrel shot. The cavern shook as the beam impacted, and Focalor screeched as it was torn apart by the Replica's power, leaving behind nothing. Holmes hummed as he went towards the unconscious Lord Harway.
"Well he's probably not going to recall any of this in the morning. Go find the Grail, I'll take Lord Harway back, and we'll Rayshift back to Chaldea together, alright?" Holmes asked.
"I've got it, thanks for the adventure mister Holmes," Mash said, putting her rifle away into her Pocket and Holmes chuckled in turn.
"A pleasure, miss Kyrielight. Hopefully we'll do it again sometime," the great Detective offered with a smile.
11.4
[Kid Icarus] [Fate/Grand Order]
Pit Stop
"Hi Pit!" Abigail shouted as she ducked under a spray of dark magic from the forces of the underworld, several monoeyes blasting away at the trio currently sequestered behind a building, while the resident Anchor was blasting away at the forces of the Underworld.
"Hey you three! How's it going?" Pit asked, dodging mid-flight before landing on a rooftop, taking aim with his Viridi Palm and blasting the monoeyes away. "Bit of a strange place to meet ain't it?"
"There have been stranger places," Sanson muttered, before snapping his fingers, the Guardian Orbitars he'd picked up creating a shield to guard against a massive laser fired from down the street by a vakloom. "What's the situation?"
"Start of Loop, you know, the usual," the angel admitted before jumping down to join the trio. "I see you three have picked up some stuff."
"Not much, literally went for the first thing I could find," Sanson muttered as Lavinia aimed her new Insight Staff at a reaper, blasting its head off as Pit rubbed his head.
"Huh, that's odd, normally Reapers don't show up till later," Pit noted before Abigail summoned a Key, and shoved it through a portal, jamming it through a boogity and completely bypassing its shields. "Or those guys,"
"Really?" Lavinia questioned, before popping off another monoeye. "It's not always this chaotic?"
"I mean it normally is chaotic, but this is a bit more than usual," Pit said, joining in on the fire. "But we'll talk later. Palutena's Awake, so if you want you can join us in Skyworld! It'll be fun to fight alongside you three, I can show you the ropes! I'm gonna need to go get Pittoo early for this one!"
"Well I'm always up for learning something new," Sanson mused as a rolling ball of fire barged through the town. "Merde!" he threw himself into an alleyway, the girls and Pit also scattering as a second ball of fire rushed through the town.
"Double Twinbellows!?" Pit shouted, before shrugging. "Well, I've had worse, come on! After this we're off to Skyworld!" He ran off towards the coliseum, shooting and running as the forces of the Underworld continued to pour into the town.
"We're going after him right?" Lavinia asked, before leaping away from another barrage of lasers, these much thinner than the massive one the vakloom had fired.
"I'm up for adventure!" Abigail shouted as Sanson pulled himself out the alleyway, his friend running past him.
"Hold on, we didn't-" Sanson tried to warn, only for Lavinia to run past him as well, a smile on her face. Sanson sighed in defeat before running after the girls and Pit, off to fight the forces of the Underworld… and whatever else was going to face them on this adventure.
11.5
[Poker Night at the Inventory] [Portal 2] [Fate Grand Order] [Konosuba] [Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword] [Tales of Vesperia]
Fireworks & Poker Plays
"Good evening gentlemen," Glados said in her synthetic monotone as the men took their seats at the table in the bar. "Tonight the game will be the standard Five Card Draw variant of poker," the robotic dealer stated as Hector, Yuri, Kazuma and Sanson took their seats at the table.
"Woah, wasn't expecting an executioner," Yuri noted, smirking as the four men all looked to Glados.
"The buy-in for tonight is ten-thousand dollars gentlemen," Glados added in, all four taking out massive bundles of hundred dollar bills and throwing them on the table, Glados dispensing chips for them all in turn.
"I do admit, I feel a little out of place at this table," Sanson admitted as Glados began to deal cards to them all.
"Eh, don't worry about it, I've had weirder groups here," Hector commented as he picked up his cards.
"I don't believe we've actually met yet. Charles Henri-Sanson right?" Yuri asked as he too picked up his cards.
"That would be correct," Sanson noted, taking the hand laid out before him and observing his cards. Four of spades, seven of hearts, three of clubs, jack of clubs and the eight of diamonds.
"Heard about you. Been making the rounds with those two girls of yours. So what's your story?" Kazuma questioned, looking at his cards casually before fanning them out and starting to fan himself with them.
"We'll begin the betting from Hector," Glados ordered from above, Hector smirking.
"Five hundred," Hector pushed in that much cash worth of chips.
"Well, after recent events, I at least know my friends are alive as well, for a given value of it," Sanson mused as Yuri looked at his hand.
"Call," the purple haired hero remarked, throwing five hundred worth of chips into the pot. "Well death's kinda just a thing that happens now, ain't the end of the world. Heck even that ain't permanent," Yuri noted to Sanson who sighed.
"I suppose so, but I value mine, as well as theirs," the white haired man noted before looking at his hand again. "Call," he added five hundred to the pot.
"So how crappy is your place?" Kazuma asked rudely before raising the bet. "Raise to two thousand," he pushed his chips into the pot.
Everyone instantly eyed Kazuma with suspicion, even as he continued to fan himself with his cards, just with enough force so that they wouldn't bend and reveal his hand.
"You may now draw," Glados revealed, Hector going first, dumping two cards from his hand to pick up two more.
"Bit of a rude thing to start with ain't it?" Hector noted as Sanson sighed, Yuri taking a single card out of his hand and getting one in return.
"Just want the truth," Kazuma stated as Sanson pulled out his four, seven and eight, and drew three more cards. He kept his face schooled in a passive expression with his new hand, having drawn the king of clubs, ace of clubs, and five of clubs. He had a flush in his hands.
'Thank you A rank luck,' Sanson mused internally as Kazuma didn't even bother swapping out a single card, continuing with waving his cards like a fan.
"Fold," Hector threw down his cards, which was nothing but garbage. A two of heart, four of diamonds, ace of diamonds, the king of spades and seven of clubs.
"Damn Hector, you got dealt a bad one," Yuri noted, "Calling," Yuri threw in the chips to match Kazuma's bet.
"Not much I can do against a bad hand," Hector mumbled as Kazuma grinned.
"Yeah, when luck's involved not much you can do to change that right? After all, powers are banned in the Inventory," the Anchor of Konosuba said with a grin as he stopped fanning himself.
Sanson looked at his hand, and then to Kazuma. The sheer amount of confidence he had in his hand was impressive, as was the fact he hadn't swapped out any cards. With that in mind, even with a flush in hand… "I fold," he threw down his cards.
"Are you serious!?" Hector complained as all three of the people at the table looked at Sanson's flush of clubs. "You had a flush and you threw it away?"
"Damn," Kazuma bit his lip as Yuri frowned, and looked at Kazuma.
"What afraid you were gonna lose?" the purple haired man jabbed, smirking as Kazuma huffed.
"Fine then, I'll call my own bet, raising ain't gonna do anything." Kazuma stated, pushing another 2000 in chips forward.
Glados came down from the ceiling. "Alright gentlemen, commence the showdown. Reveal your hands."
Yuri threw down his cards first. "Yuri Lowell has a straight," he had the two of clubs, three of diamonds, four of hearts, five of hearts and the six of spades.
"Oh no, a straight. Whatever will I do-" Kazuma moaned melodramatically before closing his fan of cards and then laying them all out on the table with a devilish grin on his face. "But win?"
A royal flush of hearts.
"Oh for fucks sake," Yuri complained as Kazuma scooped up the pot of chips. "It's the first hand and those are already being flung around?"
"That's the game," Kazuma proclaimed with a bored look, flipping a poker chip up and down like a coin. "Now if only the new guy was more confident, I'd be closer to winning."
"Perhaps if you weren't so obvious that your hand something amazing outright I wouldn't have folded. Then again, who would throw away a royal flush?" Sanson shot back as Kazuma huffed.
"He's got you there pal," Hector noted, crossing his arms. "So how are you cheating?"
"I ain't cheating! Why does everything think I cheat?" Kazuma complained as Glados came down from the ceiling.
"My data banks show that every time you have been in the inventory, you have won every game of poker. And every hand you have participated in. as well as any other games of chance within the Inventory," Glados snarked. "I don't see how people could possibly believe you are cheating."
Kazuma groaned and leaned back in his chair. "Whatever, let's go for another round, who knows, maybe one of you will beat me."
"Somehow I dou-" As Yuri was going to complain, a massive explosion suddenly went off, everyone at the table and in the Inventory shooting up from their chairs. "What was that!? Did someone set off a nuke!?"
"Everyone remain calm!" the owner stated. "And please, remain inside the Inventory while we handle the situation. Glados, what's the status outside?"
"The town is currently being engulfed in fireworks. Also, that explosion was the nearby church exploding from being filled with propane," the AI revealed. "Estimates state that it would likely be safer inside the Inventory until the town has stopped exploding."
"What the fuck!?" Kazuma looked up, before thinking back, and sighing. "Megumin…"
Five minutes earlier.
"Alright girls! I think that's the last one!" Megumin proclaimed with a grin as she, Abigail, Lavinia, Liliana, and Rita finally finished their project.
Namely that this Fused Loop, for some reason, had given everyone a night-unlimited amount of fireworks and propane, and she wasn't about to let this chance go to waste.
"Abigail, we're gonna need your portal, get ready to take us up," Megumin ordered.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Lavinia commented, looking between the rest of the girls.
"Oh please, it's only enough fireworks to level an abandoned town," Rita admitted. "I calculated.
"Then there isn't enough!" Megumin declared before Lilana raised her hand.
"Uh… maybe I should point out that the Inventory is below the city, and everyone else is there so… Maybe we shouldn't completely level the town?" the princess pointed out.
"But-" Megmin began to protest before Rita put up her hand.
"We can play more with the propane later, we already spent three hours just setting up the entire system," the mage offered. "And maybe when we do so again we do it in a different abandoned town."
"I can find us one!" Abigail offered with a raised hand.
"Later Abby," Lavinia slowly lowered her friend's hand as Megumin sighed, before holding up the blowtorch.
"Fine then, let's get this party started. Abigail, portal!" Megumin ordered, Abigail snapping her fingers and opening a gate into the sky, Lavinia hopping through it alongside the other girls, leaving them all sitting in the sky as Megumin haphazardly dropped the blowtorch right on the fuse to set off the entire fireworks chain reaction. Then the resident pyromaniac jumped through the portal before it could close on her.
The five girls, all now flying high above the town on a magical platform created by Rita, stood and watched as fireworks started to fly. At first it was small, but it quickly grew. A blinding light and loud flashes filled the sky as the girls watched in either awe, or in Megumin's case, a bit of boredom.
"I was expecting a bigger boom."
"Oh come on Megumin, it hasn't even hit the church yet-" Rita started, and the moment she said that, there was a massive explosion. Rita and Liliana threw up a barrier to block the explosive force as a sparkling cloud of green, red and white erupted from the church that Megumin had stuffed all the way to the brim with propane tanks and sparklers.
"That's more like it!"
"Lord forgive us…" Abigail muttered with a wince. The church had been bare and dilapidated, but it was still the house of god.
"Hate to break it to you Abby, but 'the lord' is probably more concerned with-" Lavina was cut off again another building erupted, the gas station being utterly consumed with a cloud of red, white, blue and pink as Megumin began cheering.
"NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! Come on! We've got one more big one set up!" the mage cheered as the other four girls watched the far more dazzling display… even as the town was going up in flames from the sheer amount of fireworks.
"So… how much explosives did we stuff in the mountain?" Liliana questioned as the fireworks were beginning to die down.
"Oh… enough." Megumin admitted with a grin… and about five seconds later there was an eruption, the entire top of the nearby mountain being blown off from the yield of several hundred tons of propane and fireworks, blinding all the girls present in its dazzling display of red and yellow, sparks flying through the sky as the ground quaked from the explosive force.
"WOO!" Megumin cheered the moment she could hear and see again, which was long before any of the other girls. "LET'S DO IT AGAIN! TO THE NEXT TOWN!" she ordered.
"...We may want to get out of here if we don't want the others to punish us," Lavinia muttered as Abigail shrugged.
"Welp, we're already in this hole," Rita claimed bluntly before pulling out yet another propane tank from the provided hammerspace this Loop. "Let's make some noise."
"You what, let's do this." Liliana agreed as Megumin cackled.
"Onto the next town," Abigail stated, throwing open a portal to the next abandoned city in this Loop.
It was time for festive mayhem of the most explosive kind.
AN: Another set of snips for you all! I hope everyone enjoyed. If you want to keep track make sure to follow along.
6.1: Another Chapter in the guide! Featuring the challenges one may enjoy.
6.2: The battle for the Holy Grail can only get wilder from here.
6.3: It's elementary my dear Mashu
6.4: Checking in
6.5: Self explanatory really.