The Castle of the Tyrant
(Second Part)
The huge hall was used for banquets. At one time, noble knights and ladies had feasted in this place amidst laughter and song.
An era long went...
The dust covered the floor in a thick layer and the velvet curtains covered the windows fell to shreds. No one had entered the premises for a good ten years.
Suddenly, an explosion sounds. Through the west wall, suddenly ripped open, a violent blast caused the deflected curtains to beat, raising a veil of dust.
A knee to the ground, Artoria shook her head to clear her ideas. Her armor smoked in places and blood flowed from her hair. However, they were just scratches. Given the violence of the attack she had just escaped, it spoke volumes about her resistance.
Her eyes suddenly narrowed, she saw a succession of pentacles of violet energy appear on the ground. Immediately, forms similar to fumaroles appeared above the magic circles, before increasing in the form of men in shadow with the eyes of embers.
Holding the projected version of Caliburn in her hands, Saber stood up, displaying a definite expression.
In her chest, her Dragon Core poured out a flood of mana that strengthened her muscles and bones. She rushed forward... so fast that for an ordinary human she would simply have disappeared. The blurred image of Saber appeared near two specters before she resumed form almost a third, lifting her blade in fourth guard to strike diagonally.
Combination air, also known as Wind King's slice, was one of Artoria's favorite techniques. It consisted of lowering the pressure of the air to decrease the friction, then rushing so quickly on the opponent that they could not counter.
Three specters dissipated in one last moan.
Nevertheless, others converged on her holding out their hands to absorb her vital energy.
Practically insensitive to such weak spells, Saber, however, wavered under the number of assaults. She responded with one of her best attacks:
- Starlight (Divergence)!
Caliburn began to radiate golden light when she pointed it at her enemies, three bundles of energy gushed out in a fan, sweeping away the specters.
Panting, Artoria Pendragon leaned on the sacred sword so as not to collapse.
- Watch out!
Saber turned around... fortunately for her, the attack that had just been carried was deflected by a mirror-like shield.
Gonderic de Bel-Amant had just prepared the assault carried out by a particularly filthy demon. On a humanoid bust finished by a snake tail was a cow skull with fire eyes. It moved by flying heavily, supported by two membranous wings.
The monster cried with pain and retreated, his own attack having been sent back to him by the mirror armor of the knight of Bel-Amant.
Leprosy, one of Angra Mainyu's "sons", was the embodiment of a curse. In this case, the horrible disease of which he bore the name.
Though shaken, the devil held his mace with one hand, and then raised the other, which was haloed with a pentacle of violet energy. In response, other specters appeared...
Artoria pressed her teeth.
The fight lasted a long time, despite the help of the knight of Bel-Amant, she could not strike a decisive blow. The clash had turned into a marathon, a fight of endurance... except that her opponent seemed to have inexhaustible energy reserves.
Let's hope Shiro does better than she...
Plague looked exactly like his "brother", except that his weapon was a black metal kris. He was flapping his wings in the middle of the inner courtyard of the castle, turning one way or the other. He was looking for his prey... a human who dare escaped him. However, the monster's instinct warned him that he was not very far away.
Around him were gathered the spectral victims of the scourge which he personified, these slaves were fully devoted to his service.
Suddenly, a silver meteor shower hit the yard. The result was spectacular. A series of explosions marked the destruction of the specter. As the pavements fell and the smoke stagnated, Shiro lowered his great black bow.
Next to him, Blaise was looking at him with googly eyes. He had never seen an archer shoot so fast! In less time than it took to say it, the strange redhead had sent a dozen strokes of unthinkable power.
Yet...
The calm and concentrated expression of the adolescent was replaced by a frustrated pout. As the smoke dissipated, the silhouette of Plague emerged from the swirls of dust. Amidst the craters dug by the explosions, the monster was unharmed. His glowing gaze turned to the battlements of the tower where Shiro Emiya stood.
- I'm the bone of my sword!
In the hand of the amber-eyed hero appeared an arrow of daedric alloy. His dewclaw-covered tip bore the mark of Mehrunes Dagon... the prince of destruction.
This evil arrow was the Projection of one of the many weapons seized on the Daedras, the enemies of Nirn's men from the kingdoms of Oblivion. The Empire kept these trophies for reuse against the armies of the other princes of the Outer Kingdoms. The weapons forged by a Daedra were often superior against the servants of one of its rivals.
Launched with incredible power by Archer's bow and Shiro's reinforced musculature, the evil projectile took a flight to put itself in the enemy's head, breaking his magic shield and crossing his many protections.
The demon fell to the ground...
Shiro smiled, happy with the result, but it didn't last very long.
The monster stood up, pulling the arrow. Thanks to his reinforced eyes, the Magus with red hair could see the wound closing, clogged by a black mud that looked like the one flowing from the tear leading into the Grail. On his chest, a red tattoo had started to pulse before disappearing.
The monster flapped its wings, heading for the battlements.
- Retreat inside the tower.
Blaise nodded without a word, terrorized.
Everything was now in Rin's hands. Saber and Shiro had fled the temple of Angra Mainyu by dragging their "children" behind them to let their tsundere friend neutralize their real enemy.
The echo of an explosion echoed in the devastated corridors of the castle. Dust and wooden planks fell from a torn floor, while a door held by a single hinge collapsed into a pathetic noise.
It doesn't matter who ends up winning the fight. At this rate, Doomcrag's castle would soon be nothing but smoking ruins.
Rin Tohsaka slipped from shadow to shadow, watching. She was moving towards the evil temple and at each step; the fear was tightening her heart a little more.
When she arrived at the entrance, the Tohsaka heiress took a brief look in the room. Above the wolf skull resting on the altar, the breach leading into the Grail was always open. The priest in the red robe was nearby... as well as about ten specters probably invoked by Avenger.
It was both good and bad news. Because it meant that Rin was - again- right. Angra Mainyu's "sons" were powered by their "father". Until the opening is closed, they'll be practically invincible!
Unfortunately, Avenger was fully aware of this weak spot. Hence the specter squadron deployed to ensure the defense of the temple.
The reincarnated Japanese woman took a spiritual gem from her purse. On Earth, she had used precious stones which she gradually charged with her own magical energy, a little more each morning. The gemstones trapped in the bowels of the ground, bathed in land currents for millennia, making them perfect containers to contain enough prana to generate a spell of rank A.
More energy than a human Magus used during whole weeks of Magecraft exercise.
Only when she arrived at Nirn, Rin had discovered that Tamriel's magicians were creating artificial magic stones, morpholiths. The most common were soul gems. These spiritual cells were used to imprison souls of creatures. There was a great variety of stones staggered in terms of power, capable of sealing the souls of lower animals to the most powerful daedras. They provided gigantic energy capable of feeding enchantments or spells.
Tohsaka had quickly adapted to this common resource throughout the Empire. Now that she could quickly renew her gems, since the houses of the Magi Guild were selling them, Rin had an almost inexhaustible source of prana.
Concentrating, she entered the room, before throwing a higher tier soul gem:
- Ein Körper ist ein Körper!
There was a powerful explosion of yellow light. When the glare dissipated, the room was intact but the specter had disappeared. Rin had just used a Release Spell capable of banishing demons, offering rest to the undead and even disable golems.
Before the priest recovered from his stupor, the Magus began to run towards the wolf skull. Through his cursed relic, Avenger sought to stop her, throwing a barrage of balls of black mud. But the projectiles disappeared before they touched her.
The evil spirit was very taken aback.
He could not know that Rin carried on her a chalice dedicated to the ceremonies of the aedric god Stendarr (1). The Magus stopped in front of the altar, brandishing the sacred cup and emptying the contents of her flask in the chalice... transforming water into holy water which she then poured on the horrible relic.
The effect was striking.
The fraction of the spirit of Angra Mainyu that possessed the wolf skull was chased away in the form of black steam, while the relic crumbled into dust. Above, the breach vacillated and disappeared, depriving Plague and Leprosy of Avenger's support.
For the fourth or fifth time, Saber hit a wall. Projected violently, she fell back to the ground like a rag doll, leaving the trace of a deep impact in the stone. Exhausted, bloody, the King of Knights rose up. The air burned her throat and she carried her hand to her side. The way she was hurting, she must have had a broken rib.
Surrounded by specters, the knight of Bel-Amant could not help her.
Saber held Caliburn in her hands, firmly directing the blade towards her enemy. The demon did not hurry, sure of his victory.
In fact, the young woman realized that she would no longer resist. Everything she did was useless. The severed limbs reformed, the wounds closed. No wound, even mortal, remained. An enemy who refused to die could not be defeated; it was as simple as that.
As the monster raised his mace, he suddenly paused to utter a cry of pain. On his chest, the red tattoo that had appeared after each injury began to pulse and then turned gray before disappearing.
Leprosy seemed shocked and withdrawn... a move he had never had until now!
- The specters!
Turning to Gonderic, Artoria saw that the shadows were disappearing. She then understood and smiled. Rin had succeeded.
Saber leaps forward, using Combination air again. Appearing almost simultaneously in three places in the room, the King of Knights cut through the thick columns that supported the ceiling. In an impressive cracking, the ceiling collapsed, burying Leprosy under beams, planks and heaps of stone.
Of course, that was not enough to kill such a monster. Pebbles began to roll and an arm came out of the heap of debris. As the devil's chest emerged, Artoria rushed forward... forcing Caliburn into the monster chest until the guard!
Leprosy howled with suffering, but he was still not dead!
Struggling he grasped Saber's arm, seeking to make her let go. The eyes of the King of Knights narrowed. Normally, it would have taken desperate circumstances for her to use her ultimate attack.
Fortunately, this Caliburn was only a traced version of the original. King Arthur drew all the energy he had left and channeled it into the blade... far more than a Noble Phantasm (degraded) of rank B could contain:
- Broken Phantasm: The Destroyed Illusion.
Caliburn began to radiate an unbearable light and Saber kicked Leprosy to free herself. Seizing Gonderic, she began to run. As soon as they reached the courtyard, the building burst into a powerful explosion. A column of blue fire joined the sky, driving the clouds away.
Thrown to the ground by the blast of the explosion they heard stones and charred beams falling to the ground all around them.
Even a major demon couldn't survive that...
The two large bedrooms that formed the floor of the southeast tower had long since been unoccupied and left to dust. An Illiac's spider, as large as a sheepdog, had woven a web into one of the pieces. The green monstrosity held in its web a dries knight, still clothed in his rusty armor.
The spider probably had her cozy home. However, upon the arrival of a specter army led by a demon, the colossal spider fled as fast as it could run on its eight legs.
Shiro pressed his teeth.
Despite the strengthening of his muscles and bones, the black kris had just penetrated his armor, causing blood to gush. He broke the engagement, dispelling Kanshou and Bakuya, for the married blades seemed incapable of hurting the monster.
He traced an unnamed Noble Phantasm; the weapon came from the Gate of Babylon of Gilgamesh. It was a dagger of ordinary appearance. With a nonchalant gesture, he waved it... throwing an ice attack that instantly immobilized Plague in a frost.
Then he is tracing another weapon, Houtegenki, the halberd of Lü Bu Fènxiān.
He leaped on the specters that surrounded poor Blaise, striking like a brute with the strength of thirty men. The halberd swirled, snatching the living dead as the scythe would cut the ripe wheat.
Filled with the famous power of the flying general, Shiro eliminated one group of ethereal spirits after another. Alas, he arrived near Blaise only to discover the squire on the ground... drained of all his vital energy by the mortal contact of the living dead.
Normally, Shiro would have been devastated... only, Houtegenki greatly influenced his behavior. He screamed, filled with mad anger.
He was so blinded by the explosive personality of Lü Bu Fènxiān that he did not even notice the brief appearance of the tattoo on the breast of the demon.
Without the support of his "father", Plague could no longer invoke ghosts, nor regenerate his wounds.
The demon staggered under a deluge of blows inflicted on him by an absolutely unleashed Shiro. Cornered to guard, Plague retreated until he found his back to the wall. At this moment, the amber-eyed hero swells his chest, holding his halberd with one hand. He had just invoked one of the flying general's combat skills: Armistice.
Shiro struck with all his forces breaking the defense of the enemy who found himself paralyzed by the blow. Then, twice, the Magus delivered powerful blows to the immobilized demon.
From the outside, a section of the wall was seen to collapse. The seriously wounded demon was thrown into the debris.
At the top of the broken tower, Shiro let the halberd of the flying general dissipate in glowing moths of bluish prana. He traced Archer's bow again, then focused.
- Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
The arrow that was born was golden metal, delicately worked, visibly elven. It was a solar arrow made by the priests of the elven god Auri-El. It was a real counterbalance to counter demons and undead.
Shot, it struck Plague between the eyes and wrapped him in a dazzling discharge of sunlight. Once the radiance dissipated, there was nothing left of the monster, except its silhouette cut out by the solar fire on the blocks given to red.
During this time, a third fight took place in the temple of Angra Mainyu. The priest in red dress had to do a lot to stay alive. He didn't have time to use his magic because his opponent was pressing him into contact.
Rin had just sent her elbow into his abdomen. Breathless, coughing up blood, he recoiled pitifully, eyes full of tears. But already, she cut off his legs with a sweep to throw it to the ground.
She did not press her advantage and broke. The priest stood up, foaming with rage, pulling a long sacrifice dagger from his belt. The weapon was made of silver and covered with inscriptions that entangled on the blade.
Before he threw herself at her, she pointed a finger in his direction:
- Gandr!
By reflex, he dodged several shots, but others struck him and pushed him back. Rin was already rushing forward. Punched in the solar plexus, and then kicked in the face. Twice, she heard the bones crack, the face bleeding, the priest retreated again... but Tohsaka held tiny soul gems between her phalanges, she threw one of them which exploded before the priest. He managed to partially counter the detonation with a shield spell, but the magus in red raised her arm.
On her left forearm appeared the inextricable maze of her Magical Crest:
- Fixiering Eile Salve!
The Gandr Shot flew towards the red priest with the power of a volley of machine-gun bullets. The magic shield flew in burst. Taking advantage of the disappearance of the protective spell, Rin launched a new soul gem that exploded above the demonic priest. The splinters solidified into a gangue that immobilized his right arm and part of his chest.
Without his weapon, the priest remained dangerous. As Tohsaka was in range, he struck her in the face before kneeling her under the chin.
She staggered but was not seriously affected.
The young magus fought back with two punches and then with a sidekick that caught him at the temple. Exhausted, stunned, the priest hardly responded. Rin catches three crystals between her phalanges and projected them by murmuring an incantation.
Transformed into onyx-colored projectiles, the gems spun and pierced the breast of the devil's worshiper. He was dead before he even touched the ground.
Atrum Galliasta was shocked.
Physically shocked because he had just survived the collapse of a building blown by the explosion of Caliburn.
Emotionally, because he had just seen twenty years of effort be wiped out. His army had been defeated, the commoners and his lieges had turned against him, the castle of Doomcrag lay around him in heaps of rubble, only two of the towers still rose above this disaster. The crackling of the flames surrounded it, ashes danced in the wind, mixed with snowflakes. Its monsters? Dead or fled. Even Plague and Leprosy had been destroyed.
This time he was supposed to be invincible... Caster... that bitch Medea was no longer there to betray him!
- It's him Atrum Galliasta.
Atrum turned around to meet four young peoples. A woman in armor so exhausted that a second knight had to support her, a redhead in damaged leather armor, and a young woman in short black skirt and a red turtleneck.
He recognized the lass...
- Rin Tohsaka...
Shiro was watching Atrum Galliasta, Duke of Verandia.
It was a monster who had killed... no, slaughtered without remorse, thousands of people in the name of his ambitions. However, the duke had a pleasant physique. He looked like a handsome young man. If his long hair was blond, his skin was sun-kissed. He wore a long purple coat with a fur collar, split to his ankles. The coat opened itself at each step, revealing that the duke was wearing chainmail under it. A sword was hanging from his belt.
The armor and the weapon were pretty simple Mystic Codes.
Shiro sighed and asked the question he willing to ask for weeks:
- Duke Atrum Galliasta, why did you partner with Angra Mainyu?
The Magus sniffed with contempt:
- Everyone knows that it is better to walk with the Devil than to be on his way.
The amber-eyed hero turned to his friends:
- I brought him back to life, it is my mistake, and it is up to me to correct it.
Hearing this, Atrum smiled. His opponents were tired, he was not. And this idiot wanted to face him alone... laughable. It was time to show him what a great Magus like him was worth.
- Well, come on, kid, I'm gonna teach you the lesson you deserve.
Atrum Galliasta raised his hand:
- البرق مدمر (devastating lightning strike)
The electric shock flowed into the air. Without touching Shiro... a moment before, he had materialized a katana that attracted the zigzagging electrical arc and... cut it.
The Duke of Vérandia remained motionless, his mouth open in an O of surprise... He simply could not understand what had happened. But his opponent did not allow him time to recover. Having dissipated the weapon, he began to murmur:
Spirit and technique
Our strength rips the mountains
Our swords split the water
Our names reach the imperial villa
The two of us cannot hold the heaven together
Triple-Linked Crane Wings
Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in the hands of Shiro who threw them towards Atrum. The blades swirled and struck him, causing blood to flow. But already, the hero rushed forward tightening other replicas of the Married Blades. In his hands, they described an X in the air and the Duke of Vérandia collapsed... fatally touched. His executioner fell one knee to the ground, five steps behind him, arms wide apart, forming the figure called "wings of the crane".
- Imp... possible... I... can't...afford... to... die...
With his eyes fixed on the grey sky, Atrum Galliasta was cold. He could no longer breathe and his thoughts sank into nothingness. He carried regret into the hereafter. Why... why had he been defeated, once again without having accomplished anything? It was unfair.
The very next day,
The berkana rune came to rest above a pile of debris.
Shiro winced before turning on Rin:
- Are you sure?
She shrugged her shoulders.
- Runes say the last fragment of the Corvus crystal is under there. But if you doubt me, you can always turn over another pile of ruins, while Saber and I search this one.
Her friend's evil smile made the red teenager shiver. His gaze swept away what remained of Doomcrag's castle, and then he vigorously scratched the back of his skull:
- I never doubt you, Rin... you know that.
- I am glad, Shiro-kun, I would have been sorry if your doubts forced you to search all the rest of the ruins, alone in the cold, while Saber and I found this great stone of Welkynd in a few minutes, We'd start talking and you'd forget... for a couple of hours.
Shiro swallowed and laughed clumsily at this joke... because Rin was joking... didn't she?
Artoria Pendragon lifted one broken block after another. The explosion that had destroyed Leprosy had literally pulverized the building. With reinforced muscles and skeleton, Shiro lifted a broken beam and frowned:
- There is a safe here.
Rin, who played the inspector of the finished works, approached to examine the safe and called the King of Knights:
- Saber gets it here.
Almost effortlessly, the knight lifted the heavy object and placed it in a roughly intact corner of the courtyard.
- Shiro opens it.
The reincarnated Japanese put his hand on the chest and concentrated on a Structural Analysis. With the information gathered, he then traced a key corresponding to the lock.
Rin smiles at her friend:
- If one day you are tired of playing the Righter of Wrongs, you can start a big career as a burglar.
- Uh... no, I'm not interested.
While Rin indulged in her favorite entertainment, that is to tease Shiro, Artoria engaged in an inventory of the riches contained in the safe: a fortune in gold coins, precious stones... and the last fragment of Corvus' crystal.
She pulled the other two pieces out of her bag. Yes, no doubt, the pieces complemented each other. For the first time in two thousand years, someone had gathered the three pieces. There was just to repair it.
- Minuten vor Schweiben.
In a secret room under the great tower of Doomcrag, Rin had just nicked her finger, shedding some of her blood on the fragments of the Corvus crystal. The shards began to twinkle and become more concentrated. In an instant, the great stone of Welkynd regained its integrity. It looked like an octahedron some thirty centimeters long made of a kind of blue glass.
Rin took it in hand and placed it between the claws of meteoritic iron which held the crystalline magical core above a well from which regularly came sparks of light rising to the sky: an Ayleid well, channeling both the energy of Aetherius and the telluric energy of Nirn.
- The Cristal de Corvus has regained its place. Saber, it's up to you.
The King of Knights laid her hand on the Welkynd's stone and concentrated. Two thousand years earlier, Corvus Direnni had taken Excalibur to the Outer Kingdom so that it would not fall into the hands of malicious individuals. But the Summoner knew that one day the Sword of Promised Victory would be necessary to save Nirn. It was, therefore, necessary that whoever had to use the Sacred Blade could go into the Oblivion plan where the Magician had hidden it.
The great stone of Welkynd was the key to this outward plane of existence, floating in an ocean of chaos. And Artoria had to be able to open a path to this plane of Oblivion.
- Look at this!
Gonderic de Bel-Amant held out his hand, showing a portal of bluish light that had just formed in the middle of the room.
Rin reached out through the portal while looking at the side of the energy door. Although it was no thicker than a sheet of paper, the Magus did not see her fingers come out to the other side.
- Well, we are invited to come in, let's not keep the householder waiting.
The night reigned in this other world. A single moon hung in crescent in the diamond-studded velvet of the sky. For the knight of Bel-Amant who knew only the night sky illuminated by Masser and Secunda, the picture was shocking. For Artoria, even more. She studied the stars of the heavens in the company of Merlin:
- The Great Bear... and there... the North Star... would we be back on Earth?
The question posed by the King of Knights was not addressed to anyone in particular but a spectral form appeared in the air. A man wrapped in a hooded coat. He looked at Saber and bowed deeply:
- O King Arthur, I have been waiting for you for many centuries. The sky you see here is only a creation of your humble servant. I have studied your sword at length and it has taught me much about your original world.
- Are you Corvus Direnni?
- Himself, Your Majesty, or, to be exact, his ghost. We do not have time to discuss; your arrival was probably felt by Angra Mainyu. He will come to you.
The ghost pointed to the nearby forest:
- Following the path, you will arrive at a mound. This is my grave. In the main room, Excalibur rests on the stone coffin containing my remains.
As he spoke a shock shook the heavenly vault. Looking up, the visitors saw the night sky bursting with cracks generated from a central point, like a window struck by a stone.
- He's coming! Run, King of Knights... fetches Excalibur.
In the second shock, debris fell in all directions. Passing through the breach, a flood of black mud poured over the ground of the kingdom of Corvus. This materialization of all the curses weighing on Man was contortioned to finally take on a filthy form.
A huge, monstrous pig carrying horns had just appeared. Its black and red skin seemed more like the Berserker of the Fifth Grail War. Around it, lightning struck the ground as the wind turned, surrounding it with a veritable bulwark of squall:
- Henwen!
Artoria looked at the monster with an expression of horror.
- Henwen? Asked Rin.
Saber nodding:
- A beast of Gaia, of the breed of Calamities that ravaged the island of Brittain in my youth! It spawned many plagues including Cath Palug! Angra Mainyu has recalled to life one of my worst enemies!
Far from it, in a large ring-shaped building in the middle of snowy mountains, a small creature quite like a white squirrel slept rolled into a ball on the knees of a teenage glasses girl with purple hair. The animal, however, was not a squirrel and since it was wearing a short cape, could it really be called an animal? He suddenly straightened up, his ears shaking funny:
- Fou? Kyu Kyu! [We're talking about me? Oh, but its mom's smell! ]
Cath Palug, or "Fou" as the girl preferred to call him, had not heard of Henwen since Palug's children had adopted him, taking him for a cat (2).
Shiro trace a magnificent sword which he handed to Gonderic. The blade was black metal; the guard was inlaid with gold, like the claws of the pommel, holding a milky gem:
- Take this sword, it's called Durandal. You'll need it.
- Thank you.
The knight of Bel-Amant could not have known that it was the sword of the paladin Roland, the first pair of the emperor Charlemagne. However, even a less expert look than his would have understood that the Magus had entrusted him with an exceptional weapon.
Rin started to shout:
- I will detain Henwen to prevent it from pursuing Saber.
As the monstrous sow trembled as she brooded, the magus with pigtail drew runes on the ground: Algiz, Nauthiz, Ansuz, and Inguz. Before exclaiming with a loud voice:
- Ath nGabla: Shoal of Four Branches!
Immediately, a curse called "Ford of the Forked Branch" fell on the monster. It forced the target to fight the one who threw the curse and forbade him from running away. It was a spell created by the Knights of the Red Branch.
The monstrous sow stopped and chipped before turning a red and hateful look on Rin.
- It is working!
A little too well, the monster rushed on the Magus who lost the capacity to react, frozen by terror. Fortunately, the knight of Bel-Amant could not leave a damsel in distress.
There was a violent shock when Gonderic deflected the assault from his shield. The knight groaned with pain because as powerful as the mirror armor was, the monster was even more so. This time, he had suffered damage.
Notwithstanding, he lifted up the sword which Shiro had given him, and cut it down with all his might. Roland's blade was not known for nothing as Durandal: Ultimate Unbroken Hallow. It did not need to be reinforced with prana to cut anything!
The monster's front leg remained in place as Henwen fell to the ground. Already, the knight of Bel-Amant struck the groin making the monster howl with pain. However... the severed leg turned into black mud that sank to the stump before reconstituting the limb! The wounds inflicted on the head began to smoke. When the vapors dissipated, the wounds had closed.
Henwen screamed and the lightning fell again around the monster, breaking trees, while a gust of wind rolled his opponents for several meters.
- Nine Live Bladework!
Shiro stood up, holding in his left hand a prehistoric weapon, a huge sword or a stone axe. It was Berserker's club.
With some logic, the amber-eyed blacksmith opposed the folly of a demigod to the furious beast. In spite of his small size, compared to Heracles, Shiro imitated his style well. Bouncing, he played force to strike in power and then retreated with agility to avoid counterattacks.
For now, the Magus contained the monster, allowing Rin and Gonderic to strike at each break between attacks. They could hope to hold him for a long time, enough to allow Artoria to return.
Saber would run like the wind... literally.
As the sound of battle echoed behind her, the young woman suddenly stopped. The mound stood before her. No door closed the entrance to the mound covered with green grass. Caliburn in hand, she resumed her course in a corridor made up of large stones.
A large vaulted room occupied the center of the tomb. Empty, apart from a stone coffin without decoration and a chest at its foot. And placed on the granite lid... Excalibur, carefully slipped into its gold sheath inlaid with blue glass paste.
In spite of the weather... in spite of the danger... Artoria Pendragon felt invaded by a powerful emotion that made her hesitate.
Her fingers were shaking as she grabbed Avalon. At once a stream of energy circulated, uniting her Dragon Core with the sheath given to her by the Lady of the Lake... her true Noble Phantasm.
With the exception of her face, her body was surrounded by golden light. Her silhouette deformed, the bottom of it widened. Then, suddenly, the golden sparks disappeared.
Artoria now wore her splendid armor dress with her segmented plastron inlaid with a blue decor, her heavy gauntlets and the articulated steel blade skirt that protected her sides.
She turned around and started, her metal boots hitting the floor of the hallway.
Rin, Shiro and Gonderic were doing everything humanly possible to fight Henwen.
However, it was not enough.
Gonderic was the first to fall. Despite the armor-mirror, a header from the monstrous sow threw him against a tree. He would certainly have been massacred on the spot, but Shiro intervened.
The teenager was bleeding, his armor reduced to a wreck. He had abandoned Nameless Axe-sword. He now had a spear carved from the bone of a Phantasmal Beast by the witch of Dun Scaith.
- Gáe...
The spear surrounds itself with a sinister blood-colored aura, pulsating in the hand of the Magus, eager to kill.
-... Bolg!
Shiro struck the ground in front of Henwen. It did not matter... the Noble Phantasm of Cù Chulainn changed the causality. Only an insolent chance or divine protection could prevent it from piercing the heart of the one being attacked.
The red ray came out of the weapon and zigzagged to get the desired effect, plunging deep into the sow's chest.
The monster took another three or four steps and then collapsed.
Of course, it was only a respite. Already a black smoke surrounded the ancient plague of Britain, repairing its wounds.
- Rin takes care of Gonderic.
The Magus in red rushed to examine the knight and turn pale:
- He... he's dead!
Rising, she threw several large crystals to the sky:
- Gewicht, um zu Vendoppel ung!
And the soul gems turned into silver lights that felt on the monster. There were several violent explosions, equal in intensity to spells of rank A.
In the devastated landscape, only a few trunks wrapped in flames were still standing. The rest of the forest lay on the ground...
Even Berserker on Earth would not have survived such an attack. Yet...
A furious squeak rang out.
Wrapped in smoke, Henwen was already straightening up. Her hateful gaze rivaled Rin.
He would have charged, but a sudden presence diverted his attention. A silhouette had just stepped in. Shiro could see her from behind, but he easily recognized the blue ribbon that tightened the braid that was wrapped in the back of his former Servant's head.
She again wore her blue dress over a white petticoat, and the splendid heavy armor she wore when they first met.
Saber was back in full glory.
With her hands tight on Excalibur, she was facing the Beast of Calamities. Artoria took a look at her old Master and the Magus in red:
- Rest. From now on, this is my fight.
The knight woman considered the monster for a moment:
- Do you recognize me? I'm King Arthur.
Henwen uttered a roar of anger that did not require translation.
- I have already killed you once and I will do it again.
Artoria raised the Sacred Sword to heaven. Holding the Last Phantasm with two hands, she closed her eyes. Slowly, the blade awoke, pulsating with a golden light. The ground itself lit up, the plants, the trees were haloed with gold.
- The gathering breath of the star. The shinning of the torrent of life.
Golden particles, like tiny pixies, left the flowers, the earth, and the forest, merging with the glorious light of the Sword of Promised Victory. The golden flame turned into a dazzling torch rising more than ten meters high. Its brilliance was now unsustainable.
- Take This!
Artoria opened her eyes and lowered the golden sword of light she held in her hand.
- Excalibur!
A stream of golden light flowed towards its target, carrying everything in its path like a torrent having broken all the dams. As wide and powerful as Henwen was, the monster was completely engulfed by the flood. Her black figure twisted as a scream of rage, terror and suffering echoed.
A golden geyser then leaped towards the sky discharging all the power that had accumulated to project it towards the stars.
There was no sign of the beast of Gaia. Just a burning crater and a few pixies still lingering.
Corvus Direnni came back.
- Bravo, this is a favorable omen for the continuation of the fight. I see that one of your companions fell during the fight. Take it with you and follow me to my grave.
Preceded by the ghost, they reached the mound following the path that Artoria had traveled alone. Then they entered the short corridor leading to the vaulted room.
There Corvus Direnni showed the chest:
- Open it up!
Several objects were stored.
- Shiro Emiya, I offer you my cape. It is an invisibility cape. If you put it on you can no longer be seen.
He then turned to the Magus in red:
- Rin Tohsaka, the vial is for you. It is an Elixir of Life. It contains a single dose of a cure that can heal all diseases, all poisons and bring a dying person back to full health.
As Corvus had requested, Saber placed the deceased knight on the lid of the tomb.
- Gonderic de Bel-Amant, here is my gift... this resurrection torque is for one use, but it will give you life without delay.
As Artoria placed him at the neck of the knight, the ghost turned to them, he became more and more blurred and blue particles left him:
- It is time for me to say goodbye to you. For centuries, the melody from the other world has been singing to me eternal rest. I rejected that call because I wanted to give you my presents so you could save Nirn. In the name of all the dead and all the living, I implore you to succeed. If ever Angra Mainyu came back to life, this world would not survive. Even the Outer Realms would be destroyed.
In these last words, the ghost dissipated, leaving them alone.
(1) See Chapter 16, recovered from a haunted and ruined monastery.
(2) Cath Palug simply means "Palug's cat" in Welsh.
Author's Note: With the end of chapter 20, the "first volume" of Fate: Dragon Crown ends. I hope you enjoyed this fight; Henwen was kind of the end-of-level boss.
If you have any questions, feel free.