Archangel Xireon Chaos God: Shinji is not only an individual with an inflated ego, but he is also a rapist, a brute, and an idiot. He deserves a lot worse than what's going to happen to him.
The Dark Grail of the Makiri
The strange garment Sakura Tohsaka wore seemed made of a black fabric adorned with red lines... However, it was absolutely not a material, but rather a living being. As Sakura leaned forward, the living tissue gets resolved, discovering one of her shoulders and throat to form two long tentacles that whipped the air.
Furious and definitely terrified, Shinji Matou benefited from the speed boost that provided him with his "Blinding Speed Boots" to dodge Sakura's attacks.
Shinji turned to the other end of the throne room and waved his Magus' staff. The dragon's head spits out a whirlwind of ice.
Sakura raised her arms while the tentacles formed a shield:
"Meanie" she murmured... Then his adoptive sister disappeared.
Eyes wide with horror, Shinji scans the room without seeing anything other than the furious clash of Medusa and Archer who were twirling in a graceful waltz chanted by the Twin Blades and the chains that collided in a burst of sparks and prana's fulgurations.
Suddenly a disk of darkness formed almost above his head and Sakura fell, throwing her tentacles to the assault.
His sister began to laugh, her eyes in the wave, as if intoxicated:
"I sharpened them just for you..."
Shinji leaped back, enjoying once again the acceleration provided by his magic boots to dodge the attack. The tentacles shattered the rock, piercing three holes in the ground...
Shinji Matou swallowed and held his hand to the skull-shaped amulet hanging from his neck...
A skeleton armed with a sword and a shield materialized to throw itself on Dark Sakura. But she disappeared once again in her own shadow... The next moment, Dark Sakura reappeared to launch on an attack the tentacles that made up her dress. The undead, immobilized by the strips of living tissue began...to melt.
Shinji had followed the destruction of his creature with a hallucinated look. Panicking at the idea of the same fate, he threw himself to the shelter of a heap of magical objects. Dropping cups, sticks, chopsticks, and a chest full of Spiritual Gems on the floor to grab a parchment covered with magical runes.
He read aloud the spell inscribed on the ancient vellum and extended his hand to Sakura, who was moving slowly, vacillating... like a sleepwalker. The magic scroll fell to dust.
Immediately a vast pentacle adorned with a five-pointed star and two circles of magic signs were formed under the bare feet of Dark Sakura... the instant after a veritable harrow of golden flashes fell upon her... striking her... again... again... and again...
The eye was dazzled by the luminous intensity, the ear wounded by the incessant rolling of thunder. But Shinji Matou smiled. He had won! Thus would perish all those who underestimated his power... he just forgot that the parchment had been written by a Magus of a forgotten age and that he had just read it.
But his triumph was brief...
There was a roar of red and evil flames that leaped towards the ceiling and the magic trap flew in a burst...
Tentacles came out of the darkness and struck the Sorcerer King of Kalysha, tearing him from the ground. He fell back into a pile of Magi dresses covered with runes and astrological drawings, turbans, pointy hats, and other magician hoods... which cushioned his fall.
Still wrapped in red flames, Sakura smiles vacantly...
"Ah... I make Nii-san flew..."
The fight between Medusa and Archer took place simultaneously with the one between Sakura Tohsaka and Shinji Matou.
At first sight, this clash resembled that which had opposed the two ex-Servants in Wayrest...
Yet nothing could be further from the truth.
During the fight in Wayrest, Archer had been taken by surprise by Medusa. The latter had even prepared Blood Fort Andromeda to take hostage the entire population of the castle of the king of Menevia.
This time it was Archer's turn to trap his opponent.
Of course, Medusa was always a formidable opponent. Faster than him, he could not completely evade her attacks. Stronger, she could hurt him even if he seemed to block her strike.
The hero Emiya had only three advantages over such an opponent: centuries of combat experience, an arsenal of weapons that almost matched that of Gilgamesh, and... a plan.
Projecting Kanshou and Bakuya to repel the Gorgon attack, Emiya invoked his big black bow and raised the other hand. A black sword that seemed made of braided steel manifested itself. Leaning down, he plunged the tip into a pool of blood left by Medusa, the tip of the blade turned red. Then he notched the weapon... As he bent his bow, the sword metamorphosed into a baroque arrow like covered with thorns!
Once fired, Hrunting turned into a red light projectile reaching Mach 10. Attracted to its target by its thirst for blood, Beowulf's legendary sword tracked Medusa like a homing missile.
Is a Projectile impossible to stop?
Not for Medusa, she stopped by a wall and threw her chains on a pillar. As Hrunting was about to touch her, her body arched as she leaped. Pulling on the chains, she dodged the projectile which - too fast- could not turn in time to avoid the wall.
As Medusa watched him, clinging to the retaining column, Archer left a grimace of discontent appeared on his lips.
Shinji's Magus robe was an artifact protecting almost as well as a plate armor without its clutter. Although half knocked out by Sakura's last attack, all he had were bruises... nothing serious. Snatching from a display stand a Magus' staff adorned with a sphere around which was spinning magical runes, he threw a volley of fireballs in the direction of his adoptive sister.
But once again, Sakura Tohska dodged by immerging herself into her own shadow.
Shinji runs away immediately... He wasn't stupid... at least not to the point of not understanding that she was teleporting through the corrupt Grail.
Shinji narrowly escaped being run over by Medusa and had only time to throw himself to the ground to avoid a volley of arrows... that didn't even target him.
When he got up, he saw Sakura. Even though her eyes had turned red, she still wore a ribbon in her now white hair, and her features had not changed despite the strange reddish cracks on her skin... yet Shinji knew he was looking at a monster... a monster he had created. Nevertheless, as always, he refused to dwell on his responsibility in this catastrophe. On the contrary, he did what he knew best... to blame others:
"It's your entire fault, Angra Mainyu... why am I always surrounded by incompetence and idiots?"
He seized a crystal from a chest and threw it at Sakura's feet.
The gem broke, releasing a whirlwind of violet energy... which gave birth to a monstrous creature, like a crocodile standing on its hind legs. The bipedal reptile wore hideous black armor adorned with hooks and spikes. In his right hand, he had a mass of weapons that looked just as horrible.
The monster was a daedroth... a demon from Oblivion's plane!
"You have to do better than that, Nii san... Heaven's Fall: Cursed Boundary Layer - Womb Realm Mandala."
Dark Sakura's shadow seemed to extend into the room... But not a humanoid shadow, a grotesque, oblong form, some sort of horrible monster of the abyss that waved its tentacles. The convulsive limbs suddenly escaped the second dimension to wrap around the demon and immobilize it... before dragging it into the depths of the corrupt Grail.
An instant later, the daedroth was gone!
Sakura smiles with an empty gaze:
"I ate too much... "
Turning to Kalysha's Witch-King, Dark Sakura made a careless gesture... as if she was chasing a fly. But on the ground, the shadow of her hand turned to a flaming trail that rushed towards Shinji.
The pseudo-Magus only had time to use one of his magical rings. This one set up a green energy screen marked with a glowing rune. The "Shalidor mirror" stopped the energy discharge and sent some of it back to its source. Once again, Sakura blocked by forming a shield with her tentacles.
For once, in complete agreement with each other, Medusa and Archer moved away from the shadow of Dark Sakura, dodging the tentacles that struck all around them to slaughter an undead legion summoned by another Shinji's artifact. Archer let the Bridal Blades dissolve into prana's butterflies before manifesting his black bow again. His hands moved so fast that no ordinary human could follow their movements. He shot one arrow after another... The prana-made projectiles flew towards the ceiling before dividing and giving rise to a shower of arrows that targeted its enemy.
Agile and fast, Medusa Gorgon avoided all attacks as if it were just a game. Rushing towards Archer, she almost seemed to materialize before the former dog of Alaya, taking him by surprise...
The Rider of the Fifth Grail War tore off her mask with one hand and Emiya had only the reflex to avoid her Mystic Eyes so as not to be petrified.
Simultaneously, he invoked a circular bronze shield. This minor Noble Phantasm belonged to the legendary King Solomon and its surface adorned with a Star of David was as smooth as a mirror... In fact, this shield possessed the power of reflection, returning magic attacks to those who sent them.
Even Medusa was vulnerable to her own Mystic Eyes.
Saying an ill-sounding word, Rider hides her face with hand and recoils staggering.
Emiya took advantage of her momentary disorientation to summon a scimitar. The weapon was magnificent. Its golden knob had the appearance of a hawk's head whose eyes were rubies. The guard was shaped in the image of outstretched wings. The Damascus steel blade was marbled in black and blue. The name of this curved sword was written in Arabic:
الصقر
Al-Saqr (the falcon) was a possession of the Kurdish Sultan Saladin. This blade embodied the power to cut (1).
Skillfully, Archer cut the chains of Medusa's dagger, disarming her. Wounded in the chest, his opponent vacillated. Without giving her time to recover, the former Servant dissipated Solomon's shield and Trace the mask of Rider before Altering Breaker Gorgon to make it resume its original form. A simple bag...
As Archer untied the knot closing the bag, Rider howled with terror:
"Kibisis!" (2)
Shinji had his lungs on fire, his mouth dry and his temples buzzing from running. But he couldn't stop, even for a moment. Only his boots of speed had saved him from perishing... Wiping the sweat on his forehead with his cuff, he seized a parchment in a box and resumed his wild race... dodging three tentacles that hit the wall where he had stood.
Shinji Matou avoided Archer who had just fallen close to him, his big bow in his hand. Then, taking advantage of Rider's rebuttal of another tentacle attack, he stopped to read the scroll he had taken. Quickly reciting the incantation, he reached out to Sakura. As the ancient vellum fell to dust, a pentacle was formed on one of the walls. Chains made of bluish prana burst out, grabbed the young woman, and bound her arms spread in the middle of the pentacle.
A little surprised, Dark Sakura shook her head without showing any fear:
"An obstacle ..."
Then the red flames began to run over her skin, surrounding Sakura with an aura that became more and more radiant. A first chain broke... then a second... Shinji widened his eyes. His adoptive sister was soon to escape the trap he had managed to lure her into.
The Witch-King hesitated for a moment to resort to his most powerful artifact. The throne room was big... but not big enough for him to suffer no damage! However, when a third chain broke, and Sakura freed her right arm, he began to utter a litany of swearing.
One of his rings threw a fireball that grew... grew... getting hotter and brighter!
The magic projectile hit Sakura with violence, completely engulfing her in a prodigious blast...
Shinji used all his defense spells to protect himself as best he could. However, in the outburst of destructive energy, he heard the voice of his adoptive sister:
"Cursed Boundary Layer - Magical Energy Absorption!"
The fireball that swelled the moment before was absorbed in an impressive speed... before collapsing on itself!
Freed from the pentacle, Sakura smiled.
In her hands, she held a swirling black hole that absorbed the last remnants of the fireball...
Completely terrified, Shinji fell on all fours and began to drag himself on his hands and elbows, Looking for a hiding place in the rubble of his throne room... with crazy eyes... he wasn't even aware of the strangled sounds he was making... or even that he had just pissed himself!
Very pathetic, this "Witch-King"...
Archer frowned.
He had of course noted the terrifying transformation of Sakura. But, until then, Medusa occupied all his attention. However, seeing her advance towards Shinji who was crawling, Emiya realized that Rin's sweet sister had done more than change her hair color. He heard her laugh and speak to her adopted brother who was now leaning against the wall, unable to escape further:
"You look like a butterfly pinned by a collector, Nii-san... except that no one would keep someone as detestable as you under glass."
Shinji Matou tried to speak, probably to implore his adoptive sister to spare his life, but he trembled too much and produced only a strangled stutter.
An instant later, he screamed with terror as Dark Sakura's dress produced three tentacles that enveloped him. He was going to die...
Except that a stone axe almost as big as an adult man split the air and sliced the tentacles. The weapon of the giant Dzom (3) smashed a wall.
Screaming in pain as if the tentacles were a part of her body, Sakura turned around and looked with surprise at the hero Emiya. She did not seem to recognize him for a moment... as if she had completely forgotten his existence:
"Archer-san?"
The former Servant shook his head with a hand in his hair. He spoke in an exasperated voice:
"Can you tell me what you're doing?"
Dark Sakura seemed surprised again... she frowned... reflected then had a smile that failed to make Archer shudder:
"I kill Nii-san!"
Ignoring the mouse squeak of the "Witch-King", Archer shook his head a second time:
"I understood... but do you remember that I proposed it when I released you? And what did you say?"
Dark Sakura began to think even more intensely. Her mind was foggy and she couldn't remember... she came to stop Shinji... but she didn't want to kill him... did she?
Seeing Sakura's expression changed several times, oscillating between anger, indifference, incomprehension, and above all the expression of gentleness that was customary to him, Archer insisted:
"You asked me to spare him, Sakura."
"Ah?... yes... it's true..."
"And you also asked me not to kill Medusa."
"Medusa?"
For the first time, Sakura emerged from the torpor in which she had been plunged since her grotesque transformation:
"Medusa, where is Medusa?"
She looked into the ruined throne room without seeing a trace of her friend. Emiya smiles and defies the cord that closed the leather pocket that he held in his hand. A whirlpool of violet particles gave birth to Rider. The young woman collapsed to the ground. Her beautiful breasts rose convulsively, proof that she was alive, but she remained prostrate. Dark Sakura covered Archer with a gaze, infused by inhuman power and blazing with anger:
"What did you do to her?"
Archer showed his empty hands, in an exaggerated act of innocence:
"Me? Nothing... Kibisis plunged Rider into a succession of nightmares that made him relive the trauma of his past." Then he winked at Sakura. "It's not very easy to neutralize the famous Medusa Gorgon without hurting her, you know."
Archer was a charming rogue... Dark Sakura's anger abated. Emiya smiled:
"Sakura... your anger is not your anger. You draw your power from the corrupt Grail... your mind and soul are connected to All the World Evil. You are affected. The Sakura I know is sweet and kind. She never thinks of the harm she can do to others, but always of the good, she can do around her. Shinji is a disgusting sewer rat. Personally, I think Nirn would be much better without him... but you forced me to save him. I accepted and I have only one word. Gather your wits, your anger, the hatred you feel... it's not you. It's Angra Mainyu! The Sakura Shirou loves...
"Sempai!"
Archer nodded to the young woman's interruption, but continued:
"... is not a murderer. She is his sweet little sister, as she is a sweet little sister to Rin."
"One-san!"
"Yes, it is this Sakura we came to deliver. She is very dear to us, you know."
Dark Sakura trembled and buried her head in her hands. Her breasts rose furiously. She stayed a few moments like that, and then Archer approached carefully and took her in his arms. One moment, she struggled and then... as if we had tipped off a light switch, Sakura collapsed... she has fainted.
The black and red dress exploded into a million bright fragments.
The hero Shirou Emiya sighed. This time... He pressed Sakura a little harder, smiled as he saw that Medusa was standing up, and... with a gesture he surrounded by a circle of swords this earthworm of Shinji who was trying to flee to the door.
Yes, this time Archer had managed to save everyone. But if he had failed to save that cockroach, he would have been sad for a very long time... say, for ten seconds. But since Archer was brave, he would have recovered.
16 Midyear 3E 419, The Reach, Skyrim
The war that had broken out the previous year between Orsinium and High-Rock had largely overflowed this province. The Reachmen, some Bretons who remained very primitive, living in the east of Hight-Rock and as well as in the imperial province of Skyrim, had allied themselves with the Orcs under the aegis of the Witch-King Shinji Matou, a necromancer able to leave ghost fleets from the ocean floor, or to invoke the armies of the undead. The worshipers of the "ancient gods" the Hagravens and Briarhearths invaded The Reach in Skyrim assisted by legions of skeletons, draugrs, and zombies.
Nevertheless, the mysterious "Archer" a hero of the kingdom of Menevia had managed to break into the citadel of Kalysha and capture Shinji Matou. Imprisoned in Wayrest, the sorcerer waited for his judgment.
Shini's disappearance had wiped out the undead at once, leaving the Reachmen helpless and without a leader...
The Imperials who gathered an army of Nords around a core of Imperial Legion's veterans did not spoil the opportunity given to them to drive the rebels out of Skyrim. Under the command of General Cneius Agricola, the army of 20,000 men left Markarth to head for the mountain passes that made it possible to reach High-Rock by land.
After much hesitation, the Reachmen finally decided to stop the advance of the Imperial-Nordic army.
The meeting took place at the foot of the Druadach Mountains, along a road leading to the most eastern kingdom of Ephesus in the Breton region.
Agricola provided the center with the 8,000 Nords auxiliaries. These men were dressed in leather armor with light diamond-shaped leather shields. He placed his 3,000 horsemen on the flanks, while the imperial legionaries in steel armor remained in reserve in their camp.
The Reachmen army was estimated at more than 30,000 men. It was stationed mainly on higher ground; its first rows were on the flat ground, but the other rows were raised in steps, on the slope of the hill in the form of a horseshoe.
The Reachmen were dressed in furs and used weapons of wood and bones. However, many of them could use magic. They had a large cavalry and especially twenty war's mammoths.
As the imperial army approached the hill, the Briarhearths began to fire ice stalactites in the direction of the Nords auxiliaries. The archers shot arrows in return and the imperial warmages threw fireballs.
After a brief exchange of projectiles, Agricola ordered the auxiliaries (four cohorts of Haafingar lancers and two cohorts of swordsmen from the Reach) to launch a frontal attack against the enemy.
The shock was violent, but immediately the battle turned in favor of the Nords auxiliaries. Well-armed and organized like the regular imperial troops, the cohorts beat the Reachmen and trampled them on the lower slopes of the hill.
The cavalry and the mammoths of war tried to overtake the axillaries on both sides, but the archers and the warmages overwhelmed them with fire while the cavalry (Nordics in light armor but armed with long spears) hit them from the flank.
When the Reachmen were routed, they fled to the nearby woods. It was then that the greatest losses were recorded, pursued relentlessly by well-organized imperial infantry units.
The Imperial Legions did not even have to take part in the battle, being held in reserve throughout it.
10,000 Reachmen lost their lives to only 360 auxiliary soldiers. 20,000 Reachmen retreated into the woods, where they fared much better against the pursuers, the imperial scouts quickly losing track of the Crevassais. Accustomed to a war of skirmishes, they seemed to disappear as if by magic, retreating into ancient ruins and deep caves hidden in the meanders of the nearby valleys.
Two weeks later, General Cneius Agricola's army entered Wayrest.
As soon as news of the success of the expedition reached the Imperial City, Emperor Uriel Septim proclaimed the end of the war and the beginning of peace negotiations. Before the council of the Ancients, the emperor proclaimed: "It is time to reconcile Nors and Reachmen, Orcs and Bretons. These internal struggles within the Empire must stop. Peace and imperial order must apply throughout the Empire. It is time for the peoples constituting the Empire to recognize that they are all equal in law and duty."
The eyes of Uriel Septim stopped in particular on the Dark Elves ambassadors. The Dunmers still use slaves. Morrowind remained the last province of the Empire where such barbaric practices perpetuated.
(1) Legend has it that Saladin demonstrated his sword during negotiations with King Richard the Lionheart. He dropped a silk handkerchief on the blade of his cement and... the handkerchief fell to the ground cut in half! Legend? Exaggeration? No doubt, but the Noble Phantasms are the embodiment of such legends.
(2) I think most of you know, Breaker Gorgon is the name of the mask that hides Medusa's eyes and seals her petrifying gaze. You probably also know that it is this Noble Phantasm that allows Rider to enter the dreams of Shirou in the Heaven Feel's route. On the other hand, you may not know that Breaker Gorgon is actually (in another form) Kibisis: Bag of Barrier Inversion one of the four Noble Phantasm of Perseus (along with Herpe, Hades' invisibility helmet, and Hermes' winged sandals.) Basically, Kibisis' power is to imprison Medusa in an endless nightmare where she finds herself confronted with her worst terror... herself. Hence the legend that Perseus vanquished her by confronting her with her own petrifying gazes by means of a mirror. Note that Kibisis has a power that Breaker Gorgon does not, the original Noble Phantasm acquired this faculty because he contained the severed head of Medusa. When you open the true Kibisis, the one who looks inside is confronted with the Mystic Eye of the Gorgon. Kibisis: Bag of Barrier Inversion is the real Noble Phantasm of Perseus since it is thanks to this magic bag that he petrified the sea monster that was sent to devour Andromeda.
It is quite amusing to see that Medusa Rider uses a version of Kibisis while Medusa Lancer Alter is armed with Herpe... the weapons of Perseus. Normally a Servant's weapons are the ones he used in his lifetime... not the ones that were used to kill him.
(3) Dzom is the king of a tribe of cannibal giants in an African tale. This three-headed giant has a central head with two eyes, the others have only one. It also has six arms. His armor is made of elephant leather, his weapons are an ebony club and a stone axe. A mortal enemy of the pygmies since he was very sick of devouring an entire tribe, he exterminated them on sight.