Disclaimer: The works of Type-Moon and Jō Taketsuki are their own despite my most fervent wishes. This is a fan work and if anyone does pay me for it the only thing it will accomplish is to get me into trouble. This is being done purely for fun, constructive criticism is welcome, and flames will be ignored. Please be gentle though, this is the first fanfic I've put on the net.

Hello again. Here's my latest chapter and my longest one to date at more than 30,000 words, wow, I've read completed fics that are shorter. Believe it or not I originally intended this one to be about half the length it is now and be released about a week earlier. But as I wrote it I ran into some problems that slowed me down and also came up with several new plot points to add in, before I knew it I'd passed my original goal and wasn't more than half way done. Still I think that the finished product is much better than the shorty chapter I originally planned; I hope you all agree with me. Also given its size I think a three week period to write it is not too bad at all.

I'd like to offer special thanks to Capito Celcior who helped me get past a plot point that I was stuck on. His suggestions also gave rise to my Omake, so that's a double dose of thanks to him.

Now to answer a few comments and questions.

Some people have commented on how easily puppet Berserker killed the Divine Beast in the last chapter, in response to this I'd like to point out that there are two factors to consider. The first is that the impression that I got from the novels is that the giant apes that Sun Wukong sent out were more enforcers than high ranked servants, say C rank in Divinity when put in Nasuverse terms. That brings us to the second factor which is puppet Berserker's own rank in Divinity, which is B. As I understand it in the Campione! world Divinity acts as a sort of magic resistance in its own right, that's why even minor divinities such as subordinate gods and Divine Beasts are regarded as beyond mortal means for the most part.

The only way humans can take them on is by using or borrowing the power of divinity themselves, such as Ena's divine possession or the Spell words of David that Erica and Liliana use. However Illya's puppet possesses a level of Divinity only surpassed by true Gods or Campione, meaning that against it the Divine Beasts are on the losing end of the equation as far as I can tell.

Of course this doesn't mean that puppet Berserker is an automatic kill against them, it simply means he has an advantage until they smarten up and change their tactics.

I'd also like to thank the people who corrected my misconceptions of just what Rule Breaker was capable of. While I'm still not sure that it would have been able to free Hikari from the Monkey Kings possession since he was controlling her from the inside out I do acknowledge that my interpretation was much more limited than it should have been.

SPOILERS

The attack of the giant monkeys goes slightly differently in my story than in the novel. This is because Illya killed one of Sun Wukong's earlier creatures. As a result these ones are smaller than the fifteen metre tall ones in the original novel, but more numerous and more aggressive because the Monkey King plans for a force able to kill his Divine Beasts.

This chapter was also a chance for Manaka and Kaida to show off their own abilities in combat, I wanted to show that Godou doesn't have a monopoly on the girls that can kick ass.

Writing the scene between Annie and Illya was a bit of a challenge, but in the end I think I got it more or less how I wanted it. The novels are bit hazy on how Annie behaves in regards to the behaviour of her alter ego, so I've written her as being a bit disapproving of John Pluto Smith's taste for theatrics, but approving of his ability to meet the challenges that confront him.

I'm fully aware that I'm playing a little loosely with the rules of how Noble Phantasms are created in regards to my Ragnarok. The thing was that I felt the true sword would be a bit too much of an overkill, after all a weapon meant to reduce all the world to ashes would probably be on par with Ea, and would probably be beyond Shirou's ability to Trace. As a result I needed a method by which its level of existence could be lowered and made into something Shirou could wield. My apologies in advance if the story I cooked up doesn't meet with some people's expectations or standards.

Also about the 'hovering swords' thing. I'm honestly not sure if it's canon or not, but in the Unlimited Blade Works movie and in the Carnival Phantasm race both Shirou and Archer demonstrate this ability. I'm not too sure if it can be used in this way, but I'm choosing to think it can for the purposes of this story. I hope that doesn't rub too many people up the wrong way.

I've finally been able to give Shirou the opportunity to show off a little as well as at least partially avenge his earlier defeat by Sun Wukong. The real fun comes next chapter, which I hope I'll be able to get out a bit quicker. Anyway I hope that what I have written in this chapter meets general satisfaction.

Also this chapter sees my first Omake that I wrote on a whim at 2am in the morning while being kept up by the caffeine in the many bottles of coca cola I'd just drunk (I have a very low caffeine tolerance level). I hope people find it entertaining.

Many thanks to my Beta who pointed out a couple of mistakes I made in the plot and who also helped spot my grammar and punctuation errors.

[-]


God Slaying Blade Works: Chapter Eleven: The Four Kings Part 3

Illya followed after Godou and his group as they talked to the androgynous young woman that had been introduced to her as Sayanomiya Kaoru, the Committee Department Head for the general area. She joined up with them earlier this morning and had commandeered a small mini-bus to transport all nine of them back to the petrified shrine.

She listened with half an ear as the Department Head explained how their capacities had grown over time and then began to discuss the fate of some agent that had gone missing. It wasn't so much that she was uninterested; under other circumstances she'd have found the information to be intriguing to say the least. The problem was that right now she had other things on her mind.

Shirou wasn't back yet.

She knew that last night she'd spoken confidently of her certainty that he'd be alright, and in all truth she was still sure that he was alive and well. The thing was that she was becoming concerned that he hadn't freed himself yet. She'd honestly thought that by now he'd have come blasting his way out from the depths of the mountain using Excalibur or some similar Noble Phantasm.

It wasn't that she was losing faith in him; she was still completely convinced that his escape was a forgone conclusion; rather she was simply apprehensive as to what it was that was delaying him. her treacherous imagination was supplying her with a number of reasons ranging from the reasonable, such as the spells holding him being particularly well made, to the absurd, like Shirou and the female Campione engaging in some sort of whirlwind romance and were so busy getting hot and heavy they'd forgotten they had to get out.

"Hahahahaha! Being buried alive for merely half a day, how could that possibly kill Master! For someone like her, this kind of method would take three years to work!"

The derisive laugh brought her out of her thoughts as she saw that the young Chinese boy that had distracted one of the giant aped last night had rejoined the group. He seemed to be in fine health and none the worse for wear despite the fact that the last time she'd seen him he was being pursued by a golden ape taller than a three story building. He gravely greeted Godou in a traditional martial arts salute, holding his left fist in his right hand and he bowed his head.

"Lu Yinghua apologizes for his lateness. Kusanagi Godou-sama, the revered king worshiped by the masses, may your longevity rival the heavens, and your might bring peace and order to this world!"

Illya was honestly impressed, it might be absurdly over the top but she had to admit that the fellow had a way with words.

"Lu-kun... Please use a more normal choice of words."

"Sorry, due to Master's teaching, I have a habit of greeting all Campiones in a solemn manner. If I ever displease that person, I risk ending up on the verge of death."

Lu Yinghua's face twitched slightly as he said that, so sharply in fact that the white haired girl found herself wondering if he was being forced to deal with suppressed memories. Whatever the case he was continuing.

"Then I will obediently speak without reservation. By the way, Kusanagi-sama, please call me directly by name. Or, if your prefer, do as Master and use a nickname. I don't mind."

"OK, then I'll call you Yinghua."

"Excuse me Lu Yinghua-san, how long do you believe it will take your Master to escape on her own?"

The young martial artist and the seventh Campione glanced towards her as Illya took the opening to break into their conversation.

"That's . . . not an easy question to be sure of." The foreign teen admitted, "I'd say that the latest that she'll leave the prison is as long as it takes for her full strength to return. The problem is that I'm not sure how long that recovery will take. Even when battling with Heretic Gods Master has never had her Authorities severed and shattered as Kusanagi-sama managed to do.

"I doubt that it would be longer than a week, the recovery time of a Campione is legendary for a reason after all. Also Master has long ago surpassed mere mastery of her internal flows so that should increase her recovery as well. I imagine that it will only be a few more days until she frees herself."

Illya nodded at the martial artist's assessment.

"Of course that's simply assuming onii-chan doesn't simply blast his way out of there before then." She noted absently.

"He can do that?"

Godou's rather worried question brought her attention back to him. On his face was clearly written his worry at the thought of Shirou freeing himself in such a way.

"Sure, it wouldn't be easy but he could manage it," the young Einzbern replied with no small amount of pride in her voice at her adopted siblings strength, "I don't know why he hasn't yet. Maybe . . . maybe he doesn't know the mountains been abandoned. Yes, if he thought that bystanders might get caught in the blast that might be why he's not using it. But then what about . . ."

Her voice trailed off into an inaudible murmur as her eyes drifted from them and she largely forgot they were there.

Ignoring the by play taking place behind her Illya made her way over to where Kaida and Manaka were waiting. The two of them had served as excellent comrades in this crisis, in a way they reminded her of Sella and Leyritt. However unlike her fellow homunculi the former agents of the History Compilation Committee had plans and agendas that she wasn't entirely aware of.

"I think it would be best if we stayed with Godou and his group," she said to them, "By the looks of things that's where the majority of the action will be taking place and I want to be there when it does."

"Ah, Illya-sama, are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Kaida with a concerned look on her face.

"A Heretic God has appeared and that means it's the duty of the Campione to subdue it. Shirou can't because he's got himself stuck underground for the time being, so as his sister it's my duty to take up his responsibilities until he gets back." The snow haired girl declared as she gave herself a light thump on the chest.

"Illya-sama," Manaka said, her tone sterner than her friends, more forceful, "I freely agree that your . . . protector is a formidable force, as you clearly demonstrated last night. However a world of difference exists between fighting a Divine Beast and taking on a true God. I've sworn to serve your brother, and I would be a poor servant if I allowed you to engage on such a suicidal course."

Illya frowned as she looked at the warrior witch. Now that she was no longer dressed in her maid's uniform but was instead clad in a close fitting reddish brown suit that matched her hair it seemed that her attitude had slipped out of its earlier subservience into something a bit more . . . combatively professional?

Still, even though she raised a valid point the young Einzbern didn't like the insinuation that Manaka wouldn't allow her to take such action.

The air shimmered slightly behind her as she began to materialize Berserker with deliberate slowness. She didn't intend to pull her puppet out; all she wanted to do was to remind the brown haired girl of the fact that the adopted brother of her King was far from powerless without him.

"Really?" She asked a note of danger in her question.

Before Manaka could respond Kaida had stepped between them.

"No, no, none of that both of you. I might not be sure about too much in regards to Emiya-sama, but I do know that he wouldn't want us to fight."

A frown creased Illya's forehead, but she returned her servitor back to its spiritual state.

"Good," the Hime-Miko said, "We aren't enemies here; we're all on the same side. Now the question is: what are we going to do next?"

"We'll have to stay with Godou," their young charge declared, "Don't worry, I'm not going to do something like try to take a god on, however until Shirou and Luo Hao free themselves he's the only one who can stand up to the Monkey King. I'll act to keep him safe until he's recovered enough to face Sun Wukong."

"Recovered enough . . . ? Are you saying that he's not yet regained his full strength?"

Manaka's voice was concerned at the possibility that the only free Campione wasn't fully recovered yet. In response the young Einzbern blinked at her in surprise.

"Yes, he's healed up superficially just fine, but underneath he's still not recovered from the damage he took or the energy he expended. Right now he can't use any of his stronger Authorities without exacerbating those injuries. I say that we should lend him our strength until he's back in fighting form or until onii-chan frees himself."

Both the part time maids nodded at that and Illya let out a breath that she'd been subtly holding. She had no doubt that if it came down to it she could overpower the pair, even if their capabilities were largely unknown to her. However right now they were the closest allies she had available and she didn't relish the idea of alienating them simply because they took their duties seriously.

However further thoughts were cut off as an alarm bell went off inside the young Einzbern's head.

It was something that she'd been working on since just after her first encounter with Godou. She'd thought that it had been absurd that she could end up spending the lunch break with a Campione and not realize it, so she'd set out to do something about it. To that end she'd made it a habit to use a basic Prana detection spell at regular intervals while out. The spell was actually very simple, more of a training exercise than anything else. All it did was release a light pulse of her own Prana; if that pulse came into contact with another Prana source then it would simply bounce back to her, rather like a sonar ping. She could refine the pulse so that it would ignore the Prana signatures of people she already knew.

Under normal circumstances this spell was largely useless since there were more than a dozen ways that any half competent mage could hide themselves from it. Even non-humans had their own ways of concealing themselves from it. As a result it had little use as anything other than an exercise in control and refinement.

Except that in this world nobody knew the tricks to thwart it. Here she could use it as she wished without having to worry about anyone else even noticing. The thing about this world was that since it was so rich in user friendly magic the magi here hadn't developed the level of fine control that was the norm for her own home world. While they were far more advanced in handling larger amounts when it came to the small work they were hopeless. As a result they couldn't detect her tiny pulses.

What had caught her attention was the surprising strength of the pulses return. While not meant to be used to measure the strength of the Prana it had detected it was possible to get a vague impression from how 'hard' the return of the pulse was.

If the strength of the return that she'd just received was anything to go by then it meant that a major new player had just joined the game. Turning round she headed to rejoin Godou's group, since that seemed to be the place where the source of the 'ping' could be found.

When she arrived Godou was speaking to two new arrivals. One was a young man dressed in a suit that looked as though he'd been forced to roll about in the dirt and mud for several minutes. His black hair was long for a man and currently in a state of total disarray. Even the glasses he was wearing looked somewhat askew and dishevelled. She was getting a return from him with her spell, but the return was unremarkable, meaning that he was one of only average talent in the mystic arts.

The one that Illya really noticed was the Caucasian lady standing behind him. Her short hair was a brilliant shade of red, not the same shade as Shirou's but rather a more vivid crimson. Her elegant face was highly intellectual and had an extremely strong-willed look about it that didn't detract from her good looks. She was wearing a leather jacket with leather pants and was managing to carry off the look with the ease of one utterly confident in their appearance.

In short she was a completely flawless, cool and ethereal beauty, that was the initial impression that this woman gave.

"T-This is Miss Annie Charlton. S-She is the one who fortuitously saved me when I was unconscious and completely drenched. I-I owe my life to her, my saviour."

The dishevelled man's body trembled incessantly, and he kept wiping his nose as he introduced the one who had apparently brought him here.

The ethereal beauty greeted with impeccable Japanese.

"My name is Annie, pleased to meet you."

Illya's eyes narrowed slightly as she took the newly introduced woman in. There was something about her, some odd quality that the white haired girl couldn't quite put her finger on. It was quite clear that this Annie Charlton was strong in the ways of magic, possibly even stronger than Erica or Liliana. Definitely she was someone that should be kept an eye on, but there was something else.

The white haired girl listened in silence as they spoke about the young man, Amakasu Touma, and how he'd ended up in his current state. And then went on to explain the situation with the magic life in America. By the sounds of it the newly arrived woman was part of the law abiding faction. For the most part it wasn't anything of particular note, that was until something caught her ear.

". . . secrecy is not essential for this incident; let me begin by revealing my mission. I was sent here by Los Angeles' king to confirm Asherah's death. My mission ends once the witch is dead. However, I think it would be rude to leave without greeting everyone here at the site of this cataclysmic event, so let me assist you all."

"Los Angeles' king? Then you must be...?"

"John Pluto Smith's subordinate?"

Both Yuri and Liliana voiced the thought that was running through the young Einzbern's head. While she hadn't made quite as close a study of the other Campione as Shirou had she'd taken a bit of extra time to read up on the American King since his fanciful style and outrageous adventures appealed to her immensely. To meet somebody that was apparently one of his aids . . . well, she had plenty of questions to ask as soon as she had the chance.

"Please do not call me his subordinate, but refer to me as his collaborator instead. Though he does lord over Los Angeles like a king, the thought of building his own kingdom has never been his plan. That's the personal style of John Pluto Smith, please remember that."

"This is exactly why I was so intent on introducing her to Kusanagi-san. Perhaps this is an excellent opportunity to sign a friendship treaty between Japan and America."

As Kaoru mischievously made her request, Godou gave her a quick glance and so did Illya. She knew that the Committee had been in contact with the seventh Campione for longer than they had with her adopted brother. She also knew that Godou was far less involved with the secret world of magi and practioners than Shirou was. Could this be some sort of ploy to attempt to reduce Shirou's standing?

No, that didn't strike her as likely. Even if it worked out as she was thinking it wouldn't really accomplish much for the Committee, all they'd really succeed in doing would be to promote the reputation of the King that wanted to remain as uninvolved as possible and incite the potential wrath of the King that was more active in the mystic circles. Rather than a serious offer this was probably just some teasing to the mild mannered God Slayer.

"One must possess substantial magical power in order to pass through Okunikkou without being transformed into a monkey. I have already confirmed with her guarantors — the Three Sages of North America, that Annie Charlton is completely above suspicion and has no problems in ability either."

The Committee Department head advised the young Kusanagi before turning to speak to the foreign mage.

"Miss Charlton, this is the leader of our crisis team, Kusanagi Godou-san."

That was interesting; she'd deliberately omitted the fact that the young man she was introducing was one of the two Campione living in the country. The masculinely dressed young woman was providing him with the option as to whether or not to reveal his identity to the newcomer.

Godou didn't volunteer his status; rather he simply nodded gratefully in answer to the young American's earlier offer of aid.

"Anyway... Before we decide whether we accept Miss Annie or not, let me report the latest findings."

Sayanomiya Kaoru provided news from the scouting personnel at the scene. This was then followed by Lu Yinghua summarizing his eyewitness account of the three deities gathering on the peak of Nantaisan, as well as the disappearance of the Keeper of the Horses enchantment.

All in all the situation was starting to look fairly grim. Even though the area of effect seemed to be contained for the moment the fact remained that anyone who entered the domain of the Monkey King, without any magic of their own to protect them at least, would be immediately transformed into a monkey. The number of gods was growing as Sun Wukong called in his allies to aid him, meaning that even if they were only subordinate deities there were still two more gods to worry about. Lastly there was the failure of the Keeper of the Horses enchantment to take into account. Illya wasn't sure, but she was pretty certain that it had been the remnants of that spell that had restrained the Monkey King after he'd possessed Yuri's sister and that had allowed them to escape from him. If those last restraints were now gone then it meant that a very powerful Heretic God was now, quite literally, unleashed.

"Is that so? The situation truly is severe. In that case, we must hurry to the scene and try our hardest to resolve the incident. Godou, do you agree?"

Still it would seem that the latest addition to their group was undaunted by the rising odds against them. Illya was honestly impressed by the calm composure with which she held herself as well as the sincerity of her words.

She'd watch this woman for now; see what she could make of her.


-()-


Brynhildr walked through the passages of the underground complex that she and her allies used with a curt shortness to her steps that spoke of her irritation.

"What vexes thee my lady?"

The smooth and charming voice of her sworn champion spoke to her from the shadows as she entered one of the cavernous subterranean chambers that made up the base. She didn't jump in surprise, she'd managed to quickly adapt to the strange way in which her ally could hide from her senses. Now she simply assumed he was always around, even when she couldn't see him.

"My partner, that-that . . . oooohh!" a number of insults waited on her tongue to be released, but she held them in. The two of them had been allies for centuries, millennia even, and in all that time though they had disagreed neither of them had ever crossed certain lines. Neither of them had ever raised hand or power against the other in violence of treachery, and neither of them had ever cursed the other, even in private.

The golden haired Divine Ancestor knew that it was a strict system, but it had been through it that they'd been able to continue their work together for so long without trying to kill one another.

"Thy ally hath made a decision thou dost not agree with?"

"This is a perfect opportunity; the Campione that we seek is trapped by the Great Sage's arts. By the time he frees himself he'll be weakened by thirst, hunger and his efforts to liberate himself. That would be the perfect time to strike. If we all combined our powers it would be childs play to subdue him, once that's done we can bring him to our chambers and keep him unconscious with potions until our preparations are complete. It's a far safer approach than waiting until we are ready and then trying to subdue him when he might well be at full strength, she could see that!

"But now she's changed her mind! She's decided the risks are too great!"

Yes she could see the position that her red and blue haired partner was taking. Yes she could see the potential dangers to taking the young King captive too early. So many things could go wrong, the other Campione could organize to hunt for their missing peer, a god might come looking for him in order to indulge their battle lust, the local organizations might begin to make their own inconvenient investigations, so many things.

And of course there was the simple danger of keeping a Campione so close to them and keeping him sedated. She freely admitted it was about as safe as juggling sticks of dynamite along with burning torches given the way God Slayers tended to play merry havoc with chance and destiny simply by existing.

But despite those dangers she was sure they could pull it off. They had their own formidable powers as well as Athena and Sir Mordred to call on; surely such a combination would be enough to keep one of Pandora's adopted children contained if they were careful.

If they could do it then the rewards would allow their plans to advance far more swiftly and smoothly. Wasn't that worth the risk?

"Perhaps twould be well if thou took action despite thy ally's objections," suggested that calm and smooth voice of her champion, "Tis easier to ask forgiveness than permission after all, and once thou presents her with the fruits of thy decision then twill be proof that thy belief was the correct path to take."

That made sense she had to admit, if she went through with her plan then the acquisition of the King that they needed in order for the ritual they had planned out to work would more than make up for her unilateral action. Besides it wasn't as though she was her partner's subordinate, they were equals in this enterprise. Granted Brynhildr often deferred to the other Divine Ancestor in respect for her greater age and power, but that didn't mean she was the servant in their relationship.

Yes, why should she simply meekly accept the elder Divine Ancestor's arbitrary decisions? She had an equal stake in their plans, so if she saw an opportunity it was well within her rights to claim it.

"Sir Mordred, accompany me please. There's work to be done."

Though she didn't see it, as her back was turned to the black knight as she walked away, the red glow of his eyes within his helm seemed to grow somewhat brighter for an instant, before fading back to its former intensity.


-()-


Manaka felt a snarl of irritation begin to form on her lips, a sign of her growing frustration, but forced it away as she struggled to maintain her composure.

This was of course hampered by the fact that right now she was the only thing standing between her sworn Hime and a ten metre tall Divine Beast.

Things had been going fairly well since that morning. Illya-sama had listened to reason and seemed to be staying near to Kusanagi-sama rather than going off on her own and the group had become stronger with the addition of the newcomer Annie Charlton.

The American Mage was clearly someone of considerable skill and power, the warrior witch could read in her body language and in her Aura Sign. That took the form of a shining silver suit of armour that hovered behind the young woman. It spoke to her of resolve, determination and competence, however it also told her of loneliness, of frustration and a certain level of dissatisfaction with herself.

Still despite these flaws Manaka was sure that the red haired American would make a useful addition to their group, if nothing else she was the only one among them who could legally drive the minibus that they'd procured and were all planning to ride.

She'd have been a bit happier if the young Chinese martial artist had accompanied them, for all his somewhat grating personality his skills were top notch and would have been a valuable asset. Unfortunately he'd elected to stay behind instead due to his need to put on a show of having attempted to save his Master. In a way it was almost comical, however Manaka didn't feel like laughing.

Despite that little hiccup things had gone well for their infiltration into the Monkey King's territory.

That is right up until they were ambushed by three gorilla like apes the size of houses.

Each of them was smaller than the one that Illya-sama had slaughtered the night before, however despite their smaller size they were more aggressive than the ones they'd run into before. The trio had immediately spread out around the stopped minibus and begun to make threatening motions.

The white haired sister to the eighth Campione had immediately summoned her goliath protector and sent him charging at the nearest of the apes. Both Erica-san and Liliana-san had turned their weapons upon the second while Kusanagi Godou had faced the third. At first it seemed as though there wouldn't be a problem, Illya's servant had shown it was more than a match for one of these beasts while a Campione would certainly have no trouble with vanquishing one. All the two mage knights needed to do was hold off the third until either their mistress or the King finished off their own target.

Unfortunately things went wrong almost immediately. Kusanagi-sama had summoned up a huge black furred boar that had thundered towards the comparatively smaller Divine Beast with the clear intention of trampling it into the ground. However two things had happened that had led to her current situation, firstly the ape had demonstrated surprising agility and had dodged the boar in rather the same way that a matador might avoid a bull. Having missed its target the Boar had gone charging on, a prisoner of its own momentum, and had disappeared down the mountain side amidst a thunderous cracking of trees, branches and rocks.

The second, and by far direr, problem was that as soon as he'd summoned the beast the Devil King had collapsed to the ground as though his legs had lost all their strength.

Manaka had been internally cursing as she'd remembered Illya-sama's earlier words about how the King was far from completely healed. Kaida-sama and Mariya-san had rushed to the fallen teen's side, but that had only left the adopted Kuhoutsuka maiden to act in their defence as the colossal ape advanced upon them.

Which was what had led to her current predicament. Biting back a few choice curses Manaka snapped out her battle wands and leapt into action.

She knew that she had no chance of victory; she knew there was no way that she could defeat a Divine Beast in battle. Certainly it was theoretically possible for a mortal spell caster to defeat one, if they were correctly armed, fully prepared and in possession of the necessary spells. Both of the foreign mage knights that fawned over the Seventh Campione fell into this category, and should they work well together they might well be able to bring down the huge gorilla beast that they faced.

Unfortunately unlike them the warrior witch didn't possess a powerful mystic weapon such as Cuore di Leone or Il Maestro, her battle wands were little more than home made aids, skilfully crafted to be certain, but nowhere near the calibre needed to face even a fragment of a divinity. To make matters even worse she didn't know any spells that would be of high enough rank to harm the Divine Beast. All her training had been aimed at fighting human mages, so rather than raw power she'd always focused on speed in both her movements and her casting. Rather than a single spell she preferred to blitz her targets with multiple weaker spells that would confuse and disorient while she moved in to take them down.

Quite simply put, she was up against the worst possible foe she could be facing, short of a Campione or a Heretic God of course.

Still she didn't hesitate for even an instant. Manaka was regarded as one of the best bodyguards and combat agents among the entire History Compilation Committee for a reason. In addition to her raw magical talent and gift for reading people the thing that made her so dangerous was her adaptability. While she might not have studied any spells of high level destruction she had familiarized herself with a large number of midlevel spells from a wide range of fields. In the end the young bodyguard had cooked up her own style based upon speed, adaptability and an uncanny knack for finding her enemies' weak points.

Consequently even though she couldn't match the two foreign mages, she knew she couldn't be called helpless by any stretch of the imagination.

Even as the huge ape charged towards its stricken prey the dark brown haired girl stepped forward, her battle wands swinging as she cast four spells so fast that it appeared as though she had fired them all simultaneously. However despite their seemingly being cast at the same time they formed a sequence since some moved faster than the others.

The first spell was a generic thunderbolt, not much more than a small crackling bullet of electricity. It impacted upon the monkey's face without even making it flinch. That was completely expected and part of her plan, the first spell had been a feint, merely a means to make the Divine Beast think it was facing nothing but ineffectual spells.

The ploy worked because the great ape ignored the following spells, clearly expecting them to be equally inconsequential. However before it even struck the second spell exploded with a flash brighter even than a midday sun's glare. As the beast shied back in pain and clamped its hands over its eyes the last two spells split and curved around to impact upon its ears.

Both the spells went off on impact, releasing a roaring boom like a pair of bombs going off right next to the ape's ear drums. A creature of divine origin it may have been, but even so it was a creature of flesh while they existed in this world, and no such being could endure such an assault unaffected.

With a scream of pain the blinded ape clapped both its hands over its ears and went stumbling backwards as the shock of the sensory attacks left it disoriented. That had been the opening that Manaka had been waiting for, the beast's balance was broken and its footing unsteady. A fifth spell impacted upon the ground at the ape's feet causing it to ripple and buck in a manner more in keeping with the waters of a choppy sea than stone and dirt.

The result was rather satisfyingly ironic. The screeching beast lost its balance completely and ended up falling off the mountainside and rolling down the same path that had been made by the Boar's earlier charge.

"You . . . you just defeated a Divine Beast." Kaida-sama's awed voice sounded from behind her.

"Nothing so dramatic Kaida-sama," Manaka corrected as she continued to keep an eye out for potential threats, "I only drove it away briefly, and I was only able to achieve that because the beast was operating alone and without its master's supervision. We're extremely fortunate those apes aren't very bright."

Further words were cut off as a fourth great monkey made its appearance in the road behind them.

Great, just great. The young witch glanced sideways to see how the others were doing. Erica-san and Liliana-san seemed to have the monkey that they were facing more or less stalemated, it couldn't advance upon them, but neither could they drive it away any time soon. To the other side Illya-sama and her servant seemed to be doing better against the other giant ape, but the huge animal was surprisingly agile and seemed to be managing to stay out of reach to the black maned giant despite his best efforts.

Damn, that just left her to handle the newcomer until either of the other apes was driven off. Charlton-san had already shown that her own attack spells weren't of much use against one of these beasts, and Mariya-san had no real combat ability to speak of.

Kaida-sama could technically use her Dragon's Roar to send any of these monsters flying if they attacked her, however if she did so then all the rest of them would be caught in the blast of her power as well. If she were to completely cut loose then most likely the only one of them that would still be sucking air by the end of it would be the Campione.

The problem was that she had another of the Divine Beasts behind her as well, and by this point it'd probably recovered from her trick and would soon be making its way back up the mountainside, and when it got here it wasn't going to be happy.

"The many-fenced place of Izumo / Of the many clouds rising — To dwell there with my spouse / Do I build a many-fenced palace: Ah, that many-fenced palace! Seishuuin Ena has arrived!"

As she heard the words being spoken Manaka watched in happy surprise as a girl with long black hair wearing a school's uniform leap out of the mass of reddening leaves and took up a guard position between the ape and its intended target.

The huge monkey growled menacingly and reached for her, but its limbs were driven back as a tornado sprang up around the girl, forcing it to step back.

Even as the witch warrior turned back to watch for the blinded monkey's return she felt a certain sureness grow within her. Ena was one of the few people in the Committee that Manaka respected. Granted the adopted Kuhoutsuka had only met the Seishuuin maiden once, but that had been more than enough to leave a lasting impression.

The user of Divine Possession was a refreshingly uncomplicated person. Her Aura Sign was some unidentifiable animal's pelt that had been worked into a shield and was made out of thousands of hair fine sword blades. It had spoken to her of confidence, of surety and of a blind uncaring of the normal restraints of conventional life. Ena wasn't someone that hid things about herself, nor was she someone who had any ulterior motives. If her instincts told her to do something then she followed them, if she thought something was a good idea then she did it, if she thought something was so then she said it. Quite frankly if she hadn't sworn herself to Kaida-sama then the young witch warrior might have tried to get Ena to accept her into her service.

Well whatever the case, it meant she didn't have to worry about that ape for the moment. Ena's ability to channel Divine power from her guardian deity, Susanoo, made her arguably the strongest combatant that the Committee had access to.

Further thoughts were cut off as the ape that she'd previously sent tumbling pulled itself back up onto the road. Its eyes were still squinting and looked more than a bit bloodshot, but otherwise it seemed to be unhurt and was glaring at her with clear hatred.

Manaka released another half dozen spells, but this time the beast was ready for them. Rather than allowing them to strike it, the huge monkey like gorilla leapt into the air with surprising agility, and completely dodged the salvo of spheres of light coming at it. Unfortunately for it though the adopted Kuhoutsuka had again anticipated its actions and planned accordingly. With it now in the air it had no way of controlling where it would land, it was a prisoner of its momentum and gravity.

Both her battle wands flared with light and four yellow bolts of energy shot out to strike the ground where the ape would land. Where they hit the sand, dirt and gravel became the thick oozing murk of a quicksand bog. With a howl of fear and anger the goliath simian splashed into the thick mess and immediately sank up to its armpits.

Its frantic thrashing was cut off as the huge grey and black form of Illya-sama's servant loomed up behind it and brought its colossal stone sword down on the Divine Beast's head with such force that the ape's skull was split in two.

Manaka couldn't help but shudder at the sight. Her young mistress wasn't a bad person by any stretch of the imagination. Her general personality was cheerful, polite and a little bit spoilt, all in all what one could expect from a young girl brought up in a wealthy but strict family.

However the fighter witch had read her Aura Sign and she knew that beneath the girl's pleasant exterior was someone that could be very dangerous. She'd spoken with the members of the Circle of the Chosen that had become her servants, so she'd heard about the almost casual way in which she had killed the last leader of the cult. She'd had her servant crush his head into pulp and hadn't even flinched.

As sweet and polite as she might act Manaka knew that her mistress was a killer, in some ways an even more dangerous being than her brother despite all the power he wielded.

Not that the power the white haired girl possessed wasn't terrifying. That thing, that servant, was utterly outside the former Committee agent's frame of experience. In the past she'd seen mages that would create familiars and servitors, things like golems or animated statues, but Illya-sama's creation was simply so far above what she had seen in the past that it was frightening. It was almost as though she had somehow forced a powerful Divine Beast into a human like form and bound it to her will.

The thought was almost absurd; no human could possibly control such a force without possessing an Authority of the gods. But now, looking on as the body of the ape faded and blood dripped off the impossible sword-thing that the grey skinned giant held easily one handed, it was hard to hold on to that certainty.

"ROOOAAR!"

"MANAKA, COME ON!"

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of another of the beasts screaming in pain and by the shouted words of Kaida-sama.

Spinning round she saw that the ape that Illya-sama had been fighting was gone, probably dead since her servitor had moved to finish her own foe off, the other beast that Ena-sama had been facing was backing off while holding its face over one eye, and the last of the Divine Beasts was being held off by the arrows from Liliana-san's bow. Right now Erica-san was helping Kaida-sama to lug the limp form of the seventh Campione into the minivan while Mariya-san fretted over them.

Needing no further prompting the warrior witch stashed her battle wands back into her sleeves and piled into the vehicle after the incapacitated form of the King. She was quickly followed by Liliana-san and then finally Ena-sama.

"Annie-san, please hurry up and go!"

As soon as everyone was in Yuri hurriedly cried out her instructions to the vehicle's driver.

The American mage wasted no time and stepped hard on the accelerator, causing the minivan to shoot forward with surprising speed, leaving the giant apes behind.

Panting with the exertion of having cast so many spells so fast back to back Manaka couldn't help but realize that as intense as the brief skirmish had been it had actually lasted for only just over a single minute. Shaking such thoughts from her head she leaned back in her seat and listened to the voices of her companions in this little adventure.

"Your Majesty, are you ok! Luckily Ena felt like it was about time for you to arrive, so I have been guarding this side of the mountain pass."

"Could it be . . . No, for sure he must be the King. In other words, one known as a Campione! Are you one of his team members?"

"Team member? No, that's not the kind of relationship Ena has with him. Ena is His Majesty's woman. Well, I haven't been officially recognized yet, so maybe something like an underground lover? But I'm not the only one; almost everyone here is his majesty's woman."

"U-Underground lover!? Almost everyone here is his woman!? N-Now that it is mentioned, I have heard that Japan's King is a terrible young sexual predator — I-I now understand."

"Ena-sama, please don't give Charlton-san the wrong impression," Kaida-sama spoke up in scandalized indignation; "Myself and Manaka are sworn servants to the other Japanese king, Emiya Shirou-sama. We are here to aid since our lord is temporarily sealed away due to the magicks of the Monkey King; our relationship to Kusanagi Godou-sama is purely professional."

"That's right," agreed Illya-sama, "We're not part of Godou-san's harem. If he tries to add me to it then I'd be happy to introduce him to Berserker in a much more personal way."

As the conversation continued the adopted member of the Kuhoutsuka family noted that Kusanagi-sama was moaning slightly, as though trying to protest against the comments being made about him. Those moans soon ceased though as the God Slayer lapsed into full unconsciousness.

Relaxing in her seat Manaka wondered what the next move of this motley group would be.


-()-


Shirou looked down at the huge gemstone in his hands; it was the width and length of a small tea tray and more than a foot thick. It was composed of an amalgamation of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, and possessed a monetary value that would probably cause any professional jeweller in the world to suffer a stroke.

With a flick of his will he made it disappear back into the Underworld, then with another exertion of his will it was back, this time next to another identical such jewel block.

Still not good enough, he was getting there, but he still didn't have it quite right.

"What are you doing there King Emiya? Nothing as lacklustre as merely enjoying your riches I hope."

The musical voice of the female Campione drew his attention away from the gemstone blocks and back to her.

"Not at all," the eighth Campione replied, "These actually are part of my plan to escape, though I haven't got the specifics down to my satisfaction yet."

The Chinese King dismounted from the boulder upon which she had been sitting in the lotus posture, and walked over towards him.

"That is an interesting Authority you possess, the ability to materialize gemstones as you see fit?" Her tone was light and her body language that of one who was only mildly curious, so Shirou saw no problem with answering her question, after all with her earlier tale of how she had become a Campione she had fearlessly revealed both the origin and nature of one of her Authorities, it seemed only fair that he allow some knowledge of his own abilities in return. Besides, even though it was immensely useful, Ruler of the Underworld was the Authority with the least direct combat application that he possessed.

"Rule of the Underworld allows me to access the resources of Hades' domain, namely the riches of the earth and the souls of the departed."

Luo Hao blinked briefly before leaning back against one of the cave's walls and adopting a contemplative expression.

"A most useful ability, though I imagine that some shallow and dull individuals would use it to satiate their greed for wealth. As for myself, I would dearly love to be able to resurrect the great martial artists of the past rather than drown in avarice. Imagine, being able to test one's skills against the likes of Yue Fei or Ng Mui, to see how my own martial prowess compares to the legends of the past."

Shirou was slightly amused to note that by the time she'd finished explaining her thoughts her face had gained the covetous look of a child that had just seen a toy in a shop window that she really really wanted. It could have looked disturbing, but instead it was somehow adorable.

"Sadly I'm not so free in regards to which souls I can pull from the underworld into my service," the red haired teen admitted, "In order for me to make the summon I must have a physical object connected to the one I'm calling. If you wish to face the likes of Yue Fei I would need something of his, like some part of a favoured weapon or even one of his bones."

"Ah, such a limitation would make sense," commented the Ruler of the Martial Realm, "Such Authorities that deal with the resurrection of the dead do have some form of limit or condition upon them."

"Oh?" Asked Shirou, curious in spite of himself, "Have you seen many such Authorities before?"

"Well one is that fellow from Hungary, Voban I think. I've only encountered him a few times and never fought him, but his Cage of Dead Servants allows him to call back any mortal whom he has slain as his undead slave. There was also a Campione in Mongolia nearly a century ago; she possessed an Authority that allowed her to resurrect any dead member of her followers as a hungry ghost. She was an interesting King, but she was slain by an old Sumerian deity."

It was strange to hear her speak so casually of the time a century ago. Had he simply met her on the street then he'd have guessed her to be no older that twenty. Of course if he'd met her on the street then he'd have immediately activated all the Authorities he could and got ready to Trace as many high level Noble Phantasms as he could manage. She might be beautiful and she might have an innocent air to her, but Luo Cuilian radiated greatness, for want of a better word, in such a way that one could no more mistake her for a normal person than one could a Servant in full battle gear.

As his thoughts ran through his head he noticed that the martial artist had turned to face the wall of the cave and was running a hand across its surface. She seemed to follow some invisible path up the wall and out to a spot on the ceiling near one of the rounded corners of the cave.

"Ah!" she exclaimed in apparent triumph, "Yes, this should do."

"Have you found something?" Asked Shirou as he stood up and walked over to get a better look at where she was staring. However once he got there he couldn't see anything, just normal uncracked stone.

"There's a weakness here, a tiny flaw in the work of the Great Sage's crafting. It isn't large, but with my own mastery of the Daoist Arts I should be able to pass myself through it."

"I suppose that means that you're the victor of our race then," commented Shirou, "I think it'll be at least another day until I can affect my own freedom. I suppose by then the situation will be fully resolved. A pity, I was hoping to face the Monkey King once more and this time give a better accounting of myself."

Luo Hao turned a slightly puzzled look to him upon hearing that.

"Hardly King Emiya. Our contest is still in full swing, I have merely found a weakness that I will escape through to go and have some words with King Kusanagi. Once that has been accomplished I shall return."

Shirou could only blink at that.

"You're . . . going to leave . . . and then come back? Why?"

In the face of his confusion the Chinese Campione favoured him with look that reminded him of an older child watching a younger child try to play with a complicated toy and not managing to get how it worked.

"I am the Ruler of the Martial Realm King Emiya, and as such I must comport myself accordingly. If I am challenged I must crush my foe, if I am defied I must teach those so foolish the error of their ways. None but a god or one of my fellow Kings may stand before me and hope to suffer any fate other than total decimation. It is therefore my policy that if I am imprisoned then I shall smash that prison completely as soon as I achieve my liberation from the humiliation of imprisonment, and walk out the front gates openly. Luo Cuilian shall not escape from a prison like a rat, that would be completely unacceptable. I shall march out from the ruins of my confines and leave nothing but a broken shell behind me. Such is my way."

Unbelievable, once again he was faced with the bizarre combination of overwhelming ego and totally pure innocence. For a brief moment Shirou idly wondered if with training Luo Hao could learn to use her somewhat twisted viewpoint to create a Reality Marble, and if so then what kind of world it would create.

On second thoughts he probably didn't want to know, most likely it would involve her towering above all others in some sort of throne or something of the like.

"So what is it that you wanted to do before you return here?" Shirou asked as he tried to get his mind off the rather disturbing subject it was currently stuck on.

"It's my intention to meet with King Kusanagi once more and learn how he has fared in the current crisis in my absence. Depending upon his answers and actions I may take any of a number of paths."

The young Emiya's thoughts were racing at this point. Briefly he considered trying to convince the elder God Slayer to stay out of the prison and to lend her aid to Kusanagi, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He highly doubted he'd be able to talk her into it, no matter how eloquent he might manage to be.

No, there was probably no chance of changing her mind, so the smartest thing to do would probably be to try to take advantage of this rather than fighting it.

"If you'll be meeting with Kusanagi can I ask a small favour?" As he asked the question he Traced a small pad of paper and a pen. Really, without Gaea to interfere with its use his materialization magic was almost absurdly useful for little things like this.

"Oh? In what manner could this Luo Cuilian be of aid to you King Emiya?"

"If I'm right then my sister is almost certainly staying close to Kusanagi, could I give you a note and could you ask him to pass it on to her? Just a small something to reassure her of my wellbeing and of my plans to get out of here."

As he spoke Shirou was writing out a few quick lines on the paper, it wasn't anything particularly fancy or eloquent, just a brief message intended to sooth any worries Illya might have.

"Very well King Emiya," the martial artist agreed, using a tone suited to a King receiving a petition from some subordinate lord. "I shall carry this message to our fellow King and ask him to pass it on to your sister."

"Then I thank you for this favour sempai." Shirou replied, aware of how making this request placed him in a semi-subservient position to the older Campione, but not really caring about it too much. He was confident enough in his skills and power that he felt he wasn't a light enough obstacle that Luo Hao could simply brush him aside. If she wished to presume that doing him this service meant he was weaker than her then let her. If she chose to move upon that perceived weakness he was sure he could provide a show of sufficient strength that she'd reconsider.

Ripping the note from the pad he allowed the rest of the notebook and the pen to dissolve into Prana leaving only the page he held. That he folded over and handed to his cellmate. She arched an eyebrow ever so slightly at his casual display of power, but said nothing as she slipped the note into the folds of her garb.

"So, how do you intend to get out of here? Has one of your Authorities recovered enough to manage it?"

"As of yet my Authorities that would be of use have yet to fully recover. I must compliment King Kusanagi upon his strength; the only time that my Authorities have suffered similar damage was when I faced a Campione thrice time my age a hundred years ago."

With an arrogant toss of her head she turned her gaze back upon the spot on the ceiling.

"However I have already recovered much of my Qi, sufficient that I may once more make use of my own Daoist Arts."

As she finished speaking she began to sing some words under her breath. For a brief moment Shirou considered reinforcing his hearing in order to catch what it was she was saying, but before he could white smoke started to billow up around her. Before long the smoke had obscured his view of the Chinese woman completely. As he watched the smoke moved with a will of its own and seemed to stream into an almost invisible crack in the ceiling. When all the smoke had faded from view there was no sign that there had ever been another person in the cave.

"Impressive." He murmured to himself as he once more turned back to his work.

To think that such a feat had been achieved not by any Authority, but rather by personal skill and magic. Had anyone back home been able to accomplish something like that, to convert themselves into another state of matter while retaining full mental cohesion, they'd most likely have been slapped with a Sealing Designation and immediately dissected for research.

Well, more like they'd try. For a brief moment he entertained himself with the thought of what might take place if the Clock Tower really did try to capture Luo Hao as a research subject. On second thoughts his imaginings were probably a good deal more comedic than the actual results would be. If that organization did try to take the Campione captive there'd most likely be a great deal more blood involved than what he was thinking of.

Well, no more time to spent thinking about that. Focusing his will he called up another two blocks of gemstones.


-()-


"Is he always like that?"

Illya glanced up and saw that Annie-san had joined her on one of the hotel's balconies that overlooked the street.

The group had arrived here several hours ago, the minivan having screeched to a halt in front of one of the hotels that made up this resort overlooking Lake Chuuzenji. Originally the young Einzbern had been ready for another fight when she'd seen that all the citizens in the small town had apparently shared the same fate as those at the Saitenguu. However unlike the monkeys that they'd encountered earlier these ones instead seemed to simply ignore the humans that had stumbled into their midst.

Once it had been determined that they didn't need to worry about an immediate attack the main focus had shifted to treating Godou-san's wounds.

That had lead to a rather interesting little drama as the members of his harem had contested with each other as to who would apply the healing magic to him by mouth to mouth transfer. Honestly, couldn't they just be a bit more honest about it? They'd gotten into an arguement over who would get to kiss the boy while he was unconscious.

That particular piece of entertainment had ended when Ena-san had spotted an opening and seized upon it to quite enthusiastically apply the healing magic to her King. Indeed Illya had been quite impressed with the . . . vigour with which she had taken to the task.

After that the four girls had decided that a nice long soak in the open air hot spring would be good for him after Ena mentioned something about hot water therapy. Once the idea had set in both Erica-san and Ena-san had become quite determined to follow through on it. The end result had been that despite the protests of both Yuri-san and Liliana-san the young Campione had been stripped of his clothes and carried naked, save for a towel, into the hot spring by the warrior Hime-Miko. She'd offered to allow her fellow Hime-Miko to join her, which she had claiming that she wanted to ensure that Ena-san didn't go too far. Erica-san had managed to wrangle her way into the growing mess and Liliana-san had followed Yuri's lead and claimed to be going in to make sure things didn't go too far.

Illya had enjoyed the show and had considered throwing her own lot in just to see how much more chaos she could generate, but in the end had decided against it. Instead she'd remained out of the baths and had tried to engage Annie Charlton in conversation.

Unfortunately it seemed that the young American wasn't quite able to take the situation that had so swiftly developed. With a blush on her face so deep one would think the rest of her body would be in danger of blood deprivation she'd run out of the hotel saying that she was going to investigate the town. The young Einzbern had reinforced her hearing though and had caught her muttering such words to herself as 'inappropriate', 'orgiastic gathering' and 'licentious behaviour'. Had this been an anime Illya was sure there'd have been a humorous cloud of steam collecting above her head.

The young homunculus had sat herself down in the waiting room outside the hot springs and read a book while waiting for the inevitable fireworks. Sure enough shortly after the girls had carried the unconscious form of the Campione into the baths Godou-san had come running out even as he finished tugging on his short sleeved shirt. She'd taken the time to wave to him as he ran off before turning back to her book.

The real pay off had been when the four girls had emerged from the baths.

"I take it things didn't go quite as planned?"

Her question had been light hearted, but at the query both Yuri-san and Liliana-san had flushed deeply and adopted expressions of embarrassed mortification.

The other two, on the other hand, looked more disappointed than shamed.

"It's strange, Ena was sure that this would work. But it seems that his majesty is more bashful than I had expected. Ah well, no matter, I won't let this deter me."

"Ena-san that is not what could be regarded as civilized behaviour." The silver haired mage knight of the Bronze-Black Cross abolished her.

"Oh? And yet you did choose to join in Lily, tell me did you enjoy the chance to see Godou in such a state?"

"T-That wasn't my intention, I-I merely entered to supervise that suspicious folk remedy."

Illya had listened to them bicker as they moved away, but had elected not to follow them. Part of the fun of watching this rom-com unfold in front of her was that more often than not Godou's harem forgot she was there when they slipped into their little arguments. She didn't want to risk that by pushing her presence onto them to the point where they started to notice.

Still it was almost farcical, she'd killed not one but three Divine Beasts in their presence, and yet when it came to the object of their mutual desire they'd all but forget about her. Where was the sense in that? Sure if she made any sort of aggressive move they'd probably pay attention to her quickly enough, but otherwise . . . well it seemed that her youthful appearance had some drawbacks she'd not encountered before.

A short time ago Godou-san had returned to the hotel accompanied by Annie-san. The young Einzbern had continued to read her book while sitting in the main reception of the resort hotel and as such had been there to greet him. The seventh Devil King had seemed somewhat irritated about something, but had kept it under control and said he was going back to the baths to try to unwind.

Illya had relocated herself to this balcony to finish her reading while enjoying the view, which brought her back to the question that Annie-san had just asked her.

"Kusanagi-san?"

"Yes. I can't seem to get a clear bead on his personality. At first I though he was some sort of licentious hedonist, but after speaking with him today he seems to have his head on straight, at least in regards to the current crisis."

The white haired girl paused for a second as she considered her answer.

"If you look at it from the perspective of a manga," she began, "Then the best way to describe Godou's circumstances would be to say that he is unintentionally building himself a harem."

"A . . . harem?" The red haired American sounded understandably dubious at her description of the situation.

"Yes, Godou-san tends to attract almost all the girls that he has regular contact with. He's already collected two foreign beauties, one serious and the other passionate, a warm hearted tsundere and sexy genki tomboy. Actually I'm not too sure about the last one, but then I haven't had too much time to observe Ena-san. I think I also heard something about him having a foreign mistress who's a bit older, if that's the case then he's also got a sexy onee-chan as well.

"The point is that even though he's got all these girls who are so interested in him he didn't actually go looking for any of them, they sort of came to him on their own."

"So . . ." said Annie-san, her voice slightly far off, "He's building himself a collection of all the women that strike his fancy? How . . . shameless."

"Err, I did say that he didn't mean to do it, you know?"

"I'm sure that that's what you think, but I simply cannot believe that so many women would pursue one man in such a manner without there being some sort of effort on his part. Also if that were the case then how do you explain their most inappropriate behaviour in the baths earlier?"

For a moment Illya considered defending the seventh Campione from the apparently somewhat uncharitable impression that the American mage had developed of him. However it seemed that Annie-san had firmly entrenched the idea that 'Kusanagi Godou = Enemy to all women' in her head. She supposed that if she tried she might be able to change her mind, but a small and slightly malicious part of her persuaded her not to try.

After all, leaving that impression intact would certainly provide an interesting plot twist to the little drama that was developing in front of her.

Instead she elected to change the subject.

"So what can you tell me about the Campione you work with? Onii-chan is quite impressed with how he operates. I think Shirou might even be a bit jealous that he didn't think about creating his own secret identity until it was too late."

"John Pluto Smith is . . . difficult to sum up. He's the kind of man that thinks as long as things end well then it doesn't matter how he does them. It doesn't matter if he shows up late, if he acts outrageously, if buildings or property are destroyed. As long as he succeeds in defeating the threat and saving the day then it's all alright."

"Does . . . does he sacrifice people in order to achieve his ends? You know, sacrifice a few to save the many?"

Illya's question was slightly tremulous. When she'd been little her father had been her hero, she'd known that before he married mama that he'd fought bad people around the world and saved many lives. She'd also known that he was getting ready to fight in the Holy Grail War with mama in order to save many more. Later, after her father 'abandoned' her, the rest of the family had taken a certain vindictive pleasure in shredding her illusions about her father.

They'd told her every crime, every atrocity, every murder that he'd committed in order to fulfil his desperate need to save as many lives as he could. She'd come to hate that point of view, come to hate the idea that he'd somehow sacrificed her mother and abandoned her in order to pursue it. When she'd met Shirou she'd thought that he'd be like Kiritsugu, someone that wouldn't hesitate to send others to their end, no matter who they were, in order to save as many lives as possible.

He'd proven her wrong though, when he'd chosen to save Sakura despite the threats it entailed. Still, she shuddered internally as she thought of how close she'd come to killing him before she realised that he'd forsaken the same ideals that her father had so doggedly followed.

The thought that this American Campione might follow the same sort of ideal . . . well, it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"No!" Annie-san's voice sounded startled at the suggestion, "John Smith has sometimes not been able to save everyone that's been caught up in the threats that he fights, but he's always tried. He's had to demand sacrifices from those he protects, inconveniences such as black outs or entire buildings being destroyed, but he needs them in order to fight. All in Los Angeles know this and accept it as the taxation that we must pay in order to enjoy and support his protection of us.

"But for all those demands he's never asked for more than we're prepared to give, you know? He's never even thought of taking that last step into tyranny, that's just not his style."

Silence fell between them as Illya mulled over what she'd just heard. As she did so a monkey ambled past the road in front of the hotel pulling along a shopping bag on wheels. It was an oddly surreal sight, but the young Einzbern was aware that the transformed humans in the area were following their routines despite their changed forms. But now that they were apes it was more like watching trained animals imitating humans than anything else.

"So what kind of a person is he? Is he easy to work with?"

Again silence reigned as the American mage cocked her head to the side as she considered the question.

"He's flamboyant, the kind of guy that loves to make a show and draw everyone's eyes to him. He's also the kind of person that's always cool and relaxed, as though he's not taking things seriously enough. He loves playing the part of a hero to the hilt and is always making his triumphs stylish or dramatic. Still despite all that he's actually much more effective and methodical than you'd think. He's smart and resourceful, enough that most of America doesn't have that much trouble. Since the defeat of Asherah and her organization, Lord of the Flies, things have been quite peaceful in Los Angeles."

Well that was interesting; it seemed that the Campione that the red haired young woman worked with was a surprisingly competent individual despite his unusual approach.

Leaning back in her seat she looked up at the sky that was starting to darken as sunset approached.

What would come next, she wondered.


-()-


"Ah, welcome back sempai."

Shirou's polite greeting was in response to the reappearance of the Chinese Campione in the cave in which he was currently trapped. The same white smoke that he'd seen earlier had come spiralling down from the ceiling and had condensed into the form of Luo Hao.

Then he did a double take as he took in the state in which the older Campione was in. Her clothes seemed a bit rumpled; her hair was clearly damp and . . . was that a blush on her face?

"Did you have a good time sempai?" He asked calmly, and was rewarded with her flush growing even deeper.

"I-I have achieved what I sought to do King Emiya," the god slaying martial artist said as she visibly did her best to reign her emotion back under control. "My meeting with King Kusanagi went well and I've been able to determine what the situation up on the surface is."

That made the eighth Campione perk up in interest. While he admitted to deriving a certain guilty pleasure from seeing the innocently egotistical Devil King getting embarrassed he was more than willing to shelve that if it meant learning a bit more about what was going on outside this prison.

"So what's happened?"

"It seems that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven has managed to break the last remnants of the Keeper of the Horses spell after summoning his brothers Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing to aid him. He's currently resting from his efforts, but when he awakens he'll have his full strength once more."

Shirou paused for a moment as he mulled that over. If Sun Wukong had called upon the companions that had accompanied him on his famed journey to the west then that could be a dangerous development. On the other hand if they'd been called upon as subordinate gods to the Monkey King then it was unlikely that they'd be as powerful as they would have been had they descended to the mortal plane of their own will.

"I suppose that means that we'll all have dancing partners when we get out of here." He murmured.

"Be aware King Emiya, my sworn brother has taken up the responsibility of facing the Monkey King himself. As those who chose to return him to the surface we have forfeited the role of fighting the Great Sage to him."

The red haired teen nodded. That was true, one of the reasons he'd decided to return Kusanagi to the surface was the thought that the seventh Campione's abilities would hopefully be better suited to saving the girl that Sun Wukong was possessing than his own. If the younger teen was claiming the position of fighting the Heretic God then he'd hopefully figured something out.

Wait, hang on a second . . .

"What do you mean your sworn brother?"

"I was a bit unsure of how to deal with King Kusanagi when I saw him once more. When I did see him he declared his intention to battle the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and stated that both you and I had already yielded that role to him. This was true of course, but it would also be a lowering of my standing if I simply granted such a request, so I got to thinking, King Kusanagi was someone that has gotten the better of me a number of times. So rather than eliminating him like plucking a tender shoot before it has had a chance to blossom, it would be better to cultivate him properly into a great hero. Such a course of action befits the Ruler of the Martial Realm.

"To that end I've adopted him as my sworn brother and will educate him upon the correct ways of conduct and courtesy."

She shook her head slightly as a thought crossed her mind.

"He seems to have some trouble addressing me correctly as 'Onee-sama', but I'm sure in time I shall be able to properly guide him to the correct path."

Shirou on the other hand was a bit sceptical of that, he might not know his fellow Japanese King as well as he'd like, but he was fairly sure that the black haired Campione would probably be somewhat less than eager to accept his new 'elder sister'. Still in the red haired teen's opinion it was a far sight better than being the martial artist's enemy.

"So how is Kusanagi doing? When I last saw him he looked as though he'd been fed through a thresher."

Well, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but he certainly had been on his last leg.

"It seems that King Kusanagi has still not quite recovered from his match with myself. However the hot spring he was bathing in should aid his recovery, and I applied some Daoist arts to his body so as to aid his recovery."

The Chinese martial artist answered somewhat absent mindedly, but as soon as she'd finished speaking she suddenly went stock still and the flush rose once more to her face.

The young head of the Emiya family blinked, then blinked again. In his mind several of Luo Cuilian's comments lined up and came to a conclusion.

Her hair was wet, she knew Kusanagi had been in a hot spring and she'd apparently applied Daoist healing to him.

"That's surprisingly . . . forward of you sempai."

The female martial artist flushed even more crimson and seemed to be caught half way between anger and embarrassment.

"K-King Emiya, you should not speak s-so casually of what happened. I-I merely decided to lend aid to my newly acquired little brother. T-To spread rumours of this would lead others to speak ill of me behind my back and undermine my standing. P-Please do not go about speaking of how I entered a bath with a young man or k-kissed him in order to heal him."

"You got into a bath with Kusanagi-san? I just thought you spoke to him when he left, healed him up and then went for a bath yourself."

The expression on the god slaying martial artist's face was a true work of art. It was remarkable how she arranged her features to perfectly convey shock, horror, mortification, anger, fear and bemusement. For a brief moment Shirou wished that he had a camera so he could capture that look forever. Then he abandoned the thought and instead focussed on calming her down before she did something violent.

"Don't worry sempai," he quickly reassured her in as soothing a voice as he could manage, "I promise upon the honour of my Father's grave that I'll never reveal this to any that don't already know it. I'd never do anything to smear my sempai's honour."

Well, that seemed to have calmed her down at least a little bit. At least now she no longer looked like she was contemplating killing him and burying the body in this cave when she escaped.

"V-Very well, I shall place my trust in you King Emiya, however if you break your vow this Luo Cuilian will never forgive you."

With that declaration Luo Hao stalked back to her boulder and resumed her lotus position upon it.

With a sigh of relief and a small shake of his head Shirou turned back to his own work. It seemed that he'd been wrong about his earlier plan, he had the right approach but he needed a stronger sword. He had just the one to use, but if he was to pull his plan off he'd need to cover one crucial hole in his scenario.

Back to work.


-()-


On the peak of Nantaisan, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong jumped up with a start as he recovered from the efforts he and his brothers had expended.

As things stood, his form was still that of Mariya Hikari. Looking up he/she gazed at the vast heavens that were filled with twinkling stars. He/she must have slept for roughly half a day.

Despite the hard surface of the mountain being used as a bed, the Heretic God had rested soundly. After all, he was the divine monkey born from stone and a sturdy soldier on top of that; he had few demands in ways of everyday comforts.

"Now, what should I do with my kingdom next?"

Even if he didn't use clairvoyance, the Great Sage could survey the entire Okunikkou area with normal vision as he looked down from the mountain.

At the foot of Nantaisan were the wide streets around Lake Chuuzenji.

North from there were the plains of Senjougahara, and even the hot spring street of Okuyumoto could be seen. There were also the streets next to Lake Yunoko, and the villages gathered all sorts of different monkeys, carrying on their lives with a hint of human feeling. The might of the Great Sage's divine power had apparently reached that area too.

Even so, the Great Sage was not in the least bit amused.

"This is a bit too quiet. Things need to be more lively, what should I do?"

"Perhaps it would be wise to prepare for the challenge that is to come Great Sage."

The sound of a young girl's sweet voice came from behind him/her in answer to the question he had just carelessly spoken aloud.

Sun Wukong didn't jump or show any sign of surprise. He'd already sensed the spells that had formed behind him as they had come together and had divined their purpose before the voice had even sounded. Instead the god in the form of a girl calmly turned to see who it was that had answered his idle question.

"Oh ho," he commented as he laid eyes upon the beautiful form of the blonde Divine Ancestor that now faced him. "So another of you defeated goddesses appears before me. Are you going to challenge me next? It would be good to face against another snake or dragon without that enchantment holding me back."

"Hardly honoured Sun Wukong, given my current state I doubt I would be able to provide a satisfying match. No, the threat that I refer to is the return of the God Slayers that you sealed away. It won't be too long before they free themselves I imagine, and when they do I dare say that they shall be quite eager to face you once more."

The slight frame of Mariya Hikari leant against a nearby boulder and regarded the figure in front of him/her. This was just a sent image crafted by a spell; the real Divine Ancestor was probably miles away in some safe location. Well he was a god of Steel; he supposed it was only natural for her to be wary of him/her.

"So what brings you to tell old Sun about this? Surely it's not out of the goodness of your heart now is it?"

His cynical question drew a giggle like the tinkling of silver bells from the small girl.

"Hardly honoured Sage, in truth I do have a slightly selfish motivation.

"One of the children of Pandora that you face is needed to aid in a ritual to restore my ally. All that I ask is that should you find yourself outnumbered then you will allow my champion to take up the task of defeating the one that I need. That should leave you free to face the others undisrupted."

"Hah, me and my brothers don't need any help," declared the Heretic God boldly, then paused in momentary thought, "but if your champion wants to join the battle then he's welcome, just so long as he remembers that if we finish our enemies before he finishes his then he'll be fair game for us."

It was an odd sight, to see the smile of rampant battle lust on the face of such a young girl. However in some ways the look of cold cruelty that appeared on the youthful face of the Divine Ancestor was even more out of place.

"That would be perfectly acceptable, I'm sure it won't take Sir Mordred long to defeat the youngest and most inexperienced of the God Slayers as it will for yourself and your brothers to defeat some more . . . seasoned fighters."

"Oh? Is that who your champion is? Hah, I think I might wish for his target to be stronger than expected so that I'll get a chance to fight him myself."

"If my good fortune holds true then it should not come to that honoured Sun Wukong, now if you will excuse me, I must take my leave of you."

As the Great Sage watched the image of the blonde girl fade away he felt his borrowed lips curl into another smile. This was an interesting development, the trapped Campione would soon be free, another god would enter the mix and another Fallen Goddess was watching from the sides. Pretty soon things were going to get much livelier.

Now, what could he do to keep himself entertained until then?


-()-


Guinevere was growing increasingly frustrated with her efforts.

Her original plan had been to simply stay hidden and observe the acts of the Monkey King to learn if he was her Lord in a different incarnation, or if he wasn't then if the Great Sage had any connection to her beloved King of the End.

However the appearance of Mordred had changed the thrust of her search entirely.

Now she was trying to find out if the Campione that was currently opposing Sun Wukong possessed the necessary qualities to defeat the Knight of Treachery. She had a number of resources available to her, there was her dear guardian Sir Lancelot, there was the Holy Grail that she held and the unfathomable power within it, and of course as a final desperate trump card she could always abandon her human form and take up the power of a dragon.

The problem was that Mordred was simply too strong. History and legend had warped him, partly due to the efforts of her own past self, but some things had remained constant. Mordred was arguably the strongest of all the knights that had served under Artus, and he had succeeded where many Campione had failed, he'd dealt a grievous wound to the one rightly known as the Strongest Steel.

Sir Lancelot might be able to match him, maybe. The strength of the knight of the lake could be found in his charge; however the downside of this was that if the charge didn't succeed then the stamina of her protector would quickly diminish. Of course there was also the fact that Sir Lancelot wasn't able to fully manifest upon the mortal plane. The spell that called him forth as her protector didn't grant him access to the full powers that he'd possess if he were a true Heretic God. In that diminished state her champion couldn't face their betrayer without being caught in a disadvantageous position.

The Holy Grail on the other hand did provide her with a number of options. By using the vast amounts of power that were contained within it Guinevere could create false gods, constructs that possessed the power of the originals, but were subject to her will. If things became too desperate then she could use that power to create allies to fight at her protector's side. Surely if sir Lancelot fought with such aid then he could defeat the black knight of treachery.

The problem with that was that it would drain her treasure of huge amounts of the power she had carefully spent centuries accumulating. The divine instrument had drained several earth goddesses of their power in the past, and it was her intention to use that power to revive her beloved Lord. It wasn't a card that she could play lightly.

As for her casting aside her eternal youth and assuming the guise of a dragon . . . that was the absolute last card that she intended to play against this foe.

She'd never been able to fully discern the nature of Mordred. Even when he'd been the ally of her original self that had been a secret she'd been unable to divine. Certainly her memories of that time were fragmentary and vague at best, but that was one thing that she was certain of. His cursed Authority of anonymity had made it impossible to learn his true name, his nature, his origins or even his domains. The black armoured giant had always taken a certain delight in playfully tormenting his then allies with the fact that practically everything about him was a secret.

She didn't know it for sure, but the Witch Queen was fairly sure that Mordred was a war god with a nature of Steel. If that was the case then assuming the power of a dragon against him would be foolish at best and suicidal at worst. Divinities of Steel were the natural enemies of snakes and dragons; the relationship was as natural as the animosity between the cobra and the mongoose. However in such a confrontation the advantage would go to the Steel, meaning that if a dragon Guinevere were to confront Mordred all the advantages would belong to the traitor knight.

No, for now she would husband her resources and instead see if there was a child of Pandora present that she could manipulate into slaying her foe for her.

The problem so far was that the only one of the God Slayers to be free at the moment hadn't been able to show her much of his power due to his weakened state. Certainly the Divine Beast that he'd summoned earlier that day had been impressive, but that alone would not be enough to defeat her enemy.

For the moment waiting was her only option. Hopefully the free Campione would soon recover and grant her a better demonstration of his power. If not then perhaps she would begin to subtly pick at the spells keeping the other two contained. With three Campione free surely one would be up to the task of wounding if not slaying the black knight of treachery.

Steeling her nerves and drawing on her patience the Witch Queen returned to her vigil.


-()-


Renjou Kaida could honestly say that today could be worse.

For example a giant meteor could be falling from the sky and be about to render the planet lifeless. Likewise a Heretic God of war could have descended to earth and somehow triggered a nuclear Armageddon. Yes it was possible for today to be worse, it was simply very difficult.

She was aware of the plan that had been put together and had even approved of it. It was a simple information gathering mission, well simple in concept anyway. It terms of execution, that's where it became a bit more complicated.

The plan was basic enough, Kusanagi-san would challenge the Monkey King to combat and focus entirely upon dragging the fight out as long as possible while taking as little damage as he could manage. Yuri-sama would use this opportunity to employ her Spirit Vision to divine information about the Great Sage's origins and true identity.

Once she was successful Erica-san and Liliana-san would set up a diversion to delay Sun Wukong while the rest of them escaped as quickly as they could.

The first part of the plan had gone well; Kusanagi-sama using his Authority of speed to great effect had successfully engaged the Monkey King in battle for a prolonged time. In the end the Heretic God had ceased to possess the younger sister of Yuri-sama, wanting a more equal fight with the Campione. However so as to make sure that the seventh King kept fighting him the Great Sage had turned the girl into a ball of light and swallowed her. He'd then challenged Kusanagi-sama to cut his belly open and pull her out if he wanted to rescue her.

Shortly after that the elder of the Mariya sisters had succeeded in gaining the information that was needed, but had overtaxed herself and had fallen unconscious as a result. Still the objective had been achieved so the signal to retreat had been given.

That had been when things had started to go wrong.

The plan to distract and slow Sun Wukong had gone down well, the two foreign mage knights had performed their tasks admirably and the Campione had been able to disengage from his foe and arrive at their meeting spot. There the Hime-Miko had met up with him and the Knights so that Illya-sama and Manaka could act as a sort of rear guard in case the subjects of the Monkey King pursued his fleeing foe.

None of his transformed victims seemed inclined to do so though, so they'd made their way to where the minibus was parked and waiting for them as fast as they could.

That had been where they had found the first deviation from their plan. Rather than being ready and waiting in the drivers seat and prepared to step on the gas as soon as they'd all piled in Annie-san had been missing and a large amount of blood had been smeared over the side of the vehicle.

Just as they had all been wondering what had happened to the American mage the seventh Campione had received a text on his cell phone with the short message 'Annie has been hurt in an accident, and I have retrieved her. Do not worry. JS.'

Lacking anybody with any experience driving a minibus before Erica-san had ordered them all into the van and had jumped behind the wheel herself. Her up front declaration that this was the first time in her life that she'd ever been behind the wheel of any sort of motor vehicle had not exactly inspired confidence, but at that point there hadn't really been much choice.

And that led to her current situation, in a small bus being driven by a total, if surprisingly skilled, amateur, the immobile form of the seventh Devil King on the seat just in front of her and, to top it all off, an absolutely HUGE Heretic God trying to catch them.

That had come as a very unpleasant shock. By the look of things the Monkey King hadn't been quite ready to let his foe escape so easily, so as soon as he'd dealt with the obstruction the foreign mages had placed in his path he'd set about chasing them.

To that end Sun Wukong had swollen in size until he blotted out the sky. He was now so huge that he didn't even have to chase them; he simply reached out his arm and tried to grab them up in his titanic fingers. Twice he'd reached for them, but Erica-san's wild swerves had kept them from his grasp.

That couldn't last forever though; all that was needed was for the deity to stop treating this as a game and he'd have them.

Kaida couldn't let that happen.

Various thoughts rushed through her mind as she contemplated her reasons and options. In the end though it came down to duty. Duty to Emiya-sama, duty to Kusanagi-sama, duty to the Committee and duty to her fellow mortals.

"Manaka, stay with the rest. That is my one and only order to you."

"Wha-"

The rest of the warrior witches question was cut off and Kaida threw the back door of the minibus and jumped out.

Normally that would have been an extremely dangerous, if not suicidal, to jump out of a moving vehicle going at more than 65miles per hour, but the black haired Hime-Miko wasn't any normal person. While she might not have had much talent for combat spells she had shown an eclectic natural skill for several harmless spells.

It was one of these enchantments that she used now; a simple cushion of air that let her hit the road without getting smeared across it in a bloody mess.

Behind her the minivan swerved for a moment, then steadied out and accelerated further. Good, it looked like they'd followed her wishes.

"SUN WUKONG!"

She shouted at the vast deity of Steel and Monkeys that loomed over her.

"Oh ho, what's this?"

A quick glance over her shoulder told her that the minivan was pulling away from her as fast as the Monkey King was approaching. That was fine with her; it tied in nicely to her plan.

"Leave . . . them . . . ALONE!"

If the truth were to be told Kaida didn't really like being the possessor of the Dragon's Roar. The power might have been potent and the subject of respect and reverence in the mystic community, but it's violent and dangerous nature didn't mesh well with her personality. Also there was the fact that she was a bit afraid of her own power.

The first time that it had manifested had been when she was six and she'd ended up throwing her minder at the time across the room due to a tantrum released Roar. It had only been a small one, but it had been more than enough to bruise muscles and jolt bones.

That image had stayed with her ever since, the sight of an adult that had been an unquestionable authority cast down like a broken doll. Was it any wonder that deep in her heart nested fear of her own power?

Because of that fear she'd never pushed her gift as far as she could, instead she'd kept it chained and locked away. Certainly there had been occasions when her control had slipped and small Roars had been released, but they had always been restrained and muted.

Now, for the first time in her life, she not only took all restraints off, she actually pushed her gift as hard as she could.

The Dragon's Roar was an ability that had manifested twice before in the Committee's recorded history. Though the details were a bit hazy both agreed that the power was potent, sufficiently so that not even Heretic Gods could brush it aside.

That certainly seemed to be the case here. With her last shouted word a visible hemisphere shaped ripple in the air burst from the black haired shrine maiden and expanded outwards away from her. And everything that the barely visible distortion touched was pushed away. Abandoned cars tumbled as though struck by the winds of a hurricane, trees were uprooted and thrown into the distance, the very grass was wrent from the ground and cast into the air.

As for the Monkey King, as the hazy ripple hit him the effect was rather like a man dressed in protective gear being hit by a pane of glass. The pane shattered upon impact, but enough of the kinetic energy from the glass was transferred into the man to knock him back.

As Kaida collapsed to her knees, feeling as though she'd just been forced to run a marathon, the enormous form of Sun Wukong stumbled backwards and only just managed to keep from falling over.

"Ho, that was impressive shrine girl; I don't think I can remember ever having been hit that hard by a mortal. A shame it seems to have taken everything out of you though."

It was all that she could do to keep herself sitting upright, the Hime-Miko felt so exhausted that her vision was actually swimming slightly. Still she refused to sink into the darkness that beckoned her, every second she kept this divinities attention on her was another second for her friends and allies to get further away.

"Hmmm, the god slaying brat seems to be quite obsessed with rescuing the little girl in my belly, perhaps if you join her then he'll be forced to face me again, this time without running away."

The huge blur that was the Money King began to shrink, the looming form contracting down to more human dimensions.

As the figure reached for her Kaida dragged up every scrap of her remaining energy together and prepared to release a second Dragon's Roar. It would not be anywhere near as strong as the first that she'd released, but with any luck at all it might buy the others a few extra seconds.

Then her head swam and she knew she couldn't do it, she simply didn't have enough left in her to knock over a pile of leaves, let alone a Heretic God. With no strength left she felt herself starting to collapse.

"Suddenly there was somebody there catching her before she could strike the ground. Strong but soft arms wrapped around her and something she couldn't make out through her blurred vision wrapped itself around her.

"A fine display indeed, it would seem that it is not only Kusanagi Godou who has a fine eye for subordinates. Emiya Shirou seems to have a keen eye as well."

She didn't recognize that voice, but there was something about it that was familiar. It sounded like it should belong to an actor on a stage or in a movie, but below the theatrical intonation there was something else . . . authority, yes that was it, authority.

"To think I would encounter yet another of the God Slayers here. First two, then a third and now a fourth shows up. Hahaha, having no lack of opponents sure will be fun!"

The voice of the Monkey King broke into her thoughts and managed to jolt her back to partial wakefulness. Another God Slayer? Had another of the Kings arrived?

"Great Sage Equal to Heaven . . . All deities who cower secluded in my homeland know of my name. If possible, you would do well to remember the name of John Pluto Smith."

Ah, that made sense. The Devil King that Annie-san served had decided to join the fray it seemed. Well that was a good thing she supposed, Manaka spoke well of the King that had saved her life years ago. If her friend thought him a good person then that meant everything would be fine. After all Manaka was a very good judge of character.

No, wait. Had she said that John Pluto Smith-sama was a good person? Or had she just said that he wasn't as bad as some of the others? She couldn't think properly, it was as though her brain was going to sleep in a nice warm blanket.

Nice warm . . .

Nice . . .

Kaida sank into the warm comfort of exhausted sleep.


-()-


Illya was being pushed; there was no getting around it.

Things had gone from bad to worse since Annie had disappeared. The Monkey King had come after them, Kaida had jumped out to stall him, Manaka had practically gone into hysterics and had only held back from jumping out herself due to her determination to follow her friend and mistress's last order.

Whatever the black haired girl had done had worked because the Great Sage had stopped chasing them; unfortunately a trio of his Divine Beasts had taken up the task in his place. In the end despite Erica's surprisingly skilled amateur driving they'd been forced off the road by the huge apes. With both Yuri and Godou immobilized for the time being and Manaka unfortunately unconscious due to having banged her head when one of the apes rammed the minibus further flight was not an option. Instead they'd divided to take on the Divine Beasts, Illya handling one, Ena another and Erica and Liliana teaming up against the third.

The young Einzbern hadn't been too worried, why should she be, hadn't she already killed three of these creatures? They might be strong, but her imitation of her one time Servant was more so. She'd simply kill this one and then move on to support whichever of her allies was having the most trouble.

Except things weren't going to plan.

Rather than charging in to fight this huge ape was keeping its distance and employing long range elemental attacks. Whenever her puppet tried to close with it then it would lash out with breaths of fire or gales of cutting wind. So far her false Servant had needed to stay near her to act as a shield against the attacks. Her own spells might be tough, but they weren't at the level where they could weather such forces.

It seemed that the Divine Beast had been smart enough to understand what it was seeing, now all its attacks were aimed at her and Berserker was essentially pinned down acting as a mobile shield.

Stalemate.

She couldn't attack, but at the same time unless the huge monkey closed with them it didn't seem to have anything that could get past her protector. Outside her sight she could hear the sounds of battle as well as gasps of pain. Damn it, that meant that the others weren't doing so well. She had to get past this one and get to their aid as fast as she could.

However even as she called out Beautiful Head Taker and braced herself for a charge something happened. Two flashes of white light, bright as the sun and shaped like dragons from what she could see suddenly roared up into the sky. At the same time though the powerful pressure of the presence of the other two apes vanished.

The abrupt disappearance of its allies seemed to cause the Beast she was facing to freeze for an instant in shock.

That was all the time Illya's puppet needed. With a wordless roar of challenge the false son of Zeus surged forwards with such force that the ground beneath his feet actually caved in from the pressure he placed upon it. In the blink of an eye the grey giant had closed the distance and was swinging at the Divine Beast with his huge stone sword.

However the huge ape was already moving, retreating from the source of the attacks that had slain its brethren. Consequently the slash that should have torn its chest open only inflicted a shallow cut instead.

With an ear splitting screech the Divine Beast beat a hasty retreat into the nearby trees and quickly became lost from her view. For a moment she considered sending her servitor after it, to make sure she wouldn't have to face it again. But after a moment's consideration she dismissed the thought and instead turned to investigate whatever it was that had so effortlessly managed to slay the two other giant apes.

Before long her search brought her to where . . . Godou was speaking to a man wearing a black cape and a strange helmet/mask?

There wasn't any need for introductions, Shirou had shown her all the photos that the Committee had supplied him of the other Campione. This was the King of Los Angeles and the God Slayer that reigned over the entire continent of North America.

"John Pluto Smith-sama, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Illya accompanied her words with a polite curtsy as she addressed the masked Devil King.

"Yet another girl King Kusanagi? Truly, Annie was right when she described your freedom to love."

The foreign King's words brought an embarrassed flush to Godou's face and an exasperated scowl to the young girl's.

"That was a misunderstanding on her part; I'm not part of Godou's harem. I think he's planning to add Yuri's sister to fill in the loli slot, but I'm here only as an ally."

"Illya-san . . ." The seventh Campione's voice was pained as he looked at her with a slightly betrayed expression on his face.

For just an instant Illya considered being cruel and deliberately misunderstanding him. She could pretend that she thought he was hurt that she wouldn't join his harem and say that she was sorry but her first loyalty was to Shirou. It was a cruel joke though, even if it might be funny to see him frantically protest, so in the end she decided to forego it.

"A harem you say? Kusanagi Godou you impress me with your . . . ability. Truly my collaborator only scratched the surface of the romantic undercurrents running through your life."

The young Einzbern was absolutely sure that if that mask could have formed expressions it would have been smiling like an amused demon by this point.

"T-That's Annie-san's misunderstanding. It's actually not that serious."

"You don't have to entertain me with excuses. I am a far more open-minded person than that woman. Freedom of love is justice. The important thing is that you don't abandon your responsibilities as a result of pursuing multiple romantic relationships. You have already proven your character when you took initiative in fighting gods on the front lines."

The masked hero from America dressed in black was truly a living legend of contrived justifications it would seem.

Flaring his cape dramatically he extended his leather-gloved right hand.

"Kusanagi Godou, as long as the fact of your becoming the ally of John Pluto Smith does not pose a particular hindrance to me, I will accede to your request and simply stand back and observe. Of course, if a suitable opportunity arises for a grand entrance, I reserve the right to make my move!"

As Godou took the offered hand and shook it Illya spoke up once more.

Perhaps we should go somewhere safer to make plans? Also I'm pretty sure I heard the others getting hurt, so they'll want some rest. On top of that Sun Wukong's probably taken Kaida hostage as well."

With a sigh she spread her arms as though imploring to the heavens in exasperation.

"Your presence is most welcome you majesty, but the situation seems to be growing more complicated."

"Actually I think I may be able to alleviate some of those concerns for you."

John Pluto Smith snapped his fingers.

Despite dampened by the leather glove, the sound was still quite clear. Roughly thirty seconds passed, during which Illya began to wonder just what she was waiting for. Then, with a thud, the sound of something heavy being dropped was heard.

Before the white haired girl's astonished eyes Kaida, Erica and Liliana's bodies appeared lying on the ground.

The knights were in a delirious state, as if struggling against some kind of illness, and both were hyperventilating. Kaida was simply unconscious, lying on the ground as though in a deep sleep.

"I tasked Astral Realm spirits to carry them over . . . The Hime-Miko exhausted herself stalling the Monkey King before I rescued her, and the knights were brought down by the beast they faced. They appear to be poisoned. You must reward your lovers well for having fought hard for your sake."

"Of course! But they are not my lovers, okay?"

"That's right," commented Illya, causing Godou to nod in thanks, "Kaida is here simply as an allied servant of my onii-chan. If Godou wants to add her to his harem he'll have to discuss it with Shirou first since she's sworn to his service."

The thankful look on the black haired teen's face disappeared and was replaced by a look of aggrieved suffering.

"I see, as expected. Right, because of unfavourable rumours, other euphemisms have to be used normally. You may be young, but what a clever and slippery fellow you are!"

After making this final joke, Smith walked into the darkness, once again turning into a jaguar and disappeared.

Illya couldn't help but stare at the place where the masked hero had been a second ago. The Holy Grail War had led her to be witness to many miraculous feats, but such effortless shape shifting and seeming teleportation were something new to her even so. It simply brought home to her that despite his almost humorous costume the man she had just spoken to was a Campione, a mortal who had slain a god and claimed their power.

Shaking her head she turned to where the injured Erica Blandelli, Liliana Kranjcar and the unconscious Renjou Kaida lay.

Not far away, there was also the exhausted Ena Seishuuin, as well as Yuri and Manaka who had both yet to recover consciousness.

"I can heal up Manaka and Ena without too much trouble," the childlike teenager said, "Kaida will just need some rest in order to recover, but I don't know how to help any of the others."

Despite her best efforts to keep her voice level a tremor of worry was audible. Illya was on fairly good terms with Yuri due to their interactions at the Tea Ceremony club, and she'd spoken to Liliana enough times to regard her as a friendly acquaintance. She might not know Erica as well as the other two, but she didn't want her to die either.

For most of her life the daughter of Emiya Kiritsugu hadn't had any friends or even friendly contact with people. However since she'd started to live with Shirou that had changed, she was loved by her adopted brother and had developed friendships with others. But despite that there was a part of her deep inside that felt somehow all these new connections would somehow disappear and she'd be left alone again.

It was this fear that was welling up in her now.

"I . . . I think I can help them." Godou said hesitantly, "But I'll need some privacy. If I help you get Manaka-san into the bus will you look after her while I take care of the others?"

Illya wasn't entirely sure why Godou's face had gone so red, but if he could help the injured girls then she wasn't going to argue. In short order she was in the minibus with her two unconscious maids while the young Kusanagi was in a clearing just out of sight with his injured allies.

As the snow haired girl set to work healing the bang to Manaka's head she wondered what they were doing.


-()-


A plane had just touched down in Tokyo Airport, one that had just arrived from Greece.

On that plane there had been only one passenger. A man with worn clothes, a gaunt and dishevelled appearance and twitching eyes that glared at anyone who approached him. The flight attendants had originally thought him to be some bum that had somehow gotten on, but his passport and papers had been angrily thrust at them as soon as they approached him.

To their immense surprise the man who looked as though he'd been living on the streets for the last few days was actually the man who had bought every ticket on this entire plane, as ludicrous as it sounded. For that amount it might well have been cheaper to simply hire a private plane and pilot instead.

The various staff on the plane had been a bit unsure of what to do. Under normal circumstances they would at least have received some sort of warning of such an unusual occurrence happening on their flight, but for some reason that hadn't happened this time. For the most part the cabin crew decided to treat this as a flight off and proceeded to take it easy in the first class seats while enjoying the in flight entertainment.

However one of the stewardesses decided to keep an eye on their sole passenger to see if he needed anything.

She had to say that he was a very strange person. Aside from his appearance he had many odd habits, for example he was staying in the business class despite having purchased every first class seat on the plane. Then there was the fact that he never stayed in one seat for more than a few minutes before randomly choosing another one and moving there. He only had a single piece of luggage, a black leather satchel, but he always kept it close and glanced at it every few seconds as though to check that it was still there. He also was constantly scribbling in a thick note book while muttering incoherently to himself. At one point he'd apparently filled the notebook completely and had practically screamed at the stewardess to provide him with something to write on. Fortunately art was a hobby of hers so among her personal effects was a large almost unused sketch pad.

The man had seized it and thrust a roll of money into her hands easily ten times the pads original price.

Despite his odd generosity by the time the flight ended the young stewardess was happy to se the strange man go. The way he talked to himself as he stepped of the plane was totally unnerving, almost as though at any minute he'd snap into total insanity.

As he made his way through the customs at the airport the dishevelled man continued to mutter to himself.

"Yes, there are two here. Two Kings, two, two, too too many, too many. There's another one too, one from China, come to find someone to fight. Two's too many, three's too too many many many. They also sent someone from the SSI, there's one of them there too. Will he come? Won't he come? Will he, won't he, will he, won't he, will he join the dance? If he does then it's four. Four, four, four for me, for me and my pretty pretty thief.

"The thief that takes, the thief that breaks, the thief that makes the King a beggar. Takes only a little at first, not much, not enough to be noticed, but it adds up, up up up. Up into a big heap, big big big, big enough to bury a King."

All around him people turned to stare as the strangely dishevelled man suddenly burst into loud raucous laughter. He laughed so hard that he lost his balance and had to sit down in the middle of the floor.

"Four!" he gasped in between his mirth, "Four for me and my thief!"

His laughter echoed throughout the building.


-()-


"Now I am ready."

Shirou looked up as Luo Hao got down from the boulder she'd been seated on; her face was set into an expression of satisfaction.

"What do you mean sempai?"

"My Qi is fully replenished and my Authorities have completed their recovery. This Luo Cuilian will now begin her destruction of this prison. If you wish then you may follow in my footsteps King Emiya. You have done well to survive the prison of Sun Wukong as you have, and there is no shame in following after your more experienced senior upon the road of Supremacy."

Standing Shirou walked over to the one of the walls and placed his hand on it.

"This cave is bound by a barrier designed to keep us trapped, how were you planning to deal with it?"

The Ruler of the Martial Realm frowned slightly at his failure to answer her question, but chose to answer anyway.

"Naturally I shall overwhelm it with my martial power. Since it is part of the prison that holds me it shall be destroyed as I destroy my prison."

With a nod of his head Shirou turned to face her again.

"Please, allow me."

Before she could respond the red haired teen Traced Rule Breaker and stabbed it into a crack in the wall.

The jagged multi-coloured dagger that had been the Noble Phantasm of Medea of Colchis was a thin, brittle and blunt weapon that wasn't really suited for combat. Had Shirou tried to stab it into the rock chances were that it would end up snapping rather than penetrating the stone.

But that was alright, because it wasn't the stone he was aiming for.

As the point of the Noble Phantasm slid into the crack it came into contact with the spells that wrapped around the entire cave. And as it did so its unique ability came into effect.

Rule Breaker had a deserved reputation as the ultimate anti-magic Noble Phantasm, in another existence it had stolen Saber from him and in this one it had severed the hold Angra Mainyu had possessed upon Sakura. Its effect allowed him to revert practically any spell, enchantment or contract back to the state 'before they were made'. A powerful effect, but at the same time limited since it couldn't dispel Noble Phantasms or other works of that scale.

On the other hand the spells surrounding this cave could not be said to be on quite that level.

A tremor ran through the small cavern and dust briefly drifted down from the ceiling as something almost imperceptible shattered under the power of the jagged knife.

The Chinese Campione tensed slightly as she glanced first at the ceiling and then back at her fellow captive.

"What have you just done King Emiya?"

"That's my way of marking the final sprint of our race," Shirou declared with a friendly grin, "I'm only a little bit away from being ready for my own escape sempai, but once I'm ready I'll be moving very quickly, consider this my granting you a head start."

Luo Hao simply stared at him for a moment with an unreadable expression on her face. Then she returned his smile with one of her own.

"Ha, well if you are so foolish as to grant me an advantage then far be it for me to refuse. Still be sure not to complain about unfair advantages when I emerge victorious in this competition."

"I wouldn't dream of it sempai."

"Very well then, I shall now begin my destruction of this prison."

Walking up to one wall the martial artist drew one arm back . . . and slammed one of her delicate fists into it.

Shirou couldn't help but gape at the results. He'd been aware intellectually that one of her Authorities was based on pure strength, so he'd been expecting something of this nature. Still to see it with his own eyes . . .

The wall had cratered in as though impacted not by a human fist but rather by some invisible battering ram of colossal size and power. This was something that he'd have expected from Berserker, not from a slim woman like his cell mate. The blow was followed by another, then another. Before long he'd lost sight of the senior Campione in a cloud of rock dust produced by her pulverizing all in her path to powder.

When the dust finally settled the eighth Campione found himself staring at a wide tunnel that had been smashed into one end of the cave. The newly made passage was so wide that it would have been possible to comfortably drive a car through it.

Shaking his head in disbelief at the sheer insane strength of the Chinese King Shirou returned to his work. He almost had everything ready, all he needed was to fine tune this last bit and he'd be ready for his own jail break.

He was aware that what he was doing was not the most efficient path open to him. From a purely objective point of view his best course of action would have been to simply follow Luo Cuilian out and so conserve his own energy while she expended her own.

However it wasn't pure pragmatism that drove him, there were also a number of other factors that were affecting his choice.

First and foremost was the simple fact that he didn't want the relationship that he'd started to build with the elder King to fail. Right now he'd succeeded in gaining a certain measure of her respect, however if he took the easy route out then there was a good chance that that regard would be lost. That would in turn lead to the loss of an ally, or at least the chance to reduce the possibility of her becoming his enemy.

Secondly was the fact that he didn't wish to tarnish his standing as a King. While he may have had the mantle and responsibilities thrust upon him he had used them to his advantage and so had accepted it. If he was to be a King then he intended to be one that he could approve of, that was the decision he'd come to after talking to the Ruler of the Martial Realm.

Last and most definitely least was that he didn't want to waste the effort that he'd put into this plan. He'd spent the last couple of days working on it and he was honestly curious to see if it would work. Granted if it didn't then he'd probably end up blasting a fair sized chunk out of the mountain with his back up plan, but he was confident that his plan would succeed.

All he needed was a little more time.


-()-


Athena looked on with interest as her beloved prey faced off against the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

Truly it had been a fine spectacle to behold, upon the plains of Senjougahara the forms of Kusanagi Godou and Sun Wukong were locked in mortal combat.

She had been right to not interfere in this confrontation. She'd hoped that facing such a powerful foe would allow her dear enemy to sharpen his fangs, and that indeed seemed to be the result. Together with those girls that were his servants the young Campione had faced his foe and succeeded in stalemating him. The descendant of a Divine Ancestor used her spirit vision to determine the Heretic God's movements; the two mage knights from her second homeland and the user of Divine Possession acted as defenders and protected her prey while he attacked.

It was a fine strategy, one that seemed to be working, but it was not that which drew a small pleased smile from her lips.

What achieved that was when Kusanagi Godou succeeded in drawing upon two of his Authorities simultaneously and melded them into one. She remembered the Golden spell sword that had severed her divinity in their last battle, and she also remembered the shining white horse of sun fire that had struck her down. Now she watched with interest as her beloved foe pushed himself to the limit and created a burning sword of light.

The fallen Goddess watched with interest as the battle renewed itself. Intoning spell words that described the root of Sun Wukong's legend the black haired teen began to forge his sword. As words and knowledge were added he began to release more blades from the blazing sword that he held. Athena watched with interest as those swords flew away from the battle, aiming not for the deity that their master fought but instead for the victims of the Monkey King's divinity.

Even as far distant as miles away the swords made from light sought out and stabbed into those that had been transformed by the power of the Great Sage. As the swords impaled them the divine Authority that had changed them was severed. Before long the uncounted thousands that had been under the thrall of Sun Wukong were freed from their states as animals and had been returned to human form.

Words were exchanged between the combatants, but she didn't pay them any mind. What they said was of little concern to her; it was their actions that were her interest.

In response to Kusanagi Godou's allies the Monkey King conjured up more of his Divine Beasts, nine of them. But before they could make a move of their own they were set upon by the black haired Hime-Miko, who was now wielding a Divine Sword, and a . . . Athena's eyes narrowed slightly as she focussed her mystic gaze upon the huge lead skinned giant that fighting alongside her prey's ally.

She was an old goddess, despite her youthful appearance. She had seen civilizations rise and fall, outlived entire cultures and seen the passage of many millennia, and yet for all that experience she found that the creature she now stared upon was utterly unknown to her. It was not a god, a divine servitor or some scion or demigod. She could feel divinity from it, but it was of a sort she had never sensed before, the 'taste', the 'scent' was completely . . . foreign was the best word that came to mind.

With a shake of her head she dismissed the strange being from her mind. Her purpose in being here was the observation of her future enemy; she could devote time to learning about this unusual being later.

Her beloved prey and the Great Sage continued to play their game of cat and mouse under her watchful gaze. For the moment the deity seemed to be content with merely evading the swords of light that were sent against him, but she wondered how long that would last. The Heretic Goddess was vaguely aware that around them the women that followed Kusanagi Godou were being hard pressed in their own battles, but she paid them little heed. She did blink in surprise when the blonde one succeeded in breaking the Ruyi Staff that Sun Wukong wielded in two.

Despite this though the fight seemed to be turning against her target as he found himself having to endure more and more blows as his defenders became exhausted. Things seemed to take an even worse turn when the Monkey King used his Daoist arts to restore his weapon to its undamaged state, so much so that Athena began to wonder if she would need to intervene in order to protect her future prey.

Then, just as Sun Wukong swung his staff in a blow that would have brained the young Campione, the staff inexplicably shattered once more.

The look of stunned stupefaction on the Great Sage's face was a memory that the fallen goddess of darkness would treasure. It was so satisfying to see one of the gods of Steel so utterly taken aback.

Kusanagi Godou didn't hesitate for an instant and took full advantage of the presented opening. With a last string of spell words describing the origin of Sun Wukong's origins the sword of solar fire slashed into the Great Sage's physical body. Reaching into the momentarily immobilised god her black haired prey pulled a young girl clad in the robes of a Japanese shrine maiden out of the Monkey King's body.

As she watched the young man comfortingly hug the girl that he'd just rescued Athena gave a slight nod of approval.

Yes, his fangs had indeed become sharper. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven was a powerful god with a strong ego. Even at her full power she would have been hesitant to face him. And yet despite facing those odds her beloved prey had been successful in achieving his goal.

Still the fight was yet far from over. The young Campione might have achieved a small victory, but if he was not careful he might still lose the fight.


-()-


Shirou stood up within the cave and nodded to himself.

He was ready, all preparations were complete and all conditions were met. Glancing to the side he looked at the huge tunnel that Luo Hao had pulverized into the rock of the mountain as she made her way out. If he reinforced his hearing to the maximum he could hear the unmistakeable sound of stone shattering . . . crushed, broken and pulverized by sheer brute force directed by peerless martial skill. She was a long way out now, probably getting close to being free.

If he wanted to win their race he'd have to begin his escape now.

"Hooves that thunder over the earth, wings that soar through the sky, sacred beast born from a monster yet pure as finest silver, hear my call and serve as the mount to a hero once more."

As he voiced the spell words his winged mount appeared before him.

"Best tuck those wings in Snow," the eighth Campione advised his steed as he mounted its back. "I'm going to need you galloping for this, not flying."

With an answering neigh the divine horse brought its white wings in tight against its body. Shirou was actually sure that he saw them shrink as they pressed into place, but he didn't pay too much attention because something far more urgent was demanding his concentration.

"Trace on."

With his will he reached into his Reality Marble and pulled forth the weapon that he needed. This was a powerful sword, one that even gods would be wise to fear; however it was precisely that destructive power that would enable his escape.

"Ragnarok."

The sword that materialized beside him was so huge that it seemed absurd that he'd try to wield it. Even Berserker would have appeared too small to suitably use the weapon. The Burning Twilight of the Gods was proportionately shaped like a short sword, however it was a short sword three and a half metres long, with a hilt that was less a grip and more of leather bound log and a length that was less a blade and more a sharpened slab of metal.

As soon as he had finished Tracing it Shirou slowly moved it through the air until it was hovering directly in front of himself and Snow. This was a trick that he'd inherited from EMIYA and the version of himself that had achieved a manifested Unlimited Blade Works. In their case they normally simply kept the swords hovering around them until they were 'fired' at an enemy. Instead he was bringing it to float right in front of him, close enough to touch but far enough away that the sword's blade, which was horizontally parallel to the ground, wasn't touching Snow. If he leaned forwards slightly both his hands could grasp the hilt giving him the appearance of wielding the absurdly huge weapon.

What the eighth Campione planned was a bit different, but that would come later. First there was one last preparation to be made.

"Trace on."

This time the sword he Traced was of far more modest power. It was the same sword that he'd used to keep the air breathable during his stay here, Íonú Domhanda: The Purification of the World.

As the crude iron weapon appeared in his free hand he moved to the next part of his plan.

"Structural recomposition."

This was also a trick he'd inherited form the Archer that had given him his arm. EMIYA had been skilled in the restructuring of the weapons he Traced, specifically their alteration into a form more suited to being fired from his bow. Theoretically it was possible to make further alterations, perhaps even mixing and matching powers and abilities. If taken to the ultimate conclusion it would be theoretically possible for him to create an arrow which could, for example, simultaneously used Gae Bolg's causality inversion and Rule Breaker's anti-magic effect, thus making for a sure killing anti-magus arrow.

However his other self had never been able to advance to such a level and Shirou himself estimated that it would be the work of a lifetime to manage it.

Fortunately he wasn't trying anything so advanced right now.

Under his will the shape of the sword in his hand began to change. Under normal circumstances such an alteration, one that he hadn't inherited from his other selves, would have been beyond his skill. However Íonú Domhanda was something of a unique case, because during its existence it had been reforged a number of times. It had been made into a talisman, a goblet, a crown and a plate. In each form it had retained its purifying traits, but always it had returned to its form as a sword. Consequently it was far more responsive to his efforts to change its shape than a Noble Phantasm normally would be.

In his hand it slowly compressed into a formless lump of metal, then flattened out and began to form into a barred structure. Before long he was holding a sort of ninja mask, the type that covered the nose and mouth, made entirely of thin bars of iron. The whole thing hooked over his ears and then clasped around his neck. As he carefully put it on he noted that, just as he'd hoped, the sword's effect remained and each breath he took was as fresh as that on a field in the days of mid-spring.

Alright, all the preparations were complete, now to get moving.

Backing Snow to the far end of the cave he pointed the floating sword at the wall that he knew faced the eastern side of the mountain, the side away from the town and shrine.

Taking a deep breath he channelled Prana into the Sword and activated its powers.

A jet of flames as wide as a single decker bus erupted from the now glowing red blade and slammed into the stone wall at the far end of the cavern. These weren't the yellow and orange flames that came from burning mundane items such as wood or coal, nor were they the bright blue of industrial flames used for cutting and welding. These flames were red as blood and shone with a strange light that mortal fire did not possess.

Though they were a pale and weak remnant of what they had once been these were the flames of the fire giant Surtr, these were the flames that were prophesied to burn down all creation when the end of all days came.

The effect they had upon the stone at which he aimed them was visible almost instantly. The rock melted even faster than an ice cube faced with a blowtorch, in less than ten seconds a small river of molten stone was flowing out of the tunnel being melted into the side of the cave. The air was now clogged with the fumes of the burning stone, but Shirou had anticipated that and had prepared his modified Íonú Domhanda accordingly.

Now for the hardest part.

"Come on Snow, HYAH!"

With a shout of encouragement to his mount the eighth Campione urged the winged horse onwards. Snow was a Divine Beast, one whose strength was back by being the vassal of a Devil King. To it normal dangers such as bullets or missiles were of no concern, even lava was only of minimal worry. The heat of the melted stone couldn't harm the Pegasus, but its consistency was like thick mud, impossible to gallop through.

And that was what Shirou had been preparing for.

As the white horse was about to set a hoof into the lava the young Emiya used Rule of the Underworld to materialized a large block of gemstone underneath the falling hoof. The tile was big enough to reach up through the magma by a comfortable margin, wide enough to provide an easy target, rough enough to ensure grip and heavy enough to be stable. That was what had taken him so long to get right, not only the size but also the speed and accuracy with which the blocks could be brought into being.

As his mount stepped forwards he materialized more blocks under its hooves with each step. As it stepped off them the blocks would fade back into the Underworld only to be called up again in front of his steed as it moved forward.

At first the pace was slow, Snow advancing into the tunnel even as the sword continued to spew forth its flames over its head. But as the Divine Beast grew more accustomed to the situation it began to pick up speed, by the time they had crossed the cavern and entered the melted out tunnel they were charging at a full gallop. It wasn't to hard, since the blocks were large enough to make a short pathway beneath the Divine Beast, the trick, which he'd had to spend a fair while practicing to get right, was to vanish the tiles behind him fast enough to get them in front. In the end it was a mental exercise of sheer speed and focus.

Now they were in the passage, the only light coming from the ruby flames of his sword and the dull glow of melted rock. He'd aimed the blast slightly upwards, so the flow of lava ran downhill past the Campione and his mount. Shirou paid no attention to any of this, right then his focus was concentrated entirely on two tasks. Maintaining control over the output of Ragnarok's fires and the creation of the gemstone blocks that formed the 'path' that Snow was running on.

A thought tugged at his mind as he focussed, one that brought a smile to his lips. Right now he was using huge blocks of precious stones, each worth enough to buy a nation out of debt, as glorified paving stones. If Rin ever found out she was either going to strangle him or suffer a heart attack . . . or have a heart attack while strangling him . . . or maybe strangle him and then have the heart attack.

The sound of crashing stones brought him out of his thoughts and back to his current situation. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that the tunnel was beginning to cave in behind him, but this was something he'd anticipated. As soon as the rock had cooled enough it was to be expected that it would become unstable and begin to cave in.

Now it was a race, one to see if he and Snow could keep ahead of the collapse.

All thought was abandoned as he focussed back upon his tasks. Keep the torrent of stone-melting flames steady, keep the gemstone path in time to the pegasus' gallop, don't lose the rhythm.


-()-


Hayate Homura was, in his own humble opinion, one of the more talented field agents that the History Compilation Committee possessed. Granted he wasn't nearly as skilled in combat as Seishuuin Ena-sama or as adapt at concealment as Touma-san, but he was skilled in other areas, particularly the analysis and dismantlement of spells.

It had been this talent that had served him well earlier. At the time he and his small team had been scouting the back of the mountain in order to see if any of the transformed tourists had fled there. But as they'd been searching Homura had suddenly felt a cold surge of dread running down his spine. While nowhere near the level of the Hime-Miko the field agent did possess a limited form of spirit vision inherited from his great grandmother, and he'd learnt to pay attention to the occasional 'hunches' it gave him.

With a shout of warning to his subordinates he'd begun to set up the best defences that he could hastily erect. They'd immediately scrambled to set up their own defences, but hadn't been fast enough, even his own protections had only barely held as a wind infused with divine power had swept over them. Homura had watched in horror as the members of his team had been transformed into all sorts of different apes, then he'd been forced to run as the transformed humans attacked him.

He'd managed to get away, but in the end had found himself cut off from any route that would take him back to where the Committee had set up their base of operations. Mind you, now that he thought about it, he didn't imagine they'd fared much better than him. The more talented individuals such as Touma-san and Kaoru-sama would probably be alright, but the vast majority of the rest would probably have been turned into vicious simians.

It had been that conclusion which had led him to his current course of action, namely hiding and waiting for the Campione in the area to defeat the Heretic God. Not the most courageous approach he was willing to admit, but given his own abilities it was the best option available to him.

Earlier he'd seen many swords made of light flashing through the sky, a clear sign that combat between the Heretic God and the Campione had resumed. With that in mind he'd lowly begun to make his way down the mountain in order to get to one of the roads or pathways that would make his return to civilization easier.

Now though things weren't looking too good.

It had started when he felt a faint tremor in the ground below his feet. At first he'd ignored it, but then it had come again, stronger than before. With a sudden flash of insight he'd realized that remaining where he was would probably be a very very bad idea and had immediately begun to run down hill as fast as he could. But when a third and far stronger tremor had struck it had been so forceful that Homura had been knocked off his feet.

Using a nearby tree to support himself the field agent had struggled back to his feet and stared upwards at the spot where he'd been standing a few instants before.

Before his staring eyes the side of the mountain exploded outwards in a violent eruption of unnaturally red flames, molten magma and flying stones. The Committee agent had to shelter behind the tree he was leaning against in order to protect himself from the burning pebbles that were raining down around him. However that soon became a secondary concern as the dry leaves on the forest floor around him caught fire. Stumbling sideways Homura backed away from the dancing flames, but even as he did so he noticed a sound, one that was growing louder.

It wasn't falling rock, it was a sort of drumming that was far too rhythmic and steady for that, but whatever it was it was getting louder. He paused in place, despite the nearing fires, that volume wasn't quite natural, it was as though the sound was growing beyond its mere cause.

And as it grew louder it was also drawing closer.

It was a stupid thing to do, the smart thing would have been to hightail it down the mountain side and get as far away from where he was as he could. Instead he chose to stay, something deep inside him telling him that if he did run then not only would he regret it but he'd also miss seeing something . . . grand, something he'd never see again in his life.

Then, just as the thundering drumming reached deafening loudness, it happened.

The gushing stream of blood red fire that had been spewing forth from the mountain suddenly swelled and redoubled its output going from a jet into a continuous eruption like a crimson volcano. More of the mountainside was torn up by the explosion and boulders the size of basket balls came raining down about the field agent causing him to swallow in horrified realization. If he had run he'd have been right where those large chunks of burning rock were falling right now. Once again he thanked the heavens for the instincts that had saved him

Now the thundering was so loud he thought he could feel the earth vibrating in sympathy to its beat, so loud, so lou-

With one final burst of flames and a sound like a mountain of glass splitting in two the mouth of the strange volcano erupted in a final burst of flames and . . . glitter? For a moment Homura couldn't believe his eyes as he saw a haze of multicoloured flecks that faded from view even as he watched.

However it was what emerged from the cloud of flames and colours that trapped his gaze.

A pure white horse with outstretched wings of an equally pristine whiteness tore out of the cloud like some phoenix rebirthing itself from the fires of its demise. On its back was a young man who couldn't have been older than eighteen, but there was something about him, the way he held himself, the look of exultant triumph on his face.

There was absolutely no doubt in Hayate Homura's mind; this was a Campione, a supreme King.

The white Pegasus came around in a slow arc to face the mountain, and then gave a single forceful beat of its wings. The action produced a wind that washed across the face of the mountainside, and where that wind passed fires simple vanished. Within the space of a second a potential forest fire had been completely extinguished.

W-was this the power of a Campione? To so easily subdue the flame, did the natural world itself bow to this King's power? He'd known of the supposed power of the God Slayers, but to witness it with his own eyes, to feel the overwhelming presence of such a Divine Beast and to know that it was the servant of that young man . . .

Hayate Homura had witnessed the power of the one called Emiya Shirou, and though he didn't know it yet that experience would in time come to change the course of his life forever.


-()-


Shirou felt the wind on his face and gloried in its freshness. Even though he'd been wearing the adapted sword of purification something about the air in the tunnel hadn't smelt quite right. In addition to that even though being the wielder of Ragnarok had protected him from the effects of its flames it hadn't kept him from feeling as though he had been trapped in a sauna. Now, as he soared through the air on Snow's back, the coolness and cleanness of the breeze on his face was a pure joy.

Still, right now he couldn't allow himself to get lost in the joy of his liberation. There was something nearby that his very blood demanded he seek out. Honestly he wasn't sure if this was a personal instinct or something that came with being a Campione, all he knew was that something inside him was shouting that over in that direction were his natural enemies. It felt as right as a compass needle pointing north.

Bringing his mount around in a wide turn he pointed them both in the direction of the sensation and gently spurred the winged horse onwards with his heels.

Suddenly the eighth Campione lost sight of the ground as an absolutely enormous bird flew underneath him. The great golden avian must have had a wingspan of more than four hundred metres, the mere thought that something so huge could so easily glide through the sky was preposterous, but nonetheless it was there before his very eyes.

"Ho King Emiya, I see you have not been lax in your efforts to win our race."

The voice called to him even through the rushing winds of flight. Shirou reinforced his eyes and saw the figure of Luo Hao standing proudly at the base of the huge bird's back. With a mental command he brought Snow in closer to her until only a couple dozen paces separated them. As he drew closer he could see that she'd apparently gotten her hands on a change of clothes because her formerly dusty garb had been exchanged for a mandarin style gown of white and cyan that showed off her figure quite pleasantly. The cut was obviously modified though since it would clearly allow her full movement for her martial arts.

Unbelievable, he used a Divine Beast and a powerful Noble Phantasm and she was still able to make it to the surface first. She must have been charging upwards at full speed as she pulverized the rock before her into powder the whole time since she left him.

Unbelievable.

"Sempai, I see you're free as well. Does this mean I've lost our race?"

"Hardly King Emiya, I heard the thunder of your own escape as I destroyed the last barriers of my prison, therefore I shall declare this contest to be a draw." The Ruler of the Martial Realm shook her head with a pleased look on her face. "To think that this Luo Cuilian would face both of Wakoku's Kings in competition and be brought to a draw both times. Truly this land has raised some fine young warriors."

It seemed that his plan to gain more of her respect seemed to have worked, excellent. Despite how their beliefs might clash he couldn't help but find himself liking the Chinese Campione. She might be egotistical and utterly archaic in her mindset, but he honestly couldn't see her as a bad person. It was a good thing they wouldn't have to fight.

The fact that he guessed that she might be a challenge only slightly easier to face than Gilgamesh himself only factored slightly into that opinion.

Glancing up and using his reinforced sight he saw that Kusanagi was now facing off against not one but three gods. All of them were unfamiliar, but one was of both human and monkey-like appearance. Since he could also see the figure of the girl that had earlier been identified as Mariya-san's younger sister the red haired teen guessed that Sun Wukong had abandoned his possession of the girl and had incarnated fully into his own body.

"There currently seems to be a surfeit of gods sempai," he called to the female King, "What say we settle this by seeing who can defeat their target first?"

"A fine game indeed," she shouted back as her huge bird began to dive for the great plain where the seventh Campione had been fighting, "Very well, I accept your challenge, let us see who may claim victory over our foe first."

Shirou knew that he was acting somewhat unlike himself, but for some reason he couldn't help it. His blood was boiling with anticipation for battle and he could practically feel the adrenaline pumping into him in preparation for combat. When taken together the effect was something akin to what he thought people must experience when they begin to get drunk.

With a slightly wild grin on his face he directed Snow into his own dive towards where the combatants were gathered.

The winged horse came down with a clattering of hooves and a spray of dirt and grass just off to the side of where his fellow Japanese King stood. Even as he slid from the Divine Beast's back he noted that Luo Hao had jumped from her bird and was majestically descending to the earth as gently as a falling feather.

Shirou frowned as he saw another figure standing next to Godou, someone he hadn't noticed before due to the angle of his view.

His eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the individual, black cape, fanciful clothes and a strange mask. This was the Campione that ruled over Los Angeles and could honestly lay claim to the title of superhero, John Pluto Smith.

What on earth was he doing here? And why right now? This was almost absurd, a full half of the Campione in the world were gathered together in a single land. While his research had only been cursory so far, due to the constraints on his time that he'd had to deal with, but to the best of his knowledge there hadn't been such a meeting for more that fifteen centuries. As he thought that a seed of an idea formed in his mind, not something to bring up now, but if they all survived and defeated their foes it might be something worth considering.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the Ruler of the Martial Realm addressing the Monkey King.

"Thank you for your patience, Great Sage! You as well as my little brother."

Hearing her words, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven raised an eyebrow in question.

"Oh? Little brother?"

"Correct. Kusanagi Godou here is the sworn little brother of me, Luo Cuilian. A relationship akin to you and your fellow brothers."

"Haha! But are you able to become as large as us?"

"In that case, together with our fellow ruler, King Emiya, we will defeat you all at once, burying your oath of sworn fraternity at the same time!"

"Emiya-san, you were able to escape as well?" Godou's question was directed at the eighth Devil King.

"Of course," Shirou replied as he allowed himself to slip into his role as the 'Fake King', "I could hardly allow myself to be shown up by our sempai now could I? Incidentally please allow me to congratulate you on your newly acquired sibling, I fear she may prove to be something of a handful, but at least you can be assured that things will be far from dull."

The look on the seventh Campione's face was quite the sight, a strange mix of dawning horror, disbelief and a hint of pained betrayal as he stared back at Shirou.

"Hohoho, it's not a bad idea to decide right here which side's sworn siblings are stronger. Wouldn't you agree Little brother, together with our ally, your fellow Wakoku King, we shall crush these foes!"

"Umm, actually it's not just us three, there's also another participant . . ."

The younger Devil King tried to bring the presence of the fourth Campione present to his sworn sister's attention. But his sworn elder sister, as well as senior along the path of domination, simply glared at him in response.

"Do you intend to spoil the first chance for us siblings to fight in cooperation with our ally by inserting this man of suspicious origins!? Foolish! This is a profane insult to me, your elder sister!"

Shirou watched in amusement as the mask wearing King leaned in closer to the beleaguered young man and whispered to him. Though he felt a little guilty for eavesdropping the young Emiya couldn't help but reinforce his hearing in order to catch what was being said.

"Oh . . . Elder sister eh? Having met merely days ago and she's already taken such a liking to you . . . You are truly outstanding in the ways of stealing maidens' hearts."

"Stop saying weird stuff about her taking a liking to me, please shut up for a bit!"

"There are three gods appearing before us, and there are we two siblings and our ally ready to battle them. Were we to include this interloper then we would be dishonestly relying upon our numbers. Also it could disrupt the honourable competition between your older sister and King Emiya; surely you don't seek to disgrace me so!"

There was a brief pause as the black haired teen groped for a response, but in the end the quiet was broken not by him but by Shirou instead.

"Your concern is appreciated sempai, but it looks like we'll all be able to select a dancing partner."

Perhaps it was due to his reinforced eyesight, maybe it was simply because he'd been paying more attention, whatever the case it seemed that the young Emiya was the first to spot the approach of the fourth god.

He had flown into the plain by first travelling over the mountain that bordered the plain, while crossing them his speed had been slow, but as he descended to the grass covered field his speed increased dramatically.

It was impossible to make out exactly what method the new god was using to fly since save for his helmet all else was obscured by a great cloud of black mist or smoke. He could have been riding a steed, vehicle or even using wings and it would have been impossible to tell. The whole thing moved in a way that no natural cloud could have managed, one driven by wind would have been torn apart, but this black mist held together even as it boiled onto the plains faster than any bird could have managed.

In the space of only a few seconds the black cloud had rushed up to beside the Monkey King and his sworn brothers and had solidified into a huge black armoured figure. The figure was huge, taller even than Berserker, and yet even his physical size was dwarfed by the sheer presence the armoured titan exuded

Deep inside him, within the knot of sensations and impressions that Shirou knew represented his Reality Marble, the red haired Campione felt something shift. Something within his world of weapons had moved on its own, though only slightly. He didn't know why but the emotions of aggressiveness and battle lust that had previously been directed indiscriminately at all the deities present suddenly condensed and focused themselves entirely onto the newcomer.

This one was his enemy, nobody else's. His blood which had been roaring before was now practically singing a war song to him.

" Well Great Sage," the newcomer spoke, his voice not booming or forceful, as one would have expected from one of such great size, but rather charming and light, the voice of some high paid actor on the movie screen. "Twould seem that thou and thy brother face numbers beyond thine own. Wouldst thou permit mine entry into this battle that I may even the number of combatants?"

"Oh ho, well I did say to your mistress that I'd let you join in the fun if there were more people to play with on their side. Who do you want to have fun with?"

Wordlessly the armoured giant's gauntleted left hand rose up and the metal clad finger pointed at Shirou.

"Ah, you want to fight the brat I defeated with a single blow? Well that's fine, as long as you don't interfere in my fight with the Kusanagi brat its fine with me."

The eighth Campione felt his eyes narrowing in irritation at that pronouncement. He might not be a prideful individual but he realized the value of a reputation and an image, after all he'd placed a fair bit of effort into the cultivation of both. For the Monkey King to so easily dismiss him was . . . irksome.

"Really Sun Wukong? Perhaps you'd like to try me again now that you're no longer hiding behind a shield made of a child's body."

That . . . was unusual for him. Normally he wouldn't respond to an insult with his own baiting, still doing so seemed the correct thing to do since he was now solidly in his role as a King.

"Oh? Are you so eager to be beaten by old Sun again brat? Maybe I'll save this fellow the trouble of fighting you and just hand your beaten carcass over to him."

It came again, the same blow that had brought him down before, the Ruyi staff extended at a speed that would have put the fastest arrow to shame.

But this time Shirou was ready.

Last time he'd made a foolish mistake by attacking a God without having activated his full physical capacities, this time he'd made no such error. Dragon Slaying Hero had been brought into effect as soon as he'd emerged from the tunnel on Snow's back. This time he was ready for combat with a Heretic Deity, this time rather than being too fast for him to follow he could see the attack coming.

Sparks exploded in a great shower in front of him as Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his hands in an instant then came flashing up at speeds that would have been exceptional even in the Holy Grail War. He didn't try to block with them, he knew that would be pointless. The Ruyi Jingu Bang was the closest thing he'd seen to a Noble Phantasm since coming to this world and it was powerful. If he wanted to defend against it he'd either need something that specialized in defence, such as Rho Aias, or a weapon of even higher rank to wield against it, such as Excalibur.

Instead rather than trying to block he brought both the Traced blades up underneath the staff and knocked it upwards, changing its trajectory. As the staff continued to extend and pass harmlessly over his left shoulder Shirou maintained eye contact with its wielder.

"Don't take me too lightly, it might be the last thing you do on this plane."

"Twould seem that the prey mine mistress has sent me to hunt is not so toothless as thou believe Great Sage." The armoured titan commented as the Monkey King retracted his weapon with a look of irritated disappointment on his face. "Enjoy thy battle with the black haired youth; Emiya Shirou is mine selected foe."

"Hmmm," Lou Hao's wordless sound of irritation drew the attention of the rest of the Campione. "I am still less that satisfied with this, though there are now sufficient foes for all us Kings, I am still displeased with the thought of sharing this bounty of foes with this suspicious individual. Would there not be more honour and glory to be had if we three were to vanquish all four of them?"

Shirou opened his mouth to make a suggestion, but was surprisingly beaten to the punch by Kusanagi.

"But this is a rare situation with four gods appearing at the same time. If we are down by one person on our side, wouldn't it be shameful?"

"Shameful?"

Luo Cuilian reacted. As expected, her prodigious pride meant that she was fiercely sensitive to such insinuations.

"If we don't prepare an army with the same formation as our opponents, it means that there will be a problem with respect."

"I see, that makes a bit of sense. Very well, I will accept your advice and we shall face them with equal numbers. As befitting for great generals and marshals, it is only right for us to lead armies into battle in the spirit of proper martial way . . . Still, little brother, there is something about your behaviour that displeases me."

Luo Hao grumbled as she stared at Godou. The red haired Campione allowed himself a certain guilty pleasure in watching the younger teen sweat under the Chinese God Slayer's stare.

"D-Displeased? I don't think I did anything wrong . . ."

"Of course you are wrong. I am the martial pinnacle, the elder sister to whom you should be offering the utmost respect. And how do you address someone of exalted stature such as myself? I believe I have already taught you the most appropriate form of address."

Comprehension dawned on Kusanagi's face and a slightly exasperated sigh escaped his lips, though he did a good job of covering it up.

"O, O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o . . . Nee-san..."

Looked like he was having a little trouble saying the word, this really was amusing to watch, a sort of floor show before the main event.

"You should be calling me 'Onee-sama. I never expected a little brother with such poor memory. Fine, since it is the proposal of my sworn little brother, I will accept it."

On hearing her words the red haired King turned to the masked hero of Los Angeles and offered a tight smile.

"Well King John Pluto Smith, it would seem that we shall be allies in this battle. Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Emiya Shirou the other King of this land. I would offer more formal welcomes, but I'm sure you'll understand if I choose to skip them given our current circumstances."

Shirou didn't quite know how, but he had the distinct impression that the black mask with the strangely insectile compound eyes was smiling right back at him with good humour.

"Well, one can hardly complain given what's going on, still the thought is appreciated."

"King Emiya," the Ruler of the Martial World's voice sounded from behind him. "As the senior King here it should be my duty to welcome the American King into the ranks of my army. Don't ignore propriety."

"But sempai, I can't be in your army right now, only act as an ally. After all we are in competition; it would be unseemly for me to be subordinate to my competitor. Others might get the wrong impression that our contest would not be completely fair."

There was a pause as Luo Hao took a couple of seconds to digest his argument.

"Yes, I see what you mean. Well done King Emiya, I am grateful to you for taking this step to protect my reputation."

Shirou simply nodded his head in acknowledgement of her words, then turned around and scanned the rest of the plain. It seemed that Kusanagi's harem had retreated to the edge of the woods next to the plains fields and were holding there as they watched what was happening. With them he could make out three figures, a short one with white hair and two taller ones beside them. All three were waving to him so he raised an arm and waved back.

Good, it looked like Illya and the others were safe, that was one weight off his mind.

Turning back to face the gods he prepared himself. It looked like the time for talk had passed, very soon there would only be battle.

"Since mine prey is to be dealt with separately from thine own I shall remove him from the area of thy battle." The black armoured giant said.

Even though he had Dragon Slaying Hero active, even though he had been waiting for it, it still nearly caught him totally unprepared. The great black knight suddenly surged forwards in a boiling cloud of darkness and slammed into Shirou. The eighth Campione barely had time to cross his Traced blades in front of himself in order to act as an improvised shield.

However the Heretic God wasn't attacking, rather as soon as he impacted on the crossed swords he pushed, pushed so hard that Shirou found himself lifted off his feet and flying through the air as though he were being propelled by a rocket. Dimly he heard the sound of the others commencing their own battles and the alarmed and loud snorting neigh of Snow, but those quickly died away.

He didn't have a chance to look over his shoulder, but when the force that had been pushing against him suddenly vanished as the God suddenly stopped in midair he took the chance to throw himself around.

As it turned out he did so just in time to crash into and then through the trunk of a tree. Had he not been a Campione the impact alone would probably have killed him. Since he was though the crash simply slowed him down enough to grab a tree limb as he fell to the ground to arrest his fall.

It looked like the armoured giant had carried him to the foot of the mountains that bordered the plain. In the distance he could make out the forms of the others, but they were at least a mile or so away. For this fight it looked like he'd be on his own.

"Well then Emiya Shirou, thou spoke fine words of defiance before, now thou must prove them against mine person as we battle."

With all the regality of an emperor descending a marble staircase the black cloud lowered itself to the ground and condensed into the huge armoured Heretic God.

"If we're to fight then at least let me know who my opponent shall be." The eighth Campione demanded as he once again Traced Kanshou and Bakuya into his hands.

"Tis only fitting that thou knowest the name of thy future defeater." the giant knight spoke with absolute confidence as he unsheathed a sword large enough for Berserker to use comfortably.

Shirou frowned as he felt his Reality Marble try to add the blade to his internal world. Try and fail. It was as though Unlimited Blade Works couldn't 'see' the sword accurately enough to get a full reading. It wasn't painful like when his alternate self had gazed upon Ea, rather than feeling as though his mind was breaking by trying to understand it, it was as though his thoughts were . . . sliding off it, for want of a better description.

"I am the greatest Knight to serve the King Who Appears at the End of the World. I am Sir Mordred!"

Mordred, the name ran through the red haired teen's mind bringing back memories inherited from his alternate selves. The homunculus female 'son' of Saber and Morgana. For years a loyal follower to the King of Knights until she rejected her upon learning her origins. Despair had become hatred and that hatred had led to the battle of Camlann where the reign of Saber ended as she slew her 'son' and received a mortal wound in turn.

Was this Mordred the same? Did he have a different history? Was it even a he, might not a woman hide beneath that mass of armour? So many questions and thoughts, but only one thing was completely clear.

This wasn't the child of his Servant; this was a Heretic God and his enemy.

There wasn't any need to know more at this point.

Spreading his arms into the ready stance of the style that he'd inherited from Archer Emiya Shirou prepared himself for battle.


(-)


Ragnarok: The Burning Twilight of the Gods

Type- Anti-Army/Anti-Fortress

Rank- B++ (The true sword of Surtr would have been EX rank)

Range- 1-99

No of Targets- 1-1999

NOT the sword of the fire giant that will slay all gods and reduce creation to ashes as is written in the Norse mythology. Rather than being a true divine weapon this Noble Phantasm can be regarded as a false imitation of a legend that no longer possesses basis. When the Age of the Gods ended many of the apocalyptic legends that accompanied the deities also faded. However against chance some fragment of the concept of the Norse Armageddon survived and was somehow implanted into a smith.

Compelled by the visions in his head that were slowly driving him insane the smith sought to alleviate his suffering by pouring the visions he saw into the construction and forging of a blade akin to the one that haunted him.

For long and troubled weeks he toiled, and eventually managed to create a weapon that no ordinary human could hope to wield. The enormous blade absorbed the fragment of the Norse doomsday thus elevating the weapon into a true Noble Phantasm, even though it was never used by a heroic spirit.

Fearing the destructive power of the weapon he had created the smith, now free of his visions, buried the weapon away. It remained hidden for centuries, until it was dug up by a nameless hero who used it on his quests.

Ragnarok is a huge weapon forged in the form of a short sword, but one so huge it was almost three and a half metres long from tip to pommel. The entire thing is forged from iron that is stained a dull red. Norse runes are carved into the flat of the blade and glow with heat whenever the powers of the blade are invoked.

When used this sword invokes the flames that would have once consumed creation. Like the Noble Phantasm these flames are pale imitations of the original, but despite that they retain considerable power. When released the flames will take one of two forms, the first is a spreading field of flames that deals defuse but widespread damage from the point at which it is imbedded in the ground. The second is when the fires are concentrated into a jet of flames roughly three metres in diameter. In this form the power of the flames in concentrated and becomes sufficient to melt through even the walls of large reinforced magical structure.

In addition to its destructive capacities Ragnarok grants its wielder total immunity to the effects of its own flames. As a result its user needs not fear being consumed by its fires or suffocating from the resulting smoke. This immunity does not extend to fire spells or the flame effects of other Noble Phantasms.


OMAKE; Why Illya shouldn't watch so much anime!

Shirou got ready to summon his Pegasus. It was the smartest thing to do after all; there wasn't any way to get to Saitenguu faster.

"Don't worry onii-chan; I can get us there, no problem."

The eighth Campione glanced at his adopted sister as she spoke up. To his surprise she'd summoned up her puppet version of Berserker and had him standing on the lawn in front of her.

"What do you mean Illya?"

"Berserker can take us there."

Her declaration was so proud it was positively adorable; still he'd have to point out reality.

"Illya, even if Berserker could carry us all it would take him far too long to get there."

"Really? Then what if I do THIS?"

At a snap of her fingers the great grey giant crouched down and then . . . something happened. Wheels popped out, his head expanded, a gun barrel extended from his mouth. Before the young Emiya could quite understand what was happening Illya was standing on the roof of what seemed to be a tank with wheels and Berserker's face on the front.

"Behold!" cried out his adopted sister as she struck a pose, "BERSERCAR!"

Shirou could only stare, blink, stare, blink again and then stare some more.

"What. The. Hell?!"

"I was watching some anime last night and it got me thinking; why shouldn't my super cool magical puppet of destruction have a transformation sequence? Next I'll begin to work on the mansion, wouldn't it be cool if it could transform as well?"

As if in answer to her suggestion the ground started to rumble and shake.

Spinning round Shirou could only stare in wide eyed astonishment as the great manor that he'd started to think of as home rose from the earth twisting and contorting. Before the utterly bewildered eyes of the eighth Campione the former dwelling became . . . a brick and wood mini-version of Fortress Maximus? Oh, wait, he didn't have a head?

Before that thought could fully finish running through his head there came the roar of a powerful engine from beside him and the . . . Bersercar? Went tearing by him. As he watched the strange offence against common rationality and sanity somehow managed to drive up the 'arm' of the former house and arrive at its shoulder. There the car flipped into the air and transformed once more, this time into a giant version of Berserker's head.

Shirou found his legs giving out from under him as he was confronted with a forty meter tall giant robot body topped with the face of the most fearsome Servant that he'd faced.

"Go Berserker Maximus; defeat the evil golden emperor Gilgatron!"

And now there was Illya standing on the thing's shoulder and yelling encouragement . . . all in complete defiance of any sort of common sense. What kind of idiot rode on the shoulder of a giant robot going into battle?

Then a crash from behind him drew his attention.

Okay . . . that was it; he didn't want to play anymore. He refused to even consider living in a world where there was a giant high-tech robot made out of gold that had a worrying resemblance to the King of Heroes.

-\-\-\-\

Shirou gasped in horror as he suddenly sat up from where he'd been lying on his sleeping bag. A quick but frantic glance around showed that yes, he was still in the cave where the Monkey King had sealed him

That . . . that meant that Illya hadn't performed unspeakable experiments upon her puppet or his manor. He wasn't going to have to worry about her engaging in giant robot combat.

Phew.

As he lay back down and closed his eyes the eighth Devil King made a resolution to himself. Once this whole mess was straightened out he'd have to see about trying to find her a new hobby. If she continued to pursue her interest in manga and anime that horrible vision might come to pass. Best get her interested in something a little less dangerous.

How about that card game he'd heard someone talking about at school the other day? Yu-Gi-something.

Surely that'd be a safer hobby for her to be interested in.

Right?