The skies of Fuyuki were the battleground for two divine beings as they soared through the clouds. No soldier or hunter dared disrupt the sacred battle raging between these two beings.
Gilgamesh effortlessly dodged through another cosmic laser as Vimana responded effortlessly to his commands. The golden ark was not like conventional aircraft at that it traveled at the speed of thought. Maneuvers that were impossible to pull off in modern aircraft was possible in the golden ship.
"Your insistent actions are starting to annoy me little bug," Having his ire, Gilgamesh glared down at the multi-armed eldritch being perched on the tower. However, he clicked his tongue as a sickle flew past his head as he re-focused on his pursuer.
"Hehe, forget about me so soon King of Heroes?" Mocked the Wet Nurse as the fake body that the Great One was inhabiting fired off a barrage of sickles from its fake purple gates.
Gilgamesh configured Vimana's wings before pulling high up into the sky, wishing to deal with his interloper without any interference. It worked like a charm; as he flew higher into the sky his chaser soon followed.
Breaking through the clouds, Archer had Vimana hover in the air as he waited for his opponent to appear. A second later, the fake Enkidu burst through the clouds as it stared at the awaiting King while hovering in the air with its shredded wings.
"Let us finish this fight of ours with the sky as our witness faker," Gilgamesh addressed his opponent.
"Yes, this battle has drawn out long enough," Was all the fake Enkidu said before shooting towards the hovering King.
His response was a barrage of weapons from the Gates of Babylon as the treasury fired at the approaching abomination. With a laugh, the wet nurse flew through the incoming weapons. Dodging and weaving through the projectiles, it wasn't long until it closed the distance with the Archer.
"You're mine!" It yelled as it manifested a spear on its fingertips and came aiming for Gilgamesh's neck.
Gilgamesh grunted in response as he moved his head so that the spear like hand pierced the throne. In one fluid motion, the King of Heroes moved out of his throne and onto the deck of the Vimana.
A pair of short swords fell through the Gates and he was able to grab before readying himself for an assault as the Fake Enkidu wrenched his spear hand out of Vimana's throne and shot itself at the king.
Even if the space on Vimana's nose was not suited for fighting, the two combatants made it work as neither side relented in their attack. Even if Gilgamesh had been summoned as an Archer and not a Saber, he could still wield other weapons to a terrifying degree.
Not expecting for the King of Heroes to wield two swords with such skill, the Fake Enkidu manifested another spear on its other hand before commencing the duel once more.
Going on the assault, Gilgamesh was able to make the faker stumble as he forced the being closer to the edge with an unrelenting assault. Taking advantage of its stumble, the servant kicked the being out of Vimana.
Laughing the faker manifested its wings as it took control of its momentum and hovered in the air as it stared down Archer.
"Not only do you not share the same personality as my dear friend, you also do not fight like he would." Gilgamesh taunted as he looked at the flying Enkidu. Yes, the only thing that they in common was their looks. This copy fought like a maniac compared to the reserved clay being.
"True," Was all it said before an array of purple portals appeared behind it as they fired off a wave of sickles. He responded with a wave of his own weapons as they collided with each other as the result was a massive smoke cloud that covered the two.
In the midst of the storm cloud, Gilgamesh tried to discern where his opponent was. His eyes widened as he tried to shoot the faker down through the smoke but was too late when it came barreling out of the smoke as it grabbed his head. Slamming his head down to the surface of the Vimana, the fake Enkidu readied to deliver the finishing blow.
"Move!" he commanded the Vimana.
Responding to his commands, the Vimana lit up before it slowly begun moving. Having an idea he commanded the ship to respond to his thoughts as the ship begun following the commands.
By flying straight down full speed.
As the Vimana barreled downward, it was getting harder and harder for the Fake Enkidu to keep its grasp on his head while trying to remain on the ship. The force of the wind proved too much for it as the whiplash ejected him out into the sky.
With that out of the way, Gilgamesh tilted the ship so that he could sit back onto the throne while not losing momentum as it continued its way back down to Fuyuki City. He could sense that his pursuer was behind him still and begun firing his gates into the clouds in hopes of hindering the winged clay being. The explosions rippling in the background told him that they were ineffective
Breaking through the clouds Gilgamesh could see the chaos gripping the city as he surveyed his sole opportunity to end this game of cat and mouse. "There you are," He grinned before nose-diving at the Amygdala perched on the Clocktower.
"Amygdala bogey 7 o'clock," A Powder Keg hunter that was stationed on the Clocktower called out to the Great One as the Vimana came soaring for them. "Looks like he won't be changing course, take your shot!"
The Great One positioned itself to take a shot. Lining up the shot it fired a cosmic laser that flew through the air in a straight line. Gilgamesh stared impassively at as the Vimana continued undeterred in its flightpath. From behind Mergo's Wet Nurse hadn't realized their ally had fired a laser at him and still believed that the kill was theirs.
"Almost there," Braced Gilgamesh as the laser came closer and closer.
"Almost," The laser was only a few meters out and closing the distance fast. From behind him the faker had almost caught up.
Gilgamesh smirked as it all came together. At the last possible second he had the Vimana bank to the left as it got clear of the laser's trajectory.
Leaving his pursuer to take the full brunt force of the laser. The abomination's eyes widened in shock as the golden back of the Vimana was replaced with the cosmic laser of Amygdala. It couldn't react in any way before the laser collided into them.
"Y-You think this is enough!" It roared as the smoke parted to reveal their crippled form. Wings that could barely fly were carrying a destroyed corpse. Having lost most of its body in the explosion, with only one arm and leg remaining, the abomination was as good as dead.
"No but this will," Gilgamesh surrounded the being with a full circle of his Gates before letting loose the treasury on him. As the smoke settled the only reminder that there had been anything was the mist that emitted from its death.
"Now then," He re-focused Vimana so that it continued soaring through the air as he gazed on his next opponent. Amygdala showed no response to accidentally killing off a fellow Great One as it fired its lasers.
"It's time to deal with you."
Brador had never utilized the Bloodletter in the manner he was using it now. It had always been his sole comforter down in the murky depths of the Astral Clocktower. The fear of beast hood and what it would do to him had made him a fearful man, blindly following the Church's teachings. He thought if he repressed his battle lust then he would get to survive.
As he fought in his new beastly state against Lancelot, he could understand the thrill that so many hunters lost themselves to.
"Annoying!" He growled as he manifested a bone hammer on one of his appendages before lashing out with it at the black knight. The force behind the hammer should've crushed Berserker's blade but all it merely did was kick up some air from the impact as Arondight took the hit.
Lancelot reacted quickly as he brought the divine construct out of the block and sliced the hammer off the bony arm. He was about to push the offense until he began blocking an attack from a scythe and axe bone arm.
He had no worries that Arondight would survive any assault that came its way. It was a divine construct with the special ability that no matter what attack that it received; it would come out unscathed and shine continuously like the water of a lake. It was the sword that defined what a "perfect knight" was to be. Its divine glow would be tainted when Lancelot would turn on his fellow knights.
Only now did it find him worthy to use its full power once more after seeing the resolution that the knight possessed to see his judgement through. It was his actions that led to the downfall of Camelot and he knew that was the case, and he patiently awaited the day of judgement. However, he failed to act when his king required her knights in the battle of Camlann and his hesitation led to King Arthur dying on the battlefield.
"To think that we would both have some nice tricks up our sleeves , " Brador complimented as he grew another bony weapon. They were at a stalemate, Brador had seemingly infinite reservoir of weapons to pull from while Lancelot had a sword that would not bow to anything less to a holy sword.
"To be fair you have pushed me far enough to beg my weapon to be used at its full might, I must thank you for that," Thanked Lancelot.
" Hehehe , you shouldn't thank me yet friend, I am just the tip of the iceberg, " Foreshadowed the beast-hide assassin before he pounced on the knight with all his bony weapons poised to strike.
Dodge a sweeping scythe.
Block a hammer strike before parrying a great sword.
Duck under a punch
Slice off a bone arm only for it to regenerate in an instant
Snapping off a lance made of bone before stabbing it into the back of Brador and jumping out of the way as Brador arms begun flailing around in hopes of eating him as his body reacted to the pain. Brador merely laughed to the pain as he ripped the lance out of his back before launching it.
Bringing up Arondight to block it, Lancelot could barely react to Brador closing the distance and his claws almost tearing though his armor. He did not get out unscathed as the claws were able to slash the armor enough so that blood began dripping out of it.
"Usually my weapons have the effect of frenzy when they can get a clean hit on flesh. It would cause the victim's body to begin tearing itself up under the effects of madness but..." He gestured to the black knight. "It's totally ineffective to a being already effected by madness."
"Still you are losing time that you do not know that you have," He gestured to the chaos surrounding them.
The streets were still drowned in chaos as the Hunt and Rider's army showed no signs of slowing down their conflict. The number of beasts had died down but it was still a bloodbath between soldiers and hunters as they battled for dominance of the city. "Your army may be the largest that the world has ever seen but you must realize that it is not infinite . As we speak Rider's master must be feeling the drawback of the mana being used. The command seals that he no doubtedly used are beginning to lose their effect."
"While your army begins to slowly be pushed back, ours is infinite and never dying. That is..." He gestured himself. "You kill me."
"Then the plan is simple enough," Lancelot's grip on Arondight tightened as he readied himself to go on the offensive.
"Oh?" Questioned the hunter. "We have been in this fight for a while now and you have yet to deal any serious damage to me. When will you succeed, when your entire army is in shambles?"
Berserker could only click his tongue in frustration at the stalemate they found themselves in. Yes, he could invoke Arondight's true power and end the fight here and now but he could tell that Brador was being protected. He could see faint glimpses of Cainhurst knights standing watch, ready to intervene if Brador found himself being pushed back.
He needed a distraction but what?
!
"You say my army is being pushed back but my eyes are showing me something else," Lancelot motioned to what was happening behind Brador.
There stood Iskandar leading a charge with his soldiers as they charged through the middle of the city, which incidentally happened to be the highest concentration of hunters and beasts. Iskandar roared his battle cry as he rode on Bucephalus as he and his army ran through any hunter or beasts with their spears.
"Deal with him!" He commanded his knights as they rushed off to deal with the sudden charge of Iskandar.
"Now!" He pushed the advantage that Rider had given him, now was the time to strike. Two handing Arondight, he willed the divine sword to release its true form.
"Oath to my king!" He chanted as the divine sword began to glow bright blue as it channeled the unbreakable light of the Lake.
"BASTARD!" Brador roared as he rushed to attack Lancelot before he could complete his Noble Phantasm. He pounced onto the charging knight with his claws and bony weapons ready to eviscerate the knight.
"Reaching the very end, beyond the boundaries, King on the other side, look at this light!" Arondight's blue glow was at its peak as Lancelot swung the empowered divine construct at Brador.
" Arondight -Overload!" He yelled as he the sword clashed with Brador's bony claws. While Brador's claws were infused with the bloodlust of the Hunt; it could not compare to the divine might of Arondight. Brador might as well as put butter as a shield against Arondight as the sword cleanly carved through his claws. His bony weapons were also no better as they too were destroyed under the divine sword. The sword continued onward as it begun carving Brador's body, his armor providing no resistance.
With a clean sweep, Lancelot dismembered Brador as his torso was separated from his body. "Heh," Even as his torso fell to the ground and he could feel himself beginning to disappear away; he still had a smile beneath his bony mask. "This was fun Caster," Brador's body was disappearing to the point that he would be gone before he even hit the floor. Before Brador disappeared, he saw Lancelot running off to help Iskandar with his army.
"Who knows, maybe you'll see who Caster really is," Was his last thought before disappearing into mist.
Atop the City Hall, perched on the highest point of the building.
Caster slowly opened his eyes, this time the once swirling cosmos within held something different in them as he gazed down at the chaos engulfing the city. He had been watching how things were playing out and it seemed that the pieces were finally moving into place.
"My Bloody Crow." He called out to his most loyal hunter.
"Yes, my liege?" He asked as he cut through two of Iskandar's soldiers with relative ease with his Chikage.
"Gather Sola-Ui from the sewers and bring her here, it is time to prepare for the endgame."
"Yes, your highness," The Bloody Crow answered before rushing off to the sewers.
Caster gazed down at the city as he own forces were beginning to get taken out. Without Brador to provide a conduit for the Old Hunter's Bell, the wraiths of the past had disappeared and the remaining hunters now found themselves being outnumbered.
He looked off to see the where Amygdala was trying in vain to hit Gilgamesh out of the sky. Without the Fake Enkidu to distract the King of Heroes, the Vimana effortlessly dodged through the cosmic lasers. After dodging through a barrage of lasers, the gold ark begun making an attack run on the Amygdala. The eldritch being brought its arms up to defend from the inevitable attack.
Down in the streets Lancelot ripped off a lamp post and with his Noble Phantasm transformed the lance into a javelin. With a mighty throw the black knight launched the spear at one of the many arms of the Amygdala.
The transformed street pole pierced through one of the Great One's arms. With a pained screech, Amygdala unknowingly lowered his arms that Gilgamesh took advantage of.
"Fall mongrel," He grinned as an array of Gates was summoned beside the Vimana. A barrage of weapons fired out of the Gates and riddled the poor eldritch being like a porcupine. The pain of being attack had clouded Amygdala's judgement and in a brief lapse of judgment, loosened its grip on the tower.
Trying to regain its grip, Amygdala could do nothing as it found itself falling from its perch. It even took a good chunk of the tower with it as it descended onto the streets with a mighty crash. It tried to pick itself up off the ground but forgotten the fact that there it had ripped off some of the tower trying to not fall.
Its last moments were spent looking up at the falling debris just before it got crushed by it.
Caster began laughing to himself as he took in the chaos. What a wonderful show that was playing out before his eyes. The show was slowly hitting it climax. After giving it some thought, he brought his hand up to his face as he made his decision.
"I believe it's about time I've shed this form." With that declaration, he tore through his face like it was a mask.
The Caster that Ryunosuke had summoned had died.
In the wake of his death...
The Grand Foreigner revealed himself.
From the corpse of the servant, a being took its place.
Twelve shining wings emerged from the being's back.
Chapter 19 done! Loose ends are being tied up here. The clocktower assault is successful with the death of Caster's defenses. The sewer moves onward towards the sea and the Grand Foreigner finally reveals himself. The story is close to hitting its final chapters but it's not ending anytime soon.
The support that this is story is getting still surprises me and I hope the future chapters will make you guys all happy.
Hope you guys are staying safe in these trying times.
That's all for now.
PRAISE THE GOOD BLOOD!