The two kings stand opposed to each other, with weapons drawn to face each other: In Doni's hand is his trusty sword, while Shizuka wields the stone of metal. Distance between the two is ten meters, allowing a melee strike within a less than a second.
"Eh, so that stone is your authority?" Doni looks puzzled at the stone floating to the other king's side. It's about half as big as Shizuka is tall, but there's clearly a lot of power hiding inside of it. "Good, good. I guess that the time for warm up is already over."
"Just get this battle started already." Shizuka has no interest in this fight, but she would rather have it over sooner than later. It's the same as with the dentist or a report, the sooner you're finished with it the more free time you have left.
Doni lets out a small smile, happy that the promised duel can finally begin. "Sure. Since you just showed your authority, how about I show you mine?"
Magical energy surges through Doni's right arm, an overwhelming amount that would make any ordinary mage shudder in fear. "Hereby I swear, I forbid the existence of things I cannot cut!"
The right sleeve of Doni's cardigan bursts off, destroyed by the magical power. Starting from the top Doni's arm starts to turn silver, and in mere moments Doni's entire right arm has been recolored.
However, this is not something as simple as Doni's arm getting a silver coating, compared to silver paint. No, the arm literally turned into a magnificent silver sculpture! How utterly absurd!
"This sword is the blade that slices through all existence. Namely, the invincible sword!"
The blade in his hand starts to shine brightly, a white glimmer covering the entirety of the blade. The blade that was once an ordinary sword has turned into the ultimate destroyer of existence!
A simple horizontal swing is used on the pillar next to Doni. In a single fluid motion the pillar has been cut in halve. But that is not all:
Slice.
Slice slice slice.
Slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice.
With a single cut the pillar was literally sliced to the size of pebbles, the number of sword trails numbering in the hundreds.
"Shizuka, this is my authority!" With this Doni is ready to start the fight, waiting For Shizuka to chant her own spell words to activate that stone.
The magic sword that can cut anything, what an utterly terrifying power. Reading about this [Rippling Arm of Silver] is enough to deem it insane, but seeing it in real life is ten times worse.
However, that does not mean that it is invincible. The eighth king has had enough time to think up a countermeasure: "If that is your declaration of power, then know that it is as ridiculous as you are. However, do not think that it is unequaled, Salvatore Doni!"
Italy's king originally took that line as a compliment, but now he is getting intrigued. This king has something that can equal his blade? "Then why don't you show me, Shizuka? What authority do you have that can equal my blade?"
Shizuka answers that question with divine chanting of her own: "Then I too will create the ultimate blade! The sword that can cut through all existence, the things I cannot cut are none!"
Out of the black stone a longsword appears, a weapon as dark as the black philosopher's stone itself. Its blade is around three feet long with a foot-long hilt, and lacks anything other than a hilt and a blade. The darkness seems as if it wants to stream off, disappear to nothingness, but Shizuka did not spend forty percent of [Metal] to let it simply flow away again. Shizuka grabs the blade, and pulls it in its entirety out of the stone.
"?" Even Doni looks surprised at the trick Shizuka pulled off. To put power behind her words Shizuka too makes a single swing on a pillar next to her.
Compared to Doni's swing it's a rather pathetic swing, but not without results. Countless cuts slice her pillar into bits of the same size as the pebbles the king of swords created.
"Will this suffice, Salvatore Doni?"
"Hmm… is that your authority, to copy other's authorities?" An interesting concept, though Doni wouldn't have a clue what deity was slain to create such an authority.
"Who knows?" Shizuka answers with a smug and taunting grimace. "Perhaps we slew the same god, and obtained the same authority. Or maybe it is something completely different?"
"Yes…" Doni's smiles fades, his savage wisdom finally showing its true colors. There's something wrong here, something wrong about the authority Shizuka produced.
"However, what are you planning to do? You strike me as the type who managed to slay a god through wit and trickery, just like that Alec guy or K-the other Japanese king." No need to throw off the enemy by telling her about what might be a future familial crisis, that's a rather low blow Doni does not want to use. "You're as dangerous as demonic beasts, perhaps even more, but you're not a warrior trained in the way of martial arts like myself. You should know what the outcome of this battle is if we fight my way."
Out of ten battles, Doni will win ten times. Out of a hundred duels, Doni will win a hundred times. Shizuka is not a martial artist. Her walk, her aura, her stance, none of them give even the slightest indication of being skilled with that type of weaponry. A swordfight will be a guaranteed loss for the youngest king.
"Perhaps what you say is true. However, if we cross swords than that doesn't mean that I automatically lose. Why don't you try to figure out what I mean?" But if that is true then Shizuka will deny that logic with all her might!
A small chuckle form Italy's monarch, who is truly interested in Shizuka's defiance. Most likely she has a trap in preparation for him, similar to the black prince of lightning. Doni will admit, he's the highest grade of idiot, lacking the intelligence to see through the enemy's tactics. However, foolishly challenging the enemy and persevering is Doni's main strength. Be it man or devil, whatever stands in Doni's way will be obliterated!
"Okay Shizuka, I'll see what you got for me." Suddenly Doni becomes even more terrifying than he already was. The bloodlust he emitted just moments ago is completely gone. He walks towards Shizuka as if meeting a friend he has not seen in a while, with a simple and friendly pace that tries to make the youngest king lose attention.
That alone is deadly. The moment Shizuka loses her guard she will die. Keeping herself focused on the enemy she tracks down the movements of her enemy carefully.
Doni walks forwards, doing nothing else that even triggers the slightest bit of hostility. The distance between the two kings gets crossed bit by bit, until there is only two meters left between the two kings. In kendo this distance would be called issoku itto-no-mai, the one-foot one-sword distance. If either of the two combatants takes a step forwards they will be able to strike the other and get hit in return.
The hidden bloodlust of the sixth king suddenly skyrockets, using the dissonance of battle energy to perform a sword strike at blurring speeds.
Shizuka cannot see the strike clearly. It's an attack skilled enough to be called divine, and Shizuka should not be able to defend herself against it. Trusting her own instinct she tries her best to defend against this strike, and with some luck she actually succeeds!
With her own sword Shizuka manages a block, stopping Doni's silver sword from cutting her in half. It's sloppy in execution, and a swordsman on the level of that moron can easily exploit the gaps she left to obtain a clean cut on her body. If this were a normal swordfight she would be dead by the second strike. Good thing then that it is not a battle of swords, but a battle of invincible authorities:
Because Doni's silvery-white sword is the all-cutting invincible blade, Shizuka's sword is cut in half and obliterated.
Because Shizuka's black sword is the all-cutting invincible blade, Doni's sword is cut in half and obliterated.
Therefore the swords create mutual destruction, destroying each other in the process!
Damn, Doni curses inwardly as he realizes the trick used by this young king. Among mages, Salvatore Doni's [Rippling Arm of Silver] is considered to be the authority amongst Campiones without weaknesses. It has no limitations, amount of uses, or anything like that, simply being a blade that can cut anything. Nice and simple, fitting Doni. However, it is wrong to say that there is no limit to this power. In fact, Shizuka exploited its one mayor weakness to prevent Doni from using this authority:
Doni does not know how to use [Rippling Arm of Silver] without a blade. The authority without limits can only be activated if Doni wields a weapon. It does not even specifically need to be a weapon, just something with the shape of it suffices. There is almost always one to find in the nearby area, but it is a limit nonetheless that has now been used against him!
On this barren island with his only weapon destroyed there is nothing that can function as Doni's blade, making his first authority useless!
"O blood of the evil Fafnir, bestow upon me the fate of invulnerability."
So? He may have lost his all-cutting sword, he still has his invincible armor! Activating [Man of Steel] Doni plans to literally crush Shizuka beneath his weight. He may not equal Luo Hao in unarmed combat, but his skills are still far above that of the average martial artist, and that will bring him victory! Taking another step forward Doni plans to turn this into a wrestling match.
"Steel reforged, steel reborn. The blades created by the engines of war are unlimited!" However, Doni isn't the only one who has authorities left. In Shizuka's hand another black sword of all-cutting appears, the same as she wielded before. Unlike Doni her authority does not need a weapon as a base, allowing her to easily reform the invincible blade!
Now Shizuka is the one wielding the all-cutting blade, and Doni knows from his own history how the battle between [Rippling Arm of Siver] and [Man of Steel] ends.
The distance between the two kings is short, way too short. Doni has the option to attack, but doing so will give Shizuka enough time and space to land a fatal blow. Really, this is the first time Doni has to fight his own authority, and it's as troublesome as others believe it to be. How interesting and fun!
The sixth king tries to pedal backwards, to get out of the range of that blade. Get away, and try to find an opening in her attack. If Doni can increase the reaction time he has for dodging the enemy's blade his superior skill will certainly prevent that sword of Shizuka to hit.
"I won't let you!" But Shizuka does not seem to let him off so easily. A downwards slash, the most basic of basic sword strikes in kendo. Swiftly she swings the blade downwards, hoping to catch the enemy king with her attack.
Salvatore Doni tries to dodge, but with this little distance he cannot prevent the blade from connecting! The top of the left shoulder is where the blade strikes, cutting downwards to kill the sixth king.
"With this single strike I will bring extinction. That which opposes me will be cut down to dust!" Spell-words for pouring all of the blade's power into a single attack. Normally the blade she created can last a minute or two without losing power. However, Shizuka will not get another chance like this strike, so she has to give it everything she got for this single downwards strike.
"Even if the body is crushed and scattered, the sword never dies! The chipped blade gets sharpened by the smith, polished anew! No sword will destroy me!" But if Shizuka gives it her all to destroy Doni then he tries to prevent his own demise at all costs!
The two powers clash inside of Doni's shoulder, eventually reaching the climax when a small explosion creates a shockwave between the two kings. Salvatore Doni, whose weight has become nearly immeasurable thanks to his second authority, firmly stands his ground while lightweight Shizuka is blown back several meters. However, the blade strike was not without effect:
Right next to Doni lies his left arm, which Shizuka successfully cut off from his body. The all-cutting sword managed to cleanly get through, turning the arm in a lifeless bit of metal that fell to the ground.
Doni stands stupefied by what just happened. If it weren't for [Man of Steel] then that blow would've been fatal. He has to be grateful that he's let off with losing just an arm. His remaining right arm is no longer silver, having poured all his energy in his second authority to block that attack.
"Want to call it quits? You've literally been unarmed." Shizuka has had quite enough of this duel. This tactic of hers let her call first blood and it created a large injury on the enemy. She would rather quit while she's ahead.
"You mean this?" Doni's remaining arm points at where once used to be his other arm. "Don't worry, for kings like us this is but a scratch."
"A scratch?" Here's the winner for understatement of the century! "Your arm's off!"
"Oh, I've had worse." Doni starts to speak like a sore loser, with even Shizuka pitying this enemy king. "No seriously, you should've seen me during my fight with Bacchus! Now that was bad, I'm surprised I can still walk after that incident!"
"Look, whether or not this is the worst thing to happen to you isn't important, I just cut off your arm. I would say that the fight's mine with that blow."
"I'll admit that you won the first round, but don't worry, I'll repay that debt in the second!"
Just stop and quit already! Shizuka wants this duel to be over, Fuyuhime and Sakura want this duel to be over, Andrea wants this duel to be over, everyone but Doni wants this duel to be over! Learn to read the damn atmosphere, moron!
"So what are you going to do now that you lost your arm and your weapon? Bleed on me?"
Doni laughs at the joke that was meant as an insult, but calmly tells Shizuka his opinion. "Yes, losing my weapon is probably the worst thing to happen today. Did you really have to break it? I liked that sword, it was a collector's edition!"
Such eschewed priorities this Italian king has. Who cares about the rarity of the blade in such a situation? Shizuka would almost call Doni out on this fact were it not for the counterargument that Doni gives as his tone shifts to being completely serious:
"Now I guess that you think that I can't use my invincible blade without a weapon, right? If you did a bit of research on me then you should believe in that fact." True, Shizuka's entire plan was based on destroying that [Rippling Arm of Silver], which succeeded quite well. Now if only Doni can admit his defeat. "However, if you believe that I would give up simply because I lack a weapon then your plan is half-baked."
Doni can read a grumble off his opponent's face, proving that his theory struck gold. "In fact, even the execution of your little tactic was half-baked. It's true that I need a weapon to create my all-cutting blade, but it does not specifically need to be made for war. As long as I it's something I can grip my hand around and wield [Rippling Arm of Silver] can turn it into a weapon."
"O wood!"
What is Doni talking about? Shizuka does not understand what that idiot tries to say, but decides to switch to [Wood] in case Doni tries anything funny.
"A twig would work, or a fishing rod… now Shizuka, you may be right that neither of those can be found on this artificial island, but could there perhaps be something else that is thin and cylindrical?"
Oh no. Nononono. Shizuka fully understands what Doni plans to do. She has created the only weapon-like item on this island: it's Doni's left arm, the one she cut off!
"It may be more of a club than a sword, so I won't be able to give it my all, but I guess it will do for now." Doni grabs the cut off arm, chanting the spell words for that dreaded authority:
"That which cuts all; That which destroys all; hereby I swear that none will be safe from my invincible existence!"
Doni's remaining right arm turns silver, and the arm he holds in his right hand becomes a white club that can crush everything.
"So, ready for round two?"
Doni does not even wait for an answer as he comes straight at Shizuka again, this time with renewed vigor to crush his enemy.
"The planet, blossoming with nature! Lands become fertile and green, dead stone replaced with life, the rebirth of flora and fauna!"
If Doni will fight again then Shizuka has to respond in kind. Using the magic of wood she turns the dead stone island into one with an abundance of life. The stone ground turns into earth, and on top of it a field of grass rapidly grows, while the stone pillars turn into perennial trees. Branches from the trees wrap themselves around Doni's upper body, while the grass forms long vies that tie down the sixth king's legs.
"Stopping me from moving, huh?" For once this is happening to the opponent instead of her, which Shizuka rather likes. Guinevere was right, this tactic is really useful if you know how to apply it! Now to use one of the three stones left to deal a precise but decisive blow. Perhaps also cut off his other arm to prevent him from wielding a sword, and if that isn't enough then the legs can also be cut without being fatal.
"However, that won't be enough, Shizuka." With a simple flick the branches around the club are destroyed, and with flexible motions he cuts away the branches on the rest of his arm. This all took a second to do for Doni. In another second he freed his torso and other arm, and in the third one he freed his legs. This whole idea of Shizuka only bought her three seconds, far too little as Doni is racing towards her!
Doni's arm turns into a blur, and before Shizuka realizes it she can feel terrible pains in her left flank, just as she is flown several meters backwards. Shit, that idiot has managed to land a strike on her! It's a blow equal to instantaneous killing, absolutely fatal. Shizuka cannot even form coherent words anymore, so much does it hurt. Screaming it out she uses the remaining energy of wood as an emergency healing device, but Doni is already preparing for a second attack to finish her off. Before Shizuka knows it he's coming her way again!
As Shizuka still suffers from the first strike of Doni she can actually hear Fuyuhime chanting, who is standing thirty meters to the right of the duo of kings. She has suddenly decided to start using spell words, for the first time in this entire battle:
"The blade of war never stops, the blade of battle never ends. Chishuuha {1}, blade of unlimited battlefields, I ask of you to appear in the hands of this witch!"
In Fuyuhime's hands that cross between a katana and a naginata appears, before transforming into a traditional double-edged European longsword. Doni seems to ignore the witch, focusing more on damaging Shizuka, but the younger king realizes that Fuyuhime might have a plan to save her.
Doni plans to strike again, but he suddenly becomes wary as he notices a sudden surge in magical power. Fuyuhime's magical power suddenly turns into an amount that is way more than that of an average magus, as if she is creating a massive spell that is meant for hurting and killing a godslayer!
"Lightning and horse. These two are the ancient origins of steel. The divine bolt of justice that slays evil, and the loyal companion that accompanies the hero. Now, as a reminder to all those who are evil, fear the one wielding the strength of steel, for lighting will strike down and bring retribution, riding the galloping servant of heroes!"
Fuyuhime trusts the sword in her hand, aiming it at the foolish king of Italy. In response to this gesture the magical energy around Fuyuhime turns into a large bolt of lightning, ignoring natural laws to swim through the air towards the sixth king.
That bolt is powerful indeed. If Shizuka took it head-on she wouldn't be dead, but she can at least expect to suffer from some second-degree burn marks along with temporary paralysis. If Doni gets hit by such an attack then he would be out of commission for long enough to allow Shizuka to deal a decisive blow. What technique or spell Fuyuhime just used is not known to Shizuka but it is an amazing trump card Fuyuhime learned. At least some words of praise need to be given later for this ability.
However, Doni simply catches a glimpse of this attack before deciding that it is not worth looking at. Sure, that lightning might be capable of harming gods, but what can it do against [Man of Steel]? Doni has nothing to fear, so he simply ignores the attack aimed to strike him down.
That might actually be a bit of a mistake on Doni's part.
True, the attack cannot harm Doni. However, if Doni had increased the defense of his second authority he would weigh enough to not be affected by the pushing power of the attack!
Without harming Doni the bolt of lightning pushes him over the grass, overpowering the force of friction the sixth king has with the ground. The push causes Doni's swing to be off, as he has been pushed two meters to the side.
Now that a bit of breathing room has been created Shizuka absorbs the last bits of energy from [Wood] and summons another stone from her repertoire, this time summoning the stone of [Water]. However, that is not the only stone she wants to use:
"O Water, O Steel, descend from the heavens!"
Shizuka is not planning to kill Doni with this attack, but to give herself a large amount of time to recover. To do that she needs a distraction, some sort of divine beast, and what sounds better as a distraction then something with the speed and power of lightning? Fuyuhime used it just now, and that helped Shizuka tremendously. If she can perform such a power on the level of an authority then she has a lot of time left.
However, the beasts that can be summoned by [Water] are shelled beasts, things like turtles, hermit crabs or snails, who all have a rather sad reputation of being terribly slow. To create a swift creature of lightning another stone needs to be used as the base.
Amongst the four other stones there is one which has a little bit of residue left, enough to create a base in which the stone of water's powers can manifest through. That is [Steel], the stone of which Shizuka has already used eighty percent. That stone can be used to create furred beasts, among which speedsters like the jaguar belong to. Perfect, that will do for Shizuka's cause.
A furred beast with the powers of lightning, Shizuka will create such a being to come to her aid:
"O thunder, O lightning! The usurper, the despot, lord amongst beasts! Without fear, without doubt, nothing dares to stand in your way lest they be destroyed. I command you, prove your strength to me and slay Salvatore Doni!"
The spell words to create the ultimate distraction, it creates a large bolt of lightning from the sky that drops down right in front of Shizuka. There it stands, the beast that must win time for Shizuka:
A quadrupedal monster with lupine features, From head to tail it is almost eighteen meters long. Its body is covered in turquoise scales, with golden flat spikes forming deadly rows on its shoulders, chin, back and the upper part of his legs. His back is covered in white fur, and the paws and tip of the tail are also completely covered in golden spikes {2}. It lets out a bellowing roar, as lightning from the air strikes the beast until its fur stands on end and he glows an electric blue.
The monster looks at his opponent, seeing a strong opponent in this warrior. It readies itself for battle, preparing to kill this man for his master.
The monster itself bears the most resemblance to the Raiju, a divine create from Japanese mythology that serves the god Raijin {3}. This is a beast so strong that even a large group of experienced great knights would have trouble defeating this ruler of lightning.
But alas loyal beast, your opponent is an invincible godslayer. Your defeat is all but guaranteed.
Even so… But even so! The Raiju will not give up easily! The beast has his own pride, his own will. For the sake of its master, it will obliterate what stands in its way! Slowly and dignified it walks to the enemy as thunder strikes down with every step the Raiju takes. Trees get destroyed by the lightning, pulverizing the battlefield, showing off that Doni must not take this beast lightly.
Now that the beast is ready to fight Shizuka calls over to her other ally, who has been helping Shizuka quite a lot so far: "Fuyuhime! Get me out of here!"
Fuyuhime does as told and clings tightly around Shizuka. "O wings of Artemis, grant me the power to journey through the day and soar across the heavens!"
As Fuyuhime speaks the incantation Shizuka and Fuyuhime find themselves gliding through the air. Not for long, though, as their location is only a hundred meters ahead, somewhat further on the beach.
When Fuyuhime lets go Shizuka immediately falls on the beach, breathing heavily as the inside of her body is crushed by that swing of Doni. Damn, that was a mayor set-back to her plans! By analyzing the data on Salvatore Doni yesterday she could make a rough tactic to counter his authorities. If that blade of his is literally all-cutting then Shizuka should be able to use [Metal] to copy that authority. With that fake blade she should be able to counter both his sword and his armor if Doni underestimates the eighth king even the slightest bit.
As Shizuka predicted so it happened: She destroyed his blade and cut through [Man of Steel]. However, this is where Shizuka got sloppy. She expected the idiot form Italy to give up after losing his beloved sword, but Salvatore Doni is not someone who gives up that quickly. Without a back-up plan Doni has taken full reign of this battle, and with a new all-cutting blade he is more dangerous than ever!
But that isn't even Shizuka's biggest problem. Sure, that sword… arm of his is a true monster, a weapon that would've instantly killed Shizuka if she didn't use the power of [Wood] to heal herself. However, the thing that is the biggest obstacle to victory is that armor of his, his second authority obtained from heretic Siegfried. How can Shizuka get past Doni's [Man of Steel]?
Copying his all-cutting sword was the only thing Shizuka could think of to get past it, and that tactic worked. However, the blow was not fatal nor did it make Doni want to give up. Now she only has [Fire] and [Earth] left, neither of which can actually get past that armor.
Fleeing would force her to be on the run for at least seven days, and considering that Doni seems to have quite the amount of investigative resources at his side he will probably find Shizuka before the stones are recharged.
No, Shizuka somehow has to settle it right here and now. But what can she do?
"Kusanagi Shizuka, I hope that that damned trash isn't causing trouble." Walking over to the eighth king is the sixth's butler, Andrea Riviera. For once he does not look all to angry, in fact, you could almost say that he looks happy. Perhaps because this time there's nothing of real value destroyed by the antics of his friend and king he has no reason to be mad?
"That's impossible." Shizuka oh so wishes that to be true, but reality isn't that kind. "I doubt that that idiot actually can do something that doesn't cause any kind of problems."
Andrea gives a sigh, completely agreeing with those words. "Yes indeed. Please tell me you have given me a good reason to send him on a recovery vacation for a very, very long time."
"Does cutting off his arm count?"
Andrea actually looks surprised for once. "You cut off his arm? That's… impressive, to say the least."
"You sound as if that never happened before."
"Well, in Doni's battles with the other kings he usually got defeated without suffering damage like that. After he obtained [Man of Steel] and fought Marquis Voban the Balkan devil obtained victory by trapping him inside a city before using [Red Punishment] to burn him for seven days and nights; China's Luo Hao threw Doni into the middle of a plateau before dropping a mountaintop on him, and your fellow Japanese peer dropped Doni into the middle of lake Garda {4}. The worst damage he suffered from all these fights were a few first degree burn marks."
"Oh great." So even other kings have trouble harming this idiot? Ugh, now she really is out of ideas to stop Doni. However, there's something else that needs to be done right now. "Hey Fuyuhime, can you give me one of those?"
Fuyuhime reaches to the inside of her coat, from which she grabs a bottle with an odd-looking liquid. She unscrews the cap, and offers it to Shizuka. The Campione chugs the liquid down, feeling the powers of that herbal potion helping to restore Shizuka.
What? It's not as socially wrong as the mouth-to-moth method, and there are no real downsides if you can keep the healing by kissing as an emergency plan. Only a pervert would prefer the method of bodily contact.
Now being able to stand steady again Shizuka turns back to the sixth king's butler: "In other words, he never got harmed before with that authority active?"
"Indeed. Now, the good news of this is that I can give him a very long recovery period." Now grinning evilly Andrea Riviera finally sees a chance at heaven for himself. "After all, losing an arm is quite horrible, and while that trash can easily put that lost part back on his body he will need months to rehabilitate before he can swing that sword perfectly again. In case he doesn't need months to recover, well, then I will make it months." Andrea gets in a small fit of evil laughter, and Shizuka almost feels bad for Doni.
Emphasis on almost. She can't truly feel bad for that idiot. However, listening to Andrea gives her a last option, one final idea to deal with this idiotic sixth king. If that doesn't work then she is willing to accept her loss, but until then she will do everything she can to obtain victory!
As she prepares her final plan she does briefly wonders how her summon is doing against that idiot…
-x-
Amazing. No other words can describe how the miraculous battle on the grassy island is going. One is a godslayer and the other is a divine beast. It wouldn't be surprising if such a battle would be over in a minute, perhaps even in thirty seconds if the enemy king is really trying. Yet by now five minutes have passed, and the beast is still alive and kicking.
Sure, the beast is losing: Those golden horns he wore proudly have been broken, destroyed by this enemy's onslaught. The spikes on both of his claws are gone, as destroyed as those that used to stand on his back. The other combatant doesn't even have a scratch, so there's not really any form of turnabout here.
Yes, the battle is not going the thunderlord's way, but why does this beast last so long? Why is he not crushed into paste by this dreaded king?
Doni also looks with surprise at this enemy. It's true that he's not giving it his all, being a bit too interested in this monster. This beast is a true marvel, and who knows what kind of marvelous materials this kind of beast can produce. Rather than completely annihilate this beast, it would be more prudent to say that Doni is trying to obtain a kill without destroying the body too much. Instead he break the beast piece by piece, knocking off horns and spikes so that he can have his subordinates make a fancy-looking sword out of it.
Another body part he's tryig to cut off is the tail, but with minor success. Every single body part is destroyable, yet for some reason his all-bashing club cannot cut through the hide and scales on the end of this Raiju.
Another slash at the tail, and one more he hurts the beast without cutting off the tail. In fact, this monster is already limping from pain, a sign that it is on its last legs. At least twenty times Doni has performed slashes that should've cut this tail in two. This just leaves a single question:
Why can't he cut this tail?
Doni tries and tries, not realizing that his arm counts more as a club then a sword. It deals blunt damage, and not cutting damage. It is the latter that he needs to destroy the tail, so no matter how long he hits the monster there is nothing he can do about it.
It's probably the same reason why he inflicted crushing damage on Shizuka's side instead of cleaving right through. Eventually Doni realizes this, which lets him know that his preferred method of continuous slashing will not work.
Then there is only one solution left: Doni drops his sword, the weapon he was using for so long. As the Raiju performs another tail swing at Doni the Italian king counters by grabbing the tail of the monster, before throwing it on the ground with powerful force. The monster has been dizzied by the counter, but that is not where Doni stops his attack:
"One is the immortal steel, crushing al in his way!" Spell words to increase the power of his second authority, they also increase the weight of his body. The grassy fields sinks down under the weight of the sixth king, who now steps on the tail of this monster. The beast bellows out in pain, but that action isn't the final step of Doni plan either:
Doni grabs the tail and starts pulling on it. Harder and harder, trying to rip off the tail that he couldn't cut off.
The Raiju tries to escape, but that action only provides force that helps Doni with ripping off his tail. Summoning lightning? Even a direct hit on Doni does nothing. Where the godslayer humored the beast by dodging its attacks before now he simply shrugs it all off to get rid of this annoying pest.
There is nothing the beast of thunder can do to stop this, and helplessly he hears the muscles in his tail rip. One by one they split in two, until there is nothing connecting the tail with the main body.
Finally Doni has done it, the uncuttable part has been cut… sort of. Oh well, at least he has a nice souvenir left from this fight:
Raiju tail obtained.
Now that he has fulfilled his vow to destroy that monster's tail Doni is ready to finish off this monster once and for all. Doni rearms himself with the weapon he dropped before, and faces the monster once more. Within seconds he dealt enough blows to the monster to kill it, and with a final bellowing cry the Raiju falls to the ground.
That's one problem dealt with. Now all this is for Doni is to face the enemy Campione. Leaving the monster on the now grassy island he moves towards the shore, to continue battling.
-x-
The last preparations are set, and Shizuka takes a final flask of magical medicine to recover even the smallest and most resistant parts of her body.
With that potion Shizuka is back to full health, and not a moment too soon. Landing several meters in front of Shizuka lands her peer, looking no worse for the wear except for the arm he holds in his hands. In other words, that summoned beast did not manage to even scratch him.
"Well, that was fun!" Flippantly speaking about the hunt Doni turns to his closest aid and friend Andrea Riviera, who has been waiting on the beach along with an envoy of Italian and Japanese mages. "Hey Andrea, think you salvage that beast back there? It's body isn't disappearing, I bet I can make a really awesome sword out of the remains!"
Ugh, everyone looks with equal annoyance at this king, though the only ones who do it without fear at Shizuka and Andrea. "Salvatore Doni," Andrea has moved away from the two kings to get out of their authorities' reach, forcing him to shout at his friend. "do you not even have the common sense not to steal that which belongs to others? I would like to compare you to Alexandre Gascoigne, but that would be an insult to the black prince!"
Absolutely true if you ask Shizuka: while those two are both troublemakers Doni is a magnitude worse than his English peer. Doni too realizes it, and for some reason actually listens to his friend:
"Eh, I guess you're right. Stealing stuff is not really my thing." No, his style is to constantly beg strangers to give him what he wants using his natural Italian charm, which Shizuka now gets to experience firsthand: "Hey Shizuka, mind if I take over the remains of that beast there? I believe I can make a really cool sword out of it."
While Shizuka would normally react with something like "No way!" or so, she does realize that there might be an opportunity in here. This might actually be a useful bargaining chip to get what Shizuka wants.
"Sure, I would be willing to give this as a token of friendship. So how about it, we call this battle a draw and you can have the remains." Friendship? As if, all Shizuka wants is this stupid battle to be over, then she can finally have some rest.
"Oh, but don't you remember you breaking my sword?" Doni tries to make his own bargain, applying to old facts that he believes he can exploit. "Isn't it natural to give me the materials for a new sword since you broke my old one?"
Doni has decided to become a professional haggler. However, two can play this game: "And I remember someone starting a duel when the opponent isn't interested. Isn't it natural to end a fight that the other doesn't want?"
"Hey now, that's a lie. All Campiones are warriors, some more obvious than others. Be honest with yourself, deep down you are enjoying this fight, right?"
Enjoyment? No, that is definitely the wrong word for it according to Shizuka. She sees battle as a natural occurrence, not something to enjoy.
There is one thing that she does not actively recall, the actually drive behind her actions: What she does deny is that she enjoys winning, when everything comes together to advance her plans. That strike that cut off Doni's arm made her feel happiness; A smile appeared on her face when she tricked Karna; She was euphoric when she destroyed Guinevere's draconic form. That enjoyment, that drive to win, is what makes a godslayer so dangerous, and is what allows her to fight equal to the gods. She may not search for battle, but if she enters one then she sure as hell will try to do whatever she can to come out as the winner!
But winning for Shizuka is not always crushing the opponent. Victory is not the decimation of the opposition, that is an exception rather than the rule. No, she wants her own goals to be fulfilled, whatever way possible. For this battle her goal is to end this duel in a positive way. If she can talk Doni out of fighting, then that counts as a victory for Shizuka. If dueling is inevitable, then all that is left is to kick Doni's ass!
Of course, from Shizuka's perspective this means that fighting does not equal enjoyment. "Salvatore Doni, you are an absolute idiot. I do not like fighting, and was never interested in this duel. I've had enough now, so let's stop here. Only then can you have that corpse over there."
"Hmm…" Doni is actually thinking about the offer, which means that there actually might be hope for Shizuka. Perhaps a peaceful solution might actually be reached with this idiot? That would be an absolute surprise! "You know, I don't like talking like this. My knowledge is mainly applied to the battlefield, and I usually have Andrea do all this boring stuff for me. I'm pretty sure that this deal is slanted against me."
"Why would you think so? I get what I want, and you get what you want. What else is there left?"
"Hmm… getting what I want you say?" Doni starts to grin sinisterly, as if he realizes what he needs to do. That grin gives Shizuka the creeps, as it slowly dawns that this might actually turn out badly. "Then I will do just that: I'll defeat you thoroughly and then claim that beast as my spoils of war!" Doni readies his weapon again and storms at the eighth king, who now realizes that negotiations have failed.
In that case, it's time to prepare for war again. "O fire, descend from the heavens!" Shizuka summons the stone of fire at almost its maximum size, being large enough to cover most of her body.
Blow after blow does Shizuka have to endure, using [Fire] as an impromptu kite shield. The combat of Salvatore Doni is flawless, there are no openings to make use of that grant her victory. Therefore she has to bide her time, waiting for an opening that Doni will never give. It's a stalemate, but not one that will last for long:
The stone of fire gets chipped with every blow, and cracks form on its surface. Doni might not be able to cut down this authority in a single strike but it is undeniable that he will eventually break through, thus preventing these stones from being the exception to the things that sword cannot cut.
Under this constant barrage of attacks Shizuka has no place to counterattack. Another hit and another hit, forcing Shizuka to take a step backwards. Three strikes later and Shizuka has to take another step back to deal with the power of Doni's blows, all while the stone of fire gets more and more fractures, becoming more fragile with every blow.
After several more weapon strikes of the enemy the stone finally breaks as Doni makes a powerful single upward slash. The scattered parts of [Fire] fly upward as the force of the attack throw Shizuka away. However, this is not at all that bad for Shizuka at it might seem. While the fire stone is shattered she did gain something else in return: distance. Now that she has been launched far enough she has a powerful attack ready to hit Doni with:
"Shattered flames! Fragments of the glorious sun! Now, unite to banish evil from this planet!" The fragments of the fire stone shine brightly before turning in a massive pillar of flames, akin to the first time she used her authority in Niseko. the fire crashes down on Doni, trying to vaporize his body. An area of at least a dozen meters wide gets swallowed in the searing flames as the sand around Doni liquefies into molten glass.
It is one of the few types of attack that can actually bypass Doni's [Rippling arm of Silver]. Fire is not something that dies by being cut. If you cut a large fire in half you will have two smaller fires that are just as dangerous as the large one if you combine them. Therefore this attack hits Doni directly, causing him to take full damage from it. If Doni is the man of steel, then this fire will be his kryptonite! If it is up to Shizuka these flames will vaporize him!
"The immortal and invincible steel never dies!" But Doni looks no worse for the wear. It will be a bit annoying, but these divine flames are far from lethal. Godou was the first to use this type of attack with his [White Stallion], and all that did was giving Doni was a mild sunburn. "The broken blade shall be melted down in the furnace, forged once more to be reborn as the immortal sword. Kusanagi Shizuka, this level of flames cannot destroy me!" Hundreds of Nordic runes float around Doni's body, the many layers of defense to stop these flames from harming the Italian king. His weight and defenses maxed out Doni's sinks to his ankles in the sand as he braces himself to take this authority head-on.
Shizuka looks annoyed at her ridiculous enemy. Not dying when you get a massive pillar of flame thrown upon you, even for a Campione that is absurd. Why won't this king just die?!
"Hahaha, so what do you have left, Shizuka? [Fire], [Steel], [Wood] and [Water] have already been used. That leaves [Earth], right? Now stay still and watch me tank your flames before we enter the final showdown!"
Shizuka however suddenly shows a courageous smile, a smile of victory. "You're absolutely correct that I'm down to a single element, Salvatore Doni! However, you've said it yourself: We both have a victory and a loss, and this right here is the final showdown. So let me finish this battle right here and now!"
Is she…? Doni feels something inside him that he doesn't feel often. A sense of familiarity, of remembering something from the past and seeing it again. What was the name for that?
"Look at your feet, Doni! If you haven't noticed by now, you're standing at the exact same spot where I stood when we began this final round!"
Doni looks down, and sees one thing amongst the sand that is not vaporizing from the extreme heat:
Shizuka's stone of earth.
Damn, Doni did not see this one coming! She planned to combine the powers of earth and fire all along?
"You would've easily won this battle if you avoided that spot, but now you've given me a final shot at victory!"
And here comes Shizuka's final blow. What could it be, what can actually break through his impenetrable defenses? Doni doubt that it will work, and is more interested in the fact that he suddenly remembers the name of the feeling he couldn't describe: it's a déjà vu, since this is just like the time Godou sank him to the bottom of a lake.
…
Shit, it can't be!
"Oh come on, not this again!" Doni is pretty sure what Shizuka's final move is:
"The earth opens her mouth, and swallows all: men, cattle, houses, goods. Nothing escapes its wrath. Salvatore Doni, fall down to the underworld and perish!"
The sand under Doni's feet disappears as a gaping chasm of at least twenty meters wide forms. Doni falls into the hole, the combined forces of the flames and gravity ensuring that he will hit the bottom of this very, very, very deep hole on the beach.
He knows no magic like [Leap] to get him out of the hole. Even if he did know losing focus would severely hurt him in the process as it weakens his [Man of Steel]. With nothing else left Doni simply lets it be as the fire pushes him downwards as a massive oppressing force.
Ten seconds later and Shizuka is done. Using the last of [Earth] to close the hole she falls on the ground, exhausted. Even though the duel didn't even last fifteen minutes, six of which were spend in break time as her divine beast dueled it out, it felt so much longer. Finally, after all this it has now reached its conclusion.
"My sincerest congratulations on your victory, Kusanagi Shizuka." Very polite words from Andrea Riviera, who has returned from the sidelines to the battlefield. While that man should feel anger or fear that his lord has been bested in battle he simply smiles, glad that something bad happened to him. What a fantastic friend to have.
However, Shizuka does not agree with the statement he made. "Victory? I doubt that Doni got killed here."
Shizuka cannot really call it a victory in this state. She is sadly enough pretty sure that Doni does not die from something as simple as being buried a few hundred feet under, and if he gets out quick enough then he will have Shizuka at his mercy. The young king has literally no power left in her authorities, so another attack in the upcoming days might be fatal. Even if she did have her authorities in the next battle Doni will not fall for the same tricks again, which means that the rematch will probably be a guaranteed victory for the idiot.
"I'm afraid I have to agree with those words. Ill weeds grow apace, after all." No matter how you try trash like Doni will always exist in this world. Andrea doubts that even nuking that moron will damage him, let alone kill him. "So what do we call this match then if it's not your victory?"
Here's the chance to end this all. Shizuka makes up the rules of victory, a task fallen on her since the other king is not available for calls right now: "Let's determine victory as followed: If that idiot gets back to the surface within a day, he wins. If he takes longer than two days, it's mine. If it's somewhere in between, it's a draw. Understood?" At least from two days onwards she can combine stones to create powers on the level of authorities. Before that she probably can't even form a good strike again, so this list will do.
Andrea picks a cell phone from his pocket, and checks the time. "Okay, I will notify that trash when he gets above ground again. Until that moment, what will you do?"
Shizuka has only one thing on her mind, the only thing she really wants to do right now:
"I will go home and rest a bit." With those words Shizuka says goodbye, and her two followers join her as they leave the other mages back on the beach.
-x-
The trio of women walk down the streets of Kujukiri, on their way to the train station where they can catch the next ride back to Tokyo. There was a slight problem with the reverse jeweled halberd, as Shizuka couldn't get it back to its inactivated pencil size again. To solve that problem they got one of those larger painting pipes to store the spear in, which Sakura is now carrying on her back.
"Shizuka-chan, what will you do now?" Sakura asks, a smile on her face, though her eyes look a bit down. "Going straight home?"
"Yeah, I don't want to keep gramps and onii-chan waiting. However, there is one thing I need to do before that." Shizuka guides the other two down a small abandoned street, claiming that it is the faster route to their destination.
Halfway through the street Shizuka fills in the rest of the sentence she was speaking about: "The other thing is finding out what happened to Fuyuhime." Shizuka turns to her friend, an accusing gaze in her eyes. "Your magic energy is completely different from normal ever since you spoke those spell words on that fake island, and you haven't spoken a word since then. Who are you, and what did you do to Fuyuhime?"
Upon hearing this accusation Fuyuhime cracks a smile, before speaking in a deep male voice:
"Hoho, this knight never expected it to be necessary to obscure one's own presence with such cheap tactics, though one had hoped to stay incognito for a while longer."
Yes, that voice is most certainly not Fuyuhime. This is proof that something has taken over control of Fuyuhime's body, just like Karna did with Guinevere.
Wait, does this mean that this will cause Fuyuhime to die from this? Damn it! She doesn't even have any stones left to exorcise the spirit form her friend's body, and if this is just like with Karna she also does not have anything to fight with! If this ends in a battle then Shizuka will be in big trouble!
"So, what are you planning to do with my friend, whatever you are?" Shizuka flares off anger, just like a cornered animal tries to make itself larger to scare off its attacker.
"And leave Fuyuhime's body unharmed, you evil person!" Much to the king's surprise she sees Sakura actually holding the reverse jeweled halberd in her hands, pointing the tip at Fuyuhime. This is new, Shizuka thought that her niece was way too nice to ever perform such actions. Sure, the spear is held shakily and it probably won't be effective at dealing with this problem, but this is a resolve Shizuka thought she would never see!
"Do not be concerned, godslayer." The one residing in Fuyuhime's body is trying to communicate peacefully, as if he is trying to calm down a tiger from attacking. "This knight is merely planning to use this witch as a mouthpiece, a device to open communications with. No harm shall be done to this mortal, hereby one swears this oath."
Shizuka will have to believe this, if only because she lacks any form of attack at the moment. "Okay, I'll believe you for now. So who are you, and why did you possess my friend?"
"This knight is known as Lancelot, the protector of witches." Hang on, that Lancelot? There's immediately one problem with that statement that needs to be addressed:
"Are you that Lancelot? The protector of the late Guievere? Didn't you die in battle two weeks ago?" Even a god cannot enter the living world that easily again after dying. Why and how is he here, speaking on the mortal plane?
"True, true, one is that god. Unbeknownst to all one barely managed to survive that battle. One lost severely that day, but by turning into mist this knight managed to hang on for long enough to flee to the netherworld. There one managed to befriend this land's storm god, and now the two of us watch over this island nation and the kings within."
Storm god? There are multiple potential deities who fit this theme: Susanoo, Narukami-sama, Raijin and Fuujin, there are a few in this country that fulfill that role. But that aside, the storm god is not that important here. That deity is no problem as long as he doesn't descend down here again. The question is what Lancelot is doing here.
"So what are you doing here? Not just content with watching?"
"One would not mettle in the business of humans, but one has sworn an oath to help out all witches that have reaches the highest level of their ability. Normally this is a mere trifle to help with rituals, but such a thing changes if the witch is capable of theophany {5}. When watching over this island one found a witch capable of this ability, along with a tremendous level of potential for a witch. This knight would normally grant some of one's power to the witch as a reward."
If that is all then this is pretty decent news. Fuyuhime found a way to actually help in battle by relying on the power of Lancelot. However, if that was true then Lancelot would simply make contact with just Fuyuhime, leaving Shizuka and Sakura out of it.
"However, when I granted this witch some of my power I figured out that she is the possession of a certain godslayer." Of course there has to be a problem! This time it is Shizuka's status that might be detrimental to Fuyuhime. "One would normally not grant help to a Campione that easily, so one needs to understand you first." Fuyuhime, or Lancelot if you can call him that right now, looks over Shizuka, scanning who she is. Eventually he comes to a conclusion of his own:
"You look young for a human, most likely you have not been king for long. One might be foolish, lacking the wisdom of sages or the intelligence of mages, but this knight clearly understands that of the current kings you are the youngest. That would make you the eighth king, the one who slew beloved child Guinevere."
Ow, this might not be good. Shizuka did indeed kill his companion, so Lancelot might hold a grudge against her.
"Yes, I was the one who killed Guinevere." Stand proud and admit the truth. There's no use hiding it now, so just speak honestly. "So, will this lead to hostile relationships between us?"
"Not at all, monarch!" Instead of being angry he sounds jolly, as if he did not care at all that Guinevere was slain by Shizuka. "If you are the king who slew Guinevere then that also makes you the rival of Gawain. Hoho, one is certainly willing to give a bit of help so you can win that duel."
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, huh? Shizuka can accept that logic, mainly because Lancelot motto only grants her advantages. On that note, perhaps she can push it even further?
"So, that means that you are going to grant your help to Fuyuhime?" Lancelot guesses that the king is talking about the witch he possesses, and nods in response. "In that case, would you be willing to grant your power to another witch?"
"Hoho, so you claim to possess another witch with such rare talent, king?"
No, not exactly. "Not yet, at least. However, in a week I will have another one." Shizuka turns to Sakura, who is startled by the sudden response.
"Eh? Y-You mean me, Shizuka-chan?" Almost as if she doesn't know how to respond to that, she fidgets around all over the place. "I mean, I never really wished for that…"
"Sakura-chan, I know you longer then today. I can read you easily enough to know that you've been depressed ever since Fuyuhime became a witch. You may have tried to hide it, but it's easy to see that you don't like it that you can barely do anything for me or Fuyuhime. Now that I saw your resolve to defend your friend against all odds my mind is made up. Next week I will use the same procedure on you as I used on Fuyuhime."
"B-But…!"
"I won't hear any objections, Sakura-chan. I'm doing what is best for you, even if you try to hide it."
Interrupting the two girls is Lancelot, who is laughing at what is happening. "Ho, one understands. King, you have an authority that can turn ordinary people into witches under your command." Suddenly he turns serious, as he addresses the problem of this power. "This could create hundreds, even thousands of witches, and this knight will not help each and every one of them. One proposes as such: King, you will not create more of these witches other than these two girls here, and one will compensate by granting power and help to these two witches."
"Deal." Shizuka didn't plan to turn anyone else into a witch, and now she both has the help of a god and a valid excuse not to create more. What else could she want?
Even Sakura and Lancelot look surprised at the quick acceptance, both wondering if Lancelot sees something over the head.
Oh well, it's no use thinking about it for Lancelot. He's not that smart, so this is enough to make him happy. "One shall take his leave now. This knight has to accept a friendly bout with the storm god, to keep us both from getting rusty. Survive, devil king, and live long enough to obtain victory against our rival!"
With those words Lancelot leaves, and the magical energy in Fuyuhime's body turns back to normal. Looking around her she asks Shizuka what exactly happened.
"Nothing much, we've managed to become allies with heretic Lancelot."
"Hang on, what?"
"I'll explain later. Right now we have a train to catch."
-x-
First of December, early evening.
After a long train ride Shizuka is finally home, ready to rest from a long and tiring day. It's already evening, and Shizuka is glad she can drop down on the bench. Neither of the two males are home yet, though they can come in at any minute now.
As much as Shizuka hates to do it right now, there's probably some task on the chore schedule that she is obliged to do today. Lifting her aching body from the oh so comfortable bench she walks over to the kitchen, where she finds that there is one thing she has to do: It is her turn to prepare the food.
Ugh, fantastic. Shizuka really just want to go to bed and sleep, or at least take a little nap. Now she has to go shopping for food again. Looking inside of the fridge she sees that there is only one ingredient missing to cook one of her own preferred simple dishes, teriyaki salmon. It's quick, simple, and the only thing she still needs to buy are some nice slabs of fish from the fishmonger down the street. That's only a hundred meter down the street, making the trip nice and easy.
Dragging her body to the door she takes the wallet and a small shopping bag before leaving home. Closing the door behind her she walks down the street in a fatigued tempo.
Eventually she reaches the fish store, a simple family business as evidenced by the name: Osaragi Fish Store. Inside she is greeted by the wife of the owner, Osaragi Saki. Due to certain… relationships between gramps and miss Osaragi the entire Kusanagi family is on friendly terms with this shop, which often grants Shizuka nice little bonuses whenever she shops here for fish. She has to admit that this is one of the few things gramps' problem of charming women that is actually positive and useful.
The greeting starts off with a few pleasantries, like Saki asking why Shizuka looks so tired, or Shizuka asking how the kids are doing. Eventually the two get to the point, which is the meal Shizuka is cooking tonight:
"I'm planning to make some teriyaki salmon tonight. Do you have a few good slabs of salmon that I can use?"
"Ah, teriyaki salmon, huh? Yeah, I still have some pretty good pieces left. Three pieces, I guess, or is someone else eating over at your house?"
"No, there's just me, onii-chan and gramps."
"Hmm, if that's the case, how about I add in a small recommendation of my own?" Next to the three slabs of salmon the fishmonger adds a bottle of white wine in the plastic bag. "It tastes amazing with anadromus fish types."
"And how do we solve the payment?" Shizuka does not want to spend more than needed on dinner, especially since the wine bottle will probably be from her own pocket money.
"Don't worry, this is to repay a favor Ichirou-kun did. It's free."
Shizuka accepts the wine, and pays for the fish. Saying goodbye to Osaragi Saki the shopper returns home.
Back at home she puts the bag on the ground and pulls the house key out of her pocket… if there was a house key in her pocket. Shizuka might've forgotten to take that item with her to the fish shop. Sure, fatigue can be blamed for this situation, but in the end that doesn't allow Shizuka entrance to her home.
Ringing the bell of her house she quickly realizes that no one is home. Now what?
Five minutes later there's finally someone who can help: "Ah, Shizuka, why are you waiting outside?" There is her big brother Godou, who looks like he just came back from school. A bit late, if you ask Shizuka.
"I forgot my keys when I went shopping." Godou looks intrigued at Shizuka, seeing something that hasn't happened often before. Normally she stands above such petty mistake.
"Ah, I see." However, Shizuka probably knows too that this doesn't happen often to her. Instead Godou decides to ask something else: "By the way, what have you done these past two days? I heard you has some sort of project at Sakura's university."
"A small study in communications with the mentally impaired." Yeah, that sums her experiences with Salvatore Doni up nicely. "In the end, while interesting, it was nothing more than some propaganda to get people to spend their university years in that location."
"I know what you mean…" Godou had that happen often enough when he was still playing baseball. Back is middle school he would get offers from big league high schools and universities, though they thankfully stopped after his injury. "But the most important thing is that you had fun, right?"
"Yes indeed, though my fun with this project probably cannot come close to the fun you had at school with those girls of yours, onii-chan."
"Shizuka, stop insinuating things like that!" Once more Godou almost flies into a rage, disliking the way his little sister talks about his friends who are definitely nothing more than friends… at the moment.
Shizuka ignores the outcry and simply asks Godou to open the door already, forgetting about the subject. She is way too tired to bother with this for too long.
With a sigh her older brother complies to that command and opens the door. Shizuka immediately heads to the kitchen, where she starts preparing the meal. She puts rice in the rice cooker and starts preparing the home-made teriyaki, before starting to cook the salmon. Now all that needs to be done is to wait for the final family member.
"I'm home!" Speak of the devil, with that the last member of the household has arrived. Kusanagi Ichirou has entered the house, where he gets greetings from both of the siblings.
Well, that's that then. Shizuka will finish preparing the food, and then spend a few days relaxing until it is her birthday. No gods, no godslayers, nothing to interrupt this short time of peace until the third. Yes, finally some time to get some good sleep. There's nothing left to worry about.
"Shizuka, I believe we need to talk." Huh? Why would Ichirou suddenly speak so seriously? Gramps asks Godou to take over the cooking for a bit, as Shizuka gets ordered to follow her grandfather to the family computer. "Look at the screen, Shizuka."
It's the grade list of her school, which includes her latest grade for English.
"Ah crap."
Four out of ten. Guess there is something to worry about after all.
-x-
{1} Chishuuha: The name of Fuyuhime's blade. I guess I never got to introducing its exact properties, and I certainly will not be doing now. However, I guess that the meaning of the name (thousand cycles), the spell of summoning, and also the things I did show should be enough hints to make a rough estimation.
{2} Yes yes, the Raiju that's used is based on monster hunter's Zinogre. In retrospect the Zingore is based on the original Raiju, so it is only fitting to use it in this situation.
{3} Raijin: Japanese deity of thunder, lightning, storms and Zinogres. Also known under the names Narukami, Raiden-sama, Kaminari-sama and Yakusa no Ikazuchi no kami. Has a tendency to steal belly buttons during thunderstorms. Don't ask me how that works.
{4} Lake Garda: The largest lake of Italy, with an average depth of 136 meters and a maximum depth of 346 meters. Lies in-between the provinces of Verona, Brescia and Trentino.
{5} Theophany: meaning "A visual manifestation of a deity to humankind", in the world of Campione it is the ability of a witch to summon a fraction of a gods power into their body. Comparable to the hime-miko's divine possession which Ena is capable of, it is even rarer among witches than the hime-miko.
-x-
Hello everyone! Thank you for making it this far in the story. On the topic that might seem weird to many of you after last chapter's talk: Why is Lancelot still alive? I mean, after confirming that Athena and Guinevere are deader than dead, why would the white knight survive?
There are multiple reasons for this, but let's start with a counter-question of my own first: Didn't you see the little hints I gave that Lancelot is still alive? First of all, let's look at chapter 5:
Divine Spirit Blanchefleur is now in possession of Rama's [Arrowhead Album], which showed a total of three arrowheads. One arrowhead is for Perseus; One arrowhead is for Sun Wukong; That leaves one arrowhead. Because the incident in France took place a few hours after the battle in Tokyo all slain gods should've been displayed in the album, meaning that there should be an arrowhead for Lancelot and an arrowhead for Gawain. However, there are only three arrowheads.
In other words, either Gawain or Lancelot survived, and since Gawain quite obviously died this means that it is Lancelot who is still alive.
Another hint is that in chapter 7 where I talked about those who are certainly dead I didn't speak a word about this steel deity. That was not an oversight, that was on purpose.
So, now that I have dampened the initial shock, let's talk about why I kept Lancelot in the story:
Reason 1, and also the most important reason: To make support for future battles including Shizuka more plausible. As you can see thus far most battles include only minimal human support. I would like to up that a bit, but I don't want to limit it to "emergency healing team". Luckily for me there's a mention in volume eight that there is this very rare witch ability called theophany which is basically divine possession for witches. It's also mentioned that Lancelot promised all high-level witches with this skill that they can use a fragment of the war god's power in combat. Combine this with Lancelot's general hate for Gawain and I found a good way to make Fuyuhime, and in the future Sakura, more supportive in combat.
Reason 2: Unlike Athena and Guinevere Lancelot does not have a stupidly annoying archaic speech. Seriously, that is ridiculously asinine to write! Why do you think that Nu Wa and Gawain both speak modern English? Lancelot is luckily very simple: Replace "me" with "this one" or "this knight" and replace "I" with "one", and voila, you have Lancelot's English! It's simple to write, so I allow our white knight to live for now.
So hurray, Lancelot is alive. We haven't seen the last of her!