FATE/IRREGULAR SUMMONS
Chapter 23: First Steps Into Hell
There he was; the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh. Although his right eye and cheek were still badly scarred from when Heracles attacked him, he bore that grotesque injury with pride. With his remaining left eye, Gilgamesh stared at the seven who were assembled to witness his grand entrance. The three Servants got into position in front of their respective Masters; Connla and Caren were to his left, Kojirou and Shirou were in the center, while Artoria and Rin stood to his right. Archer remained hunched between Connla and Kojirou, the swords still protruding through his chest and back.
"So it's true," Artoria glared at Gilgamesh. "You're still attached to this world, Archer."
"How long has it been, Saber? Ten years since our last meeting?" he replied.
"I never wanted there to be another one."
"Good to see you still have that spark in you, however meek it may be. Though my proposal from back then still stands, I have more important business to conduct than breaking in a stubborn wife."
He turned his attention toward Shirou and Archer, and declared, "Do you frauds finally comprehend the difference between your shoddy imitations and the genuine article? No matter how much you try to copy the shape or power, it will never shine as brilliantly as the original. It is like so much mud in my eyes to bear witness to fakers crafting low-quality counterfeits. You are worth less than the scum that grows in dank prisons. I shouldn't say it is my obligation to clean up such rabble, but I will be doing the world a favor by returning such shams to the dust whence they came."
He then shifted his eye toward Connla, the little girl who had disrupted his battle with Heracles, and declared, "But first, I should be rid of the tangential whelp who has not been properly educated in the concept of respect."
He opened some portals and commanded several long spears to fire directly at the horrified child. Artoria and Kojirou tried to dash in to protect Connla, but they wouldn't be able to make it in time. However, Archer would be the one to leap in and shove her out of the way. She stared into his eyes as she fell backward, sensing a glimmer of hope within the steel grey irises.
"Thanks… for opening that idiot's eyes… before I could…" he whispered.
The spears crushed him beneath their sheer weight and sharp blades, then exploded like bombs. Both Connla and Rin gazed in disbelief at the crevice that was left behind, seeing nothing but a mass of crumpled flesh and torn red clothes. He soon vanished into blue particles. As he disappeared, a distraught shriek escaped Rin's throat:
"ARCHEEE~EEER!"
Connla was too stunned to say anything. She just sat there and stared at the spot where Archer disappeared. That was when Caren implored, "Get up, Lancer. We still have an enemy in front of us."
"Uh…" the girl whimpered, but scrambled back upright and returned her attention to Gilgamesh.
Without a care in the world, the callous king muttered, "I'm surprised he had it in him to save someone else."
Rin trembled with fury, then seethed, "You bastard… Who gave you permission to lay a hand on my Archer!?"
She fired a Gandr shot at Gilgamesh's head, but it missed by inches and cracked the wall behind him. He gazed at her with a bored look in his eye, then turned the portals in her direction while grumbling, "I had intended to start with slaying the runt, but I will respect your wish to be slaughtered first, wench."
Artoria got in front of the nervous Rin and said, "Stay back, Rin. Archer, Second Lancer has already informed us of how Kotomine Kirei kept you alive since the Fourth War. However, you appear to be acting independently from him. So then, I have to ask you; what are you doing here?"
Bemused by her inquiry, Gilgamesh closed the portals and replied, "Do you remember when you destroyed the Grail, Saber?"
"…"
The others glanced at her, uncertain if they had heard Gilgamesh correctly. He disregarded them and continued, "Without a vessel to keep its contents contained, I wound up being bathed in the accursed mud and taking on physical form. Thanks to that, I understand its true nature better than anyone. As its innards poured upon me, I was able to see the true nature of the Grail.
"In that moment, I made a decision; none but I will be the one to wield it."
"Wield the Grail? You?" Artoria wondered.
"Precisely. The ritual to summon the Grail is a demented farce. It is mere propaganda to believe it is a simple contest between seven Masters and their Servants, where the last ones standing will have earned the right to make a wish on the Grail. The truth is, the Greater Grail has always been here. The Mages first prepare the Lesser Grail and then summon seven Servants. Those Servants then serve as the Grail's contents, since the Mages are unable to fill it with sufficient amounts of mana themselves."
Rin exhaled a small gasp.
"I see you've come to realize what I mean," Gilgamesh said. "Indeed, the Grail has to be filled with mana of the highest purity. That is why humanity's greatest heroes – the guardians of the world – were used as sacrifices to fill the Grail."
Artoria grew devastated from hearing this. "This… This can't be!"
"The more sacrifices, the better," he said. "If the souls of six Servants were fed to it, that's when it would become nigh omnipotent. To the Mages, it would be a wonderful source of inexhaustible mana."
"But then that means… Only a Mage can wield the Grail…"
This meant that Artoria's wish of undoing her past mistakes was impossible. If Servants were only summoned to fill the Grail with mana, then she too had been seen as nothing more than food to feed the very chalice she had sought. If she wanted to make a wish on the Grail, that meant she had to become the very energy needed to fuel that wish. What was the point in that? Her heart sunk from sheer disappointment, and her eyes were wide with shock. She lost her focus and visibly shuddered.
Saber… Connla thought worriedly. Unlike everyone else, she already knew the truth that Gilgamesh espoused. During her summoning, she had been informed of the ritual's inner workings and its inherent flaws, as well as how irrevocably twisted the whole thing had become since its inception. However, she found it much too difficult to tell anyone else. She believed that if she could destroy the Grail and find a way to dismantle the ritual, then she wouldn't need to talk about it with anyone.
"I see I've struck a nerve," Gilgamesh appeared as though he would burst out in laughter at any moment. "Yes, indeed. So long as the ritual is performed correctly, only a Mage can make a wish upon the Grail. Any hopes and dreams we Servants have are irrelevant. I don't what the mongrels were seeking when this ritual was first conceived, and I don't really care. The only thing I'm interested in is the Grail's ability to act as a gateway to Hell."
"A gateway… to Hell…" Artoria murmured.
To Gilgamesh's amazement, Connla was the one who said, "During the Third War, a particular Servant had been summoned; Angra Mainyu, the Zoroastrian god of darkness and evil, taking on the vessel of an Avenger to replace Berserker. However, Angra Mainyu is the Heroic Spirit of an ordinary boy who had been randomly chosen to be the source of all the world's evil, and the people around him wished for him to take on all of their sins and hold him liable for all the disasters that befell them. They carved such wishes onto his very body, and kept him entombed for all of eternity so that he would act as a convenient source of evil that everyone could blame.
"Avenger wound up being defeated first, and his Spirit Origin was taken in by the Lesser Grail, as you so say, Lord Gilgamesh. The thing is, the Greater Grail had been activated during the first two wars without actually granting a wish, so the Grail took on all six billion curses inscribed on Avenger's soul and interpreted that to be the 'wish that was to be granted'. As all of humanity wished for Angra Mainyu to be the penultimate evil that hated humans with all his soul, the Grail became corrupted as a result. Therefore, the only reason future Holy Grail Wars will occur is merely to supply the Greater Grail with mana to grant the wish made in the Third War."
The astonished Artoria's throat tightened, and small yelps escaped her lips. She remembered what Connla said about the vision of the Grail flooding the world with cursed mud, leading to its ruin. No one could believe that she had been hiding such a terrifying fact from them this entire time, but it explained why she was so determined to recruit the other Masters and Servants - she didn't want anyone to be sacrificed to feed Angra Mainyu and the genocide he could bring forth via the Grail.
"Oh? For such a pathetic-looking runt, you're already well-informed," the King of Heroes remarked coolly. "Then you should know of the Grail's nature as a weapon, right?"
"Yes. After all, its contents are the souls of great heroes who are used as weapons in this war. The Grail took that to its most logical conclusion, and thus became a weapon itself," Connla said. "Combined with it being a vessel for All of the World's Evil, it's only natural that it would become not just any weapon, but a weapon of mass destruction. Since you're so determined to obtain it for yourself, I can only assume that your objective is to use that weapon to eliminate humanity."
Gilgamesh smiled broadly. "Good… Very good! It saves me the trouble of having to waste my breath on mongrels like you!"
"The only thing I don't understand is your motive. But I suppose that's not for me to know," Connla closed her eyes. "All I need to understand is that we are enemies."
"That's insane!" Rin shouted. "Why would you go so far as to commit genocide!? If you kill every last human in this world, who would you have left to rule over!?"
"If the rabble die out, then so be it," Gilgamesh retorted coldly. "This world is beautiful, indeed. However, it is completely wasted on the superfluous humans who populate every last corner of this world like weeds. Weak, useless creatures who multiply like mice are useless to a king. The only ones I want to rule over are strong souls who can survive even Hell itself. The only way to ensure that result is to drag that Hell down upon all humans equally."
"A purge…" Connla whispered. "I see. My true purpose was to put an end to this ritual, but I didn't think my mission would have such immense weight behind it…"
"Speaking of which, runt, I never did figure out how an anomaly such as yourself could come into being. As far as I understand, you simply don't belong here. If you weren't chosen to be summoned by the Grail, then how did you circumvent the rules placed by the Mages? Someone as feeble as you shouldn't be capable of such."
"You're right. I wasn't summoned in accordance to the Holy Grail War's rules," the young Lancer agreed. Then she narrowed her eyes and declared, "But then, what makes you think the Grail is the only thing in this world that can make the rules?"
Gilgamesh scowled a little. "So you're here under a different set of laws…"
"Correct. It wasn't the Grail that summoned me - it was this very World, our great mother Gaia, that's being threatened by a Grail that humans created! Gaia itself is what bound me to my Master and allowed me to materialize as her Servant!"
The others stared at Connla in utter shock. They had a hard time believing it, but she really had been summoned by the World's other 'will' that stood in opposition to Alaya, the force that controlled Archer and similar Guardians like him. In a way, this entire battle took on a whole new meaning; that of the planet resisting the disease that humans created by sending in an antibody to nullify it.
"Gaia, hm? Fascinating," Gilgamesh said. "The Mages did have to construct this ritual based on a previous set of rules, bastardizing them for their own purposes. So you're a product of the original Third Magic that has long been lost to humanity. Your summoning really was clean and pure, wasn't it, Second Lancer?"
"Who knows. All I have to do is fulfill my task."
"And therein lies the problem," he grinned broadly, and numerous glowing golden portals opened around him once more. "What chance does a weak runt like you stand against me? I've already eliminated Berserker and that sham of an Archer, plus Caster is out of the game. With you three as my next sacrifices, that will make six Servants filling the Lesser Grail. Sufficient enough to make that meat puppet break down and become the Grail's complete vessel."
He's got a point, Connla thought dejectedly. Even with Saber and Assassin helping out, I simply don't have the strength to challenge him head-on. The only thing I can possibly do to stop him is to destroy the Grail itself, thereby nullifying his ambition. But not only will he refuse to let me escape…
She thought about Illyasviel.
Destroying the Lesser Grail means killing Ms. Einzbern.
Suddenly, Artoria took several steps toward Gilgamesh, showing her intent on battling him. She implored to Kojirou, "Assassin. Could you take Lancer and the others away from here?"
The samurai grew curious as to why she would make such a request. He quickly got his answer when she explained, "Archer's first target is Lancer. I made a promise to protect her from him, and I am going to do just that."
"Y-You want to fight him all by yourself!?" Connla yelped. "It's impossible! Lord Gilgamesh utterly destroyed Berserker even when he had multiple lives!"
"Don't worry. I already have experience with fighting Archer."
"Fwa hah hah hah!" Gilgamesh heartily laughed. "How absurd! Are you already forgetting how our last meeting concluded!? The only reason I was defeated was because that mongrel of a Master commanded you to destroy the Grail! If that hadn't happened, I would have obtained everything – the Grail, and your absolute obedience! The runt is right about one thing; it is impossible for you to challenge me, Saber!"
"No," Artoria snapped. "This will not be like last time. Now that I know you have become the worst kind of king, my victory is to be certain. After all, a tyrant who sacrifices his own people always winds up living an extremely short life."
"Is that what you believe?"
Then, Gilgamesh's clothes shimmered a luminous gold, and a set of armor materialized in their place. He was now garbed in his full king's armor, consisting of golden plate armor overlapping a layer of black clothes, while red tabards cloaked both sides of his lower body. He folded his arms and haughtily glared at Artoria while conjuring more portals around him.
"Saber…" Rin murmured.
"It's okay," Artoria said. "I've made peace with this decision. All I need is your order to stop this man. If I do not, then our efforts to circumvent these foolish wars will be meaningless."
"… All right. Saber, with all the power vested in my Command Spells, raise your sword and triumph over that sorry excuse of a king!"
Rin raised her hand and expended all three charges of her Command Spells one by one. Artoria felt great bursts of mana swell within her each time until she felt like she could cleave the planet in half with one fell swoop. Caren and Kojirou forced Connla to walk away from her. However, Artoria said to Connla, "If I do not survive, then I wish you well in your endeavors. Please keep Rin and Shirou safe for me. And also…"
She looked back with a bittersweet smile. "Go and fulfill your sacred duty."
"But what about Lord Gilgamesh?"
"This is not your battle. After Shirou told me your True Name, I've been certain that your destined battle will be with your father. I'm sure that the real reason the World summoned you was to be Cuchulainn's counterpart. Or am I wrong?"
"Well, that is…" Connla feebly mumbled.
"That's why I want Assassin to look after you until that time comes. At the very least, I will take Archer down with me. Then you won't have to worry about being hunted by him."
The child Servant fell into silence. Kojirou gently snatched Connla's wrist and murmured, "Let us be off."
"… Mm."
She took a few hesitant steps back while gazing at Artoria for what she believed would be the last time. Then the others proceeded to hurry out of the foyer as fast as they could.
"Mongrels," Gilgamesh growled. "Who gave you permission to leave my presence?"
He fired multiple weapons at the fleeing group, and Connla looked back in horror. Artoria rushed right in front of her and deflected every blade with incredible agility.
"Don't look back! Keep going!" the swordswoman implored. The young Lancer obliged and hurried down the stairs leading to the front entrance. Without another word, Artoria leapt forth to meet Gilgamesh in direct combat. The gold-armored king smirked with absolute delight as he snatched his version of Gram, which was different in design since he possessed the original before it was reforged and bestowed to the Norse hero Sigurd. He knew that since she wielded a holy sword, he would counter with a demonic sword that was equal in strength.
Gilgamesh could have stood around and fired weapons at Artoria like he did with Heracles, but he wanted to have some fun with personally disciplining her by demonstrating his superior strength. The two kings swung their blades at each other, and bright sparks flared around them numerous times. One of Gilgamesh's strikes knocked Artoria back, and she backflipped until she hopped off the wall an instant before he carved a deep gash into the building. She sailed away, and he fired several small swords at her that she swept aside with one stroke of her blade. He took chase and smashed Gram against Excalibur, forcing them into a stalemate.
"I've been thinking about this for a long time," Gilgamesh said with a devilish smile as he stared into the determined Artoria's eyes. "About how I would pin you down and force you to swallow the curse against your will! I'd tread on your wailing face and make you eat so much dirt that you'd look pregnant! And then, unable to endure it, you would break down and grovel at my feet!"
"Kh!"
His eyes widened like saucers as he exclaimed, "How I've imagined seeing you stripped of your dignity, and defiled beyond redemption!"
"Then I say the same to you, Archer! You won't have any complaints if I make you experience the realities of your own twisted imagination!"
"Such spirit, even though you know you can't defeat me. Though we are not at the climax of these festivities yet, you will make for a most fulfilling appetizer before I wrench open the gateway to the hell that humans themselves created!"
"TAH!"
Artoria had heard enough of Gilgamesh's pontificating, and she shoved him off her with a strong swing. He continued pressuring her until he got in a hit that knocked her on her back. He unleashed a loud howl and swung Gram down upon her. She had to raise Excalibur at the last second to block him, and he leaned over her with all his strength to pin her down. Then she slammed her foot against his chest to push him off her, and she vaulted on her feet before rushing at him again. The clashing of their legendary swords started to sound like thunder booming in the skies.
"Come now, can't you realize that this will just be a rehash of our last meeting during the Fourth War?" Gilgamesh taunted.
Artoria shouted as she smashed Gram out of his hand and sent it sailing way across to the other side of the foyer. He merely laughed at her effort and made another portal so he could pull out a different weapon. As he met her in another duel, he muttered, "If you had gone after the Grail by stuffing it with the mana of your rival Servants, then you would have had a chance at winning. But look at you. Instead, you've chosen the option that will guarantee defeat. To think that you believe you have a chance at defeating me is the summit of arrogance."
"No. I know I've made the right choice," Artoria declared. "If I entrusted my wish to a defective Holy Grail, then I would be no better than you."
"Looks like you won't accept defeat unless it's a decisive one. Then here I come, King of Knights!"
The two kings rushed in and swung their swords as hard as they could.
In the outskirts of Fuyuki, Kojirou was already making his escape with Shirou and Rin. He had put his nodachi away and carried Rin under one arm, while Shirou was running so fast that he could keep up with his Servant. Several hundred meters behind them though, Connla had fallen back because she had to cope with terrible pangs of regret that threatened to tear her spirit apart. Although the Lancer was cloaked in her Identity Concealment, Caren could sense how troubled she was.
Connla bit her lip and thought, Saber… I'm sorry for not being strong enough to assist you…
Even though Connla was obviously upset, the priestess felt that she needed to incite her to take the proper course of action. That was why she tersely demanded, "What's with the delay? Hurry it up already."
"M-My ApOloGieS…"
The child Lancer was about to pick up the pace and rejoin their friends, but then she stopped for what Caren thought was no good reason. She turned her eyes toward a completely different direction, and she exhaled a warped-sounding gasp.
"Goodness. I know we're going through a lot, but this is no time to act like a daydreaming slowpoke," the priestess chided in irritation.
"Ms. HoRteNsIa… OvEr there…"
Connla ran through a thicket of bushes and kneeled low out of Caren's sight for a second. She followed the Servant, then discovered what had alarmed Connla; she found Kirei's corpse, which had been left unceremoniously lying in the grass for wild animals to pick away at. If the pair hadn't arrived, he would have been stripped clean of his flesh and abandoned as a pile of bones.
Caren stared at the body, then declared, "He's dead."
Connla examined the many wounds on his back. After a thorough check, she said, "ThEsE weRE cAUseD bY ArrOwS."
"Archer, huh?"
"MoSt liKE… lY…"
Connla's voice trailed off in such an odd manner that Caren couldn't help but notice. Then the girl let out a startled yelp and summoned her spear into her hands.
"StAY alErT! SomEThiNg'S seRiOusLy wRonG!" Connla whispered with an unexpectedly urgent tone. The hairs on the back of her neck seemed to prickle with life of their own.
"What do you mean?" Caren wondered.
"WhO lEft KiReI's BodY lYiNg oUt iN ThE oPeN fOr Us To FInD?"
The priestess realized the trap they had fallen into and took several steps away while unfurling the Shroud of Magdalene. Connla stayed where she was next to Kirei's corpse and slowly panned her eyes around. She dared not make a sound, hoping to hear any sign of her opponent nearby. She couldn't see anyone, although it was easy for anyone to take cover on such a dark night. No moon nor stars could provide her with any sort of celestial light to help her see within such an isolating blackness. All that she could feel was the late winter chill permeating through her bodysuit.
Where is the enemy…?
Connla's eyebrows furrowed with icy determination.
Or rather, who is the enemy?
Was the ambush going to come from a close-range warrior, or from a distant sniper? That was something she needed to consider as well, especially since Kirei had been killed with arrows. She mentally scolded herself for being so careless to expose herself and Caren like this. Then, some leaves rustled in the tree directly behind her. She instantly recognized the swaying as being caused by someone who had just leapt off a thick branch. She whirled around and darted her eyes upward, discovering a familiar blue-haired man pointing his spear straight for her forehead, his crimson eyes glowing with bloodlust.
"Gh!?" Connla yelped, instinctively rolling away from the corpse just as Cuchulainn pierced Gae Bolg into its chest. If she hadn't moved, her head would have likewise been skewered through. She clumsily got back onto her knees and remained crouched near Caren.
"Feh. Looks like I missed," Cuchulainn grunted. He stood back up and whirled the lance upon his palm. "Even with the advantages that my new Master has given me, I should have realized it was pointless to launch a surprise attack on someone who is faster than me."
"Advantages? New Master?" Caren asked. She managed to get a look at the man's exposed back, then widened her eyes in shock and exclaimed, "A Crest Worm! You've allied yourself with Matou Zouken!?"
"You got it, missy."
Connla exhaled a deformed gasp, letting the others know how she felt about the writhing creature attached to his spinal cord. Caren snarled, then thrust her arm forth and shouted, "Noli Me Tangere!"
The Shroud of Magdalene whipped itself at Cuchulainn, but the arrogant hero made no motion to dodge it. That was when a strange buzzing sound overcame the group. In that moment, the sacred fabric was shredded through by hundreds of flying insects sporting bladed wings. Once they finished wrecking Caren's weapon, they barreled straight for the pair as a cohesive plague bent on devouring them alive.
Without waiting for instructions, Connla shouted, "LaOcH GaN FiNsCeAl!"
A collection of lesser spirits congregated upon her spear to give her their power, and she became a living bullet that bounced and ricocheted everywhere. The swarm of insects couldn't keep up with her, and they were ripped asunder either from the terminal velocity winds shredding them apart or her spear slicing through them. Cuchulainn narrowed his eyes when he heard the name of her Noble Phantasm, and a satisfied smile carved itself across his face.
Ohh, so that's what it is! It's all coming together now…!
Once the majority of the swarm had been destroyed, Connla stopped attacking and landed next to Caren. The nun fiercely glared at Cuchulainn and declared, "That's enough. Put down your weapon, or else my Servant will kill you."
"Not a chance. This party's just getting started."
"Such a shame that a handsome fellow like yourself has sunken to such depths that you would contract with Matou Zouken, of all people. Alas, I cannot allow you to continue this madness unabated."
"I'm flattered that such a lovely lady is trying to capture my heart, but you're not the one I have business with. I wanna have a nice little chat with our 'mysterious' little friend here," he smirked confidently.
To Connla's astonishment, Cuchulainn suddenly looked over in her direction even though she was completely cloaked with her Identity Concealment. He approached her one purposeful step at a time, and she backed off anxiously. He continued, "What's the matter? Aren't you going to say hello to me after we've been apart for so long?"
She didn't like his condescending tone whatsoever.
"I finally understand why you kept quiet when around me," he said. "If you didn't, you'd risk me immediately recognizing your voice, which would then nullify that enchantment surrounding you. But it's pointless to stay silent anymore. Even though I couldn't see you, Archer could. After he killed Kotomine, he described what you looked like and your combat style in candid detail. Thanks to his info, I was able to determine your True Name."
"Oh my… That was quite the slip-up on our part," Caren muttered, trying to keep her professional attitude but clearly looking a bit strained from Cuchulainn's arrogance. "I never would have dreamed that you'd team up with that prideless reprobate as well. Seems like I have to abandon the image of you as a man who stuck to his principles even when it meant death."
"I can't believe it either. But if it meant determining what kind of Servant would be foolish enough to try and take my place as this war's Lancer, then it was fine if I sacrificed my honor. Thanks to that, I get to have a reunion I never thought would be possible. Wouldn't you agree…?"
His face warped with multiple bulging veins as he shouted, "CONNLA!"
With that, the young Lancer's cloaking was completely dispelled. The hazy winds surrounding her seemed to shatter like dozens of panes of glass that further scattered to the winds as tiny particles. Her shocked expression was visible to see, and she stumbled away in horror.
"I knew it," Cuchulainn said. His smile was so broad that the gums around the teeth were visible. "Boy, this brings back memories, doesn't it, kiddo?"
Connla swallowed deeply, unable to respond to his casual attitude. The shock of being discovered completely dried up her throat.
He continued, "I thought of all the possibilities regarding your True Name, but you didn't happen to stand out in my mind because I thought you were not recorded in the Throne of Heroes. Boy, what a mistake that turned out to be. Your legend must have been relevant enough that you were recognized as a Heroic Spirit… No, I shouldn't say 'legend' per se. Your Noble Phantasm, Laoch Gan Finsceal, represents the notion that you really are a 'hero without legend'. That should have clued me in that you were none other than my one and only 'son', who had failed to achieve anything remarkable other than fighting and losing against a superior opponent for an entire day.
"I'm sure the Throne recognized such strength for a seven-year old kid and inducted you for that reason. What an idiot I am for not realizing this sooner."
"Father…" Connla whimpered.
"Heh. I also see why you had hidden yourself from me all this time. You were afraid of this, weren't you?"
Cuchulainn twirled Gae Bolg upon his arm in a remarkable display of finesse, then gripped it tightly and pointed the blade straight at her forehead. He added, "This is the one Noble Phantasm that will guarantee death for you should I use it."
"…"
"Furthermore, you're not here as the 'son' whose tale I fabricated so that the world wouldn't know the truth behind Aife's machinations. You really are here as my daughter, as you should be."
"What do you mean by that?" Caren asked.
"Her mother treated her with such brutality that it would make a tyrannical despot look tame in comparison. As if that wasn't enough, Aife placed those three geasa upon Connla to lure me into a trap, out of vengeance for me claiming her body in a fleeting moment of lust. If the world knew what the truth was, I'm sure Aife would have been portrayed very poorly, and everyone would have pitied Connla rather than seen her as the hero she should've been. Instead of allowing that to happen, I took it upon myself to alter the facts so that it was I who instructed Aife to train Connla so harshly, and to put those geasa on her when she was ready to meet me in Ulster. I even made sure to hide Connla's real gender so that she died in my arms as my courageous 'son' rather than my poor, tragic daughter."
"Funny you should mention that. That never made any sense to Bazett. She couldn't accept the idea that you were such an imbecile for not recognizing a son who bore the very same geasa you told Aife to put on him, and only a mere seven years after you had your affair with Aife. Bazett always believed that part of the story to be a major flaw in your legend."
"Did she now? That's some intuition," Cuchulainn remarked. He got into his battle stance and stared at Connla. "But enough talk. You know why I'm here, so let's just get this started already."
She grunted at Caren, "Ms. Hortensia, get away from-!"
She couldn't finish that sentence as he darted right in front of her with the speed of a bullet, and he thrust his spear at her midsection. His movements were so fast that Caren fell onto her buttocks, while Connla nearly lost her balance and stepped back. She managed to twist her torso just in time to dodge him though, and she leapt backwards to retreat further into the forest. Cuchulainn followed her, completely ignoring the fact that he could have used Caren as bait to manipulate Connla. All he wanted to do was to recreate the fight he once had with his daughter so many centuries ago. He screwed up last time because he didn't know who she was, but things would be different this time. Using human shields so callously was not in his nature; if he was going to dominate Connla, he would do so with his own strength.
Connla used a series of Ken Runes to exponentially boost her running speed, and she was quick enough to weave and jump through the countless trees barring her path. A funnel of intense winds was left in her wake, rustling every blade of grass and leaf that wasn't weighed down by rocks or wood. If she could find some open area to fight Cuchulainn, she would probably have an easier time beating him. She was too afraid to look back, thinking that she would see his rabid expression and cause her to become crippled with fear.
She noticed a silhouette breaking through the trees just ahead of her, and she instinctively attempted to skid to a stop. Connla was running so fast that she couldn't brake herself in time though, so her stomach wound up slamming against Cuchulainn's leg at full force. She bent around the limb like a jackknife for a second, then sailed along the dirt as he kicked her away. She tumbled through multiple rotations before violently bouncing up and smashing her back against a thick tree. She couldn't spend any time reeling from shock as she noticed Gae Bolg thrusting straight for her head. She jerked her cranium aside to save her brain from being pierced, but the spear was so dangerously close that her ear had almost been cut off, and she could briefly see her reflection on the gleaming red metal.
Cuchulainn punctured the lance through the tree trunk so deeply that he needed a moment to extract it. This allowed Connla to roll aside and use some Runes to give herself Protect From Arrows. Once he retrieved his weapon, he turned toward her and grinned, "Looks like you're ready. Then let's see what you've learned in your time here as a Servant!"
He dashed in to duel with her. What followed for the next few minutes was an intense vortex of imperceptible razors slicing and dicing through branches and grasses with complete impunity. Both warriors were so fast that they continuously missed each other, leaving their stray attacks to decimate their surroundings.
"HAH!" Cuchulainn snarled and plummeted directly over Connla as she was sliding across the ground. She twisted her body in ridiculous contortions to counter him, then performed a rolling jump aside to avoid another one of his kicks. She grabbed his ankle and summoned a Tiwaz Rune on her wrist to boost her strength for just a second – long enough to fling him away like a sack full of rocks. She then quickly took out her slingshot and fired countless stones at him. As he regained his momentum, he spun Gae Bolg in a frenzy to cleave through every stone. He then planted his feet against a tree and rocketed toward her.
"Wah!?" Connla yelped and held strong to resist forces that could shred ordinary humans apart. She grunted as she planted her toes on the soft dirt, but she kept being dragged backwards at high speeds while staring into Cuchulainn's furiously dilated pupils. As she struggled against his superior might, she chanted through strained grunts, "Óss er algingautr… ok ásgarðs jöfurr… ok valhallar vísi…" †
"You wouldn't-!" Cuchulainn seethed with absolute rage.
A gust of intense heat seared between them, and he jumped back an instant before flames engulfed the area. It started off as a conflagration raging out of control, but then the fire curled in on itself like a spiral and congregated upon an F-shaped Rune glowing bright orange on the blade of Connla's spear. Every last flame was absorbed until a solid fireball about the size of a large exercise ball was formed, and she spun on her foot one time before swinging her weapon in a wide arc.
"ANSUZ!"
The fireball sailed at Cuchulainn while he was caught off guard. He took out some Runestones and cracked them open so that the released energy formed a shield around him, but it definitely wouldn't be enough to block the imminent onslaught.
KA-BOOO~OOOM!
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
† - "Óss (Odin) is aged Gaut (God), and prince of Asgard, and lord of Valhalla." The Icelandic rune poem associated with Ansuz, which represents 'God'.