Shirou stepped back inside the wrecked warehouse in time to see the two halves of Arcueid's servant crumple to the floor and fade into the background prana. Clicking his tongue in regret Shirou mentally berated himself for his tardiness. While convincing Alaya was a necessary action he would be the first to admit that he had let his speech dragged on a bit too long given the present circumstances. Shirou didn't pause in his action and he briefly took note of the fact that Achilles was missing an arm before he teleported behind him speed up his personal time and swinging the golden sword in an arc intent on cleaving his head from his shoulders.
It was a testament to Achille's great skill that even weakened and off guard he could still anticipate the blow and try to defend it. Unfortunately all that changed was that instead of being cleanly decapitated the top part of his head was cut off and he bled blood and brain matter before fading into prana.
Shirou suddenly swivelled twisting his body and summoning a shield of ice to protect him. It wasn't very successful and he felt warm metal slice through flesh and bone cleaving his left arm from his body. Letting the limb form he shot jets of water from his feet catapulting him over the second sword swing that would have most likely lead to his death. Lifting the water in his body the Magician hovered in the air staring into the furious red eyes of Rizo-Waal Strout. The stump of his arm tingled and Shirou felt a myriad of horrific curses seep deep into shoulder. He tapped into his magic and neutralized them in much the same way that he disposed of the curses of the park two years ago and then let himself hover down to the ground.
A metallic arm burst out of his shoulder and, fuelled by the power of his crest, by the time that his feet touched the floor he had returned to having the correct amount of limbs. The Dead Apostle Ancestor attacked with that powerful sword and Shirou found himself having to summon his swords to defend against the attacks from that monster powered up by the power of the full moon. The full power of the hit almost caused his arms to buckle but Shirou allowed it to carry him backwards and he invoked [Nidhoggr] sending the icy dragon at his opponent.
The vampire didn't even slow down as he ran through the icy breath of his creation and cut through the icy dragon in one swift motion leaving two halves that started to feebly reform before the weight of curses contained within the blade turned it to slurry. The destruction of his technique didn't even slow Shirou down and in the next second a blizzard descended around the swordsman, its icy winds prepared to [Cut] and [Shred] and [Freeze] the skin of his opponent.
Shirou didn't expect it to hold him back and therefore he wasn't surprised to see a mass of torn flesh exit the icy inferno reconfiguring itself instantly into the shape of Strout. Shirou instantly began channelling prana and moulding water into a conceptual attack that would be able to do permanent damage to the sturdy Ancestor when he was distracted when an explosion shattered the floor and half the building before an immense discharge of prana lit up the night. The moment of preoccupation almost cost him dearly as Rizo-Waal Strout was on him in an instant lashing out with such power that he would have cleaved even through Shirou's durable body.
The young Magician admired his expert stroke from his spot of safety on the other side of the room. Shirou knew that the explosion could only have meant the destruction of the grail and for it to explode in such a spectacular manner meant that the bounded field that he had expanded over the grail must have been overpowered by brute force. He frowned at that thought; the protections around the grails were designed so that even Arcueid would have an incredibly difficult time breaking destroying them by brute force. Apparently the full moon combined with the boost from the still-incomplete ritual allowed the Eclipse Princess to power through the defences that Shirou had painstakingly set up.
Then she leapt from the hole in the floor and Shirou almost skipped a breath. Her black hair dangled at waist length and eyes that held a hint of malice and mischief assaulted him. Altrouge Brunestud now stood only a few centimetres shorter than him and her fuller more developed form marked her apparent age as only a couple of years older. But her unearthly beauty wasn't the thing that struck him. As soon as she entered the room the earth seemed to grow quiet and with every step she took a titanic amount of prana bled into the surroundings warping the physical world.
"Holy shit, you're pretty strong," Shirou said with a bit of reverence creeping into his voice. All the sources that he had spoken to about the Eclipse Princess seemed to consider her to be a weaker version of Arcueid and while Shirou was almost certain that this was still the truth, that explanation didn't do justice to her power. After all Shirou could count one on hand the number of creatures on this planet that were stronger than Arcueid and still have fingers left over.
"Why thank you," the young woman said, her voice half a shade deeper than her child form. "It's nice to be appreciated. Hey Rizo," she said smiling at her companion. "I think I've got a fan."
"He killed both of out servants," Strout said his muscled form slowly turning to regard the Magician. "He's a teleporter," he continued basically spitting out the term.
For the first time since he had met her, a look of annoyance showed on the raven-haired woman's statuesque face. "Really," she said crossing her arms in a manner that emphasised the fact that her body hadn't only grown in height. "I hate fighting teleporters," she said sounding vaguely sulky. "You think you finally have them in your grasp and then bang," she clapped her hands for emphasis, "then they drop a mountain on you." She looked at Shirou inspecting him from head to foot. "Primy said that there was a teleporter. I just hoped that one of the others would have gotten you."
"I remain dependably alive," Shirou remarked dryly. "I'm in fact the only person in this building who is still living."
"Quite the mouth on you," the Vampire Princess said with a delightful grin. "While I would love to trade barbs I'm afraid I have a pressing appointment. You see there is a grail out there that simply won't destroy itself."
"What makes you think that either of you will ever leave this room," Shirou said his voice falling upon the room like an icy mist.
"Oh," she replied with mild amusement. "You would attack both of us? That seems a little reckless."
Shirou laughed slightly at that. "You could say I'm an old hand at fighting outside my weight class," he said summoning water from inside his body and causing waves to spread out amongst the floor.
"A water-using teleporter," Altrouge said, her eyes briefly widening. "You seem determined to give me flashbacks of Sumire. Unfortunately I really can't leave that grail undestroyed." A ripple surged through his entire being and Shirou flung himself across the room in time to avoid the mammoth canine that obliterated the wall behind him. A moment later he was forced to summon all the water around him to defend himself as the roof of the warehouse collapsed on the occupants.
Stepping out of the wreckage that had only a few moments ago been the roof of the building Shirou got a good look at the new form of Primate Murder as it gently lifted its master out of the rubble. Unlike the original form that was white and looked like a normal, if giant and overly-muscled wolf, this creature had the appearance of a true monster. Humongous jaws created the parody of a grin. Blood dripped from his form and vestigial flesh hung off of blackened bones. However all of this was nothing compared to the horror Shirou felt as he looked deeper than the surface. His face contorted as he saw the powerful and perversity of the many concepts that this thing embodied.
"Did the mean lady hurt you," Altrouge said rubbing his head and Shirou watched in outright amazement as this insult to life nuzzled against her hand. Gritting his teeth Shirou fired up his circuits switching into the state of mind that he often used for battle. There was no way for him to win against all three of them. Even one would have been a handful with the power of the full moon flowing through them, but Shirou was certain that he could at least disrupt and cripple a few before teleporting away and thereby delay the ritual. His sudden awareness saved his life as a clawed hand thrust through the position where his body occupied an instant before he reflexively teleported.
Arriving at an equidistant point from the new threat he gazed into the snarling face of Arcueid. The power she exuded easily dwarfed that of Altrouge and he found himself subconsciously taking a step back. She was obviously not in control of her faculties. Although he had only seen her in this state a few times, the primal fear that it elicited could not be mistaken for anything. Shirou gritted his teeth, it was immediately obvious that Primate Murder had pushed her too far in that fight to the extent that she could no longer distinguish friend from foe.
"My, my," the slightly mocking voice of Altrogue Brunestud broke the silence. "Looks like my younger sister has lost her temper." She turned towards Shirou flashing him a beautiful grin. "Can you imagine if somebody doesn't stop her? There might not even be a world to save from the big bad vampires."
Shirou barely heard her as the moment that this situation popped up he had already using a [Quad Accel]. He let the indistinguishable sounds watched over him as he made plans and immediately discarded them. Contemplating the nature of Arcueid's bloodlust he came to the realisation that he would not be able to forcibly calm her down with his magic when she was this wound up. The only spell that he knew could possibly put her to sleep at this point in time would require a few hours of casting and she might never wake up. He discarded reallocating her as that would just shift the problem somewhere else and he still needed Arcueid at the moment. He considered trying to direct her to his enemy but the chances were too high that they would leave and she would end up rampaging trying to catch her.
Suddenly an idea hit him. Glancing at Altrouge he extended his senses gazing deeply into the ripples. The Dead Apostle Ancestor was like a maelstrom and her very presence disrupted the smooth flowing of the world but in this silent place where time moved at a crawl Shirou was able to pick up a small secondary pulse. Focusing on his target Shirou slowed down time even more and then moved.
When Kiritsugu used the original Emiya crest he could only normally speed himself up by two times without risking damage. His father had even admitted that even at the maximum speed he'd ever used it; he was still slower than the slowest on the other hand naturally moved quite a bit faster than the average human. In addition when Kiritsugu pushed the limits of the crest his body began to break down as it couldn't withstand the pressure exerted on it by the extreme speed he was relatively travelling at. In contrast to Kiritsugu, every part of Shirou's body was far tougher, able to withstand the crushing depths of the ocean and still withstand the blows from Sumire and Arcueid.
In an instant Shirou was upon the trio and only Primate Murder was fast enough to react to this sudden and intense attack. The beast let out a howl that caused his bones to shudder and Shirou could feel his skin start to rot from the corrosive energy that the beast produced in that form. Without slowing down Shirou avoided the massive claws that followed up the roar and then ducked under the sword. Gathering power into his fist he opened his hand causing the area to be buried in an explosion of mist that reduced everybody's vision to absolute zero.
Moving swiftly through the mist he dodged the sweeping strikes from Strout and teleported to avoid the crushing blow from the Beast of Gaia. Appearing in front of Altrouge he lashed out with two lightning fast punches. One of the punches caught the Eclipse princess in the chest and he felt her chest collapse beneath the blow. He paused for a brief instant, reinforcing his body to the maximum and conjuring an omnidirectional shield of ice that brimmed with prana and was made [unbreakable] by his magic. The omnidirectional shield of ice crumpled like glass as an enraged Beast of Gaia lashed out shooting Shirou across the room.
The Magician caught his feet standing upright even as three lacerations extended through his body carving deep into flesh and chipping bone. Catching his breath he watched in anticipation as Arcueid followed his lead advancing into the dispersing mist in an attempt to tear her sister into little pieces. Her attempt at offense was barely more successful than Shirou's as her movements halted briefly and Shirou felt the air condensing around her allowing Primate Murder to bite down on her body and fling her expertly in Shirou's direction. Shirou grimaced and teleported out of the way feeling a slight strain that from all the previous fighting he had done this evening start to impose on his body.
He watched Altrouge wipe blood from her mouth and lick it; blowing him a kiss as she turned away. He didn't have much time to puzzle her actions or respond as he was very aware of the immensely pissed off Arcueid picking herself up from the floor her wounds already healed and only a few tears in her white jacket betraying the fact that she was almost bitten in half by a sixteen metre abomination. Unfortunately the White Princess had quite clearly lost her restraint and Shirou was the only person left in sight.
"Fuck," Shirou said as he teleported onto the roof of a nearby building an instant before he was skewered through by the enraged Ancestor. He barely got a moment to breathe as Arc appeared on the top of the building having made the hundred-metre leap in less than a second. Shirou sighed as he contemplated his options. Speeding up time again and feeling the familiar strain he teleported dozens of times, shifting himself by feet and inches to avoid the hundreds of deadly blows that were arrayed against him. A missed blow from Arcueid hit the floor and the force of that single punch tore through the roof. Shirou rode the debris down trying to land safely on the floor below, but he was unsuccessful as Arcueid used his brief moment of weightlessness to lash out with a punch that he only just blocked with his left hand.
His hands stung like hell and the force of the blow sent him rocketing sideways and through the walls of the next building. Digging his hands into the concrete of the floor, Shirou arrested his momentum before he exited that building as well and took a breath, the oxygen feeling like fire flowing through his damaged body. As much as he wanted to at this moment he couldn't let Arcueid rampage around. While stopping Altrouge from fulfilling her plan was even more important, if left alone Arc would rampage, probably killing thousands of the remaining Fuyuki population and the consequences of that could destroy her.
Unclenching his right hand for the first time in their fight he gazed upon the beautiful blonde filaments that brimmed with power. As a magician Shirou, more than anybody else knew the value that a little sleight of hand could bring. Shirou closed his eyes briefly channelling prana to activate the powers of Nolava II and he felt the pain from his wounds start to abate. He opened his eyes to the sight of Arcueid Brunestud staring at him, but she didn't attack. Her red eyes gazed upon the weaves of hair that he held within his palm. Like Samson from biblical times whose cutting of hair led to his loss of power, so to was Arcueid's power stolen by her sister and kept within these locks just waiting to be returned to her.
Shirou stepped forward holding the hair aloft and Arcueid's red orbs gazed at the hair with a kind of almost religious fervour. The True Ancestor used her power to restrain her bloodlust and the Magician wagered that a sudden increase in power would enable her to come to her senses. The alternative, that she would continue her insanity with even greater power was something that Shirou was even now planning to counter as his magic circuits spun and his wounds healed. The True Ancestor remained motionless until Shirou was almost within touching distance and then she moved, snatching her hair from Shirou's hands. Shirou retreated watching as she inspected the golden strings, her eyes greedily taking in every inch of her treasure.
Then they disappeared changing into something that was far beyond prana and coalescing around the crown of her head. A surge of power rang through the building and Shirou could feel the bloodlust fading to a mere memory. Arcueid laughed; her tone full of satisfaction and looked Shirou in the eyes. The madness was gone and Shirou almost relaxed before the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. There was something about Arcueid's gaze that seemed so unfamiliar to the Magician.
"Who are you?" he questioned taking a defensive position as his wounds mended. The woman just beamed at him, a beautiful and alluring grin that elevated the tension of the room. The being in Arc's body raised her hand and with a single gesture the ceiling above was reduced to a fine dust. Swallowing Shirou chanced a glance up and then froze. Far above him in the skies above a single blood-red moon hung as if defying the natural order of the world.
"Fuck me," the Magician said, his eyes wide as fear coursed through his body.
The woman just smiled wider as bloodlust rolled off in her in waves. And then she lunged.
Author Note: The god of wisdom failed his wisdom check.
CrazyLich79: Probably. Thanks for that I'll try correct it when I have time.
YuukiAsuna-Chan: After getting his memories from the time when he was Enki he might be able to do that. Ask me again a couple chapters.
SentinalSlice: Then I wrote it correctly.
DPSS: Anti-divine weapons are really, really rare. Shirou and Emiya were too completely separate people so there would be no dramatic show down. Shirou only sees it as Alaya's way to get his attention.
Hyperomegasonic26: Not really. Alaya's the one opponent that Enki in all his forms would never, ever fight. On thousands of worlds Alaya is a being that stands in the way of humanities extinction and Enki would never try to disrupt that. Alaya basically killed Archer as a freebie to him, basically saying "Okay go ahead and try. I will not oppose you." Enki feels sorry for Archer but not enough to help him out.
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