Chapter 98
Manaka flapped her wings, hovering between Zouken and Ayaka. The beady black eyes of the crow looked just like Zouken, the light absorbed by the pure darkness.
"Are you Matou Zouken?"
Judging by his appearance, he seemed similar to the photos they had received regarding the possible Master candidates, including those of the Three Families. Including the magecraft she had witnessed just now, it was almost definitely him.
The old man simply laughed, completely ignoring the hostile intent directed at him.
"Ah, it's good to know that even the Mage's Association knows about a rotting old man like me. I thought my name would have disappeared from their memory at this point."
After living for centuries in a backwater country, at least by the Clock Towers standards, it was inevitable that the Matou name would decline and disappear from the social circles of magi from the Clock Tower, with the only mention of them being when the Holy Grail War was brought up, and in the records managed by the thirteenth department, Policies.
Ayaka refused to drop her guard, the fact that the magus in front of her had survived for at least six centuries, and experienced every iteration of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War was enough to keep her on her toes. Pulling the irregularly shaped knife out it's sheath, she dragged the edge across her palm.
"How hasty, do the younger generation of magi not know the meaning of patience. However, if that is what you want, then I'll oblige you."
The whirring of insectoid wings became apparent, long white segmented bodies, three blood-red eyes and long, slender transparent wings that spun rapidly appearing behind Zouken. Tiny, silver teeth packed their mouths, and a long blade-like tail with a sharpened tip hung below their slender bodies.
They filled the space behind him, a swarm that blocked the view of the corridor beyond, clicking and whirring noises assaulting Ayaka's ears. Seeing the swarm, she knelt and placed her bleeding palm against the ground, smearing the blood into a pattern of old design, calling forth a resemblance of dark woods and musty earth, where beasts of fantasy lurked, and the pale moon shone to create deep shadows.
" ע̵̧͎̝͙̙̗̆͜͜͝ו ר ב̷̧̡̱̠͍̹͔̪̓̓̕͝ "
A garbled sound issued from her throat, in a language which Zouken tentatively identified as Hebrew, but was unable to be certain owing to the quality of the sound that distorted the words heavily. A black mist descended around her as the symbol blackened, the scent of rust, blood and earth filling the corridor. Rustling leaves, a phantom sound echoed in the tight space.
In front of the mist, Manaka expanded her wings once more, holding back the tide of insects rushing at Ayaka to buy her more time. The black feathers filled the corridor, forming a wall to protect her master. Pitch black feathers were sliced into tufts of vanes, small black threads floating in the air. The swish of bladed tails cutting into the quills becoming a cacophony of noise. In seconds, the cloud of black had given way to the silver swarm, the angry buzzing noise growing grating on Ayaka's ears. The swarm descended towards the black mist covering Ayaka.
"CAW!"
Like a warcry, a multitude of cooing and cawing burst out of the cloud, as deafening as a blaring siren. Shiny beaks and beady eyes emerged, the mist resembling a monstrous beast with hundreds of eyes and mouths. As one, the birds launched themselves at the swarm, missiles of black clashing with slender silver sticks.
Black beaks tore through the chitin wrapping the rubbery bodies of the insects, cutting through the exoskeleton easily and ripping the thorax and abdomens apart. A foul stench rose up from the dismembered remains of the insects, yellow fluid splashed across the drab grey concrete. Small flecks of translucent yellow organs fell from the open wounds, bits of red that resembled meat lodged in the intestines.
Some of the insects burst on impact when the crows hit specific spots, grey chitin going everywhere as the translucent wings scattered across the floor. Certainly, not all the crows went unscathed, with some bugs reacting with enough speed to position their blades and slice the incoming crows in half, the familiars dying without even a squawk. The hardened exoskeleton of the insect cut through bone, meat and feathers easily, red blood mixing with the foul yellow ichor spreading in puddles from the numerous insectoid corpses.
Yet the number of crows far outnumbered that of the insect familiars, a lake compared to a pond. Within seconds, they were decimated, the massive cloud of densely packed crows bearing down on Zouken's body.
When it was over, all that was left was the numerous piles of insect corpses and the odd crow remains covering the floor. At this point, Ayaka was forced to cover her nose and mouth with her sleeve to dull smell, her insides roiling at the unpleasant sensation in her nose and throat. Still she had to advance, and she had no idea whether Zouken was gone or not. It was probably safer to assume he wasn't dead yet, considering how his existence was maintained.
Forcing herself to move, she ignored the crunching sounds entering her ear, hurrying past as she stepped on the insects and birds. Leaving the revolting sight behind her, she ran for the exit, her footprints stained with the fluids and blood from the massacre.
On the surface, the insects reformed, hard shells turning into slime that molded and shaped itself like a balloon being blown up, curves and lines twisting and contorting until it fit the image of his soul.
"Looks like I'll have to use Ruler."
Deep in the earth, Ruler stood over the unconscious bodies of Caules and Org, the bones in their legs shattered. Lifting her head, she looked at the open doorway, proceeding to walk through and turned right to follow Ayaka.
"Urrhhhh…"
An electrical current ran through Caules' body, a simple spell meant to shock him awake. Immediately upon awakening, he felt the pain in their legs transmit to their brains, the sheer agony almost making him cry out loud, if it wasn't for the fact that Ruler might hear him.
The spell Caules had used was quite simple, monitoring the electric waves for activity, and when the mind plunged unconscious, the spell triggered, sending a substantial electric shock to jolt the person. His bio-electricity magecraft had made some headway into researching how to affect the body, including the brain, so this much was at least possible for him in the midst of a fight.
As expected though, they were no match for a Servant. In the most basic of terms, they completely lost. They were barely able to make a scratch on her, while she easily breezed through their attacks and brutally incapacitated the two of them.
Well, if they activated the Workshop here, they might stand more of a chance though.
Looking at Org, he noticed the wound on his wrist was still binded by the membrane of water surrounding it. At least he wouldn't die for now. Looking at the magic circles in the center of the room, he was relieved to see them still intact, though it looked like his computer was destroyed in the fight, no, the pitiful struggle they put up earlier.
Dragging himself over to it, he pressed his hand against the array, focusing his od into it.
"Circuit close"
The array hummed to life, the magic arrays that still stood across the mansion activating as they became on, the Workshop they had set up coming to life once more after the massive shock of Ruler's arrival disabling it.
Earlier, before Ayaka came down, he had been working on a fix for it on his computer, and to some extent he had managed to repair it. After Ruler arrived, he had focused on keeping her attention off it so that she wouldn't completely dismantle it by simply touching it with her Magic Resistance skill, and waited until Ayaka was far enough and Ruler left to chase her before he could switch it on again. Hopefully this would give Ayaka an edge in getting away.
Resting his battered body against the wall, he pulled out a spare Primeval Battery from the ruins of one of the wooden cabinets, dragging Org over and placing his hands on the battery and Org, channeling the electricity to heal himself and Org, bit by bit, even if it seemed insignificant.
"El-Melloi...Gray...Flat...are you guys doing fine?"