Land of Steel REMASTERED
Disclaimer: Fate Stay/Night and Campione belong to their respective creators. I don't get any money doing this.
Chapter III
—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\Erica Brandelli's perspective—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\
"Pitiful. Is this all you are capable of?" Emiya Shirou asks this while surrounded by a large amount of scrap iron.
Impossible. The lion created from the steel of Cuore di Leone is extremely tough. Godou had to use the [Bull] to even damage it. The use of the [Golgotha Spell Words] should have increased its already high combat capacity. And then I used the [Dome of Despair] to summon hundreds of them. That should have been plain overkill. So how is he still alive?!
He looks more or less uninjured. His shirt has been slashed a few times, but he certainly looks well enough.
Unfortunately, I exhausted most of my magic reserves in my previous spell. Even a single [Golgotha Spell] might render me unconscious. Also, Godou has used up all his Authorities. We are—
My thoughts are interrupted by Godou's spell words:
"For victory, come before me!
Immortal sun, please grant me the shining steed.
The divine horse of glory,
Bringing forth the light wheel that symbolized the lord!"
Godou used the spellwords for summoning the [Stallion]. And—
In the pitch black darkness caused by Athena's magic, a second sun rises from the eastern skies.
A searing pillar of white fire descends on the ground.
I remember. The restriction for the [Stallion] was that it could only be used against [Great Sinners]. Emiya Shirou had recently turned into a Campione, hence he did not have enough opportunities to commit sins. Hence, Godou could not use the stallion against him. But, my use of the [Dome of Despair] must have attached a large amount of sins on him, allowing Godou to use the [Stallion]—
In response to this, Emiya responds: "Trace on. Rho Aias!"
A pink seven-layered barrier protects him. An immensely strong barrier that required Godou to completely exhaust the [Bull] —
But his spell isn't over yet. "Trigger off. Set— Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens!"
Runes appear on the barrier, changing it's color to a bright crimson.
And— the spear of white fire makes contact with the red barrier.
The [Stallion] completely fails to pierce the barrier. Emiya Shirou is completely unfazed by Godou's final hope.
If Emiya protects himself with this until the fire died out—
Godou would lose. Without any other Authorities to fall back on, he wouldn't be able to win.
I can't allow that.
It is unlikely for my plan to work. Still, I don't see any other options. I carefully focus my already dwindled magic into my sword.
"O lion of steel, thou art the mind and body of sorrow and fury. Thou art the harbringer of grief to gods and spirits, one who will bathe in the blood of your foes— Appear before me, the spear of Longinus —!"
A spear appears. Infused with magic giving it the lethality of the spear Longinus, it could do the impossible task of wounding even a God.
I resist the impulse to fall unconscious. I haven't sent the spear to Godou yet—!
"Godou! Beat him with this—!"
Summoning my last strength, I throw it near Godou. And then, the world turned black—
—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\Emiya Shirou's perspective—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\
The falling spear of fire cannot breach the protection of Rho Aias.
Kusanagi Godou looks on in despair as his attack fails to damage his opponent.
All I need to do is to wait for the flame to subside. Due to the restriction imposed by Rho Aias, I cannot move while defending with it. Seven Rings That Cover the Fiery Heavens adds another restriction— I cannot cast any magic while being covered by it.
The price for the perfect defense is the inability for offense.
Kusanagi Godou doesn't appear to have any other attacks. The second this fire stops I will—
"Godou! Beat him with this—!"
Just then, his girlfriend shows up and gives Kusanagi a javelin to attack with.
I look again. His girlfriend appears to have collapsed from the magic extracting it's toll on her body. Kusanagi looks like he is going to help her, but changes his mind.
"Erica, you idiot—!" So his girlfriend's name is Erica, huh?
Taking a breath to calm himself, Kusanagi takes a javelin throwing stance.
"Take this, you bastard— " Saying this, Kusanagi throws the spear at my unprotected chest.
The stance was completely wrong. I expected the javelin to miss by a long margin.
Hence, I was surprised when the javelin hurled in the direction of my chest.
I kept my cool and ignored the reflex to close my eyes. If I suddenly panic, my projection might break, rendering me open to the blast of fire—!
The moment Kusanagi's spear would strike my chest, it was deflected away. At the same moment, the spear of white fire finally burns out.
"How—" Kusanagi's jaws fall in surprise.
I pick up the spear thrown by Kusanagi and bash him on the head with it, finally rendering him unconscious.
Rho Aias allows for perfect defense from all sides. The chance for Kusanagi's spear to pierce me never existed in the first place.
"…looks like my job is done. I don't think they'll wake up for a while now."
As I look around, the unnatural darkness started by Athena's spell has vanished. Streetlights have illuminated the streets and the light from skyscrapers is leaking out of the windows.
Athena's spell must have succeeded— That or someone else attacked the temple while I was busy.
Even though I don't have a watch, I think it will be a little past 12 now. I think I'll go and check on Athena now.
—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\Emiya Shirou's perspective—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\—\
I finally make it to the shrine. Luckily, it doesn't look like anyone has attacked it yet. The barrier on the door to prevent the entrance of intruders is still standing undamaged.
The barrier stops me from opening the door. If I tear it down, Athena might think that an enemy has attacked. Hence, the only thing I can do is wait for her to come out.
A few minutes later, the door opens— and out comes a little girl.
"Um… did the spell fail?"
"Worry not, one has recovered the power of the trinity. Why dost thou ask so?"
Because you look like a little girl.
Understanding what I was thinking, she says in her usual style that she is more used to this form. Then…
"Wouldst thou prefer I change into my earlier form?"
The images of Athena's older form, her soft bust, her moist lips crept into my mind. I fight to stop a blush from appearing on my face.
"No, no, it's okay. This form is good!"
If Athena has to use her magic on me, she'll have to kiss me(or vice-versa). And the guilt of kissing a kid is lesser than that of kissing a grown woman.
Anyway, moving on to more serious matters…
"Your goal is summoning the Greek God Zeus and killing him, right?"
Athena nods, her expressionless face mildly colored with rage. "True. My Father, the King of Heavens and the Master of the Sun, Zeus. To annihilate him is the reason I have taken the form of a Defiant Goddess in this world."
I had heard this before. Being Japanese, I hadn't learnt too much about Greek Gods like Athena. But from what I knew, Athena was the favorite child of Zeus. Athena had explained me about the Greek myths, like her birth by Zeus' rape of her mother Metis. The gist of it was that the natures of Gods could be different from their myths.
"You said that you needed to become a complete Here- no sorry, Defiant Goddess" I quickly changed the word on incurring Athena's glare, "because your current form wouldn't be able to stand against him, right? Now that you have achieved your full power, what steps are you going to take for the summoning?"
"Dost thou remember one's tale of sensing the Gorgoneion in Japan from Italy? All one aims to do is find an artifact with the presence of Zeus. On a later auspicious date, the artifact shall be used to summon one's father."
"I understand. If you require my help in any of that, just ask."
Athena smiles and nods. "Emiya Shirou, one thanks thee for thy help. One owes thee much for handling that troublesome brat."
"Even though this cannot be called appropriate compensation, please accept this—" Saying that, she stood up on her toes and gently kissed me on the lips.
A large amount of information— memories, experiences— were transmitted to my mind. The Persian spells Athena gained from the Gorgonieon were transferred to me. Even though they were few in number, they were extremely useful to me.
Athena really helped me out. To me who should be her natural enemy, she helped me understand the world I was in. Gods, Campione, magi— I most probably would have been clueless about everything. She even taught me how to control divine power and a few of this world's spells. About my Tracing, I told her that it was Hermetic Magic from a grimoire I somehow got from accident. Even though she did not accept it, she didn't ask me about it either.
"Thanks. You were really helpful to me. It's more like I was repaying my debt to you."
Athena simply smiled. The darkness increased in front of me and I closed my eyes. When I opened them, she had disappeared.
What a flashy technique. When the darkness suddenly increased, I instinctively closed my eyes. It was similar to being blinded by a flash of light.
I made my way down the shrine. At the bottom of the shrine, Kusanagi Godou and his girlfriend were lying unconscious. After deciding against waking them, I decided to head home.
—It's 12:45 now. If Koudzuki-san is asleep, will I have to sleep on the road?
I tried to shake off such depressing thoughts as I ran to my temporary house.
_Authorities used_
By Kusanagi Godou
[Stallion]
Strength A++
Speed D+
Defence B+
{Restriction: The opponent should be a great sinner.}
{Main: Attacks the opponent with an extremely high temperature spear of fire}
_Skills used_
[Lance of Longinus]
Rank: Used by Erica:N/A
Used by Godou: D+
Gives the spear the attributes of the Lance of Longinus. Can be used to injure a God.
_Noble Phantasms used_
[Rho Aias]
Rank: N/A [Defensive Phantasm]
A seven layered barrier. Each barrier can negate A-ranked damage. The user cannot move while defending.
Skill: Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens
A skill that negates all fire damage and increases resistance to magic damage. Restrictions include an inability to cast magic.
A/N – How about next chapter? Wait, I said that last chapter too, you are saying? Wait a moment. Lemme do the short, meaningful thing first.
Erica manages to make Athena's finger bleed with the Longinus. I think that qualifies for N/A ranking. Also, as you see, I suck at shipping and Athena's Old English. Is there a translator that converts normal speech to Athena's style?
Thanks to battleking for help. Thanks for the reviews, hope Shirou isn't OOC, send a P.M, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, done.
The long, meaningless part starts now!
Curb-Stomp Battle— If you know, a curb-stomp battle is a battle where a side curb-stomps the other. Simple, right? Like, Berserker vs. Gilgamesh in Unlimited Blade Works.
Anticlimatic Battle—Where the battle is extremely built up, but at the end… you feel let down. Curb-stomp battles are usually this. Eg. First Volturi vs. Cullen battle solved by negotiation of all things.
Now, the point is, do you know any curb-stomp battle which is NOT anticlimactic? In Unlimited Blade Works, Berserker vs. Gilgamesh most of us already know the outcome. Gilgamesh is hax. But still, the way Berserker takes the sword-spam is badass, he the way he refuses to disappear until Ilya closes her eyes is a tearjerker and... well, you get my drift.
In Campione!, most of the Campione vs. (anything except God or another Campione) battles are like this. So, if I want a random cultist to go down, I want him to look badass while going down.
Well, the long, meaningless part of the A/N is over! Thank you! (BTW, the "long, meaningless" A/N wasn't "long" at all. That was a deliberate anticlimax. )