King of Fakers Chapter 7: A King? A Hero?
"No doubt, you must be Rider, huh?" The man atop the chariot had sharp ruby red eyes and pointed blue hair, slightly turning to the left side of his face, that eventually tied back into a ponytail.
On his left arm was a shield, raised over his head, a thorny red lance in his right arm, poised to strike his armour was blue, a large gold and orange cloak flowing from his back.
A truly majestic warrior, he lowered his arms and grabbed the reigns, striking them, the horses kicked up, and turned, charging back where they came from, and then turned to face forward once more.
"Those were some pretty good moves, lad. That sword, for some reason I know it's bad news for my buddies here. What is it?"
Shirou sprinted forward, each step making a large splash against the rain formed puddles. "Shirou! What are you-!"
Saber twisted to the right, as if performing a pirouette! A foot slammed into the ground where she once stood, sending shards of concrete into the air!
That move was a set up! Whoosh! The air seemed to scream as the figure ducked, and then launched a sweeping kick with her left leg! Saber lifted her flaming sword and stepped back as she unleashed a swing with the full might of her body!
The blade flew back, and both combatants used that moment to perform a backwards flip. Saber's assailant wasted no time, she threw herself forward and launched a right jab, a easy swing to repel it! Exactly.
Lightning fast!
A left chop kicked had been prepared at an impossible speed... for Saber to avoid it- no chance!
So the only choice was to block it, Saber used all her strength to turn and lift the blade below the oncoming attack!
Guarding like this was rather silly, it is always ideal to parry or dodge, using this usually makes the blade snap in two... but the eternal flame would not be so weak.
The earth seemed to rumble, torrent of water flew into the air, shaped like dragons! Saber shook as she felt the impact, and this was a perfect opening. Right uppercut, left hook, right roundhouse kick.
Saber was thrown into a nearby white van, its left door bent under pressure and the empress fell into it, making the van turned to the right and fall with a resounding thud.
A moment of silence. The van was cut in two as the Empress placed her feet against the concrete, a sound as if glass shattered. Her eyes were sharp and focused on but one thing... the woman who had dared to attempt to best her.
Shirou was moving full throttle towards Rider. As long as he carried the king slaying blade he had no fear of the charging force of the horses.
They would fall before they could trample him underfoot. Despite that, and Rider somehow knowing... why was Rider still charging to meet him head on?
These thoughts raced through Shirou's mind in all but an instant, the realisation then struck him, a second too late.
Shirou's right arm had swung the small blade in a horizontal arc, the purpose to slay the horses, or at least redirect them, but these horses were noble phantasms... so they could be dispelled whenever.
A large flowing dark shadow now soared above Shirou... who had just launched an attack, and thus was completely open!
That was Riders aim, he concocted the plan in mere seconds, the scarlet thorn was thrown like a javelin and effortlessly tore through Shirou's left shoulder, slamming deep into the ground, sticking him securely in place. Rider's feet landed on the floor without a single sound.
Whack, Shirou fell to the ground as Rider smashed his shield against Shirou's head, he then bent down and slowly dragged his spear out of him.
"Nice try, lad, but you gotta do better then doing the same trick twice against someone like me... now do I kill you or not? Saber may disappear and I won't get a decent fight, but Bazette would be mad if you both somehow escape..."
"He's looking down on me! That jerk!"
Shirou tried to move, his body barely responded, his fingers merely made the tiniest of twitches. "...Hero."
The words left Shirou's lips, Rider's ears shook a little.
"What is a hero?" Shirou's right hand made a fist and slammed against the pavement, lifting his body barely a centimetre off the ground.
"Huh? What the hell... eh, I don't care about such a silly question. To me a hero is just a thing I know will be fun to fight!"
Rider made a wide happy smile, showing all his fanged teeth. "What is a king!" A piercing roar erupted from Shirou's blood soaked lungs!
He punched the floor and jumped back to his feet, materialising in his arms was his favourite sword, Durendal!
"How... can you stand and hold such a heavy sword with two hands? Your left arm is about to fall off, I can't... ahaha! Alright, lad! Ready for round two!"
Lancer raised his shield above his head, and pulled is lanced in position behind his shoulder.
His face full of excitement, now also bared shock.
Shirou seemed to not have a single opening.
He stood as if he was a knight with no equal, a hero whose legend would never die, the audacity of a king resonating from his very being.
"Dad, what's a Hero?"
A memory of a Christmas long ago, Shirou asked his father a few important questions.
"Hm, a hero is obviously someone who has defied fate to be the very best, but compared to me, they're just lesser mongrels. I am the only true hero of this world. It is good you asked me first, only I can give you the true answer."
Shirou nodded and smiled, his father truly was a hero among heroes. The snow outside fell slowly to the floor, piling up like the wild emotions in Shirou's young heart. "So, what's a King?"
Gilgamesh made a small smile, "A man of superior fate and destiny, one with power that shakes the entire world when they hear his name, the person who will live the most beautiful and extravagant life that show never be known by any other!"
King of Heroes.
Shirou was the child of the King of Heroes!
A person who rules destiny as well as defies and defines it! A warrior that not even the Gods dare contest, the person who holds all the wonders of the world at his fingertips!
He was the best, and no weakling of a hero like Rider could possibly begin to fathom his power!
He wasn't going to die here, he was going to win, it was already in the stars, and even if it wasn't Shirou would shatter them one by one to be the best he could be.
Durendal glowed fiercely, the world seemed to stop, and then Shirou howled to the heavens!
"Durendal! I command you! Break!"
An impossibility was being demanded. A sword that could never shatter, was being ordered to explode. Shirou reinforced it, then began to break it apart, ordering it out of the world, complying with Gaia's wishes to remove this oddity, then at the last moment reinforcing it again, repeating this process.
A deathly yet vibrant green glow began to burst forth from the blade, Rider could still not see a single flaw... but if he waited any longer, he knew he would suffer for it, he had two choices.
To charge straight in and hope to kill Shirou in a single blow, or wait to counter the moment Shirou stroke, a real battle between heroes is settled with their very best.
Rider threw his shield to the ground and held the spear with both hands, pointing the centre of the earth, poised to be thrust forth and take Shirou's head. "Gae-!"
That was the moment Shirou slammed his sword into the ground below his feet.
Durendal shattered into thousands of pieces, and then became nothing but dust in the wind!
The earth split apart! Rider fell back as an explosion of light bathed him.
Before Shirou was a enormous crevice in the ground, nearby cars and street lamps began to be sucked in, having been broken in the impact, and at the bottom of the pit was Rider.
The debris fell in, obscuring the Servant from view.
A burst of light flew from the abyss! Rider landed on the opposite side of the ravine, lance in his right hand, and the shield had now returned to the other.
"T-that... was really, really something! Hahaha! Perhaps not the fight of my life but, you might be getting up there y'know! Well if you had any fight left in ya. Too bad, you used everything up for that one-"
"I'm only getting started." Shirou stared at the Hero.
"Heh, I like your guts. I might pray to dad for once, seems like everything will go my way, your just a Master, this fight barely even started, but I'm having the time of my life. I'm trembling in excitement just thinking about what the Servants would be like!"
"That is, if you can beat me!" Shirou's left arm slumped down, any more pressure to it could cause it to fall straight off his body, appearing in his right arm was a rusty bronze blade...
"I'll end him with this, the Kusunagi!"
Authors Note:
Hello all, I'm back. This is just a short small update to get you guys interested again, I guess and help me practise my skills again. Thanks to my editor Petrikow would be greatly appreciated.
(Actually he didn't edit this chapter, but he probably will be my main editor from now on, I think.)
Please read my other fanfic, which is a crossover of Fate Stay and the Shin Megami Tensei game, Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha, where Shinji is a demon summoning detective.
Anyway, the King demands a review!