A/N: After many months of writer's block I have decided to go ahead and continue my story xD. Sorry for the wait. Anyways, enjoy this new Chapter.
Chapter 12: The Shrine Maiden
Archer's eyes were cold and mechanical as she stared at her overly confident foe, Berserker. The man held his silver blade firmly in his right hand, a wide smile on his handsome face.
"What are you waiting for Archer?" asked Taro Tanaka, his overly confident demeanor returning, "You know who he is now, don't you? You said it yourself."
The samurai in red bowed in an exaggerated manner, "I am Muramasa Sengo."
"The insane swordsmith," stated Archer, "I know you all too well. Stories of your corrupted blades reached every corner of Japan."
"His repu-" Before Tanaka could even finish his sentence, Archer had flung her midnight black shurikens towards him. Their blades were so sharp that they sang through the air like a beautiful choir. They sailed through the madman and cleaved him into numerous pieces. The shreds of his body fell to the ground like autumn leaves, and the pool of blood they formed stained the gray concrete. The shurikens flew back into Archer's hand and in an instant swirled into darkness, forming a long, sharp katana at least two feet longer than that of Berserker's sword.
"There," said Archer, her face without emotion, "Now disappear." A silent moment passed between the two Servants. Archer waited for the red samurai to fade away into the darkness, but nothing happened. Berserker began to laugh wildly to himself, as if the prospect of his master's quick and unexpected demise amused him.
"Clever girl, Archer," stated Berserker, "But you are far too late." Archer simply stared at the laughing samurai, "If you had done that earlier, perhaps when we had first crossed paths, I would have been long gone." The mad man lifted his silver blade, it's polish gleamed in the moonlight like a still lake. "My blade feeds on the blood of others, their life force is consumed by me and gives me more power than you can possibly fathom. Although you have killed my master, I have more than enough prana from slaughtering those pathetic humans to keep myself in this world."
"Thirteen humans would hardly be called a sustainable energy source," responded Archer.
"No, no, no my I have killed far more than just thirteen measly humans. You have to count my Master's family, his coworkers, children, so much more."
Archer's fists clenched and her hand tightened around her black sword. She was done talking. She had learned enough. The man was pure evil, nothing more, nothing less. He has performed unspeakable horrors to the innocent, and she would not stand by and let him continue to exist.
"I see you are done talking," laughed Berserker, "Fine." The crimson samurai's face quickly distorted, his smile widening to a length impossible for a normal human. He raised his silver blade above his head and a bloodthirsty spark lit up in his pitch black eyes.
Without saying a single word, the two charged at one another with blinding speed. The clash of steel echoed throughout the empty street and sparks lit up the darkness around them. Archer slashed at Berserker with her midnight black nodachi, hitting nothing but the air as the crimson samurai dodged her vicious blows. His speed was unbelievable. She easily had an advantage over him due to the length of her blade, but he still managed to dodge and close the distance without so much as an effort.
Berserker viciously countered Archer's attacks with a flurry of his own, slashing in a pattern that would be impractical for a regular human. He was without technique, just pure instinct and an unbridled lust for blood. He quickly broke through Archer's defense and made an arcing slash aimed directly for her neck. However, the raven haired ninja managed to avoid the fatal blow, leaping backwards like a cat.
"You are quick," said Berserker, amused, "As expected of a kunoichi." In a flash Berserker instantly closed the distance between him and his target. "A shame that I am just as fast!" Archer, startled by the samurai's speed, barely managed to lift her blade to block the incoming whirlwind of attacks. A shower of sparks flew into the air, so brilliant that they could be mistaken for fireworks.
Archer could feel her arms grow weary as she attempted to shield herself from Berserker's onslaught of blows. Such were their impact that the ground beneath Archer began to crumble from the sheer force behind each strike. She could see Berserker's smile widen as he pummeled her weakening defenses, his eyes brimming with nothing but pleasure.
With a loud roar, Berserker lashed out with all of his strength and swatted Archer's obsidian blade out of her hands. The samurai's sword stabbed through her right shoulder, sliding into her flesh with unbelievable ease. Archer gasped, a sharp pain coursing through her body as Berserker lifted her off the ground with his sword. The mad samurai smiled even wider as he stared at the helpless ninja suspended above him. Her blood trickled down his blade all the way to the hilt, exciting him.
"Dammit," whispered Archer. She was going to die here. No matter how much she attacked Berserker, now matter how many wounds he sustained, he just wouldn't die. Where was his power coming from? She had never seen a man who could ignore pain as well as he did, there had to be a reason.
"Seems the tables have turned now," mocked the samurai, "When we first met, you had the advantage, but things are different now!" He giggled, much like a small child would. Archer's heart began to race. She can't allow herself to die. Not like this. Hisashi needs her, if she dies here then there will be nothing to stop Berserker from butchering him. "Any last words?"
"Just shut up!" exclaimed a voice from behind. Berserker turned around, only to have an incomprehensible mass of bloody flesh grab him by the face. A bright crimson light filled his vision, he knew what had happened. In a split second his ears were filled with a thundering boom. The ground was uplifted. Be it stone, concrete or metal, everything was sent hurling into the darkness of the street.
Archer lifted herself from the cold, cracked ground beneath and looked at her surroundings. The street was devastated, almost as if a megaton bomb had gone off. The street lamps were uprooted like trees and their lights dim. Slabs of stone were scattered in numerous locations, and a large crater was in the ground. Pipes could be made out underneath, expelling water through the cracks in their frame.
"Hisashi!" was all she could utter. She scrambled to her feet, and began to search the area for her Master. The pile of stones and rock were scattered in such a fashion that finding him would prove to be an extremely difficult task, but she would not give up. "Hisashi!" she yelled again, "Where are you!"
"Here," she heard a groggy, exhausted wheeze and she swiftly made way to it's direction. There was Hisashi, lying in a pool of fresh blood, all coming from the void stump that had once been his left arm.
"Hisashi! What have you done?" gasped Archer, taking him in her arms. Hisashi looked into her sapphire eyes and a small smirk spread on his face.
"This is the first time I've seen you so worried," he tried to chuckle, but only managed to cough a sizable amount of blood.
"Now is not the time to be joking you fool!" scolded Archer, her eyes filling with tears. "I failed you! I was supposed to protect you and instead I let Berserker nearly kill you."
"It's not your fault," replied Hisashi, comforting her, "I was the one being difficult this morning. You told me to stay calm, but I didn't listen. Now look where I ended up. Besides, you still managed to save me right? I may not be in one piece, but missing one piece is better than having none right?"
"That was the stupidest analogy I have ever heard," said Archer, a smile spreading across her face.
"Hey, it got you to smile right?" laughed Hisashi. The young boy's eyes closed and his head nodded off limply.
"Hisashi?" Archer tried to wake him, but to no avail, he was unconscious. She could see his face grow pale, he was losing far too much blood.
"Damn can that boy administer pain," from a large pile of rubble emerged Berserker, his face in ribbons after the point blank explosion. His sword was on the ground beneath his feet. He cackled at Archer, "Try as you might, there is no way you can kill me ninja girl. Face it. I am invincible."
"No you are not. I had my doubts, but now I fully understand," replied Archer, her sapphire eyes emitting a cold, vicious stare.
Berserker paused for a moment, picking his sword off of the ground. His smile faded, and his once confident face grew somber. "What are you talking about?"
"The sword is the Servant, not you."
Berserker, chuckled under his breath, "So you've figured it out. You ninjas are just too damn perceptive." Berserker sighed heavily, disappointed that his ruse had been uncovered. "You are correct. I am not Muramasa Sengo...I am the Muramasa Blade. The sword that has brought madness to the hearts of all who wield me. I am the true Servant Berserker. This body is simply my Noble Phantasm. A flesh puppet designed to redirect attention."
"A very clever ruse. You needed the puppet to survive. Should the stronger Servants have attacked the blade head on you would break and be destroyed." Archer's long nodachi quickly changed shape, swirling into darkness and reemerging as a large studded club, easily larger than Archer herself. "Nobumasa has detected your weakness. It is the end Berserker."
"The end? I sincerely doubt that," replied the bloodied samurai, "You are not as strong as the other Servants, ninja girl. In fact, you might be the weakest Servant I have ever seen. You lack the raw strength to break me!"
"I will not argue with you. I rely far more on my individual skill and tools than actual strength." Archer slowly placed her hands together and closed her brilliant blue eyes. "But I have more than enough tools to end you!"
"So confi-" Berserker's remark was cut short by an intense white light emanating from beneath Archer.
"Shibaru," she whispered softly. In an instant a bright myriad of symbols erupted from beneath her, attaching themselves to Berserker's body. So numerous were the symbols, that they covered every inch of his bloodied body, giving him the appearance of a glowing silhouette.
"What is this?" exclaimed Berserker, his voice muffled from the symbols.
"A binding spell," Archer answered flatly. She was surprised that such a spell had worked. Normally the binding didn't work on anything remotely human in nature. Perhaps it was the fact that her opponent was not truly a human, just a mass of flesh given life by a sword of madness.
"Divinations?" yelled Berserker, "How the hell does a ninja know divinations?" The samurai tried to move, but the symbols held him back, freezing him in place. He howled in fury and panic as he struggled to break free from the binding symbols.
"Moeru," whispered Archer. The symbols on Berserker's body then began to glow a bright red and, without warning, Berserker burst into flames. His flesh charred and melted away like ice in a summer heat.
"You bitch! I'll kill you!" Berserker charged towards Archer, his blade held high. The flames enveloping his body gave him a demonic appearance as he closed the distance between him and Archer.
"Kabe," said Archer calmly, and as Berserker's blade came down on her the symbols littering his body quickly dispersed and formed a wall in front of Archer, effectively defending from his attack. Berserker quickly leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding Archer's enormous club crashing down on him.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit," he repeated. His eyes reflected the growing panic within him. He could not strike her with full strength, if he did, he risked chipping or breaking himself on the wall she had created.
"Seems the tables have turned now," said Archer, repeating Berserker's earlier quip. She engaged the samurai, flailing around her enormous club. The samurai, tried to retreat but it was far too late, the club's range was too long and it slammed into the sword in his arm. The blade shattered into a million shards and a bloodcurdling scream resounded from the body's mouth. A scream so terrifying that Archer's body cringed at it's tone. The shards of the sword itself began to bleed coagulated blood as the screaming body twitched and clawed at it's own face.
In a gruesome display the shards of the sword swirled around the body, squirting blood from it's various pieces. In seconds both the body and the sword disappeared, dispersing into a massive pool of dry blood staining the ground.
Archer fell to the floor, breathing heavily. She had expended almost all of her energy performing the divinations, so much so that she almost caused herself to disappear. She never had much magical power in life and she usually avoided performing such magic due to the fatigue it caused to her body. But this time, there was no alternative. Berserker had to be stopped, and she succeeded in her mission.
She slowly got to her feet, her legs trembling with exhaustion. She went over to Hisashi, who continued to lay in the same position he was in earlier. His eyes closed, and his face paler than ever. She couldn't help but smile, he fought well today.
"How touching," said a recognizable voice behind Archer. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she turned slowly to face the source. Standing before her was an extremely tall man covered in an obsidian black cloak. His skull mask filled Archer with an abhorrent amount of terror.
"You!" exclaimed Archer, she drew her sword limply. She barely had enough energy to swing, let alone fight once again.
"I have been looking all over this city for you two," Assassin chuckled, "I had found him earlier, but I decided to let Berserker perform my duties, much less energy involved that way."
"Enough talk Assassin," stated Archer flatly, "If you are here to fight, then let us fight!"
"Are you sure you want to be wasting time fighting me?" asked Assassin, "Your Master looks like he could die at any second." From his cloak, Assassin drew his pair of blurry swords, the blades that nearly killed Archer a few days ago. He readied himself for a lunge but was unnerved by a powerful downward strike from his left. Dodging just in time, Assassin faced his new opponent, his blank mask reflecting no emotion whatsoever.
Emerging from the dust of the impact zone was a young, beautiful girl in shimmering silver armor. In her hand was an invisible sword that could not be seen by the naked eye.
From behind the silver girl was a tall, handsome man wearing a bright red cloak. He drew his own pair of blades and shot a commanding glance towards Archer.
"Run," he stated flatly, "Get him out of here!"
Archer simply nodded and picked Hisashi up into her arms. She turned to look back at the mysterious pair and then disappeared into the night, carrying her heavily wounded Master with her.