Chapter 8
Rest for the Weary
-:-
EARLY MORNING
ON TOP OF A BUILDING, ALIMANGO ISLAND
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is a state of life that allows a person to avoid death and maintain conscious thought
It can mean the unending existence of a person from a physical source other than organic life, such as a computer. Active pursuit of physical immortality can either be based on scientific trends, such as cryonics, digital immortality, breakthroughs in rejuvenation or predictions of an impending technological singularity, or because of a spiritual belief, such as those held by Rastafarians or Rebirthers.
While many have sought it over the course of human existence, those who actually achieved can confidently say that immortality is extremely overrated.
To watch friends, family and loved ones grow up and die first is saddening.
To watch it again and again and again is nothing short of torture.
Once a person gets used to all the death, the torture is numbed and is replaced by guilt of being unable to feel sadness.
Eventually, even guilt loses its effect on the immortal and all that's left is an existence with no purpose.
As the most powerful and most perfect existence in this world, the Nine Tailed Amaterasu is the only person in existence that can say this phrase...
"Immortality is so boring"
For all her god like power, she feels like her life is the least fulfilling. This is why she envies the other living gods who finds entertainment in mundane things.
Ares finds pleasure in collecting and sampling women of all shapes and sizes. He has the second largest harem in the world after all.
Shiva is a die hard survivalist nut. She would go as far as seal all of her power just to get the thrill of using her wit and instincts against the forces of nature.
Durga likes food and he would travel far and wide to sample exotic (and sometimes disturbing) cuisines
Yama is a mad scientist of sorts. Many of his/her/it experiment (albeit ethically questionable) have led to countless scientific and magical break through. His/her/it's curiosity is so insatiable that he/she/it even experimented on him/her/itself, hence his/her/it's undistinguishable gender
Seth is a sports fan. Irregardless of what sport it is, Seth would study it and make detailed analysis of strengths and weaknesses of each player of a team. He even owns a GW promotion agency.
Mictecacihuatl enjoys thrillers and espionage stories. By disguising himself as a low level police officer, he has gained a reputation as one of the world's greatest detective.
Last but not the least is Amaterasu's husband, Futsunishi who is an avid fan of the otaku culture. Be it mecha, romance, action, suspense or whatever genre there is available, his knowledge is grand master level.
Out of childish envy, Amaterasu inflicted a horrific curse on herself which rips her soul apart into 9 different facets. These facets have their own personality, tastes and will at the price of a massive drop in power. By her estimates, a single facet only possesses 0.093% of the original's full power.
Despite that, Amaterasu believes that it is worth it because she can once again feel happiness in the most mundane things in life. Once again, Amaterasu feels very much alive.
Naturally, this soul splitting is temporary at best. The 9 facets need to become one every 4-6 months in order to prevent their souls from growing too far apart.
At the moment is one of those times where the 9 facets of Amaterasu are one. None of them would want to miss the show for anything.
A month or so ago, Futsunushi suggested Amaterasu to go to Alimango Island at an exact date, time and location if she wants to see something interesting. He also suggested that all 9 of her facets should come in order to prevent any damages to the peaceful island city.
A few minutes earlier, she understood what her husband ment.
At the moment, 2 figures fought with the level of savagery that is normally unseen in Amaterasu's peaceful world.
On one side is a young 6 winged angel covered from head to toe by white armor. Radiating with a golden aura that lights up the night sky, Amaterasu can tell that the girl an extremely powerful battle hardened veteran.
On the other hand was a man with every inch of his skin covered with blades. In direct opposition to the angel, the man does not radiate an aura of power, yet anyone would instantly understand how dangerous he is.
"You have shown me something amusing, my belove husband... I am grateful for that" thought Amaterasu in amusement.
Using her oh-so-powerful godlike abilities, Amaterasu began drawing out information from the combatants via sight alone. While she cant read them perfectly due to their massive mana output that jams her spell, she does get bits and pieces of who they are.
One of them is very familiar to Amaterasu.
In a world where war, suffering and death is a daily occurrence, an idealistic young man went into the thick of it in hopes of saving everyone within his sight. He was betrayed again and again in pursuit of his childish dream, until even his very own ideal stabbed him in the back. As he went into a downward cycle, his friends made a radical move and sent him to Amaterasu's world.
Whoever those friends are, Amaterasu cant thank them enough. Because of their actions, Amaterasu has spent the last 800 years in absolute happiness.
On the other hand, the angel has piqued Amaterasu's interest a fair bit.
Born in what the girl thought was a peaceful family, she was dragged into the world of war and magic by an insane talking stick. She fought, faltered and rose with the power sealed since her birth. She won and made many friends in the process. Despite the dangers she faced, she was happy.
But things turned for the worse as she went deeper into the bloody world of magecraft. She unintentionally gained enemies as she rose to power, and as the years went by, these enemies took the most important thing in her life: her family. This sent the girl into a path that would nearly end her world.
Like every villain in a warpath, she was stopped by a group of heroes, thus forcing her to run and hide. In desperate attempt to escape, the girl used a very crude copy of the 3rd Magic which had absolutely no guarantee that it wont kill her outright.
She was successful and now she's here, trying to live a peaceful life.
"Such a paranoid little girl... Fu fu fu... I cant wait till she finds out exactly who is she fighting against." Thought Amaterasu as she watched the battle. "Well then... I should give them as much freedom as they need."
With a snap of her finger, the entire island and all of its inhabitants is subjected to a powerful spell called Ame-no-Iwato: The Heavenly Rock Cave. This spell gives everyone effected an invincibility slightly similar to that of the Pendragon's Avalon.
"Fu fu fu... Have fun you two"
-:-
Shiro has always been the type of person who never valued brute force in combat. Sure it has its uses, but charging into an enemy that one does not understand is downright stupid.
Because of this way of thinking, Shiro constantly goes the extra mile to observe his surroundings while in the heat of a life and death battle.
Know your surroundings. Know what terrain that can gain you an advantage and what can slow your enemy down.
Know your enemies. Know what strengths that must be avoided and know what weaknesses that can be exploited
Know yourself. Know if you are capable of fighting the enemy up front or if you need a bit of underhanded trickery to succeed.
This has been his modus operandi for so many years which have allowed him to destroy enemies much much stronger than he is.
This time around, he cant help but feel uneasy against his current circumstance.
His opponent, a very un-angelic angel, is a typical overpowered being that Shiro destroyed many times before. After 10 minutes of intense combat, Shiro can pretty much gauge her abilities.
Her strengths:
A very powerful prana burst that easily pushes her strength to the EX rank
The ability to fly
An aura that seems to cancel out any attack of B rank and below.
High speed regeneration
Limitless amounts of mana.
Her weakness:
Her complete lack of composure. This is made especially clear to Shiro when she didnt even notice the monstrously powerful spell that ingulfed the entire island.
"As invincible as she may look, she is definitely beatable... I'm more worried of that spell"
Despite the insanely high level of the battle between Shiro and the Angel, Shiro has noticed how non existent the damage they are doing to the surroundings ever since the spell was activated.
Every time the Angel swings down her Morning Star, anything in its path is blown to bits as if it was directly hit by a bunker buster. Yet despite that unrealistic power, the surrounding remain unchanged after the dust clears.
"This is weird... Very weird... Let me run one final test"
Shiro decided to move locations. He ran with all of his might while the Angel carved a path of destruction in her pursuit.
Shiro jumps over a car.
That same car disintegrates as the Angel plows straight through it.
A second later, the same car reappears without a scratch on it, as if its earlier destruction was a lie.
"Hmm... So that's how it is huh..." Shiro thought as he traces a familiar golden sword on his right and a familiar red lance on his left. "Then let's see if it works against this. "
As crazy and psychopathic as his plan might be, Shiro decides on performing the ultimate test. He heads for the center of a densely populated area and teleports to the tallest building he could find, in this case small 3 story apartment.
One quick survey allowed Shiro to spot about 2000+ civilians in the immediate vicinity and about 3/4 of them are currently watching their battle from their windows.
"That's expected, especially how noisy we've been for the past half hour." thought Shiro as the golden sword increasingly becomes ever more radiant. "But now... The entire island about to get a very rude wake up call."
About one-forth of a kilometer away is the angel of wrath who charging at him while peppering him with a generous dose of mana bullets. Maybe it's her lack of composure but the girl's aim is horrendous, thus missing Shiro by an average of 5 meters. Quite good for any other class, but as an Archer, Shiro cant help but facepalm at her poor display of marksmanship.
This actually serves as a blessing for the angel because Shiro's long range blade summoning requires a large load of mental concentration. Even if the angel's chance of hitting him is small, Shiro cant concentrate when there is still a chance that a stray shot may head his way.
"It wont take her even 5 seconds to close the gap and bash me to oblivion... Perfect. "
Shiro charges the golden sword to its limits, takes aim at the angel of wrath, and with a loud voice he roars...
"EXCALIBUR!"
The sword of promised victory turned night into day as a golden beam of light plows through the small town and cleaves the ocean in half, as if Noah was splitting the Red Sea.
However, just like any other high hitting move, Excalibur's initial firing stage required so much preparation that even a 3 rate opponent can spot and make preparations against.
While Shiro's aim is second to none, the Angel of Pride barely dodges the pilar of golden light, but not without suffering a fair bit of pain as well.
The Angel uses her wings to shield herself from the worst of the blast, but most of the mana that surrounded her was blown away. Despite successfully protecting herself, a fair bit of her left side was undergoing rapid regeneration, thus was damaged by Excalibur.
In normal cases, a big move like Excalibur is ment to utterly remove the opposing side from existence. When a person uses such a trump card, that person expects that victory will soon follow.
However, Shiro is not like most people.
"GAE-"
Before the Angel could turn her attention back to Shiro...
"-BOLG!"
...Shiro has already made his move.
Yes... Excalibur: The Promised Sword of Victory's light was nothing more than a smokescreen to hide the Gae Bolg's approach.
The Angel instinctively uses one of her right wings to block the incoming red spear, effectively diverting its course to pass a meter over her left shoulder. Unfortunately for her, Gae Bolg's trajectory changes and the spearhead sink's into her left shoulder.
Regrettably, the spear only penetrated 3 inches past her collar bone, thus unable to proceed to the heart as it originally intended. Looks like the wings were made of pure mana that was strong enough to stop Gae Bolg.
"AARGH!" roared the Angel as she destroys the traced Gae Bolg with a single blow from her morning star.
Thanks to Excalibur's blast and Gae Bolg's annoying curse, the Angel crashes into the street below where a Kanshou and Bakuya wielding Emiya Shiro was ready and waiting.
"Heh... Game over..."
Shiro lets lose a savage combo before the Angel could get her bearings back.
Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge to the chest.
Carwennan to the throat
Trishula to the right leg
Sword of Mars to chop off the right arm
Mholnir to flatten the angel into a bloody pulp.
Before he could follow through with the Scythe of Cronus, the Angel lets lose a powerful burst of mana that decimated everything within 10 meters, effectively throwing Shiro into a concrete wall 20 meters away.
While Shiro can recreate any damage done to his body of blades, he can still feel every bit of pain that his steel body cant cancel out.
"Ouch ... Didnt expect that omni directional attack ..." thought Shiro as he quickly recreates his entire upper body. "I guess I got cocky, seeing how defensele-"
Shiro's jaw drops to the floor at the sudden event that has taken place in front of him.
He thought that he already had the girl figured out... How wrong was he.
As if the second coming of Christ was at hand, a white sun suddenly illuminated the heavens and turned night into day.
"Holy..." was the only word that Shiro could squeeze out as he gazed on the massive ball of mana floating 10 thousand meters above the island.
The sheer amount of mana in that artificial sun is atleast 5 times larger than Shiro's UBW. Without a shadow of a doubt, that thing is capable of making Alimango Island disappear from the face of the map.
While Shiro is confident that whatever the massive spell that was cast earlier gave the entire island a GW-like invincibility (which he has proven by firing off Excalibur in the middle of town, yet did not do any damage to the surroundings or killing anyone), the massive ball of mana might actually be a bit too much for the GW spell to cancel out.
"To think that you forced me to use Luficer: The Morning Star... You are good, I admit... But it all ends here!" said the Angel as the white sun began its decent.
Shiro's brain kicks into high gear.
His strongest shield can only block a small area, thus useless in this situation.
To counter the massive ball of mana, Shiro needs his strongest traceable NP which, unfortunately, requires too much charging time to be effective.
He also has no time to unleash UBW
From the looks of things, the spell wont stop even if he kill the caster.
"So I need to kill the caster while creating a strong enough shield to block the massive mana bomb... And I need to do it with as little preperation time as possible... Heh, no problem!"
Power surges through Shiro's body as he makes uses of every last one of his magic circuits to trace the largest NP in his arsenal. Due to the nature of the NP and Shiro's current state, it didnt even take him a second to unleash its might for the world to see.
" Ig-Alima!"
In an instant, a gigantic arm wielding an equally gigantic sword shoots out of the ground. It happened so fast that in 1/8 of a second, Ig-Alima was barely 4 inches away from the Angel's neck... And this is after destroying half of the small town in it's wind up swing.
Shiro's plan was plain and simple. Kill the Angel then use the gigantic arm and sword as a shield for the town. He expects a bit of collateral damage here and there, but that is much better than being hit by the massive mana bomb, which will mostly likely leave irrepairable damage to the town.
With this, his victory is assure... Or so he thought
"Stop"
With one command, time stopped for everyone in Alimango Island, much to the shock of the Angel and the Man of Swords.
Without as much as a warning, a beautiful and very familiar woman appeared about equal distance from the two.
As if jumping straight out of Otaku land, the woman donned a revealing purple kimono coupled by a pair of fox ears on top of her bubblegum pink head. The most striking feature on her was 9 golden tails, each radiating power that easily dwarfed Shiro's and the Angel.
The 2 cant help but tremble in fear, for this woman is the most powerful existence in this world.
This woman is Amaterasu
"I know I allowed you 2 to play a little, but this level of destruction is taking it a bit too far" said Amaterasu in a calm and composed manner. "You both had your fun, now cease all aggression"
Once again, the 2 bare witness to the power of a god.
The artificial sun and Ig-Alima instantly vanishes while the town returned to its calm and peaceful setting, as if the intense combat earlier was a lie.
"The two of you, stand before me"said Amaterasu.
Suddenly, Shiro and the Angel was teleported in front of Amaterasu. With both unable to move even a single muscle, they were completely at the mercy of Amaterasu.
"Hmm... I doubt that the 2 of you can recognize each other as you are now..." said Amaterasu as she observes the iron clad angel and the man made of swords. " Very well then... Revert back to your normal selves and I allow both of you to move"
In an instant, Shiro's body was no longer covered with swords and the Angel reverted back into a lovely white haired girl.
Now that Shiro can move, he was able to get a good look at his attacker... And boy was he shocked.
From her long white hair to her crimson red eyes, the girl reminded Shiro of someone he knows all too well. While her age did throw Shiro off, this girl was without a doubt, someone very important to him.
... And by judging from the surprised face of the girl, she harbors the same disbelief as Shiro.
With great uncertainty, Shiro speaks her name.
"I-Illya?"
The girl replied with equal uncertainty.
"Oni-chan?"
-:-
10 HOURS LATER
ALIMANGO ISLAND RESORT
AHNENERBE CAFE
Shiro has always been a person who hates surprises.
In his previous world, surprises came in the form of a land mine or an ambush with enemies of numerical superiority. These surprises almost always ends with a high number of dismembered limbs on both sides.
Even after coming to this peaceful world, surprises has always caused Shiro a fair bit of headaches and a hell lot of body pains.
However, there are those rare instances that Shiro is blessed with a pleasant surprise.
His first surprise of the moment is the thing that has just took his order. While it did remind him of a certain True Ancestor, the thing in front of him was too badly drawn to be related to such a powerful being.
Apparently, its name is Neco-Arc so it must be a cat... The problem is, it doesnt look a single bit like the feline that it is named after. If anything, it looks like one of those human experiments gone wrong that Shiro killed back in his old world.
"It would be rude to ask, so I must as well keep my mouth shut"
'Why is Neco-Arc's existence a pleasant surprise?'
Simply because this type of surprise isnt causing Shiro any type of pain.
On the other hand, the girl sitting in front of him is a pleasant surprise which will most likely cause him a fair bit of agony in the future. The girl sports a pure white short sleeve shirt, a jet black skirt that ends an inch below her knee and a simple looking pair of sandals. Despite her homely looks, her eyes are sharp as knives and her overall aura is that of a no-nonsense businesswoman.
Her name is Hellel Lightbringer AKA Illyasviel Von Einsburn.
"Before we begin, I would like to ask you 3 questions" said Illya in a manner devoid of the childish little sister that Shiro has become accustomed to.
"Shoot" replied Shiro in an equally serious manner.
"Very well. 1st question. How should I address you?" asked Illya. "I mean... I think Oni-chan is a bit inappropriate for our current standing"
"Hmm... Good point. Seeing how we're the same age this time around, how about just calling me Shiro?"
"I see... That is acceptable" said Illya with a nod. "Very well Shiro, I would prefer if you address me as Hellel. I've gotten very fond of that name"
"Sure. It'll be less confusing that way." replied Shiro. "So, what is question number 2?"
Illy-... Hellel stealthly takes a peak over Shiro's shoulder and stares at a group of young women located 5 tables away from them
"Do you know those girls?" asked Hellel
"*sigh*... Unfortunately yes... They're schoolmates of mine" said Shiro as he explained the uneventful events earlier.
After their climactic battle, Shiro and Hellel were forced by Amaterasu herself to meet in Ahnenerbe to do some catching up. After the 2 agreed, they went their separate ways.
Earlier today, Shiro turned down multiple invitations from his friends/harem by telling them that he was going to meet an old friend. Just like a typical harem manga, the girls were suspicious and decided to tail him.
"And so, the result is our current predicament" said Shiro.
"Hmm... A harem huh..." Hellel shoots Shiro a look of disgust. "I didnt think you were that type of man"
"There is a reason for that..." said Shiro as he makes sad yet smiling face, causing Hellel to back off on the issue. "Besides, I think you have your own set of stalkers"
About 5 tables behind Hellel was a large group that comprised of male and female teenagers. It didnt even take Shiro a few seconds to realize that this group were Hellel's schoolmate
"*sigh*... I dont know when it happened, but it seems that I have a fan club" replied Hellel as she massages her forehead in frustration.
"Ho... Must be nice to be popular" said Shiro in a teasing manner.
"It has its own set of headaches, I assure you" replied Hellel as she waves off the subject. "Let us move to my 3rd question."
"Go ahead."
"I assume that we need to tell each other our life story...Who of us should go first?" asked Hellel
Both can tell that neither one has a story filled with rainbows and butterflies. They both know that telling their tale will be painful, but they also understand that it needs to be done.
After contemplating a bit Shiro answers.
"I'll go first." said Shiro. "I have to warn you though... It isnt exactly a very pleasant story"
"Dont worry... My story is no fairy tale either" replied Hellel with a sad smile.
"Very well... I guess my story begins with fire" said Shiro as he retells the major events in his previous world
The Holy Grail Wars
His job as a mercenary
The battles between the church and the clock tower.
The countless lives he has took in order to save the world.
It was not a tale of heroes doing heroic deeds. It was a tale of a man that held onto an ideal which drove him into the pits of despair.
It took Shiro about 20 minutes to tell his life story. Naturally, he omitted a lot of gory details here and there, but he thought that he nailed all of the important details.
"Well, there you have it. That was the story of a man who wanted to become a super hero... And was screwed over countless of times" said Shiro
"I see... " replied Hellel as she makes a pained face. "It really was not a pleasant tale..."
"Well yeah. But we can do nothing but accept the cards Fate has delt us" replied Shiro. "Well... I wont force you to tell your story if you dont want to."
"No... I think it would be better for both of us to get these unpleasant experiences off our chest" replied Hellel as she began telling her story.
Becoming a magical girl by being tricked by a talking stick.
The battle for the cards.
The fight with her other self.
Traveling to another world to save her friend.
Returning to her own world and her subsequent rise to power
The murder of her family and her rampage that took the lives of millions.
Her defeat and her retreat.
Just like Shiro, Hellel omitted a fair share of unpleasant information from her tale. It also took her a good 20 minutes to tell what needs to be told. And just like Shiro, her tale filled with tragedies after tragedies.
To Shiro, listening to her tale was especially painful. To think Illya, of all people, had to experience so much pain. Shiro had to use all the will power at his disposal to stop the tears from coming out.
"Well... Damn... " Shiro managed to squeeze out as presses his face on his palms. "I'm used to tragedy and all, but that was really painful to listen to."
"Ha ha ha. I could say the same to your story." Hellel said while playing with her apple pie. "I get a feeling that we are a pair of travelers after a life long journey and this world is our final resting place"
"I get you. It's as if we're being rewarded for all the crap we had to put up with." replied Shiro. "This might be an boring everyday event to everyone else, but to us, this world is heaven"
Hellel simply nod in agrement.
The two simply sat there in silence as they basked at the peaceful scenery.
Once upon a time, the screams of agony echoed through out the land. Now, they listen to carefree chatter and laughter all around.
The hammering shockwave of explosions are replaced with the gentle caress of the summers breeze.
The endless field of corpses is now a joyous scenery of families and friends on their holiday.
To the 2 weary travelers, this is utopia.
.
.
.
.
.
"... So... What happens now?" asked Hellel
"What do you mean?"
"I'm asking how shall we proceed" said Hellel in a serious manner
"Sorry. I still dont get it." replied Shiro in confusion
"Come now... Based on how you described your life in this world, I assume that you have countless manga and otaku related experience." said Hellel.
"Y-yeah... So?" Shiro replied
For some reason, his instincts are alerting him of an imminent danger
"From our dramatic first encounter, our life story sharing and this date-like scenario. It visual novel terms, you have successfully unlocked Hellel Lightbringer's route" Hellel gently puts her hand on top of his. " Will you conquer me as well?"
Despite being a makeshift confession, Shiro gives Hellel's bold maneuver a perfect score in all criteria.
On a serious note, they are birds of the same feather, so it is only natural that they are attracted to each other.
Before Shiro could decided what to do, his battle hardened instinct kicks in.
Using his free hand, he traces Bakuya and parries an incoming samurai sword that was aimed at his face. Shiro jumps back and assumes a defensive stance.
The attacker lands gently on the table between Shiro and Hellel.
"You dare touch Princess Hellel with your filthy hands?!" roared the short male ninja.
"H-Hanzo? What are you doing" asked Hellel in surprise.
Suddenly, about 20 teenagers of varying size, shape, gender and nationally formed a wall of flesh, steel and pointy things in front of Hellel.
"We are the Lightbringer Fan Club Vanguards and we will defend Lady Hellel purity from the scums of the world!" said the 20 teenagers in perfect chorus
Their entrance was so well choreographed that it wouldnt surprise Shiro that they have done this so many times in the past.
"Well... This cant be good." thought Shiro as he grips Bakuya.
Truth be told, both Shiro and Hellel received a particularly nasty seal from Amaterasu as a punishment for threatening the safety of the island. This seal greatly reduces their power output, effectively crippling them in the process. While Amaterasu made sure that the seal only last 6 days, not being able to accesses their power is a bit annoying
At the moment, Shiro is barely maintaining Bakuya's existence... That is how weak the seal has made him.
"Please calm down everyone!" Hellel desperately pleads the group, but to no avail.
"Dont worry my Lady, we will make sure that this scum will live to see another day... From the hospital that is." said Hanzo as he and his troops rushes at Shiro.
They never came close.
Before they could approach within 5 meters of Shiro, a hail storm of bullets, weapons, a couple of spells and (for some unknown reason) an employee of Ahnenerbe named Neko-Arc Evolution sinks into the wooden floor, effectively stopping the Hellel Fan Club in their tracks.
"T-Tan Skin Girls... Are... So... Moe..." was the last words of Neko-Arc Evolution as his consciousness fades due to severe physical pain.
From behind Shiro stood his saviors.
Gilgamesh Uruk sporting her signature white long sleeve shirt and black mini skirt combo.
Masamune Date in a dark blue kimono befitting her Yamato Nadeshiko looks.
Spartacus Thracian who was sporting a brown cargo pants and a fitting AC/DC shirt.
Hera Claes in a super XXXL sunday dress
And somewhere behind them was Deborah Lapidoth in her trademark nun attire and Enkidu the crossdressing maid.
"Well well well. Emiya Shiro, it seems that you are in a bit of a predicament" said the arrogant Gil as she stood beside Shiro. "And to think I was itching to skewer something... How fortunate for these victims to be at the receiving end of my treasures"
"Thanks for the assist Gil." said Shiro
"I-it's not like I'm doing this for your sake. Dont misunderstand" replied Gil in a haughty yet very tsundere-ish manner.
"Truth be told, she was the one that organized this little stalking group." Enkidu said in a teasing manner, much to Gil's annoyance. "Isnt she cute when she's not honest with herself?"
"Enkidu... I will deal with your insubordination later..." replied a pissed off Gil as she summons a large number of blades
On Shiro's other side stood Spartacus with her sword drawn and a big smile on her face.
"Heh... Looks like Hera was right about you Emiya" Spartacus said in a boyish manner befitting her violent nature. "You really do attract a lot of trouble. It's kind of sad that I wont end up marrying you like Morgan would. Oh well, I'm sure I can change that."
"Le What?!" Shiro couldnt contain his shock.
"Explaining is troublesome. Ask Hera" said Spartacus as she charged at the enemy while Gil and Amu provided covering fire.
"You didnt know who belongs to your future harem?" asked Hera
"Unfortunately no. Gilles De Rias started chasing me before I could get the full list" said Shiro. "Do you know?"
"Aside from the ones you already know of, Xiao Qiao, Morgan Le Fay and Hasegawa Miki." replied Hera. "There's actually 2 more, but no one could figure out who they are"
"For real?! I can see Miki as a possibility, but Qiao and Morgan? Those two are a bit of a stretch, even for me."
"Well they did receive the same vision during White Day, so who am I to judge" replied Hera. "Well then, I should also join the fray before those battle idiots take all the prey"
With a roar louder than a lion, Hera and her super XXXL sunday dress proceeds to decimate everything within arms reach.
At that time, Shiro was still at a state of shock from Hera's sudden reveal
"You have very dangerous tastes Emiya Shiro" said the ever impish Enkidu while both of them watch how the 4 girls overwhelm 20 of Hellel's fan club members and destroy Ahnenerbe at the same time
"*sigh*... Tell me about it."
At the end of that short battle, Amu, Gil, Hera and Spartacus hammered Hellel's fan club until the police arrived to stop the chaos. This is a testament to how powerful those 4 are.
Ahnenerbe walked out unscratched thanks to Debi's GW boundary field.
Emiya Shiro and Hellel Lightbringer were scolded severely due to their inability to control their friends/harem/fan club.
All's well that ends well.
-:-
THE NEXT DAY
ALIMANGO GRAIL WAR COLOSSEUM
In this world, the Grail Wars is THE Sport with participants that earns millions through sponsorships and alike. Even local level, GW participants earn the full backing of their own community.
As proof of this, even the relatively small Alimango GW team (named as Team Bathala) received a large Colosseum from Amaterasu herself, to serve as their training ground. In size alone, it would equal that of an Olympic venue in Shiro's old world.
"There should be at least a million people here." thought Shiro as he looked at the stands that were filled to maximum capacity. "I guess it really is different when seeing it through the TV"
As of the moment, Shiro, Hellel, Amaterasu and a few other GW officials are standing in an elevated platform at the very center of the Colosseum.
For Shiro, a man who prefers subtlety and the shadows, standing in front of so many eyes is a bit unnerving.
"At to make matters worse, Freya-sensei took me to the Tiger Dojo while my entire power is sealed... " thought Shiro as he endures the constant muscle pain all over his body. "*sigh*... This really isnt my day"
He also notices that Hellel wasnt doing so well either.
"What happened to you?" Shiro asked Hellel, who answered back with an exhausted smile.
"Probably the same thing that happened to you" replied Hellel. "I just went through Please Teach Me Ceil-Sensei! lecture yesterday. And while it is called a lecture, Ceil-Sensei did nothing but throw Black Keys at me. If one of those hits my shadow and immobilizes me, she'll sink a roundhouse kick into my gut..."
"I see... Mine was the Tiger Dojo where Freya-Sensei made sure that every inch of my body felt the gentle touch of a shinai traveling at over 90 kph." replied Shiro.
The two can do nothing but sigh at their predicament. That is what they get for being a hero and making sure that their friends were not punished during yesterday's Ahnenerbe Incident.
"But what happens now?" wondered Hellel. " Our powers are sealed for 4 more days, so it is safe to assume that we wont be participating in the GW battles"
"Cant you undo the seal?" asked Shiro "I did hear somewhere that your class is a Caster "
"Unfortunately, I am a combat mage. My skill set is focused on making things disappear using excessively large explosions." replied Hellel.
"Same here. Though I prefer to make things disappear without anyone knowing about it" said Shiro.
"Ho... That does not sound too convincing when coming from the person who leveled the town twice." said a woman with a calm yet impish voice.
Right beside them was Amaterasu whom has decided to join in their conversation.
"I dont particularly enjoy doing that. My hand was forced when fighting with an overwhelming opponent like Illy-... Hellel." replied Shiro in a laid back manner, shocking everyone within earshot (including Shiro himself.)
While Amaterasu's presence alone normally causes people to unconsciously stand in attention, Shiro is somehow relaxed around the living goddess. Shiro has a good idea as to why, but he decides to save it for now. It is not the time for him to be close to the goddess of the world.
"Fu fu fu. Know which enemy to avoid, to exploit and to destroy, correct?" said Amaterasu with a peaceful look on her face.
"More or less yeah." replied Shiro.
"As for you Hellel Lightbringer" said Amaterasu, causing Hellel to stiffen in attention. "How is the condition of your body? I assume that you went through Ceil-sensei's lecture due to that Ahnenerbe fiasco yesterday"
"Yes maam, that is correct. I am nowhere near tip top condition as far as my body is concerned, but I doubt there will be lasting injuries when my power is restored" replied Hellel in a very stiff and very formal manner.
An understandable response, seeing how the most powerful being in this world is right in front of you.
"Good to hear. It would do me no good if my home town's top GW contender were to be injured" said Amaterasu as she pats Hellel in the shoulder. "As to what will be your fate in this trial run of the Interschool GW competition, I'll answer that in a moment. Please take your places as practiced earlier."
A few minutes later, the coliseum that bustled with noise is silent as Amaterasu addresses the audience.
"Students of Homurahara, Asagami and Tsukumihara, I welcome you all to the very 1st Interschool Grail Wars Competition" said Amaterasu. "I understand that impatience is the way of the young, so I will not bore you all with a long speech and I will head straight to the details."
The audience laughs in response. True enough, long annoying speeches is one of many events that bore students out of their minds.
"First order of business. 2 days ago, a pair of rambunctious individuals fought violently in the middle of Alimango Island's residential district." said Amaterasu, causing the audience to murmur among themselves.
The battle between Emiya Shiro and Hellel Lightbringer actually sent the entire island into a sense of crisis. It was understandable seeing how many would have died if Amaterasu wasnt on the scene.
While the civilians were obviously shaken, the authorities and news didnt as much as lift a finger to dig up any info on the incident. This was thanks to Amaterasu.
"I understand that many of Alimango's residence were terrified of that ordeal and I apologize for that." said Amaterasu. "That particular event was arranged by me as a sort of exhibition match to get us into the GW mood. I asked the participation of the 2 most powerful students present in the island and told them to go all out. These students are Tsukumihara's Emiya Shiro and Homurahara's Hellel Lightbringer. I understand that my little prank has caused the residence a lot of unneeded stress. I deeply apologize for that."
After a few seconds of silence, the audience erupts in a large round of applause.
"Wow... They actually believed that?... Well, no one was harmed so I guess it's fine"
"I thank you all for your forgiveness" said Amaterasu as she continues on with her speech. "Second order of business. Unfortunately, due to that little prank of mine, Emiya Shiro and Hellel Lightbringer have used up massive amounts of mana, thus leaving them unfit to participate as GW combatants. For this, the GW panel has allowed all of the schools to restructure their line up one last time for the upcoming event."
Truth be told, both Shiro and Hellel have near limitless mana capacity. The only thing wrong with them is Amaterasu's curse which she refuses to remove because Asagami Private High has no one that could match either of their power. To keep things fair, Amaterasu decided to remove them from the combatant list.
"Last but not the least is the event itself." said Amaterasu, causing the audience to descend into a tense silence. "This will be a 3 way Eliminate the Ruler free for all. The lineup will consist of 8 combatants and 4 noncombatants. The event will start at 12:01 AM tomorrow and will last for 3 days or until 2 Rulers are eliminated. The battleground will be the entire Alimango Island and no one is allowed to give the participants a helping hand. It goes without saying that any attempts of cheating will result in immediate disqualification."
After that segment of Amaterasu's speech, tension fills the air as both GW fans and participants alike began strategizing among themselves. The GW is not this world's most popular sport for nothing.
"The prize for winning is simple..." Amaterasu pauses." The bragging rights that your school has the strongest GW team in the world!"
The coliseum shook as students and fans roared with all of their might.
The Hype is on.
While the battle has yet to begin, the game has already begun.
-:-