The mountains around Fuyuki rumbled and hosted landslide after landslide as two beings who were on the precipice of godhood fought. Scáthach thrust her spears with passion from the exhilarating battle and appreciation for her titanic opponent and his strength. The giant named Heracles was cool in his attitude in contrast to the barely contained ecstasy that Scáthach possessed.
The air was blowing down stone and eroding away the land as each movement the two Servants made stirred the atmosphere. The pressure was like the red spot on Jupiter to the point that a normal person would be reduced to paste if they go too close to the warring legends. It was a barrier preventing any interference so nobody could infringe on this honorable clash between consenting warriors.
The Archer had realized Scáthach had the Protection From Arrows skill which made his attempts at using projectiles all but worthless without proper preparation and thus he had resorted to swordsmanship using his slab of a sword. Each of his swings cleaved apart the mountains that the duo were running and jumping around. Each time Scáthach blocked she would end up getting launched across several of the earthen peaks, but she never felt anything but joy in response. Scáthach used a variety of elemental Mana Bursts to send floods of fire, lightning, and water that eroded and evaporated mountains into canyons. Each deluge failed to erase the flesh of Heracles as he vaulted across great distances with sheer power and straight through the raging elements as if they weren't there.
Avenger, Mana Burst(Flame), Mana Burst(Lighting), Mana Burst(Courage), Mana Burst(Water), Clairvoyance, Revelation, Mind's Eye(True), Mind's Eye(False), Instinct, Monstrous Strength, Self-Evolution, Accel Turn, Battle Continuation, Independent Action, True Name Discernment, Pioneer of the Stars, Protection from Arrows, Valor, Counter Hero, Determination of Steel, Poisonproof, Reduced Earth, Furthest Earth, Shapeshift, Eternal Arms Mastery, Independent Action, Self-Replenishment(Mana), Galvanism, Beast Enhancement. Skill after skill after skill was used in order to keep up with the engine of destruction that was Archer.
Scáthach's heart raced faster than it had in many years and many summonings. She was having her greatest desire become reality without needing the Grail or any other wish granter. Thanks to using True Name Discernment, Scáthach knew she was fighting Heracles the most legendary and revered of all heroes and he more than matched his reputation. His every movement was calculated and precise yet his power was like a raging typhoon that made Scáthach feel like a speck of dust while in his presence. The thrill of fighting such a combatant was a dream for a combat loving woman like Scáthach. She desired little more than the tingle she got when she was forced to fight with all she had and push her limits; her body screaming at her to give up and images of her own demise flickering in her mind so rapidly it could give someone a seizure. Each choice she made, every tactic conjured, every prediction she made, they all made her feel light like a child prancing about to a cheery tune. Heracles was one of the strongest opponents the queen had ever encountered and was more than capable of killing her if she wasn't careful. He could be the courageous hero that would take Scáthach's life and finally bring her the end she yearned for.
But she wasn't going to go down until she had the fight of her life. She hadn't heard enough of the melodious clangs of weapon against weapon; the rapturous sensation of narrowly evading an attack that would guarantee certain death if she had dodged a second too late. She wanted to go down in a blaze of glory that would eclipse all previous battles in her entire life and would become the perfect resolution to her story.
Building sized hunks of stone were cast at the queen by the giant which she dealt with using simple slashes and stabs. Hercules dug into the land as she did and reappeared under Scáthach, destroying most of the mountain he erupted from in the process. Clairvoyance, Instinct, Revelation, and both Mind's Eye(True) and Mind's Eye(Fake) allowed Scáthach to see through the attempt at surprise and avoid Heracles' slash that gouged a chunk out of the air. The vacuum created pulled the queen back at the giant but his next slashed was avoided once more thanks to the Accel Turn skill. Scáthach just got sucked back in afterward and so Scáthach used a tactic she remembered Bazett using against her when they first sparred. Instead of trying to escape, the queen flew towards Heracles to get in so close that the Archer wouldn't be able to properly fight back in time to avoid the spear that stabbed right through his chest and only barely missed his heart. Heracles grabbed Scáthach by the head before she could activate a Mana Burst and end things. The queen felt the grip of the giant nearly shatter her skull entirely and when she tried to slice off the limb that held her, she had already been thrown down towards the land below. Her body was a drill that displaced hundreds if not thousands of tons of earth as it burrowed into the ground and created a gargantuan pit.
"Ansuz!" Scáthach used a rune to create a blast of fire that she amplified with Mana Burst(Flame) to generate an infernal stream that looked like a volcanic discharge when it rose out of the pit. In what must have been less than one-one thousandth of a nanosecond, Heracles readied his bow and fired an arrow powerful enough to bore right through the flames and utterly annihilate them before reaching Scáthach and forcing her to use all her strength to deflect the bolt. The shot slammed into the side of the pit the queen was in and caused the entire chasm to collapse in on itself. Scáthach summoned multiple spears that were all roaring with red magical energy. The series of spears all flew upwards and eradicated the incoming debris before all targeting the still airborne Heracles.
It wasn't a surprise when the giant knocked away every spear with just a couple of swings but the red weapons just shifted vectors and headed back for Heracles again and would continue to do so without rest. The Archer finally began falling down as he continued knocking away the replica Gáe Bolgs with with his axe-sword. As Heracles descended, Scáthach ascended while drawing as many death runes as she could which all infused themselves into her two main spears.
The two fighters reached the same plane right at the entrance to the pit and both attacked at the exact same time. Red spears smashed against a sword of stone and the air became so wild that multiple tornadoes formed all across the mountain range. Scáthach angled her spears so they slid across the edge of the giant blade with the tips heading for Heracles. As sparks flew from the weapons grinding against each other, the two spears managed to slightly penetrate the dark flesh of the demigod and inject the deathly power the runes held into Heracles and his Spirit Core.
The spiritual base of Heracles' being fluctuated as it was assaulted by the concept of death. The Core had already been hit with this curse before and so it was weakened and primed for getting destroyed by a second assault.
That's what happened. Heracles' Spirit Core fractured and the giant became motionless.
Heracles was dead. The vacant body of Archer class Servant dropped into the pit while Scáthach shot fire from her heels to fly over to and land at the hole's edge.
"Marvelous. That battle made this whole summoning more than worth it." Scáthach ran a hand through her hair. Her breathing was heavy from both exertion and exhilaration. Her muscles all throbbed as the queen understood that if she tried to sit down, she probably wouldn't be able to stand back up. There was not a single part of Scáthach's body that didn't ache which brought her pleasure as if she were a masochist. "A little disappointing that it ended so quickly, but I can't be greedy when I was lucky enough to face Heracles himself. I do wish I got to see more of what he was capable of." The true disappointment was that Scáthach had won instead of receiving her life's finale at the hand of the ultimate hero. If even Heracles himself wasn't capable of bringing down the queen of the Land of Shadows, then who else in the war possibly could? King Arthur might have been able to at full strength which was no longer possible unless Scáthach destroyed all the spears that gave her unhealing wounds. It had to have been Heracles, there was nobody else up to the task.
Scáthach realized she still might get her wish when her various foresight granting skills revealed a future where Heracles jumped out of the hole and cleaved her in two. Accel Turn was activated as the giant did as was predicted, the queen avoiding the hulking axe-sword by a hair's breadth. Sadly, Heracles had caught on to Scáthach's future sight and so he figured out the simple countermeasure of predicting how the queen would dodge to know where to preemptively target next.
A fist tore apart the right side of Scáthach's face. Bits of skin and bone scattered as the queen's right eye had exploded into a gush of scarlet. It became difficult to think as Scáthach's mind failed to process the amount of pain the punch had induced. Everything had gone white but Scáthach still knew what was happening as Heracles grabbed the woman by the head and swung his sword at her again to break her body into chunks.
Self-Modification and Shapeshift allowed Scáthach to shrink her head a little so it could slip out of the giant's hand. The queen drew a rune on her face to begin healing it while avoiding the newest slash by releasing more flames from her feet. As she rocket off, Heracles' slash created another vacuum to suck the queen back in but this was to Scáthach's advantage. Like before, Scáthach moved in to the pull and even used Reduced Earth to immediately get so close to Archer that he had no space to act before she drew a death rune and fire rune on his chest. The death curse damaged the hero's Spirit Core again while the fire rune shot flames that propelled the giant away from Scáthach so she had a microsecond to think.
The most pressing issue was how Heracles had come back to life after having his Spirit Core completely destroyed. It wasn't as if he was still fighting without a Spirit Core like with Battle Continuation and Scáthach knew for certain that the giant's Core was eradicated earlier.
The only explanation was that Heracles had a skill or Noble Phantasm that allowed him to revive. The limits of the ability still weren't clear, though it was likely a Noble Phantasm if it allowed for resurrection after Archer's Spirit Core was gone.
The next question was where to go from here. The death rune tactic wouldn't work again since it required directly injecting the curse to achieve the full effect on a demigod beyond demigods like Heracles and Scáthach's spears couldn't do any more than barely piece the hero's skin at this point. The dark titan had become resistant to every material attack Scáthach used to the point of being functionally immune to them. Heracles was unmoved by the various elements Scáthach created and every kind of rune Scáthach had that didn't target the Spirit Core failed to induce any significant effect on the giant. He possessed a Noble Phantasm that not only allowed him to resurrect but also amplified his regeneration and granted him extremely potent resistance to anything that harmed him. It even seemed to be giving his defense a boost overall as Scáthach constantly had to magnify her attacks with runes in order to do any damage.
But the wounds from Gáe Bolg Alternative weren't healing despite Heracles' Noble Phantasm reviving him and it took him far longer to become immune to the red spears' stabs and slices as compared to Scáthach's other attacks. Gáe Bolg Alternative's creation of non-healing wounds was actively interfering with Heracles' Noble Phantasm which meant the crimson polearms were Scáthach's key to victory. If Heracles was killed by the queen's spears, he would stay dead.
Scáthach's face had regenerated for the most part and Heracles was soaring through the air towards the Lancer once more. Scáthach was about to charge at the Archer and use one of her Noble Phantasms but then her Clairvoyance told her how that would work out. The answer was poorly as her spear would plink off of Heracles' skin and the queen would get turned to liquid from an axe-sword slash.
Why? Gáe Bolg Alternative was a B rank Noble Phantasm which was far stronger than any of Scáthach's previous attacks, including the ones that successfully harmed Heracles. That meant that the attack failed for reasons irrelevant to raw power and likely related to how the giant's defensive Noble Phantasm worked. Perhaps the kind of attack Gáe Bolg happened to be was a type of technique that the hero was immune to. The other possibility was that Heracles' defense was related to the official rank of the attack. Any attack below A rank that Scáthach had used failed to harm Heracles which Scáthach originally perceived as being because the hero was just really tough. But if it was based on rank then that would explain Gáe Bolg Alternative's failure since it is officially listed as B which means it doesn't meet the standard of being at least A rank.
Runes were drawn and infused into the two spears that made up Gáe Bolg Alternative. This ascended the polearms to A rank while Scáthach looked into the future to see if the attack would work now. The smile on the queen's face should have been all that was needed to know the foreseen result was satisfactory.
The jets coming Scáthach's heels flared up and the queen shot towards the dark giant to meet him head on. Her grip on the two crimson spears tightened as they both flared with magical energy and she prepared to activate their true power.
The distance became zero in a nano-instant as both fighters readied their weapons to strike but it was Heracles who struck first. The giant blade crashed into one of Scáthach's spears but failed to breach the defense it provided. The other implement of impalement thrust forward and reached the abdomen of the giant. The collision was so grand that the shockwave produced caused the ground below to move in waves like a raging sea as any meaning in solidity was abandoned. The spear fired from Scáthach's hand as it ran through Heracles' gut and buried itself in his organs. The demigod was sent flying away from Scáthach in a flash as the spear remained firmly nestled in his torso. Then the hero's flight stopped suddenly as the very space around him was sewn to him by the red pike's power. His entire body was paralyzed as his entire form was one with the fundamental structure of the existence surrounding him.
Scáthach descended from the sky and firmly planted her feet into the ground as she took a wide stance. Her remaining spear was reared back to be thrown and it was encased in more of the sanguine magical power than ever before to the point that it looked as if it was twice its normal length. The atmosphere around the queen rippled and distorted while stones rose up from the ground before breaking down at the subatomic level. The arm that held the spear bulged and became more muscular as it flexed to the extreme. Every fiber of the woman's body became simultaneously dense with power yet also loose and ready to move at top speed at a moment's notice. The mountains quaked down to the bedrock and red lighting which turned anything shocked to nothing shot out in random directions from the energized spear.
The monarch of the Land of Shadows felt her hair whip about and her soul scream in elation as she was about to unload her signature technique. Her aim was as perfect as any Archer's and the magical energy her spear contained was great enough to slay a Divine Spirit with one touch. The high Scáthach was overcome which made her feel like she could break the Earth in half if she wanted. She experienced a sense of power that was different from that of when she taught her students or fought against most enemies. Those occasions made her feel like an invincible individual in a world made of glass living a life of minor delights at most, but to fight against one such Heracles and be forced to use all she had made her feel every ounce of her own strength and somehow be able create more where there previously was none. She was an engine that generated energy that was dedicated purely to this fight, for the sake of its existence because such a spectacular event deserved no less than the best-the most.
The arms of the stoic giant began to move despite his entire body having been welded to space itself. His strength was so great that he could keep moving though he was still suspended in the air which meant he couldn't avoid the next spear. Heracles released his axe-sword and reached for his Bow of the Hydra for a counter attack. He was definitely going to use a Noble Phantasm of his own so Scáthach's smartest option would be to throw her spear immediately before the giant could strike back. He was getting slowed by the space that was fused to him so Scáthach had plenty of time but she couldn't help but stay her hand until Heracles was ready. Scáthach's lust for a challenge demanded she see what this Archer of Archers was capable of when his back was against the wall. She would either overcome a legendary technique from someone who was certainly a candidate for Grand Archer or she would have the honor of dying in a glorious manner.
As Heracles pulled his bowstring back with nine arrows that were each as long as Gáe Bolg, it was undeniable that this was a Noble Phantasm that was a sublimation of the hero's skill as a warrior. Scáthach had among the most discerning of eyes when it came to both character and capability. She knew potential when she saw it and that was why she became a teacher of others and it was why Scáthach was one of the few who could fully appreciate Heracles' skill. Just viewing how that demigod nocked those nine arrows was enough for the queen to understand just how amazing what would come next would be. If she were a more emotive person then a tear may have come to her eye from the excellence of Heracles' every movement. A feat of archery that was worthy of being called godly was mere moments away as Scáthach readied herself to launch her energy coated spear.
With a peal like a thunderclap, Scáthach's upper body twisted while her arm whipped forward with her full strength and and her fingers released their hold on the mighty spear. "Gáe Bolg Alternative!" The queen's arm was nearly turned into mincemeat from the force of her own javelin toss so she had to use a rune to begin healing it as soon as Gáe Bolg left her hand. The sound barrier was broken immediately and the crimson spear looked like a beam as it drew a blood colored line through the sky and carried destructive power enough to eliminate almost anything unfortunate enough to be in its path. Once again space was warped by the spear and it moved so fast that it was impossible for any but the fastest of beings to avoid it and any attempt to block the cursed warhead was an absurd demonstration of futility. Gáe Bolg Alternative promised death not because it altered causality like how Setanta did with his Gáe Bolg, but simply because the parameters of this attack were too absurd to overcome.
Though maybe not too absurd for the likes of the legendary Heracles. "Nine Lives." The Archer's fingers pulled back and the nine arrows stopped being mere arrows as they began traveling through the air. They became lasers that were shaped like serpentine dragons like the many heads of the Lernean Hydra that Heracles slew. Each draconian trajectile moved with its own unique path at speeds matching the cursed spear. All nine of the lasers were shot with an exactness that could only be born from a lifetime of tireless training along with a unique talent for combat. They all served a purpose without any thoughtlessness or waste put into their use. At first it appeared that the nine arrows would hit Gáe Bolg Alternative head on even though that wouldn't be enough to completely stop the cursed spear but then the dragons all swerved and grazed the spear at its side. They didn't hit it directly but they all scraped past it at the same spot simultaneously which was just enough to knock the crimson warhead slightly off its path. As the two Noble Phantasms finished passing each other and towards their targets, it was clear that Gáe Bolg Alternative hadn't been diverted too much and so it would still hit and kill Heracles if nothing was done. Heracles anticipated this as four of the arrows did a u-turn and headed for where Gáe Bolg was about to be, which was right in front of Archer. Before the cursed spear hit its mark the four arrows hit it directly at the side again. Gáe Bolg Alternative is meant to be an infallible offensive but this Nine Lives technique Heracles used was meant to be a counter able to handle any situation. Two contradictory absolutes were forced to encounter each other and thus a paradox was born. What happens when a spear that can pierce any shield hits a shield that can't be pierced? The answer is that one or both items are proved to be less immutable than they are claimed to be.
Gáe Bolg Alternative was torn from its proper course from the four dragons pressing into it. It missed Heracles but it was right before it could soar far away when the energy inside the cursed armament was released in a spherical explosion. The land below began cracking apart and an earthquake was generated. The blast was akin to an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm despite being officially labeled as Anti-Unit. Countries the likes of Japan could be wiped off the map if the magical energy expanded into a wider conflagration rather than being as focused as it was. The crimson spear was right next to the Archer when it unleashed its detonation so there was no way for the hero to dodge. His whole body was caught in it so he would definitely die but there was the issue of him not getting hit by Gáe Bolg Alternative itself. The curse that created wounds that couldn't fully heal was in the physical spear so if this explosion didn't kill Heracles for good with raw power, then he'd be able to revive and regenerate like normal.
Whilst the Archer was enduring the great explosion, Scáthach had to deal with the remaining five dragon lasers that were each aimed at a different one of the queen's bodily areas. Head, torso, right arm, left arm, and legs. Scáthach couldn't suppress a giggle as she saw the shadow of death looming in the corner of her eye. Starting with analysis, Clairvoyance, Instinct, Mind's Eye(True), Mind's Eye(False), and Revelation were all used in tandem to predict the exact paths which these draconian arrows were following. Next was defense as a cubical barrier was formed from runic magecraft that was capable of blocking Noble Phantasms. Not enough, she needed more. Multiple copies of Gáe Bolg Alternative appeared and lined up to form a palisade within the rune shield. Next a sphere of water formed around the queen thanks to Mana Burst(Water) which was followed by two other spheres of fire and electricity courtesy of Mana Burst(Flame) and Mana Burst(Lightning). Each layer of protection was formed so their power would be focused right where the lasers would hit them to maximize the defensive potential. But not a single one could stop the dragons as they just plowed right through every line of defense as if they were made of paper and glass. The Gáe Bolgs were the only things that stayed intact and even then they were knocked away by the five projectiles. The lasers were slowed a bit though-weakened just a touch. Scáthach used every strength enhancement skill and every Mana Burst available to her to amplify her strength and wreathe two newly summoned crimson spears in a rainbow of substances. Protection from Arrows activated as Scáthach struck at the sides of the dragons aiming to decimate her with all the might she could muster to try and throw them off course. Each of her strikes was akin to a Noble Phantasm in power but they only served to barely throw off the paths of the lasers, but it was still better than nothing. There was increased space between the arrows thanks to Scáthach's attempt at deflecting which the queen might just have been able to fit through to avoid certain death. Accel Turn and Furthest Earth partnered together to allow Scáthach to reposition her body with maximum efficiency to try and avoid the five dragons, but she was still in their paths and they were mere micrometers away from touching her. Self-Evolution and Shapeshift kicked in to allow Scáthach to reshape her body to be thin enough that she would avoid touching two of the beams by virtue of having less surface area. As for the last three, it was time for simple defense once again. Mana Burst(Courage) and some more restructuring with Self-Evolution and Shapeshift amplified the queen's physical durability, as did a collage of other defense oriented skills. It was time to take the arrows to her flesh and when she did she immediately activated Pioneer of the Stars and every other probability altering skill she had on instinct because she would have been ripped to pieces otherwise. One beam ate through Scáthach's left arm so quickly that the queen didn't actually feel anything. It was like she never had a left arm in the first palace thanks to how thoroughly it had been broken down to its most fundamental level. The second arrow did the same to Scáthach's left leg while the third arrow grazed the side of the queen's right hip, mangling it and most of the queen's pelvis while breaking off her right leg. The damage was severe and would likely take a long while to heal even with runes which was acceptable considering Scáthach was still alive, partly thanks to her status as an immortal. Most Servants probably would have died from this level of damage even if their Spirit Core was intact.
The sudden loss of so much of her body was still a staggering experience to undergo. The queen felt like she was resting atop a cloud, probably from having survived such a dangerous assault. Scáthach was in the afterglow of such a pleasurable and intense exchange, but she was awoken from her haze when she felt a coolness tracing across her skin.
She focused her vision and found she was being pulled through the air by the movement of the atmosphere itself. The explosion Gáe Bolg Alternative generated had finished and a vacuum was left in its place. The surrounding air was rushing in to fill the gap and it pulled Scáthach and much of the rubble in the area along with it.
At the center of the vacuum was a corpse that was coming back to life. Heracles had survived and was slowly regrowing his body from his sludge-like upper body that remained after the blast. He wasn't fully restored yet so this was Scáthach's chance to land the finishing blow with her spear. The Gáe Bolg Alternative she threw darted through the air at unnatural angles and returned to her hand as she kept being pulled towards the Archer. To speed up the process, the queen shot flames from her back to propel her and combined Furthest Earth and Reduced Earth to move so fast it was like she was teleporting while having no surface to run across-or legs to run with for that matter. Scáthach's body became a burning arrow with her spear as the tip as she aimed for the heart of the dark giant.
But a vision from Clairvoyance told Scáthach that the two lasers she completely evaded earlier were circling back for her. Heracles must have predicted that the queen would make a beeline for him to finish him off if she survived and fired the arrows with the curve necessary to double back and hit her on her way to him. He had also led the shot as the dragons were going to enter her path and cut her off which forced her to shift her vector using her fire to suddenly turn out of the way. Whiplash hit the queen like a dump truck and nearly broke her in two, but she managed to avoid getting shot again.
There was no way that Scáthach would reach the demigod in time before he finished regenerating. This wasn't helped by the fact that she was running on fumes which was demonstrated by the rough landing she made after she dodged, her body skidding and rolling across the ground before stopping when she hit a large rock.
Scáthach's body sat against the boulder as she felt the pain from her wounds finally reach her brain. Her will prevented her from submitting to the pain and screaming or passing out, but she did struggle to focus on her surroundings or anything at all. Sharp breaths passed through the Lancer's teeth as she regained awareness of what was nearby just in time to see Heracles standing in front of her with his axe-sword in hand. It looked like death was near.
"You managed to take away seven lives from me with that attack despite it not hitting me directly. I commend your strength, Lancer. I can think of few who are anywhere near you in terms of skill and I can't help but admit that I felt twinges of joy within me as I fought you. You made battle seem like an art form. Perhaps it is."
"You were also a worthy foe; the worthiest." Scáthach rasped. "You are the ideal of heroism that I've always sought throughout my life. Even now I fantasize about what it would have been like to have been your mentor. My skills would have been in good hands if I passed them on to you. Then again, making you any stronger than you already are could be considered egregious."
"I'm sure you would have been a teacher on par with Chiron."
"How sweet of you to say."
"I am merely being honest."
"I appreciate your candor. If you are being so open at the moment, then I have a question. You said I took away seven of your lives? I assume that is due to your Noble Phantasm, but how many lives do you have in total? I'd like to know how far I got."
"I have twelve lives as a reward for the twelve labors I completed. You took out eight with the death curses and your spear's explosion."
"Only four lives left then. If only I had a bit more strength somewhere inside me." Scáthach leaned her head back in resignation. I'm surprised that you actually told me the mechanics of your Noble Phantasm despite the potential risk doing so creates."
"You will die in a few moments so there is no reason to be insincere. I want to honor a great warrior."
"What a gentleman."
"Do you have any last words, any final requests?"
"Last words? None in particular. I can't think of any requests either besides wanting to die by your blade rather than anyone else's. It's an honor to die by a worthy hero's weapon."
"In that case, I shall use my bow for it is my greatest armament." The kind giant grabbed his Bow of the Hydra and readied an arrow aimed directly for the queen's heart. "May I know your name before I end this? I'd like to have a name to put to your face and your skills."
"Scáthach, queen of the Land of Shadows and mentor of Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad among many others."
"It was an honor to face you, Queen Scáthach."
"And it was an honor facing you, Heracles."
Finally, the end she so desired. Scáthach would die by the arrow of the most legendary of all heroes who she managed to steal away eight lives from. That was a feat that few could claim to have achieved and the fight itself was a joy among joys. Now Scáthach could rest after a lifetime that had gone on for far too long and without proper companionship of any kind since Setanta lost his life. So many years alone just ruling a land of the dead for no real reason other than because it was what she had to do and because she had nothing else to pass the time doing. Her very existence was a meandering malaise occasionally dotted by bemusing moments that passed as quickly as one's eyes drifted past punctuation marks in a sentence. It was torture of its own kind, but one so mellow that she could never complain about it without seeming selfish and unappreciative of all she had and how little she had lost when compared to others including her own students. She was a ghost that needed to be exercised and now Heracles would be the holy man to do so after all this time. Death's sweet kiss would finally be Scáthach's. Finally and after a wondrous duel the likes of which she had never had the pleasure of knowing previously. Scáthach had nothing to complain about as this was all she could ever ask for.
Then why didn't she feel satisfied? Why was there this nagging discomfort that sat at the backside of her brain like an uncomfortable itch she couldn't scratch no matter what she did. This should have been the beautiful finale of her life that would eclipse all that came before, but instead Scáthach could only try and ignore the thing at the back of her mind. What was it and why wouldn't it go away or be ignored? Every time she tried to focus on the moment she kept getting sucked away as if she had a poor attention span and all because of that itch. It had to have been some kind of regret, but Scáthach couldn't figure out what she could be regretting. She was never the type to get hung up on the past so it couldn't have been something like Setanta or Ferdiad's passing. It had to have been something recent, a new inner conflict that she hadn't had the time yet to ponder and resolve on her own. If that was the case then it was likely about something that happened after she was summoned to this Holy Grail War.
It was obvious what it was in that case. This itch was because of Bazett Fraga McRemitz, her Master who disagreed with Scáthach's desire for death and would likely be disheartened upon her passing. Bazett was hard in exterior but as soft as they came on the inside. She had come to be so attached to Scáthach after only knowing each other for a short time which likely stemmed from feelings of neglect that had festered throughout her life. She was such a poor young woman who needed to learn to love herself, but she likely never would without some help. If that help didn't come from Scáthach, then where? Bazett truly was helpless it seemed. Plus, if Scáthach died, then Bazett would be defenseless as other Masters and their Servants tried to kill her to remove her from the complex equation that was the Holy Grail War. All this considered, it was Scáthach's moral obligation to survive so she could help her Master until the war's climax. And maybe there was another reason for why Scáthach needed to live that related to Bazett. Perhaps something about the young Master appealed to the queen. Her courage? Her strength? Her kindness? Who's to say? Maybe Scáthach just liked her because she was cute. Maybe Scáthach wanted to help her on a whim. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. How did Scáthach have such a skill at reading the emotions of others but not her own? It was truly vexing.
No matter the reason, it was time to live.
Flames roared around the entirety of Scáthach's body as she shot away like a rocket and left Heracles' arrow to stab into the earth and cause the ground to move like water again. The queen wanted to apologize to the hero for essentially lying, but she had to focus on surviving at the moment. Sphere Boundary(Extreme), Presence Concealment, and Disengage all activated to make Scáthach as hidden as she could be despite flying around with flames. Even the intuition of Heracles wouldn't be able to find the queen, yet he was undeterred.
Heracles began a new flood of arrows that rose high into the night sky before raining back down all over the mountain range surrounding Fuyuki. Such an attack was akin to a meteor shower that would leave no place for Scáthach to hide and if she used Protection from Arrows to defend, the arrows getting knocked around by an invisible individual would give her position away. It may have seemed like a brute force method, but this tactic was actually spectacularly well thought out. Thankfully, there was enough space that the Lancer could snake her way through the forest of projectiles despite moving at hypersonic speeds. The bolts pockmarked the land and turned it into a trypophobic's nightmare as it began to resemble a beehive due to all the holes.
Scáthach used most of her brain to dodge while she used the rest to plan her next move. In a bit of painful hindsight, Scáthach remembered she could use a spell called Ochd Deug Odin that would have been the perfect counter to Archer's abilities. It rained down destruction and nullified any continuously active abilities which would have made Heracles' extra lives null and void. It was perfect in theory, but it was too late to use. It was a Noble Phantasm tier spell that would actually be one of Scáthach's Noble Phantasms if she was a Caster, but she could still cast it as a Lancer. The caveat was that casting Ochd Deug Odin while as a Lancer cost more magical energy than even a Noble Phantasm and the queen was too drained to pay the cost, even as she used mana gathering skills to replenish her reserves. If Scáthach was more focused on winning than having a good time, then she would have realized the utility of this spell for taking out Heracles and would have used it before it was too late.
No use dwelling on the past, she needed a solution. There was a way to solve this in the form of Scáthach's other Noble Phantasm, but it took too long to cast for her to use it while the arrows were striking down like lightning bolts from God. She needed to halt Archer's attack briefly-just an instant-and she could activate her Gate of Skye and potentially get rid of Heracles. She could make a barrier which would alert Heracles to her position and he'd head straight for her. She'd have to pray that her shield held strong for long enough for her Noble Phantasm to fully initiate.
Drawing some runes, Scáthach made a cube shaped shield appear around herself as she then cried out "Gate of Skye!"
Clouds gathered from beyond the horizon and formed a rotating mass from which a tremendous gate slowly descended. Its image gave off a grim sensation as its surface was stained with death, not as in blood or viscera, but as in the very idea of death itself. It looked so cold that one might imagine their entire body freezing to absolute zero and disintegrating just by touching the structure. It was something that felt eldritch in how much it didn't belong in the realm of mankind or any land where the living still roamed. If this worked out, the doorway would suck in Heracles and trap him in the Land of Shadows with no way to return and even if that didn't happen, the queen could escape through the door and live to fight another day. She could leave anytime she wanted since she could summon the gate again since she was a Servant.
The queen was stuck in place while Heracles made a mad dash at her with his blade ready to slice through the barrier. He wasn't playing around as his grip tightened around his weapon and readied himself to use his Nine Lives once more but as a swordsmanship technique this time. Both the shield and Scáthach would be ruined if they got hit by a single one of the giant's swings.
The giant doorway fully appeared and its doors began to open and give a glimpse into the Land of Shadows that Scáthach ruled.
Heracles was right next to the box that Scáthach hid within. This was going to be close.
The doors kept spreading wider apart and a suction began to develop.
The demigod moved his arms into a proper swordsmanship position as he readied himself to use the apex of his swordsmanship.
The pull of the Land of Shadows grew stronger. Rubble was beginning to be drawn into the gravity of the kingdom where the dead roamed freely.
The giant's body twisted and his arm swung and the first slash of Nine Lives was born and it was beautiful. Not a single wasted movement and it sliced through any matter around it like how a normal human moves through the air. There was no resistance as it cut through the barrier and continued its smooth march towards Scáthach's torso.
Heracles missed her. The weapon of stone whizzed above the queen's head and completely, utterly, and undeniably missed the demigod's intended target. The suction that the Gate of Skye was creating pulled Heracles upward and caused him to miss at the very last moment.
Only the slightest glance at the other side of the doorway was enough to alert Heracles to the danger of getting pulled in. He stabbed his axe-sword into the ground and gripped the dirt with his toes. He felt himself still getting pulled in and so he grasped the ground with his free hand as well. His strength was great enough that he could theoretically overpower the suction, but the land that he grasped was not so unyielding. The soil and rock broke apart and got dragged past the gate's doors but Heracles always grasped onto something else and kept on resisting.
The Gate of Skye did a check on either the target's Luck or Mana to determine if they would successfully avoid getting dragged through the doorway and Heracles had the parameters to survive. That didn't mean that the Gate of Skye didn't have a 'consolation prize' for those that stayed outside the Land of Shadows until the end. Heracles' magical energy was getting sapped in truly gargantuan amounts and the giant's flesh was getting torn apart by the vacuum the doorway created. Heracles wouldn't get out of this unscathed and that was if Scáthach did nothing further for the moment.
Scáthach was right next to the Archer who was preoccupied with staying planted in the ground and was having his mana gulped down by the Land of Shadows. He was getting weaker by the second and he was a perfect target for a spear thrust through the heart.
An inferno sprayed from the back end of the crimson spear Scáthach held to push it forward as fast as possible as the queen stabbed right for Heracles with the precision of a sniper. She screamed out with a passion uncommon for her to feel as she wanted nothing more at the moment than to kill the hero who was an obstacle to her survival.
The head of the giant turned to look right at Scáthach, yet the rest of his body remained focused only on clutching the earth below him. Surely he couldn't stop the queen's attack with his cranium alone, could he? Such a maneuver might be possible against a weaker foe, but Scáthach was a warrior of the highest caliber who heroes came to in order to become stronger. However, Scáthach had been weakened far more than the demigod and Heracles was a hero so great he defined heroism as a concept. He was a man so splendorous that just a word could split the land if he so wished it as if commanding reality to bend itself to his will.
Air was sucked into the lungs of the Archer before he released it in a roar infused with magical energy that resembled a beam attack. The queen of the Land of Shadows used Galvanism to absorb the attack, yet the bellow was so loud and so intense that it still blew her away while making her ears ring and the fluids in her body boil.
Scáthach's body dragged across the ground before coming to a stop while the inhalation of the Gate of Skye ended with the dark giant still in the land of the living. He did have a wounded body and a deficit of mana; however that was not enough to fell the hero. He rose to his feet while the Lancer was splayed across the dirt with nary an ounce of strength to keep fighting left nor to run. She had the will to go on but not the fuel.
This was really how it ended even after Scáthach's final push to try and live for the sake of her Master. Her burst of resolve didn't gift her a success like it would have in a story. She should have at least been proud to know she truly gave it her all to win, but that wasn't how she saw things. To the keen eyes of the queen, her actions were a failure that had no more value than no attempt at all as long as her failure was the result. This wasn't an experience she'd learn from. This was a mistake that would cause her demise and the demise of Bazett. It was pathetic.
The axe-sword in Heracles' hand was raised again as he was about to charge at Scáthach with no intent to give her another chance to escape. He had no more words to share or any interest in anything but killing the queen of the Land of Shadows.
A line of silver cut across the air parallel with the horizon and went through one of the giant's temples and came out the other. Something just shot through the demigod's brain which made him drop like a log and hit the ground with a loud thud.
Scáthach turned to see the source of the attack only to see a panting Bazett. She had managed to arrive to support her Servant which meant she had to have been running for a while considering she was all the way at the Fuyuki Bridge the last time the two were together. She used Fragarach, the non-counter version, to kill Heracles while he was weakened and save Scáthach from certain doom. If the queen hadn't kept fighting and just gave in as she initially intended, Bazett would have been too late.
Bazett ran towards Scáthach with no concern for the devastated area around her. She truly was the model of courage. She had a pure heart hidden behind walls of insecurity and self-loathing that kept her from her true, immaculate potential. She was a diamond that was begging to be polished by a master jeweler and that jeweler could have been Scáthach if only she allowed herself to be. Why didn't she let herself train Bazett, open up to her, be close to her like she hadn't been with anyone in a long time? Because this wasn't her era? Because she was going to disappear anyway? Because she didn't know how to connect to others anymore? Because she was afraid of things ending in tragedy? Like with Ferdiad? With Setanta? With everyone in her life? Was she really just scared despite all her power and experience? Perhaps her solitude had broken her down more than she realized.
The body of Heracles twitched as it began to regenerate once again. Scáthach and her Master had to get out of there as soon as possible or they'd get slaughtered. Even if the giant was down to three lives, he was still lightyears beyond what a near-dead Scáthach and a Primordial Rune boosted Bazett could handle together. As for actual methods of escape, there was only one left that would be fast enough.
Bazett was shocked when she got close enough to see just how decimated Scáthach's physical form had been. "Lancer, are yo-"
"No time!" Scáthach looked at the Gate of Skye that still hung above with its doors agape. "Take me and jump through the doors! We're escaping to the Land of Shadows!"
"What, but we can't come back if we do!"
"Normally, but I'm a Servant and can summon and open the gates anytime as long as I've got the mana! Just do what I say!"
Bazett did as she was commanded and grabbed her Servant without sparing a glance to look at Archer reviving before jumping high into the air and through the giant doorway which closed behind them with a deep rumble.
The duo was met with the familiar gray world that had become nostalgic and painful for Scáthach to look at. Sharp rock formations were occasionally broken up by rough paths to tread across or forests of trees that were either dead or giving off an ominous gloom. There was the castle that Scáthach lived in sitting atop a precarious cliff and the everpresent clouds that held steadfast against the light from above.
"This is the Land of Shadows?" Bazett looked shocked. She couldn't imagine that Scáthach could live in such a dour realm without going mad. Her mistake was in thinking that Scáthach wasn't mad. To be fair, she might have been mad long before her solitude in this reality.
"After being cut off from the World I never expected to have guests and I certainly didn't expect one of them to be myself."
Scáthach and Bazett saw a woman who looked just like the queen of the Land of Shadows, because she was. The Lancer Servant known as Scáthach was a recording of the original from when history was incinerated. Now that Proper Human History had been restored, the still living Scáthach was back, too. And so the Servant Scáthach was presented with her living self.
All the while, Bazett was dumbfounded. It was cute, Scáthach supposed. Bazett was pleasant all around and was more than worthy of becoming the queen's student. Perhaps she would begin teaching her Master a thing or two while she healed. Perhaps with the help of the living Scáthach. Perhaps.