Chapter 3: Imperial Villa
After turning on the elevator, the party of four were standing by the exit of the control room.
"It looks like we were only able to activate the elevator on the top floor," Arlan looked out the window. "We're going to have to go back down there to activate the elevator we need to."
"Man, I really thought we'd be able to get through to all of them," March's entire body drooped.
"If we activate the rest of them remotely, it gives the Antimatter Legion a chance to get to the staff before we can," Arlan raised an eyebrow at March. "Unfortunately, you'll have to take a detour."
"You?" Shirou but in, raising an eyebrow of his own at the short man. "Are you not coming with us?"
"My leg is injured. It would be illogical to slow you down like that," Arlan shook his head. "I'll shut down the elevators once you make it to the master control zone."
"Don't worry. You won't slow us down," Dan Heng assured him. "Plus, you should be able to shut down the elevators from the master control zone if I'm not mistaken."
"That is true, but…" Arlan's voice trailed off.
"No, Dan Heng has a point," March shook her head. "Shirou and I made it here alright. Now that we have Dan Heng with us, protecting you should be a breeze, so just follow us and keep yourself alive, alright?"
"T-thank you," Arlan muttered.
"Alright, we shouldn't waste anymore time," Shirou took authority of the situation. "Let's go."
As the four ran out of the control room and into the hallway, March paced herself so she was running next to Arlan.
"Hey kid, do you have any idea why the Antimatter Legion might be after this station in particular?" March asked.
"I'm not a kid, but I can only guess that they're after Madam Herta's collection," Arlan scowled as he kept his attention on the path before him. "What could get their attention; however, I do not know."
"From what I've heard, there's something called a Stellaron in Madam Herta's collection," Dan Heng said.
"That's not the kind of information I would be privy to," Arlan shook his head.
Stellaron… Shirou searched his thoughts for any information about the Stellaron that the Moon Cell could provide him. There wasn't much, but what Shirou found… The Stellaron is what the Moon Cell used to bring Shirou here, and if the Moon Cell's information was correct, Shirou could use the Moon Cell to…
He was snapped from his stupor when the three people ahead of him stopped. He peeked past March's shoulder to see that there was a gap in front of them, falling to god knows where.
"Did you guys turn off the repulsion bridge too?" March said as she made her way to the terminal.
"We had to take every precaution to make sure the Antimatter Legion didn't get in," Arlan said. At that moment, a holographic bridge shot out from the gap before them. "Alright, let's go."
They continued to make their way through the station before they ended up in another room. This one had a desk with a glowing card floating in the middle of this.
"Hey… wait a second," March held up a hand, stopping the party. "Is that a light cone? Who knew Madam Herta had these? I thought all of them were with the Interastral Peace Corporation."
"Since the Garden of Recollection made them, they probably still have a good amount," Dan Heng shook his head. "I heard the IPC paid a lot for usage rights, though. They basically store memories. Pretty powerful stuff. No clue how Madam Herta got one of these, though."
"We got them through official channels, I can promise you that," Arlan stepped forward. "These will help you fight. Take them. We'll need all we can get."
"Thanks," March said as she stepped forward and grabbed the card. "Wait… there's more than one. Here, Shirou, Dan Heng, take one."
Shirou took the card and his eyes widened. This card… it was a memory of a time not long ago, but that memory… it was… burned into his psyche.
"Shirou?" March asked, but it felt like a thousand miles away. "Shirou, are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's just…" Shirou pocketed the card. He could feel the power swelling through him. Fortunately, it didn't emulate the cursed energy of that day. Seems like the technology either wasn't that advanced or the knowledge was second or third hand. "This memory. I was there when it happened."
"Wait, really?" March's eyes widened. "What is it? You've been through a historical event!"
"Nothing pleasant," Shirou shook his head. He didn't even know how anyone had the memories of that fire, but those were questions he would have to save for later. "We can't waste any more time."
"You're right," Arlan nodded. March opened her mouth, but decided not to say anything.
"Alright, let's go," Dan Heng said. With a nod, the four ran out of the room. As soon as they exited, March immediately went to the terminal and opened the repulsion bridge just in time for the other three to run across with her following not far behind. As they approached the elevator, Shirou felt the scent of ashes waft into his nose and held his hand up to stop everyone.
"What's up?" March stopped right next to him. Shirou only gripped his bat as a large Voidranger approached them. It seemed to be based on a centaur and it had a large bow aimed right at them. The arrow fired and Shirou swung at it with a reinforced bat. When he hit, he felt the arrow pushing back. He reinforced the bat harder, but to no avail.
Damn it! Shirou thought. He tried to reinforce his muscles, but he felt pain seeping into his arms. His muscles were apparently weakened after being summoned. It wasn't enough to push back the powerful strike.
I guess I have no choice, Shirou thought to himself. He pumped mana into the bat until it exploded, taking the projectile with it.
"Shirou!" March shouted as Shirou staggered back.
Hopefully this is just temporary, Shirou thought. But for now…
Shirou held his arms out and the married blades appeared in his hands. "Let's do this."
Arlan grit his teeth as he saw the three prepare to fight the Trampler. He felt so useless… He shook his head. If he couldn't fight, he could at least analyze the battle and learn more about the people who were saving his ass.
One of the scouts charged at Dan Heng, who blocked a swing of its sword, only to be shot in the head by March. The other scout raised its blade at March. She turned just in time just in time to see a pair of dao fly through the air and decapitate her attacker.
"Woah! Where the hell did you get those?!" March shouted as the dao returned to Shirou.
"Don't your weapons appear out of thin air too?" Shirou raised an eyebrow.
"No, they—" March was cut off by a large arrow from the Trampler. She jumped back and launched an arrow of her own, which the large ranger blocked with a backhand. "Can we discuss this later?"
Instead of replying, Shirou ran forward and swung both of his blades downwards at the Voidranger. The Trampler held its arm up to block the attack, but the blades embedded themselves in its arm, making cuts a few centimeters deep.. The ranger let out a cry of pain and Shirou dislodged the swords and jumped away just in time to dodge a powerful swing.
"Shirou, stand back!" Dan Heng shouted. Shirou leaped out of the way and saw Dan Heng rush past him with energy coating his spear. The Trampler had just enough time to turn for the spear to connect with its abdomen. Energy swirled around Dan Heng's spear before bursting forth, sending his adversary stumbling backwards.
"I got this!" March leaped into the air and knocked several arrows. When she shot them, they morphed into adorable ice creatures that had their arms raised in righteous fury before landing on the floor around the Trampler. As they landed, they exploded into shards of ice that creeped up its four legs. "Shirou! Can I trust you to finish this?"
"Yeah," Shirou said as he threw his swords. If there was a good time to use this technique, it was now.
"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm."
Shirou threw his swords, not waiting for them to hit their target to land. The Trampler crossed its arms before swinging them outwards, each arm deflecting a sword. Shirou exploited the opening and traced another pair of swords as he jumped up so he was eye level with the Trampler's chest.
"Our strength rips through the mountains—"
A downwards cross slash to the chest. The Trampler let out a cry of pain and fury.
"Our swords split the river."
A horizontal slash across the stomach.
"Our names reach the Imperial Villa…"
The two swords that were originally deflected returned to Shirou, cutting into the Trampler's back.
"The two of us—"
Trace Overedge, Shirou thought as he pumped prana into the swords. They started to grow until they resembled steel wings. He then raised them up, the tips of the blade reaching far past the towering Voidranger.
"—Cannot hold the heavens together!"
Shirou swung down the married blades, making two large cuts across the Trampler's chest. The force of the strike caused the ice around its legs to shatter, letting the creature stumble back as it weakly grabbed its chest.
"Woah!" March ran up to Shirou with sparkling eyes. "That was awesome! How did you do that? What are those swords?"
"Maybe after we finish this," Shirou replied as the overedged swords returned their normal length. He turned to see the Trampler weakly staggering in the group's direction. Before anyone could speak, it let out a mighty roar and several other Voidraingers appeared, forming a half-circle around Shirou's team.
"Hey! Don't be a sore loser!" March took a step back and notched another arrow. Dan Heng made a similar motion. As he stepped back, the orb in his spear started to swirl.
Shirou took a deep breath as the blueprints of two dozen nameless swords made their way to the forefront of his mind.
Trace o— Before Shirou could summon them, however, something flew past the rangers, slicing a couple of them apart. As Shirou's eyes fixated on it, the object seemed to come to life. Four spinning blades sprung out of its sides and started to cleave through the remaining Voidrangers.
"Come on!" March hoisted Arlan's shoulder around her and made a break for it. Both Dan Heng and Shirou moved to cover their escape when the two made eye contact. Shirou nodded at the man and Dan Heng nodded back before running to follow March.
Shirou backed away, pointing Kanshou at a stray Voidranger. When he noticed that the others had made it in safely, he ran in for himself.
As Shirou ran in, the door closed behind him. He let out a sigh of relief as he let the twin blades fade into blue motes of light.
"Why does everything have to get this exciting?" Shirou stiffened when he heard an unfamiliar voice. He turned to the source of it to see a woman with crimson hair and amber eyes looking up from a desk full of papers. A soft smile grew on her face as she directed her attention to Arlan. "Nevertheless, I'm glad you made it back safely."
Sorry it took me so long to upload. I was learning how to spell Stellaron. With that being said, please do consider leaving a review! I would love to read and reply to your thoughts. Also please join my Discord! I would love to talk to you all and answer all your questions! I talk a lot about my thought process while writing, so if you're interested in that, do consider joining. The url is discord . gg (forego the spaces) followed by a slash and CpVs7R8KXz. Unfortunately you'll have to type the rest of the url in manually because I'm not allowed to post links. If you want to read chapters as soon as they're finished along with a slew of other benefits, check out my Patron at pat reon dot com slash kfpisnotacult. They've already gotten the next chapter to this fic. Thank you for reading and I'll catch you on the flipside.