Chapter 20: Out of your Depths III - Surprise Hijacking

Taiga Fujimura was a young woman who lived simply according to her desires, despite the many complications that filled her life.

Was she childish at heart? Oh, absolutely.

Was she a serious and loving guardian to her wards? A knuckle sandwich to those who said otherwise(and not even from just her as Shirou himself once proved)!

Was she secretly panicking over her increasing desire for Shirou? Wawawawa... (Grandpa, stop 'hinting' that there's only a five-year age gap between us and we have no actual blood relation!)

Anyways, the point was... people tended to look at Taiga's personality and habits and forget (or maybe never realize) that she was a yakuza heiress.

That meant that apart from her kendo mastery and English aptitude, the Tiger of Fuyuki had been raised to possess a very particular set of skills acquired over the years, such as business, computer literacy, gambling, intimidation, martial arts, etc..

It was one of those skills now that was currently granting her the patience to not hit her her laptop. "Ah, jeez! This laptop's processing power is too low!"

She'd finally found the control program called 'MANACLE', and just by looking at it through a computer screen, Taiga immediately knew that it was no simple AI.

Maybe it was because of the weird power she'd suddenly gotten some months ago, but her instincts warned her of the AI being more like a concentrated mass of self-centered ego.

Almost like the intelligence considered itself to be the closest thing to God.

"Wait a minute..." Taiga paused in realization. "If what Shirou and Bazett-san said about Bloodline Niches was true, it'd be technically possible for Undine's gestalt of beastly instincts to get passed down as well. And the greatest of all sirens who would mislead humans would definitely have an ego to match. And if they went and digitized that..."

"Correct. That is exactly what they did."

Taiga stilled at the amused tone that suddenly spoke from her laptop's speakers, the female voice completely unfamiliar. "Who is this?"

"Hmm... Well, I suppose you could address me as Bodhisattva. So what may I call you, miss hacker?"

'Did she figure out my gender from my voice... or...?' Taiga swiftly got up and closed the curtains on every glass window, leaving just the glass door unclosed after sitting in a way that she was still facing it while being at the opposite side of the room.

Hopefully, Shinji was good enough as a guard to deal with physical threats from the outside. "Sorry for the delay, but you can call me Zecchan Leo, Bodhisattva-san."

The voice chuckled. "Well, if that's what you wish. This is quite a fun distraction since I rarely have people attacking me on this front. Now, why don't you entertain me for a bit?"

Taiga flinched back as her laptop actually squealed from the ludicrous amount of foreign code attacking it. "I'm being counterhacked?! Damn it!"

The crewmembers of the Suijin stared in awe as they finally came before the Great Phantasmal Beast Leviathan. Even in the relative darkness of the ocean, it's head alone was castle-sized as it blotted out the light from above, it's eyes glittering in the dark with a predator's eyeshine, wholly unnatural as it bathed the submarine in a constantly shifting glow of every green-shaded color imaginable and then some.

"So this is Leviathan...!" Kazuzaki marveled, fighting back his instincts as a human being to run far far away from the immensely superior predator. "What a ferocious beauty! As expected of a potential Beast...! Direct us to the top of it's head!"

As his men did so, the ridge above Leviathan's head split apart as expected to allow the submarine into a fleshy space within. Once they'd landed, the water swiftly drained away.

"We're finally here-"

"Successful docking has been verified." Kazuzaki's sentence was cut off at the sound of Kiara's voice coming out of their speakers, shocking them all when they were suddenly blocked from the controls. "Commencing MANACLE activation."

"Wh-What?!" Kazuzaki became startled at the sight of Manaka's cannister suddenly draining and releasing her. "Sister Sessyoin, what's the meaning of this?! Why have you awakened Undine?!"

"Everything is going according to plan, Chairman Kazuzaki." Sessyoin replied, her usually airy tone now carrying a hint of mockery. "Manaka, you know what to do from here on out, correct?"

Casually stepping out and unfurling her wings, Manaka backhanded one of the men hard enough to knock him unconscious when he approached. "Of course, Kiara. I get to take Leviathan for myself, right?"

"What the hell?!" Kazuzaki retorted. "This isn't what was promised!"

"That is true. Kazuzaki, your motives for Leviathan were completely justified, wishing to avenge your fallen comrades against an enemy you wouldn't have been able to deal with alone." Now it was Hortensia's voice coming out of the speakers. "Unfortunately, the Multi-Eyed Monster has already been dead for years, killed that very night it showed it's existence. That is why we'll be taking advantage of your plans. Besides, we are the Holy Church. Did you really believe that we would just let you take one of the most powerful Phantasmal Creatures in existence towards a city full of civilians?"

"You were using me from the start?!" Kazuzaki growled. "You bitch!"

"So tell me how it feels to finally realize that you were the actual sacrifice all along?" Manaka giggled cruelly. "Whoa, look at that face~! Are you going to cry, mongrel?"

"Why you-" Kazuzaki pulled out his pistol. The moment he did so, something tore through his arm and pierced into the submarine's control panel. Groaning from the pain of his lost arm, Kazuzaki looked to the side and choked at the sight of a golden spear having stabbed into the machinery. "What the...?"

"It's quite annoying that I'm constantly plagued with the notion that I should have a lot more than just these four weapons." With just a twitch of her hand, the spear pulled back and hovered behind her just like the other three weapons that had torn free of her cannister to do so. "Caren, you have my appreciation for granting this opportunity for us."

"Sayonara, Manaka. Here's to hoping that the Hero manages to reach Ayaka." Caren said finally before the speakers cut off.

"Now, then. Mongrels!" Manaka turned to face the trembling Kazuzaki and his remaining men. "Would you like to hear what a siren's song sounds like?"

Caren sat up as she ended her call, just in time to see Shirou, Bazett and Sakura rush into the docks.

"Is this it?" Shirou panted as he and the girls reached the only present speedboat. "Okay, which way do we-"

"Where are you planning to go in that boat, Argonaut?" Dropping down from above a few meters away, Caren regarded them all with a cool stare.

"Caren?!" Shirou didn't hesitate to form his weapons this time. "Are you going to try and stop us?"

"You in particular? No." Caren answered with a shrug. "I will stop the other two by force if necessary. Personally though, I'd recommend that you get your family and friends away from Sea Blossom."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Because this resort... will probably be destroyed by Leviathan's rampage soon."

"Huh? That doesn't make sense." Shirou's eyes narrowed in bewilderment. "Doesn't Kazuzaki want to use Ayaka to control Leviathan?"

"There's also the fact that the satellite MANACLE requires is here at this resort, along with a major part of his current livelihood." Sakura pointed out. "Why would he destroy it all?"

"Because Manaka is now the one controlling Leviathan, not Chairman Kazuzaki." Caren revealed.

"That makes even less sense!" Shirou shot back. "Isn't MANACLE the control system? It may exist in Ayaka's subconscious, but most of itself is code in Sea Blossom's databanks. Why would it risk it's own destruction?"

"Because that is part of Manaka's plan." Caren answered. At the sight of his increased confusion, Caren clarified. "Manaka plans to make Leviathan traverse the boundary into the Reverse Side of the World. That is Manaka's... or rather, Ayaka Sajyou's wish."

Pausing to gauge their stunned reactions, Caren continued. "She has suffered so much since she awoke her Bloodline Niche. Did you know that her father and classmates have been in comatose states for a whole year now, thanks to a single scream from her? It's all because Ayaka Sajyou's powers as a siren lashed out in self-defense against their prejudice. She's blamed herself so strongly for that incident, she probably felt no more desire to live for herself anymore. But still, she could never quite go past that final line. Do you know why?"

"Could it be..." Sakura's eyes widened in realization. "Because Ayaka is now Undine?"

"Undine, Manaka, MANACLE, call it whatever name you wish. If Ayaka were to die, then somebody else who possesses even the slightest blood connection and meets the requisite criteria will inherit that mass of pure unadulterated ego, and the cycle will start all over again."

"Because that's how a Bloodline Niche would work." Shirou surmised with an angry growl.

"That is why Ayaka desires for Leviathan to take her to the Reverse Side." Caren continued. "Along with starting anew in a world where her powers will no longer hurt other people, she feels better when dragging along an unkillable monster that has done worse damage than her away from this world."

"But still, breaking into the Reverse Side is near impossible." Bazett spoke up. "If she tries to force her way through and fails, the backlash would do more than just kill her... although I suppose that she would care little about that at this point."

"She... probably didn't realize it from the start." Caren noted sadly. "She was glad to be saved by Bazett, but Manaka always knew what she'd really wanted. That is why she went along with Nobata Kazuzaki's plans."

"I won't allow that." Shirou immediately declared, his amber eyes glowing strongly as all the women turned to look at him. "Ayaka still has much to live for in this world, whether she believes so or not."

"...Shirou, even if just as unkillable from our perspective at least, Leviathan is a whole other class than Leraje and maybe Alucard." Caren mildly chided, even if her interest was stoked. After all, Shirou Emiya was never a person who overestimated his abilities unlike most men. "What will you do if Leviathan is directed to perceive you as an enemy? That is a Phantasmal Beast of the Old Testament. Who are you to challenge such an entity?"

"A person aiming to become a Hero of Justice." Shirou answered without hesitation, ignoring Bazett's befuddled stare. "You've just told me that the girl I've been responsible for since yesterday evening has been silently crying for help. If you think that I'm going to ignore that just because there's a scary unkillable monster in the way, then you don't know me as well as you think you do, Caren. Now, I think we've wasted enough time here talking. Outta the way. There's a kid out there in need of saving."

"...Shirou, I used to honestly believe that you were the least magus-like person ever." Caren sighed as she let her Shroud unfurl and got into a stance. "But the impossibility of such a goal, your genuine dogged pursuit of it as proven by your exploits, and your sheer arrogance in believing that you will attain that impossible ideal..."

Caren's smirk turned a teensy bit cruel. "You really are a magus, after all. It's a bit hilarious."

Shirou and Sakura balked, the former sighing heavily. "That acidic tongue of yours..."

Having heard enough, Bazett stepped forward before the teenagers. "Leave her to me. I'll leave Ayaka Sajyou's safe handling to you two."

Giving a short nod in response, Shirou grabbed Sakura by her waist and leapt straight for the speedboat. A few seconds later, it sped away across the choppy waters, leaving the Enforcer and Exorcist alone.

"This time, you'll find my mind a much harder instrument to play with, fanatic." Protective runes flashed allover Bazett's suit.

"If you say things like that, it'll be more humiliating when you lose, heretic." Multiple layers of Caren's Shroud hovered menacingly.

With those words exchanged, the two clashed heavily, gloved fist against Shrouded palm.

Shirou clenched the steering wheel tightly as the boat sped along, thankful that it had already been equipped with a radar system locked on to Kazuzaki's submarine.

"Senpai... can we talk...?" Sakura was silent at his side, her hands nervously tapping the railing she was leaning on. "About Fujimura-sensei and the other girls we just left?"

"...is this really the best time to talk about this?" Shirou asked after taking a bit to comprehend the question.

"Yes, it is." Sakura immediately replied. "I'm sorry to be acting selfishly on this, but it cannot wait. How would you define your relationship with them?"

"Fine, then." Shirou sighed in acquiescence, deciding to go at it chronologically. "First with Fuji-nee, she was my first crush. After my dad had passed on, she'd essentially become my pillar, regardless of her behavioral habits. She'd been the one to make me address her as a sister, but somewhere along the way, she became essential to my life."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "True. It really isn't the Emiya household I know without Fujimura-sensei's laughter."

"Yeah... then I fucked it up." At Sakura's bewildered look, Shirou continued. "I can't go into exact details, but it happened just after I'd finished my first and only mission with Bazett-san. A version of her had appeared out of nowhere, showing romantic and sexual interest in me. Afterwards, I'd tried to reciprocate the favor with the real Fuji-nee."

(KingVessel: Shirou is still unaware that they were the same person.)

Shirou raised up his hand and glared at it like it disgusted him. "With this hand, I smacked that peach bottom and groped it tight... And I rightfully got slapped back for it."

"...you never forgave yourself for that, did you?" Sakura looked at him with a knowing look.

"How could I?" Shirou retorted with a tone full of self-loathing. "Even after she'd forgiven me, I'd promised myself to never see her again like that... But I'm still doing it! I'm still looking at her with a hormone-glazed lens and she's definitely noticed and bothered about it!"

"I think Sensei might be having very different thoughts about your gaze bothering her." Sakura looked away thoughtfully. "What about Bazett-san?"

"Oh? That one's simpler. Remember when you first met and we left together immediately after?" Shirou tugged at Sakura's memory. "Right before the mishap with Fuji-nee, Bazett had been invaded with a corruptive essence. And the quickest and least painful way to get it out of her... had been to bring her to orgasm."

"...and?" Sakura blinked after waiting for him to say more, (un)fortunately reminding Shirou that Sakura probably saw sex a lot differently than most people would due to her upbringing. "Did you do anything more? Did she talk to you about it?"

"No." Shirou replied. "That was the end of it. Even her parting letter before she left mentioned nothing about it."

"But there is some attraction there... or acknowledgement at least..." Sakura muttered some more to herself, worrying Shirou a bit. "Fine, then. What about the nun?"

"Caren... After investigating me as Argonaut, she'd come to me to request help in saving her kidnapped friend." Shirou started off. "She'd offered a lot of money along with her body, but I did it all for free!"

Shirou hastily finished, gauging Sakura's slightly narrowed eyes. "So after we'd succeeded, she did keep her money as I'd requested, but..."

"She's the one who took your virginity, isn't she?" Sakura snarled quietly, her teeth slightly bared. Upon taking his silence as admission, her voice trembled a bit. "Did you... start a relationship with her afterwards?"

"No. You're my first ever girlfriend." Shirou honestly answered, which seemed to be good as Sakura's shoulders lowered a tiny bit. "But, she's still the first ever person I shared a near-death experience with. There're some things you just can't do with an essential stranger without ending up knowing each other a lot better, even without having to exchange words. And fighting against a Dead Apostle Ancestor who showed up out of nowhere apparently counts."

Despite her apparent shock at his words, Sakura's jaw trembled as if she wanted to speak of something different. Still, he heard her tiny whisper. "No wonder... so smug... still ahead of me..."

'What?' "Um, Sakura?"

"...I'm not mad at you, Senpai, if that's what you're thinking." Sakura shook her head, clearly trying to think of what to say. "I just... Despite what you and others might believe, I don't think that I'm a good person. Sometimes, I am jealous. I see other girls around you and I get so mad. It's always been like that, even before we made love."

Shirou didn't have words to respond with. Instead, he spared a hand from the steering wheel and gripped her shoulder. "Sakura..."

"You're so incredible, kind and generous." Sakura's hand gripped the one on her shoulder. "You care so much for others, and in turn, have so many people that care about you."

"...I do care much for others, but I love you, Sakura." Shirou replied after a pause. "There's no doubt about that. If I ever had to choose between those I love and the World..."

The World could go burn.

[I'm in full agreement with that notion.] Shirou Alter chimed in briefly with his support.

However, the Card with him sent a painful twitch of annoyance at his declaration, although Shirou could somehow tell that his future self was somehow more angry at himself...

Sakura shook her head. "But you love others, too. At least, I'm sure about Fujimura-sensei and Caren-san loving you back, regardless of how they show it. And you know. You try not to think about it, but you're bad at hiding it."

"I might..." Shirou felt his cheeks heat up despite himself, both embarrassed and pleased that his girlfriend had seen through him so easily.

While his friends had often called him socially insensate whenever he wasn't Argonaut(and they were a little right to do so), one of Shirou's unchallenged strengths was Structural Grasp. A.k.a. the capability to look at something and know it's every detail. He may not have used it much with people compared to objects, but...

"But that doesn't mean that you should have to put up with it." Shirou strongly asserted. "As my companion, you have the right and duty to curb me whenever I overstep. If you're forcing yourself to be okay with it..."

Sakura actually giggled, allowing herself a small smile. "Senpai... you make me happy. And I'm glad to know that I do the same for you. But you just keep putting everyone else first. The most selfish things you ever do for yourself... are mostly all under an alternate persona you crafted for yourself. Shirou Emiya deserves to be happy for himself too, not just as Argonaut or Miyu's elder brother. And if I have to push you to let yourself be happy..."

Shirou winced slightly. "I'm not... that bad, am I?"

"...no, you're not." Sakura smiled at him. "Rather than being angry when seeing other women being attracted to you, I just need to remind myself that sharing you isn't losing you."

"You'll never lose me." Shirou's mouth cut in before his brain could fully register the sentence. "Wait, what?"

"Great. Now I can plan ahead for Nee-san with no reservations~ I can deal with the others another time." Sakura beamed as she faced forward, leaving Shirou to gawk at her. "Senpai, over there's Leviathan. We've made it."

Putting her words out of mind, Shirou followed Sakura's gaze and mentally blanked at the island they were coming up close to.

'No. Not an island.' Shirou immediately corrected his initial thought as the 'island' rose up at their approach, the gargantuan serpent looking down at the approaching boat with the air of an apex predator well aware of it's place in the food chain.

Giving a soft growl that felt like a rumble, Leviathan stretched open it's massive maw as a gurgling noise mixed with loud honking sounds started to emit from it as a bright flash grew from within it's throat.

"Sakura, take the wheel!" Without waiting for her reply, Shirou flung himself up to the forefront of the speedboat. "Keep the boat steady and brace for impact!"

Without waiting for her to reply, Shirou thrust out his hands.

"I am the Bone of my Sword!"

Leviathan reeled it's head back as it fired, unleashing a powerful beam of electrical energy towards the boat.

"[Rho Aias(The Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens)]!"

At his call, seven massive and translucent petals of a seven layered Bounded Field manifested in the formed shape of an iridescent flower and spread over the speedboat, protecting Shirou and Sakura from the powerful breath attack.

The ocean around them frothed from the immense shockwaves and pressure, the barrier breaking down to six, then to five layers almost immediately despite the considerable effort to hold firm.

Shirou grit his teeth as he kept the Noble Phantasm aloft, even as he almost fell to a knee from the rapid prana drain. Leviathan's breath attack seemed to go on forever, attempting to crush and obliterate them both. Sweat started to drip as his arms nearly buckled when {Rho Aias} lost it's fourth layer, yet he didn't dare let himself slacken his efforts for even an instant.

Then suddenly, the pressure let up just as swiftly as it had started, allowing Shirou to fall to a knee in exhaustion as {Rho Aias} disappeared soon afterwards.

"Senpai!" Sakura called out from the window, her gaze frantic. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, somehow." Shirou groaned from the pain of his numb arms, a little relieved when {Avalon} started to heal the damage almost immediately as Sakura came to his side. "I've never taken on a powerful hit like that before..."

Shirou trailed off, both he and Sakura staring in shock as Leviathan was already preparing to attack once more. "It's firing again?! So soon?!"

Just as it finished charging, Leviathan suddenly paused in it's attack before leaning forward so that it could glare down at them fully with one of it's massive eyeballs.

Looking back, Shirou found himself silenced by the sheer weight of the glare. Whether it was sentient or not, Shirou didn't know. But never had he felt as puny as he did now, especially as Leviathan pulled back and simply deemed to devour them as it dived back into the frothing depths.

"Anything out there?" Taiga called out.

"Nothing so far." Shinji replied from outside, having been standing guard all the while. "How about you, Sensei? Any luck with the person hacking your computer?"

"Barely~!"

Taiga growled at the sound of Bodhisattva's mocking voice. It didn't help that her central server's firewall had now been breached. The damned laptop's attacks were just too slow.

It need to be better. It had to get better.

Unaware of it, Taiga's brown eyes gleamed a majestic green, emerald sparks of worldly energy seeping down her hands as they started to speed up and into the laptop itself.

"Ara? Did you suddenly get a lot faster?"

"More like you're the one who got slower. And speaking of slow..." Taiga finished up a whole thirteen seconds ahead of when she'd expected to finish. "Eat your heart out, slowpoke."

"Wh-What did you just do?! Did you just brute-force your way through my firewalls?!"

"I'm not nearly computer literate enough to directly match up against somebody who built a functional AI out of magical essence, so I just went through every possible code I could think of."

"I have over a hundred firewalls, all of them strong enough to match military cyberware! Doing something as absurd as brute-forcing them all should've taken a minimum of days for a noob like you to accomplish!"

"That sounds like it's your problem." Taiga grinned as she finally shut down MANACLE and blocked out Bodhisattva for good measure, the green fading from her eyes. 'The rest is up to you, Shirou, Sakura!'

Sighing and leaning back, the woman coined as 'Bodhisattva' stretched her sore fingers, having at least enjoyed her 'playtime' with 'Zecchan Leo' or rather Taiga Fujimura.

"That was interesting. I had no idea that it could even be utilized into a device so clearly unmagical." Giving off an interested smile, Kiara Sessyoin tapped some buttons on the spare console that was connected to the invisible drone that had been observing Taiga's beach house and made it zoom in on Taiga's triumphant face. "Then again, there's little point in trying to attach the rules of magecraft and Mystery on-"

"-a True Magician?!" Bazett gawked at Caren after what she'd just said, her fist staying outstretched. "That woman?! It was one thing to regard you as one, but Taiga Fujimura?!"

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" Caren answered back as she skidded back from Bazett's blow. "From what I've been able to discover, Akasha has never permitted more than three True Magicians in the same era, and always made sure that they were untied to any world-affecting faction even then."

"You say that in the past tense." Bazett's eyes narrowed as she and Caren slowly circled each other. "If you're correct, why is the owner of Sixth True Magic a member of the Holy Church, a faction that has affected the world for centuries?"

"That is an answer I am seeking to discover myself." Caren replied. "Excepting the First and the Third, all possible seats for the True Magicians are now being filled in an incredibly irregular manner. The problem? I don't know why."

Bazett frowned as the normally collected exorcist clutched her head with a strongly conflicted expression.

"Would you like to hear a little secret, magus?" Caren suddenly spoke up, breaking into a feverish stride around her. "Throughout history, no True Magician has ever been... you know, a bad guy? It varies here and there, but you can always trust a True Magician to be somebody willing to save the world, not conquer or destroy it."

A strange observation to spout, but one that Bazett agreed with after giving it some thought. As an Enforcer of the Clock Tower, there were many times when she'd been privy to many a resident magus's desire for Zelretch's power for either petty, destructive or ridiculous reasons, which in turn gladdened her that the Marshal had been the one to achieve it.

"And you do not believe yourself to be that person?" Bazett carefully asked.

"I know that I am not." Caren bit out. "I may wholeheartedly believe in the Lord, but I am also a sociopath with a deep interest in emotionally hurting others. I can literally count a total of just three people in the world whom I'd actually feel guilty at hurting, and one of them went off to go save another minutes ago."

'How did I end up this girl's impromptu therapist?' "And what makes Emiya special, then?" Bazett stiffened as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Is he a potential True Magician?"

"Maybe." Caren paused to smirk. "I only got my True Magic after meeting him, and there's Taiga Fujimura. Two True Magicians, abnormally achieved while being close to him. Oh Lord, I wonder if I've actually stolen what was supposed to go to Shirou instead. He's the magus being a superhero, a prime example of somebody who should be a True Magician. If something is happening or might happen that Akasha considers it enough of an emergency to double the current number of True Magicians, the more the merrier."

Bazett clenched her fists, unsettled by the information she was being given out of nowhere. It was undoubtedly important, but... "Why are you telling me all this? How do you know that I won't abuse your trust?"

"You fool, who won't even pray to God." Caren casually insulted Bazett with an annoyed scoff. "Your eyes are nothing but holes to an empty brain, I see. But that's all the more reason for you to wrack that empty head of yours. Analyze everything you know about me, and apply it to a virtual scenario. Like I am an entity who has declared herself your enemy. That's really all you can do in the end, is it not? Berserker."

Bazett was getting really tired of this woman constantly spouting off facts that she wouldn't have known... unless she plucked it right out of her head.

'Think, Bazett, think.' Bazett frowned. 'From what I can tell, her True Magic is mental-based. At first, I believed that something like that couldn't possibly count as a True Magic, but given how she's still casually picking up my thoughts and memories despite my Runic Suit granting protection from mental attacks coupled with my mental training, I must assume her to be speaking the truth. Then if I compare her to Lord Zelretch...'

Bazett stiffened in realization again. 'So that's how it is... Every possible thing she can do to a person's mind... So that's...' "You've already put a powerful compulsion on me, haven't you? Not only will I or anybody else be unable to locate or break it, I literally exist as your spy in the Clock Tower."

"Correct." Caren's smirk grew wider. "See, I knew that you could do it. As a recent True Magician, I do need a point of contact to have with Zelretch, which you so luckily possess."

'I can't feel Manaka anymore... It looks like they succeeded in shutting MANACLE down.' Ayaka huddled in closer to herself, hugging the four golden weapons closer.

Or at least what had used to be them, for they were now transformed into a luminescent cocoon-like orb, Manaka having done something that would make it easier for her to use.

"From what I can tell, these weapons no longer have an owner or their names, but still retain their power. It will be child's play to reforge these into something most fitting for you. It's too bad that I won't be able to see what form it will take for the future Queen of Sirens."

'Manaka-nee...' Ayaka tried not to cry, especially as she felt Leviathan shaking all around her. Wiping the building up tears and bringing out her siren features, she glared down from above as Shirou and Sakura ran into the fleshy cavern.

Or at least, whom she thought was Shirou. He looked like that superhero person she'd often seen on the news, albeit much... realer.

"Is that it?" Shirou stopped upon seeing the Suijin docked in the distance.

"I think so." Sakura replied. "How do we get her away from Kazuzaki and his men?"

"You followed me all the way out here? You're so persistent!" That was when Ayaka chose to descend, whipping away the two teenagers with her wings. "Ayaka's wish was to go with this monster into the Reverse Side. You have no business interfering, mongrels."

"Sorry, but I fully intend on making that my business." Shirou stepped forward, his outfit transforming back to normal clothes with a bright flash.

"Who asked you to do that?" Ayaka shot back. "Is it that you want to play hero by saving a little girl? Or is it that you want to seduce Ayaka as you did to Sakura-nee? I never took you for a lolicon, Shirou-san~"

Shirou's eyes narrowed before suddenly grabbing Sakura from the side, the purple-haired girl squeaking as his hand found strong purchase in one of her breasts and starting to knead and grope it. "Excuse me? Do you not see this top-grade bombshell I have for a girlfriend? There's a limit to how ignorant you can be to a guy's tastes. Then again, you are still just a kid, both in body and mind."

'Wh-What?! Just a kid?!' "Th-That's not true. I'm already old enough to need a br-" Ayaka cut herself off, but it was too late judging by Shirou's huff as he released his scarlet-faced girlfriend.

"I knew it. I don't know how you're in control while still looking like Manaka, but of that nonsense, Ayaka." Shirou crossed his arms. "Let's get going before Leviathan wakes up."

"What nonsense are you-"

"Not only does Manaka call me 'Onii-san', she's got quite the casual malice that you'll never be able to easily replicate so soon." Shirou pointed out, making Ayaka flinch.

So in the end, all of it was for naught...? "Why are you here...?"

Paying no mind to Shirou's confused expression, Ayaka clenched her scaled fists hard enough for her claws to pierce through and make her bleed. "Why did you come all the way out here?! I saw how you barely managed against Leviathan outside! The chances of you two surviving the Reverse Side are less than mine!"

"Because you want to be saved." Shirou replied. "Maybe I'm just being selfish. Regardless, I will save you!"

"Why?!"

"Do I need a reason to save a crying child?!" Shirou shouted back, stunning Ayaka and halting her tears. "Ever since you've awoken your Bloodline Niche, haven't you wished for somebody to help you? Somebody to help you acclimatize into our world and hold your hand whenever you feel like you're stumbling about. From now on, I'll be doing my best to ensure that you live a happy life."

"I don't deserve such a thing!" Ayaka admitted. The words didn't hurt as much when she said them out loud as they did when she thought them. "I hurt so many people! Even now, forcing Leviathan will still cause enough of a rupture that many more will be hurt."

"Your father and classmates weren't your fault!"

Ayaka was taken aback by his words. She'd expected more contention about her plan, not about her as a person. "Of course, they were! How can you act like you know anything about what I did?!"

"It wasn't your fault!" Shirou repeated. "You didn't mean to, it was an accident! That doesn't make you a bad person!"

"You don't know anything about me!" Ayaka ranted. "Yesterday at this very hour, you didn't even know about my existence! How can you believe that you know me?!"

"Because you're not a bad person." Sakura was the one to speak up now. "I know bad people, and I assure you that you're nowhere as evil as you believe yourself to be."

"It doesn't matter what name you give yourself." Shirou extended a hand to her. "You have the right to be saved and live a happy life. If anything gets in the way of that, I'll destroy it! You're not alone anymore. We won't let you be."

"So let's go back together, Ayaka-chan." Sakura joined Shirou in extending a hand. "You still have a whole lot of playing to do with Miyu tomorrow."

Ayaka choked.

But not from tears.

""Ayaka!""

Blood dribbled down Ayaka's lips as she looked down towards her stomach, intense amounts of pain nearly blinding her as she saw the clawed hand sticking through her stomach.

"What was the point of letting you humans in..." Behind her, a male humanoid sighed heavily. "...if you're being too slow in getting this siren out of me?"

Even as the mysterious man flung Ayaka forward, Shirou had already been moving to catch her. "Ayaka!"

Ayaka coughed weakly, already having lost so much blood as the precious red liquid pooled beneath them. Growling angrily, Shirou reached into himself and pulled out Avalon with a clear command. 'Save her.'

The fleshy cavern became bathed in golden light as Shirou gently embedded the sheath into Ayaka's torso, his breathing easing out as Ayaka's own stopped weakening while her wound began to close up.

Thankful that she'd already fainted from the pain and shock, Shirou handed her over to Sakura who'd been nervously hovering at his side. "Take her to the submarine and prepare to leave."

Assured at the sight of Sakura entering the submarine with Ayaka, Shirou turned back to the humanoid he suspected was Leviathan.

The humanoid in question appeared male as he gazed curiously at the blood still dripping off his forearm, sitting on a fleshy lump as he'd actually been waiting for Shirou to be done with his business. His skin was dark and rife with scale tattoos, the clothes adorning his form being minimalist. Around his waist was the pelt of a creature she couldn't quite decipher painted in vibrant green with red and blue accents stretching across and around the waist covering in geometric patterns and shapes.

The most striking thing about the man though, was his long wavy hair hair seeming to cycle through every known shade of the color green and more that even Shirou's mind struggled to grasp as the bioluminescent light around them hit it at different angles.

Along with how the man looked familiar to Shirou for some unbelievable reason.

(KingVessel: That's cause Leviathan's human form is a Shirouface. Why? Because why not?)

"Leviathan, right?" Shirou called out. "Why did you do that? She was already about to leave!"

"The whole reason I didn't annihilate you two Worldlings back outside was because of your intention to take the siren away." Leviathan replied with a sigh. "But you were taking too long. And to think I would try to ignore the one of the ones who plotted to control is the height of foolishness."

Shirou tried to rein his anger, clenching his fist tight. "But Ayaka's a child! She was being used!"

Having his eyes been closed from the beginning, Shirou stilled when a single one opened, the predatory eyeshine still very much present and reminding him of this person's inhumanity. "And exactly why should I care?"

After just having placed Ayaka down and kicked aside the unconscious men inside, Sakura had turned just in time to see Shirou snap and charge at Leviathan.

His fist collided with Leviathan's jaw, a thunderous shockwave spreading out through the fleshy cavern without the humanoid himself not even twitching.

"A fine blow for a human." Leviathan had the slightest upturn in his lips as he gazed back at Shirou's lips. "But this is insufficient to scratch this body of mine that has been cursed by my Grandfather."

"Grandfather?" Shirou replied in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Figure it out. I have neither the patience nor time to explain such things to dead meatbags." That was Shirou's only warning before Leviathan lashed out with a kick that he barely managed to dodge while diverting it with his own, the resultant shockwave still slicing into the ceiling above.

Backflipping away, Shirou's eyes widened before suddenly ducking down from a punch that would've pulverized his head had it landed. "So you intend to kill us now, Leviathan?"

"It has become rather boring in this era." Leviathan shrugged, the sight of an ancient being doing such a human motion boggling Sakura's comprehension. "You could say I'm looking for entertainment. My interest was especially peaked when you took my attack head-on and blocked it entirely. However, I am not without reason."

Leviathan pointed forward. "As nothing of this world can kill me, all you will need to do is land three strikes powerful enough for me to at least feel it. Accomplish that, and I assure you that I shall leave you all without further trouble."

"...if that is so, then this is no good. I'm no good like this." Shirou said after a bit, looking down at his still bleeding fist. Sakura felt even worse. She was well aware that he'd made her take Ayaka away because of her weakness against such an opponent, but for Shirou himself to admit it...

Shirou looked back up, and Sakura was stunned to see that the look of defeat she thought she'd seen was actually much more determined than she'd believed. "Back when I fought Leraje and got so easily brought down by Alucard's subordinate, I had thought afterwards that "If I'm going to encounter such monstrously strong people like them in the future, I'll be too weak to deal with it." As unbelievable as it is to admit, I've gotten too used to fighting human-level enemies."

"Then what are you going to do about that?" Leviathan asked. "There is nothing unnatural about a human being brought down by a vampire."

"I had to come up with a way to properly utilize the other energies within me..." Shirou clenched his fist as burning smoke slowly started to waft off him. "So that I won't lose to anyone... So that I won't lose anyone."

'What is Senpai doing?' Sakura gasped as Shirou hunched over slightly as the burning smoke increased with flickers of red embers. 'What's he doing to his body?'

Slowly, Shirou's hair blackened while the emerald and silver of his clothes bled into red and black. "Serpent of Envy, you tried to kill the girl behind me despite me promising her a brighter future."

"And? What are you going to do about that?"

"Me? I'm about to rank up and kick your ass."

A lupine tail and a pair of ears manifested from Shirou's body as he gained glowing marking all over his skin, his determined expression growing into a wide fanged grin.

Somewhere, though it sounded far, far away, Sakura thought she heard the distant sounds of steel striking blazing steel, the rumble of will-powered gears grinding against each other, and this roar of unquenchable flames churning out weapon after weapon. And at the core of it all, there was the (heart)beat of a never-ending crusade.

The eternal anthem... of a Universe of Endless Blades.

"Clench your teeth, Leviathan. This is... [Level Two]!"

KingVessel: ...have a nice cliffhanger- *promptly dodges numerous projectiles*