93: Draconic Body
My ears are still ringing when we reach the leyline. Seriously, at least Liliana had the decency to actually be good at singing. But we arrive nonetheless, and a few moments later, the mystic codes I requested are rayshifted to us - or not!
"Oi, Da Vinci, what am I looking at here?" I ask, inspecting what looks like a pile of armband-style pool floaties. "I'm pretty sure I asked for you and Cu to make some functional wingsuits, not water wings!"
"I'll freely admit it's not my best work, but we were in a time crunch." The self-proclaimed Genius Inventor says. "Flight spells are way too high complexity for the kind of rush job you were asking for - so instead, we created mystic codes to allow levitation!"
"Anyone who equips them is gonna be able to walk on air, basically." Cu Chulainn says. "Sorry about the shape, but-"
"The most suitable forms were either this or special boots, and we don't have everyone's shoe sizes over here." Da Vinci finishes. "In any case, there's four pairs there, so you should be able to give one to everyone with you."
I give a small sigh of relief. "That works, I guess - It should help with the wyverns, so you guys should go ahead and-
"Eugh, I'll pass. They don't suit me at all." Elizabeth says. "Besides, I can just grow wings."
Yeah, I remember something like that a couple loops ago.
"...Alright, in that case - Gareth, Mash, get fitted. We've got to get to the south gate. The Black Prince won't be free to use his Noble Phantasm until we're there." I say, and I receive two nods as they approach the slightly ridiculous Mystic Codes.
Of course, this means their guard is lowered. And Elizabeth never had much in the way of combat awareness to begin with. Which is why I start to prime a spell at this exact moment, because I'm sure it will happen right about-
"[Phantom Maiden]!" The smell of Iron surrounds me. Now!
"[Emergency Evade]!" I feel something tear in my leg as I'm flung out of the yawning doors of Carmilla's Noble Phantasm a moment before they can snap shut around me. "Gareth!"
"Absolutely!" The Lancer shouts, already next to me, her spear finding Carmilla's stomach-
Bat-like wings flare out of her back, and the assassin flickers out of range even as a second strike from Gareth tears a hole in one of them. Unfortunately, when she reappears in the air above us, it doesn't seem to have affected her flying ability. "Hoh? So you avoided it? Impressive, boy."
She looks the same as she did two loops ago - an appearance similar to Elizabeth's, sporting pink hair and horns, with a tail and wings. But her outfit and her figure make her identity obvi-
"J-j-j-just who do you think you are, using an Idol's likeness and wearing something so shameless!" Elizabeth shouts, utterly failing to recognize her. "I don't need fans like you!"
…
Carmilla cringes all the way down to her soul.
"W-well? Don't you have anything to say for yourself!? If you apologize now, I won't have you banned from my concerts-" The girl begins to continue.
"I am you, idiot!" The assassin finally screams. "I am you in honesty! I am the true face of the blood countess, as it really was! My true name is Carmilla - indeed, I am the end of your path, Elizabeth Bathory-!"
"Nuh-uh, I'm gonna be an idol." Elizabeth says, a dumb smile on her face.
"Fool!" Her counterpart hisses. "You will not even acknowledge the magnitude of your crimes-"
"I'll acknowledge them." The girl's face grows serious. "All of my life past this point was a litany of unforgivable sins - and that's why I threw it all away. I'll acknowledge my crimes, and regret them, but that's all. I won't revel in them like you!"
"Revel? Ah, I suppose." She closes her eyes a moment. "It feels like I'm drowning in them. But I am Carmilla. I am the anti-hero who made her name devouring the lives of others to keep the beauty of her youth forever. You, who devour your own life to reclaim your youth… are far more wretched than me."
…Devouring her own life, huh?
"We got it, Onii-san. We devoured the us that was in you, and we got what we were looking for, but…"
Why was she here now? I had heard chattering teeth in the green room, so I had checked, but - this should have been impossible. Louis Arneb should have been confined to that white space, the 'corridor of memories'.
"We wish we hadn't. We wish we were the us that had her memories devoured. Then we wouldn't know." The blonde-haired youngest sibling of [Gluttony] was cowering in the corner of the Green Room, not four feet from where Rem slept. "We don't want to die. We don't want to die. We don't want to die."
She couldn't hurt anyone, in this state. Rather, I should probably have used her as a hostage, or forced her to help me. But she said the wrong thing.
"Hey, we can probably, maybe, definitely do it still - we can eat our own memories, so could you forgive us then, Onii-san-?" She pleaded.
"Absolutely not." I replied.
"AaaaAAAH!" She screamed, and charged towards me - is what it probably looked like. I knew she was running for the door that I was standing in front of. Probably, her aim was to jump around me, and flee-
But to Beatrice, who entered the room behind me at that moment, it looked like she was charging me.
"[Minya], I suppose!"
…Somehow, that was the incident that came to mind, when I heard those words.
Could I have forgiven her, after all, if she had eaten her own memories? I've already implicitly forgiven Elizabeth for her crimes - is it just that it's not personal?
"Why you, why you, why you-! Okay, that's it! I can't take your slander anymore!" Elizabeth shouts, dragon wings of her own emerging from her back, and then-
She flaps once, twice, three times, slowly and clumsily approaching her older self. H-hey, is she seriously that slow!? Isn't she just gonna get-
"Pathetic." The Assassin mutters, as she flickers behind and above her younger counterpart, knocking her back to earth with a brutal kick.
Gareth is next to her in the next instant - but Carmilla drops beneath her spear thrust, striking the Lancer from beneath with a tail slap, sending her new levitation Mystic Code wildly off-kilter.
Above, I can see dragons begin to circle - those able to make it past Edward, I suppose. Not just wyverns, but a pack of seven or so true dragons, joined by dozens of their lesser cousins. A red-scaled monster opens its jaws, and Carmilla does the same, preparing to unleash a sonic blast-
And then, a white flash splits the sky.
Carmilla turns, and gazes for a moment, wide-eyed, as every one of her allies is torn to shreds in an instant.
"[Interfectum Dracones]!" A man shouts as a white horse bounds overhead - and before the Assassin can even try to flee, a spear of white light tears through her body, embedding itself in the street next to me, where it slowly disappears. "Sorry for my rush - we will talk later!" He shouts, briefly landing on the roof of a building - and then his steed springs into the air again and with a ruffle of long brown hair in the wind, he vanishes.
"W-wha-?" Carmilla stammers as cracks emitting light run through her body. "What is this-!?"
And then she explodes into a dazzling blast of light and golden dust.
"Um, was that Saint George?" Mash asks. Are you sure it wasn't Reinhard!?
"Th-that's so unsatisfying." Elizabeth mutters.
Compendium Note: Interfectum Dracones
Rank: C - B+
Type: Anti-Unit - Anti-Army
Range: 1-3, 1-10
Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Person - 30 Persons
Not fully an original Noble Phantasm from this work, but one merged with [Ascalon] for gameplay purposes in Fate/Grand Order. For that reason, it has been listed here to familiarize the audience.
A gestalt Noble Phantasm possessed by Georgios that is brought forth through his nature as a Dragon Slayer and the capabilities of his sword Ascalon to deal massive damage to beings of draconian origin. It is another form of Ascalon. Although the Noble Phantasm will take on the form of a sword slash at close range, the sword can be used as a medium to shoot what takes on the form of a javelin of light to pierce the opponent at long distance.
While 'defending innocents, in a place where he is the Patron Saint', the melee version acquires a beam-like Anti-Army strike. The ranged version is still Anti-Unit. (This upgrade was invented for use in this work.)
A/N:
The name of this chapter of course comes from the fact that Carmilla gets completely boded by George's drive-by Noble Phantasm.
I'm so sorry Carmilla fans. I'm so, so, sorry.