Shirou cursed as he momentarily lost his balance again.
It was a small stumble, so Shirou maneuvered his body to hide it. To everyone else behind him, the slight inconsistency in his gait was near unnoticeable.
The small manifestation of Avalon had pushed him harder than he predicted. He was fine physically, aside from the surge of dark crystal shards slowly forming on his body- a sign of Oripathy. More importantly- was the current backlash on his magic system. Praying for Avalon's blessing had sapped much of his reserves, in addition to the Originium contamination levels within his body after the spell.
The scorching pain was there, and it was affecting his performance.
That was part of the reason Shirou slowed their pace down. He hid it behind the excuse of being considerate for the children with them, but it was to buy some time and recover.
Unfortunately for him, someone noticed.
…
Nearl had been keeping an eye on their strange guide ever since the shocking reveal of his arts.
It was nothing like she had ever seen. Healing arts of a scale never reported before. Not only were the children completely healed, but so were all the Rhodes Island operators. Everyone felt weirdly rejuvenated after the spell.
Everyone, except for the spellcaster that is.
There! She caught it again. Every few steps, the archer in front of her would slip and adjust instantly. The difference was difficult to spot because of how the darkness obscured his red clothing, but she was certain that it wasn't the same gait he had earlier.
Nearl narrowed her eyes. Years of single combat in the arenas of Kazimierz had honed her gut feeling. Any weakness her adversary showed, Margaret Nearl would capitalize on. The same experience which she applied to the battlefield after exile.
She spotted weakness.
Nearl stepped into stride right beside Shirou.
"Are you okay? We'll stop if something's wrong."
The question had the subtlety of a truck. Shirou blinked at the blatant attempt before frowning at himself.
Was it that obvious?
"I can keep going. It's nothing really." He deflected.
"Not if your condition hinders your safety." Nearl frowned.
"I can guarantee you that I know my own limits. I will not hinder your team."
Shirou was the last person you'd trust to keep himself safe. Of course, Nearl didn't know that.
"As you wish." She quickly dropped her suspicions out of courtesy.
As one, the two leading members jerked their heads forward when they heard a clamoring echo bouncing down the sewer branch. From the sound, it was clear that a large group of people were moving ahead of them. Nearl raised her hand and stopped the entire column.
'Reunion.' She mouthed back at them.
Immediately, the two leaders at the rear- Ace and Dobermann, started leading the group backwards. As planned, they would retreat if they ran into unknown parties underground. It was more than likely that any party they met in the nearby vicinity would be teams sent to chase them down. The Reunion would've found out where they had escaped through by now.
A few minutes later, they ran across the same problem. This time, everyone heard the racket as another unidentified team ran through a sewer corridor two branches away from them.
"We need a plan." Nearl was the first to initiate.
She was just stating the obvious. There were only two choices: fight or flight. Both had their advantages and disadvantages. Fighting would announce their location, but open opportunities. They could keep hiding, but the danger of getting captured increased.
"We attack."
Shirou looked at Rhodes Island's original objective. Ever since meeting the group, the man had kept quiet in the background- even more so than the other operators. Shirou assumed it was because he was in unfamiliar territory, surrounded by strangers and being escorted through a battlefield.
"Doctor?" Amiya questioned.
"It is a risk, but it is better than waiting here. The Reunion has all the time to dig us out." The Doctor emphasized. "We must strike while we have the chance."
Amiya exchanged glances with the rest of her comrades. Unlike the children, the operators were the ones entering combat. A round of nods confirmed their consent.
"As you wish, Doctor." Dobermann had doubted Doctor's ability at first, but his leadership earlier proved that he was indeed the legendary strategist Rhodes Island's previous incarnation had.
Shirou found the Doctor's attention directed at him.
"You are familiar with the sewers right? Can you sketch us a map?"
.
.
.
"You holding up there nicely, Nearl?" Ace grunted as they got into position.
"So far so good." Nearl replied. This wasn't her first high-stakes operation, but it was the first operation where Rhodes Island itself requested her assistance.
Ace, her, and a number of other operators were the spearhead. They were going to make contact with one of the unidentified and see if they were friendly or not.
Nearl hoped they were. They had children behind them and unnecessary conflict should be avoided if possible.
"Everyone in positions?" Ace reconfirmed with everyone.
A series of confirmations answered him in return.
"Then let's go."
Nearl dashed forward, spearheading the charge. Everyone else followed behind.
.
.
.
Back at the main contingent, Shirou was busy providing information to the Doctor.
Amiya and Dobermann also stayed behind as part of the security detail. Rather than fighting in front, the Doctor requested Shirou to share his knowledge of the terrain. He didn't dare use drones to scout. They made too much noise and would alert unknowns to their position.
Shirou watched as the Doctor deliberated over the roughly sketched map made using his blades. Rocks were placed on it, acting as markers for their group and the last known positions of the unidentified groups.
The plan the Doctor came up with was simple to change on the fly depending on what the situation entails. An idea Shirou agreed with.
The group Nearl and her team were sent to scout was spotted in the northern direction, where Rhodes Island was heading to evacuate Chernobog from.
It had been ten minutes since they were last heard from.
Amiya twitched then quickly drew her comms device from her pocket. She listened to the message and shook her head sadly in the Doctor's direction.
"So they weren't friendlies." Dobermann frowned.
"It was the Reunion…" Amiya sighed.
"Then, here's the plan." The Doctor announced.
The group leaned over the map as he explained their next moves.
W clicked her tongue when she looked at the map.
It had been an hour and a half since she had pointed out the escape route Rhodes Island took. Yet, still no news had returned whether the group had been spotted. W was tuning in to the contingent's broadcast channel for reports, jumping at every update.
Only to be disappointed time and again.
Approaching footsteps drew her attention to the Reunion commander approaching.
"W." A low grunt greeted her.
"Patriot." W acknowledged his presence. It was hard not to. The towering giant of a Sarkaz was one of the largest in the Reunion. "Since you've arrived, I assume Talulah is close?"
"Yes. Our priority is to identify this new threat from Chernobog. From this point on, I shall be taking over the operations here." He moved right next to her overlooking the sewer map system.
"Hey…you've been speaking more lately!" W noticed.
"The antidote has been more effective than expected." He admitted.
"Oh? So you can talk more now?"
Patriot nodded. His throat had recovered to a degree over the week's duration. The effects of the antidote FrostNova shared was shocking.
"Faust, Mephisto, Patriot has arrived. He will be taking command now." W notified the two others.
"Message received." Faust replied over the radio.
"Do we still get to hunt down Rhodes Island?" Mephisto's question patched through.
Patriot frowned.
"That was not in our priorities."
"Talulah gave us permission."
"Nonetheless, our resources are better directed at searching and taking out the Chernobog sniper. Now return to your contingents and lead them. I shall begin directing operations."
Mephisto dropped the topic.
W grinned. Despite wanting to meet Rhodes Island, it was still quite the sight to see Patriot put the crazy kid in his place.
"Update me on the situation?" Patriot turned to the Sarkaz mercenary.
W quickly explained the distribution of the forces and their recent excursion into the sewers.
"All units retreat from the sewers and return to street level. I want scouts actively searching for suspicious targets." The Reunion's presence extended over multiple northern sectors. The archer couldn't have escaped that quickly with how large their coverage was.
"You don't want them to continue scouting below? The archer could be using it to hide."
"We negate his effectiveness if he can't resurface. If we can't find him, our next best move is to stop him from returning to combat." Patriot explained.
W's mouth turned into an o-shaped expression as the realization hit. How smart. Patriot was right.
"W, go back to your squad and prepare for combat. You will act as support for the teams if we meet the archer."
W grinned again. She may have lost the opportunity to meet Rhodes Island, but the possibility of seeing an impressive explosives user was just as exciting.
Everyone listened carefully while the radio in Shirou's hands barked out orders for the Reunion fighters.
The equipment was picked up from the first team they encountered on Shirou's request. Once he had the radio in hand, the archer immediately started listening on the Reunion comms channels. When the superior officer requested an update of their status, Shirou explained that his leader handed the radio to him while he took a piss.
The superior quickly moved on, showing that they didn't care much about who answered as long as the team continued to report.
And just like that, they were in.
The next quarter of an hour was spent slowly navigating through sewer branches.
Bzzt.
"Report." It was the same superior asking.
"Branch D6 clear."
"Branch E13 clear."
"Branch AD7 checking."
The teams were reporting the sewer branches they had finished scouting, or are currently scouting.
Shirou looked at the sewer identification ID near them.
"Branch GB2 checking."
They weren't actually at GB2, their actual sewer branch was further ahead at L3. Shirou was only reporting branches Rhodes Island passed two segments ago while adding and subtracting numbers to put the illusion that they were also checking other branches.
In the reports, their team had been checking branch G before discovering a new segment branch GB. It was legit too, because Shirou had seen branch GB1 and GB2 as they passed by branch G.
The series of reports continued for another 5 minutes before the teams on their channel finished.
Shirou nodded to the rest after the latest update on the Reunion comms. The spearhead division quickly regrouped and began scouting the area ahead of them. Every quarter of an hour, the two groups would reunite and listen to the Reunion comms before moving forward.
They were making good progress when the next order came out of nowhere.
Shirou walked ahead of the second group when the stolen radio buzzed outside of the designated report window.
"All teams return to the surface. Patriot has arrived and taken over."
Shirou frowned. The appearance of Patriot was worrying. Of all the Reunion commanders, he was the most qualified. His feats in the past were stories talked about the Reunion fighters.
The message cut off shortly.
"Amiya, tell the other team to regroup with us while running. Don't bother hiding because everyone will assume that we're also rushing back outside. Use this opportunity to clear as much ground as possible." Shirou urged. The change in his tone was caught by those near him.
Amiya nodded while drawing her comms device.
"Nearl, Ace, prepare to regroup. We're going to start running." The young rabbit notified the others.
A few short minutes later, the entire Rhodes Island team was reunited. With the Reunion withdrawing back to street level, the sewers were free for them to navigate.
"Sir, we're missing one of our teams." Came the report.
Bad news already? Faust had just arrived too.
"Do you know their last location?"
"Team 41 was scouting sewer branch GB2 before the withdrawal."
Faust paused. His gut feeling was acting up.
"Do you have a record of their route?"
"Yes sir." The Reunion soldier pulled out some scraps of paper, rifling through them until he pulled out one. It was a hastily written note of Team 41 and the sewer branches they finished scouting.
Faust cross checked the pipelines with a duplicate of the sewer blueprint. Team 41 looked like they were heading in a northern direction before being taken out, if his assumption was correct.
Rhodes Island had disabled Team 41 long ago, they were just using the identity as their cover now.
"Was Team 41 supposed to be going north?" Faust asked. The team's general direction was headed north, a result of Shirou using the sewer tunnels behind them as his basis. It was inevitable that their direction would be noticed.
"We didn't specify any area to cover."
Faust clutched the map tighter. There was something he was missing here. He just knew it. An entire team didn't get knocked out for no reason. Unless they were planning to leave the Reunion in the middle of the Chernobog operation.
The captain's radio buzzed again.
The Reunion commander continued to pour over the map while his aide answered the call.
"-what?"
The captain turned to him.
"S-sir? Team 41 has been found. None fatally injured."
Faust inwardly sighed in relief.
"That's good. Must've just been a communication problem then."
"Sir, they were ambushed by Rhodes Island an hour ago."
"An hour ago?" He scowled. "Then who was reporting…" Faust turned to his subordinate. "Captain, contact the infiltrators on your frequency. We need to check."
The captain nodded.
"Team 41, report in. You were at sewer branch GB2 correct?"
"Yes, but we're finding an exit now." Came the casual reply. A carefully constructed one made to match the others. He didn't recognize the voice either, as Shirou made sure to use another tone to answer for the entire duration.
That was all the confirmation Faust needed.
He had two choices. Let Rhodes Island go and focus on Patriot's task, or chase after them and capture a party who wasn't even part of the conflict.
The choice was obvious. He didn't want to drag more people into this chaos.
Leave Rhodes Island alone.
"Continue as ordered. Leave them alone. They are not threats." Faust concluded at his aide.
"S-sir? Are you sure?"
"Do you want to report to Patriot that our frequency is compromised? If he gets wind of this, we're all getting burned." Faust dangled the threat in the air.
Patriot didn't take lightly to failure in protocols. Most of the Reunion weren't too keen on following and would help cover each other for infractions. Faust's Phantom Crossbowmen were some of the few exceptions.
The captain quickly realized the consequences. Patriot would have every team under his command- including him- punished with training. He jumped at the lifeline offered to him immediately.
"N-no sir!"
"Then keep quiet." Faust would know if the issue was leaked. Only the two of them knew that Rhodes Island had been listening in on their movements. If he did, then Faust had a reasonable excuse. The Chernobog Archer was more important than dealing with a neutral party escaping the city.
With that problem hopefully dealt with, Faust turned his attention back to the bigger threat.
Keeping Talulah distracted long enough for Rhodes Island to escape.
.
.
.
The radio stayed on that specific captain's frequency for a minute before it was closed.
"You hear that boys?"
The squad around the grey-haired mercenary all shifted their gear around in preparation for the leader's orders.
"A captain under Faust just reported that Team 41 was missing before they were by the captain himself reconfirming Team 41's location? Something seems missing here…"
Their leader grinned darkly while tapping her finger on the map.
It was a general map of Chernobog. The map was large, split into different districts based on which sector they were listed under. It was split into the four cardinal directions.
"There's only one group with enough balls to sneak under the Reunion."
Her grin sharpened.
"Rhodes Island."
The mercs around her shuffled. They knew that expression. It was an expression she showed when she found something of interest.
In this case, she was downright determined.
"The Catastrophe is nearly here. If I was them, I'd be hightailing it out the city. Which means-"
The Sarkaz mercenary leader checked her copy of the sewer blueprints and cross-referenced them with the city map. She circled a narrow perimeter at the nearest city border from sewer branch GB2 along with a few other locations.
"-that they will likely be escaping through these areas. Rhodes Island has VTOL aircraft, so make sure to look at the skies ok? Report only to me once you spot them!"
She turned back to her squad.
"Don't try to tackle them alone. I'll order the nearby troops to come reinforce us once we locate their extraction point. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am." A chorus of replies came.
"Good, let the hunt begin~"
W smirked in excitement. She had once been a member of Babel, the previous incarnation of Rhodes Island. She was familiar with how they operated. If her hunch was right, then there was a high chance of them being spotted.
They reached the northern dockyard after a few hours of traveling underground.
The manhole lifted a few centimeters as a pair of eyes checked the situation above ground.
Shirou didn't actually need to. He was only putting up an act in front of the others. The alley above him was already confirmed empty by his tracing. Shirou turned the full circle to finish his inspection before pushing the cover aside and climbing out.
Next came Ace, who quickly headed for the alley exit and kept an eye out while the rest of the spearhead team emerged from the underground passage. Like the previous arrangement, Ace and Nearl along with the vanguard would go ahead and scout while the remaining operators would escort and protect the children.
The sky above him rumbled as red thunder coursed through dark clouds. The night sky was covered in them, thundering and flashing ominously. Chernobog had stopped moving a few hours prior thanks to the machinations of a certain Sarkaz.
"The Reunion actually did it…" Dobermann growled as she looked up at the dreary sky.
"You mean stop the city?" Shirou clarified.
"Yes. Now the city cannot escape the Catastrophe."
Shirou had noticed Chernobog's distinct rumbling disappear long ago. The city's massive engines kicked into gear half a week ago to maneuver outside of the Catastrophe's path. It was hard not to notice when the city began moving. The extreme vibrations cost Sakura and Rin a few sleepless nights. They weren't used to sleeping on moving vehicles unlike Shirou.
The message was not lost on Shirou. Without the city engines, the entire populace was powerless under the approaching disaster. The idea of fixing them briefly flashed across his mind before he interrupted that train of thought. Shirou doubted he could even repair engines that big in the short window of time before the Catastrophe.
They slowly traversed the last few hundred meters to reach a chosen vantage point. The children and guards stayed below while Shirou and the officers scouted the dockyard from above.
The shipyard was not as empty as they had hoped. A Reunion contingent stood guard over the captured yard, busy securing the resources left behind. While there were many shipping containers abandoned, few transports could be seen. It was obvious the dockyard workers escaped Chernobog using the vehicles in the district.
"Where's your transport?" Shirou asked.
"We are contacting them." Dobermann answered. She was busy messaging the aircraft pilot about their arrival at the evacuation point.
"We have to find another place for extraction." Nearl pointed out. If combat could be avoided, then Rhodes Island would do so.
The VTOL craft Rhodes Island had was big. They needed to find a different location.
"We can't. We don't know how much time we have left. The Catastrophe's nearly here." Dobermann looked at the thundering clouds in the sky. Red ominous glow highlighted the increasing activity above them.
Shirou clicked his tongue. He had overestimated the amount of time he could spend helping Rhodes Island. Now the hospitals were at risk. Shirou still had to consider a way to help all those doctors trapped behind.
He needed to move. Fast.
"I'll distract them. Evacuate everyone quickly. Once you're all onboard, leave Chernobog." Shirou didn't bother explaining further. He didn't want them to consider his
When they turned, Shirou had already jumped over the edge. After the past few hours, he was confident in their ability to execute a plan on the spot. The faster he acted, the more he could do while Rhodes Island caught up.
"W-what is he doing?" Amiya gasped once the red cloak disappeared from the rooftop before they could even stop him.
"Didn't even wait to coordinate with us." Came Dobermann's annoyed tone.
"We're wasting time. He could begin his diversion at any moment." Ace urged. "Just start preparing."
They weren't wrong.
Once Shirou was out of sight, the archer reinforced his legs and accelerated. He chose another vantage point overlooking the dockyard far from Rhodes Island and positioned himself. The rooftop had angles on multiple roads should Reunion send reinforcements once he began.
Inhale. Exhale.
Shirou took deep breaths as he prepared his circuits for another round of abuse. The bowstring in his fingers strained as he took aim at the dockyard. One, two, three arrows flew into the air at subsonic speeds and reached their marks. The night lit up with explosions from different areas of the docks. Shirou instantly knocked the next arrow before the string even finished recoiling from the previous shot.
He deliberately aimed at the freights to cut down the Reunion's supply. More arrows kept pelting the steel containers until the Reunion contingent in the area was out in full force. Within minutes, entire areas of the dockyard had been engulfed in flames. Fighters on guard duty had attempted to salvage the supplies and resources to some success, but just as many were overwhelmed when others turned into infernos.
While watching the result of his efforts, Shirou picked up on a powdery scent long before smoke swamped his position. Soon, his vision was hindered by the gray cloud that settled around him. The execution was quick, but it didn't stop him from finding the culprit. Shirou reinforced his eyes and pierced through the thin veil by visually tracing the composition of the matter in front of him. Like a scanner, he quickly identified the organic material amidst the inorganic smoke particles.
"You're more helpful using your smoke to extinguish the fires." Shirou casually poked the hooded girl as she spied at him from within the smoke. He knew she was sent to distract him judging from the unnatural smokescreen's presence. Shirou intended for his comment to
She didn't reply. Opting to stay quiet while observing the dangerous threat before her. This man was responsible for the artillery support Chernobog had that morning. Hard to believe it, but after seeing the amount of destruction he was capable of in such a short time…the idea of facing him was daunting to say the least.
But she wasn't entirely powerless.
All she had to do was delay him. The Reunion commanders have been alerted and are en route to the northern docks.
The orange-haired Reunion assassin frowned when she noticed his gaze immediately locked on to her despite the smokescreen she placed. She moved sideways, her footsteps silent to avoid alerting her target. Shirou made a show of reaching to the fake quiver behind him before tracing a whole batch of explosive arrows. He gripped one on the shaft and knocked it into his bow.
"Last warning." Shirou stated while still tracking the girl's movements. Despite his apparent ability to see her, the Reunion member still believed she had a chance.
"You wouldn't dare use your arts this close. The explosion would kill us both."
"So, at least you're willing to talk." Shirou slipped into the persona he copied from Archer. "And no, I still have lots to do before I die."
Okay, that sounded a bit ominous.
"Stand back. This is going to be explosive." Shirou was still masked, but the smirk was audible. He aimed the bow down the avenue and released the arrow.
…
Crownslayer didn't even see the projectile fly.
What she did feel was the whiplash of force coming from the recoil.
What?
She covered her eyes while stumbling when a burst of wind slammed into her. When she opened her eyes, the smokescreen she made was gone. The roof deck was clear of her arts and she could see the archer in front of her lowering his bow.
A distant explosion to her right pulled her attention. Crownslayer froze as the side of a building collapsed into the street.
No. Not just any street.
Just how much power is he packing?
The amount of strength he put into drawing that bow was insane. How could one recoil disperse her entire smokescreen? Just how strong was that bow to survive?
Fighting him was suicide. Escape- and she would eat one of his explosions once she was far enough. Not even buildings would stop his arrows. Between the two choices, the first looked better. All she had to do was buy time for the others to arrive.
Crownslayer gripped her knives tightly as her smokescreen returned to the rooftop. It wasn't effective, but she'd damn well use every trick in her book if it meant surviving.
.
.
.
Back on the other side, Rhodes Island was huddling the children a couple of buildings away from the docks.
They were watching the docks burn before their very eyes.
"Distraction my ass. What the fuck kind of distraction is that?!" One of the operators gaped at the widespread destruction. He mostly whispered it to himself but a fair number of the others who heard him were of the same mind.
In just 10 minutes, the docks had been lit like a bonfire. Flames lapped at freights and several tons of cargo were quickly turning into ash.
"Could he also be the one responsible for the bombing earlier…? It can't be, right?" Another one whispered in horror.
"Focus on the mission. Children first, talk later." Ace barked at the operators. "If he is, then we're lucky he's on our side."
Dobermann continued to scan the air until she spotted two VTOL aircrafts approaching from outside Chernobog's airspace. She grabbed the flare gun at her waist and aimed it high into the air.
A moment later, a bright red marker burst over their position.
Hopefully, the Reunion would be too distracted dealing with the roaring flames to react to unknown aircrafts.
It took a few minutes for the pilots to find a suitable landing spot near them. They picked an avenue at the side of the docks to land at. One of the VTOL ships hovered as cover while the other landed to evacuate the teams.
"Everyone onboard!" Nearl guided the children on to the ship's ramp while the rest of the operators held defensive positions around them.
Once thirty or so children had filled the ship, a couple of operators followed by Dobermann embarked to accompany them. Most of the teams stayed behind to continue securing the perimeter for the second dropship.
The first VTOL aircraft flew into the air before a projectile intercepted it. A missile streaked across the sky and exploded a dozen meters off the right wing, throwing the aircraft off balance and forcing it to maneuver dangerously.
"They're here!" Ace shouted while aiming his gjn down the street at the sole figure approaching them. The others quickly started scanning the buildings for the expected Reunion fighters.
"Oh relax big man, I'm not here for a fight. That missile was just to catch your attention~!" The figure called out as they came closer.
Ace paused before holding his hand up to signal the others to hold their fire.
"...what are you doing here?"
The other operators watched as Ace moved out to meet the unknown individual. Amiya blinked as she recognized the grey-haired mercenary walking.
"W?"
"Hehe, so the little bunny has grown some guts? Last time I saw you, you were always hiding behind the Doctor. Say, how is he doing anyway?" The identified Sarkaz female scanned the Rhodes Island operators around the perimeter.
For his part, the Doctor stayed hidden behind the overturned car near Amiya.
"What do you want? Why are you here?" Amiya asked the former Babel operator.
"Oh nothing really, just meeting Rhodes Island for old time's sake. We used to be allies, right?" W cheekily answered. "The question is, why are you here? Chernobog has no connections to Rhodes."
"We are…" Amiya trailed off quietly as Ace shook his head at her.
"What we do here is none of your business, W. We'd appreciate not getting missiles shot at us while we evacuate." Ace interjected.
"Oh but it is! You see, the Reunion is after you guys- and your answer might just be good enough for me to look the other way~" W held her hands behind her back while tiptoeing expectantly.
Amiya looked to the others for help. Her eyes landed on Nearl and the Kazimierz exile shook her head in response. This was the first time she had met the Sarkaz mercenary. Nearl didn't know what to do either.
"Is it really that important to you?" Ace grunted.
"Of course~"
Ace sighed.
"And if we showed you?" He looked at Nearl who kept the children hidden in the building behind her.
Nearl didn't like the idea of showing the children to what seemed to be a Reunion member, but beckoned for a few of them to appear behind her. Of course, she held her shield up defensively in preparation of any attack.
"Bullshit."
"Are you satisfied?"
"I could care less about children. Rhodes doesn't send this many operators to save children. What are you really after?" W's pretense slipped.
Bzzt.
W trailed off when the radio on her belt buzzed to life.
"The Chernobog Archer has been located at the northern docks. All teams prioritize elimination. If not possible, delay." A thunderous voice ordered. A voice many in the Reunion recognized.
The female Sarkaz stayed silent for a few moments before turning on her heels.
"Duty calls. So I'll let you all off the hook this time. See you around~" W waved at the group while walking off. While she was interested in Rhodes Island, she was far more invested to see the archer from Chernobog.
Amiya's eyes widened. There was only one person they knew that the Reunion would hunt down.
"He's really gone and done it…" Ace grumbled. He turned around and started barking into his comms unit. "Get the second ship down here now! Evacuate while we still can!"
Nearl's stomach dropped below her after realization set in.
"We're…just going to run?"
"It's our only choice, Nearl. There is nothing we can do against the bulk of the Reunion. That man offered us a distraction, the least we can do is follow through!"
Explosions on the other side of the docks restarted, catching everyone's attention.
Nearl's code of honor dictated she go and help their strange ally. At the same time, her morals dictated that the children be prioritized. Just like many times on the battlefield, ever since her banishment from House Nearl, another piece of her heart was torn.
She made her choice. A lesson she was forced to learn the hard way.
"Children…we have to go."
"Miss Nearl? But where is Mr. Archer?" One of the kids asked.
Nearl couldn't even muster an answer.
Author's Notes
I love how people are picking up that Shirou's nearing his limit. This is true, I planned it this way so that it all ends up to this ending where Shirou has nothing left. His only option to save Rhodes Island, the children, and also the captured doctors leads to him surrendering himself over to the Reunion.
Great job for everyone in the comments who noticed that I've essentially limited Shirou's overpowered weapons by putting a cap on them.
…
About who noticed Avalon's presence.
Basically every being that's sensitive to arts or magic. Sooo basically everything that's supernatural lol. Shirou's going to hightail it out of Chernobog once he gets the chance.
…
About which Fate route I used.
I guess all three? I like to take a bit of everything. I won't specify it now because it could limit my freedom down the line but I have Shirou and Arturia's relationship from FSN + The route from Heaven's Feel kinda? Of course, I've already clarified that Shirou's in a relationship with both Rin and Sakura.
…
About Shirou's prana/mana reserve.
I hope this chapter showed you how Shirou's cheating with his energy limits. He's basically forcing his body to absorb copious amounts of Originium to fuel his magecraft. After all, it is the same energy Terrans use to perform arts. (For this story, don't know about canon)
This is also part of the research the Fuyuki Trio has been doing for the past few months if anyone is wondering what they've been doing in the clinic at night.
…
Woops! Thank you Sagittipotenta for pointing out that Dobermann is a former Bolivarian Colonel. I'm getting lost here keeping track of everyone.
…
To everyone asking about Shirou summoning Avalon.
Shirou didn't trace or "summon" Avalon in the sense you're thinking of. He "prayed" to it for a blessing. The sheath was only used as a catalyst to link Terra and Avalon since the sheath is connected to the utopia. Still, praying for scraps sapped a lot of Shirou's energy. Avalon is simply that far beyond his level. That is also why he had to align his prayer with the goals of his master (Arturia Pendragon) because only she has any real connection to Avalon, not him.
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Answering how Shirou was faster than Nearl.
How he was faster than a horse (or pegasi for Nearl), it was mostly because of technique. Nearl kept slowing down and accelerating at each sharp turn. That wastes a lot of time compared to Shirou who kept leaping off the walls to redirect his momentum. In a straight running competition, Shirou probably has the faster acceleration, but would lose once Nearl can sprint at full speed.
Arknights hasn't shown that their version of humans are any faster than normal ones on Earth. They all probably move at the same speed we do, just with 10x the physical strength or something. So I'm buffing some species here based on what animal they're actually related to. Dragons will have extreme strength. durability and arts, horses will be faster than most, etc etc. I've already shown that many of them have enhanced hearing beyond normal human senses because they have animal traits.
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About Excalibur.
The Excalibur I have for this story is more of "crystallization of mankind's wishes" and not "superweapon to counter foreign threats on Earth". So technically it should work? Terra's humans are all related to humanity (I think) since their base form is humanoid.
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"Shirou looks overpowered."
Yes he's technically already OP just by having Unlimited Blade Works, but there will be tradeoffs for extremely powerful magic he can pull out of his reality marble. As shown by this chapter.
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P.s. If you felt that this ending got abruptly chopped like liver, then you're onto something :)