Disclaimer: FATE does not belong to me, all its history and characters belong to Type-Moon.
Fated future
Shirou and the girl were walking through the streets towards the depths of the village together with the little creature.
In the back of his mind, the apprentice magus asked himself the same question over and over again:
Why can't I refuse?
Shirou was not stupid, he was sure that the name Cath Palug was familiar to him from somewhere, and it was clear that this girl had relationships with the dead apostles. Also, if he trusted his instincts, this girl was sure to be someone extremely dangerous.
Most of the ghouls did not approach the trio, and those who did were cut to pieces by the boy.
The redhead observed the state of the town. The further they entered, the more destroyed the buildings were, "Was this the product of what happened thirty years ago?"
The girl nodded. "Yup. It was a real surprise to see the Church and the Association working together, we did not expect it. We believed that they would obstruct each other, but, unfortunately, this was not the case, and in the end, the clash of powers was so strong that they managed to destabilize the ritual," clenching her fists, the girl frowned, "it was a real hassle, you know, we had been preparing that ritual for a few centuries, and it all ended in nothing."
"Nothing!? The mana began to disappear because of that ritual!" the boy screamed, but he soon regretted it, remembering that it was very likely that the person in front of him could easily kill him.
However, the girl did not seem to care too much, although Fou barked in reproach, "Yeah, you're right, it is something that I have never fully understood..."
"What do you mean?" the boy asked curiously, while the girl led him to the basement of a building.
Upon reaching this, the redhead observed a large crack in the ground that led to a series of tunnels.
"The Aylesbury ritual is supposed to involve the resurrection of The Dark Six. They are the original dead apostle, known as The First and Highest System."
"You speak as if you don't know them..."
She shook her head, "I don't know them. They've been in a state of resurrection for countless years and haven't reached one hundred percent yet. Be that as it may, they were supposed to be reborn thirty years ago, but something happened while carrying performed the ritual, in addition to the interruption of the two organizations, and the axis, as well as the poles of the world, were altered."
"Was that what caused the constant depletion of mana?"
The girl nodded. "Who established the ritual of Aylesbury Valesti was Crimson Moon, and it was supposed to be a ritual that would involve the resurrection of The Dark Six, and with it, the beginning of the reign of the dead apostles over humanity, but instead of that, what happened was that the core of the Earth, what can be said to be its soul, was injured."
"So, it wasn't the intention of the dead apostles to cause this disaster?"
"I can't speak for all of us, but for my part, I didn't expect that to happen." As the duo descended into the depths of the earth, they had this strange conversation. For some reason, the girl's attitude had changed, she was now behaving like a pretty serious person, "After thinking about it a lot, I could only come to one possible conclusion, but it's so absurd that I hope I'm wrong."
"Which?" the curious boy asked.
"No one knows what the true colors of The Dark Six are, but perhaps, for some reason, they decided to launch a kamikaze attack on the planet."
"T-That's crazy…!"
"Yeah, you're right, but it's the only thing I can think of."
"A question..." said the nervous boy.
The girl smiled, "Shoot."
"If the effect of the ritual could be reversed, could the world be saved?"
That question created a deep silence between the two, but suddenly, the girl turned to him. The redhead only knew her for the short time they had been together, but in this short period, 90% of it, the girl had remained extremely cheerful. However, the look she was giving him now was the opposite: this was the look of a tired person, a person who had faced a problem, or something similar, for a long time, and, in the end, she had not found a solution for it, hence, resigned herself to losing.
She had the same look Kiritsugu had when he told him about his past.
"I'm afraid that's impossible..."
"But! What if there was a way!?"
"Anyway, it would be useless..."
Worried, the boy asked, "Why?"
To which she replied, "The current state of the planet is not our only problem."
"What do you mean?"
"That the Aylesbury ritual was carried out is only one of several reasons why our world will come to an end."
"Are there more!? What are the others!?" he asked desperately.
The girl whispered, "The box closed prematurely, the Wandering Star of Predation draws ever closer, and finally, the eight Aristotles have been called to carry out the extermination. Do you understand, human? There is no way to win... It's as if fate itself played against us."
Shirou didn't understand the things she was saying to him. He did not know which box she was referring to, nor did he know which star she was talking about, or what an Aristotle was, which, obviously, was not referring to the Ancient Greek philosopher. But there was something he did understand: whatever these were, not even the absurdly powerful girl in front of him could take care of them.
As they walked through the tunnels, the earth shook enormously, Shirou was afraid that they would collapse on top of them.
"Don't worry, Shirou. The tunnels, and all these constructions in Aylesbury, are reinforced, so you could say that these tunnels are almost a natural bunker", the girl said, noticing the boy's worried look every time the ground shook.
After a few minutes of walking in silence through a network of tunnels, they both reached an absurdly large room.
"This is the room where the ritual was first performed thirty years ago."
Shirou admired the huge cave in amazement, in it was magic circles, glyphs, and runes engraved everywhere, on the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Almost 90% of what he was seeing, the apprentice magus didn't understand, was too advanced magecraft for him to understand.
"Look, look!" the girl pointed, returning to her cheerful character, "this was where Ortenrosse, Merem, Blackmore, and I gathered to see the resurrection of The Dark Six! Van-Fem was also supposed to have a duty to attend the ritual, but that bum only helped us with the capital and land so that Aylesbury was fit enough to perform the ritual."
The place that the girl pointed to was right in the center of the colossal cave, in that space, a huge crater was present.
The girl then frowned, "Although the event was short-lived. The ritual began to cause strange things that ended with the beginning of the premature depletion of the planet's mana. Also, to finish, we were interrupted by the Church working together with the Association," Shirou comically saw how the girl seemed to want to pout, "and, instead of fighting together to complete the ritual and end the organizations, Merem and Blackmore took the opportunity and tried to kill me. Old Ortenrosse didn't help much either..."
Shirou was really surprised, it was as if the girl was used to being tried to kill her, "Are you okay?" he asked concerned.
"Huh?" she exclaimed, surprised.
"I asked you if you were okay. It is not normal to talk about attempts against your life so easily..."
Understanding his bewilderment, she couldn't help but laugh out loud, "I... I had forgotten how much fun humans were." After laughing as much as she wanted while Shirou looked at her confused, she stopped and just smiled at him, "You can be calm, Merem and Blackmore have been trying to assassinate me for centuries. They don't forgive me for what I did to their little princess."
"Little princess?"
She nodded, "She is the only one other than me who possesses the qualities to bring him back, you could say that she is something like my little sister, although I do not consider her that way. I was born from a combination of two species, although..." she stopped and, making a gesture of thinking, she said, "that would not be entirely correct, considering that one species is derived from the other. The point is, she did something stupid, and, as a consequence, ended up eradicating most of one of the species I'm a part of. Furthermore, she gave a great amount of power to a certain creeping snake, to such an extent that when he got out of control, even I couldn't face him."
"Are your sister and that snake that powerful?" Shirou asked, terrified that such monsters existed in the world.
"Yes, after my defeat, I signed a contract with PM and was ready to defeat the snake, but after I did, it turned out that the brat had already killed him," she said with annoyance and some resignation, "I guess she cleaned up her own mess."
"I see…"
"I was very angry, you know? First, she makes me have to deal with her mistakes, I end up being defeated because of these, and when I get the way to repair the mess she made, it turns out that she had already fixed it. I was so furious that I went to claim her."
"So, the two of you fought?"
"Yeah, we had a little fight, this one went nowhere, but…" a smile of superiority adorned her face, "I kept her hair."
"What?"
She smiled with joy, "I cut it off, and it won't grow back until I give it back. You should have seen Merem's angry face when he saw it. His face was a poem, and he has tried to kill me ever since."
The apprentice magus was dumbfounded at the girl's words, were all the dead apostle ancestors like this? No wait, the girl was really a dead apostle?
After laughing for a while, she calmed down, "But it seems that it is just as I thought."
"What do you mean?"
She opened her arms as if she was trying to contain the entire cave within them, "This is the place where the ritual will take place, haven't you noticed anything strange?"
Shirou analyzed the cave, and that's how he realized, "There is nobody here!"
The girl nodded. "Although all the apostles with the original blood should be gathered here, there is no one. Not even old man Ortenrosse, who leads the ritual, is present."
"Why...?" asked the confused redhead.
"A trap," she said confidently.
"A trap? From whom?"
"From old Ortenrosse, of course. He's the dead apostle who leads the largest faction that opposes the mine, and we've been at odds for centuries."
Shirou started to put the puzzle together in his mind, "So, Ortenrosse set up this trap. He made you believe that the Aylesbury ritual would take place one more time, and so he made you come to the city to be attacked by the Association and the Church."
"Jackpot," she said smiling, "high praise for our detective," the girl's teasing embarrassed the redhead.
"The truth is that it seemed strange to me, you will see, for the ritual to be ready, we had to prepare it for centuries, so... it was unlikely that only thirty years would be enough to perform it once again," then she turned to him smiling, "but even so, I must thank you".
This confused the apprentice magus, "Why?"
"I haven't been able to have a conversation like this in years, in general, everyone is too scared of me to even try it," however, her smile faded as a sad face replaced it, "it's a shame this one has to finish."
These words confused and alerted Shirou, "What do you mean?"
"Well, isn't it obvious? You've come here to kill me and get a reward, haven't you?"
"Reward? The only reward there is if someone manages to kill the Princess of the Dead Apostles," at that moment, he realized, "D-Don't tell me you're...!? "
She nodded, and, taking her beautiful evening dress, the girl bowed as she introduced herself, "My name is Altrouge Brunestud, The Princess of the Dead Apostles, enchanted, and Shirou... I am your target," she said while smiling threateningly at him.
"W-Wait, I have no reason to stand up against you!" Shirou tried to reason with the Princess.
"You do not have it...?" Altrouge asked smiling, but this smile was not like the previous ones, it was a bone-chilling smile, a ruthless smile, "so, why did you come to this town, kid?"
Shaking slightly, Shirou replied, "I needed to prove my usefulness to regain my family magic crest, which is important to achieve my goal."
"Your family magic crest? Your goal?" the Princess asked curiously.
Shirou nodded. "My family magic crest is being held by the Association, I believed that by helping to stop the ritual, they would be willing to give it back to me, and that will bring me closer to completing my goal."
"Your goal...? Which?"
Shirou lowered his gaze as if he knew that his dream would be nothing more than a joke before the Princess, "I want to create a sword..."
This disappointed the Princess, "A sword, is that all?"
"Not just any sword, I want to create a sword that is capable of cutting it..."
"Cut it? Cut what?" this rekindled the girl's curiosity, "says it at once! Your doubts are making me angry..." she said as she released a bit of her aura terrifying the boy.
The apprentice blacksmith steeled himself and declared, "What I seek to forge is a sword that is capable of cutting more than just steel, flesh, and bone. I am talking about a sword that can cut any entity, a sword that cuts resentment, certainty, causality, and even karma itself," Shirou emboldened himself to say the last part, "in short, a sword that can cut through and dispose of fate."
This stunned the ancestor, and, for a moment, her face was unreadable, but then what he anticipated would happen, she laughed, laughed very hard, "A-Are you serious? Just when I tell you that the world and humanity are destined to come to an end, and you come to tell me that you want to create a weapon that cuts and rid of fate. Is that your goal? What, do you want to be like those heroes from fairy tales and save the world with your legendary sword, or something like that?"
To the Princess's surprise, Shirou's response was not filled with anger, but it was accurate, "No, most of the stories of the heroes of the past end in disgrace, and, I... I was able to see first-hand what that path can take you to."
This made the apostle stop laughing, "So you're serious... Well, it's kind of sad, since you won't be able to create such a weapon."
"No, I will create it, you can be sure of it."
She shook her head, "You will not be able to create it. The world has its days numbered and what you are seeking to create surpasses several divine creations. It is impossible."
He responded with more force, "I'll still try!"
She showed quite annoyed, "You are very stubborn, you know?"
"I'm a sword, I don't break easily," he said, smiling.
That absurd statement brought a smile to the Princess, "So, let's make a deal: Show me your skills, and, if you manage to harm me with any of your weapons, then I will not only let you live, but I will help you however I can to create that sword."
"What!?" exclaimed the surprised boy.
"Oh, come on, it's not that strange either. The goal of the dead apostles is to achieve perfect immortality, and if humanity is exterminated, my fellow men will die. And even if that doesn't apply to me, or at least, not entirely, thanks to being a half ancestor, that doesn't change that I will die too."
"Why?"
"In the end, the Harvest Star will come for all equally, and, even if we negotiate with the Ultimate Ones, the star is something else entirely. In short, we are all going to die, do you understand...?"
Shirou nodded.
"If you can create a weapon that can cut through this dire fate, then it will be a win-win for me. But first, show me what you are capable of, show me that there is a slim chance of creating something like that," making a gesture with her hands, she invited him to attack her.
As they both spoke, Fou walked away, placing himself in a place where he would not interrupt his master's games.
Shirou took a deep breath and transformed his determination so that it was harder than steel, "Okay, Altrouge, I'll cut off the defeatist expression you had when you spoke about our future," Shirou unsheathed his two katanas, "I am not a hero, I am a blacksmith, but precisely because I am a blacksmith, I will create a weapon that will free us from fate and save us all."
She smiled defiantly, "Then come blacksmith, show me your creations."
Shirou reinforced his body and, before charging at the ancestor, he whispered the command to activate his magecraft, "Time alter, Double accel!"
At the same time, in the streets of the town...
Kiritsugu ran through the streets of that hell, avoiding as many ghouls as he could, he was no longer in the same condition as in his best days, so he had to be careful. Heaven had become like a canopy of wings, and hell had broken loose soon after. The magus killer watched as beings much more powerful than he engaged in a fight to the death, not caring if they destroyed everything in their path.
He watched as a huge ghostly-looking ship was shooting at some kind of giant robot, this was a mechanical doll ten meters tall and seemed to be the manifestation of various weapons of war, as well as the very act of fighting and the mixture of various puppets. And, atop the ghostly ship, two beings were fighting at inhuman speeds.
On the other hand, a young boy with very dark brown hair, dressed in a white outfit, was fighting an enemy on top of a four-legged whale-shaped monster about two hundred meters long. His enemy was a knight who was wielding what, after seeing some of Muramasa's works, Kiritsugu could identify as a cursed sword.
Suddenly, one of the two beings on top of the ship, the one with a humanoid appearance mixed with the features of a raven, shouted, "Merem! I'll stop these two! Go get Altrouge!"
It seemed that the apostle was referring to the young boy who was commanding the giant whale dog. The boy smiled, "Being so considerate of me isn't like you, Blackmore. But, that's okay, I'll take your offer." Patting the monster, the boy said, "Come on, King of the Land, take me to the center of town."
The gigantic being turned and tried to retreat but was attacked by the knight, causing large cuts all over its body.
"You think you can run from me, Merem!" the knight screamed, but when he tried to cut the creature again, an enormous number of hybrid beings with the heads and wings of birds did not allow him to pursue them, "Blackmore, you bastard!"
Thanks to the henchmen of the crow apostle, the young boy was able to go to the center of town. Merem was going to order his great demonic beast to destroy the ground to access the place where the ritual was taking place, however, when he was about to arrive, something happened...
The ground began to shake with great force; however, this was not because of the movements of the creatures fighting in the village, it was because of something else...
And, as if it were an eruption, from the bowels of the planet, a huge column of light rose to the heavens, a column of light with the power to burn everything it touched.
"W-What the hell was that?" the confused apostle wondered after the column of light dissipated, "be careful, King of the Land."
The dog approached the huge hole left by the column of light, the dust flooded the area and Merem couldn't see anything that was inside.
A few minutes before, inside the cave...
Click!
Shirou's katanas slammed into Altrouge's claws at great speed, but unfortunately, no matter how hard he attacked, his katanas couldn't cut through her claws, and she, with her superhuman reflexes, was able to stop each one of his attacks as if it were child's play.
Shit! The boy thought.
Now it was the Princess who had decided to go on the offensive and attacked him at high speed, trying to stab him with her claws. He was barely able to deflect her attacks, and she was increasing the speed of her attacks more and more.
Suddenly, the apostle's claws overcame his guard and headed for his body. Despite the reinforcement, the princess's claws furiously plunged into his flesh with ease, he gritted his teeth and struggled not to cry out in pain, and, taking advantage of the girl's outstretched arm, he tried to cut it with his swords, but, with a quick movement and, even with her hand inside the boy's body, she threw him several meters away as if he were a rag doll.
Shirou fell to the ground, and extremely sore, he struggled to his feet.
"Oh...? It seems you have some kind of regenerative ability," said the Princess, seeing how Shirou's wound healed at high speed.
Swallowing the pain, the redhead thought. I can't fight her directly. My swords cannot cut her, and she surpasses me in speed, strength, reflexes, and experience. But I don't need to win, just a cut, that's all I need...
"Since it looks like you won't break easily, I'm going to be a little harder on you," she said, flashing a morbid smile and a bloodlust he had never felt; before lunging at him with terrifying speed.
Seeing that he couldn't dodge her, even with his speed increased to double his usual time, Shirou did the only thing he could think of. He knew that he hadn't been able to do it until now, but his life depended on it, so, concentrating as hard as he could, he strengthened his body and his sword at the same time. Also, knowing that he could not jeopardize the sword that served as the receptacle for his ancestor's spirit, he began to use his Monohoshi Zao.
CRASH!
The sword stopped the Princess's claws for a few moments, but it was only that, a few moments, then the sword cracked until it finally split in half. Shirou, meanwhile, was sent flying once more, and this time, he ended up crashing into the wall and spitting blood.
Trembling, the apprentice blacksmith put all his effort to get up.
With a mocking smile, the Princess of the apostles played with the broken blade of the Monohoshi Zao, "Is this all your blades can take?" Altrouge laughed out loud, "if this is your best deed, then forget about creating a sword that can free this world from its fate."
"Time alter, double accel."
Shirou reactivated his magecraft just in time to dodge the broken blade of his own weapon, which had been thrown with extreme force and precision at him, and in the end, what was left of the sword was destroyed when it hit the wall.
"Kiddo, there is no way you can do any harm to that monster unless you use it," said his ancestor.
"I know, but it's not that easy. She must know I have it, but she must not know how powerful it is," Shirou stopped speaking for a moment, feeling his blood run down his throat, "once I unsheathe it, she will feel its power and be careful, making it difficult for me to hit her. I need to be able to catch her off guard with a quick point-blank attack."
"So, what will you do?"
"I'll risk even more..." In his belt were two swords, one of them was his trump card, and the other was the Vorpal sword that he snatched from Louvre's son.
If my theory is correct, this sword should have some effect on her.
Drawing the sword and putting away his katana, Shirou prepared to face the Princess once more, "Time Alter, double accel."
"Another sword? I hope it is not as fragile as the previous one," again, Altrouge launched herself at high speed at the redhead.
However, when she got closer, she felt as if her speed was slowing down. Something was forcing her to slow down enough that the boy could narrowly dodge her.
They exchanged attacks again, but this time, Shirou managed to hold his own against the Princess. The Altrouge's blows, while still powerful and dangerous, diminished in speed and power.
"That sword is really a nuisance!" she screamed.
Shirou managed to pull away a bit when the Princess began to show her frustration, pushing him back. With a few hand movements, he wrote something on the blade of his sword using mana, "Sowilo!" suddenly, the blade of the Vorpal sword was engulfed in flames.
Now it was he who took the offensive, Shirou quickly lunged at the Princess, but she stopped him again. And even so, the flames generated by the rune began to burn her. For a moment, they exchanged blows at high speed, and with each collision, the flames slightly burned the girl.
"Ach! Damn, this is a hassle!" said the angry girl. She was tired of a pointless battle like this, the only thing the boy had managed to do was cause her minor burns that healed instantly, but still, they were a real nuisance. "Enough! I'm going to finish this. If you have anything else, then show me now!"
Altrouge launched herself against the boy for the third and final time. But this time, he didn't fight back or try to dodge her. He lunged at her and, midway, threw his sword, "Time Alter, triple accel."
Directing his hands towards the last sword that had not been used and, with Altrouge unable to stop almost in front of him, Shirou thought a prayer:
Please lend me your strength. Bring me victory! Sword of the Selection, grant me the power... To cut off the wicked!
The apprentice blacksmith drew his sword with a swift movement, known as Iaidō, and, with a loud cry, released his sword, "NEO… CALIBURN!"
From the edge of his sword, an explosion of magical energy transformed into heat particles was launched against the Princess, after hitting her, the light rose, breaking the ceiling of the cave and reaching the outside.
A few moments after the light was released, from outside the cave...
The King of the Land poked its head into the rift.
"Blow," Merem whispered.
The giant being exhaled a little air dispelling the dust. After it dissipated, they were both shocked at what they saw.
On the one hand, there was the same boy who had caught his attention a few hours ago in the camp. He was standing with difficulty while holding a weapon, and as a collector of relics, Merem was very envious of the boy.
…
"It must be a battle-oriented katana," Muramasa said.
"No, it must be a western sword, and it must be able to maintain its status as a symbol of the King."
When it came time to reform the Sword of the Selection, Muramasa and Shirou had this heated discussion. Muramasa wanted a katana that was perfect for battle, but Shirou wanted to keep the fundamentals of the old Caliburn, and from this difference of views, the present form of the sword arose.
Neocaliburn was a single-edged sword, and one and a half-handed or two-handed bastard sword could be said. The sword was straight and slightly thicker and longer than the original but was still decorated with gold details and elegant embellishments. However, unlike the original, its hilt now had a handguard used for protection, and somehow the letters that had been written on its original blade had resurfaced when it was reformed, albeit with the addition of some characters. In short, the sword was a cross between a ceremonial weapon and one made for battle.
Shirou could barely stand up straight, he was feeling the effects of the triple accel, and it made him feel like he was going to pass out at any moment. His father had warned him that while he could use it thanks to Avalon, the rebound his body would suffer would be enormous and that he shouldn't use it unless he had no other options. Also, he had made Shirou promise that he would not go any further regardless of his situation.
He had never used Neocaliburn before, and he didn't know how much of his Od it would take to attack with it, and after making one, he found the answer: almost everything. Now he could tell that an attack at "full" power was his limit, and while he could attempt to launch a second attack, this one would not have half the power of the first and would probably pass out after using it.
Using what was left of his energy, the boy turned his gaze towards his opponent, he smiled, knowing that the attack would not kill Altrouge, much less when he could not even use the full power of the sword, but that was not important, he had achieved it.
She was floating above the boy, and after receiving the attack, her appearance had changed: Her hair was still down, but her dress was partially ripped apart, although it seemed to be repairing itself. Normally, Altrouge was truly powerless, and she wouldn't be much different from a normal girl, but she was also... like a magical girl who could transform in two stages. And, when she confronted Shirou, she used a suppressed version of the first stage of hers, but now she had fully released it.
Red marks the same color as blood ran down her white skin, her hair black as night, her eyes shining like rubies, a mist covered her, and behind her, inscriptions that he couldn't understand floated like wings, and these were they looked a lot like magic crests. And while he couldn't understand them, he did know what they were: Geis, the contracts used by magi, and for some reason, her contracts had physically manifested in the form of these wings. Also, shortly after unleashing her first stage, her ripped dress had been reformed, now being a little more suggestive and, at the same time, much more elegant. This was the true Altrouge Brunestud, who was called the Master of Blood and Contracts.
She smiled, slightly showing her fangs, and, raising her arm, she showed the only thing that was jarring about her appearance: her arm, which was burned and scorched in its entirety by the light of the holy sword.
"Whoa, it seems you got a little careless and paid the price, Fake Princess," Merem said mockingly.
The girl's smile soured, "Merem, who invited you to our private game?"
"Oh? Sorry for interfering with me, your highness," he replied without hiding the hatred and sarcasm in his voice, "but I came to end your life," he said after smiling sweetly.
She smiled with amusement, "Kill me? Did you finally become senile? I'll feed you my hound."
"Will you feed your hound to me? What nonsense do you say?" Merem smiled cruelly, "can you summon Primate Murder out of nowhere?"
"I don't need to summon him, he's already here," she answered.
This confused the Burial Agency member, "What are you talking about, faker? If there was one thing we attached importance to, it's that you didn't bring that monstrosity with you. You only came with your two bodyguards and that..." then Merem realized, "d-don't tell me, the squirrel!?"
Now it was Altrouge who smiled cruelly, "Squirrel? Fou is a full-fledged hound. Though it's a shame that, due to the current state of the world, he had to take this form to conserve his power more efficiently, as well as to move about without causing disasters. But, you know... Lately, he's been asking me to let him play freely," Altrouge smiled sweetly, "thank you for offering yourself as his toy."
After the Princess said those words, something happened, something terrible, something monstrous.
Shirou, who could barely stand, fell to the ground trembling in fear. What was this!? WHAT WAS THIS FEELING OF IMMINENT DEATH!? Shirou trembled and writhed on the ground, not even in the great Fuyuki fire did he feel something like that.
"Come on PM, go out and play."
An excessive growth began to take place in the small animal, and not even the earth could contain him, with huge claws and colossal teeth, suddenly The King of the Land was sent flying like a simple toy, and from one moment to another, the primates remembered the terror of death. Rising above all of Aylesbury, shattering the reality marble in which the city had been submerged, he rose again: Primate Murder, The White Beast, also known as the Altrouge's Demon Dog.
Merem was terrified, how the hell had that monster concealed himself so well that he didn't even give off an ounce of his power? He didn't know, but if he understood anything, it was that he was going to die.
There were four members that it was stupid to mess with among the 27 Dead Apostles Ancestors: Primate Murder, his beloved teacher: Crimson Moon, The Dark Six, and ORT. Probably, old man Zelretch could sneak into that group as well, although for several different reasons...
"GRRROOOAAAARRR!"
That roar alone was enough to exercise his authority. And then, all those over whom he exercised his power, all those who shared the characteristics of primates, and all those who could be classified within this species or, as a variant of this, ended up dead at that very moment without exception.
For a moment, Merem felt life leaving him, he was a dead apostle, yes, but he had the same characteristics of a primate, and that was more than enough for Primate Murder's authority to have any effect on him, though, of course, he didn't do it with all its might, which allowed him to survive the roar.
But surviving was not a victory, because if Primate Murder wanted he could exercise his authority directly over him. No, that wasn't even necessary, Primate Murder was a monster born of Gaia, which meant that he had support from the Counterforce of Gaia, and he was also a gigantic being that surpassed all his creatures. He couldn't do anything against him.
"Why that face Merem?" two people were riding on the gigantic monster: his owner and Shirou, who was passed out. The Princess held something up, holding it in her hand, "I thought you came for this?"
Merem's face contorted, his calm lost, and he yelled angrily, "Damn you, Altrouge!"
What she had in her hands was the hair of his beloved Princess, Arcueid. She held it as if it were a toy, and he wanted to go and take it from her and then end her life, but not all the hatred in the world would make him jump against the monster in front of him.
"You know, Merem, in the last few decades, you've done nothing but pester me, and I should kill you for it," she said smiling, "but, this time, I'll let you live."
"What?" asked the young man in surprise.
"Thanks to your conspiracies, I have met someone interesting, so, for this time, I will allow you to continue living," playing with the hair in her hands she said, "it's not like I can't kill you when I wanted to. Besides, come on, even she doesn't care so much about her hair."
You and that other nasty of Blackmore are both big... huh, what do you call them now? Oh yeah, stalkers.
If only I could go and kill her at once. Merem thought with much more anger for each word that came out of the princess's mouth.
"Let's go, Fou," she said, then yelled, "Rizo! Fina! We're done here, we're leaving."
The dead apostles returned with their Princess with overwhelming speed, and Blackmore didn't stop them, he knew that, against Primate Murder, plus the other three apostles, he had nothing to do.
After they were both together with Altrouge...
"GRRROOOAAAARRR!"
Primate Murder roared again, but this time no one died. A blinding flash engulfed the entire area, and Gaia's Beast disappeared along with the dead apostles and the apprentice magus.
Several minutes before...
Kiritsugu had managed to get out of Aylesbury, and a magus was waiting for him on the outskirts of this, he had the job of helping anyone who wanted to leave the town escape. He was a boy with long blue hair with some dark circles in his eyes, and he was wearing a brown jacket and pants.
"Are you the heir to the Ainsworths?"
He nodded, "Are you going out of town?"
Kiritsugu nodded, "Has a red-haired boy your age come here by any chance?"
The boy shook his head, "No one of my age has left town," using his magecraft, he opened a portal and said, "come on, my father told me that when things got too dangerous, I should retire, and I think it's about time..."
Although worried, Kiritsugu crossed it, wishing that Shirou would come soon after or that he had fled the town in some other way. The portal closed with the boy on the other side, and the magus killer returned to camp.
"From what I see, you survived too." Kiritsugu turned to where the voice came from there was Kairi, "Everything got out of control when those demonic beasts appeared, and... Wait? Where is the kid?"
Kiritsugu was going to reply, but suddenly, a column of light rose in the distance, right where the town was.
That light is...!?
Kiritsugu recognized it as a light similar to the one released by the servant's sword he summoned in the past, and that only meant one thing: Shirou was still in town.
The magus killer ran or at least tried because Kairi stopped him, "Wait, where are you going!"
"Back in town, Shirou is still there."
Kairi understood and knew what Kiritsugu was feeling, he had also been a father, even if it was for a short time, but still, he had to tell him, "The Ainsworths are no longer sending anyone into town."
"What?"
The necromancer nodded, "After the superior dead apostles began to clash, they decided that sending more people would be the same as sending them to their death. So, they decided not to send anyone else, they only left to one to bring them back..."
Kiritsugu wanted to reply, but his words caught in his throat because at that moment, all the primates remembered the terror of death. Even half a kilometer away, Gaia's Beast was clearly visible, and everyone who saw him could feel for a moment as if the life was draining from their bodies. All the people inside the camp were paralyzed with fear, and it only disappeared when the beast disappeared.
After several minutes, everyone returned to normal...
Kiritsugu set out to look for any member of the Ainsworth family, but before he could go talk to one, another man stopped him.
"Your son is no longer in Aylesbury."
It was the same old father who was one of Merem Solomon's familiars.
"What do you mean?"
The King of Rats whispered something in the magus killer's ear, and, Before retiring, he watched the sky, "To my master is not going to like this..."
Kiritsugu was stunned by the information he had just received, but he instinctively looked up to the sky after hearing the father, the crimson moon was shining there.
Somewhere else…
He couldn't see anything, his whole body ached, but he heard a few words.
"Are you sure of this, your highness?" said a voice.
"Yeah, this world does not have enough time left to allow us to doubt. Also, I saw something interesting..." this voice seemed to be Altrouge's.
"Something interesting? What was my lady?" asked a different voice.
"A land of swords..."
After a few minutes, Shirou managed to open his eyes. The sunlight bothered him a lot, "Huh!?" he exclaimed, surprised to see the Princess of the Dead Apostles inches from his being.
She smiled, "It seems that everything went well."
"P-Princess?"
She frowned, "I refuse."
He looked at her, confused, "Sorry?"
"No Princess, Altrouge. You treated me normally when we first met, keep calling me that."
Shirou nodded, "What happened? Where are we?"
"We are a few miles from the town, I brought us here after playing with Merem." For a moment, Shirou remembered the giant whale dog and the boy riding it.
"That was Merem?"
The Princess nodded, "It was fun playing with him." After that statement, her expression changed to one of pure curiosity, "By the way, why didn't you tell me that you were developing a reality marble?"
"I don't know what you're talking about…" Shirou replied, confused.
"I see, so it's completely natural, that makes it more interesting..." Altrouge smiled, "when you were unconscious you whispered some words, and I suppose these have to do with what happened to your wounds since after whispering them, blades of swords came out of your body to seal the places where I gave you the last blows. You were no longer fully human when you hit me with the holy sword, am I correct?"
"I do not know what you mean, I've always been human, at least for as long as I can remember."
She looked at him confused and narrowed her eyes, "That doesn't make sense. We, the dead apostles, can negate the man-made Noble Phantasms, as well as the ones the gods have prepared for man, rendering them useless. But your sword managed to hurt me, do you know what means, detective?" Altrouge made a thoughtful gesture, "although, now that I think about it, I guess it also has to do with the compatibility problem I have with that sword, being a holy weapon."
Although somewhat embarrassed by the girl's teasing, Shirou replied, trying, and failing miserably, to lie to her, "Well, maybe I know something..."
She frowned slightly, "That is not right, you should not lie to the person who will help you..."
"Huh?"
She took a graceful deportment, "I am The Princess of the Dead Apostles, and I promised that I would help you create the sword that will cut the dire fate of this world, and I plan to fulfill my promise, furthermore if we fail to create it, this planet will inevitably come to an end. Maybe we will need a miracle to survive."
A miracle… Shirou thought as he watched the Moon disappear with the light of the new day.
"By the way, my apologies for your other sword," Altrouge was holding the Vorpal sword and his Muramasa, Neocaliburn was at her side, but she did not dare to touch it, "by the way, your grandfather is quite a funny person. It had been a long time since I spoke with another being who had lived more than three centuries without him being an apostle."
"Thank you," Shirou said as he accepted the swords.
"So, where will you go now?"
"I'll probably go back to London because, in a week, my classes will begin again in the Clock Tower."
That depressed the Princess, "London, huh... I probably have to talk to the old Marshal then..."
This statement confused the boy, was she going to come with him?
"It's no fun asking that old for favors… So, you want me to take us to London?" she asked.
Shirou was going to politely decline the offer because first, he had to go back to...
"The camp! Old man!" the redhead exclaimed, concerned.
"Old man?"
"He is my adoptive father, I was supposed to meet him at the camp, but we met, and well..."
"Oh, I understand, do you want me to take you there?"
"Please, although... will you come?" asked the apprentice magus, somewhat nervous. Carrying The Princess of the Dead Apostles would be like lighting the fuse on that powder keg.
"No, Merem is probably still around, but don't worry, we'll see each other again very soon." Altrouge turned to Fou, who had returned to his reduced form, he was next to Shirou, "Fou, you know what to do..."
The little creature positioned itself on top of Shirou and nodded.
"Foouuuu."
Fou barked, and the two disappeared in a halo of light right in front of the Princess.
The Magus Killer was in camp, waiting, he didn't know what he was waiting for, but he couldn't leave either. Merem's familiar had told him that his son had been kidnapped by one of the 27 Dead Apostles and, in a way, that reassured him, because everything they found in Aylesbury was nothing but corpses. But what would he do now? In his mind, there was no plan and no way to face one of those monsters, how would he get Shirou back? That question was repeated over and over in his head and, when he was about to lose hope, a great flash appeared in the middle of the camp. And, when it dissipated, his son appeared with a small dog on his shoulder; Kiritsugu was about to run to his side, but right now he was The Magus Killer, so he slowly approached, and he was not the only one.
Shirou had appeared in front of all the people in the camp, but something seemed strange: they all came closer looking at him with various emotions reflected on their faces, some, like curiosity or astonishment, were easily visible.
What the apprentice magus did not know was that after the attack on Aylesbury had ended, a certain rumor began to spread:
That the magus killer and his son had managed to kill the sons of Louvre, one of the closest candidates to become a member of the 27, and not only that, rumors also said that the killer's son had fought against the Princess of the Eclipse and the Black Blood and that he had somehow managed to hurt her. The most important thing was that these rumors were spread by the King of the Rats, a familiar of Merem, who was one of the apostles who were in the town at the time of the events. All of this only increased its credibility behind them.
In the distance, Merem was looking at the boy, and when his eyes looked at him, a small smile adorned his face, but when he looked at the creature on the boy's shoulder, his expression warped to one of anger and fear, "It seems that things will get more interesting from now on..."
Another person looking at the boy was Zachary Ainsworth, "Angelica, Julian, this year you will return to the Clock Tower; keep an eye on our objectives and cooperate with our allies."
Both nodded.
"And Angelica…"
"Yes, father?"
"Also keep an eye on the son of the magus killer, he could be a useful piece in our plans."
The girl nodded.
The last important person to observe him was the Queen of the Clock Tower herself, Barthomeloi Lorelei. She had a cold and calculating look, but she couldn't help but smile.
From that day on, the life of the apprentice magus became much more hectic, and his second year in the Tower would be living proof of this...
Omake:
It had worked, Neocaliburn's attack had managed to hit The Princess of the Dead Apostles, but the apprentice blacksmith knew that that would not be enough to kill her. She was described as a kind of magical girl with two stages, and until now, what she was doing was using the first stage in a repressed way. Now he would see her, the true form of The Princess of the Eclipse and the Black Blood, the owner of the Beast of Gaia...
"Huh?"
Sparkles and hearts began to fill the entire area as ridiculous music resounded through the immense cave and, suddenly, something that he did not understand, and that exceeded his understanding, began to occur...
The Princess's dress began to transform, becoming much more childish, also, its color changed to pink, and it was surrounded by animated hearts.
Out of nowhere, a wand with a star design appeared, and, making a childish pose, she said:
"Kaleido Altrouge, I have arrived!" said the Princess smiling.
"What?" Shirou asked, stunned and without understanding the situation.
Author notes:
Okay, this chapter is ready. Happy New Year everyone, this is probably known as the year of the dead memes. With this, we end the chapters at Aylesbury and proceed to the next part of the story.
1740: Yes, she is.
Without more to say. I appreciate your comments and hope you enjoyed the chapter, see you in the next one.