All-Out Arena Battle
Hello everyone, Merry Christmas and welcome to the latest chapter of I'm Too Sober For This! As you've no doubt guessed we had a few delays due to the holiday rush and just plain life keeping us busy. But thankfully not so busy that we aren't getting a chapter out this month! And since its Christmas I'll drop my usual advertisement about my Pat reon and go straight to the Guest Review questions. To our guest who brought up the bit about holy swords, yes, they are likely banned but I also recall Xenovia was still allowed to use Durandal in the Rating Games so it seems to be a rule that isn't always enforced. As for GoTeam, nice suggestions, we'll take a look and see if any of them could make it into the story or an omake. And I know this is late but happy birthday, WroughtIronHero. Now we've kept you all waiting long enough, on to the story!
A Few Minutes Earlier: The Rating Games Private Box
"Yep, just as powerful as ever." Issei observed while chugging another beer. He'd been watching the match for the last couple of minutes and as expected, Sairaorg was putting up quite a fight even if he was only using his fists. Shirou was still holding his own well enough and had yet to pull out any of his truly powerful projections just yet.
'He's probably trying to conserve energy in case Sairaorg has a trump card.' The otherworlder mused. 'But either way, I'd say this match was always gonna be the highlight of the… shiiiiiiiiiit.'
He facepalmed in frustration. "We're literally in the middle of a tournament arc and the main character is fighting the most hyped match of the season."
He then quickly whipped out his phone and pulled up the contact 'Enabler 2.0'.
"I do hope you have a good reason for calling in the middle of—" Sona answered on the other line before being cut off.
"Tournament Arc, Sona, it's a tournament arc." Issei cut her off flatly.
"This is clearly serious if you're not using my nickname." The Sitri Heiress's tone was now all-business. "What's wrong?"
"Everyone's always been looking at Shirou since this damn thing started and he's fighting against the one guy that everyone expects to actually put up a fight. If the Khaos Brigade is going to attack, it's going to be when those two start throwing down seriously. And since Ophis made me a prime target, my box will be one of the first places hit. I need you to teleport me to your box before that happens so nobody can immediately figure out where I am when shit hits the fan."
"Not that I don't believe you, but I am curious how you'd know such a thing?" Sona inquired.
"Like I just said, Tournament Arc!" Issei almost hissed. "This almost always happens when there's some bullshit 'secret-ish' terrorist organization making rounds in the background at the same time. We get up to the big match, it goes for a bit, let two of the biggest roadblocks for the enemy wear themselves down a bit, we reach the pivotal moment when everyone is distracted and then boom! The pricks attack and everything becomes a shitshow where we're stuck between fighting the assholes and trying to keep the civies turning into red smears and ash across the background. It's the perfect setup to make a statement and make things chaotic on an international scale for a bunch of egotistical chuuni morons that literally call themselves the Khaos Brigade."
"So it's the clichéd thing to do, is what you're trying to say." Sona blew out her breath. "I could go into how stupid that reasoning sounds, but I'd rather avoid the headache of arguing with you. So, what needs to be done?"
"I'm gonna head to the bathroom, and when you hear an explosion, teleport me." The Sekiryuutei instructed. "I'm working under the assumption they're still watching the box. If nothing else, they can't know about what we have going on."
"You realize you could be in there for hours if nothing happens, don't you?" the Sitri Heiress pointed out.
"At least you'll know where to find me." Issei remarked before hanging up.
Sona put her phone away and massaged her temple. 'And to think I was actually having a rather productive day.' She sighed. Unfortunately, it was shortly after that when the predicted explosion occurred.
Sona nearly jumped out of her seat, having been paying attention to the feed before it suddenly went dark.
"You must be joking." She deadpanned before calling on the power of the Second Magic.
She'd have been proud of her progress with the ability as she was able to drop Issei on the couch almost as if he'd been sitting there the whole time. Alas, the direness of the situation prevented such a luxury.
"Told ya." He barely moved from his spot on the couch, giving her a knowing glance but not looking proud in the slightest. Sona wisely chose to ignore him as she contacted her sister.
"Nee-sama." She said as soon as her sibling picked up. "The feed is dead, what's happ—"
"One second." The Maou chirped on the other end of the line before what sounded like an explosion and shattering ice was heard alongside several screaming voices. "Sorry about that So-tan, we seem to have some rowdy fans trying to break in. Oh, and the Khaos Brigade's attacking."
"Two for two. Go me."
"How many?" Sona asked quickly, ignoring Issei. "And are Shirou, Rias, and the others okay?"
"I wouldn't worry about Shi-chan, he's my Queen, after all. Rias should still be in her own private box with her Peerage but, that's all I know currently. As for how many, it seems they sent a small army of foot soldiers in along with members of the Hero Faction."
"Then we're going to need to move fast." The Sitri Heiress surmised. "I'll contact you as soon as we're somewhere safe."
"So, if these morons stick to the bare basics of being terrorist fucks, then odds are their next unimaginative move would probably be…" Issei clearly didn't care about the fact that he was being blatantly ignored.
"Sirzechs, Ajuka, and I will be there as soon as we can." The Magical Girl Maou promised before the sound of more unfortunate foot soldiers yelling was heard. "We just need to deal with some forces of evil first!"
Sona sighed as the call ended.
"Congratulations, your paranoid guess was right: the Khaos Brigade is here." Sona pocketed her phone and turned to the exit. "Let's get out of here before—" She was interrupted by the door getting sliced apart before a blond woman carrying a sword blocked their way.
"Sona Sitri." The swordswoman declared stepping into the room. "I'm afraid you'll need to come with—"
A gauntlet-covered hand rested on her shoulder from the side of where the door used to be.
"—Me?" The woman couldn't help but falter and look to the side in confusion.
Chack. Chack.
"Nope. Hostages."
Issei casually took another swig of beer with his free hand.
At About the Same Time: The Rating Games Arena
"ISSEI!" I yelled before dodging a spear thrust from Cao Cao. The rest of my Peerage spread out, with Ramiel and his brethren moving into hidden locations while taking Asia with them. Xenovia came in with her own blade and forced the spear wielder to jump back as she smashed the ground where he'd just been.
"I'm afraid Lady Ophis has ordered us to keep you busy until she claims her prize." Cao Cao declared while brandishing his weapon.
"Who's we?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, before a young man with silver-white hair and red eyes stepped forward.
"I am Sieg." He introduced. "Descendant of the hero—"
"Siegfried." I guessed. "That's a legend I know far better than the legend of Cao Cao."
"I imagine it has something to do with this." Sieg replied. "Balance Breaker: Chaos Edge Asura Ravage!" Four metallic arms emerged from his back and pulled out multiple swords with, I presumed, various magical abilities. I instinctively used Structural Grasping on each one, quickly determining said abilities and their wielder's own.
"Alright, you've got a couple of decent swords." I commented, before dismissing my current blade and summoning a sword with a black handle, an ornate cross guard, and cross engraved in the center. It was really an obvious choice for this particular opponent: Balmung, the blade of Siegfried from my world.
Especially given that my opponent's Sacred Gear happened to be another Twice Critical. A dragon-type.
"My lord," Xenovia spoke up as she brandished her own sword. "Shall I dispatch this false hero?"
"I'll handle Siegfried." I stated. "You worry about—"
BOOM!
My statement was cut off by the armored form of Sairaorg landing next to us.
"You may not know much about Cao Cao, but I've heard a fair bit about him." He boasted with a smile. "Word is he's supposed to be a strong and skillful close-combat fighter. Mind if I take him for a bit?"
"He's all yours." I conceded while readying my blade.
"Oh, this won't do." Cao Cao put a hand to his chin. "Perseus, are you free back there?"
"I'm here." A brown-haired youth wearing Greek-inspired armor over a Japanese school uniform disengaged from his battle with one of Sairaorg's Peerage members. When they attempted to give chase, they were stopped by more soldiers and another member of the Hero Faction. "What do you need, Cao Cao?"
"The lady with the big sword requires a dance partner." The spearman answered as he assumed his own fighting stance. "I know how you prefer fair-and-square fights."
"I do enjoy such fights." Perseus smiled as he brandished a shield and sword. Not wanting to waste anymore time, we all leapt into the fray as the area became a flash of steel blades and fists.
About the Same Time: Forested Area in Kuoh
Heracles' Sacred Gear, Variant Detonation, was rather simple and straightforward: it caused explosions.
To be precise, it created a glowing aura around his body which exploded when he attacked, increasing the power of his already destructive fists. At least that was the way it was supposed to work, which was why the Hero Faction member was more than a little surprised at his current situation.
"Gah! Let Go!" He yelled out in pain as his tormentor smiled at him with eyes closed to practically slits, her lone hand clasping onto his skull with a textbook iron claw.
"You said you'd been working to make yourself stronger." Karasuba observed casually. "Apparently, it wasn't much if this is all you've got."
"I said LET GO!" The hero descendant yelled as he activated his Sacred Gear again. A powerful explosion followed, proceeded by another, and another, and another after that. Each explosion was stronger than the last and quickly reduced the ground to pebble-sized chunks. But that was the only thing getting damaged.
"Now, now, none of that." The Red Dragon Emperor admonished while tightening her already vice-like grip on his head. Despite the ferocity of Heracles' attacks, she was barely phased, the only visible damage showing on her being the ruffling of her clothes. "I suppose I should try and be fair here, I've gotten stronger too, and now might be a good time to test it." She shifted her gaze as Leonardo's monsters charged at her from all sides.
Karasuba flicked her sword with her other hand, slashing through the first couple before swinging Heracles himself around to bat away the next couple of monsters. The still expressionless Leonardo summoned several more monsters, who joined in the attack.
"Here, you can have your wish now." Her smile widened as she threw Heracles into a group of "voluntary" targets before cutting through several more with both hands now on her weapon. The one monster who got the closest only succeeded in getting Karasuba's hand plunged into its chest before she tore out what would've been the creature's heart.
Leonardo's expression finally changed as he adopted a look of concentration. Different types of beasts were summoned now, all with the same purple skin as the earlier variants. There were giant snakes, more reptilian foot soldiers, and flying gargoyles now swarming towards her.
The smile never left the grey-haired girl's face as she extended her sword and swung it several times in quick succession, bisecting most of the medium-sized monsters. She was forced to evade the giant snakes who'd slithered in under her attack, decapitating one after another until one succeeded in getting within her guard and coiling around her torso with the intent to sink its fangs into her neck.
It didn't get much farther than that before Karasuba seized it around the neck, stopping its advance.
"Careful, I'm a biter too." She chided before bringing it close, sinking her teeth into the serpent's neck and tearing out its esophagus. She spit out the disappearing flesh before leaping up and slicing through some of the gargoyles. The nodachi wielder stamped on the face of one that tried to come in from below and used it as a springboard to leap high into the air.
The other gargoyles converged on her, attempting to overwhelm her from all directions. Interestingly, Karasuba grasped her weapon in the middle before readying her next attack.
[Boost!]
The sword greatly increased in length, extending in both directions as the dragon girl twirled and spun it around her body like a gigantic staff. The speed of her movements was so great that it didn't matter whether or not the blade itself hit the gargoyles, the force of the weapon colliding with their bodies was enough to tear them apart. In a matter of seconds, she descended back to the ground accompanied by a rain of shredded monster meat.
"It's a good thing these pricks don't bleed. I already took a bath earlier." Karasuba's concern for her attire took a secondary priority at the moment as a massive swarm of bats suddenly encircled her. "So, what are these supposed to do?"
She got her answer when they all began firing purple lasers at her. Once again, the area was filled with explosions as the onslaught went on for several seconds.
"Did that do it?" Heracles asked, now back on his feet.
The answer they received came in the form of massive power suddenly erupting from the cloud of smoke where Karasuba was standing.
His young partner, Leonardo, for once broke his impassive expression to give the man an annoyed look for stupidly and blatantly tempting fate.
"Balance Breaker." A hungry and eager voice that was distinctively less human than before declared simply as her altered visage was revealed. "[Cardinal Hide]."
It was different from when she had been human. The Boosted Gear was now externalized as crimson scales and layered muscles covered the upper part of her body, growing in accordance with the number of charges she was accumulating.
It wasn't just her skin that changed, either: her muscles and bones gained mass, stretching her clothes in every direction, and her head became more reptilian, along with all the expected features that came with it, teeth and all.
Teeth that shimmered in the night as she grinned savagely at her prey.
"This is the first time I've used this in a fight, much less after turning into a Devil, so I don't actually know how much overkill it actually is. Sorry if I make a mess of your corpse." Her purr was soft, almost welcoming, in a sadistic predatory way that sent chills down her enemies' spines and souls.
"I'll show you overkill!" Heracles seethed. "Balance Breaker: Detonation Mighty Comet!" His golden aura appeared again, only this time it summoned several spikes on his body along with two large objects resembling missile warheads covering his hands.
"Oh, you want to play with spikes now?" Karasuba smiled with her eyes closed again. The answer she received was the bats all swarming towards her as Heracles readied his own attack. However, it was due to this swarm that they didn't notice her scales suddenly stand on end as she slightly flexed her muscles.
[Transfer!]
The jagged plates lanced out in every direction from her body for dozens of meters, impaling and tearing through all the monsters surrounding her.
At about the same time, Heracles launched the two warheads from his hands along with the other spikes on his body. Leonardo unleashed more gargoyles as well, towering monstrosities twice the size of the ones before.
[Discharge!]
The sharpened scales fired from her body like a hail of arrows, tearing through the remains of the bats surrounding her.
[Boost!]
Even more, speed was added as the projectiles were magnified and warped away from her body in every direction, expanding the destructive range in a hundred meter radius, dicing everything around her to bits indiscriminately.
When the dust settled, the clearing they were in had expanded a fair bit with countless trees looking like they'd been through a mulcher.
"That was probably a bit much." Karasuba admitted as she looked around. "I thought those monsters and missiles would be a bit tougher."
Still, she didn't catch the scent of death, and her suspicions were confirmed as a large figure which was basically a giant version of the lizard monsters from earlier rose up out of the debris.
Some of the crimson scales were impaled in its body, which explained how Heracles and Leonardo were still alive as they stumbled out from underneath it.
"I think," Leonardo spoke for the first time between ragged breaths, "It would be best to retreat."
"My ancestor never retreated." Heracles declared while summoning more missiles on his body. "And I will not return to face my fellow heroes as the only one who failed their mission!"
"You make it sound like your buddies would stand a chance against Emiya." Karasuba deadpanned before returning to her sweet yet disturbing smiling visage. "But I don't mind if you want to keep coming."
"Back me up, Leonardo, I just need one opening to hit her with everything I've got."
"She's using a Sub-Species Balance Breaker." The grey-blue-haired boy pointed out. "It has far more abilities than what we were told."
"Every Boosted Gear wielder before her has died." Heracles countered before charging up his energy. "This one'll be no different!" Impatiently, he left his comrade no choice as he charged forward with everything he had. Leonardo in turn reluctantly ordered his large monster to advance as it powered up its own beam of purple energy.
What happened next occurred in only a few seconds.
Karasuba's blade ignited and extended, easily reaching the tallest of her foes before quickly slicing it horizontally. The two sections of its body ignited with flames as Heracles bared down on the grey-haired girl.
As the missile-covered fist was about to connect, she swatted it aside with her left hand before again grasping Heracles's skull.
[Boost!]
A short cry of pain rang out from the large man before he went completely limp.
Silence.
"Guess there's something to all that medical jargon I've been hearing over the last week after all." Karasuba sighed with a hint of distaste in her tone, looking down at the corpse in her grasp. "But the lack of external damage is kind of boring."
She then squeezed his head, causing it to burst like a grape melon, consequently covering herself in the man's blood and brain matter, not that she seemed to notice.
So much for not wanting a second shower.
"Now then, what to do with you?"
She stepped over the dead body and approached the boy with an unhurried gait. Leonardo, for his part, had lost his composure completely. His eyes were wide and tears were rolling down his cheeks as he stumbled back and tried crawling away.
"What… what did you just do to him?!" He managed to turn around and yell.
"You mean before crushing his head?" Karasuba pointed to her temple with a scaled and clawed hand. "I Boosted the size of his brain. Apparently, idiocy doesn't equate to a smaller brain after all. Problem is with that thick skull of his, it didn't fit quite right and pretty much squashed itself in there. But I won't do that to you, too boring and quick for my taste. Instead, I think I'll—"
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" The terrified Hero Faction member screamed before pulling out a magic item and using it to teleport away.
"And there he goes." The dragon girl sighed as she dismissed her Balance Breaker and stretched her arms over her head. "Guess I'll head back home now and get something to eat after cleaning up. Maybe I'll check in with Emiya while I'm at it."
She then turned and left, her biggest concern now being what to do about the blood covering her. She really didn't want her mother to give her another bath today.
About the Same Time: The Rating Games Arena
"And here I expected to be at least a little surprised when you finally did act." Sona commented disappointedly as she looked at the defeated—and naked—form of Jeanne.
"Exceptionalism is overrated. Consistency and reliability is more desirable." Issei finished off his beer and tossed it into the nearest recycling bin before giving his latest victim a strange look. "Huh. Come to think of it, she looks sorta familiar… bah, most likely some no-name background fluffer for all I know. Probably not important at all."
One moment Jeanne had been readying her sword to fight off the monster to her side, and the next her outfit was exploding and she had collapsed to the ground with her eyes rolled up into her head, unconscious.
"You know our world will have to contend with this technique even after you leave." Sona stated as though accusing him of some disgusting crime against humanity.
"The spell was designed for removing foreign materials from the surface of the body for cleaning and sterilization purposes. I only found out later that it conveniently doubles as a disgustingly strong armor-breaker. And that overcharging it to kingdom come knocks out pretty much anyone short of an Ultimate Class—well, Ultimate by my world's level, not sure what it could do to the Ultimates here—with sensory overload." Issei yawned as his Sacred Gear disappeared.
"One that happens to be ideal for perverts." Sona held her ground firmly.
Issei shrugged as he hid the blonde French girl in the bathroom and closed the door behind him. "Being perverted was never part of the equation outside of having a mindset that made it easier to cast. Believe it or not, it's a conceptual spell, so the concept of 'stripping the body down to a naked state void of foreign materials and substances' is key. And when I said overload, I meant it. Other me's not going to have the power to pull this off without at least a few years of heavy training or some convenient major upgrade to his magic capacity. It's more likely you, other Weeb, or some Bishop will pull it off before he does."
"You'll excuse me if I find that hard to believe." Sona deadpanned before walking out of the room and activating a communication seal. "Rias, what's happening on your end? Is everyone alright?"
"We're fighting off an entire hallway of foot soldiers." The Gremory Heiress responded. "But otherwise, we're fine."
"I take it we're cut off from both teleportation and communication?" The Sitri Heiress surmised.
"We can teleport within the confines of the stadium." Rias answered. "And we can communicate within the stadium. But teleporting out isn't an option right now."
"It's clearly a barrier." Sona stated while trying her own teleportation magic and failing. "I might be able to teleport Issei away with the Second Magic but that won't get everyone else out of here. Do you happen to be close to the source?"
"Kuroka believes it's the Hero Faction member, Georg, who's putting up the barrier. We're heading towards him now."
"I'll gather my Peerage and see if we can't thin their numbers a little." The Sitri Heiress decided. "I also need to tell Shirou in a discreet way that Issei's alive."
"I'm sure you'll think of something." Sona could just imagine the smile on Rias's face. "And be careful, Sona, this is a full-scale attack."
"Same to you, Rias." She closed the seal. "And what shall you be doing, Hyoudou?"
"I gotta keep a low profile." Issei responded calmly, taking out a can of some sort of aerosol spray from seemingly nowhere and going to town on himself. "If this Ophis is anything like the one back in my world, immortality's made her lazy as fuck when she thinks things are going her way, so she'll leave the searching of my corpse up to the grunts. I know a few ways to hide from her and if it starts taking too long, she might assume I'm gone and leave."
"And what you're doing now?"
"Underworld variant scent-masker. Hides magical traces too. Dragons have noses like dogs and all that. Ophis is no exception. Underworld hunters use it all the time when stalking game. Not flawless but it will buy a good amount of time." Issei gave a nod of satisfaction before banishing the can with a flick of his wrist.
"And what if she simply decides to wipe out this entire stadium?" Sona adjusted her glasses. "I recall she doesn't really need you alive."
"All the more reason to move quickly." The Sekiryuutei waved her off. "I'll see if I can't give some discrete help to Weeb's team and speed up the barrier-breaking process. The second that thing's gone, it'll be easy to fool her into thinking I got away. She knows that I know that I don't stand a chance against her if we throw down for real, and running away's my best bet. So logically, I'm betting on that." He turned and started walking down the hallway before turning a corner and vanishing completely.
She pretended not to hear him muttering random things under his breath as he moved, including words such as: weed, shirts, absinthe, and lard.
Sona sighed before turning and heading in the opposite direction. She did intend to gather her Peerage and thin the Brigade's numbers, but she had another objective: seeing what was holding up the Maous and Shirou.
Private Conference Area
"Well now," Sirzechs hummed as he, Serafall, and Ajuka all stood in a loose formation, while Falbium was content to remain sitting in one of the few chairs which hadn't been destroyed, "This certainly explains quite a lot."
They'd been beating down numerous foot soldiers for the last couple of minutes, easily overcoming the much larger force. Now it seemed the ones in charge had finally decided to make an appearance.
The old Satan Faction was part of the Khaos Brigade, it seemed.
"We are more than mere members of the Khaos Brigade, Sirzechs." The apparent leader, a man with long dark hair tied up in a messy ponytail, declared. He wore the trappings of a noble with black clothes decorated with red belts and a cape. His two companions included a bespectacled woman with tan skin and a revealing purple dress, and a man with long brown hair dressed in black armor with a long cape. "We are some of its primary leaders."
"And let me guess, Creuserey." Serafall twirled her staff in her fingers, unimpressed. "You're here to try and take back the Maou titles?"
"I rather like the sound of Katerea Leviathan." The bespectacled Devil purred. "But the titles are only the beginning. Ophis is with us, and shall become the predominant goddess of a new world, or at least the symbol of one. Realistically, everything on the planet will be run by us since she has no actual interest in ruling, much less the welfare of the mundane and lowborn."
"World domination." Ajuka almost rolled his eyes. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you're also in on this, Shalba?"
"You will address me as Shalba Beelzebub." The brown-haired Devil barked before holding up his hand, revealing the glowing purple symbol of Ouroboros. "For with this, Ophis's power and your pitiful concern for the weak commoners, your era has come to an end!"
"So you think you'll win just because we can't go all-out right now?" Serafall smiled darkly before her eyes narrowed. "Let's get something straight: you just interrupted my Shi-chan's moment, messed up the tournament for my and Sirzech's sister, threatened our subjects, and I'm pretty sure I spilled something on one of my favorite Magical Girl uniforms that will take at least a week to wash out even with magic. Whatever happens, not a single one of you is getting out of here without facing some punishment."
"You always were a bra-GUUUUH!" Katerea's remark was cut short as a projectile shaped like a literal fist of ice sent her flying out of the room.
"Wha—?" Creuserey only had time to register his ally flying back before Sirzechs was right in front of him and also sending him flying back with a powerful punch to his midsection.
"That speed…" Shalba looked out of the room in bewilderment as the two Maous engaged with his comrades.
"Perhaps you've forgotten." Ajuka looked his opponent squarely in the eye. "We didn't get our positions by just being clever politicians and diplomats. Allow me to refresh your memory."
The Center of the Stadium
The sound of clashing steel, shattering stone, and explosions filled the air.
All around the stadium Sairaorg and Cao Cao raced, jumping in and out of the arena while also leaping into the unoccupied sections of the stands. Armored, Touki-infused fists met holy spear along with the occasional punch or kick from Cao Cao. Every clash seemed to shake the immediate area they were in, tearing up the ground and anything else unlucky enough to be around them at the time.
"You fight well." Cao Cao complimented while using his spear to redirect the latest punch thrown at him. "And this is how you fight after battling Emiya for several minutes?"
"I didn't get this far by giving up the moment I got a little tired." The armored teen responded while nearly catching the spear wielder in the chin with an uppercut. "Still, you could've attacked just a little earlier."
"I'm afraid dictating the start of this attack wasn't my responsibility." Cao Cao revealed. "But even so, I doubt you'll disappoint me in today's battle."
"You're the one who should worry about being a disappointment." Sairaorg quipped. "Your arrival interrupted the best fight I've had this entire tournament, so I won't accept anything less than that now!" His fist clashed with Cao Cao's spear once more, destroying another section of the stadium.
As for the other fighters, Xenovia was having an interesting time against her opponent.
"You're relentless." Perseus commented as he blocked blow after blow with his shield.
"I have no time to waste on the likes of you, knave." Xenovia continued to batter away at her opponent's defense relentlessly. "If you don't wish to die this day, then begone!"
Her already powerful physical abilities were being augmented by the sword Clarent, making each blow from her that much more painful. While Perseus was able to dodge from time to time, he couldn't find a large enough gap in his opponent's attacks to counter, especially considering it was taking everything he had just to keep his balance against the onslaught.
"Can't believe I'm using this already." He shook his head before readying himself. "Balance Breaker: Caput-medusae and Mineralization Knight!"
"Did you just say 'caput'?" A confused Xenovia asked before leaping back. The reason for this was because the aura of Perseus's blade had turned demonic. The snakes on the sword came to life and the head of Medusa on Perseus's shield detached, growing to the size of a boulder and floated in the air above them.
"This is my Balance Breaker." Perseus explained. "You won't be able to overcome its power with pure speed and strength alone!"
"Then it's a perfect time to test my blade." Xenovia's lip curled. "This is Clarent's first battle after all, so let's make it memorable!"
Her elation at finally being able to put her training to the test was sadly not shared by Shirou, who had different issues on his mind.
"Remarkable." Sieg praised as he parried another powerful blow from my sword. "Even with my Balance Breaker active, you're still overpowering me!"
"It's not really all that special." I muttered while continuing to either parry or assault his multiple swords. "Mostly it just gives you extra arms. The actual threat is you wielding multiple demonic swords."
"Sharp as expected." The multi-armed man praised. "You really did earn that title."
I would've rolled my eyes if the situation wasn't so serious. And because I didn't plan on revealing the actual reason I was able to keep up with his movements despite him having six arms: structural grasping.
Sieg had been in possession of his blades for a little while, and every moment of that time was now known to me. Every life they took, every battle they'd fought, every single swing since their inception, I used it all now to spot the subtle movements, habits and twitches indicating my opponent's next move.
There was one other thing I quickly realized as well: though he too wielded a blade by the name of Balmung, it and all the other swords he held in his possession, including the demon sword Gram, significantly paled in comparison to the power of the blade I was wielding.
Perhaps if he wielded his weapons with the skill and finesse of a true swordmaster, I would be more concerned for my well-being, but this boy in front of me was merely a talented swordsman. He was no master of legend, much less a comparison to his ancestor.
Which is why when he readied to use his sword's special attacks, I was prepared.
I deflected and parried his light sword and Nothung, a sword specializing in sharpness. Then I evaded his Balmung's whirlwind attack before getting in close and slamming my blade into Tyrfing, a sword specializing in destruction. But its power couldn't match my Balmung's aura, which quickly overpowered the blade and sent Siegfried flying back into the stadium wall. I would've immediately pursued him if not for a sudden lance of pain in my body.
Apparently, my duel with Sairaorg had taken more out of me than I had expected. Unfortunately, this gave my opponent enough time to recover and use Dainsleif, a sword which created ice pillars.
I almost lost my footing as one rose beneath my feet, but quickly regained my balance in time to leap off and avoid another whirlwind attack. Thinner ice pillars rose up in an attempt to impale me from all sides, but I used it to my advantage by kicking off one after the other to avoid more ranged attacks.
As I moved, I charged up Balmung, waiting for the right moment to strike. That moment came when Sieg launched a diagonal pillar of ice at me from the ground when I got to the apex of my most recent leap. I held my blade above my head as blue energy erupted from it and swung downwards, releasing a wave of destruction which demolished the pillar in front of me. An explosion followed with enough force to push me back. As I landed a few feet away, I scanned the area for any sign of movement.
A strained laugh greeted my ears as the swordsman came out of the smoke, half-staggering from my earlier attack. "I've faced several swordmasters in the last few years." He breathed out. "But not a single one of them was able to anticipate my moves like you have, nor overpower me to this degree."
"It's not too late to surrender." I offered. "I've got more pressing matters than dueling you right now, so step aside and I'll let you live."
"I'm afraid my pride as a swordsman won't allow that." Sieg replied while sheathing his other swords and retracting his arms. "Not when I've yet to bring my most powerful blade to bear." He raised his main sword, a red and gold blade radiating demonic power.
"Gram." I recited its name. "The demonic emperor sword whose power is on par with Durandal and Ascalon. Or at least, the Durandal and Ascalon that you know." I raised my own sword up, taking a stance as power radiated from it. "But I've seen far more powerful versions of them, just like how this sword, Balmung, is far more powerful than the Balmung you know."
"Show me." The demon blade wielder dared as demonic power erupted from his blade, signaling he was ready to attack.
The fool.
I held onto the grip of my blade tightly and twisted, shifting the metal in my grasp slightly, exposing and activating the gem containing pure ether to the world.
"O sword," I chanted, "Let thee be filled."
A tower of magical energy erupted from the stadium mere moments later.
A Few Minutes Earlier: Just Outside the Arena
"So you've seen your former comrade, Georg, set up barriers like this before?" Rias asked as she, Kuroka, and the rest of the former's Peerage rushed to the location where the source of the barrier seemed to be emanating from.
"He was always very proud of his Sacred Gear, Dimension Lost, and his mastery of magic." The elder Nekoshou sibling sighed as if talking about an embarrassing coworker. "It probably comes from being a descendant of Johann Georg Faust. If I recall correctly, he usually needs help setting up a strong barrier of this size."
"What kind of help?" Kiba asked as they continued to run.
"He uses devices known as barrier cores." Kuroka explained. "They allow him to maintain barriers like these without using up all of his magic. If we can destroy them, he'll be forced to let the barrier down or risk defeat and capture."
"Koneko," Rias shifted her attention to the younger Nekoshou, "Do you think you could pinpoint the barrier cores?"
"Between my nose and senjutsu senses it shouldn't be a problem." She assured.
"Good." Her King nodded. "Take Issei and hunt down the cores. We'll confront Georg and take him out of the equation. So long as one of us succeeds, the barrier will fall."
"Right." The Pawn and the Rook split off from the group, Shirone naturally threatening to rip Issei's balls off if he used his Dress Break on her, accidental or otherwise. The rest of them exited the stadium and arrived at an open area where they found the mage himself sitting in a large magic circle.
"Fascinating." He stood up with an amused look of surprise. "With all the fighting going on, I'd hoped it'd take longer for someone to discover my whereabouts. But now that I see who's leading you, Kuroka, it makes sense you'd be here already."
"Hello Georg." She greeted with her trademark feline smile. "I guess I forgot to tell you, I've left the Khaos Brigade." Energy began to radiate from her body as she readied one of her senjutsu arts. It would be interrupted, unfortunately, by an unexpected arrival.
"Don't say that Kuroka!" A figure dropped down from above, forcing everyone to leap back. "You're one of the few fun people on Vali's team."
He was a young man with short, reddish-brown hair dressed in red ancient Chinese armor with gold lining. Their new opponent also gave off a very familiar feeling to someone else they'd met, especially with the way he casually wielded the staff in his right hand.
"Bikou." Kuroka's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Why are you here? I thought Vali had no interest in striking the first blow of the war."
"He doesn't." The now named Bikou explained. "I decided to drop by and see what's been going on with you. I know you're a cat and all, but just up and ditching us like that was odd, even for you."
"I'm certain you heard all of my reasons over the bugs you planted in Shirou's home." The Nekoshou narrowed her eyes. "I've lost too much time with my sister already. I don't intend to lose more."
"I thought you wanted to bring her over to our side." The staff wielder tilted his head in confusion. "Vali would be more than capable of protecting her."
"Vali wasn't the one who revealed the truth in Shirone's heart." Kuroka stated factually, "Shirou Emiya did that. It's because of him that I have a second chance and I'm not going to ruin that. So even if it pains me a little to leave my former comrades behind, I intend to stand with the one my sister follows."
"Jeez, I wish Arthur was here right now." Bikou sighed. "He's the one who's good at coming up with elegant arguments for stuff. Me, all I got is this staff and my strength, and since I'm here I gotta do my job." He then took a fighting stance, twirling the staff over his head as Kuroka summoned black mist around herself.
"Kiba, Bennia." Rias turned to her two Knights, "Back Kuroka up. We'll handle Georg."
"At once!/You got it!" The duo answered before speeding over to either side of the Nekoshou.
"Alright, this is going to be interesting!" Bikou cheered, his body glowing with the energy of Touki. Two duplicates of him suddenly popped into existence before charging the trio. The sound of clashing weapons and the occasional explosion followed while Rias and Akeno rushed over to confront Georg.
"My only mission today was to create and maintain this barrier." The magician admitted whimsically while adjusting his glasses and summoning multiple magic circles in the air around him. "But we were told to capture or kill the Gremory Heiress on sight if possible, so this still works in our favor."
"Wanna bet?" Rias barked while firing a blast of black energy representing the Power of Destruction. But instead of blocking with one of his magic circles, Georg held up his hand and expelled a purple mist from it. The black bolts of energy entered into the mist and seemed to keep going as the mist faded.
"Try this!" Akeno followed up with a blast of her lightning which also entered the purple mist, not seeming to impact against anything but also not striking its target either.
"It appears that you still lack solid information on my Sacred Gear, Dimension Lost." He observed. "No attack you two can throw at me will land. My attacks, however…" His magic circles started spinning and shooting off fireballs at the two women who took to the air. Georg added more to the intensity of his attacks by firing purple beams out of some of his other magic circles.
Rias and Akeno answered in kind with bolts of lightning and destruction magic whenever an opening presented itself. But each and every time, the purple mist of Dimension Lost would emerge from his hands to swallow their attacks.
"This is getting us nowhere extremely fast." Akeno observed while blocking another barrage of magic attacks with her own magic circle.
"Even if all we succeed in doing is forcing him to use more magic power than he originally intended, we're still accomplishing something." Rias pointed out before the two were forced to split apart to dodge an especially powerful barrage of magical spells. The duo kept the conversation going using their communication seals.
"While that would ordinarily be reassuring," Akeno replied while maneuvering around most of Georg's spells, "We may run out of magic power first at this rate." The priestess of thunder winced, albeit pleasurably, when one of the fireballs managed to burn her leg. "Or get obliterated."
"That is a fair point." Rias admitted as her magic seal failed to entirely hold off the latest onslaught, letting in some of the purple magic which apparently belonged to Fallen Angels, scathing her left side, burning something fierce. "I might have an idea if that Sacred Gear works the way I think it does." She pulled up her communication seal. "We're going to need to time this right."
Back over where Kuroka and the others were, the fight seemed pretty even. Bikou jumped, spun, evaded, and deflected attack after attack from Kuroka, who used her illusions to conceal her presence and fire senjutsu bullets at random intervals. Naturally, Bikou would deflect them with his staff, but every time he'd set up for a counterattack, the Nekoshou would disappear into the shadows again. His clones weren't having much better luck, either.
Bennia's small size, agility, and incredible speed made her practically impossible for the clone to land a blow on, with the few times he got close turning out only to be after images, much to his frustration.
"You seem a lot like that Wukong guy." The half-reaper noted while sliding and side-flipping under the copy's staff. "And he liked fun. So why are you hanging out with a serious guy like Vali?"
"You're talking about my gramps, and yeah, I do because I find battles fun." The clone responded with a smile while continuing to swing his staff. "And Vali likes fighting strong opponents. It's pretty simple, really."
"I guess if you're an idiot who only thinks with his pole then." Bennia leapt over a straight thrust. Only this time she dismissed her scythe and grabbed onto the staff with her hands, using it as a fulcrum to swing around and kick the false Bikou in the face. The blow was enough to stagger him as she resummoned her weapon and swept his legs out from under him. The clone reacted quickly enough to block her slamming both feet on his chest with his staff but wasn't fast enough to keep from getting decapitated by Bennia's scythe.
The clone disappeared in short order and the reaper wasted no time in rushing over to Kiba, who'd been holding his own against the clone but hadn't been able to land a solid hit yet with his current selection of dual curved swords.
'I think I got overconfident in this style after fighting Riser's Peerage.' Kiba mused while deflecting and counterattacking against his opponent. He and Shirou had mostly sparred using swords and hadn't quite gotten to spears or pole weapons. There was that one sparring match he had with Tsubaki, but that hadn't been quite as combat productive as either of them hoped due to… reasons.
"Kiba!" Bennia called, leaping in and nearly taking the clone's head off with her scythe. Unfortunately, his reflexes were too fast and he'd managed to block the blow, sliding several feet away. "Having trouble?"
"I haven't fought a ton of skilled staff wielders, but now that you're here, I've got a plan." He quickly relayed his idea and the half-reaper readily agreed before rushing in first. Right as she was getting within striking range, she leapt high into the air, avoiding her enemy's horizontal strike. In that same instant, one of Kiba's blades came flying right for the clone's face.
But again his reflexes were too fast, and he deflected the projectile off of his staff. Kiba caught it in midrun, his own charge not slowing a bit.
'Didn't he have two a moment ago?' The clone thought before said blade suddenly fell right in front of his face…
And exploded.
The copy recoiled in shock, covering his eyes. It was his last mistake as Kiba bisected the clone horizontally.
"Nice work, Bennia." The swordsman complimented as she appeared at his side.
"All I had to do was jump up and drop your other sword." Bennia pretended to be stoic but failed on account of her blush and poorly hidden smile. "But feel free to keep praising me."
"We can praise all of our accomplishments later." Kuroka declared, emerging from a sudden mass of shadow. "We still have the original to deal with."
"You know I can make plenty of clones, right?" Bikou pointed out from his position several feet away. "I'll admit I'm impressed you finished that batch off so quickly, but that's just the beginning."
"I know you'd like to think so," Kuroka smirked, "But this fight is basically over now."
"How do ya figure that?" Bikou grinned while twirling his staff overhead. "We're just getting—!"
He stopped speaking suddenly. Not only that, he'd stopped moving, his staff over his head in mid-twirl.
"Send him flying at the glasses guy!" A small group of bats shouted from above.
"That was the plan!" Kuroka exclaimed while generating a large blue fireball which sent the now unfrozen, and in pain, hero flying towards his ally.
"What in the—OOF!" Georg was taken by surprise. He'd just been about to use Dimension Lost to defend himself again before realizing it was an ally flying at him. By then, it was too late to switch to a magic seal, and the Monkey King descendant crashed into him, slamming them both to the ground.
"Akeno, now!" Rias ordered, not wanting to give their enemies time to recover.
"Hope you boys like thunder!" With a sensual swoon, her Queen called down all the lightning she could muster in that instant. The ground exploded with the impact as both of their opponents shrieked in pain.
And then, she electrocuted them again for good measure.
"I just love those looks of agony."
"Akeno-nee is scary." The bats shivered as they all merged to reveal Gasper. "Remind me not to ask for any of her spare outfits."
"She doesn't wear your size, anyway." Rias patted the dhampir on the head. "That was very good work, Gasper. I knew it was a good idea to keep you in reserve."
"I'm just glad I could help," He responded bashfully, his face turning red. "By the way, did we win?"
As if on cue, the barrier began dispelling.
"The barrier cores have all been taken care of." Shirone informed, contacting Rias through a magic glyph. "The other Issei was working on finding them, too. We saw him take out a core we were getting close to before vanishing a second later."
"It was crazy!" Her Issei shouted frantically. "He took out, like, a dozen of those Brigade guys protecting the core in an instant like it was nothing when we saw him! He was moving all over the place like he was all staticy from an old horror movie, but on fast-forward! It was scary as heck!"
"Get him to the nearest person with teleportation magic if he's still around." Rias ordered. "Reinforcements should be able to move in while the rest of the audience can be evacuated. We'll be moving out too once backup gets here."
"I hope so." Shirone tried to keep the fear out of her voice. "That dragon, Ophis, is still hanging around here."
Destroyed Private Box
"Still nothing?" Ophis asked as she stood among the rubble of the devastated structure.
"The entire force has been combing the area." A Brigade soldier reported. "It's as you suspected, he wasn't in the spectator box. But his few confirmed movements have been erratic and difficult to follow. Reports have cropped up all over the stadium, but no one's been able to track him for more than a moment before being seen in a completely different area of the grounds seconds later."
Ophis snorted, then decided on an order. "His grasp of space is greater than anticipated. Trying to follow and encircle him is pointless. Threaten the civilians instead to tie him down to a single location. I'll finish him myself. He seems to value Emiya Shirou's opinion greatly and will likely come to their aid."
"At once." The soldier gave a quick bow before flying off.
The Ouroboros Dragon sighed as soon as he left.
'He has a way to hide from my senses. He must've learned how from the 'Ophis' in his world. I mistook him for a mere foolish hatchling instead of one that merely prefers to act as one. I'll have to intensify my search methods before long.'
She frowned slightly as memories of their last encounter flashed across her mind. More than his recognition of her condition and motivation, what enraged her most was the distinct lack of hunger and ferocity in the alternate Sekiryuutei… and his tenant.
There was no aggression. No innate unstable drive that all the notable dragons of this reality possessed. Hell, the only distinct fear that either of them showed was when she blatantly expressed her intent to kill the boy to free Grandfather. And even then, it was because of what he would do as a consequence after she did the deed more than anything. It was as if she, the Dragon God, was a minor footnote at best in the plot.
She could be ignored by the masses. They didn't matter. But for her to be dismissed that way by a fellow dragon was another matter entirely.
It was sickeningly underwhelming, and outright insulting to dragon kind as far as the Ouroboros Dragon was concerned.
If nothing else, she would demand the alternate Ddraig to explain himself for this sacrilege should she have the opportunity.
The girl moved to continue looking through the rubble, only for her foot to collide with something.
Looking down curiously, she noticed it was a bento box.
"Hmm, this doesn't look like the typical private food." Ophis observed. Deciding she had nothing better to do, she reached down and picked up the box, opening it up to reveal a hearty serving of yokan. "It smells nice enough."
She then took a bite and her eyes widened.
"Oh!" She chirped as her eyes lit up. "That's not Underworld cuisine at all."
She devoured the yokan slowly, taking her time to savor every bite as the exquisite flavor overwhelmed her taste buds. She then proceeded to sniff the box, her curiosity piqued as she wondered about the identity of the chef behind such a delectable dish.
"It's you again." Ophis actually smiled a bit, licking the fingers of one hand. "Emiya Shirou. Perhaps it would be a good idea to bring you along when I go home. I'll need a good chef to remake all of the food I've grown accustomed to eating."
She turned her reptilian gaze towards the center of the stadium, her plans now altered as a certain red-headed hero came into view.
And so the first blows, defeats and victories have been struck as the Khaos Brigade's plans for the Underworld, and the world in general, are made known. Not only that, Ophis now has a secondary objective and it's going to be trouble for a certain queen of blades. Now for those wondering, yes, Karasuba's Balance Breaker was altered and given a name by Third Fang. Fahad never gave one to her Balance Breaker in the original story, as far as we know, and my three beta readers deemed it a bit underwhelming since it was internalized and almost indistinguishable from her base form. So let us know what you think about her new form in your comments and reviews along with anything else you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes do their best to GTFO with as many people as they can. 'Til then and Merry Christmas.