Chapter 7 - Trifas Section 4
She walked through the field of blue flowers, the night sky was permanently illuminated by stars much like a galaxy. This was the Reverse Side of the World.
After reviving a miracle, she was given the chance of an eternity to meet her beloved once again, though such a thing was normally impossible.
And at last, she made it to the evil dragon who robbed humanity of immortality. It slumbered away cradling a ball of light with its large black and gray body.
"Please, awake now." The woman extended her hand toward the dragon, and the beast recognized the voice instantly. How could it forget after all? With its emerald eyes, it caught sight of the woman with blonde hair and a sense of relief flashed over it.
"Sieg, I will never…leave your side, ever again!" With those words, the former Servant began to cry with relief, that after all this time, her partner still remembered her. How many years had passed between that final battle and now?
As if it were automatic, the dragon reached out with its claw and placed as much of it as it could into her outstretched hand to help soothe her. And in that one bit of contact. The body of Fafnir melted away like many layers have vanished and the infinite slumber has ended for the man known as Sieg.
For a moment, he hovered over the blue garden with his hand in Jeanne d'Arc's, simply not knowing what to do next. The boy was in a mild shock but expected this nonetheless. Every feeling possible flowed into the boy who previously was an empty vessel with no purpose other than to die.
And in the next moment, his black shoes touched the earth, and Jeanne d'Arc and Sieg looked into each other's eyes as she smiled and cried at the sight she never thought she could reach in a lifetime.
No words were needed for this reunion, Sieg only smiled at her and breathed a sigh of relief. What felt like hours passed in the span of ten seconds as they gazed into each other's souls. Sieg took another step to bring himself closer to Jeanne, his two red eyes watering up with every passing second. His rationality giving way to instinct, he embraced Jeanne, with one arm going just over her waist and the other under her shoulder blade. Her shoulder was the perfect spot to let Sieg rest his chin over.
"Ruler…n-no, you don't have to go by that name anymore, r-r-right?", he asked Jeanne as his tears were streaming down his cheek.
Jeanne herself continued to cry, but she now looked at the side of Sieg's head, despite her turvy vision brought by her own tears.
"M-My True Name, my Servant Class d-designation from so long ago, you can call me whichever one you want! What really matters…i-is that you never forgot me. Or our promise."
And for many minutes, neither of them could move the other away from the embrace they shared, as they continued to cry their longing and sorrow away. They could now live a peaceful life together, as they had waited so long to do.
"Your journey, was it long?", Sieg had not known how long he had been out, but even so…
"It was nothing, compared to yours.", was all that was needed in response.
The two faced "forward," side by side, and Sieg looked over at the former Saint one more time. "We should get going."
"Hm?", Jeanne wasn't sure what he meant by that. Where was there to go?
"I mean, we may as well, right? There's nothing stopping us."
And with an expression he had never shown before. He closed his eyes and beamed a beautiful smile at Jeanne, one that didn't suit a homunculus in the slightest. But he was not a homunculus any more, he was now a human.
And that's when she realized what he meant. "Fufu! Yes, you're right! After all, a brand new world is out there just waiting for you. However, before that, I must tell you something very important."
There was no time more appropriate for Jeanne to do it than now. She reached out and grabbed his left hand, still containing the Deadcount Shapeshifter but almost completely faded away. Sieg was confused but didn't wish to stop what Jeanne was doing. She raised his hand to her chest with both of hers and with a deep breath.
"I want you to know…I am in love with you."
Sieg awoke from his slumber. He is in a dimmed room sitting on a chair.
"Mmmmhm."
He groans and he adjusts himself. Last he remembers, he was fighting Achilles and passed out, and now he's in a room.
Sieg attempts to move but hears the rattle of chains.
I'm bound? Where am I? He thinks as he scans the room even more. It's a large, brown room made of a tough material like stone. The chains around him are black so that probably means Semiramis is involved. Sieg remembers the time when his Servant, Astolfo, was also bound in these same chains while attempting to rescue him.
"Am I in the Hanging Gardens?", Sieg thinks out loud, and right on cue, he's answered by a familiar calm voice.
"Yes, Sieg. You've answered correctly."
"Amakusa Shirou…", Sieg easily recognizes the voice and figure shrouded in shadow.
"I'll make this quick, Sieg. Hand over the Grail, and do not return. If you do that, you and Chaldea will live.", Amakusa calmly explains. Terms that Sieg obviously cannot agree to.
"No, I won't let you! Your plan for salvation is ridiculous and will only put Humanity at an even greater risk! How can you still not get this through your head?!", Sieg retorts, trying to find a weakness in Amakusa.
"THEN TELL ME HOW TO SAVE HUMANITY!? I'M TRYING TO MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY. A WORLD WITH NO PAIN AND SUFFERING, SO HOW CAN I DO THAT WITHOUT A MIRACLE!?", Amakusa yells out so violently that the room almost feels like it'll shake.
Sieg grows a pained expression and looks down toward his lap. "Sorry, Amakusa. But I don't think there's a way to achieve that. It's just part of life. Me, you, every Heroic Spirit, and every human goes through pain and suffering sometimes, some more than others. But it's how we all must live. You just have to accept that it'll happen sometimes and move on as best you can."
Amakusa turns his back to Sieg with a quick turn and begins to walk away briskly. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, homunculus. You haven't been alive long enough to understand true human suffering."
"Maybe so, but stagnating humanity won't lead to a good outcome, you know? Without turmoil, humanity will stop developing, they won't have a reason to grow as their lives are as happy as they are. And after that…the world will be pruned away. You know this as a Heroic Spirit, just as I do. Humanity either continues to grow and survive through any means necessary, or it winds up pruned from the timeline and has to restart. You don't want that, do you!?"
Amakusa for a brief moment pauses his exit. He says nothing and doesn't even turn his head to face Sieg.
"I have been given the Holy Grail by God. He has given me a second chance at my wish, so it can't be wrong." And he leaves the room, shutting the heavy door behind him.
A scene like hell. No, not like. It WAS hell.
The Shimabara Rebellion ended in tragedy.
Amakusa Shirou Tokisada watched as men were decapitated and brutalized and women were raped and killed. Not even children or the innocent were spared. And Shirou could do nothing but accept his defeat.
His arms were cut off by the enemy and could no longer fight back.
"No, get off me! Please!", a woman screamed out in the distance of the burning village.
"Mother! MOTHER!", a young boy screamed out after her. But it was in vain as the mother was used and killed.
Many faced the same fate and sight. And it was all Amakusa's fault. That's what he truly believes. And why he seeks the Grail. Even with all the lives spent by Amakusa Shirou, he will make sure to get results to make it all worth it, unlike during Shimabara.
He is a man who never gives up no matter what. His will of steel made it so he would never surrender, and will never give up on his goal of salvation. That's why he must attain the Holy Grail once more and complete his wish.
His goal is the correct one… right?
All of us finish our meals and meet in the main hall once more. Vlad III has thought of a plan for us to use in attack. After he lays it all out, he asks for our thoughts to which we all agree with him. On paper it seems easy, but in reality, who knows?
Since he says a lot, the plan is simplified: get on the Hanging Gardens, defeat the Servants in our way, save Sieg, and defeat Amakusa Shirou.
"So how do you propose we get onto the Hanging Gardens?", Mash asks.
"During the Great Holy Grail War, we used modern planes from an airport, but that will not work here. So as much as I hate to say it, we will be relying on Rider's Noble Phantasm.", Jeanne says with a large sigh and looks over at him with an annoyed face.
Astolfo smiles and is as loud as ever. "You want to use my Hippogriff!? Yes, that will work and can carry everyone as long as the Servants remain in Spirit Form."
"Does it have any defenses to be aware of?", Alice asks the Servants.
"… oh, right.", Astolfo pitifully says, having forgotten such a crucial part.
Vlad's voice echoes in the hall and gains everyone's attention. "We can take on any defense that is deployed. With the Servants we have here, they should pose no issue. Leave these defenses to us. Chaldea must focus on landing on the Gardens and moving to rescue Sieg and the Grail along with him."
Siegfried nods his head in agreement. "I can handle the troublesome Servants. I wish to rematch with the Servant I met early on."
"Karna, you mean?" Jeanne cuts in and reminds him of the Servant's name.
"Yes. It may sound selfish of me. But I would like to not go back on my word. I am sure he feels the same. So I can serve as a distraction for him. The only other opponents to worry about after him are Rider and Assassin."
Ritsuka raises his right arm forward. "I can summon Servants from Chaldea to our aid. I'm sure they can be of use against them. Especially Semiramis. You said that she's powerful in her Hanging Gardens?"
Jeanne nods her head. "As powerful as a Ruler within her domain."
Ritsuka nods his head and smiles. "Then I have a plan that should work. Leave Semiramis to me, as weird as that sounds for a human to say."
Mash moves toward her senpai and gets in front of him. "I will join you. I won't leave you alone to fight her. You'll die."
Ritsuka smiles and pats her pink hair. "Of course. You're my Shielder, after all, so I can't go anywhere without your protection!"
"Ahem.", Alice fakes clearing her throat and looks at Vlad. "What's the plan against Achilles? He is quite the historical figure to go against. Can we beat him?"
Footsteps can be heard behind her and she turns her head to be met with Nick approaching. "Leave him to me. I can't promise I'd win against him, but I can at least stall long enough for all of you to beat Amakusa Shirou."
Olga gets angry and her hand curls into a fist. "Don't let your arrogance get ahead of you! You'll die!"
Nick smiles at this. "We're attacking at night for the extra cover on our entrance, right? Then I'll be fine as long as the moon is out. It's my Origin and Element after all. Our affinity cannot be matched."
Vlad nods his head and looks at the man. "I agree with him. From the little I saw him fight, he has potential. I do not expect him to win, but I trust him to stall long enough. I will join you for extra support though. I will not tolerate any deaths."
Nick grins. "Very well, as long as I can let loose, I'll be fine."
Jeanne looks up. "Then Atalanta is mine. We have already fought in the past, so I can do it again. As much as I would like to be there for Sieg's rescue, these Servants are still dangerous to deal with and need to be defeated."
"Oh? And can a Ruler like you win?", Vlad asks.
"I no longer have the authority of Ruler as I once did, but I have a trump card that stands a chance."
Vlad crosses his arms. "So that just leaves Caster. He should be easy for anyone to beat. He has one trick, but overall he should not be fatal. I trust that Chaldea can beat him easily."
"What about me!?", Astolfo pouts and his cheeks puff up.
Vlad smiles in response.
"You wish to rescue your old Master, correct? That will be your job. Can I trust you with that?"
"Of course!", Rider reassures him loudly.
"As for Amakusa Shirou…", Jeanne begins to talk again. "He can be left for Sieg. I trust him to beat Amakusa." Jeanne shifts her body to face all of us. "Serena, it would be best if you made calls to ensure our victory, Alice, you protect her from harm."
Alice nods her head. "Understood."
Vlad stands from his throne. "Then that is everyone's role. Understood? We leave tonight at sunset, so rest up!"
"Understood!" Everyone says and disperses to their rooms, myself included.
I flop onto my bed and close my eyes. Darkness overtakes my vision and I am left only looking at nothing. Please, let everyone survive this. I think to myself as I slowly drift off to sleep.
I awoke to my watch beeping. The alarm I had set is going off. 30 minutes from departure. I quickly stand up and jog to meet everyone in the courtyard.
"You're here, Serena. Is that everyone?", Ritsuka asks.
The sky is a pretty shade of orange now as the sun sets. With the dark of night approaching, we can better hide from the Hanging Gardens as we attack.
Astolfo summons a hippogriff for us to ride on and— wait, a hippogriff!?
I run up to it and begin to furiously pet the soft creature of myth. "Oh my god, you're so cute!", I exclaim as I rub its face.
"Eh? Do you like him, Miss?", Astolfo asks while walking closer. He places a hand on the animal's head and begins to pet slowly.
"He's been a big help for me, so I'm glad you like him so much. He also seems to like your petting and scratches."
The animal makes a satisfied noise from his beak and turns his head toward me.
"Good boy! Very good boy!"
The hippogriff then bends down and looks at me. "Oh? He wants you to get on!" Astolfo says and begins to push me a little bit.
"Eh? Is that safe?"
Astolfo nods his head and smiles. "You'll be riding him soon anyway. Might as well embark now!"
And with those words, I climb onto his back and sit up. Stretching out my arms to the side like wings, I smile and look out into the horizon. "Alice! Take my picture!"
Alice pulls out her smartphone and snaps a few pictures. "I'll send them to you later!" Her phone disappears back into Imaginary Space and she walks forward toward me. "Shall we start getting on then?"
Vlad III nods. "Yes. We Servants will remain in Spirit Form and will only materialize to counterattack should they fight against us in the air." With those words, Vlad, Astolfo, Siegfried, and Jeanne d'Arc vanish and can no longer be seen by us.
"You can hear me, right?", Jeanne's voice is attached to nobody.
Ritsuka gives a thumbs up in her direction. "Loud and clear!"
"Good. I will protect us should things go wrong. Lancer, Saber, I trust you two to counterattack and destroy any barriers?"
"Yes, leave it to us, Ruler.", Siegfried's deep voice assures her.
They all get on the white bird creature. It's a tight fit so we have to squeeze together, but it'll work just fine. Mash is in front for protection, then Ritsuka, then the Director. Following her is myself, Alice behind me, and Nick in the back to keep us from falling off. I can't exactly tell where the Servants are, but there should be some room if they need to materialize.
"Everyone on and ready?", Astolfo's disembodied voice asks.
We all do final checks and say we're ready and like an airplane rushing to get speed on the runway, we take off and my stomach drops.
I hate airplanes so much. I grab the Director's waist and push my face into her back, shutting my eyes to shield myself from the great height.
The Director notices this and places her right hand on mine as a form of comfort. She can't say anything with the wind being so loud but I can understand her perfectly in her actions.
"Should be a straight shot from here!", Astolfo's voice ignores the raging wind and is as loud as always.
We fly for about 20 minutes, the sun has fully set by this point and the sky is a nice shade of dark blue. After that, we see a structure hanging in the sky straight ahead. A massive fortress that is very well the size of a small city, at least from this distance.
"I'm guessing that's it?", Nick nonchalantly asks.
"Yes. That is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Semiramis' Noble Phantasm, and the base of the enemy. We will be engaging them soon enough.", Jeanne d'Arc materializes in the front of the Hippogriff and unravels her flag. "In the event we get attacked, I can protect us for some time. Leave it to me!"
Ritsuka begins to look around. "Saber, Lancer, Rider? Are you all still up here?"
"Do not worry, Master. We are all fine. Unfortunately for you, we cannot all manifest at once.", Siegfried's voice says.
A vision flashes in my mind as my Mystic Eyes go off on their own. Myself and everyone else get attacked by a beam of purple light and are killed in about ten seconds from now.
"RULER! USE YOUR NOBLE PHANTASM NOW!", I yell at the saint and she does just as instructed.
"Luminosité Eternelle!" The flag lights up in a majestic gold color and cloaks us from harm from the incoming beam. The blast of mana is reflected off of us and despite being inside of it, no damage is done to any of us.
"T-there! I see what shot it!", I point out a wall of some kind, a barrier. Either way, the beam came from it, so it must be destroyed. Without an order, Siegfried manifests himself and his sword explodes with mana.
"BALMUNG!", he yells out as the blue light is sent to destroy the barrier. And with a sound like thunder. It is shattered and falls to the earth below.
"There will be more of those. We must destroy them as they appear. I cannot keep my Noble Phantasm up to protect us each time.", Jeanne keeps her eyes forward, awaiting the next attack.
"Then I will strike them down as they appear. Trifas…no, Romania is my domain after all. There is nothing that can strike me down here."
Siegfried relinquishes his role for the moment and turns into a spirit, allowing Vlad III to appear and ready his spear.
"Rider, just keep bringing us closer. Do not pause, that is an order."
"Yes sir!"
The Hippogriff speeds toward the Hanging Gardens like a rocket. It feels like if I let go, I'd be thrown off in an instant with the speeds we are at. The night sky makes it hard to see ahead, but the purple lights throughout the Garden act like runway lights for us to use as a guide.
With the element of surprise, another barrier appears point-blank in front of us, and we cannot afford to dodge it with this short notice. But the Noble Phantasm of a Heroic Spirit isn't so weak. Astolfo's mount crashes through it and reduces it to rubble.
"Dammit! Hippogriff can't afford many of those. Keep on top of striking those down!" Astolfo screams out the warning as we all truly begin to keep our eyes peeled for these barriers while at the same time growing closer and closer.
As another one appears in the distance, Vlad raises his arms. "From below!" And with those, a barrage of stakes flies from the ground to the stone barrier and shreds it like hundreds of bullets. But we cannot rest yet as the Hanging Gardens itself has begun to glow. The top point glows, then gets bigger and bigger. In an instant, a blast cuts through the air and Jeanne activates her Noble Phantasm once more to use the protection of the Lord to save all of us.
"Nggghhhhh!", Jeanne struggles to hold it back and is pushed back slightly as the beam is completely nullified and shuts off.
She turns around to where Astolfo would be in spirit form.
"Rider! Full speed ahead! That cannot be fired for a while as it uses a lot of energy to fire. I cannot block that a second time, so we must reach the Hanging Gardens before it can fire again!"
"Roger that, Ruler!"
The mount begins to move even faster than I thought it could. It's almost as if we are riding a jet through the air at these speeds. Within a few seconds, We get in range of the Hanging Gardens and can see the "ground."
"Everyone, get off. I can't stop just yet, so get off and rescue my Mas–rescue Sieg!", Astolfo yells and we are all grabbed and carried off by Servants. We can't just jump off and land unharmed, so the Servants carry us to avoid injury. We look up to see the Hippogriff and Astolfo riding it as the two fly off and draw attention.
Siegfried sets me down on the grass of the Hanging Garden's, well, garden. Vlad was carrying Alice, Mash carried Ritsuka, and Nick grabbed Olga. Jeanne jumped down on her own.
Ruler looks around and spots an entrance, pointing to it, she draws our attention.
"There! We can get in through there, remember the plan!"
Just as we attempt to move our legs, a voice calls out from our sides.
"Hey! Going to leave without a hello? You invaded our territory so the least you could do is acknowledge us."
Standing on our right is Achilles, and on our left is Atalanta. Just as planned, to face Achilles, Nick and Vlad step their way and get prepared for battle, Olga follows behind and aims her gandr shot.
"Olga? What are you doing?", Nick asks, confused as this wasn't in the plan for her to join.
"You could use someone who can heal you if you get injured, right? I'll support you, I'm not as weak as you may think."
Vlad doesn't even look back at her. "Keep your distance, I do not see Rider targeting you, but I do not wish for you to be killed in the crossfire."
"As you command, Lancer."
On our other side is Jeanne, stepping up to fight Atalanta. "Last chance, Ruler. Do you need me to summon a Shadow Servant for backup?", Ritsuka offers the saint.
She shakes her head no and places a hand on the sword on her hip.
"No need. I am confident I can defeat her on my own."
Ritsuka nods his head and begins to sprint toward the entrance. "Come on, everyone! We need to hurry up!"
We all follow his lead and leave the two small groups behind as they begin their own battles…
"Ruler, are you wanting to die so badly? Is this why you always choose to fight me?", the green archer says, her hand already placing an arrow on the bowstring and pulling back, and yet the bow remains in front of her waist as if she's allowing Ruler to at least speak.
"Just as I did before, I will oppose all of you."
Atalanta scoffs. "And just like before I will fight you with all I have, but this time you have no one to save you."
Her eyes shoot past Jeanne and meet Achilles. He will not be getting in the way this time around.
She quickly draws her bowstring back and fires a single arrow, it soars through the air and straight to Ruler's head. She never intended on killing her right here, but what did happen surprised her even more than if she were killed.
La Pucelle is drawn from the sheath at her hip and knocks away the arrow like a bat. Her slender sword returns to her side and Jeanne stares her down.
"You didn't do that last time…"
"My dear Sieg gave me many lessons in swordplay before I got here. As long as I do not activate the Noble Phantasm behind this blade, I can use it however I want."
She holds it with her right hand and its blade is placed in front of her body.
Jeanne d'Arc rushes down toward the bowman, if she can get too close to her, Atalanta will not be able to fire as effectively, so this is naturally the strategy Jeanne goes for first. However Atalanta is far too fast for most people, so she's able to fall back, launch herself into the air, and fire off a flurry of arrows toward the ground where Ruler is.
Ruler can evade most of the arrows, but two wind up piercing her body. One in the shoulder and one in the thigh. She quickly pulls them out and continues forward with her B-rank endurance.
Archer leaps from edge to edge, any high surface she can get to while simultaneously firing arrows to attempt to kill the pesky Ruler Servant.
She strikes down each arrow with her sword. Leaping up, she cuts down a pole that Atalanta was using as a perch. Archer repositions herself on another and draws three arrows, she fires them from her bow and the grass around Jeanne explodes, causing dust to fly up and cloud her vision.
Jeanne looks up and notices a purple explosion, clearing away the dust in an instant, and nothing more than an animal leaps forward, sinking her teeth into Ruler's shoulder.
"Gaaaah! Let…go!" Jeanne grabs her and with her B-rank strength, Atalanta is thrown off, landing not far in front of her.
The pelt of that boar again. She's acting desperate, which means my victory over her is close. Jeanne thought as she readied her sword. This would no longer be a simple bow vs sword match.
The two rushed toward each other, their weapons pointed for the kill. Jeanne's stab is parried by a claw, and a second claw is sliced through the air toward the saint's gut. The metal armor is cut and falls off but her body is fine thanks to a near miss.
Jeanne ripostes and cuts through the feral beast's side. Atalanta screams out in pain and pulls away from the Ruler. Jeanne brings her sword back to her side and awaits another attack.
The Archer manifests her bow once more and aims toward the sky. A dark light takes the shape of an arrow, and the Noble Phantasm is launched.
"TAUROPOLOS!"
Like rain, hundreds of arrows fall from the sky. An unavoidable attack under most circumstances. Switching from her sword to her flag…
"Again with this…Luminosité Eternelle!"
Holy light bathes her and protects her from the rain. But seeing a chance for attack, Atalanta's body morphs into the form of a boar and she charges forward. Perhaps she will do no damage due to the Noble Phantasm protecting her, but an interruption will be plenty.
"And you tell me that I have a death wish!"
Jeanne grits her teeth and slams her pole into the ground for it to stand on its own and allow the flag to fly freely. She draws her blade once more and thrusts it forward to stab through the boar's head, but the boar vanishes only leaving Atalanta leaping through the air at rapid speed and a claw slashing Jeanne's face, her slim body avoiding the sword that the boar could not.
Jeanne's Noble Phantasm held up enough where it could defend against most of the damage the claw would've caused, however, blood dripped from her face with three small cuts running across.
Atalanta moved to strike once more at Jeanne's stomach. Now that the armor plate is gone. There's nothing that can stop her claw from cutting through and shredding her innards into ribbons. The Noble Phantasm is deactivated so there's no other protection for Jeanne d'Arc other than her skill.
Atalanta's agility is ranked A+ while Jeanne d'Arc's is ranked A. It would be close, but Jeanne can still save herself, and with her sword already extended, all she does is bring it down to the left and cut Atalanta's arm off before it can reach her.
"AAAAAAAAUUGGGGHGGHHHHHHAA!"
A pained-sounding screech comes out of the Archer as she holds her arm in pain. Jeanne grabs her sword with her left hand and spins around for extra momentum. And with all she has, she thrusts it through her chest, piercing her core through.
Atalanta attempts to struggle and without a word, her body vanishes from the world…
"Haaaa, ah…"
Jeanne falls to one knee and gasps in exhaustion after the battle, with sharp breaths. Even with the training she had done with Sieg, fighting with a sword wasn't her strong suit at all.
"Sieg, my love…I am coming for you now, wait just a bit more!" Ruler picks herself up and slowly walks toward the entrance we all ran through not long before.
Meanwhile, not too long ago or far away…
"Let's see, Lancer of Black, along with two Chaldea residents? I don't know about Chaldea, but fighting Vlad III while in Romania should be more than fun!", Achilles quickly assesses his situation and deems the fight to essentially be his before it starts. To an immortal man, a fight like this wouldn't be a challenge, however, Vlad wouldn't let him just take the win in his country.
Olga aims her hand forward and charges up a gandr at the tips of her fingers. "His weakness is his famous Achilles' heel, go for it to get rid of his invulnerability."
The air stood still and the only noise for a few moments was the wind harshly blowing through the area.
The gandr is fired and immediately Achilles manifests his spear and charges forward, ignoring the magecraft and gunning it straight for the two men.
Vlad, being a strong Servant, can react with time and summon hundreds of spikes from the ground to stop his charge forward. Along with those, hundreds fly toward the Greek hero like bullets.
Rider summons lightning to his aid and incinerates the stakes into nothing. He briefly pauses before continuing his attack.
Damn, I can't even hope to get a proper shot in. I'm just a human and not a strong mage. What can I possibly do to help these two? Olga racked her brain, thinking of a way to be useful.
Nick undoes a vial of blood and begins to use Hemomancy to attack at range. His back was to the Director and he intended to keep it like that. A human body couldn't withstand even a single blow from the Rider of Red.
"What the hell is a bit of blood gonna do, huh!?", Achilles yells and pierces the projectile, but to his amusement, it splits and continues its movement. Just like water, it cannot be pierced or destroyed without destroying it all at once.
Nick knows that his blood can't do anything to someone who's invulnerable to attacks, so he focuses his energy on going for the heel to better aid Vlad, and so he can go all out.
The assault continues relentlessly. Spikes and blood target Rider's heel while also defending against his attacks, and in Nick's case, protecting Olga as much as he can.
His spear comes crashing down and Vlad blocks it with his own, the weight of a god put behind it. While he's briefly stopped, Nick rushes in and forms the blood into a dagger, swiping it at his heel.
"Not so fast!"
In blinding speed, he vanishes before the blade can slash his weak point. Achilles appears behind Nick as if he teleported and blows a hole through his chest with a single punch.
"!"
Nick is blown away and impacts a wall not far from them, falling to the ground seemingly dead.
"NOOO!", Olga screams out. Vlad looks concerned too, but he has to focus on the battle above all else.
"You will pay for that, Rider!", Vlad backs off a good distance and summons spikes from all directions. Normally, the mere sight of one would trigger fear in his enemies, but there's not much an invincible man has to fear. The stakes are no more of a nuisance than anything.
"Director of Chaldea. Do you have any spells that can aid in this fight?", Vlad asks the director, far enough away so Rider cannot hear.
"Y-yes I do. It will distract him long enough. It's the best spell I have, but it'll take a while to chant and activate, buy me a minute.", she says, still clearly shaken up about Nick. Another member of Chaldea has seemingly perished because of an error that she believes was somehow her fault.
Olga Marie Animusphere begins to absorb mana in the air. The Hanging Gardens produces plenty, so it is no problem gathering a large amount in a short timeframe.
Naturally, Achillies notices the spike in mana around her body so he moves to dispatch her right away, just in case. However, he secretly wants to see how this goes. Vlad however, does not allow such a thing and continuously gets in his way.
I cannot impale his heart, there is simply no point in that action until after his heel is destroyed, yet I cannot land a proper hit on his heel while fighting. Even while in Romania, I am just too slow to match him. Vlad smiles to himself, glad to face such an opponent. This battle is much too interesting to entertain the idea of losing to him!
A swarm of attacks from all directions. That is the path Vlad III has chosen to take. Use stakes to fly in from all directions, and break through the ground, all to trap Achilles as best as possible and in the best-case scenario impale his heel.
Achilles gladly smiles at the challenge and takes it head-on, activating his Noble Phantasm. His chariot bursts into existence with a strike of lightning and he mounts it, grabbing onto the reins and taking flight. The stone which he once stood crumbles to dust as he ascends, the steaks all following along the chariot.
"Stars, Cosmos, Gods…", Olga begins to chant, her arm pointed upwards to the heavens. The spell is an Animusphere family spell passed down for generations. Not having the Magic Crest makes it much weaker than it should be, and it's already fairly weak due to the age of the world, but in this situation, it'll be more than enough!
"Animus, Antrum, Unverse…"
The sky began to change form, the stars glowed brighter as a grand magical circuit connected them all into a spell circle. It is merely an illusion that only magi can see along with magical beings such as Servants, but the circuits are still there.
Achilles strikes down all the projectiles following him and moves his chariot to run Olga over. The magecraft she is performing is recognized as Age of Gods magecraft by the Greek hero, so he can get a sense of how devastating such a spell could be.
"TROIAS TRAGŌIDIA!"
Mage of Chaldea. I do not know how you could have acquired such a spell, but you have earned my attention. Be run down by my chariot with no regrets!
The chariot moves at Godspeed straight to the Director. She doesn't even have time to react and protect herself. Vlad III cannot do anything to protect her either at this point.
But…another magical presence can be felt by the Rider Servant. Not just a simple spell, but more like an energy that should no longer exist in this world.
Surpassing Godspeed with his own, Nick swings a sword straight at the horses who drive the chariot, cutting them down and destroying the Noble Phantasm in the process.
"What!?"
Achilles leaps off his mount and lands on grass, his feet destroying the grass and bringing up dirt as he skids from the momentum.
"Olga! Finish the chant, hurry!", Nick screams out as he protects Olga's front. The wound that was in his chest is now completely healed up. The cloth of his red vest is missing where the hole was, showing only bare skin underneath. A hole is similarly revealing on the back of his gray trench coat.
In his right hand is a sword that is about 152 centimeters in length from the handle to the tip of the blade. The handle and guard are gray and black while the blade itself is red. He holds the greatsword in front of him, staring at the Rider Servant, ready to fight at any moment.
"Anima, Animusphere!", the Director cried out, finishing her chant. With that, the heavens began to fall.
Meteors fall out of orbit and onto the area. Many strike the Hanging Gardens, throwing it off balance and causing it to tilt slightly. They impact the surface and kick up the dirt, destroying the structures with ease. The ground below is just a simple grassland so no normal people should be hurt.
Nick looks up in amazement. "Great job, Olga. I knew you were strong, but this far surpassed my expectations…"
Olga stands there panting heavily, her arms still in the air. "How are you here!? I thought you…"
"As I said, my origin and element are the moon. For I am in the full moon's light, I cannot be killed so easily.", he says with a massive grin. "I was able to heal due to my Hemomancy, yeah, my Hemomancy was able to help piece me back together." Let's just go with that, she won't know the difference.
"You…absolute idiot…", she says with a soft smile on her face. "I'm just…glad you're okay…"
Nick nods his head and smiles back at her. Normally, he would just try to annoy her with a retort, but right now, to him at least, she is like a star that he could not afford to have its shine lost.
"Director, keep that spell up for as long as humanly possible. Vlad and I will use it to win!", Vlad turns back around to face the enemy.
"Of course. Give it all you've got!", Nick kicks off and swings the greatsword to meet the spear head-on.
Did he just call me Director? She thinks to herself before focusing all her power on keeping Anima Animusphere active for as long as she can.
"You seem strong for a mere human!", Rider says to the white-haired man attacking with the greatsword.
"'Mere human'? Me? Hah, I'm so much more than what I let on! Stick around, and I'll let you know what I am on your deathbed!"
Achilles grins in response. "Don't think just because you have a new weapon means you can win."
Vlad appears from behind Rider and closes the distance to reach his heel, but Achilles moves right in time to avoid the spear.
Nick leaps into the sky and avoids a meteor, now behind it, gale winds form from his hand, and a pillar of wind flows forth and pushes the meteor down at blinding speeds, not only hitting Achilles but shaking the entire Hanging Gardens!
Green lightning strikes the earth, shattering the rock. The Greek hero is seemingly unphased, no, he's more excited than before now.
Nick narrows his eyes at the predicament. Olga can't keep this up forever, and we do need this spell. How can we end this quickly?
Do I have to go all out right here of all places? Nick thinks to himself but shakes away that feeling. Achilles is nowhere near worthy enough to use all his power against.
"Vlad! I have a plan! Follow along, you'll understand!", he says and then quickly moves to attack Achilles once again.
Vlad seems annoyed to be taking orders but does as told. Nick uses his Hemomancy once again to use blood and manipulate it all around Achilles, particularly his face, not to attack; but to instead blind and distract. In turn, Vlad summons spikes once more on the ground and through the air as well to overwhelm Rider.
A meteor strikes the ground not far from the two and that kicks up a ton of debris. Now, the Greek hero can no longer see with his eyes. But that's no issue for someone as experienced as him.
The two of them attack the Rider, not his heel, but his upper body where his spear still tried to attack the two with deadly precision.
After a while of attacking, the two quickly back off and Rider regains his senses only to then be hit with a meteor head-on with no way to properly defend. Several hundred stakes burst from the ground and instead of stabbing through Rider, they instead work to bind him down. Spikes raining from above keep him from rising once again.
At the same time, glowing under the Moon's light, Nicholas Ketsueki pointed his crimson sword at the green-haired man, and mana focused throughout its blade.
Never thought I'd attempt Kischur's move. Nick can't help but wildly grin while absorbing mana just like Olga did, but into his sword rather than his body.
The sword Nick held is much like a holy or demonic blade, but it was also neither. A sword that shouldn't exist in this age of the world. A blade that a normal person could never hope to wield. A sword that could absorb the power of the moon up above and use it as its energy source like a battery.
A torrent of light burst out of the tip like a high-powered hose. Achilles burst up from the ground with his B+ ranked strength. Before that beam could even graze him, he would be long out of the way.
Nick instead raises his sword above him and blasts an incoming meteor, sending shards of rock everywhere. Within the next instant, he closes the distance between the two and swings the sword at Rider. But instead of slicing him, he lets go of the blade and it goes flying into the distance."
"NOW SWITCH!", he yells out to Vlad. And he does just that. Nick jumps back and Lancer takes his position.
Hundreds of stakes rise from the ground, attempting to stab his heel to no avail. Achilles leaps into the air to avoid all of them, his Noble Phantasm was not yet available to him. But while airborne, he notices that Nick has grabbed hold of one of the meteors and redirects it to the Servant. Unable to dodge in the air, he strikes it with his spear instead, turning it to dust.
With the moon behind his falling body, Nick falls from the sky closer and closer as if to punch the Rider. With his speed, he easily thrusts his spear once again and cuts through Nick's side, nearly blowing it away. He recoils in pain, but it was worth it. He reaches out his hand, his body falling over his shoulder rather than directly to him.
His trajectory! Was he trying to get behind me!? No matter, what can he do to—
Nick's sword comes flying back at his will and enters his right hand. Grabbing it with his left as well, flips forward, and slashes Achilles' heel while also cutting his leg up vertically.
"Vlad, this one's yours!"
Nick falls back to the ground and lands harshly as he doesn't even try to stop it.
Reaching out his arm, Vlad III manifests stakes on Rider's heart, much like he did to Karna long ago. And his heart is destroyed. Achilles falls to the ground. A small crater forms under his landing.
And he still gets back up.
"Ha! This is a great fight!"
"How are you still alive, Rider? I destroyed your heart, and your heel is slashed. Battle continuation?"
Rider smugly smiles. "No, sometimes I'm just too stubborn to go when I should…but know this: Amakusa knows how to remove the Grail from that young man's hold, even through pocket dimensions. There still is time for you to find Sieg, if you waste it now, he WILL die."
Rider moves over and sits on the edge of the Hanging Gardens, paying them no attention and only looking at the night sky.
The spell deactivates and the circles in the sky fail. Olga falls to the ground and gasps for air.
Nick runs over and crouches down in front of her. "Hey, are you okay? You did great there."
Olga smiles. "Yeah, I'm fine. But now…I'm completely out of mana. You and Lancer can go on without me, I'll stay here."
Nick looks at Vlad. "Lancer, you can move on ahead and help the rest."
"What about you two?"
"We'll catch up. Don't worry about us."
Vlad nods and turns into spirit form to regain mana and move faster.
"Olga, so you're out of mana?", Nick asks.
Olga nods her head and isn't faking. She looks weak like someone who hasn't eaten all day and is out of energy.
"Yeah. I can't regenerate it fast enough with how much I used. Anima Animusphere is, as you can tell, very costly, but devastating. This power sucks ass!"
Nick shakes his head and smiles at her. "Of course not. It's amazing, honestly. It's mana-heavy, and you could wipe out armies with this. You've done great, Olga."
Olga blushes slightly and then begins to cough a bunch like she's trying to cough up a lung.
Nick grabs onto her shoulders and begins to pull himself in toward her face. "W-wait what are you—mmmmph!?"
Their lips touch, and not only that, the two share a deep kiss. Olga's mind practically exploded at this surprise.
Let go…let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, letgo letgo letgo letgo letgo letgo- LET GOOOOOOOO!
Nick pulls himself back, and a string of spit bridges between their mouths. "Feel any better, Olga?"
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU IDIOT!? YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING!", the Director screams out with a mix of fury and confusion.
"Hm? You needed mana, right? I just gave you mana (spit) to help you out. You should be able to move soon. And besides, you wouldn't let me do that if I didn't force myself on you a little.~"
"I—you—-shit, I actually am feeling a bit better. Couldn't we have just done a traditional mana transfer? The spell I mean?"
"Nah, it would take too long. Was that your first kiss or something?"
Olga grows even more red. "Of course not! (liar) In fact, I'm not even a virgin! (super liar) I'm a perfectly experienced adult! (the biggest liar ever)"
But Nick only stares back like she's an idiot. "Heh. Like I'd believe all that."
"I'LL KILL YOU!" She goes to lunge at him but her body fails her and she faceplants into the dirt.
"You still probably won't be able to move for a few more minutes. Take it easy."
Nick stands up and holds out his hand, his sword flies over and enters his palm. After it's in his hand, it vanishes and he brushes his coat to get dirt off. He then walks over and picks her up into a bridal carry.
"Let's get going, shall we?"
"F-fine. But remember I can't fight right now, so don't get us into trouble."
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Olga."
"It's Director!"