9/8/23 Edit: Fixed grammar mistakes and restructured sentences to make them more cohesive.
~X~
~ Fuyuki City – Homurahara Academy ~
*BOOM*
Saber and Mash dodge yet another one of Berserker's punches.
[God Hand: 11]
"So… does anyone have any bright ideas?" Kana asked but was met with silence. "Go ahead, say anything; no suggestion is bad at this point." Kana was a bit more desperate.
Olga looked to be thinking hard. Based on the annoyed look on her face, she has nothing. Ritsuka has nothing if the depressed look on his face is anything to go by.
It's been several minutes, and we haven't been able to go anywhere in our fight with Berserker. Because Saber has killed him with Excalibur, Berserker now has immunity to it, meaning a regular strike or an Excaliblast won't work. Mash's STR is not high enough to do any damage to him.
The quickest way to kill him would be some Noble Phantasms. But Berserker is immune to Saber's, Mash's is purely defensive, and Caster has disappeared.
Maybe we can go out and try to find him?
…No. That would take too long, and we have no idea where to start. I've been stretching my Presence Detection as far as it can go, and I haven't found his mana signature.
So, what do I have? Do I have anything else that can tip the scales?
*CRASH*
Turning back towards the battle, Berserker had sent Mash flying and crashing into the school, leaving Saber on her own. She is putting up a very good fight, but she won't last long.
"Damn it!" Why is Berserker even here!?" Olga cursed in frustration. "He was supposed to keep to himself!"
"…Hey, you two," I called out to the twins. "What kind of skills do you two have?"
"What do you mean?" Ritsuka asked.
"I mean in a fight. What kind of skills do you use in a fight," I asked sternly.
"Uh, well, I practice Jewel Magecraft, and I have some jewels on me that could maybe harm him. I also know some other spells like Gandr, but I don't think they are strong enough against Berserker," Ritsuka said.
"Are your fighting skills purely magical? Nothing physical?" I asked him.
"No, not much physical, just a basic Reinforcement," Ritsuka seemed a bit sad at that admission.
"And you, Kana?" I turned to the redhead.
"Um, mine are a lot like yours, Yuki, Projection and Reinforcement... and some sword training. But I don't think I'm anywhere near as good as you are," Kana stated, also a bit sad. Though that sadness seems to come from something else.
And even though Olga is a first-class magus, she also doesn't have any spells that can help with Berserker. So there's not much they can do to help out. Except maybe Ritsuka, since he can use his Command Seals to empower Mash.
Now, what do I have to bring to the table?
I can't make Broken Phantasms yet because I haven't mastered Reinforcement enough.I do have Dawn: Sword of the Morning, an A-Rank sword. I could give it to Saber, but once she kills him with it, Berserker will be immune to it.
"Is there a point to all this?" Olga asked angrily. I think this whole situation with Berserker has put her on edge.
"I may have something that can work against Berserker," I said, a little unsure of myself, but no one picked up on it.
I do have that mystery question mark that seems to copy the weapons I see, and if it is what I think it is, then maybe I can force it out.
"Then why haven't you used it yet!?" Olga shouted.
Jeez, woman. I know the situation sucks, but you don't need to yell like that. "I hope I can do this…" I muttered to myself.
I turned towards the fight, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes.
"I am the bone of my sword."
When I said those words, my soul was carried out, and the effect was felt. A wave of immense pressure spread throughout the area. Saber and Berserker stopped mid-attack, glanced over, and then resumed fighting.
The Chaldeans had gone still. Olga had flinched, not expecting that much power coming from one line in what seemed to be an Aria. Ritsuka and Kana are completely shocked and wide-eyed. They have heard those words before and have felt the same feeling from someone very familiar to them.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."
The pressure increased, indicating that I was on the right track about the hidden skill. Berserker roared in the distance and started charging toward me. Most likely now seeing me as a threat that needs to be dealt with quickly. However, Saber and Mash stand in his way, allowing me to continue.
Small problem though. I don't know what to use as my next line. I can't use all of Shirou's lines because what I'm trying to unleash is my own soul. I need to use an Aria that resonates with my own. The first two work perfectly fine for me, but from here on out, the rest has to be made just for me.
…I got the next line. Something to reflect that my soul was connected to the Sea of Souls.
"I have created-"
"KFHAH!" is the sound that I scream as I double over and fall to the ground, writhing in agony. I feel as if I'm being stabbed all over my body. And just like that, the pressure of my soul disappeared as well.
"Yuki! Are you okay!? What happened!?" Kana yelled in concern. Ritsuka and Olga also rushed to my side.
"Ugh, I was doing the spell; it felt like it was going right. Then all of a sudden, I'm wracked with stabbing pain…" I groaned out, still on the ground in terrible pain.
Olga placed a hand on me, and I could feel her inject some mana into me. "Tch, so that's what it is. You tried using a spell when you didn't have enough mana for it. Considering how much pain you're in, you had nowhere near enough mana to use it," Olga explains with a scowl.
I mentally pulled up my status screen and managed to open my eyes enough to get a look at it.
HP: 2171/3100 [Regen: 6.2/min]
MP: 14/6984 [Regen: 13.96/min]
Stamina: 52% [Regen: 2%/min]
Yup, MP is pretty much empty. Alright, let's go for my short-term plan.
"Saber! Catch!" I strained to yell out from the ground. A gray portal to my inventory opened up and shot out Dawn towards her, while Mash had Berserker's attention. Saber noticed the sword flying towards her and managed to catch it while putting Excalibur away. After giving herself a few seconds to acclimate to the sword, she went back into the fight.
"What was that?" Ritsuka asked.
"An A-rank weapon. Saber should be able to knock off another one of Berserker's lives," I answered. The pain is subsiding and is only a stinging pain now.
"And what will that do?"
"Short term, Berserker will lose a life. Long-term, I have no idea."
.
[Due to certain actions, a skill has been partially revealed.]
[Due to Yuki's soul being connected with the Sea of Souls, additional effects have been acquired.]
[?] Level: 10 [25%]
A Reality Marble that records, stores, and replicates all weapons. As long as it is recognized as a "Weapon" its entire history, composition, and designs are all perfectly recorded.
Note: Can only be deployed on the world if the user has an understanding of one's self, sufficient mana is present, and when this skill reaches Level 50.
- Increases the effects of the skills [Reinforcement], [Alteration], and [Tracing] by 10%. (This is always active. Whether or not the Reality Marble is deployed.)
- More effects will be added as this skill levels up.
- Sea of Souls' effects will be revealed when Yuki completes the requirements to deploy her Reality Marble.
.
So that's why it didn't work. The skill wasn't Level 50, and I don't have enough mana. Well, I already had an understanding of myself when I made my vow with my Shadow back in Kamoshida's Castle. That's why my Aria was working. The other two requirements are relatively easy compared to that.
However, we still have no plan to deal with Berserker. If only Caster was here to even the odds a bit.
Hmm, I'm looking at this wrong. Instead of thinking about how we can defeat Berserker, I should try to remember all the instances I know of Berserker being defeated. I know, for a fact, that in the anime and VN Berserker was defeated in all the routes. Let's go over each of them.
In the Fate route, Archer got rid of half of them; then Rin got rid of one, and then Saber killed the rest with a single blow from a Traced Caliburn. We could try this but how would we be able to get rid of so many of his lives? Archer had a multitude of weapons from his Reality Marble.
In UBW, Gilgamesh just spammed a bunch of A-rank Noble Phantasms until he died. We can't do this one for obvious reasons.
And in Heaven's Feel, Saber Alter took some of them, and then Shirou used…
That could work… but we need to get rid of a couple more lives, and I need to restore my mana. I'm just putting it out there; I was not going to do that ridiculous 'mana transfer ritual.'
.
…Wait, how could I forget? I have [The Gamer], that's like the ultimate cheat ability.
I checked to see the cost of a mana potion in the Abyss Shop, and it was too much. The ones in the Abyss Auction are cheaper but won't end for another few days, so they're useless to me. Guess that leaves Gacha Tickets. Let's hope my luck holds.
[Gacha Activated… 10 + 1]
[The Red Black Keys (Craft Essence)]
Of course… with the red ones, I now have a complete set. Am I always going to be drawing Black Keys?
[Detective Pikachu Plushy]
[2017 Yamaha FZ-10]
Another motorcycle. I really need to get my license.
[1/700 scale model of USS Enterprise CV-6]
[Batarang]
[Satori (CP2077)]
Nice. More swords always make me happy.
[Rebel Dagger (P5)]
This is the dagger that Joker (Ren) is always shown using, like in Smash.
[10 Saint Quartz]
[Companion Gem: Sebas Tian]
Nice! I can use this now to-
[Note: Due to your dimensional displacement, you will not be able to use this until you return to your world.]
…You really don't want me to have easy mode right now, huh Game?
[Potion of Ultimate Magicka (ESV)]
Completely restores all mana.
…Thank you luck. Probably helps that I have that luck perk as well.
[Durandal: Sword of Sacred Fire (FE)]
Rank: A
Also known as The Blazing Blade. This sword was once wielded by the hero Roland who partook in the purging of dragons during what is known as The Scouring. After the Demon Dragon Idunn was sealed, the sword was sealed away in a cave where it was eventually unsealed by Roland's descendant, a man named Eliwood, the Marquess of Pharae.
- ATK: 425
- Deals triple damage against dragons.
.
[Durandal (FE) has been added to ?.]
[Rebel Dagger has been added to ?.]
[Satori has been added to ?.]
…Well, that's some sword to have. This version of Durandal is a longsword. Fortunately, almost all the swords I have are longswords.
But I have more important things at the moment.
"Ritsuka, those jewels you say can damage Berserker; how much do you have?" I asked him.
"Uh… over a dozen," He answered.
"Think you can take one of Berserker's lives with those?"
"If I hit point black in the face, then yes." Ritsuka paused, his mind seemed to be catching on. "Where are you going with this?"
*BOOM*
We turned back toward the battle as Berserker was caught in an explosion. Caster landed right in front of us.
"Tch should've known it was just a fake to lure me away…" he muttered to himself.
"Caster!? Where on Earth have you been!?" Olga demanded.
"Talk about that later. We deal with Berserker first," Caster replied.
I took a look back at the battle. Saber had just killed Berserker with another Mana Burst blasting through his torso.
[God Hand: 10]
"Well then, I guess we better make it count," I said, getting up and drinking the mana potion.
"What do you mean?" Ritsuka asked nervously.
"You're going to kill Berserker," I stated.
"…To do that, I need to get incredibly close. Why do I need to put myself in that kind of danger?" Ritsuka groaned, sounding like he did not like this idea. Of course, he wouldn't. He's about to get up close and personal with Berserker.
"Because I have a plan to kill him, but for it to work, we need to get rid of one more life."
"Does this plan involve me coming out of this in one piece?"
"Of course! That's a given," I looked at him as if he was stupid. Why wouldn't I want him to come out of this alive?
Ritsuka took a moment to look at me in the eyes before he took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll do it. What's the plan," he said with determination in his voice.
"Okay, this should be easier now that Caster is here. Here's how we'll do this…"
…
"…Are you sure about this?" Ritsuka asked anxiously.
"Yes, this will guarantee you'll take one of his lives and give me time to set up," I told him.
"…Okay. I'm trusting you with this," Ritsuka then turned to Caster. "You heard your part, right?"
"Don't worry, I'll watch your back, boyo," Caster assured him.
"And what do the two of us do in the meantime?" asked Olga.
"Just make sure you two don't get hurt," I said.
"So, basically, sit on the sidelines," Kana understood my meaning. She looked like she didn't like that, but she knew why they had to stay out.
"Yes. Let's go."
With the command given, Ritsuka and Caster took off towards Mash, who was dealing with Berserker, while I went off towards Saber. We needed to explain to them their parts of the plan.
Once I got to Saber, I relayed her part and looked over to the others. Caster had Berserker distracted, and Ritsuka looked to be finished telling Mash. He looked over to me, and I gave him a nod, and he returned it.
"Caster! It's time!" Ritsuka yelled to him.
"You got it, boyo!"
With a wave of his staff, runes appeared in the air, surrounding Berserker and Ritsuka. They glowed for a second, then took effect. The runes on Ritsuka had the effect of increasing his DEX, equal to A-rank. As for Berserker, the runes around him launched powerful fire attacks from all directions, forcing him to stay in his spot.
Ritsuka jumped up high in the air. At the same time, Mash set the shield at an angle and swung it forward with all her strength. Ritsuka planted his feet on the shield and…
"Haaahhh!" he yelled as he flew through the air. With Mash's STR and his DEX, he reached Berserker in less than a second. Because Berserker was being bombarded by fire, his vision was obscured, and he couldn't see Ritsuka flying his way. The fire runes are turned off at the last possible moment so Ritsuka doesn't get burned. He soared extremely close to Berserker's head and was able to charge and release the dozen or so A-rank jewels.
*BOOM*
The explosion was almost immediate, as we did not want Berserker to have even the slightest chance of mitigating the blast. Ritsuka was within the blast radius, and he would've been injured if not for Saber flying in with Mana Burst, getting ahold of him, and protecting him from it.
Once the smoke cleared, Berserker's face was horribly mangled, and there were chunks of his head missing. He is definitely dead. Nice job, Ritsuka.
[God Hand: 9]
Now it's my turn to finish this off. I stared at Berserker's reviving from and activated my Mystic Eyes.
"Trace On."
~X~
This was the first time I ever used my Mystic Eyes to take such a deep dive into a person's history. I never did so before because my targets were all living, and it felt like an invasion of privacy if I did that.
But I needed to do that with Berserker if I wanted to kill him.
.
So I did…
I saw everything…
.
His Twelve Labors really stood out.
Slaying the Nemean Lion.
Slaying the nine-headed Hydra.
Capturing the Golden Hind.
Capturing the Erymanthian Boar.
Cleaning the Augean Stables.
Slaying the Stymphalian Birds.
Capturing the Cretan Bull.
Obtaining the Girdle of Hippolyta.
Obtaining the cattle of Geryon.
Stealing the golden apples of the Hesperides.
Capturing Cerberus.
.
I saw the lesser-known parts of his life.
Freeing Prometheus...
Getting into a drinking contest with Dionysus and losing…
Rescuing Theseus from Hades…
His time with the Argonauts…
And many more.
.
I saw his death as a result of Nessus tricking Heracles' wife at the time, Deianira, into giving him a shirt tainted with Hydra blood.
.
It was easy to see why he was considered Greece's greatest hero.
.
But…
As interesting as that history was…
The history that stood out the most…
.
Was Heracles crying over the bodies of his wife and children.
.
After being driven to madness…
From a petty goddess who wouldn't leave him alone…
.
She went out of her way to make his life difficult.
Being driven to madness and killing his first wife and children…
Disguising herself as an Amazon and spreading a rumor that he was going to kidnap Hippolyta, resulting in the Queen's death…
Trying to prevent him from capturing the Cattle of Geryon...
Driving him mad again, which led to him killing his best friend, Iphitus…
.
She just would not leave him be!
WHY!?
What did he do other than being born!?
.
Seeing all those memories…
Forever changed my interpretation of Hera and Heracles.
.
And I didn't know this at the time but…
This entire experience will come to influence a decision I will make much later down the road.
But right now, I need to deal with the here and now.
.
With this dive into his entire history over…
It's time to end Berserker.
~X~
I watched an entire lifetime in what felt like years. But in reality, it's only been one second. Berserker is back on his feet and alive once more. But I'm ready for him. The dive into his history got what I wanted.
[Due to certain actions, a new skill has been acquired.]
[Axe-Sword has been added to ?.]
I ripped off what was left of the sleeve and bandages on my right arm and raised it in the air.
Berserker roared and started charging.
…Let's do this.
"Trigger Off…"
All the Magic Circuits in my body flared. The ones on my right arm were completely visible as a blue ball of mana formed above my palm. Mana was crackling all through the air.
[STR: 89 - 1000]
[DEX: 128 - 2000]
The chaotic mana took shape and formed into Berserker's Axe-Sword.
"Nine Lives… Blade Works!"
I dashed forward, closing the distance in a millisecond. The sword flew within my hands and towards Berserker.
Nine Simultaneous Strikes!
Upper Arm
Collarbone
Windpipe
Temple
Diaphragm
Rib
Testicles
Thighs
Heart
…
…
…
[You have defeated Servant Berserker (Heracles).]
[Stamina: -50%]
[Your stamina has gone way past its limit.]
[You will fall unconscious.]
...
~X~
Social Links:
0 – Fool (Igor) – Rank 2
I – Magician (Morgana) – Rank 2
V – Hierophant (Sojiro Sakura) – Rank 3
VI – Lovers (Ann Takamaki) – Rank 1
VII – Chariot (Ryuji Sakamoto) – Rank 4
XIV – Temperance (Artoria Pendragon) – Rank 1
XVII – Star (Issei Hyoudou) – Rank 3
Author's Note:
That's the end of Chapter 7. Definitely, the shortest chapter I've written so far.
As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.
(Preview)
"You can't fight Archer."
"I have to…"
"No, you won't. Look at yourself! You're in no condition to be fighting anything!"
(x)
"Think you can take her on."
"I will fight to the best of my ability."
"That's good, but that doesn't answer my question."
(x)
"This is my counterpart? How disappointing"
(x)
PERSONA!