Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity
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39- The King's Sword: Art Gallery Brawl
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Throughout all her life Luvia had many expectations placed on her back, both from other people but also by herself.
Born as the older of twin sisters just by a few minutes, it was always implied that it would be her duty to carry out her family traditions with the support of her younger sister sharing the burden of the future of the Edelfelt despite their differences.
But that wouldn't last forever as tradition dictated that only one could truly be the Head of the family. As sisters they always knew that one would remain in the Edelfelt while the other was destined to be married off into another family and they had many talks about it. Even the siblings agreed that Luvia was the best choice for the part and so more expectations were placed on her together with their hopes.
Her twin didn't even put up a fight when they were told she would marry outside of the family sooner or later to avoid succession issues. Until that happened both were the heiresses of the Edelfelt but as soon as she married she would be part of another family, a former Edelfelt.
Despite their Crest ensuring the life of their family if one of them perished, one of them being married off was an inevitable outcome to stop an internal conflict. Not that Luvia's twin cared as she was more introverted and accepted the situation with grace, dignity and without a care in the world.
She was almost opposite of her elder sibling, most of all when it came to their personalities, and instead of fighting she went with the flow, even falling in love with her suitor.
That also steared everyone's expectations more towards Luvia as the Head since the younger one showed no interest in advancing their magecraft and was fully interested in joining her love's family.
She had to be smarter than everyone else, stronger than everyone else, more cunning than anyone and cruel to all her enemies. That was the necessary criteria to any noble of the Clocktower and that meant that Luvia's duty demanded excellency in not only leading her family but also manipulating events to its favor ruthlessly.
With so much expectations on her ever since she was a child it wasn't odd that Luvia felt every single one of them from time to time. It didn't matter her talent or skill, there were times that she wanted to run away from everything and give up because of how heavy the burden was.
But there were those that wanted to help her, people that Luvia could truly appreciate in the worst of times. Auguste was one of them, a silent protector and that has been with the Edelfelt for a long time, Luvia's whole life.
For most of her life Luvia had dedicated herself to her studies and while she was an outgoing girl that didn't mean she had many friends. The danger of betrayal in the Clocktower meant that people were always kept at arm's length at best between the nobles unless they were already allies or family of some kind and that wasn't a guarantee.
But Auguste had always been there for Luvia. He was loyal, capable and an ear to hear her troubles when she needed to. When the blonde announced that she would be moving to Japan to either secure a husband or a pact the man immediately asked "When shall we depart?"
He was always there in the good and bad times, a reassuring presence that Luvia could openly admit that she needed more than once.
Seeing the car with her loyal caretaker being flung into a wall sent Luvia into a spiral of emotions; worry, apprehension, anger.
It was an anger that Luvia never felt before in her life.
Luvia thought that she knew what fury was, what the fire that burned every time she fought with Rin was. But she realized in that moment, the moment she thought her loyal caretaker was dead, that she had no idea what true fury was.
"You are dead." Her killing the knights that harmed Auguste wasn't enough, that fire didn't disappear with their demise or diminished with her declaration. Not while their leader and enabler was still alive.
When Xenovia declared she was going to go after the Excaliburs, Luvia gave her no thoughts and barely any attention. The swords didn't matter to her anymore. What the aristocrat magus wanted was Gawain's head.
When everyone began to move, Luvia didn't think twice before charging into the fray. It didn't matter who was on her way anymore, all she wanted was to make Gawain pain.
Considering how the golden energy acted around the members or the Order and its absence around their leader indicated that Gawain himself couldn't use it or was just the source of it. She also felt a familiar sensation of power around the man but nothing which indicated danger which led Luvia to believe that either Gawain couldn't use his power or was directing it to improve his men's chances.
As many soldiers of the Order moved to stop her, all surrounded by a golden aura while Gawain had none, Luvia was confident that the knight was responsible for their power. The logical side of her mind told her that once she got her hands on Gawain she would effectively end the fight.
She was still mostly after revenge, cutting out the power of her enemy was just a bonus.
When Luvia was close to the first obstacle she already prepared another spell on her hand, ready to repeat her previous feat and kill the man in one hit. This time the soldier of the Order was much faster and managed to react at her approach with his shield, blocking the attack.
When she saw the shield resist the blast of mana, the blue magus frowned but didn't panic. Her jewel was running out of mana and she allowed it to keep going, using the extra seconds to think.
But the shield resisted and around them the mana began to dissipate to reveal that it remained intact with some of the golden aura around it from the knight.
That was irritating for Luvia who expected the spell to pierce the shield with a single strike. But it was something easily fixed in her opinion as she grabbed the shield with her gloved hand and tried to push it to the side.
Finding it hard to move the shield showed Luvia that the soldiers' of the Order physical strength had increased considerably as previously she had already defined that they hadn't broken the human limits.
That apparently had changed because of the aura and she had to take a step back when the man in question tried to cut her head with his sword. She noticed how many were already moving around, getting into better positions against her and the others as Gawain remained back.
That just made Luvia more determined to reach the knight than before as her magic circuits became visible in her face and neck. She felt the familiar sensation of mana empowering her body with Reinforcement as she sidestepped a spear before delivering a hard kick to the attacker's chest.
While Luvia wasn't capable of lifting a car even with Reinforcement she was still incredibly strong, certainly stronger than most magus practitioners of the skill. Her Reinforcement was close to perfect, only one person she knew was her superior, and the strike was so strong that the man's feet left the floor and he flew away.
Luvia made an effort to watch that particular knight as she dodged the others, trying to understand the effects the aura had on them. Purposefully she aimed the kick precisely on the center of the man's chest and had him flying exactly from where he came from, members of the Order moving aside to not be hit for the body of their comrade.
Even then the other members of the Order had no intention of letting Luvia relax. They had the numbers and planned to use them to the fullest, first by surrounding her to then cut her down.
It was a simple plan that didn't involve that much coordination but they were coordinated enough that seamlessly transitioned between letting their comrade fly without hitting them to surround the magus completely.
While her fury was still in the forefront and her desire of vengeance didn't diminish, Luvia didn't allow it to blind her to the fact her opponents were all amplified humans. 'I can't lose track of that one.'
She just didn't know exactly how much stronger the soldiers became or how it affected their equipment. Considering she failed to break the shield in the first hit it was obvious all their defense was now much higher. Two people being able to push a car off easily after being run down and not suffering any wounds told her as much.
So Luvia knew that the situation may be many times worse than it looked and that she may now be at a disadvantage. "If you wish to live, step aside." That didn't stop her from speaking confidently as she held the sapphire empty of mana on her hand before dropping it down on her sleeve. "I am in no mood to play today."
Always the aristocrat, even when furious over the death of her caretaker, Luvia's posture remained calm and nonchalant. Her eyes showed the arrogance of someone that was above all and every single soldier of the Order of Pendragon could feel the confidence in Luvia's actions.
"Out of my way." By her tone It was a warning and a threat that the magus planned to carry out if anyone tried the contrary.
Actions spoke more than words as the members of the Order charged with fury of their own. The blonde magus insulted their pride, threatened their leader and they fully intended to make her pay.
From her ears Luvia felt mana from her earrings charge up with a small blue light, hidden by her hair. As the soldiers approached she took out them from her ears and held both jewels in her palm. "You will pay for challenging an Edelfelt." When a sword was about to stab her Luvia allowed the spell to activate. "Gemini!"
The two small jewels hit the first soldier hard and threw him back like he was punched by a gorilla. But they didn't stop there as the jewels kept flying around and attacking the knights like flies but infinitely more dangerous.
However, that maneuver can only deal with the closest life signs to the jewels themselves, temporarily distracting one side while the others move to finish Luvia off.
She didn't wait for them, instead Luvia charged and grabbed one of the soldiers by their face, a woman from what she could tell, and slammed her on the floor as hard as she could before going to the next.
Not having expected such a counter attack, especially one that seemed more like a wrestling move, the soldiers saw another two of theirs hit the floor before one of them reacted by raising his shield for Luvia to connect.
The Edelfelt Heiress expected the defense and jumped while taking hold of the soldier's shoulder. His eyes widened in a panic behind his helmet as he noticed Luvia smile as she descended and hit his back with her knee. Her Reinforced closed to perfection knee that hit him hard enough to break something even with the armor.
But as the man fell to his knees Luvia didn't stop, she pointed her fingers at those around her and unleashed a couple shots of mana only to realize the aura was fully negating them.
With a frown she had to dodge a sword coming for her shoulder from a soldier that discarded his shield and then quickly moved to deflect a spear going for her head.
Feeling a small cut from her cheek despite the blade falling to touch her skin had Luvia changing tactics as the aura appeared to have increased the weapon's reach slightly. She could see it going in a tiny veil around the tip of the weapon and moved to break it with her other hand.
Surrounded as she was Luvia had to keep moving while using Reinforcement constantly, a feat she would begrudgingly thank Rin for since she could only do that for long periods of time because of their 'spars'.
Doing a flip and landing close to two soldiers she punched one on the face and kicked the other away. More of them jumped from the second floor and landed close to her but Luvia grabbed the one she punched by her legs and began to spin.
"Are you kidding me?!" Someone complained before they were hit by the spinning knight in Luvia's hands as she laughed out loud.
"Ohohohoho! How do you feel facing the mighty Lancashire style of martial combat?!" She threw the man she was using straight to the soldiers that finally neutralized her earrings, smiling all the way. "You should know about it as servants of King Arthur. It came from England, afterall."
Having managed to make some space for herself Luvia glanced at the first soldier she had kicked away and frowned. Despite the man having been hit by her fully Reinforced kick he was getting up, it was slow and he looked hurt but he was getting up. That was extremely bad for her.
Using Reinforcement at full capacity took a lot of concentration so it didn't backfire on the user. Doing so while fighting numerous opponents increased the risks considerably; it meant that the odds of her making a mistake and dying were quite high.
"Looks like I will have to spend a considerable amount of my jewels to deal with all of you." Luvia commented as the soldiers, even some of those she had beaten up, prepared to attack her again. "Let's see if you can make even a dent on the Edelfelt's coffers."
That declaration just served to irritate her enemies more and some of the soldiers threw away their shields to hold their swords and spears with two hands.
Grabbing the sleeves of her dress, Luvia ripped them off while grabbing some of the jewels hidden inside them with practiced ease. The used sapphire moved to her picked as she showed the soldiers multiple gems between all her fingers.
"Do any of you know anything about Jewel Magecraft?" Already having seen some of what she could do the soldiers of Order were cautious. "No? Then you shall learn with your skin."
All her gems began to glow with mana as they synchronized with their owner's presence.
When the fight began the first thing that Xenovia did was make a beeline towards Freed and Gawain, much like Luvia. Her intentions were a little different as her main target was the Mad Exorcist but she also understood that taking down the knight would also greatly weaken the members of the Order of Pendragon.
Some tried to get in their way but against Excalibur Destruction neither their weapons, armor, or even the golden aura was enough to stop its edge from reaching their flesh. Xenovia had already cut down three more when they realized that advancing against her was too risky and tired to keep a reasonable distance.
Xenovia still charged without fear, noticing how Gawain remained firmly in place, his sword still in front of him as the man watched her move. The blue haired Exorcist was sure that would be a matter of time seconds before she reached him and faced the blond in combat.
Then she noticed Freed moving with killer intent straight towards Luvia who was distracted with her many opponents.
Unlike Xenovia whose sword could deal with the soldiers Luvia didn't have anything similar at the moment and that showed how she was falling to defeat them all. From the previous hideouts that they fought together the blue haired girl knew that under normal conditions the magus should have already finished her opposition.
Which left her exposed to Freed and clearly the mad man was going for a backstab that would kill Luvia in the worst case scenario.
Since they split up now the Exorcist needed to choose who to go after the Mad Exorcist or the Knight of the Order. 'Damn you.' Xenovia cursed as she pivoted and charged at Freed.
While her mission was recovering the Excalibur Fragments, she knew that facing Freed was inevitable, weakening the ranks of the Order would have been beneficial on many levels and make things safer to confront the Holy Swords under the Mad Exorcist's control.
But Luvia was an ally, however temporary or under suspicion, and Xenovia wasn't the kind of person who leaves her allies behind. She wouldn't be able to defeat Gawain and save Luvia at the same time so she made a decision and rushed as fast as she could towards the blue magus.
Some of the Order of Pendragon noticed her change of direction and tried to intercept her but the aura didn't give them enough speed and Xenovia was beyond human limits supported by Excalibur Destruction.
Freed was still faster, much faster than a human and faster than anyone else Xenovia had ever met. With Excalibur Rapidly in hand and a Holy Aura covering his body he was much faster than he should be.
After a second Xenovia realized that she couldn't reach Freed before he reached Luvia and so she stabbed Excalibur Destruction on the floor as superficially as she could. Stabbing too deeply would delay her next move as she pushed the sword with both hands and sent out as many stones as she was able in Freed's direction.
From the corner of his eye Freed saw the projectiles coming and quickly jumped back. Once more the man's speed was beyond anyone else Xenovia ever saw as he landed, recovered his balance and began to move between some of the debris casually.
He ducked under a piece of stone, moved his body left to avoid a huge part of the floor, turned on his side to escape another and let another few to fly by him before blocking Xenovia's swing with Rapidly. All under a few seconds.
"Hey! I like the clothes but wait your turn!" Freed complained before smiling. "But daaaaaamn you look nice."
"I don't care." Xenovia stated and tried to push Rapidly back before taking a swing to Freed's neck.
The white haired man moved his head back to avoid the sword and blocked again when Xenovia tried a follow up stab. "Are you an idiot? I'm pretty much the fastest man alive while I have this baby here." He pushed Rapidly against Destruction to make sure it was visible to Xenovia's eye. "But hey, I can let you live if you suck me."
"I would prefer dying while choking in my own vomit." She replied while pushing her sword back and Freed immediately retreated.
"Rude~" He commented as he moved fast and separated their swords before going for a stab on Xenovia's chest which she blocked. "Since you don't want to have some fun you don't need these, right?" Freed pushed his sword with every intention of piercing her chest but she pushed Rapidly completely with both swords held high.
The Mad Exorcist dodged an overhead swing from Destruction before by stepping back and letting the sword slam into the floor. With that Freed saw an opening and went for a stab to Xenovia's side, knowing that he was faster than her and she wouldn't see the attack coming in time.
"I win!" The declaration wasn't followed by the sound of tearing flesh but of steel clashing as the Excalibur Destruction guard stopped the Rapidly tip. Both swords shake with the effort of the owners as Freed tries to understand the events. "What?"
"'Fastest man alive', huh?" Xenovia mocked the Mad Exorcist who couldn't believe she managed to block his attack. He was distracted and the bluehead used the opportunity to push his sword to the side and go for a swipe at his legs.
However Freed's instincts snapped him out of his stupor, the danger suppressed his shock and made him realize the position he was in. His salvation came from Rapidly as his speed was still vastly superior to Xenovia's. Before Destruction could touch his legs the Mad Exorcist retreated as fast as he could with a little panic.
From the corners of the fast skirmish between the two Excalibur Holders, members of the Order of Pendragon watched with confusion. "How did she block that?"
"I- I don't know." Another admitted. "The Mad Exorcist was so fast."
"Hey, you two! Help us!" Another soldier of the Order called for the duo and they turned to help their friends against Luvia.
If he had their help Freed could beat Xenovia easily but none in the Order of Pendragon wanted to help the insane man. The best result for the Order would be if the two Holders took each other out and so all of them stayed clear of their fight.
Freed was aware of that and managed to chuckle at seeing the armored soldiers giving him and Xenovia space. 'So much for chivalry~' He then dodged to the left as the blue haired Exorcist had tried to cut him in half. "I didn't forget about you, beautiful~"
"Pity." Xenovia had tried to cut the man when his eyes weren't on her but Freed's attention was now fully on the fight. 'He isn't used to Rapidly yet. I can beat him.' She noticed when the white haired man had to use his free hand to stop himself, clearly having troubles controlling his speed.
Not that it bothered Freed that he was still growing used to the weapon, its advantages just helped him too much for that to be considered a disadvantage. Still he could use some old tricks to compensate. "You guys from the Church are still the same. A bunch of dogs with sticks up their asses." He gave her a feral smile, sword ready for her attack. "Or bitch in your case."
He expected Xenovia to throw herself at him with indignation and fury but all the blue haired maiden did was give him a glare and take a couple steps in his direction, guard up.
"Come on come on~ Let's get this moving already~" Freed challenged Xenovia with his sword pointing at her and a clear opening to his side.
There was no rush for Xenovia as she made long strides in his direction, sword close to her and ready to move when Freed moved. 'Don't let your temper get the better of you. Remember what Griselda taught you.' There was nothing more that she wanted to do other than attack Freed with her full strength but the memory of her guardian held her back. 'How furious she will be if you attack a faster opponent carelessly.'
Only the lessons she had growing up kept Xenovia's impulses at bay. She wanted to just keep attacking until he died.
However, before this particular mission, she was warned by her guardian to practice more restraint as one of her opponents could be using Excalibur Rapidly. Her Exorcist training could be the only thing to save her life in that situation and she should follow it.
Lo and behold it happened and Xenovia confirmed that Freed was too fast for her to just catch. She had to be careful. 'Don't overreach, don't overreach, don't overreach, don't overreach.' She hated being careful.
A frown appeared on Freed's face at that point. 'Did I read her wrong? I was sure she was going to jump at the chance to get me.' It was all over Xenovia's body language, a need to attack and cut the enemy down. 'Well, guess plan B it is.'
When Freed's hand moved to his coat Xenovia immediately stopped and prepared herself. She could see more swords hidden beneath the robes, all of the stolen Fragments, and knew that it would be a hard fight.
She was almost disappointed when instead of a sword Freed pulled out a gun and opened fire. The smile that escaped Xenovia's lips was almost involuntary as a Holy Aura left Destruction and covered her body in an instant.
When the bullets got to her Xenovia did nothing as they just collided with the aura and fell harmlessly. "What the fuck?"
"What is wrong? You don't know how to do something so basic?" Xenovia taunted with a mocking smile that had Freed's eyebrown's twitching. "I expected better of someone with 4 of the 7 Fragments of Excalibur. They are a waste on you."
"You little bitch." Excalibur Rapidly's aura covered Freed in a second as he accelerated in Xenovia's direction. Before he could reach her the aura was already falling but the speed was still there and he easily went around to reach her back. "Die!"
But Xenovia was prepared and turned just in time to block Rapidly. Her feet firmly on the ground helped her stop Freed and she couldn't help but smile. "You may be the fastest but not that fast compared to everyone I have fought before."
A scowl made its way to Freed's face but he had no time to reply as Xenovia pushed him back and moved to cut his side. Once again he leaned on Rapidly's speed and Xenovia cut an after image instead of the man himself who was moving to stab her side.
However the aura of Xenovia's sword was still going and Freed felt how it fought against his own weapon. It wasn't a long struggle, unlike the bullets that while baptized were just normal bullets, Rapidly was an Excalibur Fragment and it broke through the aura in an instant.
An instant was all Xenovia needed and soon Freed had to retreat again, jumping back with a single leg as Destruction almost cut off his head. However, jumping with one leg didn't give him the full benefits of Rapidly and the blue head pursued him to try for another swing.
Freed found himself in the defensive as he had lost his balance and had to use a hand to avoid falling while Xenovia was going for another strike on his chest. When Freed managed to block it despite his bad position, Xenovia pushed back his sword once again and aimed for his legs.
Once again the Mad Exorcist kicks the floor to get some distance, this time pulling out his gun and shooting every bullet still on it only for them to fall to the ground as the sword's aura keeps protecting Xenovia.
Freed had no time to be annoyed by the aura as Xenovia was clearly getting ready to finish him. He had Rapidly's speed and that meant the second the proper Exorcist would take to reach him was more than enough for him to stab his sword to the side and use it as a leaver.
Xenovia was already moving to cut the Mad Exorcist when Freed pulled himself to her left and then kicked her. A white aura covered the man for a fraction of a second but his speed allowed the kick to connect before it had returned to Rapidly
A clash of the energies didn't happen as the identical auras nullified each other and Xenovia felt pain as the impossibly fast legs hit her. She couldn't stop herself from hitting the floor but by doing a roll she stood up quickly, already ready to defend when Freed attacked again.
Sparks come close to Xenovia's face as Rapidly almost cuts her head through her eyes. She managed to hold just shy of reaching her much to Freed's surprise, he was sure that he had won. Still their position gave him the advantage so he kept pushing his sword with both hands while the bluehead pushed back in the same measure.
Unbelievably to the Mad Exorcist, Xenovia used him like a wall and threw her weight at their competition to get up. The white haired man could see the tame Holy Aura still protecting the blue haired girl and understood that was empowering her in ways that he lacked.
But he did have the means to use the same power and so Freed started to push harder with some Holy Aura leaving his body in waves.
Xenovia noticed that but wasn't deterred, the real advantage of Rapidly was speed, not power and while Freed remained locked against her that made the fight easier. Mostly because she counted that he would be too distracted when she attacked properly.
Now that she was standing once again and Freed began to try and use the sword's Holy Aura, Xenovia kept the blades in lock and paid attention to the aura around the man. Using a sword's Holy Aura could take a considerable toll in a person's mind and be extremely distracting to someone not used to it.
Someone like Freed who never had a proper Holy Sword in his hands until just recently and that meant he could only last a few seconds. Xenovia has been keeping her Excalibur Destruction's aura going for almost a minute now.
Unlike her opponent, Xenovia knew the signs when someone was failing to keep the aura going or when it was about to break. More than most from previous experiences with a stronger Holy Sword than the Fragments.
So when Freed began to give in and the aura around him grew weaker she made a final push, throwing her full strength against him with the goal of touching him with Destruction.
Not cut, just a touch, a small stab from the tip would be enough for Xenovia to turn the aura around her into fuel for her weapon's ability. Just a small touch and even if she doesn't kill him she can cripple the Mad Exorcist and finish the job later.
It wasn't to be as Freed quickly realized that his strength was failing as he lost his hold on the Holy Aura. But he still held Rapidly and even without the aura out the speed was something that Freed could still use.
Xenovia's eyes grew wide when Freed escaped her once again and she almost lost her balance when their competition suddenly ended. She remembered the pattern from the mad man's previous attacks and began to turn around to block when she noticed that there was a presence behind her.
'When did he-'
"Got you!" Once more Destruction's aura saved Xenovia's life as it gave her enough time to realize that Freed was behind her because of her turning to face him.
This time however she had no openings for a counter attack, not ones that she could take without dying first at least and none which were a guaranteed hit. Xenovia could feel the sword piercing her aura, time slowing down as Rapidly came closer to pierce a lung.
Her mind went into overdrive when Destruction's aura became affected and she only had milliseconds to react. Her luck was that she never forgot her training and the moment her protection was disturbed she was already moving, throwing herself forward to avoid the real hit.
Xenovia wasn't fast enough to compete with Freed directly, it wasn't even close and they both knew it. Yet her dodge saved her life as she managed to move enough to save her back and avoid death.
However, Excalibur Rapidly still connected with her shoulder as the blue haired Exorcist rolled forward and then turned to cut Freed from a low swing up. For his part the Mad Exorcist once again relied on his sword's speed and quickly stepped back. He was much more successful than Xenovia at avoiding the hit.
Getting up and positioning Destruction in front of her while lowering her center of gravity, Xenovia felt the aura that was protecting her during the whole fight diminish and let it go completely else she would hurt herself.
Experienced as she may be, Xenovia was already pushing herself during the fight and her body needed time to not fall due to the strain of holding the Holy Aura from Destruction. She frowned as she glared at the sword that was easier to control than her real one but was feeling more like a burden than help against Rapidly.
'If I summon it… no, that is too dangerous. I don't have enough space.' She needed a few seconds to recover and use the Holy Aura against Freed but she suspected he was going to give that to her.
But that was exactly what he did when instead of attacking he gave her a smile. "You don't fight like any Exorcist that I ever met before. More like an Executor."
Not one to waste an opportunity to recover, Xenovia decided to answer. "Ha. I don't know about others. I'm me and I fight like I want."
"Hear, hear! I agree with you! 100%!" The fact that Freed approved of her made Xenovia scown. "Ah, don't make a face like that. Well, you are still cute and my offer is still up. What do you say? Want to polish my 'sword'?"
"I'll die first!" Xenovia knew that she rested enough and could already go all out again but didn't advance.
Which gave Freed more opportunities to talk. "Don't be like that~ We have so much in common~ I bet you also have one person or two in your workplace you would rather see dead."
"No. While there are some people I don't like, all of us work together in the name of God." She held her sword close to her shoulder, pointing it at Freed and ready to attack. "I'm not scum like you who betrayed our Holy mission."
"Humph. Great. One of those." The humor on the man's face disappeared but he just planted Rapidly on the floor and leaned on it. "Why has every cute girl I met these few months been a devil, a bitch or stuck up follower of 'God'?" Freed mocked the name but Xenovia didn't flinch and that made him smile.
His eyes roamed Xenovia's form lecherously and he didn't even bother to hide his interest. He wasn't lying when he said that he missed looking at the uniform the blue haired Exorcist was using.
"Damn, that bastard always has the hottest followers too. Some of the nuns that I have met, hmmm. A waste that they try to stay virgins. A waste!"
'Is he treating this like a chat?' Xenovia relaxed her arms slightly by returning her sword to her center but didn't lower her guard. 'He really is a mad man.' She took the opportunity to take a glance to her shoulder, just a small glance before turning her eyes back at Freed.
There was no time for Xenovia to waste fully examining her wound while Freed had Excalibur Rapidly on hand. If she took her eyes from him for too long that would mean death but she didn't need much time to evaluate her wound and judge it non detrimental.
Thanks to her aura and combat uniform the wound was mostly superficial and wasn't going to impair her capabilities.
However the fact that her uniform was damaged and her shoulder was bleeding proved how sharp Excalibur Rapidly was as the protections from her uniform failed and if she hadn't moved it was clear she would have lost an arm.
"So who trained you?" Freed asked casually, almost like they weren't enemies. Xenovia's guard grew tighter as the man just smiled. "Come on~ tell me~ You don't fight like an Exorcist and aren't an Executor either. One of them must have taught you." His observation skills told him as much and he couldn't help but ask and the bluehead silence which just made him more curious. "So who?"
"None of your business." Xenovia immediately regretted speaking when Freed's smile grew wider. 'He may be insane but his fighting sense and instinct are sharp.'
Reports may have spoken about Freed's skills and his genius but facing its personality was giving Xenovia a new perspective of how dangerous the man actually was. Despite his madness Freed was already mastering Rapidly's speed and was getting better at using the sword's Holy Aura, two things that worried Xenovia more than she would like to admit.
"Aren't you really going to tell me?" The Mad Exorcist sounded disappointed. "I'm your veteran, you know? Your senpai here in Japan. Show some respect"
"No." The short answer just appeared to make Freed more upset.
"But I wanna know. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna." He acted like a child that was denied a toy.
But Xenovia wasn't going to be fooled. "Drop the act. Even if you care, you don't care that much."
Upon being called out, Freed immediately stopped whining and smiled again. "Ah, but I do wanna know." His cheerful smile turns malicious. "I need them to teach me how to use an Excalibur like you." He leaned forward on Rapidly but Xenovia could tell he was ready to pounce. "That aura business is too annoying to get right. Maybe that is what I need, a teacher."
The idea of this kind of man meeting her guardian unsettled Xenovia. "That isn't going to help you much. I learned it by myself with the help of another sword."
Impulse and wish to take that man's mind away from her guardian made her talk and Xenovia realized her mistake when a contemplative expression showed up in the white haired man's face.
"Hmm. 'Another sword'." Freed began to rub his chin and thought but Xenovia still saw no opening as his eyes were still on her and Rapidly still touching his other palm. "'Another 'sword', yes. Maybe that will help." He opened his robes to reveal two other Excalibur Fragments and glanced slightly at them. "Maybe one of those?"
His hand left his chin and he began to tap the blades that Xenovia recognized as Nightmare and Transparency delicately. When his eyes turned to the blades, the blue haired Exorcist began her advance only to stop after a couple of steps when he looked at her again.
"Someone is excited." He laughed maliciously as his hand held Rapidly firmly once again. "What is the rush? Don't you like me?"
Xenovia kept her face blank as Freed's pout didn't phase her. 'Closer. I have to get closer.' He was still caressing the Fragments in his possession, treating them like golf clubs instead of legendary swords. 'Even if he gets another sword that could be to my advantage.' She hid her smile and let the man take his pick.
When Freed changed Rapidly to his other hand to open the other side of his coat it revealed the final Fragment in his possession, Excalibur Blessing, Xenovia realized that the man was just playing around before. He had already made his choice when she spoke about 'another sword'.
"Yeeeeeeeeees, this is the one." Freed unveiled Blessing completely and held it high. A second later a gentle white aura began to leave his body in waves before disappearing. "Hmm~ That's the stuff~" Xenovia didn't doubt him, if anything she silently agreed that Blessing was the best choice to learn how to master the Holy Aura, which the Mad Exorcist couldn't do yet as it soon disappeared. "Still getting the hang of this."
His failure was something that Xenovia expected. While all the swords in their fight were Excalibur Fragments, they all were different in a way or another. From the instructions and reports from the Church, Xenovia knew the swords' statistics and couldn't help but smile at Freed's choice.
'True that Blessing is the best sword to practice Holy Aura with, but it's also the weakest in everything else.' She waited for Freed to try and use the aura again before charging, this time holding nothing back and fully planning to finish the fight.
Freed was surprised by the sudden advance from someone that was essentially on the defensive before but shrugged it off in an instant with a smile as he moved to intercept her.
It was then that Freed realized his reach wasn't as good as before and that he was also slower. Something was wrong but he didn't have time to think about it as he almost fell down from the sudden lack of the speed he had grown used to.
Exactly what Xenovia expected as Destruction bashed Rapidly away and she moved to stab Freed's heart. She believed the fight was won when Freed threw his whole weight to the side and avoided the blade, Holy Auras clashing against each other as he passed. Then Blessing came to slice Xenovia's leg and easily beat her aura and landed the hit.
The bluehead expected something like that, she knew Destruction's aura was weaker than its siblings', the weakest of the bunch, and had no way to stop Blessing's which was the strongest.
But the cut was shallow, also something that she expected, as Xenovia pulled back Destruction to cut Freed's chest. The blade managed to score the hit but the Mad Exorcist didn't die as Excalibur Blessing's aura kept Destruction's power at bay. The two end up changing sides and turning around to keep fighting as Rapidly clashed against Destruction.
Fast movements followed the collision as Xenovia threw herself completely into the offensive and Freed, despite having two swords, failed to land another hit. Even when he came close Xenovia's clothes deflected it before he had to pull Blessing back to defend.
It was the only sword that the proper Exorcist allowed to get close as she kept swinging hard either at Freed or Rapidly.
'Compared to the other Fragments, Blessing is by far the weakest.' Xenovia reminded herself as the blade came close to hitting her injured shoulder but she used her gloved hand to deflect it as she attacked with Destruction and forced Freed back for the fourth time. 'Its edge is almost dull and can't get past most protections.'
The only reason Xenovia was cut before was because she was hit on her exposed tight but that was just to try and finish the fight faster since she saw an opening to take Freed out. Now she was much more attentive and every hit from Blessing was directed to her uniform which was extremely resistant and blessed with many protections.
Another blow from Destruction connects with Freed's side and Xenovia almost got a definitive blow if the white haired man hadn't saved himself with the Holy Aura. He wasn't good with it as of yet but was learning how to use it at an incredibly fast pace due to Blessing and the man's own talent.
Holy Energy protected him for a few instants as he used both his swords to push Destruction back before Xenovia could sink the sword deeper into his ribs. Both struggle and try to hit each other while the area around them starts to get damaged by the impact of their auras and weapons.
A fast blow from Rapidly was deflected by Destruction which then went for a stab on his waist only for Blessing to intercept it. Xenovia counted on her head the seconds as she suspected that Freed's aura was about to give in at any moment. When she saw a small flicker that spoke of the lack of focus or mental capacity on Freed's part she went for an overhead strike with her full force and her aura backing her.
All three weapons were over their heads as Freed blocked and held Destruction with both of his blades else it would fall down like a hammer on him. His aura completely disappeared and quickly he shifted his focus to Rapidly and felt as his body grew lighter as its aura filled his being.
But it only lasted one instant and he couldn't use it to get rid of Xenovia whose own aura was still going strong. Freed had underestimated the blue haired woman's experience with Holy Swords but wasn't out of the fight yet as he could tell with some movement from his muscles that the speed of Rapidly was active once again.
What Freed realized and which Xenovia already knew was that while the power of most Holy Swords, including the Excalibur Fragments, while internal and not dependent on the owner, they still relied heavily on the body and mind of the user for consistency.
As both were humans who broke the human limits their constitution was similar with Freed being actually stronger for many reasons. However Xenovia surpassed the man in two aspects that were as fundamental to Holy Swords as the body; a sharp mind with a strong will and experience.
That was something that Valper tried to correct for Freed and while the Mad Exorcist paid some attention to the lessons, the Archbishop of Genocide failed to convey how important the strenght of the mind was when using the Excaliburs.
He explained as a scientist would, not considering that a warrior like Freed didn't like to deal with details and prefered to understand through more practical means. Practical means that the old man failed to deliver or think about.
But Xenovia was giving him the opportunity to test the swords by just trying to kill him, the exact kind of situation Freed thrived in. He now understood that using a Holy Sword involved a lot of mental effort and focus. Also that using multiple Holy Swords at the same time demanded a person to spread their mind too much for him to use them effectively.
At the moment Freed was starting to understand his limitations, how he couldn't use multiple abilities at the same time and how the Fragments themselves worked. Fighting against Xenovia was turning a dangerous man much more dangerous and the Exorcist had yet to realize that.
She was too focused on her duty and the fight to see that Freed was already thinking both on it and beyond. Such was the level of his potential.
Their competition of strength ended when Freed managed to move his food enough to kick Xenovia back a few steps. He moved for a double cut with his swords using his increased speed but the bluehead blocked both with Destruction.
Considering that Blessing's aura was out and he was using Rapidly's speed, Xenovia knew they returned to their previous position where Freed was faster but a mere touch from her sword was lethal.
So this time she used all her strength and aura to push the Mad Exorcist back and jump forward to cut him. Freed was also aware of the change of situation and when his swords were pushed up he immediately retreated as fast as he could, his back hitting a wall.
Both sides look at each other, Xenovia with a glare and Freed with a smile as they prepare themselves to continue the fight.
A few minutes earlier when Irina saw her partner advancing she worked on covering her up by knocking some soldiers of the Order while Xenovia would take care of their leader. Both had realized that Gawain's had some sacred gear that was empowering his men. It made sense to defeat him first.
While Mimic was far from being the most powerful of the Excalibur Fragments, Irina was already skilled enough with it that she could knock around some of the enemy soldiers.
However it was hard for her to go for definitive blows, there were too many and they were much stronger compared to the previous soldiers she faced since she returned to Fuyuki. In a way Mimic was the best and the worst Fragment to face them in Irina's opinion; she could transform it on anything but if she didn't think big she wouldn't defeat any of them.
That wouldn't be a problem since Irina could just turn Mimic into a giant sword and throw them all away from Xenovia with some effort. The soldiers could still fight back and with their numbers the chestnut haired Exorcist had to be careful to not be caught off guard but for a few seconds she managed to keep the majority of them away from her partner.
Things got complicated when Freed began to make his move. Irina didn't disagree with Xenovia's decision of chasing after him, she was the most experienced Holy Sword user and had the best odds between the two of them to take the Fragments back. If nothing else Shidou approved of the decision of saving Luvia and wasn't going to complain about it.
There was still a thing Irina would complain about. "Can't we talk about this?" She asked while dodging a spear and cut its tip off before cutting her attacker. "Or you guys could come one at a time? You know, just to be fair?" It was the fact that most of the members of the Order of Pendragon were focused on her or Luvia and unlike the magus lacked the spells to keep them at bay. "No? Figures."
The image on Irina's mind was strong enough and if the Order of Pendragon didn't have Gawain's sacred gear then it was possible that Irina wouldn't be facing any troubles against their army. The fact was that she didn't know what to turn Mimic into when facing great numbers and was defaulting to using it like a steel whip most of the time.
By just using Mimic as a sharp whip, Irina was able to both keep them at bay and still do some damage while staying out of danger.
Unfortunately for her the damage she was doing wasn't enough, not even close. It wasn't her fault either, nor the fault of Mimic, Irina realized that Gawain's sacred gear was more powerful than they thought.
She first noticed that the fight would be more difficult than expected when she managed to hit one soldier's neck. Irina didn't like killing but the situation demanded that she abandon any kindness for the sake of her mission and survival.
Then something odd happened right before her eyes, a great concentration of golden aura poured on the man's neck and closed the wound in a few seconds. It was clear that person was still shaken and other members of the Order moved to help him but other than that he was mostly restored.
'What kind of sacred gear does he have?' Irina asked herself as she dodged a sword by moving to the right and stabbing the man with Mimic right through the opening for his eyes. She cut the soldier of the Order down and moved in Gawain's direction only for another to get in her way with his sword and forcing her to turn Mimic into a shield to block it. 'That one isn't healing. Whatever this sacred gear is, it can't bring back the dead.'
While that realization meant that Irina could win by just killing everyone but she knew she wasn't capable of doing something like that. Irina knew that once everything was said and done she would feel sick for days by just taking one life and the thought of killing everyone in the building already was enough to make her dizzy.
'There must be another way.' She pushed back with her shield and used it to hit the attacking soldier in the face, stunning him. Another two tried to get to her but Irina was already moving in Gawain's direction. She just needed to pass by at least thirty people in her way. 'Lucky for me I have the perfect sword to do it.'
Between all the Excaliburs, Mimic was considered the most balanced of all weapons. Instead of having a high offensive power or defensive aptitudes, Mimic was unmatched in utility.
Someone like Irina, who was gentle at heart, subconsciously made Mimic weaker even when she was trying to be ruthless. It just wasn't in her nature to kill or harm and if she had a choice she wouldn't do it. Shidou Irina wasn't a person who relished in combat unlike her partner who loved it.
That was why they were made a team in the first place, to balance each other's. Irina held back Xenovia's aggressiveness while Xenovia pushed Irina into action.
As the two worked together they rubbed into each other but their natures didn't change much even if they adapted to one another. Irina was able to kill when needed and Mimic was letting out a considerable output of power to help her with it. However her mind wasn't attuned to fighting as much as Xenovia and she was the type to always fall back into her training.
For those reasons Irina couldn't see an easy way to annihilate all her enemies with Mimic. "Here I go!" But she could see the means to pass by them all and reach her target.
Jumping high in the air Irina aimed Mimic up and sent its tip to the roof. The members of the Order expected some kind of attack but still didn't hesitate and charged to attack the girl mid air. They surrounded her location fast and all were confident that when Irina landed she would have no escape.
Instead of obeying gravity and falling, some realized that the Exorcist was still going up in the arc of her jump. Many grew confused by what was happening but a soldier pointed up and shouted. "Her sword is connected to the roof!"
"That is one of the Excaliburs! It must be Mimic!"
"Spear throwers! We need spear throwers!"
"She is moving up faster!"
"Shit! We can't hit her!"
Confusion began to run around the members of the Order of Pendragon as Irina got higher with apparent no effort and a smile.
In her hands Mimic was a katana from the handle to the blade itself, except for the tip. The tip of Mimic had transformed into a grappling hook that grabbed the ceiling like a claw and held it firmly while the huge blade began to shrink to bring its owner up.
That versatility came from Irina's own heart, not one to destroy everything but to find a new path to solve the problems in her way.
When she was closer to the ceiling Irina did a small flip and landed on her feet to look down, up from her perspective, to all members of the Order below. It was practically a vast sea of people, armed and ready for her but with no means to reach the smiling Exorcist.
The lack of variety or training in the Order of Pendragon showed itself as none could do anything about Irina. All they had in the present were swords and spears when in the past they had magicians and archers that would be able to get to the chestnut haired woman. Only one of them would be able to do something in this situation and Irina's team had already defeated him.
"Here I goooooo!" Her loud announcement surprised the members of the Order but did so less than when she commanded Mimic to push herself in their direction.
It wasn't a jump, even if some confused Irina's advance as one, she was using Excalibur Mimic which was extending itself as fast as it could in the direction of its owner's target. Took only a second for Irina to find Sir Gawain behind the crown of his men and it was an easy task considering that unlike the others he wasn't using a helmet and the mop of blond hair was bright enough for her to see.
But just shooting herself towards him was a risk so first Irina commanded Mimic to aim her down back where she had escaped the mob to attract their attention. It worked flawlessly as shields and weapons raised to block or kill her before she even landed.
She paid close attention to all soldiers from her point of view, she noticed their necks and eyes moving from her to their weapons and companions. Irina couldn't guarantee that everyone would be distracted by her maneuver but any small distraction would give her time to take Gawain out. Even if just mere seconds.
Irina couldn't see the soldiers' faces but she smiled again when she noticed that most of them were posturing to attack once she landed close to where she was before, right in the middle of them.
Just as planned.
That was when Mimic changed again and the sword bent itself in an angle, accelerating at its full speed before letting go of the ceiling and fully returning to the shape of a katana as Irina prepared to cut Gawain's head off.
By the sudden way that Irina changed direction not many could react, in an ideal world even her target would fall to inaction because of the surprise. But Gawain never took his eyes off her, he was always ready as he knew that he was the most likely target.
When he saw her coming, Gawain pulled out his sword from the floor and raised it to defend himself. He wasn't worried about the attack or even surprised about it, despite his sacred gear helping his men Irina was still using an Excalibur Fragment. She reaching him was never a matter of 'if' only 'when'.
The loud sound of metal clashing against metal ran through the whole gallery as Gawain's unnamed sword matched against Excalibur Mimic. Irina was glad by her gloves and her uniform because if she didn't have it the collision would have broken all the bones of her hands.
And she watched stunned as Gawain not only survived her attack but fully stopped it, not even moving from his position. Irina could barely believe he managed to hold the attack back by just raising his sword.
The man wasn't unfazed however, Irina could see that by the expression on Gawain's face and the sweat pouring down. She had no choice but continue the attack, the Exorcist still had some momentum that was sending her against Gawain and if she wasn't careful he could use the opportunity to kill her.
Irina didn't fight against the physics but forced the swords to stay locked as she spun on the air by pushing herself with Mimic until she was above Gawain's head. In that position both sides threw attacks, she aiming for his neck and him for her eyes.
Both also dodged enough to let their blades hit their white and green capes, taking no damage as Irina landed and Gawain turned for a high swing from his left side. Their swords clash again but Irina doesn't stay still, instead she retreats back as far as she could before commanding Mimic to extend and pierce her adversary.
Irina expected Gawain to move, to dodge to one side or the other so she could turn Mimic to the side and cut him while the tip kept growing and dealing with any potential interlopers. She didn't expect him to stand his ground and bat the sword away with his own.
That left Irina open for a counter attack for the second that took for Mimic to return but Gawain didn't take the chance and instead he remained in his original position. When Mimic was back she raised her sword and watched for any sign of damage on her opponent.
But there was nothing that indicated that Gawain took any real damage, she failed to properly hit him so there was no blood, no tremors either so no broken bones. Irina knew that the speed she hit Gawain should be enough to have done something unless he had protection of some kind.
He has some type of sacred gear, Irina could feel that much however she couldn't remember any with the powers he was showing and was also defensive. Irina could freely admit to not knowing the names and powers of every existing sacred gear but Gawain's wasn't giving any of the usual signs when it came to protect him.
With the few seconds she had before her enemies got closer, Irina tried to make sense of the facts in her head. Every single other member of the Order of Pendragon was surrounded by an aura, an aura that started with Gawain and had spread to the others while the knight lost his.
That was something possible for some sacred gears even if she didn't know its name but that raised another question; 'If his sacred gear isn't protecting him, how did he stop me?' That question was the main problem she had with the situation but her time to think was up.
More members of the Order had reached her and Irina needed to move. A spear came aiming for her side but she pushed it back with Mimic and cut the attacker's hand off before kicking another soldier and letting her sword extend once again while kicking another.
This time Irina chose to let Mimic extend by pointing the tip to the floor and commanding both sides to grow. Her maneuver allowed her to dodge the soldiers and she used the sword as a pole to reach the second floor of the gallery.
Once she was safe, Irina looked back to the ground floor and watched as the members of the Order ran to the stairs while Gawain remained imobile. A curious thing she noted was that the soldier whose hand she had cut off had connected the limb to the stump and was soon moving it normally.
'That healing is powerful… the aura is still there for them. Maybe he just doesn't need to use the aura for himself…' Irina frowned as her mind couldn't understand how a sacred gear could have two versions of the same effect. That contradicted everything she knew about sacred gears. 'Balance Break? No, too weak. Maybe-'
Her thoughts got interrupted as the soldiers reached the second floor and some were already advancing towards her.
Mind still focused on understanding Gawain's sacred gear, Irina turned Mimic into a giant sword, the size of a bus that managed to stun most of her enemies, and took a swing with everything she had.
The Fragments ended up slamming on the wall of the stairs with many members of the Order being pushed through the wall or fell down the stairs in an attempt to dodge the giant sword.
Reducing Mimic to its normal size, Irina noticed at least fifteen fallen soldiers and how some were already getting up. A frown made its way to her face as she realized that in the last moment she turned the giant sword in a giant bat since no one got cut by the huge blade. A part of her was happy about it even if that made her job harder.
When Irina turned back she saw another group of soldiers. "Get her!"
"Don't let her use the Excalibur anymore!" She smiled at that sentence before pointing Mimic at them with a smile.
"Try to stop me!" A mental command later, Mimic extends and the soldiers scramble to try and dodge but they were closer to the balcony and had only one side to go. None tried to jump to the lower floor as they all dodged to the right but Irina tilted her sword to the side. "Here comes!" Again she swung Mimic with all her strength and once again its size wasn't an impediment to her.
She managed to knock down another five soldiers before returning Mimic to a katana and checking the area.
Those she defeated before in the stairs were already getting up, their wounds healing, while the five she just knocked down were slowly recovering. 'They all still have an aura.' She turned back to the floor and looked at Gawain.
The Knight of the Order remained still, surrounded by his subordinates who looked in her direction with their weapons ready. Gawain's eyes remained firmly on her as well, his sword hanging on his right hand and his left holding his cape gently.
Looking behind herself, Irina saw that some soldiers were already on their feet once again before turning back to Gawain. "I need to defeat him quickly." She looked in Luvia's direction and saw that she was surrounded. "Or else things are going to get worse."
With that in mind Irina jumped from the second floor, much to the members of the Order surprise. Gawain remained calm, he expected this. She rolled on the floor despite her boots neutralizing any consequences of her fall before immediately starting to run in the cluster of warriors' direction.
Immediately the soldiers moved with precision to surround their commander with a wall of shields from all sides. Because of the kind of shields they were using, the turtle formation had more openings than it should have even when they put spears out to stop her. It was clear that they had no intention of moving regardless of what Irina did.
"So you need to be stationary?" She asked out loud, not expecting a reply. "Then I just need to make you move!"
Irina began to spin mid charge with Excalibur Mimic on an arc with intention of breaking the defense. Distance and weight were irrelevant to Mimic if Irina was fast enough so she made the sword grow in size and length as much as she could, once again making it as big as a bus.
The soldiers saw the attack coming and braced themselves. "HOLD!" Gawain ordered as the whole shield was covered with a golden aura and the shields began to shine by how much energy was being poured into them.
When the sword collided with the formation Irina frowned as she felt the resistance born from the efforts of dozens of men. The impact failed to dislodge the formation and she could feel her arms struggling with her sword for the first time since she received it. Mimic may have been able to make itself weightless for her but the weight of her opponents and the push back they were doing was still there and she couldn't break their formation.
She wasn't the only one that could tell her attack had failed. "Attack!" Gawain commanded and his soldiers obeyed. As part of the shield wall wasn't being used some the men disengaged from the defense and began to charge at Irina.
Already realizing her mistake on thinking she could break the formation with brute force, Irina retrieved Mimic and advanced to meet her enemies. She knew after previous encounters that the soldiers were not invincible and even healing took some time for them and already had plans to use the information.
The main thing that she learned was that Gawain's sacred gear empowered both the person and the equipment in different measures; the fighter was fast, could heal and recover quickly when they lost conscience while the armor was tougher than it should be when compared to the others her team had faced and the normal metal was far harder to damage or break.
But those armors had weaknesses, as most man made things always did.
When a sword slash came for her side Irina hid Excalibur MImic inside her coat, making the man think she was going to block his attack. It was a feint as the sword passed harmlessly by the white coat as Mimic showed itself as a small dagger as Irina dodged the soldier to the side and took a swing behind the man's knee.
The aura was strengthening the armor but the joint had a small opening and when Irina was sure her blow was in the correct arc she willed Mimic to become a normal katana again and the person lost a leg.
That was only one down and three more were already charging at her without abandon with a spear and two swords, all using shields. Irina noted that they moved closer to each other in response to their companion's defeat but the seconds that it took for her to reach them was enough for Mimic to turn into a giant sword again that she used to hit them all at the same time.
With all their allies the soldiers would have a shield wall to protect them but three alone weren't enough and if it wasn't by the aura and armor they would have been dead.
During her swing Irina found herself open as two more attacked with their spears and while her footing was firm she usually would be open to the counter. Except that this time she had Mimic and in the second that it took for the sword to become a katana once again she was already focusing on letting out the Holy Aura of the blade.
As the gentle aura covered the Exorcist, none of the members of the Order had time to react. It happened too fast and suddenly the two attacking soldiers found themselves cut down, one in the shoulder from the right and the other from the waist up to his left, as Irina moved between them and faced another three ready to intercept her.
Already a headache was manifesting itself as Irina didn't have much control of her aura and stubbornly held it on to keep going faster than the soldiers could react. She arrived at the new trio and cut them with her Fragment. They tried to react, tried to keep up but they weren't fast enough and even the protection from Gawain's sacred gear failed against the Holy Sword.
From the back, still with fourteen men around him, Gawain watched as Irina defeated his men with a blank face. He always suspected that his sacred gear couldn't survive against Excalibur but having it proven just hardened his resolve.
'This is just proof we are correct.' The Commander of the Order of Pendragon thought while his grip in his sword grew stronger. 'King Arthur will return. All of this will be worth it.' He already knew that some of his men in the area were dead as the strain in his body grew weaker since his sacred gear had less people to empower. 'I am sorry.'
Even if all present had accepted the mission and were ready to sacrifice their lives, Gawain still regretted their deaths. That only just strengthened his determination as he glared at Irina, trying to see any signs of her failing to use Mimic's Holy Aura.
He also heard Valper's explanations but unlike Freed he actually understood them. Once he saw a flicker from the Holy Aura and Irina took a step back after defeating the three men closest to her Gawain knew she couldn't hold the power for long.
'8 seconds.' Gawain finished counting. "Her aura is about to disappear! Attack now!"
The remaining soldiers in the front line, four of them, heard their leader and charged without fear while Irina was stunned by Gawain's observation. He was correct and the Holy Aura disappeared as the chestnut haired Exorcist felt the strain in her mind and couldn't hold it for much longer.
Tightening the grip on her sword, Irina extended Mimic towards Gawain's left eye. The man didn't move or even react as another soldier threw himself in front of his commander and his shield stopped the sword as the knight raised a hand to hold his protector back.
Irina couldn't keep pushing for long as the soldiers were in range to cut her. She called Mimic back and crouched to avoid one of the swords before blocking another with her katana for an instant until she moved close with a spin while pushing that sword to avoid the third one.
It was the fourth who got her with a stab on her shoulder and Irina felt the blow despite her clothes protections.
Clenching her teeth, Irina focused on ignoring the pain and fighting back by using Mimic to hit the leg of the soldier which hit her. Unfortunately for the Exorcist she wasn't in position to cause any real damage as the iron boot took the blow but her strength was enough to bring the attacker down.
Moving to her left to avoid another sword, Irina turned back to fight against the still standing soldiers. She was aware that the one she defeated would stand up soon but she needed time and space as the other three pressured her more.
She ducked a blow coming for her neck before charging and hitting the man's torso with Mimic. The sword failed to break through the armor without its aura but Irina didn't need that for the moment as the Fragment changed its shape into a spike club that she pushed further until some of the spikes carved into the armor.
When another member of the Order tried to attack her from the left, Irina flipped herself to the right, pulling the sword turned club from the side while keeping it in the armor. The soldier with the club on his chest tried to swop her with his shield but Irina hopped just above the arm, taking part of the armor with her.
Landing a single foot the Exorcist kept moving as a strike came from another sword. She kept moving left but that soldier was still on her for a few seconds before Holy Aura began to surge once more.
'18 seconds,that is a little more than double of what she can use.' Gawain saw Irina frown when she cut the soldier's sword arm off but moved for a stab on his heart as the man tried to keep going with just his shield. 'That is another one.' Lamented the Commander of the Order of Pendragon.
With only three remaining it was easy for Irina to dispatch them, the soldier with a hole in his armor tried to stay back but Mimic just extended and pushed him farther away as Irina charged at the other two. They tried to fight the young woman but she just cut them down.
Gawain willed more of his sacred gear aura on the fallen soldier bodies as he noticed that Irina was pushing forward towards him and leaving them behind. 'She is hesitating. Not always but more than she should.' The knight observed as she stabbed the soldier in the opening she made even as others were still alive. 'Now she will retreat as her aura grows weaker.'
As predicted Irina didn't advance against Gawain's position but took several steps back to recover as she needed a few moments after using the Holy Aura. Both sides knew she couldn't pierce the Order's defenses without it anyway but the knight knew he had the advantage as the soldiers that pursued her to the second floor returned and others she spared before got back up.
'I don't want to kill her, the same way she doesn't want to kill us.' If Gawain had a choice he wouldn't be fighting against someone that was actively avoiding killing his men. Even as she killed some all could see that Irina was forcing herself. 'But we must do our duty.'
In the back of her mind Irina chastised herself as more soldiers got up after her attack. 'I can't win like this.' She gulped before preparing herself once again. "I will pray for you all later."
When Gawain heard Irina's soft voice he knew what was coming. "GET DOWN!"
Fully coated in Excalibur Mimic's aura, Irina spun in place as the sword extended and cut down any who didn't hear the warning around her. If she wished, Irina could have made it grow until she covered the whole building with such an attack but she considered her allies and focused only in her immediate area.
There was no contest against Mimic as many failed to evade the weapon and were cut down by the Holy Sword, the protection of the sacred gear falling against the Holy Aura. Irina tried to ignore the screams but she would take no prisoners even as she promised herself to ask for forgiveness later, thiers and God's.
The attack lasted until the Fragment was forced to stop as despite having warnerd his man to move Gawain stood as a mountain against a deadly wind, holding his sword up and stopping Mimic fully even as it broke through his shoulder armor.
Irina's eyes almost jumped from their sockets as Gawain held firm but soon her determination returned as the opportunity to deal with the biggest threat presented itself. With that in mind she returned Mimic to her in the shape of a katana, something that the knight tried to stop by holding the blade but failed, before pointing it at him and commanding Mimic to pierce his face.
A single second, that was how much time Gawain had to move his sword from where it stopped Mimic into a position to protect his face. While those who surpassed the human limits may be capable of such a feat, Gawain wasn't one of them and he knew it for a fact.
So it didn't surprise him, or anyone really, when Mimic's tip hit his forehead on the mark.
However Irina noticed a lot of things wrong the moment her sword connected to Gawain's head; she saw no blood meaning the owner was still alive and, most important of all, Excalibur Mimic had stopped.
The fact that her sword had stopped growing wasn't something in possible or even new to Irina but when she considered that it was a direct hit on a human skull and she was still willing it to grow only for the sword to not budge had the Exorcist quite shocked.
She was so stunned that the Holy Aura disappeared a few seconds before it should but there was no one in position to capitalize on that as most of the soldiers had hit the floor to avoid her attack.
Sir Gawain himself had his teeth clenched and felt the pain on his forehead resulted from the fast blow of Mimic. He still refused to move from his position even as he began to lift his sword slowly, surprising Irina once again who was still trying to process what happened, before bashing Mimic aside.
There for all to see was Sir Gawain, still standing mostly unharmed. His armor had the only visible damage with its shoulder, damaged enough to reveal a chain mail beneath it.
Yet when he fully raised his head to look back at Irina his face showed a grin resolve and not a single scratch. With his green cape behind him, Gawain looked like a true knight from legend.
Most of those watching the interaction noted how Gawain didn't look worse for wear and were confused by how that was possible since their commander had essentially survived one of the most dangerous weapons on the planet.
None other than the user of said weapon was the most shocked of them all. 'That is impossible.'
Recovering his bearing Gawain looked around and saw the stunned faces all around him with a frown. He could understand their shock but that only made him frustrated because that meant he failed to protect a secret that the leaders of his Order had preserved since its inception.
'But maybe this is the time to use it to the fullest.' Gawain pondered as his left hand went for his cape and held it tightly, practically hiding his left side. 'For where would it be better to use its power to the fullest other than here when we are close to accomplishing the main mission of our Order?'
Dismissing his own concerns, Gawain prepared to order his men to attack but someone else moved first.
The person who recovered first from the events was Irina herself. While she didn't expect anyone to just stop Mimic with their forehead she just fell back into her training again. As an Exorcist she was trained to deal with beings stronger and more resistant than the average human as well as those who misused sacred gears for any reason.
But the fact that someone, a human with basic training for all intents and purposes, took a sword on the forehead and not only survived but showed no signs of damage whatsoever was something she never encountered before in her life.
However there was little that Irina could do but keep attacking Gawain as he clearly was the one sustaining the other members of the Order. 'If this is his sacred gear then it must have a limit.'
Holding her sword with both hands, Irina focused on bringing the Holy Aura back as Mimic became a miniature of a katana and she positioned herself better with both feet firmly planted on the floor and her weapon close to her face which was brimming with determination.
Turning her hip slightly, Irina wasted no time in unleashing Mimic at full speed and with its full power, the Holy Aura covering it shining brighter than the lights in the gallery.
Once again Gawain was too slow to react and the tip of the Fragment hit his chest with the strength of a charging bull. He still didn't move and had no time to try and do anything before the sword retreated and attacked again, this time his sword arm. The armor was damaged but Gawain refused to let go of his weapon even as he felt great pain.
It got worse when the blade retracted and attacked again ten more times, each and every single one of the hits as strong as the first and Gawain knew he couldn't take many of those.
While his body had yet to be wounded, the knight felt the pain of every strike and the protection he had wasn't absolute. Little by little the Exorcist was managing to wear it down by hitting the same place repeatedly and only the fact that Irina didn't realize that was what kept the Commander of the Order in the fight.
Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, at the fifteenth hit, Gawain had managed to move his left hand to cover his body with his cape, an interaction of seconds that Irina noticed but didn't think much of.
She just kept pushing with Mimic, ordering the blade to retreat and extend as fast as she could while keeping the Holy Aura up. Every hit demanded Irina to act with the sword, to keep it going with just her force of will and mental image as she also needed to aim and fire.
Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, Mimic didn't stop and its owner kept pushing it. For as long as she could, Irina kept Mimic going. She wasn't paying attention to anything else other than keeping the offensive, only the target on her sights as the sword moved faster and faster.
Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty. The attacks were going so fast that mere seconds had passed since the offensive began and Irina had no way of noticing that the green cape that Gawain was using was intact despite the fast assault.
Even if her sword could move at incredible speeds, even if she had reached levels beyond the human limits with training, Irina's senses were not advanced enough to perceive every detail between the blows of her weapon.
She saw that Gawain had moved the cape to protect himself, covering his upper body fully and his lower body until his knees, but didn't understand why or the effect it was having on her attack.
There was no way Irina could understand what exactly was happening as her attacks broke the hundreds and she kept attacking. All that she knew was that her time was up and the Holy Aura was beginning to leave her body. She still tried to keep a hold on it, to keep pushing further as she never had before just because her opponent didn't fall.
'I can't hold it much longer…' Irina felt a huge thirst and headache as her mind had reached its limit. In total she had managed to hold Mimic's power for 14 seconds but not a single longer as the Holy Aura waned and began to disappear.
Gathering the last of the Holy Energy, Irina sent it ahead with all her strength, ordering Mimic to attack one last time with whatever was left of the aura.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" The last attack, the 127th blow, collides with the green cape with all the power Irina could muster. Green and white energies clash against each other for a second before disappearing, leaving a shocked Irina and a captivated audience behind. "How?" The Exorcist asked as she fell to her knee and used her sword to prop herself up. "That cape… that isn't your sacred gear. There is no Divinity on it."
"You are correct. This isn't my sacred gear." Gawain admitted as he opened the cape and revealed his damaged armor with cracks all around it for all to see but the man looked no worse for wear. "My sacred gear's real form has nothing to do with this cape. It is just a tool while my cape is a legacy from my predecessors."
"Legacy? An Artifact?" Irina wondered out loud as the members of the Order raised themselves with pride and determination at seeing their leader survive an onslaught of hundreds of blows. After a second Irina stood up as well but her eyes were still on the threat of Gawain as she tried to discover what his cape was. "Not many Artifacts have this much power. Certainly not enough to survive an Excalibur."
"I never said it was a mere Artifact. My mantle is something far beyond it!" Gawain replied with pride as his men celebrated their leader's confidence. "Can't you sense it, Exorcist of the Church? Can't you feel its power?"
Yes she could, it was subtle but it was there, it had been there even before their fight began and was unlike anything Irina had ever sensed. Her mind began to draw conclusions, concerning conclusions for there were few existences that could hold that kind of power and carry no Divinity.
And since it wasn't an Artifact, Irina eyes almost jumped from her sockets as she realized what the green cape was. "A Noble Phantasm?"
Gawain heard her whisper and couldn't help but smile. "Correct. This is a Noble Phantasm passed down from generation to generation for those who embraced the title of Sir Gawain, the Commanders of the Order of Pendragon!" He opened it with a flourish and green mana began to escape the cape as all watched it with admiration.
Irina just felt dread.
"Behold the Green Knight Mantle, Gift To The Honorable!" At the announcement of its name the mana around the cape returns to it and Gawain looked more imposing than before even as there was no change to his expression. "This mantle was given to the original Sir Gawain after a quest. It is the proof of his nobility, honor and compromise to his king. For King Arthur!"
"""""""For King Arthur!"""""""
The chorus was deafening but Irina ignored it as she had already recovered enough to keep fighting. She wasn't fully rested and knew that the fight wouldn't be easy or simple, a Noble Phantasm wasn't something she ever wanted to face in her life even with an Excalibur Fragment by her side.
Gawain watched as Irina prepared herself once again, her face telling him everything he needed to know. "You aren't going to agree to surrender your Fragment, will you?"
Irina couldn't help but smile at the question. "Are you going to surrender your Fragments if I ask nicely?" Then her face turned serious. "Because if you won't for your king, don't ask me to do the same for the Lord."
Now the knight was sure that he didn't want to harm Irina anymore, her determination and loyalty were things he admired. "Even against a Noble Phantasm?" The Exorcist only held her sword more tightly. "Have you ever faced one before?"
"Not really. I saw another once. A Holy Sword Noble Phantasm." Irina's smile returned. "It was stronger than your cape."
Some of the members of the Order felt offended by Irina's statement. Gawain just laughed. "Hahahaha, I don't doubt that. As far as Noble Phantasm goes, the Green Knight Mantle is quite weak." He held his cape with care despite being in the middle of a fight. "Just a piece of clothing with some special properties that deflect damage. Nothing more."
He could see Irina raising an eyebrow of skepticism and even some of his men were looking at him in disbelief. That just made the blond laugh again.
"But it suits me well, I suppose. Combined with my sacred gear it creates a strong defense and I can focus on giving my men the power to fight any enemy." Gawain declared firmly and the golden aura replaced the green one as it spread around and covered his soldiers. "Maybe this is the work of Fate, giving us the perfect Noble Phantasm to work with my sacred gear so we can bring our king back!"
Another round of cheers had Irina on the back foot as she now knew that she was dealing with far more than she expected. 'A sacred gear that can empower his allies while he has a Noble Phantasm that can protect him.' She couldn't help but find the situation unfair. 'The only way to win against that is by killing everyone else to then focus on him… Maybe another Noble Phantasm can make a difference but Xenovia is busy. Perhaps I can overwhelm him? He had to defend himself before for a reason, after all.'
It was simple logic for Irina, if Gawain needed protection or needed to defend himself then that meant his Noble Phantasm should have a limit. In that her knowledge failed her as the Exorcist felt unsure if she was correct.
Unlike sacred gears which were Artifacts of God and fell, somewhat, under the supervision of the Church, Noble Phantasms were completely different existences.
One could study a sacred gear for their whole life and once they found another of it then they could go back to their prior knowledge to understand the new one. While sacred gears can grow with their owners, the base was always the same to the model in question.
Noble Phantasms didn't develop with the user but with its legend; the more famous a Noble Phantasm was, the more power it gets. They could be considered powerful by just existing, something that only the Longinus could compete on the same level when it came to sacred gears.
By no means that meant a Noble Phantasm was invincible by just being a Noble Phantasm and Irina knew it that well. There were plenty of them that while powerful for what they were had no real ability to do anything. Most were harmless or even just useful for batteries in some cases as even the weakest one could be used to channel mana.
Previously Irina had only seen one other Noble Phantasm and even if the Green Knight Mantle wasn't as strong as the sword she saw before it still was powerful in its own right.
'Remember what you learned about Noble Phantasms. Remember all the warnings you receive and any tips that can help.' Irina's grip on Mimic grew tighter as she realized something awful for her, even letting out a sarcastic smile. 'Good news; I know the name of the Noble Phantasm. Bad news; I know nothing about any Green Knight.'
It was well established by any scholar that bothered to study the subject that Noble Phantasms' weaknesses could be found in their legend. If they even had any in the first place.
Since finding the weakness in its legend wasn't an option, Irina knew that the only way to win was by overpowering her opponent, something hard to do since his Noble Phantasm was defensive and her offensive wasn't strong enough. 'I need to trade places with Xenovia. She is the only one with a chance against this guy.'
Irina began to step back slowly as the situation went from bad to worse for her as the members of the Order looked more determined than ever. Their postures were all aggressive and it was clear that they were only waiting for their leader's command before they pounced.
Still watching Irina, Gawain remained silent as she showed signs of fear for the first time but didn't seem to be ready to quit. 'After dealing with her we still need to deal with her partner and Freed.' Once the Exorcists were eliminated, the knight had no doubt that Freed's services would no longer be necessary. 'We are close… Finally our king is about to return.'
There was no denying that Gawain was excited by the prospect that he would be the Commander of his Order to welcome his king back.
'After generations of struggle and sacrifices, our goal is finally within reach.' Gawain thought with pride, not even remembering the risks he took and the dangers he played with to reach this moment. 'I was right.' He affirmed with relief. 'I was right.' He shook his head to not let his mind drown in euphoria as he still had a job to do. "Atta-"
An explosion inside the gallery distracted the knight and startled his soldiers. He could still give the order, he should give the order.
Except that Gawain felt a sense of dread as more lives were cut off from the connection with his sacred gear. "What happened?!" He turned to the raised smoke that seemed to have caused the explosion before another one happened and two more lives were cut from him. "All in position! Shields raised!"
From triumph to fear, many of the members of the Order began to coalesce with their leader as another two explosions happened.
Irina took the opportunity to step back and retreat further away from Gawain's position, moving around to get away from the knight. "She is running away!" Unfortunately for her, one of the soldiers noticed her attempt and she raised Mimic in her defense.
Gawain briefly glanced at Irina before his eyes returned to the cloud of dust and smoke before it blew apart with a huge gust of wind, revealing Luvia in the epicenter with various gems in her hands.
"You all should really start to run away now." The blue magus raised a gem to her lips and kissed it softly. "You aren't even worth the money." Many of the wounded soldiers got up, their wounds open and healing as the men and women couldn't escape her blasts, and charged at her "Feel the might of the Edelfelt!"
Luvia threw two of her jewels at the charging men and they unleashed blasts of mana in the area. The soldiers can't stop themselves from being thrown around but the blonde magus wasn't done. With a snap of her fingers the jewels unleashed fire and electricity, cooking the men in their armor.
Gawain couldn't allow that to continue. "With me! With me! We must stop that magician!" The knight was clearly desperate to stop Luvia before she killed more of his men. He knew that abandoning his position would greatly weaken his sacred gear but he could still keep it going for those who stayed close.
All the knight needed was a few moments to get his men ready for the attack. He established a connection to those close to him, practically abandoning everyone else to fortify just twenty men.
Just by stepping away from the prepared position where the center of his power was added a huge weight to his shoulders but green mana kept him going as his soldiers joined with him.
But the magus wasn't showing any mercy or giving them time to organize. Every time a group of soldiers formed to try and attack her she would throw a jewel and use it like a bomb or if someone tried to play the hero she would shot them down with a spell or curse.
They all knew that the Order of Pendragon of old wouldn't be having those kinds of problems but the present one couldn't compete without their leaders' sacred gears.
With that in mind Gawain led the charge, he was the only knight present and with his Green Knight Mantle he was the best chance they had of victory.
However the Order of Pendragon was underestimating Luvia. They didn't know how to fight a magician like her, a magus like her, any longer as the secrets and training to deal with this situation were lost with time.
They weren't a mercenary group, they weren't a real army, they were a secret organization that dedicated themselves to King Arthur and without their king and allies to guide them the Order of Pendragon had no real enemies to fight against. They stagnated and the world passed by them, too many setbacks left them isolated and weak.
Jewel magecraft was far more dangerous than they could ever predict and Luvia was extremely proficient in it. When she saw the enemy leader approaching with a retinue her eyes gained a glint of malice.
'There you are, you coward. You are going to pay for Auguste's death.' She blamed herself as much as them but that didn't matter at the moment. Turning fully to face her hated enemy, Luvia threw every gem on her hands in his direction.
Already having an understanding of what was happening, even if he didn't know much about magecraft, Gawain would have reacted negatively about anything Luvia had thrown at him. "WALL!"
With the support of their Commander sacred gear the soldiers moved quickly and a shield wall was quickly lifted to protect them from all of the explosions they expected.
They didn't understand that every jewel was the equivalent to a small bomb.
Another thing that was clear to all was that the gallery was getting so damaged that it would have to pass by serious reforms and reconstruction before opening again.
Despite their shields all the members of the Order with Gawain were thrown back, including himself. Explosion after explosion shook the building as some tried to get up to keep fighting but the jewels still had plenty of mana to spare. Luvia had stopped focusing on elements and was focusing only on blowing them up.
For the moment Gawain felt the pull of his sacred gear still working with all those who charged with him but he knew that wouldn't last if he didn't act quickly but it was growing weaker by the second. He knew it was inevitable that its power would diminish but the knight couldn't leave Luvia unchecked.
Standing up faster than anyone else he charged ahead to draw fire while still keeping his sacred gear going. Wounds healed and other men tried to follow their leader but it was too late, Gawain was already many steps ahead.
As usual he knew he was the most tantalizing target and he made sure Luvia knew he was coming. "Magician!" He announced loudly but there was no need as she was already charging in his direction, her eyes filled with hate.
A roar was the prelude for their fight as Gawain started with a two handed swing of his sword that Luvia ducked before delivering a punch to his stomach. It didn't hurt, even as his armor crumbled against the Reinforced fist the Green Knight Mantle neutralized any possible injury as he brought his sword back to slice the blue magus.
Using her position and the fact that Gawain wasn't really in position to counter attack, Luvia threw a high kick to his face which made the knight take a couple of steps back, off balance. Before he could even understand what was going on Luvia moved behind him and grabbed him by his waist, his feet leaving the ground as the young woman delivered a suplex.
There was nothing that Gawain could do when his neck hit the damaged but still hard floor of the gallery, Luvia had positioned herself perfectly to make sure her attack broke his neck. She made sure to hit him hard and fast with the help of Reinforcement, burying Gawain a few inches below the floor.
"HELP THE COMMANDER!" One of the soldiers called out as Luvia stood up after apparently killing the leader of their Order.
"It is fine if you don't surrender." She spoke firmly before moving closer to the closest soldier and burying her elbow on his armor, sending the man flying back. "I have some anger to vent anyway."
However Gawain was not dead even if he found it hard to breathe in his position. 'She is too strong. While I was worried about stopping her from killing the others, challenging her was a mistake.'
As his head was buried and he was in a really uncomfortable position, the knight found it extremely difficult to move. He could feel the pain from the hit, his neck struggling to stay connected and his back almost broken because of how he was standing, bending backwards with his head on the floor.
'If it wasn't for the mantle I would be dead.' Gawain admitted as he focused on what he was about to do. 'I need to get out soon or I will suffocate. I refuse to die now, when we are so close to our goal!'
Pain, that was all that ran through Gawain's mind as he forcefully turned around with his head still buried to get into a better spot to take out his head from the floor. Once again his Noble Phantasm was saving his life as his neck would have broken or he would be bleeding to death without it.
But every single movement was painful and the knight felt the full extent of it, the Green Knight Mantle only stopping him from getting hurt and nothing else. 'I need to return to where I set up the Stone Commandments' center. It is our only chance of beating her.' So excited for his victory that he had committed a mistake, Luvia's attack had humbled him once again. 'We are so close, we can't fail now.'
With that last thought Gawain pulled his head out of the stone floor and took harsh gulps of air before his vision cleared and he saw almost all of his soldiers on the floor and realized the consequences of his mistake were worse than he thought.
By stepping away from his position he had greatly weakened the effects of his sacred gear, the fact that his mind was blind from pain ment he couldn't work to force it to keep going either.
The golden aura was missing from the battlefield and his men got punished by Luvia because of it. The blue magus fury was relentless but the members of the Order tried to resist. With their leader down and without his sacred gear support they fought carefully even as the Heiress of Edelfelt kept breaking their bones.
Gawain knew he had to get back to his initial position but with Luvia on his way there was no hope. It was just a matter of time before she pushed his Noble Phantasm to its limits or found another way around it.
The knight despised his weakness, hated what he had to do but he knew it needed to be done. "FREED!" He shouted with all the air of his lungs, getting the attention of all in the gallery, Luvia especially glaring at him with hate. "Neutralize the magician quickly or all is lost!"
Usually the Mad Exorcist hated receiving orders, "Okey dokey." But he wasn't going to risk his boss' fury later.
"Wait!" Xenovia attacked to try and keep Freed pinned in place but Rapidly just made him too fast for her and the white haired man escaped. "Luvia!"
Her name was the only warning that Luvia received that Freed was going to attack but the magus was already prepared; she had prepared to face most of the Excalibur Fragments from the moment she heard about them in Fuyuki.
Weeks of preparation seemed to pay off when Rapidly collided with a barrier of mana behind Luvia. "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" A huge jewel was shining around her neck, a huge sapphire bigger than a golf ball that the blue magus had prepared for emergencies that had been filled by years with mana from her family.
A common practice for families with a history of Jewelcraft.
That was her main preparation to counter the Holy Swords, a barrier made with decades worth of mana. "Actually, I did~" Was all Freed said before Luvia felt something on her midriff, it was a new sensation that she never felt before. "I wanted to give you my other sword but this one will do~"
It took a second for Luvia to recognize the pain she was feeling, just one second before she felt the invasion of Excalibur Blessing to its full extent as it had pierced her body from the front to back.
She didn't scream, holding the pain in and glaring at Freed with tears forming in her eyes. Her mind was running by miles in an instant as she tried to throw a punch at the man.
However Luvia's Reinforcement, for the first time since she mastered the skill, failed. She only noticed when her fist connected with Freed's face but the Mad Exorcist didn't budge. Then she finally noticed the white aura surrounding Freed, Holy Aura which empowered his blow to pass her shield and cut her intestine and liver.
The same Holy Aura that was supposed to be a force to protect humanity was now running amok on her body and disrupting her mana. A gift from God which was supposed to be the sweetest of medicines had been turned into the most devastating of poisons as Luvia's own soul screams from pain as her blood spilled and covered both her sword and dress in red.
On seeing Excalibur Blessing, Luvia's screaming mind managed to connect the final dots; that was the best sword for rituals, it fits the name as its main purpose was to offer blessings from God.
However that Blessing turned into a curse in Freed's hands, his personality and desires caused the aura to invade Luvia's body in a corrupt manner that clashed with her mana and made her magic circuits burn like never before.
Luvia wanted to cry, to weep, to scream.
Despite her strength and pride she did end up screaming. A weak scream, a sad scream without strength as the blood kept pouring out.
Yet, despite all that, Luvia still glared at Freed even as her hand failed to reach him for another punch and landed on Blessing. "You know something? You are pretty with red all over. It brings out your eyes. Hahahaha."
Xenovia was trying to reach the white haired man but members of the Order tried to get in her way. They heard their leader's command and knew that what Freed was doing was supposed to be crucial for the operation. They fully turned their backs to the Mad Exorcist and tried to keep the blue haired woman from reaching him even if it cost their lives.
Her rush to help in her allies plight didn't dull her skills but she was unsettled by what could be called a suicidal charge of the members of the Order which tried to stop her. They threw their whole bodies in her direction, their weapons ignoring hers and aiming only for her. The Exorcist had no choice but to defend herself, Destruction drenching in blood but that was enough to save her life even if they succeeded in stopping her from advancing.
Irina who was more friendly to Luvia was shocked but that only lasted for a second and she raised Mimic to her eye level, preparing to impale Freed's back. She was furious over what the Order had done to someone she was learning to like and that fury brought out the Holy Aura once again. If her attack connected not even Blessing's aura could save the stray Exorcist..
However that fury also gave her tunnel vision as many soldiers discarded their weapons and grabbed her arm. Holy Aura helped Irina fight them off but they were relentless and with Mimic in sight they didn't care about their lives any longer. If Shidou Irina were a more combative person she could order Mimic to stab them without even moving.
As she didn't, other soldiers began to stab and punch her while the rest focused on getting Mimic. Soon Irina was falling down but Mimic's aura and her clothes kept her mostly safe as she began to fight back but failed as the people holding her arm stopped her from moving as she needed.
Neither of the Exorcists could help their new ally as Luvia's magic circuits fought against an infection made of what was supposed to be benefic energy. Every moment Excalibur Blessing remained in her was another moment of torture visible in her face and slowly the fight left her expression.
Slowly, as slow as he could, Freed took out Blessing from Luvia's body. He was enjoying seeing the suffering on Luvia's face with a huge smile. She tried to keep her composure but it was too much pain and tears were already escaping her face.
When the blade finally left her body, Luvia couldn't stay standing and fell to her knees. 'I can't feel my legs.' Her overloaded mind managed to think as her hands moved to try and close the wound.
"Damn! You look beautiful like that?" Freed commented with a smile. "Are you in the mood for some fun? I know I am."
That was too much for Gawain who finally got up and began to circulate the area to return to his initial position. "Don't let the poor girl suffer, Freed."
"But that is the best part!" Freed whined but the smile on his face just showed how much fun he was having. The knight was deeply regretting having allied himself with such a sadist. "Fine, fine. Spoilsport."
Every single part of the Mad Exorcist's nature demanded him to ignore the knight, to just keep going and have fun. However he was well aware of Xenovia making her way towards him and wasn't foolish enough to think that just because someone was down that they were out.
He saw some of what Luvia could do and letting her live was a risk that a warrior like Freed wasn't willing to take. "God, I hate blondes." Blessing raised above his head he whistled. "Look up beautiful, to the last thing you're gonna-"
Bright lights pierced through the windows again as another vehicle broke through and invaded the gallery in a rush. The car hit some of the soldiers and kept advancing in Freed's direction, who was shocked and surprised by the events but not enough to stop him from using Rapidly to escape.
All watching expected the black car to hit Luvia but were surprised when it stopped to her side and another twin tailed haired girl jumped out with a cat by her side. "What the fuck you happened with you, Edelfelt?"
"Rin this is not the time!" The redhead driver protested as he also stepped out of the car and looked around, studying the situation. When he saw the bloody sword on Freed's hand he knew who was the main responsible for Luvia's wounds. "Kuro, how is she?"
"Lots of Holy Energy is circulating on her body." The nekomata replied while standing at the wounded girl's side. "I need to purify it completely or it's going to fry her soul. Rin-"
"I got the wound already but it is also messing with my mana." On the black haired magus was a copy of EM that she was using for the treatment. "Goddamned!" Rin discarded the scalpel and took out a huge jewel from around her neck. "Don't dare to die, Edelfelt! Not unless I kill you!"
"Why- why-" Luvia, usually strong and confident, stuttered while her unfocused eyes looked at Rin. "Why are you helping me… you poor excuse- of a ma-gus?"
"You are making it really hard for me." Despite her comment, Rin's jewel was positioned above the wound as she began to work. "Damn, still not enough."
The new arrivals are left mostly alone as the Order was focusing on retrieving the Excalibur Fragments and Freed was watching them with amusement. "How the hell did you guys find this place?"
A furious Shirou traced Muramasa before replying. "The smoke helped."
"Huh?" Looking around Freed noticed that there was a fire going on in the gallery, a lot of fires really that he wasn't paying attention to before. "Weren't the boundary-" Quickly he raised his swords to block Shirou's direct slash. "Let me finish you son of a bitch!"
"You hurt Luvia." Shirou said curtly and to the point, making the white haired man blink.
"Oh, you are the blonde's girlfriend? Say, was she a virgin?" Freed couldn't say anything more as Shirou began to push him back with a fast sequence of strikes that he was forced to defend.
Both Rapidly and Blessing moved with increasing speeds and even then Freed found himself on the back foot as Shirou kept attacking. The fight got faster and when it appeared that the Mad Exorcist was about to be defeated, Holy Aura began to cover him and for the first time he managed to break Shirou's guard and force him back.
Just for a second before the redhead adapted and both kept clashing, his eyes resting on the Fragments for a second-
More gaps that began to be filled, his mind connecting a picture of a familiar grass field.
A girl entering womanhood or a woman leaving girlhood, as beautiful as a fairy-
*Static*
Rituals and prayers, the building of a church, the blessings of paintings-
*Static*
High speed fights far faster than most cars before they were even invented-
*Static*
A huge city was under construction during the day but at night the sword was used to bless every stone. Every centimeter received its blessings and prayers of protection until it became a true fortress of Holy Energy.
*Static*
Blood, blood, blood, fight, fight, fight.
*Static*
Luvia's suffering while the blade is removed slowly, its holder face mad with glee.
-fury like he never felt before fills Shirou with determination as he pushes the blades harder than he ever did before. 'I am going to kill him.' The redhead decided with a fast slash to the white haired man's chest only for Freed to intercept just before Muramasa connected.
But the tip of the Noble Phantasm was close and the priest's robes failed to stop the blade from touching him despite any protection the Mad Exorcist had. Freed felt the bite of Muramasa and panicked, both swords pushing the katana away as he looked down and saw some blood.
A furious Mad Exorcist was about to make a comment but he needed to stop a stab from Muramasa before the Noble Phantasm could reach his heart. "Can't you just chill for a second."
"No."
While Shirou dealt with the biggest threat, Yoruichi focused on trying to filtrate the Holy energy inside Luvia. "Keep her awake, Rin. If she lose conscience now-"
"I got it!" Rin was still focused on trying to close the wound but was failing to make a definitive headway.
"Forget about me- This is nothing less- than I deserve. You should leave… It's too dangerous." Luvia tried to push Rin away but she had no strength to do it.
Not willing to believe it was Luvia who said such a thing, Rin tried to calm her down. "Don't worry, we have the world's strongest bodyguard." She motioned to Liz with her head who was standing close and watching anyone trying to approach them.
Some of the soldiers of the Order of Pendragon noticed the white haired woman but ignored her, their focus turning to either slow down Xenovia or take down Irina. "They aren't attacking."
"We aren't their target." Yoruichi could feel her fur and the air tingling both from the work she was making on Luvia as well as Shirou's fight. 'If she wasn't like this I could transform and finish this. These swords may be dangerous but are weaker than I thought.' She glanced at the blue magus' suffering face before shaking her head. 'But if I do that now, she will die.'
"How did you… find this pla-ce?" Luvia tried to talk but Rin shushed her. Not that it stopped the Edelfelt, she never listened to her cousin anyway. "Were you… looking for the… Excalibur Fragments too?"
"Yes. The smoke from the fires and the noise helped a lot. You are lucky that the boundary field is stopping people from looking too closely or else the fire fighters would already have swarmed the palace." Yoruichi explained to try and help calm the girl down. "We were just coming back from another of their hideouts when we saw a fire truck pretty much running around without direction because of it." But it wasn't working and the nekomata was growing increasingly frustrated with her patient. "Stop fidgeting already and let me concentrate. This is harder than you think."
Yoruichi could feel the Holy Energy inside Luvia combating the natural mana that a magus like her had and her vital force suffering because of the conflict. That kind of energy shouldn't be doing that to a human, at least not to the extent that the nekomata was fighting against. So she had to use her Ki to try and fix any damage while keeping Luvia alive and functioning.
Which wasn't helped by the fact that Luvia didn't seem to want to survive the experience. "Stop wasting your time. I did it to myself." The blonde lifted a hand but it soon fell down, much to the two other women's alarm. "I landed on this mess… overstepped my boundaries and now… now I pay my penance-"
"Can you drop the 'rich girl' act for a minute while we are trying to save your life so I can punch you later?" Rin declared fimly, refusing to stop treating her. 'There is too much blood.' She glanced at Yoruichi and saw the look of concentration on the cat's face before shaking, focusing back on her work.
"Auguste is dead because of me." That was news to Rin who looked at Luvia in shock.
"Your butler is dead?" The only bodies she was around were using armor or something similar.
Rin had only met the man once when he showed up in Kuoh to deliver Luvia her homework she had forgotten. All she could really remember of the old figure was that he didn't like Shirou and doted on Luvia like a grandfather.
For Rin the old man's death was regrettable but not important, however Yoruichi took a look at Luvia and realized what the blonde magus needed. "Where is he?" With more strength than she had mustered before, Luvia pointed to the wrecked car close to a wall. "Liz, go get him."
"Are you sure?" Leysritt's red eyes inspect the area for some members of the Order still around them. Most were out of the fight but she wasn't one to take risks.
"Just do it." Realizing that Yoruichi had something in mind, Liz obeyed. She marched to the remains of the limousine which was flipped on its side and looked at it for a second. "Open it up. I can feel a life sign in there."
Luvia perked up and Liz once again obeyed, the homunculus fingers easily digging into the metal before she pulled off part of it where would be below the passenger's front seat. Those who didn't know about her or her strength watched in astonishment as a tall lean woman ripped the car apart with her bare hands.
Took the white haired maid a minute to find what she was looking for and extract him out but eventually Liz returned to their car while carrying a wounded but alive Auguste, much to Luvia's relief.
However it wasn't all good news. "He needs medical attention." Liz stated the obvious.
Unlike his charge who just had a single but huge wound, Auguste's body was covered with them; blood dripped from his forehead falling down from the side of his face that was missing his glasses, his suit was wet with many red spots all over it, just from looking it was possible to see a bone out of its socket as his left arm was in the wrong angle and from the damage they could observe as Liz laid him down they could tell there were more internal wounds.
Evidently Liz was correct, Auguste needed medical attention, fast. "Give me back the EM." Rin ordered and the homunculus delivered. The black haired magus looked at the scalpel, Luvia and her butler. "I don't think I have enough mana for both of you."
Rin was speaking with the fact in mind that she needed to take care of both at the same time to maximize their odds of survival. The main problem was that neither could really wait for one of them to receive treatment first. While Yoruichi was keeping the Holy Energy at bay for now that was only temporary and Auguste's wounds were still open and bleeding.
To make sure her mana wouldn't be wasted, Rin would need to focus on someone and despite her animosity with Luvia it was clear she was Tohsaka's pick.
'Of all times for her to forget our animosity.' Luvia managed to think with amusement as a hand moved to her neck. She lowered the collar of her dress to reveal the sapphire brimming with mana just above her breasts.
At the sign of the extremely valuable jewel full of mana, Rin couldn't help but curse. "You have to be fucking kidding me."
"Language." Liz chastised in her duty as a teacher and Luvia managed to chuckle.
"You forgot… that your family is … a branch of mine?" The blue magus managed to chuckle despite the pain and the peril of her life. "We started this particular tradition… cousin Tohsaka."
An eyebrow twitched. "Can't we just let her die? Please?" Despite her complaint, Rin removed the stone from Luvia's necklace delicately.
Yoruichi was about to call Rin a tsundere but refrained. The Tohsaka Head needed to focus and so did she. "Shirou would be disappointed if we did that." She couldn't help but add anyway.
Shaking her head, Rin stabbed Auguste with EM while her other hand worked with the jewels to close Luvia's wound. "After we stabilize them we should leave."
"We wait for Shirou first." Leysritt's eyes were now turned to the redhead's battle as he clashed with the Mad Exorcist.
Gawain had stopped moving around the gallery, not believing how things developed. 'This is impossible! How can someone be as fast as the Holder of Excalibur Rapidly.' He thought in panic as his eyes remained glued on Shirou and Freed's fight.
A flash of steel had Freed moving his head to the side as Muramasa delivered a small cut to his cheek, the white haired man's left hand already moving for a counter as Blessing moved for Shirou's chest only for the katana to already be blocking it, pushing the blade back.
Rapidly was on its way to the magus' neck but with a fast shift of his arms the back of Muramasa's handle deflects it.
All happened in just a few seconds as the two fighters had made no movement besides swinging their blades and Gawain was witnesses to two superhumans collinding at high speeds.
'Are they even human?' The Commander of the Order of Pendragon questions himself as Holy Aura begins to cover Freed once again. It was the second time the stray Exorcist was using it but so far it didn't help him get a decisive blow. 'Now the pace changes.'
His prediction was correct as Freed's speed increased greatly and his strikes grew more precise. Muramasa was moving constantly to stop everything but Freed was relentless as he used his two swords perfectly for attack and defense. A side attack with Rapidly had Muramasa pinned and Blessing going for Shirou's open chest. The redhead dodged it with a roll immediately raising his katana over his head to stop Rapidly's follow up.
But Blessing had an opening and Shirou had to trace another sword, a shorter version of Muramasa, to stop the other blade's attack. Now with two swords of his own Shirou pushed Freed back and began to attack only for the Mad Exorcist to block every single strike with his Fragments.
Soon the fight began to change again as the Holy Aura began to waver, Freed quickly realizing what that meant with Shirou starting to notice how the Mad Exorcist started to get more defensive.
Once the white aura disappeared Freed threw himself back but Shirou gave chase. "Trace on!"
Swords form in the air and begin to fall, their trajectory aimed exactly locked where Freed should be. Yet the Mad Exorcist pivoted and moved to the side at the last second, the swords stabbing the ground harmlessly. "You think I haven't fought enough magicians to not recognize an aria?"
Shirou threw the smaller Muramasa in Freed's direction but the white haired man deflected with Blessing before stopping the main Muramasa with both his weapons. But the white haired man was just a little too slow and the blade cut his arm. It was small but it was a sign for things to come if things kept going like this
Observing the fight for as long as he could, Gawain realized a couple of things. 'We are going to lose.'
It wasn't just Freed's fight, from the corner of his eyes Gawain could see Xenovia rushing towards his undesirable ally and Irina struggling but dealing with his soldiers. Their best chance of victory should be the stray Exorcist but he was failing to deliver.
'He is used to fighting with light swords, not with real metal, even if he is trained for such.' Despite the speed of the fight, Gawain noted how the white haired man moviments looked uncomfortable and stiff. 'All the Excaliburs are two handed weapons, heavier than the standard sword. Light swords have no weight on them while every single Excalibur weighs at least ten pounds because of the special metal.'
Since Freed was carrying all the Fragments they had retrieved that meant that, not only he was lifting one heavy sword in each hand but he also had another extra twenty pounds under his robes.
'The only exception for that rule is Mimic and that one…' He looked at Irina still struggling, the Holy Aura allowed her to stop his men from getting the sword but she was only one against a dozen. Turning back at Freed's fight he saw the Holy Aura returning to help the white haired man. 'If he had Excalibur Mimic then one of his hands would be essentially free.'
There was also the Holy Energy of the swords to consider. While Excalibur Blessing had the strongest one, Mimic was not far behind as Gawain could see and compare both auras. Looking at his hand he knew he would never be able to use the Excaliburs to their full potential, only those with the light element could.
The leader of the Order couldn't help but envy Freed a little. 'If he wasn't beyond human limits, if he wasn't superhuman, he never would be able to fight like this. Neither use their auras or even hold all those swords for that matter.' For a second he regretted not having taken Valper's offer to enhance him but the knight quickly focused on what he must do. 'If defeat in this battlefield is inevitable then we must change to another.'
And he knew exactly how to change the battlefield.
Previously in her life Irina was sure that she could fight for a whole day straight, thanks to her training and stamina she never doubted that for a second. Now she was rethinking that notion as she kicked a helmet into a soldier of the Order's head and knocked him down while throwing another one from her shoulder.
'I am starting to get tired of this.' Irina admitted only to herself as she jumped over another soldier and kicked him in the back of his head. A woman with a spear tried to pierce her chest but the Exorcist jumped again and cut the spear in four parts before kicking the older woman's side. 'I need a break.'
Most of the members of the Order around the chestnut haired Exorcist were already beaten and she took a moment to take a breath. She could see most of her enemies attacking her partner and gulped some air to prepare to help Xenovia.
"Exorcist!" However all Irina's plans came crashing as Gawain came running in her direction with a sword held high. "I won't let you escape!"
Irina almost couldn't believe what the knight just said. "'Escape'? I have been kicking your butts the whole night?!" She was more confident than she was when they fought before and Holy Aura soon covered her again. 'He looks to be tired as well. This is my chance.'
She expected Gawain to be trying to remain in one place again but since he was charging straight to her, Irina would have to adapt.
Mimic remained as a sword as its Holder threw a long swing against the knight, the metal acting like a whip once more. "Stabbing doesn't work? Let's try to hit you hard!" She announced confidently.
That was exactly what Gawain was counting on and when the metal hit his side he felt it slice his armor and hit him with enough strength to break his balance. 'Pain is good; it reminds you to keep going.'
Recovering just before falling, Gawain kept his charge going as Irina kept hitting him with Mimic. He didn't even try to defend himself as the hits kept breaking his armor apart and only the Green Mantle kept him safe but that wasn't perfect as bruises began to show up, the Noble Phantasm reaching its limits.
The wounds on Gawain's skin told Irina all she needed to know, she was breaking thought and that in turn kept her going. The knight wasn't trying to hide the wounds or even bothering to raise a defense, he wanted her to keep going just enough to secure his victory.
'This is the best way to change the battlefield.' Gawain told himself to push through the pain as Irina lost her Holy Aura again and he kept going. 'Closer! Just a little closer!' He told himself on a loop as he kept his charge going.
At that point Irina was growing disturbed by how much damage the knight had taken and the fact he wasn't stopping. His approach suddenly became much more intimidating but the Exorcist refused to panic.
Instead of losing herself to fear, Irina fell back to her training once again.'If a dangerous enemy is getting too close, push them away before he gets closer.' Usually that would involve certain traps and prayers made to affect supernatural beings.
However Gawain was a human. He had a Noble Phantasm but was still completely human. And all that Irina had to repel him was a sword. Except that her sword had a theoretical infinity range, or so Irina liked to think as she made it bigger and pointed at Gawain, the knight already ready for what was to come.
When Mimic began to fly in Gawain's direction he shouted. "Green Knight Mantle!" The second that took the sword to reach him was enough for the Noble Phantasm to cover his body with green aura. For the first time since the fight began, Gawain properly dodge the blade, accelerating in Irina's direction. "You shouldn't reveal all your tricks before your opponent."
Much faster than he was before, Gawain finally covered the whole distance between him and Irina. Mimic had already returned at the command of its holder and Irina moved to stab the knight again, this time with a proper sword.
When the knight took the blow, the active Noble Phantasm nullified the damage completely as his defense was so high that he ignored the blade and once more stopped Mimic from even marrying his skin.
No longer the knight was taking damage, he wasn't even feeling pain anymore. He took it all and kept standing without retreating another step and instead advancing as Irina tried to have Mimic to keep going. Holy Aura began to empower her again as she saw the knight's sword come in her direction from above his shoulder.
By the direction that the weapon was going Irina needed to block it or risk losing her life as the green aura was still around the man and her cape and combat uniform were most likely not to be enough.
Both blades collided in opposite arcs and Irina fully expected to start a struggle against the blond. Only for him to let his sword go, leaving Irina completely open when he grabbed her arm with one hand and the other moved for her face. There was nothing the Exorcist could do as Gawain hand held her face and he slammed her on the floor.
"You may be superhuman with your Exorcist training but that is irrelevant thanks to my Noble Phantasm." Irina tried to struggle but Gawain held her firmly, ignoring her glare. With her free hand she tried to force him to let go but he held on. "Without the proper instincts of a warrior, the determination to see victory at any cost, you can never beat the Green Knight."
That was the true power of the Green Knight Mantle, giving the user the power of the Green Knight that once had his head cut during a party for King Arthur, an attempt from Morgan le Fay to kill Guinevere with shock and fright.
As the mantle given to the original Sir Gawain belonged to him first, when it ascended to a Noble Phantasm, it imparted some of the prowess of its original owner to the user. However it was still a low level Noble Phantasm and couldn't save the user if their head got cut but it still could give a body resistant to wounds as was promised to the original Gawain on his quest.
With the power of the Green Knight it didn't matter if Irina was stronger than the average human, Gawain effectively became inhuman and surpassed her with a body that could not be harmed.
He tried to lift her head to slam it on the floor again but Irina moved her legs and locked them on his arm, Gawain being tall enough that such a maneuver was possible, while keeping her neck in place. Never before she had been more thankful for the training she did to strengthen her bones.
There was a brief struggle as Irina tried to break Gawain's arm while he tried to force her to let go of Mimic. All the while Irina glared at him and the knight couldn't help but feel shame as her strong eyes had a rightful indignation on them.
'Now I am really a thief, stealing from girls in the middle of the night.' The leader of the Order lamented. 'But I must do my duty.' His gauntlet hands struggled against the Exorcist's gloved arm as he hoped that the metal would hurt her enough for Irina to drop the sword.
But she resisted, her eyes making clear that she didn't intend to let go of Mimic easily. Even with protection she was still feeling pain but her resolve but Irina's resolve shone brighter than anyone else Gawain had ever met. Didn't mean he was going to stop as he tightened the pressure on both her face and arm even more.
Neither was willing to budge, neither was willing to give up.
"Sir!" But the two of them were not alone and the remains of the Order of Pendragon moved to help their Commander and Irina realized the deep trouble she was in.
Surprise only lasted a second on the Commander before he started throwing orders "Get the sword! This position is compromised! We must send Freed ahead!" Those without their helmets couldn't hide their disgust at the idea. 'But is the right one.' He took as much comfort as he could in the thought. "Whatever kind of magician that boy is, Freed can't beat him with the Excaliburs he has and if we lose them we will have no hope of resurrecting our king."
Determination filled their hearts as Irina lost hers, the determination of these soldiers was starting to scare the Exorcist as they were ready to do anything for their goal. Her resolve returned and she held Mimic as firm as she could but it wasn't enough. She never realized that if she used the sword properly she could be free but she didn't.
It took a few seconds but they didn't need to break her arms or even cut them by the opening between her uniform and gloves. They just needed to open her fingers, Irina's grip may be tight but Irina couldn't stop the soldiers from peeling her fingers from the sword one at a time.
First was the tumb, then the indicator. When only the little finger was left, Irina couldn't stop them. "I got it!"
The Commander moved at that signal and slammed Irina's back on the floor. He noticed his men step away and did the motion again. While strong willed, Irina wasn't able to keep her legs on a lock and was forced to let go and Gawain lifted his arm so his soldiers could take their place but still held the Exorcist's face to stop her from fighting back.
"Give it here!" Gawain ordered a soldier as he looked at Irina's eyes beneath his hand. 'Stabbing her forehead would have solved all your troubles.' A small voice told him before he ignored it. 'I don't have a weapon to do it anyway.'
He told himself the lie to try and feel better, ignoring Mimic on his grasp as even if he couldn't use its abilities, it was still a very sharp sword. It was inevitable that Irina would escape the five people trying to hold her, she was beyond human limits, they weren't.
Instead of saying anything else, the heir of Gawain began to run towards his first position to prepare for the next part. 'I need my sacred gear to make sure everything runs smoothly once Freed is out.' His conscience was heavy but he was determined. 'For King Arthur.' He kept repeating that for as long as he could. "Freed! Time to GO!"
Both Shirou and Freed turned to look at the blond with Mimic on his hands, one with a glare and other with a smile. "Sorry red. Fun is over!" Faster than before the white haired man attacked the magus with everything he could, forcing Shirou to block constantly until they ended up locked into clashing swords again. "For now."
"Trace on!" Shirou could see what Freed was doing and moved to stop him.
He traced swords above their heads once again but Holy Aura protected the Mad Exorcist and made him accelerate even more, focusing on his legs as Freed ran away while laughing maniacally.
He was growing more used to the speed of Rapidly and unfortunately for the redhead he wasn't fast enough to catch up with Freed. It was a problem that Yoruichi had warned him about before, his reactions were good, his sword skill almost flawless.
But in raw speed, in a race, he was lacking, something that touki could help him with but he hadn't mastered it yet.
"Get back here!" Shirou tried to keep up but even if he was fast Freed was much faster and the white haired man reached Mimic in a second, placing Blessing back on his robes before holding the katana with a laugh.
"Whoa! So light!" The Mad Exorcist looked at the advancing magus, ready to keep up the fight.
Only for Gawain to push him away. "GO NOW!" Slamming his right hand on the floor, the stones where he was standing began to glow and levitate, revealing that there were lines written on them. "Stone Commandments!"
Golden aura surrounded the stone and began to cover the area, blinding many of the present. The members of the Order of Pendragon felt their strength renewed at being infused with the aura of the sacred gear once again.
The Exorcists heard the name and managed to realize exactly what they were facing. "The Stone Commandments, those are-" Xenovia began.
"An almost Longinus level sacred gear." Irina finished before kicking away from the soldiers trying to surround her. She raced close to Shirou who was glaring at Gawain, arriving just as Xenovia did. "That sacred gear-"
"Gives power to everyone loyal to the user in an area." Shirou interrupted as his eyes turned to Freed who started to run, breaking one of the few remaining windows of the gallery and escaping. He wanted to pursue but looked back to Gawain as his men began to get up and surround them, all more powerful than before. "At its strongest it can give ten protections, ten Commandments that increase the fight capability of their followers. Fortunately he can't go for all ten yet."
Agravain's warnings and words came to Shirou as he glared at the Commander. In an attempt to give the redhead the best chance possible of reuniting the Fragments, the black knight had given him all he was willing about his allies' sacred gears.
In a seconds the moaning and wounded members of the Order got up ready to fight, some of the unconscious ones also stood up but that wasn't surprising for the trio watching the events.
Now that Gawain was forced to reactivate his sacred gear, all its protections were in sight; To never tire, to heal all wounds, to have the strongest armor, to have the sharpest blades and to be fearless.
"Just five." Xenovia observed with a frown before throwing Shirou a glance. "That is what you meant. Five must be his limit."
"Indeed it is." Gawain admitted with a glare, he was unarmed and tired but he looked more imposing than before. Around him the soldiers of the Order looked ready for their final fight. "Five Commandments. That is all I can fill these stones with." They landed on his hands and held them both in one each arm. "Unlike Moses who had God's help with the original, I need to fill them with my own strength." He glared at Shirou with hatred. "And I see that someone gave you more information than you should have. Who was the traitor?"
All soldiers glare at the redhead who scoffed. "I would call you a traitor for joining forces with a man like Freed." He looked back, prompting Gawain to look over his shoulder and notice the struggle to try and save Luvia.
A pang of guilt crossed the Commander's chest but his face didn't change. "She came here of her own volition, killed some of our men and got in the way of our mission." He looked at Shirou who was looking at him right back. "Forgive me for having no sympathy for her."
"You all shouldn't be in Fuyuki in the first place." Shirou replied with stoicism as he prepared his sword.
"Shirou, Luvia's condition is getting worse!" Yoruichi call had Shirou, the Exorcists and most of the Order looking at her. "This golden energy is too similar to Holy Energy! I can't help her like this!"
Gawain looked at his sacred gear in understanding and admiration. 'Maybe I could have used the Excaliburs.' Even at a distance he could tell with a glance that Luvia was suffering but his resolve didn't shake.
"Then we need to take that fake knight out, fast." Xenovia pointed out the simplest solution and offered her partner Destruction. "Irina, get ready to leave the building. I'm really going to go all out."
At a nod from the chestnut hired Exorcist, Shirou frowned. "So you can only go all out by bringing down the building. Sounds like a waste."
"I can't… control it completely yet." Xenovia admitted with a frown.
"Sacred gear?" Shirou sarcastically.
"My real sword." From a flick of her hand a light began to appear and Shirou felt an immense power emanating from it. "Get your friends and get out. I'll open the way." Then she glared at the magus. "After that you will have to explain why you were interfering with our mission."
"We don't want the Fragments." The eyes of the two met and Xenovia could tell Shirou wasn't lying. "But that isn't important right now. The world may be at stake."
"Isn't that a little melodramatic?" Irina asked with a small smile, already feeling the positive effects of a Holy Aura protecting her again. "This ain't the first time someone stole the Excaliburs, you know? We just have to get it back."
Raising an eyebrow, Shirou tried to speak gently. "You lost one of the Fragments, remember?" The twin tailed Exorcist began to scratch her head with embarrassment. "Besides, if we don't stop Freed quickly then he may restart the Great War."
An alarm bell rang on both the Exorcists' minds. "What do you mean?" Asked a wide-eyed Xenovia.
"Something weird started to happen in Kuoh a few hours ago." Shirou commented, his eyes never leaving Gawain as the Commander glared back at the magus. "So I may never have rebuilted a legendary sword but I can't help but think that something weird is happening in the place with the biggest branch of the town's ley line on the exact same day a weapon like that pops up can't be a coincidence."
"It seems the traitor gave out a lot of our plans." The disgust on the blond's voice just made Shirou more irritated.
"Rias felt the ley line act weirdly and called me on my cell phone, ever heard of those? You must haven't since you didn't have the decency of leaving a proper scout outside while using these subpar boundary fields." He rolled his eyes at the Commander's clear frustration.
"Shut up! This was the best we could do with the help we had and we are about to accomplish our objective!"
"Yeah, close to starting a war." Shirou said back, still glaring. "Do you understand what I mean, right?"
Xenovia knew the question was for her. "Holy Swords close to the Heiress of Pillars and siblings of the Maous… that is a real recipe for disaster."
Shirou was happy she caught on to the situation fast. "Then stop wasting time and go."
"But we can't leave you to fight against all of them alone." Irina was already prepared with Destruction to get some payback from the Order. "His sacred gear is also hurting Luvia-san and we can't leave our ally behind."
That was something that Shirou could agree with but was easily solvable. He looked back to his group and called out. "Get in the car and get out of here."
"Shirou?" Liz clearly didn't like the instruction but Yoruichi nodded her approval.
"It would be for the best. Dealing with two similar energies like that is too hard." The noble yokai admitted. "After we leave, Luvia's chances are going to rise considerably."
"Don't leave Shero on my account." The blue magus tried to move but the wound didn't let her. "I-"
"Shut up or you die." Rin summarized the situation easily. "Liz, help me get them in the car."
"No, we can't." Liz refused, her eyes focused on Shirou who looked back at her. "I won't leave Shirou alone."
Some could understand her dedication and loyalty, Shirou was even moved by it. Except that he couldn't let her stay. "You are the only one who can drive them out of here."
The white haired maiden knew he was right; Yoruichi had to focus on keeping Luvia alive and Rin had to keep treating the wound and couldn't drive even if she hadn't to keep healing Luvia. Auguste could be the driver if he was conscious but with his wounds even that would be a risk.
But Liz's priority was always Shirou. "I won't-"
"Leysritt! Take the others and go back home!" Shirou's firm voice cut the maid off and everyone looked at him. She looked at him, denial written all over her face as she knew what he was about to do. While Shirou was Liz's priority, he was concerned about everyone present. "That is an order."
Sofly, almost a whisper, Shirou spoke as gently as he could. He didn't like giving orders on anything, especially to Liz.
Her red eyes closed for a moment before she opened them slowly.
"Yes, Master." Because she couldn't challenge them or express her opinion. She just nodded her head again and began to follow the order. "I shall place the man inside first. Make them ready to be moved."
Almost robotically the homunculus followed the order and began to place Auguste in the front seat, adjusting it for more comfort. Neither Rin nor Yoruichi commented on anything when she picked up Luvia and slowly transported her to the back, instead the nekoshou moved to sit close to her as the red magus took off the coat she had borrowed.
"Emiya!" She threw the red coat towards him and Shirou catched it with ease. No words were needed as they nodded to each other, Rin understood that there was no time for arguments but the redhead really didn't want to give the order to Liz. "Kick them out of town."
Instead of criticizing or disagreeing, Rin tried to incentivize Shirou, something he appreciated. "Will do." Like the coat it changed to fit his size and protect him better as the gem in the center of his armor began to glow. "You two go as well."
"Shouldn't we all go then?" Xenovia asked nonchalantly. "Your business partner is the one in danger."
"Someone needs to stay behind to make sure we aren't followed or that those guys don't give us troubles there instead of here." Shirou replied back, his eyes looking back at the members of the Order who remained weren't moving at the moment. "Besides, it's not your job to get the Fragments back? You better go do it before I am done here or I will go and do that for you."
Xenovia threw a small glare to Shirou before letting out a chuckle. "Fair."
"Xenovia?" Irina was curious because of her partner's attitude but the blue haired Exorcist just chuckled again.
"This guy got guts if he thinks he can defeat them all and finish our job. Let's give him a chance." She smiled sincerely, her eyes on Muramasa. "After this we should spar sometime, Noble Phantasm against Noble Phantasm."
The implication brought a smile to his lips. "Heh. I would like that." Soon it left as he looked back at the Order who gave him a lot of headache during the day. "Go."
"Let's move out, Irina!"
"Yes!" Xenovia began to run in Kuoh's direction, ignoring everything else and jumping out of a window with Irina right behind.
Soon the car with the rest of Shirou's group began to move as well, the magus giving it a last glance as Liz looked back. There was life still in her eyes and she nodded but he still felt some guilt as the car broke another window to leave.
"This place really isn't opening anytime soon." Shirou commented out loud with a smile before it was gone again. "Apologies for the delay but I appreciate that you let everyone just leave the party like that."
"It wouldn't be polite to keep people who don't want to be present." Gawain tried to get into the joke but he couldn't, he was too uncomfortable for that. "Besides, one of them has an Excalibur. They going to Kuoh means a step closer to the return of King Arthur so it is to our benefit."
"Do you really believe it's going to be that easy?" Shirou looked around at the many bodies in the gallery. "From what I can tell Freed is just one man and you all had troubles with just Destruction."
"Freed won't be alone there." Gawain felt comfortable saying that because to him there was no difference. "And we will help, once we have dealt with you."
Shirou couldn't stop himself from laughing a little. "Not if I have something to say about that." His cocky grin had many of the soldiers mad but they didn't advance. "Not even counting on Rias, Sona and their peerages. I bet that Freed is about to bite much more than he can chew."
"Huh, looks like the traitor didn't tell you everything. Or he was one of the ones who didn't know enough. I wonder." The Commander's rumination ended when he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We will be there soon and can secure the Excaliburs by ourselves."
Not believing what the man just said, Shirou just shook his own head. "Don't your sacred gear need a few minutes to set up? Especially in a huge space like a school? With a college?" The glare the Commander was giving Shirou was murderous. "Even if you get there I doubt you and your men can do much. Or even get past me for that matter."
"I will discover who that traitor is and make sure they pay for speaking too much." The declaration came with a great deal of hatred since his trump card was revealed before the fight even began. "But you think you can stop us? You are right I need time to prepare but look here." He held the stones, which looked too metallic to be stone in Shirou's opinion, over his shoulders. "The Stone Commandments are already active and my men fight each with the strength of ten others."
"Meh, fought against tougher odds." Shirou sounded uninterested, almost bored by the blond's statement which made the Commander more frustrated. "So I am just going to deal with all of you and then go stop Valper from reforging 'Excalibur'."
Gawain didn't know what irritated him the most, the sarcastic tone when he said the name of the sword or that he planned to stop its rebirth in the first place. "The only way you are stopping Excalibur's resurrection is over my dead body!" His loyalty won out and he complained about the latter and his men followed with shouts of determination.
Once again Shirou wasn't fazed but the glare he gave had more irritation in it. Taking a deep breath, he said "I don't plan to kill any of you." Upon hearing those words Gawain flinched and shook his head.
"So you are the same as that girl then, lacking the determination of a warrior." He glared at Shirou as the soldiers of the Order looked more confident. "Then you can't beat us. At least the blue haired woman had the guts to fight properly."
It was Shirou's turn to shake his head and he laughed a little again. "You think that killing is the measure of what one needs for a fight? Or maybe one's strength? That is hilarious." But all humor had left the magus' face as he looked at Gawain and his soldiers with pity. "You kind of remind me of my father if he was more of an idiot and less mature."
"'Your father'?" The sudden turn on the conversation shocked the Commander of the Order.
Shirou noticed the shock from the man and chuckled. "Yes, much like him you also do things that you don't like to accomplish your goals. It doesn't matter the risk or costs, the mission comes first, ain't I right?" The silence confirmed the redhead's observation which just amused him more. "But unlike my father who can live with the consequences of his decisions, you hide behind things like 'loyalty' and 'honor'."
"You dare?!" One of the soldiers charged at Shirou but he expected that, wanted that. Instead of replying immediately he moved quickly, cutting the man's tendons with Muramasa to then turn to the side and hit the soldier in the back of the head with the handle.
"Oh yeah, I dare." Shirou replied as the armored body fell down, unconscious. Many tried to understand what was happening but Shirou just continued talking. "You think that killing is something great? Something necessary for a fighter? No, it isn't. What someone truly needs in the battlefield is resolve."
For a moment it seemed that Gawain would disagree or order an attack but the blond paused. "Killing means resolve, the resolve to see things through."
"That… sounds more like an excuse." Muramasa touched the back of the man's armor and everyone thought Shirou was about to finish the job. "Look at this guy for example; he is out of the fight and can't do anything like this. Should I kill him?" No reply meant that he had some people thinking. "Of course not. Killing is easy, any idiot with a knife on the street can kill someone. That doesn't mean that people should do it." Relaxing the katana on his shoulder, he stepped away from his last victim to point to another soldier. "This guy was killed because of your mission, your goal. Was it worth it?"
A nod came before the answer. "Yes. We all came prepared to give our lives for our king."
After letting some people agree the magus spoke again. "I disagree, because he is dead." Shirou then pointed at another body. "So is he." Then another. "So is she." He relaxed his arm and looked at the soldiers with pity. "Everyone that died here, every member of the Order of Pendragon that died today, is in your head. How does that feel?" Gawain flinched. "Sucks, doesn't it? Killing is easy and you killed them all."
"The Exorcists-"
"Your mission, your Order, you are their leader!" Shirou interrupted Gawain. "Would they have stolen the Excaliburs without your permission? Wouldn't they be here in Fuyuki without your say? If the Excaliburs weren't stolen, would the Exorcists be here to kill them?" Shirou crouched down, examining one of the dead. "This is one of Xenovia's, no hesitation. Like you, she also had a mission. She, like every man and woman who follows you, is a soldier." He glared at the Commander as he got up. "It wasn't her who chose this fight, her superiors did. Same as your men."
The Commander was growing increasingly frustrated by Shirou's talk. "Is there a point to this?"
"Yes, surrender now and no one needs to get hurt." Shirou cut to the chase, he tried to be nice but it was clear he was falling. "Unlike my father, who is an assassin mind you," some surprised was clear and voiced at that information but the magus paid no mind, "you lack the resolve to do what is necessary for your mission."
"After all this you think I lack resolve?!" Gawain picked up a sword from the floor with fury. "I am as willing to die as my men! For our king! For our Order! I was always ready to throw away my life!"
"But that was never necessary." Shirou could see his words weren't reaching Gawain but he was trying. "There is always another solution-"
"You come to talk about all this after insulting our resolve?!" A sarcastic laugh escapes the blond's lips which unsettled some of his men. "We are the last remnants of Camelot! We have a duty to King and Country! To bring back-"
"And after all that you still let my friends go." Shirou's interruption shocked Gawain who couldn't believe how cold he sounded.
But he recovered quickly. "Did you want them dead by chance? Sorry to disappoint you but we don't kill the wounded, we are honorable men!" The shouts and screams showed how much the men agreed with their leader.
However now Shirou only looked at them with more pity. "My father would have killed them to minimize the risks and external factors." Also by being more efficient but he didn't need to say that. "Huh. You all are a joke. Working with a murderer and sadist like Freed while preaching about honor and loyalty. You saw his hand work first hand and yet still insist on being 'loyal men'. King Arthur would hate all of you."
Gawain couldn't let it slide. "Our duty-"
Shirou didn't care. "And that is why you lack resolve. You hide behind words like 'duty' and 'honor' to justify using the easiest way." Those words clearly stung some men. "Bringing this fight into an inconspicuous city while hiding because you don't want to harm innocents is a paradoxical response; either you go all out for your mission or you don't do it in the first place."
"Shut up you bastard!" Finally Gawain lost his patience mostly because some small part of him agreed with the magus.. "We are going to kill you, get to Valper and recover the Excalibur! Our king will return!"
Steel sings as Shirou raised Muramasa and placed his free hand on the blade. "Not by you, not while I am here."
"Then you better kill us!" A fanaticism that wasn't present before makes itself known in the Commander's voice. "We won't stop! After killing you we will march to the academy and kill all there if necessary! Excalibur will be reforged!"
Taking a deep breath, Shirou still wanted to impart something before they started. "Remember when I said that any idiot could kill? This is what I meant; anyone can give any reason to kill someone else and hide behind a facade. My father at least owns his decisions, no matter how wrong, unlike you all."
"I grow tired of your snark!" Declared the Commander.
He was about to order the attack when Shirou spoke once again. "What one needs is just the 'want' to kill or the 'need' to kill?" The steel on Shirou's eyes kept the blond in check as he took a step back.
'I am… afraid of him? This boy is at least half my age… and I am afraid of him?'
With eyes that promised death by themselves, Shirou remained stoic as mana began to flow into Muramasa. "Everyone has wants and needs but when it comes to killing there is the consideration that once done it is irreversible. Taking away a life… Only in legends that kind of event can be undone." And considering their world he saw it as possible even if not easy or simple. "I for example want to kill Freed for what he did to Luvia, the torture and cruelty he imposed on her for his own pleasure. I don't need to kill him and considering she is alive I may even offer him to surrender because he didn't kill her immediately but that doesn't change the fact that a huge part of me wants to kill him."
And considering the kind of person Freed was, Shirou knew he wasn't going to feel guilty about it after.
"But I don't need to kill him as far as I know. Had you not send him away or we were in a more open environment I am sure I would have beaten him with enough time. Maybe then I would kill him or I would have sent him to a hole where he would never see the light of the day again."
Every single word, the soldiers and their Commander couldn't help but believe in every single word that Shirou was speaking. He was talking about how the result of the fight, a fight against most of the Excaliburs Fragments, was already decided with his victory after just a short exchange and they knew he wasn't lying.
"Understand something about me; I don't like killing. That is why I am taking my time and trying to talk you all down from fighting. Even if I don't want to kill any of you, accidents can happen and I would like to avoid them."
"You think you already won." Gawain realized with dread as he still believed in the redhead's every word. 'He already won.' His analytical mind wanted to reject the notion but everything else wanted to agree with it. "We won't stop."
"Oh, you will. When every single bone of your body is broken, when your body is cut to the point you can't move, you will. Which brings us to 'need'." If nothing else, Shirou's eyes looked even more menacing and determined. "I don't need to kill any of you. Even with the Stone Commandments or the Noble Phantasm on your back," Gawain held his mantle protectively, "I don't need to kill any of you. You are too weak."
"In a fight things change, the true strength of man appears and unknown factors present themselves." The Commander spoke to himself and his men, trying to muster all the courage he could find. "You can't tell the result of a fight before it even starts."
"Most would disagree, I certainly do." There were many things that helped Shirou to determine that the Order of Pendragon couldn't beat him if he went all out.
Some of it was the information that Agravain gave to him, the details about Stone Commandments, of how strong it could make the members of the Order being the main one. After fighting theirs all day, Shirou had a base since they all had the same training, instructions and equipment.
Combined with that there were also the weapons and damages to the gallery to consider and the fact that Shirou fought against Irina and managed to keep up with her easily, even winning during their spar despite both holding back.
Just by looking around Shirou gained enough information to clearly define that the Order of Pendragon, at their best and with every soldier in the city present, couldn't beat him. He even knew the sacred gears of all knights and their powers so if he decided to go for the kill and all out he was sure he would win.
Didn't mean he was going to lower his guard. His speech wasn't only to try and convince the members of the Order to give up, a part of him wanted it to fail anyway because of how the whole situation made him angry, especially in the last few minutes.
There was also the fact that even if the Stone Commandments made the men fearless they were still capable of feeling their nerves and uneasiness.
"You think you can beat us without killing anyone?" Gawain couldn't believe those words.
"I can, I will." Resolve, that was what everyone was seeing behind Shirou's eyes, a resolve so strong that intimidated lesser men. "I don't want to kill any of you, had you tried to keep Luvia and the others here that would be different but you let them go. For that I thank you."
Muramasa began to glow for a moment before it stopped, many thought that was a trick of the light and couldn't see any difference in the blade.
Shirou gave no time for anyone to think about it as he kept speaking. "Had Luvia died I probably would kill all of you. But she didn't and I only want to kill the person who made her suffer."
Didn't stop him from still being furious with them and needing to vent some of his aggressivity to try and calm down. That influenced his attempt to de-escalate the situation quite a bit but Shirou couldn't help himself. These people did give Freed the Fragments which caused the whole mess and his anger felt justifiable despite how much he tried to hold it in.
"You are underestimating us." Gawain wanted to retreat, wanted to give up and go home. Too many of his men had died and he felt lost.
However 'the sunk cost fallacy' forced him to keep going. Despite all the warnings, all the chances and every instinct telling him that fighting against Shirou was a bad idea he took a step forward, refusing to show submission.
"I will- No! We will show you our resolve!" All soldiers drew their weapons, their loyalty absolute and the aura around them grew stronger because of it. "ATTACK!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The shout came with a charge and all the last thirty men of the Order of Pendragon marched to their last stand.
Taking a deep breath, Shirou had no intention of hesitating. 'It will only take an extra minute to beat them all without killing.' Was his best estimate with all considerations. "Lightning Muramasa!"
Faster than any soldier present could keep up with Shirou found himself in the middle of them, katana swinging even faster as it cut their armor and shields like butter. Those that were hit felt the electricity running through them even as Shirou was already moving to the next.
"I don't need to kill any of you." Shirou spoke gently as five soldiers fell around him and the others turned to keep fighting. "But this is still going to hurt. A lot."
They threw themselves at him anyway, fearless as the Stone Commandments made them be.
Only one showed fear in his face, the Commander felt the emotion as he knew that soon he would be matching blows against Shirou by himself as the magus ignored him and moved to the next soldier.
'Why isn't he aiming for me first?' Gawain wondered with fear. He knew Shirou was aware of his presence and power of his sacred gear, he couldn't understand. 'Is it because of my Noble Phantasm?'
The single look Shirou gave him killed that theory on the spot. It was a glance filled with determination, resolve and conviction that had a chill running on Gawain's spine. Only for the katana on his hand to defeat another soldier easily and then move swiftly as he turned to the next.
It was then that Gawain realized why Shirou wasn't aiming for him first; It wasn't because of the Green Knight Mantle or a sense of fair play, it was because he was using the resistance his sacred gear gave to his men to make them harder to kill.
Another glance from Shirou noticed the realization on Gawain's eyes and he spoke out loud with a smirk. "See, I don't need to kill any of you."
…
The night had already fully fallen when Rias, Akeno and Medusa arrived back at Kuoh. It took them a little longer than expected but they still made excellent time all things considered. They arrived at the gates which were already closed and the two runners stopped for one of them to catch their breath.
"Finally." Rias whispered with a frown while cleaning some sweat off her forehead. "I really wish we could have flown here. Walking takes too much time."
"Or maybe you are just… a little out of shape, Buchou." Akeno committed from the side, Medusa's legs firmly secured beneath her arms as the purple haired goddess held her neck.
An eyebrow twitched as the King looked at her Queen with a deadpan stare. "Fair for you to say miss 'I have the speed of a Knight and you should keep up'. Totally fair." Both may be mage type fighters but Akeno had the edge on physical attributes thanks to her Evil Piece. "And I will let you know that I exercise every day."
"Sometimes even at night when she thinks no one can hear Shirou 'helping'." Medusa added which made Rias blush and had Akeno smiling more.
"The boundary field-"
"Is not perfect." Medusa mentioned with the same small smile at Akeno's side.
"Oh my~"
Rias knew she had to cut it short before her Queen got into more teasing. "I don't want to hear from someone that had to be carried for the last leg of our run."
Running from one side of the town to another was something extremely difficult to most people, doubly so when they had to run fast and even more so when they had to keep up with someone faster.
In that effect Medusa couldn't keep up with Rias and Akeno the whole journey, she tried her best but she couldn't use her power and her small body soon hit a limit.
"Sorry for being small." The smile on the goddess' face showed that she wasn't sorry at all. The fact her cute appearance didn't hide her smugness didn't help the Gremory King's mood.
"You are enjoying this." Rias pointed out.
"Yes."
Akeno nodded her head eagerly. "I kind of enjoyed it too. Never had given anyone a piggyback ride before." She moved a little and Medusa moved in sync so their eyes could meet. "Are you comfortable?"
"Yes, I am. Thank you for asking." Both turn to look at Rias. "Unlike some people."
"Indeed."
Shaking her head, Rias marched towards the gate. "Ha ha ha." She laughed sarcastically as a magic circle appeared in her hand, opening the gate. "I could carry her if I had a Rook's strength and a Knight's speed. Why there isn't a King's Piece to help with that." Hearing Rias mumbling her complaints only made the duo giggle. "Now we should just-"
Barely Rias took a step inside Kuoh's territory and she was already feeling a dread that she couldn't explain. She wasn't the only one either as once Akeno and Medusa also crossed the boundary field around the school they could immediately tell that something was terribly wrong.
"That is-" Rias began.
"A magic circle-" Akeno said at the same time, both interrupting each other.
"A huge magic circle." Medusa gathered their thoughts and jumped off the Queen's back. "It is practically covering the whole school's area."
Once Medusa said it, Rias and Akeno realized how true the statement was. The golden magic circle was dominating the skies of the Kuoh completely and both knew that if it wasn't for the boundary field around the territory then the whole Fuyuki would have seen it.
If neither of the women knew better they would say that it was still day inside Kuoh.
"Who could have made such a thing?" Akeno asked offhandedly. "Could it have been…"
It was Rias who answered before the Queen even finished the second question. "Valper Galilei. I have no doubt." The redhead King glared at the huge magic circle with hatred. "Can't you feel it, Akeno? That magic circle has more than mana in it."
After looking at it for a bit, Akeno's expression grew concerned. "Holy Energy. And quite a lot of it."
"Don't let your senses confuse you." Medusa interrupted the devils. "There is Holy Energy involved but it is not what it seems. If anything it reminds me of fools gold."
Both devils glance at each other before Rias asks "Are you sure?"
The purple head advanced a couple of steps, still looking up. "Yes. It appears to be Holy, even Divine, but the 'flavor' of the mana is wrong." Both goddess and King ponder the implications but the Queen just took another look and decided to ignore the circle for the moment.
"We can discuss this later, for now we obviously have a bigger problem." Akeno brought the other two back to reality as they looked at her face. "After we deal with the circle we can figure out from the coward's own mouth how he did it."
Medusa nodded in her agreement but Rias remained silent for a moment. 'Where is Sona during all this?' She knew that if her fellow heiress had felt the same things that she did then, even if Sona had already left the premises, she would be around Kuoh solving the problem. "We better go check out the center of the circle."
Akeno then looked at Medusa with some concern. "Maybe you should hide in the clubroom with Gasper."
The little goddess gave the Queen a look and pointed up. "I doubt that the protections in the club can stop whatever that is."
"Have you seen Shirou-kun's workshop?" They both knew Medusa did, she spent most of her time outside of it. "That place is a bunker."
Instead of directly complaining, Medusa asked a question of her own. "Are you telling me you two can't deal with a single old man with delusions of grandeur?"
"She got you there, Akeno." Rias said with a chuckle. She could see Medusa's point anyway, as far as they knew it was only Valper doing something and they should be able to solve it by themselves.
Yet the dread remained as the mana from the magic circle basically flooded the place and even disrupted Rias' senses.
The three began to march ahead and Akeno felt something in the area, something that was distinctively different from the fake Holy Energy from the magic circle. "Light?"
"Akeno?" Rias heard her best friend whisper something and asked in concern.
"I think I felt Light Energy." She closed her eyes to expand her senses but she lost the feeling. "It is different from the Holy Energy from the circle. It felt more… genuine and powerful." The Queen looked at the magic circle with a frown. "Much more powerful."
Not underestimating her friend's senses, Rias nodded and opened her wings for a moment before retracting them. "Avoid flying for now. Maybe we can catch whoever is doing this off guard."
The trio advanced and took a turn to the more open propriety of the school. Now they could clearly see the shadows of people fighting but couldn't see exactly who they were.
However it didn't take long for the devils to recognize the school uniform in some people and began to run faster towards their allies as one of them was being held by their neck in the air, struggling to escape the dark figure who kept holding them firmly.
"Is that the best you all have?" A smooth baritone asked with amusement as Momo got up and summoned a blue magic circle. "Well, at least you are trying."
He threw Tsubasa straight in Momo's direction and the white haired girl couldn't react as both she and her friends fell down in an entanglement of bodies. Sona watched this with irritation as she got up and summoned her own magic circle and shot huges globs of water at the man.
With a wave of his hand he dismissed the attack and sent a shock wave towards Sona, the heiress raising her arms to protect herself.
"Born To Be WIld!" Only for the Red Stand to intercept the blow with its own body. "Looks like you need some help, Sona."
The Stand disappeared as the Sitri King turned to look at her friend with wide eyes. "Rias." The Gremory King couldn't tell if it was relief or panic that she heard on her friend's voice but when she glanced at Sona she saw fear. "You shouldn't be here! We need my sister or Sirzechs!"
For a moment Rias was in shock at her oldest friend's attitude. Looking around she noticed that Akeno was by her side ready to fight while Medusa was helping Tsubaki with a wound on her leg.
She now could understand the panic in Sona's voice, most of her peerage, with the exception of Saji who wasn't present, had been soundly defeated by one person. They all looked wounded but alive with clear signs of having fought for hours as many barely had any mana left and were close to passing out.
The whole area around them looked like it had been a victim of a bombardment, full of holes, the earth turned into itself and ripped apart in many places. She had to look again to make sure Sona's peerage was really intect considering that the damage told a far more brutal history about the place even if the blood looked minimal.
Indeed the redhead King could tell that most wounds were minor and that while the Rook had the worst it wasn't even that bad. Despite not having an EM and using basic first aid it was clear that all of them could still be brought back to their feet with time.
But the implication that Sona's team had all fought and were beaten by someone was concerning. Especially since the battlefield indicated that they attacked with everything they had and still didn't win. Rias counted heads again to make sure, no one was dead. That meant that whoever defeated them was so strong they didn't need to kill to win.
After swallowing her breath, Rias glanced at Sona. "Who is really helping Valper Galilei?"
Her concern for her friends blinded Rias for everything else. Including the fact that the threat was still there.
"Finally! The other protagonist of our play has arrived!" The Heiress of Sitri had no time to reply when the guilty party spoke first. "I welcome you, Rias Gremory! Oh, can't forget about Baraqiel's daughter too. I confess I was excited to meet you, once upon a time."
The newly arrived trio turned to the tall man with long black hair dressed in a long mantle of the same color. The easy going of his smile unsettled Rias while Akeno felt the back of her neck tingle as the comment about her father made her furious. Fortunately for her that fury was buried under a heavy weight of caution as her senses were screaming how dangerous the man was.
Then the man locked eyes with Medusa's and he turned all his focus on her. "So you really are a goddess."
Medusa stood up and looked at the man with no fear and some hatred. "Are you a god?"
"Hahahaha. No my dear, I am not a god. Never was and never will be." He said with humor and Rias noticed Sona shivering at the words. "But I can understand your confusion. Even after I fell there was still some Divinity left in me, a Gift from my Father you could say." Slowly he turned to Rias. "You asked who I am, Rias Gremory?"
"I asked who was helping Valper but I suppose you are him." She noticed the old man in question praying behind the taller one and was sure his shoulders were shaking. 'He must be really confident in this guy to guard him.'
"Rias, he is-"
"Now, now Lady Sona, please, allow me to introduce myself." Suddenly the man's presence grew even more than most could resist and those in Sona's team who were recovering fell back down as they couldn't stand before his power. "Who I am, you asked, here I shall deliver for I was one of Heaven's angels and a leader of its Hosts. My name is on the scriptures, the Bible and brings terror to all my enemies." Ten wings appeared behind the man and his shadow seemed to block the light from the magic circle. "You know me, even if just by name. You fear me, even if this is the first time we met. I am Kokabiel, the Angel of the Stars!"
Silence followed his introduction as his power returned to him and the air grew lighter, the devils laying on the ground feeling relief as a mountain left their backs. Rias and Akeno for their part were stunned and terrified, the implications of that person being in Fuyuki working with someone like Valper making the King tremble.
Even Medusa knew who the man was from her books and if his power wasn't enough to make her fear him then what she read about Kokabiel was enough to know how precarious things were. The three now understood how the Sitri Peerage had been so easily dealt with while the Cadre looked pristine.
'The stories about his power were not exaggerated.' The goddess could feel the sweat on her brown as she realized that this may be her last day on earth.
They had no time to properly process it as the fallen angel spoke excitedly. "What do you think? Was that a good introduction? I was working on it while your friends tried to stop Valper from doing his job."
The shock eventually wore off and Rias turned to look at Sona. "Why didn't you call your sister?" She certainly was ready to make a magic circle and call her brother.
Sona swallowed heavily, both air and her pride as her throat felt dry as a desert. "Because he promised to kill everyone if I tried."
"Indeed I did." Kokabiel admitted, his wings disappearing on his back. "It is part of the rules of our game."
"'Game'?" Akeno really didn't like what she was hearing.
"Yes. A fun game, a prelude to our play, where they try to go around me and kill Valper before the Excaliburs arrive." He pointed to the Archbishop who remained standing in the same place with a smile. "And guess the good news! Now that you are here, you have to play." Kokabiel slowly turned to Rias and she shivered, feeling like a rat before a tiger. "No one can leave until we have a winner. You win by surviving, I win by Excalibur being reforged." His smile was full of bloodlust. "Should I go through the rules of our game?"
There was no escaping, that was a fact that everyone present was fully aware of just by looking at Kokabiel's smile. He had no intention of letting anyone leave and if they broke his rules then there would be death.
"I really should have called my brother." Rias admitted with fear.
"Yes, we should." Sona stood up besides her best devil friend.
"Hey, don't feel bad. It wasn't like any of you expected me to show up for something like this." Kokabiel trying to cheer them up only made the two pureblood devils more irritated. "Chins up girls. You still have a chance to live. All you have to do is beat me."
Usually they were confident, proud devils, admired by all their school by their pose and grace. Recently Rias even began to make waves in the Underworld with her boldness and resolve.
None of that mattered now as the pureblood devils saw the size of the mountain they had to climb just to survive.
"Well, shit." Rias couldn't help but swear and Sona turned to look at her friend in shock because of the language.
But Sona didn't complain. In fact, she agreed with the sentiment.
…..
Before anything else let me address those who wanted me to finish this saga because it was 'taking too long' in their opinion. Perhaps that is true but I would feel better if you all understood why I put so much work on the Excalibur arc in particular. Feel free to disagree if you want or point out if I am wrong.
In DxD Excalibur is mostly always treated as a footnote or an extra in most of its appearances. Even after it was reconstructed it was always the same as its first appearance and with time Caliburn was called a better sword. Its whole saga, while giving way to the peace treaty, also is not very considered and sometimes rushed because of what comes after.
Don't think I am taking a dig at DxD or something like that. While I disagree with many of the decisions there, you can identify some through my writing, however I still admire what the author managed to accomplish and how he did it. I wouldn't be writing this story if he hadn't.
It is just that I am a Fate fan first, more of a Fate fan too and a Saber fan to boot. So when I think Excalibur I think of Saber and when I see how diminished the sword was on DxD I can't help but think that by going with that line I would have to diminish Saber too.
That is kinda the thing about the Excalibur legend that Fate points out every time and the reason her sword is hidden most of the time; when all see it, they will know its name and in consequence remember who was the one owner of Excalibur.
DxD treats Excalibur as a simple Holy Sword, Fate calls it the Last Phantasm, guess which side I tend to lean more.
Order of Pendragon technically is also a Fate's concept but applied differently here because, same way as Shirou himself who lived a somewhat different life, the organization focused on bringing back King Arthur had other obstacles and took other paths instead of the one where we end up with Gray.
In the end the real reason was just because I believe that writing about Saber's sword should be with a certain level of grandeur and respect. More things developed after I made that decision and by the end of it I had made a colorful cast and dozens of battles, yes I cut a lot here believe it or not, because I believe that when a saga has the name Excalibur it deserves to be more than a footnote.
There are going to be consequences, a lot of them. Some you guys can already guess, others… maybe after it ended.
Add also that Saber will appear… just not in the way you guys think.
That is it. Not going to talk much about the chapter since this AN is already too big in my opinion.
Instead I would like to thank my supporters on the site that must-not-be-named and inform you all that those there got the first few pages of this chapter earlier and also will be getting updates in general and whenever I am close to finishing a chapter, or it is delayed for a reason or another, etc. Even told how many more chapters this saga has until the end.
Someone here sent me a message asking if I could make an account in another site subscribe and star(wrote like this just in case). I asked them what the difference was and never received a reply so what do you guys think? Should I make an account there? What is the difference?
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Support me so I can keep up the rhythm. Any help is appreciated, no matter how small.
Until next time.
