Ch. 92 - End of the Road
The United Roman Empire had no siege weapons. They had no cavalry. They had archers, but none of them were using their bows. They had their usual scutum shields but those had been mostly ignored. All they had was numbers. Sheer, countless numbers that pushed everything down in a wave of iron and flesh. The Roman army retaliated with fire pots, arrows, boiling oil, everything they could to slow down the wave. Coupled with Spartacus stemming the flow while laughing uproariously and roaring about oppressors, the line was actually holding.
The same could barely be said for the northern front as the army of ten thousand skeletons bore down on the camp. Lu Bu roared as he whirled his halberd, reducing several skeletal horsemen to pieces before shattering a follow-up horseman with a punch. Just as he was about to plunge himself into the fray, a shout from Ritsu behind him echoed. "Hold your position!" she cried, sounding a touch shriller than usual. "We can't let anyone through!" The Berserker growled angrily in response, but otherwise followed her command.
Archer fired countless arrows into the black mass of skeletons before summoning a drill-like sword. As he loaded it onto his bow, it stretched out into an arrow, sparking with power. He aimed carefully at Darius – a rather simple feat considering the huge Servant was riding on a gigantic undead elephant plated in gold, iron, and other decorations. Darius looked over at him and roared, but it didn't matter. This would take only one shot. "Caladbolg!" he roared as he loosed the arrow at the Servant.
Darius growled as he held out his hand. Immediately, one of his skeletal soldiers, bearing a scimitar and a large shield, jumped into his grip. The gigantic Servant threw the skeleton at the oncoming arrow. In turn, the soldier raised its shield – and did nothing to slow the arrow down as it pierced both shield and skeleton alike with ease. The Servant roared as the arrow collided against him, enveloping him and his surrounding forces in a spectacular explosion. The resulting shockwave almost knocked Ritsu over as she covered her face from the blast of air and blinding light, and as it faded left her ears ringing and her mind disoriented.
'Archer…?' she called out as she did to recover. 'Did that get him?'
There was a moment of silence as Archer took stock of the situation. 'It eliminated much of the enemy forces,' Archer reported. 'However, a large part of the army still remains. Unfortunately, I have also lost sight of Darius. I don't know what he plans to do - he may very well take the remainder of his army and divide them to fully surround the camp while keeping us pinned.'
Ritsu cursed as she narrowed her eyes, focusing on the still-approaching line of skeletons marching through the dust of the explosion. 'Then keep your focus on the skeletons for now, but take the shot if you can,' she ordered. While getting rid of Darius would be ideal, it would probably attract too much attention and they might end up in an even worse situation. No, stalling would be the right call here for now. They just needed to buy time for Ren's group to succeed and this wouldn't be a problem anymore. So long as things didn't get any more serious.
'Understood,' Archer acknowledged. 'I'll reposition in the meantime.' The redheaded Master nodded in response.
The screech of horses alerted Ritsu. Looking over, she saw Boudica mowing down skeletons trying to branch out or on the fringes, keeping them focused and centered towards Lu Bu before darting off back to corral the URE. Astolfo did the same, harrying both fronts easily with his hippogriff. Slowly, she started to relax a bit. Everything was under control. Sure, the appearance of a new Servant with his undead army was a ginormous wrench in things, but so long as they could keep things stalemated, then they should be able to hold out for some time-
A shift in movement on the ground grabbed her attention – and her eyes widened as she saw the scattered bones on the ground shifting. They were quickly congregating and attaching back together, piece by piece, bit by bit. Judging from the cloud of bone dust, even the smallest particles were combining as well. Broken weapons and armor quickly mended themselves before coming back into the clutches of the reborn soldiers. It wasn't long before they were fully reassembled, ready for war.
Ritsu bit back a curse. 'Archer-!' she began calling out.
'I see them,' the red-mantled hero responded grimly. 'I guess this army isn't quite that easy to eliminate. No doubt the others have already noticed as well. We'll continue to stall them as long as we can.' The redheaded Master nodded as she continued to watch anxiously.
Lu Bu was holding his position, crushing skeleton after skeleton, yet even she could tell the Berserker was rapidly losing his patience. Boudica and Astolfo were still running as much interference as possible, the former's chariot running over her foes while the latter swooped down with a lance before rapidly ascending, but the undead army were starting to form positions and formations to hold them off. While arrows still rained down, the showers were more sporadic as Archer continuously switched positions to make sure Darius couldn't get a bead on him and adjust his deployments accordingly.
The redheaded Master held the palisade in a death grip, her knuckles turning white from the strain as her heartbeats drummed loudly in her ears. They were adapting quickly and despite everyone's best efforts, Darius and his army were still gaining ground. Most likely they would have to form another defensive line. If they were breached, the undead army would wreak havoc among the far weaker Roman forces. There had to be a way to perhaps deflect or maybe even stalemate them completely-
A loud roar pierced through Ritsu's ruminations and seized her attention. Looking back in alarm, her eyes widened as she witnessed Darius bursting out of the dust cloud and charging straight for the gate, his elephant rapidly reconstructing itself beneath him without slowing. A beast of that power and size would reduce the camp to splinters no matter what they did, let alone the Servant himself. "Stop him!" she shrieked. "Stop Darius now!"
That was when everything went wrong.
Riding her chariot into battle wasn't anything new to her. Against lines of soldiers, even less so. She still remembered plunging into lines of Roman soldiers, roaring savagely as she lashed out left and right with spear and blade. Outmaneuvering armies and striking their flanks, intercepting any diverted forces, or running down retreating enemies were all things she was experienced with. Very few could hold their ground against a direct charge from her chariot in life.
It was different here, however. Her chariot ran over a number of United Roman Empire soldiers, their bodies gushed translucent blood as they were flattened by the wheels. Leaning over, her sword lashed out at those who stood nearby. The momentum of the chariot combined with her strength as a Servant caused the sword to cleave through their armor and flesh with ease, leaving nothing but parted torsos and heads in her wake. Yet despite the ferocity of the attack, the United Roman Empire soldiers didn't react with shock or fear, nor did they yield. Instead, they simply defended and forced her back as they rejoined the main flow.
Scowling, she grabbed the reins of her chariot and pulled away. Corralling the enemy forces into a single line or group had always been challenging, but the literally fearless soldiers on both sides certainly made things even harder. It was all she could do to prevent them from surrounding the camp entirely, let alone actually rout them. And the flow from the city showed absolutely no signs of stopping or even slowing despite how many they've already destroyed. Still, she could hear the boom of Spartacus's roars as he continued to fight and smiled despite herself. He would hold the line.
Her work here done for now, she snapped the reins. Her horses neighed as they thundered towards the northern front. The situation there was far different: The skeleton soldiers were tougher than the United Roman Empire constructs, and they were also intelligent – multiple times she had to reconsider her charges when they saw her coming and quickly formed a shield wall lined with long spears. Thus, she launched quick forays into any openings she found, scattering and destroying the skeletons, before withdrawing. It was enough to keep them hemmed in, but unfortunately not enough to deal lasting damage.
As she rounded a rocky outcrop to assess the situation and see where she would be most effective, she blinked with surprise as she was met with a gigantic cloud of dust. Most likely from Archer – she heard the explosion earlier while she had been busy with the United Roman Empire. Still, as she rode around the outside of the cloud, she could still see shapes of skeletons moving and marching. Without visibility though, charging in was a fool's errand. She needed to-
Suddenly, a bestial roar resounded from the cloud as Darius burst out, wielding golden axes and charging toward the camp. At first on foot but his elephant was rapidly constructing itself right underneath him as the creature continued to stampede. Over it all, she could hear Ritsu screaming. As fearful as it sounded, she could still make out the words of the Master.
"Stop him! Stop Darius now!"
Boudica narrowed her eyes as she snapped the reins of her chariot once more. The horses whinnied and quickly began racing to intercept the charging elephant. She quickly took in the details. The undead elephant was considerably slower than her chariot, but it was far more massive in comparison. Darius was riding on top of it, roaring in the direction of the camp. If he hadn't noticed her yet, he quickly would once she approached. It was surprisingly sparsely armored – probably because it was hard to craft decent armor for an elephant.
Still, that was something she could work with. She glanced up at Darius for a moment, then shook her head. While she could climb on top of the elephant to engage him directly, it was a bad idea: The elephant was Darius's mount, after all, and could easily buck her off or use its trunk to cause no end of grief. Not to mention, she wasn't sure how she would fare in direct combat with the Servant. She was no coward, but neither was she one to risk battle if it wouldn't serve her needs. And finally, even if she could properly engage Darius, the elephant would still be charging at the camp regardless.
No, that elephant needed to be stopped first.
With a quick tug on the reins, her chariot pulled up and kept pace with the elephant. Darius was still roaring at the palisades directly ahead of him, not yet noticing the Rider. Ignoring the Servant (most likely a Berserker judging by his behavior), Boudica pulled in close and noted the beast's skeletal leg. No doubt it was a great deal harder than regular bone, though it was a bit of comfort there wasn't any hide or flesh to soften the blows. She needed to work quick and fast, however, before Darius noticed.
Holding her sword out, she focused her mana into the blade. It quickly began glowing with power as it gathered strength. Darius, noticing the flux of energy, looked over and roared in rage at her, but by then it was too late. Boudica swung her sword at the elephant's leg in a full arc.
"Sword of Boudica!" she cried.
The blade flashed and created a beam of energy as it cleaved the elephant's leg, completely severing and breaking the thick bone with a deafening crack. The beast bellowed in both rage and alarm as it immediately tripped over its shortened leg and tipped over, taking down the maddened Darius with it. Pushed forward by its inertia (and what appeared to be skeletons composing its back half), the elephant could do nothing but crash hard into the ground.
Boudica smiled a bit in satisfaction. Puffing a bit to catch her breath, she prepared to break away and resume her usual duty. Utilizing her Noble Phantasm had taken no small amount of mana from her, but it was more than worth it in this case. From the corner of her eye, she could see Lu Bu fast approaching to engage Darius as arrows rained down on the skeleton soldiers racing past the Berserker. He should be able to handle the Persian King. With a snap of the reins, she pulled away-
And nearly ran straight into a shield wall, bristling with spears. Her horses were almost skewered before they reared with loud whinnies. Boudica with a startled scowl jerked on the reins to lead them away. She glanced over at the shield wall in surprise. Where did they come from? She was certain those soldiers weren't there a moment ago – had Darius formed them up around her while she had been distracted? Considering how the skeletons could simply reconstruct themselves, she wouldn't be surprised.
Discarding the thought, she quickly thundered aside to retreat, only for more skeletons bearing shields and spears to appear blocking her way. No matter which way she turned, more and more appeared, slowly but surely hemming her in. Jumping over them was out of the question – they would simply raise their spears and skewer her chariot then and there. She contemplated simply flying over the soldiers, then just as quickly shut the idea down. While she didn't see any archers among the skeleton soldiers, she did see no small amount of javelin throwers. She would be shot out of the sky before she could get away.
As she began contemplating the possibility of using another Noble Phantasm to break out, the trumpeting of the elephant caught her attention. It was back up and stampeding like it had never been injured in the first place, with Darius bellowing in rage. However, it seemed they had changed targets. They were no longer trying to directly charge the camp.
They were barreling straight for her.
Eyes widening, she quickly looked about her for an escape route. Unfortunately, she was hemmed in on every side by the skeletal soldiers. She started charging forward to break through when she caught a golden gleam in the corner of her eye. Jerking the reins hard to the side, the horses swiftly turned – and she barely managed to dodge the golden axe that had been flung right at her chariot with inhuman force. However, the hard turn forced the chariot up on one wheel, then it flipped and bucked Boudica out, forcing her to crash on the ground as it vanished before it could come to harm.
With a scowl, the Rider staggered up, sword and shield in hand, as she assessed the situation once more: Skeleton soldiers on all sides, all bearing shields and weaponry. The elephant was still stampeding towards her, with Darius bellowing at her. There wasn't enough space around her now to properly summon her chariot, and Sword of Boudica wasn't strong enough to punch a hole through for her escape. Archer was busy holding the line and Lu Bu was still too far away. As she turned to face the elephant, a shout filled her ears.
"Come on, Hippy!"
The Rider watched with surprise as Astolfo swooped down on his hippogriff with unnatural swiftness, his lance outstretched as he charged Darius off his elephant. The Persian king roared with rage as he barely blocked in time with his golden axes but was nevertheless flung into the air and sent flying off his elephant a good distance away. Boudica could only watch in astonishment – and some amusement – as Astolfo soared off as the Berserker's roars became fainter and fainter. The Paladin may be… eccentric, but he was certainly full of surprises.
The momentum from the elephant slowed down considerably from the sheer impact of Astolfo's hippogriff as it stumbled, trying to regain its footing. As the soldiers started closing in around her, she smiled as she whirled her sword. She charged in, leaping over the spears of the skeleton soldiers and cutting them down as she ran towards the elephant.
The beast glared at her as she approached and trumpeted before raising its head to slam its trunk and tusks on her. Boudica sidestepped into a spot between the tusks and trunk, before holding up her shield to parry the latter. She gritted her teeth as the mass slammed down past her; it was far harder and more solid than she had expected of it. Glancing over, she soon saw why: The shield had torn some of the fabric around the trunk, revealing it as nothing more than a construct of yet more skeletons, and lined with swords on top of that.
Boudica breathed an annoyed sigh before deflecting a swarm of spears that reached underneath the elephant. Glancing up at the skeletal structure, there were no organs or vitals she could pierce nor were there any arteries she could slice. There weren't even any sinews she could cut to hamper its movement.
She deflected another onslaught of spears. If that was the case, then she simply had to sever the spine. It brought back memories of running down boars with spears. Tough, but doable. She hopped up into the ribcage – and found herself hanging on for dear life as the elephant began stomping and running all around, as though it was now aware that there was an intruder within itself.
Gritting her teeth, she unsummoned her shield and sword as she moved from rib to rib, clinging on with both hands and legs to avoid getting thrown off. Once she was at where the spine connected to the skull, she began making her way up, nearly getting jolted off as the elephant reared while trumpeting in rage and panic before stomping down, sending a shockwave that jarred her body up to her skull. Several times she had to readjust her grip to avoid slipping off. If she let go now, she would be trampled underneath its feet.
Nevertheless, she hung on, and climbed. Eventually, she got to the spine. It was thickest where it met the skull, which was what she expected. Releasing one hand from the rib, she summoned her sword. The blade began glowing once more as she focused her mana into it.
"Sword of Boudica!" she cried.
She swung her blade at the spine, the slash and beam leaving a deep gash in the bone. Thrusting her sword into the gap, she roared as she fired countless mana blasts into the section, drilling through with each one. Finally, after agonizing seconds, the spine broke with a resounding snap. The elephant collapsed into a heap of bones with one last defiant trumpet. Boudica leaped gracefully down as bones fell all around her, including the skeletons that had been pushing its back half.
Boudica glanced over at the elephant's skull, collapsing and shattering into pieces as it landed on the ground as the undead army roared all around her in rage and defiance. Good. That's at least one threat dealt with. The soldiers were still dangerous but none of them could individually destroy the palisades or camp. Archer would take care of any skeletons who weren't occupied with Lu Bu. She just needed to remount and go from there-
A roar behind her caught her attention – and her eyes widened as she saw the hulking form of Darius before her, his mouth agape in a snarl as he held his battle axe aloft. And it was coming down straight for her. It was coming too fast for her to dodge, and it would sheer through her shield and sword if she tried to block it. Her mind raced through any method to escape but kept coming up short-
"BOUDICA!"
The Rider barely had time to look before she was roughly shoved aside. Crashing amidst the bones, she looked up to see what happened – and her eyes widened in horror as she witnessed Darius's golden axe cleaving right into Astolfo's chest, his lance knocked aside by the Berserker's other axe. "ASTOLFO!" she screamed in horror as she quickly scrambled up to her feet.
Just as she was about to charge, the line of skeletons suddenly exploded as Lu Bu burst through, whirling his halberd. His eyes rested on Darius and he roared in challenge. Darius roared back in response and flung Astolfo aside with a single swing. Boudica immediately dove after him and caught the pink-haired Paladin in her arms. She glanced up to see Lu Bu and Darius charging at each other, but there was no time right now. Taking off, her chariot quickly formed underneath her as the skeletons closed in.
"Chariot of Boudica!" she roared in desperation.
The wheels on the chariot glowed and lit themselves aflame as it thundered onward. The drain on her mana from using three Noble Phantasms back-to-back were wearing on her as she struggled to hold up Astolfo, who was rapidly bleeding out. Charging through the horde of skeletons, she looked up as Ritsu jumped off the walls while tossing aside her helmet and wig as she stared with eyes wide in horror. While she wanted to admonish Ritsu for risking her safety like that, she barely had the breath to anymore. She needed to conserve her strength.
Besides, she understood better than most what the Master was feeling.
Stopping by the redhead, she gently deposited Astolfo on the ground as Ritsu immediately knelt beside the Paladin. She looked sympathetically down at the Master as she immediately started using magecraft to treat him, then turned away. With a crack of the reins, the horses began galloping again, bearing Boudica back into battle. Summoning her sword and shield to her hands, the Rider lifted her blade as she thundered toward the undead army once more and roared.
"Damnit!"
Ritsu had tossed aside her helmet, and with it the wig of blonde hair. It had been far too stifling and limited her vision too much for her to work with. Her own natural orange hair shone brightly in the morning sun. She had given the game away as a body double but at this point, it really didn't matter. With an army bearing down like this and this much time passed, they would be screwed whether Nero was here or not.
Bestial roars echoed throughout the plains. Glancing over, she could see the flash of red from Lu Bu, his halberd gleaming as he wielded it with surprising skill. Darius roared back, his massive golden battle axes in his hands. Each time they clashed, the sound was like that of meteors striking metal, ringing with a din that surpassed anything the URE could make as they continued their non-stop march. Around them were the war cries of Boudica running down scores of skeletons as arrows fell like rain.
But that wasn't important. All Ritsu could focus on was Astolfo in her arms, her hand glowing green as she desperately exhausted the mystic code's energy. Her eyes stared in horror at the gigantic wound in Astolfo's chest, refusing to close despite her fervent efforts. Her ears could only hear his pained gasps and weak reassurances. Everything, her so-called brilliant plan, had fallen apart.
"Damnit, damnit, damnit! WHY?!" she screamed as the power finally faded. The Chaldean Master uniform was a mystic code imbued with magecraft specifically designed to support Servants. Unfortunately, it required the mana from its wearer in order to utilize, and she didn't have anywhere close to enough. Just that one use of the magecraft already left her panting for breath. It also meant that the heal she gave Astolfo hadn't been anywhere close to enough. She didn't have Ren or Morgana's personas, or even the healing scroll that Mash carried with her for emergencies. She had nothing left. Or rather, she had nothing to begin with.
"Please, it's alright," Astolfo rasped out and chuckled before coughing out some blood. "I got careless. Happens all the time with me. It's okay, Ritsu. It'll be… okay…."
The Master's tears streamed down as she held the pink-haired Rider in her arms. Already he was dissolving once more into golden particles. As she clutched him tighter, she glanced over and saw the command seals on her own hand – and her eyes widened. "Astolfo," she said as she held them up for the Paladin to see. "Make a contract with me! Please! I can- I can still save you! M-make a contract with me as my Servant!"
The Paladin blinked in surprise, then weakly chuckled again. "I-it wouldn't help," he gasped out as he tapped his chest. His voice was weak but it was clear he was trying to maintain as much energy as he could. "Spirit core's destroyed. Can't heal that, unfortunately."
"Wha- no, no!" Ritsu stammered. "We don't know unless we try! Please make a contract with me! PLEASE!"
Astolfo simply smiled up at Ritsu. "It was a short time, Ritsu," he murmured. "But… I had fun. With you, with Morgana, with everyone. I'm glad I went on this adventure with you." He gently reached over and wiped a tear away from her. "S-so smile, okay…? You got a bigger adventure ahead of you! It'll be a lot of fun!"
"I… but I…" she could only stammer as more tears leaked out. Astolfo had mostly vanished by now. There was nothing she could do. The Paladin said nothing more. He simply closed his eyes and smiled up at her. And a second later, he was gone, leaving Ritsu kneeling in the dirt.
This was her fault. Astolfo died and it was her fault. If... If she had contracted with him sooner. If she had more mana. If she had a Persona like Ren or Morgana did. If they could've communicated telepathically. If she could've used a command seal on him.
She could have…
Flaurous had been relatively manageable thus far. This wasn't their first experience with a demon pillar, after all. If anything, that surprised them the most was how small he was. He only stretched up to the ceiling of the (admittedly massive) throne room, with his width proportional to the height. The result was a less intimidating sight than Orobas had been overall. One might even say he was laughable in comparison in terms of size and scale.
His power, however, spoke a different story.
Each eye blasted out mana beams that left scorch trails behind as they aimed at each Servant and Master. Nero wove through each beam with supernatural grace and did a passing slice on Flauros, the demon pillar spilling dark purple blood from the wound before it sealed itself up. Medusa darted out from behind a pillar and whipped out her spikes, impaling an eye before withdrawing back behind a support column to take cover from the retaliating onslaught of power.
"Curse you, Romulus," Flauros growled. "What have you done to this throne room?!" No matter the amount of mana blasts he had fired or what the Servants had done, the room seemed to be taking no damage whatsoever. The support columns still stood strong as not even a single crack had appeared in the masonry of the hall. To think his might could be withstood by humanity's sandcastles and some ant's powers!
"Guess it just isn't big enough for your hot air!" Morgana taunted before jumping away from a beam fired in response. Tamamo Cat screeched as she leaped over Morgana and clawed out another two eyes in retaliation – and squeaked in shock as a beam struck her in her gut, slamming her against a wall. "Tama!" the catlike being cried out before summoning Zorro and rapidly healing her. "You okay?"
"Never better, woof! I mean, meow!" Tamamo Cat chirped as she sprang back up, dusting her kimono off. "Ugh, I'd have to soak him for a long time in water and honey to tenderize his meat! I'm not even sure how to properly season him!"
Morgana could only blink in surprise. "Uh, Tama?" he called out as he ducked behind another column. "Maybe focus on how to cook him after this? We kinda have our hands full here!"
Tamamo Cat blinked, then nodded. "Right, right!" she agreed easily before pouncing back into battle.
The Caster miko simply shook her head in disbelief. "I honestly cannot fathom the thoughts of that tail of mine," she grumbled as she threw a swarm of talismans. Each one covered an eye that then exploded, lighting the demon pillar's flesh on fire as Flauros roared in pain and outrage.
The flames were soon followed by another explosion of blue fire, causing the fires to burn even hotter and spread further on the demon pillar. "Well, she's doing her best," Ren remarked with a grin as Fafnir faded from behind him. Raising his gun, he fired several shots at the demon pillar, easily nailing several of its eyes. Considering how red and bulbous they were, they made incredibly tempting targets to hit.
"You insolent PESTS!" Flauros roared as he began blasting out superheated smoke that rapidly filled the throne room.
Mash raced forward. "Everyone, behind me!" she cried. "True name, Pseudo register. Disengaging mana limiters!' As everyone immediately dove behind her, Mash's shield started glowing brightly as mana gathered. Ren glanced over at Mash, prepared to offer any support if necessary. However, he saw the determination and concentration on her face and could only smile.
"Lord Chaldeas!"
Roaring out the name of her Noble Phantasm, Mash slammed her shield down in front of her as a large magic circle appeared in front, glowing with power and energy. The superheated smoke crashed against the circle, then flowed around it like water around a rock. The barrier crackled as Mash pushed back against the force, but neither her nor her shield yielded. While it got tremendously hot behind her, it wasn't anything they couldn't withstand. Soon, the smoke abated and the glowing circle vanished, leaving all of them sweating but otherwise very much alive.
The many eyes of Flaurous widened and glared at them. "You are more stubborn than cockroaches!" he snarled. "Know your place, all of you, and vanish from sight!"
"If I had a can of tuna every time I heard that…" Morgana grumbled as he darted out from behind Mash's shield, summoning Zorro and launching a gust of razor wind at yet another eye.
"You'd have at least five or six cans," Ren answered without missing a beat as he switched masks. "Probably more." Despite utilizing his personas so much here, he barely felt any exhaustion. His circuits were burning hot throughout his body, but otherwise he had plenty of stamina - enough to unerringly aim for the eyes and coordinate with the other Servants without issue. He recalled the warmth that had flowed from Romulus before he disappeared. Did the Progenitor leave him some sort of blessing?
An eye turned and glared at Ren directly. Suddenly, Loki appeared in front of him, directly cutting off the eye's vision – and the Avenger burst into flame. "LOKI!" Ren cried in horror. Rapidly summoning Dionysus, he rapidly used an Amrita Shower to quell the flames. "Are you alright?" he asked.
The trickster god scowled as they brushed the ash off themselves. "This idiot can set people on fire with a gaze, it seems," they snarled without bothering to answer Ren's question. "Keep your heads down if you don't want to burn to cinders!" With that, they vanished again in an ill temper before Ren could heal them. The Phantom Thief scowled but complaining wouldn't help matters. Instead, he switched masks in his mind.
"Attis!"
The bandaged persona appeared once more and boosted everyone's capabilities with the glow of tri-colored lights, then boosted them yet again. He tried using debilitate on Flauros with Fafnir earlier but the demon pillar shook off the effects rather quickly. But still, it didn't seem like he could cancel the boosts he could give the others, so he might as well keep their capabilities up.
He glanced over to Nero. He hadn't been the only one blessed by Romulus before his passing; the emperor had been dodging the beams with almost the speed of a Servant as her gladius easily sliced through the demon pillar's flesh like a hot knife through butter. Two eyes above her turned to her direction, glowing as they charged up with mana – and splattered as two burning swords sped through the air and sank deep into them, causing the mana to explode.
"My thanks, auxiliary Joan!" Nero cried out.
Joan scowled as she readjusted the grip on her banner. "Keep an eye on your surroundings!" she barked. "We can't always watch your back!" Deflecting a beam with her sword, she flung her banner like a javelin where it sank deep into another eye of the demon pillar.
The emperor gave a bright laugh. "It is easy to take for granted when one is surrounded by such doughty allies!" she called back. "But your caution is warranted! I shall take heed!"
Ren quietly considered as he hid behind a pillar, considering his options as he scanned the situation with his Third Eye. Flauros was proving immensely difficult to take down. They were resorting to various hit-and-run tactics thanks to the constant bombardment of lasers from his eyes. Romulus had given them the blessing of cover thanks to him making the throne room seemingly indestructible, but their options were few and slim.
First, Flauros was proving immensely difficult to take down. He supposedly had only two attacks: The laser beams and superheated smoke. The problem was that, aside from their sheer power, he could fire the beams all around him since the demon pillar was lined with eyes. By the same token, it also meant he had no blind spots they could exploit. He could also spout that superheated smoke all around him and even if it didn't hurt them directly, it still raised the temperature of the room. If done enough times, he could very well just bake them in here. In short, he had only two attacks because he didn't need anything else.
Second, they didn't have much in terms of sheer firepower. While he wasn't sure about Tamamo Cat, none of the group had the sheer destructive power that Artoria and Jeanne brought to bear in Orleans: Power that could obliterate a demon pillar in one go. The only thing that came close to that was probably Medusa's Pegasus, but she had no way to utilize it properly within the throne room. A downside of the area's invincibility.
In short, right now it was a battle of attrition. Something that Flauros would undoubtedly win.
"Useless, useless, USELESS!" Flauros roared as he shot multiple beams at once, forcing everyone away to take cover. "I am a supreme being, the pinnacle of existence! All of you are ants compared to my very existence! So like ants, PERISH UNDER MY WRATH!"
All of the demon pillar's eyes widened as superheated smoke started billowing out again. Mash didn't even hesitate – charging forward, her shield glowed bright as she roared the name of her Noble Phantasm once more:
"Lord Chaldeas!"
Once more, everyone took cover behind the shielder's Noble Phantasm as she braced herself against the countless mana blasts combined with the superheated smoke. However, it was clear she was starting to strain herself. Ren glanced back at the others. "Anybody got anything?" he asked.
Tamamo frowned. "I will be able to provide energy to myself and others with my Noble Phantasm," she recommended. "However, it will take a bit of time and energy to set up – time and energy we might not have."
"Then we'll buy you time!" Morgana shouted. As for energy, the catlike being raised his paw as his command seals started to glow. "By my command seal," he intoned. "Use your Noble Phantasm, Caster!" One of the lines on the seal flashed as it took effect, then faded away, leaving two more on his paw. Tamamo meanwhile began glowing red as she surged with mana, her mirror floating about her. Meanwhile, Ren turned back to Mash, who was still holding out though she was straining as the temperature around them kept rising.
"Lachesis!"
The Measurer of the Thread appeared once more. With a shift of her hand, sculptures of ice burst into being behind Mash's shield – and rapidly began melting thanks to the heat. However, thanks to the billowing smoke, it sent cool vapor downwind toward them, lowering the temperature and making the situation more bearable. "How are you holding up, Mash?" he called out as he utilized Mabufula again to continue cooling them down.
The Shielder gritted her teeth as she continued pushing back against the onslaught. "I-it's a bit difficult, senpai!" she admitted. "But I can hold out until Tamamo can finish her Noble Phantasm!" The weight and power against her shield felt incredible, but she would hold the line regardless. For the sake of her senpai and everyone who stood behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see multiple illusory torii gates appearing around them – and almost buckled in surprise as Flauros's attacked redoubled.
"Let us freely become the proof of purification," Tamamo chanted as mana gathered within her mirror from the torii gates, which floated above them above the smoke. "Thy name is the Weighted Stone of Tamamo. Become the sacred treasure, Mirror of Uka!" The power coalesced into a glimmering ball of energy around the mirror as Tamamo jumped up, grasped the orb, and threw it to the ground. It sank right in and spread its power throughout the ground, filling her allies with power and strength as any injuries they had sealed up.
"Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu!"
Ren blinked as he felt power flow through his veins. It felt different than when Romulus granted him strength, but it still felt good, nevertheless. A glance at the other Servants was all he needed to verify they felt the same. Even Mash seemed to be withstanding Flauros's assault better thanks to Tamamo's Noble Phantasm – which led to the problem of the demon pillar still attacking with beams, smoke, and trying to set them on fire with his gaze.
He turned to Joan. "Think you can shut him up?" Ren asked, jerking a thumb over at the demon pillar.
The Lancer narrowed her eyes as she flexed her fingers. "That boost was good but I'm gonna need a bit more," she reported bluntly. Joan nodded at Ren's hand. "Give the order, and I'll take care of it."
The Phantom Thief smirked as he raised his own hand, his command seals now glowing as well. "By my command seal, Joan," he intoned. "Give Flauros hell." The seals flashed brightly as Joan began emitting an aura of power. One seal became faded and indistinct, leaving two remaining.
"Did you have to phrase it like that…?" Joan grumbled with a roll of her eyes. Nevertheless, she raised her banner and thudded it against the ground. Countless large flaming swords appeared all around Flauros and darted straight for him. The demon pillar's eyes immediately swiveled around trying to shoot them down but there were far too many. Many of them collided with the demon pillar, exploding in bursts of blue flame that incinerated chunks of flesh and eyes, rendering him blind as Flauros roared in frustration and pain. The smoke vanished as he reeled from the attack, finally stopping his assault.
"Fafnir!"
The draconic persona appeared once more behind Ren, large and daunting. As it roared, multiple nuclear explosions set off all around Flauros, causing Joan's flames to burn hotter and brighter, burning away the demon pillar's flesh like hellfire. Taking that as their signal, the Servants all split up and, using the power from Tamamo's Noble Phantasm, mounted a relentless assault on Flauros. As Tamamo Cat pounced and started clawing away at the demon pillar, Loki appeared high above and stabbed Flauros with their red serrated sword. As they fell, gravity caused the blade to carve a long, bloody furrow as the Avenger laughed madly.
Tamamo observed the chaos, then flung several talismans at Flauros, each of them creating a howling gale. Fed by her winds, the flames on the demon pillar even higher as they continued burning away remorselessly. Morgana followed suit with Zorro, using his winds as well to fan the flames further. As a few unaffected eyes tried to turn and focus on their attackers, Medusa darted out from the shadows and flung her spikes. They stabbed out each eye, rendering them unable to retaliate as the Rider quickly fell back and sought out other eyes, ensuring Flauros couldn't regain his momentum.
Meanwhile, Mash rushed forward, then stopped short of Flauros while holding up her shield. "Joan!" she called out. The Lancer looked at the Shielder, rapidly put two and two together, and charged. As she approached, Joan leaped up onto Mash's shield, then was catapulted into the air. Now airborne, she fired off multiple flaming swords as she began a flurry of blows from her banner and her own blade, carving her way down. In the meantime, Mash charged in, and with a wild roar, smashed the prong of her shield into Flauros. The blow sent a shockwave through the air as it sank into the demon pillar's flesh before Mash withdrew her shield, used the momentum to spin around, and struck Flauros again.
Flaurous roared in pain and frustration. Every time he tried to regroup, he was stymied. His eyes couldn't recover fast enough to put down suppressive fire. He couldn't use the superheated smoke anymore. His strength was rapidly waning as his regeneration became slower and slower. He was running out of options here and could only scream in impotent rage.
One eye high above managed to recover and glared directly at Ren. That boy – that Master – was the one coordinating this. With his unorthodox magecraft and tactics, he had been made a mockery of! Humanity was weak! He should not be losing! Yet here he was! IN that case, the solution was simple: Deal with him first. The rest would follow. As he prepared his eye, he saw Ren glancing up at him, then smirk. And although he was too far to hear clearly, he could see the accursed Master mouth a word. Or rather, a name.
"Flauros!"
The eye widened as a being appeared in a flash of blue flame. It looked like a bipedal red leopard, with some sort of black tower-like shoulder attachments. It was hunched over, with another black attachment rising from the top of its back, complete with some dark fabric wrapping around its forepaws that ended in spikes at the end of its 'knuckles'. In short, it looked utterly ridiculous.
And yet, despite the sheer stupidity of its appearance, Flauros felt like he was staring at a mirror. He didn't know how to describe it, yet he knew that that… thing was him, beyond a shadow of a doubt. The sheer absurdity of that realization combined with its appearance completely and utterly stunned him. Rage, frustration, mockery, amusement – they all warred with each other within him, forestalling any sort of response from him.
Before he could properly react, the creature that wasn't him snarled and swung its 'fist' at him – and suddenly, something sliced his eye, rendering him blind once more. Screaming with rage and pain as his body started falling to pieces, he bellowed, "You DARE mock me with…. With that abomination?! I will tear all of you limb from limb! I will incinerate every part of your body until not even ashes remain! You believe you have won!? You have won nothing! NOTHING! I am infinite! Eternal! YOU CANNOT KILL ME!"
Amidst it all, Nero charged forward. Morgana glanced over and summoned Zorro, who drew a pattern in the air with his rapier. Once again, the emperor was illuminated momentarily by the three colored lights entering her body. "Go get 'em, Nero!" the catlike being cheered.
The emperor didn't respond. Instead, she cut a deep furrow in Flauros. "For my empire!" she cried.
An eye popped out in front of her that she rapidly sliced apart. "For my people!"
Then using the demon pillar's own body, she leaped high into the air with her gladius raised. Perhaps it was the fires blazing on Flauros that reflected off her blade, but Ren could've sworn her sword was wrapped in flames. Nero plunged the gladius deep into the demon pillar, shoving the sword all the way up to the hilt. "FOR ROMA!" she roared before jumping off, pulling the blade out in the process.
Dark blood poured out of Flauros's numerous wounds as he burned to cinders. With a final roar of frustrated defiance, he dissolved into black particles, and he was no more. In his place, on the ground was a large golden chalice. A Grail.
Ren breathed a heavy sigh as his Flauros persona faded away. The strength from the blessing finally fading, he shuffled over to the Grail and picked it up. The metal was warm to the touch and felt both heavy and light in his grip. However, he could feel the thrum of power through his hand as it glimmered brightly.
"That is quite the treasure, legate."
The Phantom Thief looked over at Nero, who was eyeing the Grail in curiosity, and chuckled. "It is," he agreed. "And it's also been the source of everything going weird here. Now that it's been recovered, things should go back to normal."
Nero blinked in surprise, then breathed a deep, long sigh of relief, almost sagging on the spot. "Then… it is over," she breathed. "We have won. This war is over. All the pain and suffering my people have gone through, all the damage that has been done, all the grave insults… it's finally over."
Ren smiled and was about to answer before he received a ping from his communicator. Tapping it, he saw the holographic image of Roman once more. "Ren!" he called out. "I'm reading a Grail in your vicinity. I take it you guys have recovered it?"
Chuckling, he held it up in front of the hologram. "Right here in my hand," the Phantom Thief confirmed. "Romulus and Lev – or Flauros, rather – are both taken down. Is there anything else we need to take care of or are we all wrapped up here?"
Roman looked aside at a couple other monitors, his brow furrowed in concentration and concern. "Some… issues outside," he admitted, causing Ren's jubilant mood to drop. "However, with your recovery of the Grail, that's resolving itself. Good work, Ren and Morgana. The singularity will soon collapse so we'll get you out of there. We already have a lock on your location so say your goodbyes!"
The Phantom Thief nodded. "Alright then," he acknowledged before hanging up. Looking up, he noticed that Tamamo Cat was glowing as her body started vanishing into golden particles.
"Welp, this is the end of line for me, woof. I mean, meow," she commented with a small smile. The Berserker looked over at Morgana. "Out of curiosity, master," she said. "Are you happy where you are? You're not going to have the spotlight on you often, you know, but you seem okay with that."
Morgana blinked in surprise, then grinned. "Well, I still get a good amount of the spotlight," he replied easily. "But honestly? I'm just here to support my best friend however I can. That's more than good enough for me!"
Tamamo Cat blinked in surprise, then she gave a gentle smile. "I see, I see," she noted quietly. "In that case, I shall cheer you from afar, my gallant master. I wished I could have made some more fatty tuna for you and see you smile, but this is good enough. Until then, stay safe and eat well!" She flashed one last grin before fully dissolving into golden particles, and then she was gone.
The catlike being's ears sagged a bit. "I'll try to," he replied, then sighed. "No fatty tuna anytime soon though."
Nero, meanwhile, had been watching what had been happening. "You are departing already?" she asked in surprise. "Though there is much I must rebuild, I thought at the very least, I had planned it so we can spend a night or two celebrating our victory. Must you leave so soon?"
Ren smiled apologetically as he shook his head. "We can't stick around," he replied. "Technically, me and my friends aren't supposed to be here either. While we would have been more than honored to join you in celebrating, it's time for us to head back. There's lots to do and other places we need to resolve after all."
The emperor blinked in surprise as everyone gathered around Ren. Aside from Nero, they all began glowing as they were being summoned back to Chaldea. She could only laugh sadly. "So it seems," she murmured. "You are quite busy, after all. I had hoped at least to bestow rewards and adulation on all of you, but that shall not come to pass. However, perhaps I can at least grant one honor to the man who made this victory possible."
Before anyone could react, Nero wrapped her arms around Ren and pressed her lips to his. The Phantom Thief could only blink in surprise, unsure how to react properly as Mash's mouth dropped open and Loki tried to withhold their laughter on the side. Nero broke the kiss and stepped back. "Emperor's prerogative," she said simply, as if that explained everything.
She turned to the others. "I know not where you go, Chaldea, but you have proven stalwart allies through this entire war," Nero declared. "That shall not be forgotten. Know that I owe you a debt that I cannot easily repay, but if I can render any assistance at all, then I shall do so without hesitation. Until then, I bid all of you farewell. May victory forever follow you!"
Ren blinked and opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly everything around him flashed brightly as Chaldea withdrew them from the singularity.
And then all he saw was darkness.
Oh my god. Yes, we are finally, finally, FINALLY done with Septem after all this time! Learn from my mistakes, kids - never, ever, EVER write a war campaign thinking it will be a quick thing. It isn't. It never is. Sure, we got a lot of great character interactions, fights and development but this singularity lasted an entire YEAR IRL. I'm hoping the next events and singularities I write aren't going to be nearly as long (in fact, I pray for it at this point) or this story will take the better part of a century to finish. I do wanna finish this fic before I have to literally retire, after all.
That being said, I do hope you guys enjoyed this little foray into a bit of original writing! I'll be sure to keep it up if you enjoyed it! If not... I'm deeply sorry and will try to do better!