Haha hey everyone sorry for the delay as usual! Chapters that are mostly fights are really hard for me for some reason! Anyway I hope you enjoy the the end of peaceful days! Time for some action and some pain!
"They're here."
Overhaul turned to look at Aleister, his eyebrow raised. He knew the heroes were breathing down his neck but how had he realized today would be the day of the raid? Is that why he'd decided to stop by in person despite the fact that he had nothing new to offer?
"As per our partnership I will move to deal with what Chaldeans I come across. I hope you still have your summoning device with you. It's likely even more powerful than mine so should I run across trouble I'll be quick to fall back to your position."
"Once everything's ready we'll move to escape. There's no need for you to bother."
"Hm. Of course. Well then young man. Take care not to get swept away."
"Just make yourself useful and stop people from following us."
Aleister just gave him a singsong laugh before turning to leave Overhaul with a handful of his men.
—
It was early in the morning but that really wasn't much of a problem for him.
After all he was used to deployments at any hour of the day.
They'd all arrived off site in a large group as the police and other pro heroes worked on securing the perimeter and hammering out the last details of the plan.
An odd popping sound brought something to his attention.
Thoughts that weren't his fed information he could not know directly into his mind.
"... You're mad at him for the syringe back in Kamino aren't you… Alright… Moriarty." He called out.
"Hm?" He looked over from his place coordinating Chaldea's deployed forces with the police.
"Aleister is here." Nathan said simply.
"Are you sure?"
"Sut Typhon is."
"I… I see… Do you two directly communicate often?" Moriarty asked as gently as he could manage. He exchanged a worried glance with Nightingale who was there for medical support. As far as he knew this was a new development between the two of them.
"Sometimes in my dreams. And it will help me out when I start panicking." Nathan answered, "I didn't want to worry anyone so I didn't mention it."
"I know you've been letting go bit by bit but it would do you some good to fully jump off the ledge and stop shouldering everything yourself you know." A sweet voice drifted over.
Nathan looked up and saw three Chaldeans approaching.
"Euryale, Asterios, Tomoe. How are preparations with the main group?"
"Going… Well…" The gentle giant ground out as he glanced towards the larger group.
"Keep them safe for me alright." Nathan asked with a soft smile.
"We should meet with the infiltration force Nathan. The operation will be starting soon," Tomoe Gozen mirrored his expression.
He nodded and followed her over to the rest of the UA students.
Nejire for her part quickly glomed onto Tomoe Gozen.
"Heeey! It's been a long time! How are things going!"
"Haha! They're going very well. I see you're doing alright yourself. To think that student I met so long ago would be such good friends with Nathan." Tomoe said with a hint of something extra in her words.
Tsuyu and Uraraka let out a soft chuckle but none of the boys seemed to pick up on anything unusual.
As everyone began gathering the operation head took to the front of the combined police and pro hero forces. He outlined how this was going to be a fast direct operation. They would spring into action and apprehend everyone they came across while keeping the time to retaliate to a minimum.
"That's probably the best way to go about it." Nathan muttered to himself as the briefing began to splinter, "Especially knowing Aleister is here."
"He is?" Ryukyu asked.
"According to Chaldean intelligence, yes," Moriarty said smoothly, approaching the pro heroes. "Asterios, Euryale, and Tomoe Gozen will proceed into the facility with you pro heroes. Please leave any imaginary soldiers you encounter to them."
Nathan glanced down, regarding his shadow with a passing interest. It had a bit of a different drag to it… Ah. So that's who'd join him specifically. Hopefully he wouldn't have to come out in any case.
"I will stay here on the surface to help coordinate our gathered forces, but I am fully capable of joining the fight myself," Moriarty let out a cackle before finishing his introductions, "And Nightingale will provide first aid should things begin getting out of control."
"We thank you for your support certainly! It'll be an interesting operation working with Chaldea directly," Fatgum said with a nod.
"This sort of hero work doesn't fit into our normal scope but sometimes dipping into old habits can be fun once in a while," Moriarty let out a small cackle.
He'd been making plans and analyzing the villains behavior for the better part of two days prior to the raid and he found them to be rather competent. It was fun trying to tear down another evil organization with just his genius and the resources available to him after all, it almost reminded him of his time when he was alive.
"Moriarty." Nathan said sharply as Nejire hooked her arms around both him and Amajiki, pulling the two of them close to her.
"Ah my apologies. It's about time. We'll move the command post closer to the operation site soon!" He said before ambling away.
"Hey what's his deal?" Nejire asked as they began to move with the rest of the pro heroes.
"He used to be something of an evil mastermind himself but we tricked each other into being friends so now he's one of the people I trust most in Chaldea."
Amajiki briefly wondered if there was anyone Nathan couldn't befriend.
They would be moving as a large unit, with enough pro heroes ready to break away to fight any possible Yakuza they encountered while rushing through the facility to get to Eri. Seeing so many people running around, ready to take down such a heavily entrenched force was a little unusual to Nathan. Usually he had only a handful of Servants backing him up and was always the underdog.
It served to remind him that he was in a different world now.
A lone police man approached the gate leading to the property they were about to storm. Apparently there was a sprawling underground base below them that Nighteye had managed to partially map out.
Nathan let his helmet snap closed over his head. His fellow students, the pros surrounding them, the Chaldean forces at their heels, everyone was ready for something to go wrong at the drop of a pin.
And of course it did immediately.
Before that officer could buzz the door and say anything the gate was blown open, knocking several officers into the air as a hulking monstrosity of a man charged them.
Thankfully, between Midoriya and Aizawa, everyone sent flying was able to be saved.
Ryukyu intercepted the aggressor, switching to her dragon form to completely overpower him.
She cast a quick glance to Nathan and nodded for him to go on ahead as the rest of her agency offered to stay behind and help subdue the rest of the Yakuza here on the surface before following.
The three remaining opponents in the garden beyond the gate of course attacked despite the overwhelming opposition. Well. Two of them attacked.
One of them reached for a strange device on his hip.
Before anyone could think to stop him he activated a summoning device.
A familiar force tore through the area.
Nathan had to consciously stop himself from saying an enemy servant had appeared, opting instead to say "Imaginary Soldier manifest! Tomoe!"
"Tomoe Gozen! Stay with Nathan Relnor. Asterios and Eurale will intercept!" Moriarty yelled through their earpieces.
Nathan clicked his tongue as he reluctantly turned from the enemy Servant. He trusted Asterios with his life and Euryale would be a powerful support but he was loath to leave it just to them.
He took a single step before he had to defend himself, pulling magnetically down and to his left to avoid a blisteringly fast slash.
He recognized the blade that nearly cut him in half.
"Sir Gawain!" Nathan called out, now extremely reluctant to leave this battlefield It was around 8:30 am so...
The gallant knight advanced, slashing at Nathan again.
"Armor guy!" The villain that had activated the summoning device shouted, "Keep these heroes out of our base!"
That was all he managed to get out before another hero apprehended him.
It was a little odd to the gathered pro heroes that Nathan was able to correctly identify the imaginary soldier, but it made sense if these figures were based on Chaldeans.
Another slash came out with Tomoe intercepting the blow with her katana. The ground shook from the force of impact as she deflected it to the side.
"Ma- Nathan- We need to keep moving!"
"I know but- Gawain is- There's not much time! We have to defeat him before Numeral of the Saint-" Nathan started.
A white blur slammed into Gaiwan, sending him careening into the opposite building.
"Do you think he's too much for us Nathan? Oh to have lost so much of your faith. If I remember right it was us who you entrusted to defeat him the first time we encountered him as an enemy," Euryale said with a wink as she pulled her bow from thin air.
"Go… Nathan…"
Reluctantly, Nathan nodded, turning to reunite with Nighteye's group. They charged into the Yakuza base, Nighteye taking the lead and opening the secret entrance. They were immediately ambushed. His interns and sidekick held the new attackers back as the ever dwindling group disappeared into the fortress.
Gawain exploded out of the wall he'd been knocked into, taking measure of his new opponents.
"Hm… How odd. I seem to recall seeing Servants like you before but my memory is hazy…" He said as he slid his leg out, brandishing his blade.
The cops and remaining pro heroes in the area tried their best to give them a wide berth but there was simply not enough space to work with if they wanted to continue infiltrating the base.
"My my Sir Gawain. Did I really leave such an impression that it made it all the way to the Throne of Heroes?" Euryale giggled as Asterios brandished his two large axes.
The two exceptionally powerful Servants crashed into each other, the physical might of their blows colliding sent out a shockwave.
It was almost like seeing All for One and All Might clash.
Ryukyu looked from the villain she'd originally detained to see if there was anything she could do to help.
Even though the Chaldeans said not to interfere with their fights, that didn't mean that she wasn't going to do everything she could.
But.
Really.
Another clash tore through the area, the force of Gawain's swing alone tearing apart the ground ahead of him.
"Do not engage with the Imaginary soldier that has been summoned in the courtyard. His quirk allows him to become considerably stronger the higher the sun is in the sky!" Moriarty's voice blared through her communication device, "I can't believe his readings are still this high! Even degraded, he's too much of a threat!"
It sounded like he was out of breath.
Ryukyu turned to the UA students still with her.
"If he needs to be defeated quickly we should-"
Another explosive wave of force rang out as Gawain forced Asterios back. Even though he could tell something was wrong with his summoning he could feel his strength surging.
Asterios had managed to carve a small chunk out of the gauntlet covering his left arm. That berserker was simply too strong for words.
"It seems I'll need to get serious. I will defend the entrance to my Master's base! With a Servant as powerful as you before me I'll have to go all out. Prepare yourself."
Fire began to surge from his blade as Asterios met him again. He truly had no idea what sort of conflict he'd found himself in but he had clearly been summoned to fight and so he would fight.
Asterios' axe slammed into his sword in a shower of sparks as Gawain deflected the blow, stepping forward and swinging with all of his might. That holy blade carved a large gash in Asterios, who simply ignored the fact that he'd been injured at all, smashing into Gawain with his shoulder and nearly knocking the knight off his feet yet again.
Despite everything Gawain had a smile on his face. Truly he was having fun.
That stopped when an arrow pierced through the armor covering his abdomen. He had almost entirely forgotten about the other Servant in this fight.
Strength welled up within him as he pushed through his slowly accumulating injuries and locked weapons with Asterios again. He knew from the position of the sun that he only needed a little bit more time until these two could no longer equal his strength.
The infiltration group almost immediately ran into a dead end. Nighteye was certain the wall hadn't been there before but the villains did have someone on their side that could break down and create things at will.
Mirio checked through it and found out that it was just an obstruction so Midoriya and Kirishima obligingly tore the wall down.
Only for the entire base to start undulating and warping.
One of the villains had apparently merged with the base itself and was directly manipulating it with his quirk.
This would do little to stop Mirio but for everyone else.
Amajiki was the first one to let the fear in but Mirio was thankfully there to pull his best friend back to reality.
"Mirio you go on ahead. Tomoe fire an arrow through that wall and we'll keep at his heels!" Nathan called out. His Servant obliged almost immediately, launching a fierce attack through the new barrier that had formed before them. Unfortunately before they could follow through their footing gave way.
But only the concrete below them, so when Nathan magnetized himself to the pipes running through the building he managed to stay in the air. He knew he had a Servant in his shadow so…
"Keep the others safe!" Nathan called out to Tomoe as the base devoured the group.
She really didn't like leaving Nathan with only one Servant if Aleister was here but… The one in his shadow was certainly formidable enough to keep him safe. She simply nodded to herself as she landed with the others, resolving to follow her Master's instruction.
Nathan hit the ground running, following after Mirio as the villain manipulating the base seemed to completely lose interest in hindering his advance.
Aleister must not have told them much about him, which made sense. Mages kept every secret they could after all.
"Oberon!" Nathan called out as he ran. His shadow extended back as the king of the fairies emerged in his final darkened form.
"What do you want?"
"Go back and help the others with Gawain." He said simply. He couldn't see Mirio ahead of him as the senior had gotten a decent head start but he was confident in his ability to catch up.
"And leave you defenseless? Are you an idiot?"
"You know I am. Besides, I doubt it'd take you very long to beat a roughed up Gawain would it? You can finish him off and come right back and I bet you won't have missed anything." Nathan said lightly.
Oberon Vortigern was quiet for a moment as he mulled it over.
"Please…"
With that single word Nathan put his thumb on the scales Oberon was using to make his choice.
"Fine. Don't embarrass me by doing something stupid like getting killed. After all the effort I went through only to fail, it would make me look bad if you lost to some two bit mage." Oberon said as he doubled back, shifting into spirit form.
As the rest of the infiltrating heroes moved the base continued to try and separate the group. Specifically it seemed to be targeting Aizawa. Tamaki had split off to fight three villains on his own. Kirishima and Fatgum had been forcibly pushed into another room in an effort to keep Aizawa with that main group. It was everything they could do to continue pushing forward when the base itself was moving against them.
Moving into a larger room the base again began to move in on them, attempting to crush them before they could push any further inward. Rock Lock was thankfully able to give their group some space with his quirk but was unfortunately not able to stop every threat. Thankfully Midoriya and Tomoe Gozen were there to simply smash through the walls that continued their advance.
At least until everything moved away from them suddenly.
"Don't spread out too much! He's giving us room to try and separate us!" Tomoe called out, sticking next to Midoriya and Aizawa.
They did not have time to heed her warning. Several walls surged up, splitting their group multiple ways as the base continued to churn around them.
"Damn!" Aizawa swore under his breath. If only he could actually get eyes on the villain causing all of this then they would be free to advance unhindered.
As Tomoe moved to smash through the wall a shock wave tore through the entire base.
"What was that?" Midoriya called out, hoping the whole place wasn't about to collapse on top of them.
"Unknown, moving to reunite with the rest!"
She and Midoriya made quick work of the wall only to find an unusual sight.
There were two Rock Locks all of the sudden.
But something like that was easily seen through by a seasoned warrior like Tomoe Gozen.
Before one of the Rock Locks could even explain the presence of the other wounded pro hero, Tomoe slashed at him with her naginata.
"Che- You Chaldeans really are a pain!" Toga called out as her disguise dropped. She flipped back to her belongings and reached into the pile of equipment.
A familiar pulse surged through the area as she activated her Servant Summoning device.
Tomoe lashed out before the summoning could be completed, quickly switching to her bow and firing an arrow into the center of that vortex.
The sound of metal crashing against metal filled the room as the arrow was batted aside.
"Saber. Bedivier. From henceforth I shall serve as your knight Master…"
As the light dimmed his figure became apparent. His metallic right arm had clearly been what defended against Tomoe's arrow. He had long platinum blond hair wrapped in a bun and was clad in silver armor befitting his station as a knight of the round table.
Another wall came down between them but Tomoe simply fired another arrow. This one was wreathed in flame and melted through the stone wall between her and her opponent.
Unfortunately they had moved in the brief time that they'd been out of sight.
"Che- This is Tomoe Gozen reporting in. We've got another imaginary soldier! Do not engage with the villain accompanying Himeko Toga, repeat do not engage with the villain accompanying Himeko Toga!" She called into the short range communication device.
Aizawa tended to the wounded Rock Lock as the walls around them continued to buckle and shift. "Che- Where did Nighteye and the others go?" He called out.
"I don't know! Get ready though! It looks like the whole place is about to come down on top of us!"
Toga and Bedivere sprinted along, quickly finding a fleeing Twice. His mask had been ripped and he was struggling to maintain his sense of self. But.
"No no no! Let me out you fake! I'm splitting! No… No… Nathan said… He said that it didn't matter! I am the one that's here!" He shouted, beginning to calm his quirk. Toga reached him and wrapped a handkerchief over the damaged part of his mask, further helping soothe her companion.
"Master. I must inform you that I'm not receiving mana from you properly. I believe my manifestation will only last for an hour at best, with combat shortening that time significantly."
"Hoh? Still. Thanks for covering my retreat. Master though. You don't have to say that you know."
Bedivere thought it strange that his master tossed away their proper title, but everything about this situation was odd.
"We do things our own way right? That's why we're here after all." She said gently as she reached out and cupped Twice's face. "There there. These Yakuza guys aren't making this easy are they? We're supposed to be cooperating so we can get our revenge for big sis Magne. We've got to do our best to that end."
Twice nodded before getting back to his feet cheering on about the Yakuza's downfall. The entire base shuttered as Irinaka, the man manipulating the base, reached his limit.
He simply decided to crush everyone he could, heroes and league members would find their graves in these walls together.
"Master! Enemy Servant approaching!" Bedivere said, drawing his sword.
The wall before them exploded, Tomoe Gozen and Midoriya Izuku crashing through it.
The ceiling buckled, large concrete pillars crashing down upon the five of them.
Bedivere and Tomoe acted as one, destroying every pillar that came their way.
"This is unsustainable! Deku! Eraserhead!" Tomoe called out.
Aizawa shifted focus, trying to find the source of the madness playing out all around them.
A wall shifting revealed Nighteyes group, equally struggling to deal with the ever shifting terrain.
Tomoe ignored all of it. Even if the entire fortress came down on top of her she could not be stopped.
Her naginata crashed against Bedivere's blade, forcing him to take a defensive stance.
Flames tore across the floor as Tomoe pressed her advance.
Toga was on her in an instant, flipping over Bedivere and moving to strike Tomoe's shoulder.
But.
Her knife did not even scratch the surface of that woman's skin.
"Master!" Bedivere said, flooding mana into his right arm and smashing it against Tomoe's naginata. She skidded to the side as the gallant Knight scooped up his master and jumped back just in time to avoid another attack from Irinaka. "Conventional weapons cannot hurt Servants. Please stay back and let me fight for you. That's why you summoned me is it not?"
An arrow struck him in the back in the next moment, Tomoe having switched weapons to compensate for the distance he put between them.
Twice used his quirk to create another Rappa clone only for him to once again be completely blown away in a single strike, Tomoe barely even swinging her arm to bisect him with her sword.
This overwhelming power… It was exactly the same feeling he got when he fought Nathan in the forest. There was nothing the three of them could do to so much as damage this woman.
The wall behind them folded, cresting like a wave in order to crush them.
But it stopped short.
A catastrophic tremor tore through the entire base, causing Irinaka to completely shift his focus on keeping the place from falling apart.
"What the hell is going on!?"
Something was wrong.
Something was deeply wrong.
Death and ruin invaded him from his connection with the base itself. Currently it was an extension of himself, tied to his quirk.
Something unnatural seeped in through that connection and attacked the very core of his being.
There was nothing he could do.
That vast curse.
That terrible poison.
It tore into him without mercy.
His vision was completely overtaken.
The last thing he saw before his soul was obliterated was a terrible Black Light.
It was a valiant struggle truly.
His enemy's monstrous strength put him on the backfoot from the word go.
It was such a strange summoning, Gawain thought to himself as he clashed with that enemy Servant again. He was not bound by a contract, rather a sense that he should follow the one command the person who summoned him gave.
"Ahhh… I am sorry my friend." Gawain said as he and Asterios held their distance, "But it would seem I have been summoned at a very fortunate time."
Euryale swore under her breath.
They'd taken too long to put a definitive end to Gawain.
Fire erupted from his blade as he swung it again.
Numeral of the Saint activated, multiplying Gawain's stats threefold.
Asterios lost the ability to completely overpower that Knight in an instant.
"Now then. I have my order. None of you will get past me." He said, holding his sword aloft.
Asterios and Euryale instantly recognized what was coming next.
"GET BEHIND US!" She called out before a large hand scooped her off of Asterios' back. She let out a faint gasp as Asterios tossed her further back before beginning to fire up his Noble Phantasm.
"This sword is a replica of the sun itself! Its flames shall cleanse all the impurities from this world!"
Ryukyu, who had been positioning herself to join the fight, felt true terror course through her. She used her dragonic form to scoop up everyone she could in order to bring them to safety.
To hear one of the Chaldeans be that panicked was extremely alarming so she did not even question the order.
"Get lost! Wander! Die!"
"Excalibur Galatine!"
An extraordinary wave of fire surged forward as Gawain swung his sword.
It slammed into Asterios' rapidly forming Chaos Labyrinth.
An enormous straining sound followed as Asterios tried to use his Noble Phantasm as a shield.
But with Numeral of the Saint active…
Flames began to tear through the walls, crashing into Asterios himself.
The two let out a guttural roar as they stood opposite each other.
The explosion that followed shook the ground for miles.
Ryukyu blinked her eyes open, having no doubt that the infiltration teams felt that blast.
The buildings around them had been flattened by Gawain's might.
But there was a large gap in the wave of destruction he'd unleashed.
Asterios fell to his knees, his body badly burned.
He was not a shield but he had done his best to contort himself into one.
"You fought honorably, my worthy opponent. It's time for you to rest."
"Not a chance…" Asterios ground out with a smile as he twisted his battered body to the side.
An arrow struck Gawain dead center, piercing straight through his armor and into his abdomen.
Euryale would not let someone damage Asterios so grievously without reproach.
"Ghrn" The knight took a step back before flames began to lap from his sword. He maybe had enough mana left to use his Noble Phantasm one more time but there was no need. His opponents were no longer strong enough to withstand his enhanced might.
"Noble Phantasm, release!"
A hail of missiles rained down upon Gawian.
A red blur managed to hoist Asterios up and clear the blast radius just as they detonated.
"My final problem, the ultimate crime shall be proven here!"
Ryukyu watched as Moriarty dashed past her and Euryale, unleashing a hail of gunfire into the large plume of smoke. That odd coffin-like device he carried around was some kind of horrific ordinance launcher it seemed.
A sharp thud sounded as Asterios was deposited next to her and the others from UA, the red blur stopping long enough for Ryukyu to identify her as Nightingale. Wasn't she just there for medical support? Could she fight too? Not to mention Moriarty was mission control wasn't he?
Could All Chaldeans fight on a level capable of standing up to their imaginary foe?
"The Dynamics of an Asteroid!" Moriarty shouted, putting the breaks on his advance as he leveled his large weapon at Gawain.
But Moriarty had made a critical error in waiting until he was at point blank range to fire. Gawain grabbed the barrel of his gun and began wrestling it to the side so he wouldn't be struck directly.
And.
He reared his sword back, flames exploding from it.
He would not allow this unknown Servant to walk away from such a brazen attack unharmed.
But.
Before he could swing his blade.
Florence Nightingale grabbed his wrist with enough strength to crumple his gauntlet and slammed her fist into his shoulder, dislocating it.
Gawain let the collected flames on his blade detonate just as Moriarty's Noble Phantasm fired. The resulting explosion should have consumed all three of them but Moriarty simply let go of his massive weapon and jumped back.
"Nightingale!" Moriarty called out, less out of concern and more to assess her condition for continued combat.
The one who answered his call was a furious Gawain.
Moriarty's attack had done substantial damage, burning his left arm and blowing apart the armor covering most of his upper body.
But Gawain would not fall from such a relentless onslaught. He was a knight of the round table, one of their strongest members. Charred digits grasped the hilt of his sword, swinging in a wide arc. The attack struck Moriarty diagonally across the chest and managed to catch Nightingale's shoulder as she launched a surprise attack from behind. His right arm hung limply and he was bloodied and burned from receiving such powerful attacks again and again, but he would fulfil his duty to protect his master's home.
He turned his focus to the remaining pro heroes.
"Haaah… Well fought… Truly… But this is the end…"
A loud snapping sound filled the air in the next moment.
Black chitinous digits held the destroyed remains of Gawain's heart.
"Looks like he was right to be worried." Oberon said before tearing his hand free from Gawain's torso.
He fell to the ground with a solid thud before dissolving into dust.
"Oberon!? What are you doing here? You should be with-"
"He ordered me to the surface to make sure you lot didn't die. I'm going back now!" He barked back against Moriarty's objection to his presence, "Fix that gaping wound you've got unless you want to worry him even more."
Uraraka and Tsuyu rushed forward, Tsuyu moving to Asterios and Uraraka to Moriarty.
"We need to get you to a hospital- Ryukyu!"
"Fine. I'm fine. Chaldea can… Fix me." He said weakly.
Nightingale pulled herself up, sporting her own serious wound but ignoring it for the sake of helping the others. "Come let's get the two of them patched up and continue the operation." She said simply.
"I'm coming with you!"
Oberon turned slowly towards one Hado Nejire.
His mind raced for something, anything to reject her. If he brought her with him he'd be brining her to Nathan's side and if there was one thing he knew about Nathan it's that he would be in the middle of something terrible after being left unsupervised.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going to be such a pain.
"Try to keep up." He ground out before dissolving into a mass of insects and flying back into the base.
Nejire nodded and moved to blast open what remained of the entryway so she and the other pros could get inside. She cast one last look at Ryukyu.
"Go. We'll catch up after we've stabilized everything up here!"
"Yes! Thank you!"
Nathan ran alone. No one was trying to divert his path, and he hadn't seen anyone else yet. He needed to catch up to Mirio so he could provide proper backup. He had a good feeling that if the two of them were against Overhaul that they'd be able to both save Eri and completely crush the head of this operation in one fell swoop.
Unfortunately.
There was one obstacle.
"We meet again FES ranked magus Nathan Relnor. Oh. Forgive me my rudeness. You have a proper title don't you Lord Animusphere III? Regardless, I'm glad I bet on you using the most direct path to Chisaki imaginable. Leave it to a fool to only be able to run in a straight line."
"Aleister I presume…"
There was no sign of Mirio so he must have just let him through.
That made sense in a way. Aleister was a magus, he would only be interested in things that could further his goals.
Nathan bristled at that title though. It had been given to him as a form of mockery, branding him with the name of the man who brought him into Chaldea in the first place.
"Hoh? You already know my name? Maybe you're a bit more astute than I gave you credit for."
Nathan's eye narrowed. All he knew about this guy was his name and the fact he could swap bodies. He didn't know what school of magecraft he followed or if he had servant summoning devices on him. Not to mention Aleister knew his proper rank so he probably had limited knowledge about him. Though, like most clocktower mages he didn't seem to think Nathan deserved his rank.
This could go very very badly.
But he'd promised Oberon that he wouldn't die so.
"Well at least I can wrap up dealing with you then go save Eri."
"Hm? Confident are we? Despite the fact that your little crutches aren't here? What were their names? Romani Ackaman and Mashu Kyrielight?"
A tremendous bolt of electricity lashed through the room in the next instant, forcing Aleister to use a simple magical barrier to defend himself.
"That's a very dangerous line you're walking on my friend." Nathan said, his voice ice cold as he approached his opponent.
"So it seems. Regardless, I have a contract to uphold."
That's right.
Currently the two of them were playing the part of heroes and villains.
But this was not a battle between a normal hero and a normal villain.
This was a battle between two mages.
Nathan flooded his poor magic circuits with prana. His helmet's display began feeding him as much data on his opponent as it could gather.
Sharp popping sounds rang through his ears, indicating Sut Typhon's general displeasure with the figure in front of them.
Aleister's right hand disappeared into his robe but before he could pull anything out he was forced to dodge to the side.
In a blur of motion Nathan had magnetically launched himself forward, opened the Gate of Babylon, and swung the weapon it presented him in a single movement.
Aleister had only ever dealt with him while he was unconscious and now it was time to show him what kind of creature held the titles he didn't think he deserved.
The enemy mage was briefly thrown off guard.
The blade that he'd just barely managed to avoid was so intensely cursed that it threw off his sense of what should and should not be possible. The steel itself radiated pure killing intent, so much so that he was surprised it didn't bend out of shape just to impale its wielder.
He could not allow himself to be cut by that blade.
Aiester grasped the vial just inside his robe and quickly flung it at Nathan's feet. It was another experiment but who better to test it on than another magus. He certainly would make for better fodder than those pathetic villains who could barely keep up with his resource demands.
As soon as the glass shattered across the ground something came wriggling from the darkened liquid as it spread across the floor.
"A sacrifice to call for aid! I offer the blood of a god and demand fortune!" Aleister called out as Nathan slashed at him again and again, quickly moving himself away from whatever Aleister was conjuring.
A figure emerged from that dark pool, its limbs made of tendrils twisted together in an obscene mockery of the human form.
An Elder Ghoul.
Nathan remembered facing many such enemies back in Salem.
Thinking on it now, the Nomu were a lot like this creature, though instead of blackened flesh Elder Ghouls were a sickly rotten green. The four armed monstrosity lunged towards him, causing him to dodge back while keeping Aleister in his field of view.
His cursed sword would not do him a lot of good against an opponent like this.
Opening the Gate he fired two black keys directly into its shadow while also depositing his weapon within it.
The curse contained within the black keys activated, locking that behemoth in place.
It could not even block the sword that was quickly embedded in its head.
"You're joking…" Aleister muttered as that imposing monster crumbled to dust in an instant. That sword must have had extremely strong anti-demonic properties to have killed it in that single strike. And it was in Nathan's hand the next moment.
But while his mind was reeling at how easily Nathan had dispatched his new familiar, Nathan was left quietly baffled.
There was no way he could kill a normal Elder Ghoul so easily. Something was wrong with Aleister's creations. Perhaps it was simply because it was a product of the modern age, where mystery is much more thinly spread than in the past.
Aleister pulled another vial, uncapping it and slinging its contents at his rapidly approaching foe.
The black liquid within burst into flames the moment it made contact with the air.
Nathan clicked his tongue and swung his blade, managing to brush away enough of the attack that he had a safe spot to dodge into while setting up for his next move.
Aleister was getting very tired of this boy. That sword should have melted just from touching such an intense curse. What was it made out of that he couldn't so much as scratch it?
Had Clocktower been deceived? His opponent wasn't some kid they gave honors to just because he was there. He was being pushed back! No snot nosed kid could do something to a seasoned magus like himself.
He reached into his robe for another vial.
Something shot past him, moving so fast he could barely comprehend it.
The next thing he knew, that blade was embedded in the wall behind him.
A soft thump sounded as his right arm hit the ground, vial still intact.
A tremendous amount of blood spilled out of him.
He swore under his breath as he went to press his hand against the stump, beginning a spell to knit his severed vessels together.
His muscles seized up in the next instant as a bolt of electricity surged through him. He barely had time to glance at his aggressor before Nathan's elbow smashed into his face, shattering his nose.
Fresh blood splattered to the ground as Aleister was sent reeling, collapsing in a heap before Nathan could continue his assault.
Nathan looked down at his opponent and clicked his tongue. It was readily apparent how little Clocktower thought of Chaldea if this was what they'd been deployed to deal with. Finding him must have taken so long because he truly wasn't powerful enough to detect.
Walking past Aleister while keeping his eye on him, Nathan reached the far wall and pulled his blade from it.
Brahmastra was originally an arrow and it retained its properties of being an excellent projectile despite the fact that Rama had changed it into a sword. Not to mention it had extremely powerful anti-demonic properties and was completely indestructible. He couldn't believe Rama had just given it to him but he was grateful now.
"I think that's enough." Nathan said sharply. Pointing his blade at the fallen magus. "I don't know what you're trying to do but you're coming with us. You can't be handing Servants to criminals and not expect to draw Clocktower's ire…"
"Leave it to… A simpleton like you… To not understand my goals… The Servants are a byproduct… A measuring stick…" Aleister gasped out as his spell took hold, putting a temporary stop to his blood loss. He would have to switch bodies again, and drastically rethink his strategy when it came to dealing with Chaldeans.
A no name mage shouldn't be giving him so much trouble.
This was absurd.
"Enough then. I know it's a mistake to give magi a chance, but I'd rather not kill you. Just stop and I'll see you to London proper. I'm sure I could call in a few favors so you're not executed on the spot…"
Was this… Mercy?
Was this boy offering him mercy?
Aleister's stomach churned.
Murderous intent spilled from him as grey eyes locked onto Nathan.
"You… Dare…!?" He wheezed out. His hand dove into his robes, prioritizing offense rather than recovery.
He found his Servant summoning device and did not hesitate even for a moment.
It truly insulted him to the core that he actually needed a Servant in order to defeat this boy, but he would not suffer insults like these.
An explosion of force tore through the room, blowing both of them back.
Nathan recovered quickly, creating distance as he watched the summoning complete.
Every plan of attack screeched to a halt in the next moment.
"I am… You are… What?"
Someone he'd never summoned stood before him.
Someone who had journeyed with him for years.
Someone who lived in his heart as its most powerful supporting pillar.
"Mashu?" Nathan ground out.
Impossible.
Impossible.
Galahad wouldn't allow this.
Mashu was still alive even, but he'd seen stranger things than a still living person being summoned.
"Is that… My name?"
Her head tilted to the side as the massive shield she wielded scraped across the ground.
He opened his mouth to plead with her to not fight but something stopped those words dead in his throat.
"It hurts…" She muttered, reaching up with her free hand.
She looked into his eyes the moment before her head exploded in a shower of gore.
He wanted to throw up.
This was beyond words.
A soft, consistent bubbling coming from just over his left shoulder was the only thing keeping him grounded as he watched her body convulse.
Something was writhing just underneath the skin. Tendrils shot from her severed neck twisting together until they formed a facsimile of a head.
The unbreakable roundtable shield cracked straight in half as her armor seemed to melt into a new, more jagged shape.
"Servant! I don't care what you are! Kill him!" Aleister called out, having managed to stifle his bleeding while Nathan was briefly swept away by the horror before him.
A soft gurgling of air escaping her severed windpipe was all that came as acknowledgement. Heaving each half of her shield in her hands as two massive broadswords she charged Nathan.
A loud snap met his ears, causing him to leap to the side, only narrowly dodging her opening attack.
"I know. I'm sorry!" Nathan said to no one in particular. He checked the displays his helmet provided him but they could not identify her class or her stats. Something was very wrong. She was barely registering as a Servant at all.
Before he could properly assess how much danger he was in he was knocked off balance.
He had an anti-curse mystic code so the worst of the Gandr blast that just struck him was nullified, but it still imparted the force of a bullet into his side.
"Grh"
Mashu did not give him the time he needed to recover.
He found himself crushed into the wall in the next instant, having only barely managed to move his left arm in the way of her shield before it struck him dead center. He was eternally grateful that his hero suit's armor was strong enough to mitigate the damage that blow dealt.
His right hand shot out, ensnaring with the tendrils making up his most beloved friend's new face. Reinforcing his scales with prana he fired a massive discharge of energy.
But he might as well have blown some bubbles in her face.
She dragged him along the wall before sending him hurtling to the floor.
He allowed himself to roll away before using a surge of electricity to add to the distance between them.
A fight that had been an easy victory had turned into an absolute catastrophe.
Mashu… That Aleister had turned her into something like this… There was no mercy in his heart for that magus.
A loud snap met his ears as the ends of the roundtable shield cracked and fell away, leaving a jagged edge. It seemed she had yet to finish being corrupted. He needed to deal with her now but without the firepower of a Servant…
Oberon would be back soon.
Two tremendously powerful slashes tore through the wall and the floor he'd been standing near. She was fast. She was fast and just as strong as he remembered her, if not more.
He was only barely keeping enough distance and only because he knew the exact reach of her weapon. He dodged under the next swing, closing in and smashing into her abdomen with Brahamastra.
It didn't even dent her armor but the force just barely managed to stagger her. Enough for him to twist out of her range yet again.
Every fiber of his body screamed at him that he should not be fighting her. He needed to save her… But he knew. He knew this was a forgery. He just had to push through every horrid emotion he was experiencing in order to claim victory.
"Not so tough now are you?" Aleister got out as he continued to repair the damage that had been done to him.
Without saying another word Nathan deposited his blade within the Gate of Babylon and pulled out a calico M950. A rapid spray of bullets shut Aleister up. The mage had put up a barrier in anticipation for some kind of ranged magical attack but the completely ordinary bullets passed right through it.
Unfortunately he only landed a few shots before Mashu was between them.
Anything to get Aleister to shut up at this point. Plus if he was too busy treating his injuries he couldn't attack him.
Mashu charged as Nathan unloaded the rest of his ammunition into her. Every bullet bounced harmlessly off of her weapons but she had to hold them in front of her, theoretically obscuring her vision.
She didn't really have eyes anymore but he imagined she was still trapped in the frame of observing as a human would.
Swinging on her opponent yet again she tore through the wall Nathan had been in front of. He dodged to the side but Mashu was right on top of him, she'd read his movements, or maybe remembered how he fought.
Either way she gave him no quarter, one of her blades grazing the armor covering his left shoulder and the other smashing down upon him.
He had no choice but to block, activating the mystic code in his left gauntlet and projecting an energy shield.
Mashu's attack broke it instantly but it provided just enough resistance to allow him a safe space to dodge into.
He was just a human, when facing off against opponents behind his skill level he had to create what openings he could.
"Enough games! End him!" Aleister called out as he struggled to get back to his feet.
Nathan blinked and Mashu was gone.
A loud crunch sounded as he was struck in the back, sending him flying forward.
He hit the ground with enough force to nearly shatter it, leaving him completely dazed.
She brought the two halves of her shield together and pointed them at him.
Something wicked filled the air as a loud humming noise reached his ears.
Yes. Mashu only really had one ranged attack that did not involve throwing her shield.
Though she did not have her Ortenaus equipped she was still harnessing the weapon they'd used to feel the gods of ancient Greece.
It must have been a byproduct of this unusual summoning.
No. He didn't have time to think about that sort of thing.
He was directly in the line of fire of the Black Barrel.
He'd already been cursed by that weapon enough.
His body struggled to respond to his commands as he was still reeling from her hammer blow. Not to mention…
Without Mashu by his side he did not have a shield strong enough to defend against such an attack. No even then he doubted he had any defenses at all against the Black Light.
He threw wide the Gate of Babylon, firing black keys at her to no effect.
Dread pierced through him as he watched her complete her charging sequence.
The horrifying might of a weapon that frightened even Atlus tore through the base.
Nathan blinked, watching the beam shoot up at an angle.
"Oberon!" Nathan called out, genuinely surprised he was still alive.
"THE BLACK LIGHT REALLY!?" Oberon called out from his place directly in front of Mashu.
Surging from her shadow he'd shoved her shields up, causing that blast to tear through the ceiling rather than obliterate Nathan.
He took a moment to actually regard the enemy he was up against.
Was fate really so cruel as to put Nathan against an opponent like this?
They disengaged, Oberon returning to Nathan's side and helping him back up to his feet.
It was now a fight between Master and Servant pairs.
And Aleister was already heavily injured.
"I'm fine. She just knocked the wind out of me. I can tell she's not swinging as hard as she could be…" Nathan got out, "We just need to take out Aleister and this will all be over."
"What a pain. Leave it to you to get such a troublesome opponent while I was away."
"Let's just put her out of her misery…"
The two charged as one, Oberon creating a large mantis scythe and forcing Mashu on the defensive.
Nathan dashed to the side, opening the Gate of Babylon along his path. He needed range now that Oberon was here to act as his front line. The Longinus was in his hand in the next moment. With a mighty thrust he slammed it into Mashu's exposed side. It wasn't enough to damage her armor without activating it but it did cause her to buckle slightly, allowing Oberon an opportunity to attack again.
He slammed his chitinous fist into her, calling out the name of his attack before applying a massive force to the defensive servant's midsection.
But she was still Mashu Kyrielight. A stalwart shield that would never break as long as she had the will to fight.
Though how much will she had in this state was up for debate.
The blow forced her back, cracking her chest plate. She embedded her bladed shields into the ground in order to stop herself.
They needed something stronger than this. Or failing that something that could simply disable Mashu until her mana ran out.
Not to mention they needed to deal with Aleister.
"Wait where did-" Nathan started before noticing another spray of flaming liquid flying straight at him.
He did not have time to block it as he did before, and Oberon was also in the line of fire.
Thankfully he did not need to.
"Nejire Wave!"
A spiral of yellow energy intercepted the enemy mage's attack, smashing it away from her junior and the odd bug man that had brought her to him.
"Finally caught up!" She said triumphantly.
Nathan turned a glare that could melt steel at Oberon.
"She wanted to help." He said dismissively, "How was I supposed to refuse her?"
Nathan could think of any number of ways. Regardless, she had just saved his life. But Mashu and Aleister being their opponents put her in a considerable amount of danger.
"Thanks for the save." Nathan got out as he turned his gaze towards her.
She almost flinched upon seeing the look in his eye.
It was haunted in a way she couldn't describe and so piercing that she thought he could see straight through her.
She'd never seen anyone with a stare like that and it was exceptionally unsettling to see it on Nathan.
Not to mention. Where had he gotten that spear? He hadn't brought it with him…
"Hold off on your questions until later. This is a Chaldean battlefield. Are you ready to walk into hell with us?" Nathan asked with a stern expression on his face.
"What kind of question is that," She responded with a soft pout, "I told you I would help you whenever you asked right?"
A soft chuckle escaped Nathan as he watched Aleister and Mashu begin to regroup. That creature using the body of his most precious kouhai let out a deafening roar, magical energy surging from it.
"Oberon, Nejire. Keep her busy. I'll deal with Aleister!"
"That's Aleister!?"
There was no time to answer as Mashu charged, only for a giant Woodlouse to smash into her. With some effort she managed to bat away the wrecking ball sized insect, but in that brief moment of distraction Nathan had slipped past her.
"Servant! Ignore them! Focus on that fake of a mage!"
The Longinus lodged itself into Aleister's stomach the next moment, thrown with enough reinforced strength to pin him to the wall behind him.
Nathan had no time to react, only barely managing to put his right arm in the way of the attack coming from behind him.
Mashu's shield tore at that scale limb, removing a chunk of it but not quite being enough to sever it completely.
"Girl!" Oberon called out as he dissolved into a swarm, flowing past Mashu and attacking her as an illusory mass.
Nejire took the opening, concentrating her energy onto her palm as she charged forward.
"Nejire Pike!"
Her attack smashed into the broken half of a shield, not even staggering her opponent.
A loud static sound filled the air as Nathan's arc fusion blade smashed into the other half, causing Mashu to have to split her attention between the two.
"How bold of you. It's nauseating! Heracles!"
Oberon reformed directly in front of Mashu.
With both of her shields defending from opposite attacks she had nothing to guard her midsection.
And so Oberon managed to damage that defensive wall, blowing a hole straight through her abdomen.
The sight of it did not sit well with Nejire. But this had to be another Imaginary soldier… Even then it made her stomach churn. They still bled after all…
She did not have time to ponder the nature of her illusory enemy.
The three of them were blown back as an astonishingly loud gurgling noise escaped that girl's body.
Tendrils emerged from the wound, writhing wildly as she staggered back.
Aleister watched as those three continued to chip away at that Servant. Even though she was a product of the much more potent blood he'd developed she was being pushed back by an ordinary human, a fake mage, and a single Servant…
But…
Shakily he pulled a syringe from his robe. Thankfully it hadn't been damaged in the numerous attacks he'd endured.
That boy had managed to graft Sut Typhon onto his body without going mad.
So it stood to reason that he would be able to do something similar, especially with all the preparations he'd made.
He injected himself with the contents of that syringe.
In an instant he felt that his very soul was under attack.
The spells he'd woven around his soul sprang to life allowing him to bend that invader to his will and force it into the shape of his missing right arm.
As the flesh of an outer god it was naturally blessed with peerless magic circuits.
"Haaaaah! Leave it to a no name hack to come up with such outlandish ideas in pure desperation!" He ground out, ripping the spear from his chest and tossing it aside.
Nathan glanced back from his most recent attack on Mashu to see where that noise had come from.
"You really are a maverick! I shudder to think of what kind of monster you would have turned into if you'd received a proper education!" Aleister leveled his new right hand at the group.
That Servant was disposable. If she hadn't managed to deal with that group by now she wasn't terribly useful to him anyway.
"I see now! Desperation truly leads to innovation doesn't it! I thank you for pushing me this far!"
Nathan desperately wanted to shoot him but with Nejire here he had to adhere to the rules of heroes.
Oberon fended off another attack from Mashu, knocking her aside before moving to Nathan.
Energy seeped from that alien limb of Aleisters as he used its magics to repair some of the damage Nathan had done to him.
"Sealing myself off from its influence was only achievable after carefully studying the sample I took from you! Perhaps you're not such a failure after all!"
Nejire had enough, charging her quirk to its full might. Her training with Aoko had given her everything she needed to do so as quickly as possible. She would become an offensive wall, blasting away whatever this Aleister guy had in store for them.
"Nejire-"
"Goodbye, Magus of Chaldea. You were an interesting test subject."
It was too much.
The amount of energy he released in the next instant was blinding.
Nejire threw everything she had at it but it wasn't enough to stem the tide. She felt someone grab her and yank her back. A golden glow met her eyes for a moment before she was pulled tightly against Nathan.
He put himself in the way of that blast, using the scales on his back to pull what debris he could in an effort to more properly shield her.
"YOU IDIOT MASTER!"
Oberon grabbed both of them.
Against an attack that cataclysmic he doubted his body would do much to protect them. But it would maybe be enough to keep them alive at the cost of himself.
But.
He heard a loud thunk just before the blast reached them.
Everything went white.
The Yakuza base was torn in half as a massive explosion ripped through it.
The lower floors trembled as everything above them was torn away.
Aleister staggered back, looking at the absolute devastation he'd managed to cause.
"Hah… Haahahaha!" He began a tepid laugh before quickly devolving into coughing up blood.
His new right arm seized up and began to melt away.
He had completely burned it out with that single strike.
"I'll have to work on endurance… But… Soon. With a new body I will be able to take full advantage of that creature's properties…"
He staggered forth down the path leading further into the base. He'd thankfully not unleashed that blast in the direction his employer had fled in, not that he would have cared much. There was always someone who would be able to get him what he needed after all.
An unnatural stillness filled the room as the ceiling continued to fall away, letting natural sunlight fall upon the destroyed facility.
Faint voices from the heroes on the surface began to filter in.
But there was no one left for them to reach.
Oh? Is there not more? Hm. Guess we'll have to find out what happened to everyone later. I hope you all enjoyed! I'll see you next time when we wrap up the Overhaul arc! It promises to be quite the fun time!