Chapter Twenty-Eight
Pride of a Degenerate
"Any news on the others?" Mineta asked as he was currently riding on Artemis's shoulders as he, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Demeter were currently on top of a large building surveying the area they were in.
"...Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Aphrodite asked. "Because so far, your classmates aren't doing so well seeing how Koda, Sato, Aoyama, Tokoyami, Momo, and Sero are dead." She said, which took the young man by surprise.
"Seriously!? How!?"
"Shy boy was killed by a servant that Lily was currently fighting, but was saved by Mina. The others were killed by an assassin servant and the knight that's giving off the same energy as Lily but different."
"And the others, where are they?"
"Aizawa, Iida, Toru, and Jirou are currently at the school with two servants. From what I can tell, they seem to be working together with them." The machine goddess said before blinking in surprise. "...Huh."
"What's wrong?" Demeter asked.
"Seems like another grand servant has appeared, and she's in the body of that Momo girl who died."
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Artemis said. "I mean about the grand servant and the girl being brought back to life."
"Can you see if the others are nearby?" Mineta asked as Aphrodite looked over at the area before noticing a beam of magical energy heading their way, but zoomed past them as it caused Mineta to fall backward. "What was that?"
"That would be the servant that I picked up a while ago," Aphrodite said as she squinted her eyes in the direction the blast came from. Once she had a good look at the scene she was watching, she saw Tsuyu currently limping backward with an arm missing as the servant who caused the blast was walking towards her. In the servant's hand was the dead body of Uraraka as she tossed her to the side. Around them was a combination of shattered ice, explosions, and dark-colored flames. Upon further inspection, she could see Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki who passed out on the ground injured. "Things are not looking good for them."
"What do you mean?"
"Uraraka is dead, Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki are knocked out, and the frog girl is alive for the moment. Seems like the servant is about to kill her." She said before noticing Mineta taking a few steps towards the edge of the building he was on. "You're planning on saving her, aren't you?"
"Of course I am. She's my classmate after all." He said while clenching his fist. "I can't just stay here and watch them get killed. If sis were here, she would do all that she can to save them."
"Perhaps, but unlike Lily, you're not skilled enough to last long in a battle."
"That is true, but that doesn't mean we can't assist him in combat." Artemis said as Aphrodite raised an eyebrow at her. "Given the situation, we're in. We can't afford to have Mineta die on us. Especially with the beast that is here in this world. So if we want to survive this, helping Mineta out with this will come in handy in giving him a taste of combat. Plus, I prefer not to wait for another suitable host to appear…who knows how long that will take."
"...You make a valid point," Aphrodite said as she looked over at Mineta. "Normally I would be against having to do this, but seeing how we're in this mess because of the demon god pillar, I'll make an exception and help you say your friends. But once this is over, it's back to training like before. Are we clear?"
"Crystal!" He said as Aphrodite vanished into red and orange dust and entered Mineta's body. In doing so, his magic circuits lit up as he was filled with the power of that of a god…at least what he considered it to feel like. "Whoa, this feels…incredible! It's like I can knock down a building with just one punch!"
"For the most part, but keep in mind that you can't let the power go to your head darling. This is only temporary until we can escape this singularity." Artemis said as she picked Mineta up and placed him on her shoulders. "I'll provide cover fire, but you'll need to take care of the servant who's attacking your friends. Okay?"
"Alright…is there a way to bring Uraraka back to life?" Mineta asked as Demeter spoke.
"There is a way…but it might be a shot in the dark."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I'll explain once the servant is defeated. Right now, go and save your friend." She said as Mineta and Artemis began making their way to Tsuyu. As the duo made their way through the air, Tsuyu was currently doing her best to dodge the servant's attack. It was bad enough that she appeared out of nowhere like a ninja, but she killed Uraraka with little to no effort. Were it not for the fact that she slipped on a rock while backing away from the servant, she would've lost more than just her right arm. There wasn't much she could do, maybe buy some time for someone to come rescue her.
"Why are you doing this?" Tsuyu asked as she watched the pale blonde-haired woman halting. "Don't you feel bad for what you've done to my friends or this city?"
"No, I don't. Or at least I can't." Saber answered, which caused Tsuyu to tilt her head in confusion a bit. "I have no choice but to follow the corpse king's orders. Much as I prefer to kill myself than slaughter innocents, He controls me and I must follow."
"A quirk that manipulates a person's body against their will. Maybe I can bring her to Mr. Aizawa and erase the quirk that's affecting her." Tsuyu thought as the servant resumed her walking.
"Do not take this personal child. Though I am sorry for killing your friend, I have nothing against you if you choose to hate and curse me, but I have orders to follow." She said before lifting her sword. "Goodbye, and may your next life be better than this one." With that, the servant vanished from Tsuyu's sight before appearing in front of her with her sword brought up. Before Saber could deliver a killing blow to the frog girl, she quickly jumps backward as a barrage of arrows descended between the servant and Tsuyu. The moment she was away from Tsuyu, Mineta appeared from the side like a bullet as his feet collided with the servant's face. The magic circuit lines in his legs lit up as he sent the servant flying off through two buildings and crashed into a gas station. Which caused an explosion to erupt.
"Geez, talk about cutting it close," Mineta said as he looked over at Tsuyu. "You okay?" He asked as Tsuyu was surprised to see Mineta…more specifically, how he was able to send that woman flying with little to no effort.
"Mienta? Is that you?" She asked, still dumbfounded as to what happened.
"I'll…explain later. Right now I need to take care of the lady in the black armor." He said before reaching for one of his balls and morph's it into a sword. "Demeter, can you look after her and the others for me?"
"Of course." The caster servant said after appearing next to Tsuyu. The frog girl jumped back a bit from seeing the tall woman appear out of nowhere. The machine god looked over at Tsuyu as she bows to her. "Greetings. My name is Demeter, a servant that was summoned to assist the grand servant in anything he needs." She said before noticing Tsuyu's missing arm as a pained expression appeared on her face. She soon looked over at the others as she summoned an orb into her hands and levitated Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Uraraka over to her.
"Mineta, we need to get out of here. There's no way we can beat her without Aizawa's help." Tsuyu said as Mineta turned his attention onto the frog girl
"I don't think getting to Aizawa is going to be an option. Especially given how we don't know where he is. Not to mention that she's going to come after us."
"But she's being controlled by someone. If we can manage to find Aizawa, then he can cancel out the user's quirk that's making her attack us."
"As much as that would be a good idea." He said before hearing the sound of the servant making her way back towards them. "But I don't think that lady will allow us to leave."
"You're planning on fighting her? What you're doing is suicidal. You're not the strongest in the class, nor the bravest. She took down the strongest people in our class, what can you do?" Tsuyu asked, which caused Mineta to flinch from her words.
"Yeah, that's true. But if Lily was here, she would stand and fight…also say some kind of witty remark." He said before turning his attention forward as a small weak smile appeared on his face.
"Mineta, you can't win against her. We should use this opportunity to escape and-" Tsuyu was cut off by Artemis who instantly appeared in front of her as a means to silence her.
"You said what you have to say." The machine god said as she turned her attention forward to see Saber making her way back to the group. "Just watch as he'll show you that he'll win." The king of knights returned as she focused her attention on Tsuyu and the others for a moment before noticing Mineta and Artemis standing in front of the group. Saber soon looked at the two up and down for a moment before taking her visor off to reveal her eyes to them as she spoke.
"Given the tingling sensation I am getting in my spine, I take it you're a Grand Servant?" Saber asked as Mineta nodded. "I see, it would explain why you were able to send me flying like that. Tell me, young man. Who are you?"
"I'm Minoru Mineta," he answered while sticking his sword into the ground. "U.A's well-known pervert of the School."
"Interesting. Even though you're scared, you choose to fight me. Is it because you're a hero like that boy with the green hair?"
"Honestly, I don't consider myself a hero. At least not a cool one like Todoroki, Bakugo, or Midoriya with how awesome their quirks are. Hell, my personality is far from heroic. I even thought about giving up and just dropping out of school at one point. I'm a pervert, there's no doubt about it. I harassed some of the girls around the school, took pictures of them while they weren't looking, hell I even have dirty thoughts of having a harem all to myself. But that all changed when I met someone willing to be my friend and place a little bit of faith in me." He said before pointing his sword at Saber. "So I want to make her proud of me and work hard to be a decent person. One where I can take pride in myself and so can she. So I'm giving you a fair warning. Give up now or else I will do everything in my power to defeat you."
The servant stared at Mineta for a moment. It was interesting, to say the least. Out of all the people she had killed in this singularity, this kid might be the oddest person she had met. Granted he was disgusting for the acts he said he committed, but it seems he's trying to change his life around… a shame that she has to kill someone as young as him. The servant soon took up a fighting stance before focusing her attention on him.
"You know that you might die if you fight me. Knowing this, are you prepared to take a life to save your comrades?" She asked as Mineta gulped but nodded. "Your pride may be pointless to others, but not to me. From one warrior to another, I will meet your pride with my own. You told me your name, so I will do the same in kindness." She said as mana began to surge from off her body. "My name is Artoria Pendragon, King of knights. If you seek to survive in this hellish wasteland we've created, then you will have to defeat me!" She said which caused Mineta to lower himself to the ground before rocketing off towards Saber. As he was doing that, Saber drew her sword back before unleashing a wave of magical energy at him. The moment Saber's attack made contact with Mineta, the pseudo servant was pulled to the right to avoid the attack thanks to Artemis pulling him away, but the force behind it sent Tsuyu falling backward.
The same bow that Artemis was using appeared in Mineta's hands as he began firing a barrage of arrows at the altered servant with sharp accuracy. Saber took notice of the arrows coming at her as she quickly deflected them off in different directions before unleashing a wave of magical energy at him. The young man quickly jumps to avoid the attack as he felt Artemis launch him at the servant. The moment he was close to striking Saber with his bow, only for Saber to quickly bring her arm up to block the strike and counter with a strike of her sword. Mineta pulled his head back to avoid the swing of her sword before contouring with his bow again. Saber quickly deflected the strike as she soon tried to hit Mineta with a close-range beam attack.
The blast made contact with him as he was sent flying backward and tumbling towards the ground. The magic circuits in his body lit up as Mineta used the momentum from the tumbling to recover as he slid backward while popping off three of his balls and throwing them into the air around himself. The moment he stopped sliding backward, fired off the sword he was holding at the floating balls. The sword began bouncing off the balls at an alarming rate as it gave off a purple glow. Saber noticed this and chased after him within seconds. As she was closing the distance between them, the blade the Mineta was bouncing off the balls was sent flying at her head.
Just as she was about to bring her sword down upon Mineta, that blade that shot past her bounced off another ball that moved behind her and impaled itself into her back. The pain she felt caused her attack to miss as Artemis appeared behind Mineta and a magic-induced arrow at the servant. Saber quickly deflected the arrow back at her, only for one of Mineta's balls to appear in front of her as it bounced off it and back at Saber as it caused her to be pushed backward and away from him and Artemis.
Artemis and Mineta looked at each other for a moment before charging at Saber. Halfway closing the distance between them and her, they split off into different directions before zooming around the servant. As they were zooming around her, Saber's sword burst with magic as she began sending off magical beams at the two in an attempt to hit them. While dodging Saber's attacks, Mineta popped the balls off his head and threw them at Saber's feet without her knowing. The moment she saw Artemis was about to attack, she was about to move out of the way but felt her feet stuck. Looking down, she saw that Mineta's balls were preventing her from escaping.
"Smart move." She said before deflecting most of the archer servant's attack while feeling some of them hitting or grazing her armor and body. "But even with that, it's not enough to defeat me!" She yelled before thrusting the tip of her sword into the ground. In doing so, a reddish-black color surge of energy erupted from the ground as it caused them and pieces of the ground to fly high into the air.
"Geez, just how strong is this woman!?" Mineta yelled as he felt Artemis grab him from the air and land on a piece of earth floating in the air.
"Given how she's the King of Britain, I'm not surprised that she's this strong. What makes matters worse is that she can keep firing off her noble phantasm without suffering mana loss." Artemis said as she scanned around to see where Saber was. "If it weren't for the Klironomia we injected inside you, this match would've been one-sided."
"This is not how I wanted to spend the day," Mineta said as he pulled off a couple of his balls and tossed them into the air. "I was hoping to spend it just training and then afterward relax in my room with you next to me as we play games and stuff."
"And we'll do that…we just need to get out of this place first." She said before noticing the balls latching onto the flying pieces of the earth around them. Upon seeing this, she extends her hands up as invisible threads of wires were latched onto the balls as Mineta looked over at her. "We do share the same body, so I know what you're planning."
"Which makes communication between us much better." He said before hearing Saber landing across from them. The moment she locked eyes with the pair, her sword lit up as she unleashed her noble phantasm. The two quickly jumped out of the way of the wave of mana as Mineta pulled off more of his balls and had them float off into the air. He soon summoned up a bow into his hand, picked up seven stones as they morphed into arrows, and fired them off at the balls he tossed into the air. Upon making contact with balls, the arrow bounced off of them just like before at an alarming rate before heading towards Saber in a zigzag pattern.
The servant took notice of the arrows coming at her as she began to dodge out of the way of the oncoming attacks by using the earth floating around her to her advantage. The moment Artemis saw that Saber was about to unleash her noble phantasm, the machine god brought her hands together as the pieces of earth surrounding them collided with Saber as it caused her noble phantasm to deactivate.
"You think something like this will stop me!" She yelled before using mana burst to break out of her prison by sending out a surge of magical energy from out of her body. Just as she broke out, Mineta appeared in front of her as he delivered an earth-shattering blow to her abdomen with a spike-covered club. The servant gritted her teeth from the pain behind the attack as she was sent flying off of the piece of earth they were. Just as she was falling off and headed towards the ground, Saber activated her noble phantasm as she swung it to create a wave of destruction coming toward the duo. Mineta and Artemis took notice of this as they quickly jumped out of the way of the attack and descended to the ground. The moment they landed, the duo saw Saber gracefully landing across from them. From what Mineta could tell, it seems like she received some damage from Artemis's attack, but not a lot to where it would affect her combat ability.
"So this is how strong an actual servant is…I knew they would be strong, but I didn't think they would be on the level of All Might." Mineta said as he noticed Saber raising her sword and mana surging from her sword.
"Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King, reversed the rising sun." Saber said as the sword began to glow brighter while the ground broke around her. As this was happening, Mineta summoned his bow into his hands. He soon plucked a ball off his head as it morphs into an arrow made out of magical energy.
"He is the huntsman that pierces the Goddess Heart," Mineta said as his eyes and the circuit lines glowed. "I am the one who inherits his will."
"Swallow the light, Excalibur Morgan!" Saber yelled as she brought her sword up for a moment before bringing it down and unleashing her noble phantasm at full power as the pseudo servant and machine god. Artemis quickly raised her hand at the oncoming attack as she created a barrier from the armor of her main body developed around her and Mineta. The blast engulfed the two as Artemis was doing her best to keep the barrier standing, but it was slowly cracking from the divine properties of Excalibur.
"Lend me your strength, lend me your dream, lend me your destiny into this shot!" Mineta yelled as a surge of magical energy erupted from his body as he fired off the arrow. "Ortygia Amore Star!" He said before firing off the arrow into the stream of mana that Saber unleashed. The arrow didn't halt, it didn't falter from the force behind Saber's attack, it continued to fly towards Saber at blinding speed. Within a matter of seconds, the arrow hit its mark as it impaled Saber's heart. Her noble phantasm slowly stopped as the king of knights looked down at what hit her. At first, she thought it didn't hurt because of her armor blocking the arrow, but she soon felt a surge of energy flowing through her body before escaping from her back in the area the arrow was shot at. The burst of mana decimated part of the city Saber was turning her back against before slowly dying off. Once the attack vanished, Saber stood there motionless before moving once again and planting her sword into the ground with her hands on the pommel of Excalibur.
"It would appear you've won this fight." She said as Mineta noticed that her body was starting to fade away. "I commend you on a battle well fought, even with the assistance of your servants. As a reward for your valiant fight, I'm willing to answer any questions that you might have that I can answer."
"Tsuyu said that someone was controlling you by making you attack my friends. Who was it that made you do it?"
"He calls himself the Corpse King. We don't know where he came from or why he appeared. But it's because of him that the holy grail war changed. Instead of Servants and their Masters fighting against each other, it's servant against servants."
"This Corpse King. What is his end goal in this?"
"It's hard to say. We figure he wanted to kill every human in this singularity so that no one can end the holy grail war. But thinking about it now, there's not much we know about his goal of killing the humans."
"Is there a way out of this Singularity?"
"Defeating the Corpse King will end the singularity, but defeating him will be no easy task if you fight him alone." She said before pointing to the abandoned school off in the distance. "You will need the help of the servants who oppose the Corpse King. They will lend you your aid in your endeavor…Child. You know that path that you're on will be paved in blood. For you are the host of the Grand Servant. Not only will you be fighting the beast, but your kind as well. Knowing this, are you prepared to take a life just like you did with me? Are you prepared to walk over the corpses of your enemies and former friends that will try and stop you on your mission?"
Mineta paused upon hearing this. Indeed, the path he chose to follow upon accepting Artemis's deal will be paved in blood. Not of the innocent, but enemies and possible friends alike. The idea terrified him to the core that he would have to take another person's life as he did with Saber's…though she was dead, it still felt horrible to do. Before he was about to lose himself in negative thoughts, he felt Artemis's arms wrap around his neck which caused him to return to reality. He looks up at the machine god who was smiling at him before turning his attention back on Saber as he nodded to her question.
"Then I have nothing else to say. Farewell, pervert of U.A. I leave behind a gift to aid you in your struggle." She said before vanishing into bits of black & red magical dust. The only thing that remained was the blackened sword, Excalibur. The moment the king of knights vanished, Mineta collapsed backward into Artemis's embrace. Aphrodite appeared next to him and Artemis as she looked down at him.
"You did well…for the most part with the limiters off your body." She said before kneeling towards him. "We have a lot to do after this, but for now you can rest."
"What…about the others?"
"Demeter will take care of them. Once we're done here, we'll take you to the school where the others are located." The machine god said as Mineta felt his eyelids become heavier. His vision started to become blurry for a moment before fading into unconsciousness. Once Mineta was passed out, Aphrodite made her way over to Demeter who was patching up Tsuyu and the others as the frog girl's arm slowly appeared back onto her. "How are they?"
"They're alive. I'm surprised she was only injuring them to the point where they would be temporarily dead." Demeter said as she began working on Uraraka's body. Aphrodite looked over at Tsuyu who was looking over her arm that was missing but returned to her.
"Not to sound like a dick, and I know you're going through shock after watching your friend die and all. But you need to stand back so we can bring your friend back from the dead."
"Y-You can do that?" Tsuyu asked in disbelief.
"We can, though she might not look the same by the time we're done." She said before looking over at Artemis and Demeter. "Gather the materials needed and find the ley lines of this singularity. We're going to perform a summoning."