Dragons were, by far, the most dangerous things that Shirou had seen in this world. Beyond even the wyverns, the elves, the Imperials - everything. Dragons were just astronomically stronger than all of those combined.
With their scales, any form of mana would get dispersed, not allowing any mage to even graze them.
With their wings, they could lift off the ground easily, preventing any warrior or archer from reaching them.
With their breath, they could scour any and all fortifications that stood before them.
In short, they were the perfect counter to a society that only had access to all of those things. A society just like the ones that this red dragon terrorized.
The dragon had stopped its assault on the elves in order to stare at Shirou warily. And it was wary. That alone made Shirou tense himself. He'd almost forgotten, or rather he'd forgotten to consider a dragon's most dangerous aspect.
That they were intelligent.
While the legends of Fafnir portrayed the dwarf-turned-dragon as too greedy for his own good, that it cursed him into that dragon in the first place, it no less implied that Fafnir was as smart as any other person.
The dragon that stared at him was exactly that. It knew that the Noble Phantasm that floated next to him had the possibility of carving through its defenses. It wasn't about to rush him as it did to anything else.
"Grand Elder," He called out to the crowd that had gathered behind him. He didn't turn to look to see if Adrianne heard him. He couldn't afford to. If he did, the dragon would definitely use that to its advantage, "Evacuate the village, get as far as you can from here."
"...I hope you know what you're doing." The tense voice of the head of the village was striking in the standoff they found themselves in.
"I do."
"Then I shall prepare a feast for when you return, Lord Emiya."
There was no asking if he was going to be okay. There was no worrying about how he was going to beat a creature that had probably terrorized them for decades by now. No, she had a duty to her people, and will prioritize their safety over a stranger she'd only met.
He respected that.
The shuffling of feet from behind him was thunderous, but nothing to the stifling silence of the dragon's presence.
Gram - or rather, the reforged Bölverk Gram - spun idly in the air. To the elves, there was nothing special about the blade other than it floated, and its crystalline hue. To the dragon, it was likely the most terrifying thing it'd ever seen.
An anti-dragon Noble Phantasm. He had more than enough in his Blade Works to carpet bomb the dragon should he need them. But not when the elves were still in range. Doing so would be a recipe for disaster. No, for now, he needed weapons that allowed him to fight the dragon with as minimal effect on the bystander as possible.
Well, as little as he could when he was fighting a several ton heavy lizard.
Without any warning, the dragon swept forward just as Shirou blinked. With a curse, he himself rushed forward. Gram and the four daggers flew from his side. The dragon snaked itself towards Shirou, its wings flapping heavily as it did so.
The blades missed.
In a show of dexterity that caught the Enforcer off guard, the dragon twisted its entire body so that all five blades missed it entirely. Still, it only lasted a moment. He recalled the blades, with two of the daggers chipping one of its wings on their way back.
A roar of pain, its echo akin to a gunshot blowing up near his head.
But the dragon kept moving forward.
Shirou grimaced. He didn't have time to worry about anyone behind him. He just hoped that Adrianne could get everyone to safety fast enough.
He ducked as one of the dragon's claws swiped forward. It barely missed his head. He swung upwards with Gram, towards the dragon's head, while punching two other daggers towards its torso. The daggers hit scales, and a keening screech of metal on metal met his ears.
Gram had found better purchase than the daggers. It managed to break through the less dense scales that the dragon had near its neck. The wild thrashing of the beast gave grim satisfaction to Shirou, until it started flapping its wings.
With a great heave, the dragon flew upwards, bleeding neck and all. Fire started to form in its jaw as it glared at him hatefully. Shirou didn't bother to look after that, he just started running as fast as his Reinforced legs could go.
He was not a moment too soon, as dragonfire scoured the entire land before him.
He jumped behind an outcropping of rock as he felt the flames lick him from behind. The graze was hot enough for him to know that had he stayed even a second longer, he'd be suffering from fourth degree burns.
He grimaced at the sight of the daggers - more of throwing knives really - that came with Gram. They were chipped. Unlike Gram proper, the knives, though part of the Noble Phantasm, didn't have anti-dragon properties. They couldn't pierce something like dragonhide as easily as the sword could. He'd have to think about where the daggers went from now on.
Still, as the dragon let up the fire, he took a peek beyond the rocks. It was clearly hurting from the wound Gram had carved it. It was likely its defensive capabilities were tied to its scales and nothing else. That meant that he had to go for its unarmored sections.
Eyes, mouth, underside of its body and neck, and the thinner parts of its wings. Not a lot to aim for, but he had targets.
Shirou Reinforced his legs and ran once again. It was still recovering from using its flame. Gram floated in front of him. With a breath, he punched.
This time, the dragon didn't have time to dodge. He'd Reinforced his arm to a near breaking point, enough that he'd be able to at least survive were he to block against Berserker's swings. As such, Gram flew faster than before.
The Phantasm sang through the air as it careened towards the dragon's eye.
The beast roared in rage as Gram jammed itself into its head. Shirou didn't let up. As soon as it roared, he'd thrown the knives into its mouth and wings. They exploded into brilliant shades of cyan as the Noble Phantasms Broke. One of the dragon's wings was torn to shreds, while the other looked only slightly better.
Its mouth met the same fate, as crimson blood fell in rivers beneath its body, he could scarcely see what was left of its entire jaw.
The dragon wailed around, limbs flying all over the place. The Enforcer ducked again as a stray claw made its way blindly to where he was. He grunted as the tail sideswiped him. Instead of rolling with it, Shirou grabbed at the scales that were protruding and started to climb.
THe dragon must have felt it, as it started to flap its only remaining wing. Gusts of wind, strong despite the wing's condition, almost knocked him clean off. He grabbed on as tight as he could, slowly making his way to where Gram was embedded.
It was when he was part way up the dragon's torso, dodging swipes from its arms, that the beast had suddenly gone very still.
"To think," A rumbling, wet voice made Shirou's heart stop, "A whelp such as thyself could do so much in so little time." The voice came from where the dragon's head was. The magus didn't want to believe it, but there was no mistaking who it was that was speaking.
"Thy actions shall not be forgiven." Energy started to build up.
A burst of red lightning nearly fried him as he jumped from a height that would have broken a normal human's bones. The lightning reached up into the sky, parting whatever clouds happened to be in its way. All of it came from the roaring dragon. Said dragon roared even louder as it reached up to Gram.
Its arm burned as Gram's anti-dragon capabilities reared itself against its foe. In response, the dragon sent a pulse of red lightning into its arm, covering it. With one last hefty pull, and a roar that shook Shirou's bones, Gram was thrown back at his feet.
"I shall give thee courtesy of fighting at thy true strength." The dragon rumbled as red lightning started to cover its wounds. Its ruined wings, the wounds that Gram caused, even the jaw, were all engulfed in the lightning. They formed in facsimiles of what Shirou would call prosthetics.
In short order, the dragon was an amalgamation of lightning and flesh.
"Pick up thy blade, and face the might of Rubrasax!"
The entire field was engulfed in power. The entire world shook as the dragon - Rubrasax - announced its presence. Shirou didn't notice.
He was already too busy punching Bölverk Gram at the empowered dragon.
The blade was met with a rumbling laugh as static formed between Rubrasax's arms. A spear, made entirely of red lightning, met Gram. With a burst of power, the Noble Phantasm was deflected.
"Weak! Do not tell me that this is the extent of thy power?!"
"Why are you here?" Shirou shouted out as he dodged a returning blow from the dragon. The dragon wasn't just intelligent as a beast. No, it was fully capable of speech, something that Shirou certainly didn't expect.
None of the elves he'd talked to regarding it had never even mentioned it. A glimmer of interest came from the Rubrasax's eye, even as it lunged forward with its spear.
Shirou dove to his right, as the spear thundered behind him. The village was nothing but ruins at this point, and it was with a grimace that Shirou realized that his efforts to stem any collateral damage was for naught.
"The tongue of the Ancients, thou speak with it!" The gleeful rumblings of the dragon was in stark contrast to the destruction that it was causing, "I rescind mine statement - thou'rt a worthy challenger indeed!"
Shirou was more confused than anything. Gram flew back to him just as the dragon spun and tried to hit him with its tail. As far as Shirou knew, he was speaking…He didn't actually know, now that he thought about it.
He'd thought for a moment that he was speaking Japanese, but the more he thought about it, it was as if he was talking in every language that he knew. It was a moment of realization when he realized that he was still under the effects of the translation spell that the elves used on him.
Despite knowing their language fairly well by now, it was still easier to have a translation than not. And with that spell, the dragon in front of him must've thought that he was talking in whatever language it knew. Well, he wasn't about to correct it.
If it made Rubrasax respect him, it might just give him some more leeway to plan his approach.
He raised his blade as the spear - no, a glaive now, the blade of the spear had reformed into a full glaive - came down in a massive overhead swing. The dragon itself was laughing. It was enjoying this, for some reason that Shirou couldn't fathom.
It enjoyed the destruction it caused, the power that rippled through the air, the fight itself.
The glaive crashed into the forest floor, a thunderous thing that ripped the very earth from the ground.
"Yes, I can feel it in thee." Rubrasax spoke as it stood up on its hind legs. It held its weapon in a stance that Shirou could recognize as a prelude for a wide swing, "Dragonhood. It swims inside thee, faint, but there nonetheless. Are thee by chance a descendent of an Ancient Dragon?"
Its tone was almost conversational, as if they weren't fighting to the death. Regardless, Shirou didn't give it the answer it was looking for. Even though he knew what it was that it was referring to.
Avalon. Despite not being inherently draconic, it had spent enough time beside Arturia in life to at least hold a small kindling of his Saber's properties.
"And if I was?" Gram was punched towards the dragon's knees, a tearing of flesh that left the dragon crashing down with a groan.
"Then truly," Even then, Rubrasax didn't seem to mind all that much, "Thy calling to this realm is mine salvation."
The swing came, and Shirou jumped as high as he could. The lightning passed underneath him, crackling all the while. He didn't expect the glaive to suddenly be turned on a dime and rocket back the way it came. With a silent scream, he felt as every part of his body screamed in pain.
He was flung towards a still standing canopy of trees as the dragon chuckled, "Come now, I know that would not be enough to kill thee."
Unfortunately, the dragon was right. It certainly didn't feel good when every nerve in his body was spasming, but by all accounts, Shirou was alive. WIth a mouthful of blood, Shirou struggled to stand up.
That one serious blow was enough to nearly knock him out completely. Another one and he'd likely be dead.
He needed to end this before Rubrasax could do that again.
It seemed that the dragon could see what the magus intended, going by how the oddly carefree look on its draconic features morphed into a more serious one.
"Ah. I see." The dragon held out its empty claw, and another lightning spear formed in it, "Then, one last blow to decide the winner of this duel?"
Shirou wouldn't call it a duel. But it was his final blow. He couldn't invoke Unlimited Blade Works, the dragon wouldn't allow it. Any long incantation and the succeeding buildup of mana would likely bring the full wrath of said dragon.
Not only that, but he was completely spent. He'd used a fair amount of mana just to stand upright. He'd had to force swords near his legs just to act as splints. No more Noble Phantasms, other than the ones he already had. And even then, it was just Gram at this point. The rest of the daggers had long been shattered by force and dragonfire.
No, he needed to work with what he had. He had to. Else, there was no living past this.
Alone, Gram spun in air, almost lazily, before it started to pick up speed.
He was no Sigurd. He didn't have his strength, nor the experience when it came to killing dragons. But Bölverk Gram didn't need him to be Sigurd. The demonic blade had tasted the blood of a dragon. It knew its target.
And as he Broke Gram, he watched as the dragon held its spear and glaive in a cross, oddly reminiscent of a cross block. Red lightning now spewed out from everywhere around them, the very skies lighting up in an almost entrancing display.
With one last bellow of excitement, Rubrasax moved first. Waves of red lightning followed by its weapons came howling through the air towards him.
"Bölverk Gram." For his part, Shirou punched the sword.
Gram flew forwards, a single blade against an oncoming storm. For a moment, it seemed to be a standstill. The Broken Phantasm had enough power to level a mountain if it needed to, and yet, the dragon held its ground.
Despite the conceptual advantage, despite everything, it seemed as though the dragon would still somehow power through. It would surely die, but not before Shirou himself was skewered.
And then, for just a single moment, the blades of lightning shifted. Just a tiny bit, enough that Shirou was fooled into thinking it didn't actually happen.
Then Gram struck into the dragon's heart.
All that was left was a bone-shaking crash as the dragon fell to the earth unmoving.
A moment after, Shirou's own unconscious self.
A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
And a special thanks to: Oliver vazquez, brutalcrab and Tassimo. Thank you for all the support.