Chapter 3: Investigation, Conflict XII
"11th Divine Key: Oath of Judah—"
"WAIT, WHAT—"
"—Zeroth Power: Elysian Pedion!"
The weapon's casing split apart, spears emerging from its depths and levering out to form a fan-like shape.
"Grace Field… directional expansion."
With that declaration, all Honkai energy in the area was nullified… including the Honkai energy powering the Star of Eden. With no energy supply, the 9th Divine Key shut down… and then faded away, as the Honkai energy used to construct it was also nullified.
Sirin collapsed back onto the ground roughly, the abrupt landing rather painful and jarring for her. As for others in the vicinity such as Welt Yang and another… their incredulous eyes were directed to the redheaded boy still leaning against the activated Judah like a lifeline.
Without another moment to spare, the Traced Divine Key was dismissed by its 'faker', dissipating into particles of blue energy that mostly faded away, but some blue energy close to Shirou was absorbed back into him to refill his reserve of power slightly.
'Had I held onto the activation any longer… I would have passed out from the strain…' the boy thought to himself, panting heavily. Judah's Zeroth Power had merely been active for about five seconds, yet if felt like longer. His circuits burned his insides with how much the boy had strained them at full power to maintain the 11th Divine Key's existence throughout, yet strangely the heat didn't burn his body and bother him as much as Shirou's dream memories recalled.
Slowly, Sirin's Knight limped past Welt Yang to be at her side, while the First Herrscher was still uncharacteristically gobsmacked. The man couldn't even begin to form words in his mind to express himself at this absurdity. However, at some distance away a certain presence wearing a clown mask found he could barely maintain an illusion of invisibility with his imitated Fenghuang Down (Void Archives) with the Honkai energy in the area nullified, thus forcing him to delay his appearance.
With the Void Queen, however, her mind was currently still running in circles, trying to understand why Shirou would save her now, even when she knew he disapproved of her listening to the Honkai and had been arguing with her in the Chrysalis Imaginary Space.
"Shirou, you saved me from dying? Why… for Bella's promise? You know about the Honkai now, you know what I am, a Herrscher… when I tried to hide everything from you… but you still—"
"Sirin, you didn't tell me about what you were really doing, without me knowing, and I'm not happy about that." Dropping to a knee and gently checking her for injuries, Shirou lightly scowled at her, before his expression softened. "But I understand why you did it… you didn't want me abandoning you if I learned that the 'God' you were following wanted to kill everything, didn't you?" In response, the young girl flushed and tried to look away from the boy, only for him to stop that by lightly holding her face, causing the blush to deepen.
"Did you really think so little of me, even when I swore myself to you? Not just for Bella… I gave my word to you, to always be at your side in whatever you do. And I don't intend to break that oath. You may be misguided now, but that just means this retainer of yours just has to correct you… although it might include extreme measures… some violence…" Shirou trailed off awkwardly, before steeling himself. "Just please, Sirin. Don't follow the Honkai; don't execute Humanity for it. You know it's not what Bella would have wanted."
At the mention of her best friend/sister-figure, the Void Queen's rage flared again. "But that Overseer has to pay! Everyone's deaths in the labs… Avrora… Agata… Bella… It's all Schicksal's fault! They killed my friends from my village! All that we've been through… the pain, the experiments, even the combat tests you went through… Otto Apocalypse must DIE! All those lying adults can't be trusted! Look at that pathetic excuse of a Herrscher copy behind you! Even now, I can see him thinking of ways to end us!"
Looking over his shoulder, Shirou noticed the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy still standing there, lost in his thoughts, but after some moments he noticed the two children staring (or glaring in Sirin's case) and snapped back to his usual composure. "I will state that the only reason I was aiming to kill you was to end the threat you could pose to Humanity should you serve the Honkai. You kids probably don't even know how destructive it is to the world—"
"No, I know what the Honkai is now, more clearly than ever. It has lasted for more than the history of this era itself, growing stronger along with human civilization. The history of the 11th Divine Key spans over millennia, first created with the Previous Era's Herrscher Core of Binding, one of the 12 heralds of the Honkai that destroyed entire cities then." This interruption by the redhead confused everyone in the area, Sirin not even comprehending what Shirou was talking about. "But like I said earlier: Something has changed since then. 50.000 years ago, a Herrscher fighting for Humanity was thought to be impossible, yet you openly declare yourself opposed to the Will of Honkai in defiance and with no consequences to the usage of your Authority of Reason."
"…How do you even know this information? What do you mean 'the history of' the Oath of Judah… how were you able to use it to stop my finishing move in the first place—" Welt Yang intended to continue his questioning, only in that moment, Shirou sensed something approaching, an unseen threat aiming for the man's back.
"Look out!" Drawing on what remained of his power, the redhead traced a certain training sword and threw it behind Welt, the blade passing inches away from his cheek. The AE Sovereign was about to take it as an attack, when suddenly there was the sound of metal ringing behind him. Hurriedly stepping away and looking over, the Projected weapon was revealed to have been deflected from its predicted trajectory by a knife held in the grip of a clown-masked person that had been directly behind where Welt had been standing.
'Hmm, HM-03-1204's senses are truly precise for him to have detected me…' the face behind the clown mask frowned as he looked down at the sword lying in the snow by his feet. 'And this weapon… no mistake, it's the training sword I provided to the boy in my combat trials. He was able to replicate it, as well as Judah? What actually happened while I was away from Babylon Labs? How is HM-03-1204 such a unique existence?' As the clown mused on the irregularity, he idly understood he had lost the chance for a surprise attack on Anti-Entropy's leader.
Meanwhile, a three-way standoff had appeared: On one side, Welt Yang on high alert in a melee combat stance, still worn out and unable to use his Herrscher powers due to lack of Honkai energy; on another side there was Shirou in front of the prone Sirin, yet even though the boy could barely trace/project another sword, he was strained enough that the blade was being used more like a cane than a weapon; finally there was the clown, able to disappear into invisibility and with a body strong enough to disable Welt with one blow, yet Shirou was able to detect his presence anyway and yell warnings. All three combatants were disadvantaged in some way while the standoff held, yet Welt and Shirou were also buying time to slowly recover.
However, there were other factors not considered yet… namely help arriving at precisely that moment. "Welt! I'm here to help! Wait, what's going on? Who's this clown?" Siegfried had finally caught up to Shirou after the boy had left him behind with Reinforcement of his body. But nearly simultaneously… a loud roar resounded. With a great beat of its wings, Sirin's pet Honkai Dragon appeared, blowing away all other humans close to its master… including Shirou, sending him tumbling. "The Judgement-class Honkai Beast?! It's still alive?!" all the adults exclaimed, bracing themselves in place.
Lifting the Void Queen with its head, the Honkai Dragon soared into the sky, carrying Sirin upwards. "It's taking her away! We must stop her here…" Welt groaned. 'But I'm out of Honkai energy, so I can't construct anything!' he thought to myself.
Since Shirou was still trying to stand back up after being blown away, the masked clown took his chance and vanished from the eye. "Sorry, I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Her complete awakening is rather central to my little plan, and you were rather close to ending her—" A flaming round shot past Welt, blocking the clown's path and forcing him to become visible again. A second, more precise aiming of one gun of Shamash shattered the mask's knife. "It seems some guests can't wait their turn."
"Although the Second Herrscher's flown too high for me to hit her, I assure you, I'm very good with my aim, so I'll ask you not to attack that man." As Siegfried aimed his sights on the clown, the adults momentarily forgot about Shirou… and the boy acted again. The redhead's vision tunneling, a Projected chain of Judah shot out and wrapped around the dragon's leg, holding it and its rider in place for a moment.
"SIRIN! Please! If you can still hear me, don't kill Humanity! You don't have to listen to the Honkai! I know… you can be better! I…don't want…to fight you…" The combined strain of Projecting when his body was so weakened and trying to hold onto the chain caused Shirou to pass out, losing his grip and letting the dragon keep flying higher. As everyone was distracted by Shirou's collapse, the clown acted again.
"Apologies, I can't have you running around with dangerous things like this gun… you might hurt others." With some illusions, the masked man appeared behind Siegfried with the Knight's weapon in hand. "What the hell?! The clown just took my gun—" With a pull of the trigger, the clown shot Siegfried in the side before he could react.
"Do be quiet, sir." As Siegfried staggered and dropped to his knees in pain, the masked clown turned Shamash on Welt. "I'd appreciate it if you'll just sit out of this… while I end the First Herrscher while he's still weak now."
"You're asking me… to do nothing while you kill him? I'm a friggin' Kaslana! And we Kaslanas never leave any friend in danger! Welt's saved me a few times already… I need to return the favor sometime, y'know?" Forcing himself back to his feet, Siegfried voiced his disagreement, only for Welt to cut in.
"Stop this foolish nonsense, Siegfried! I can take care of myself. There's no honor in dying here. You must live, for your friends and family! Compared to me, I'm just an old man… you have your whole life ahead of you! Don't sacrifice yourself needlessly for my sake!" Welt yelled to the stubborn Kaslana. "This old man's right, you know… but killing the First Herrscher would do Humanity a great service," the clown chuckled.
"I think… I know what you're trying to say…" Siegfried was now standing slightly hunchbacked, pressing his hand to his injured side. "You're saying that I can't beat this clown in front of us." Yet, in spite of this statement, he continued to stare defiantly at his foe.
"It is a fact that this clown is way out of your league. Well then, Mr. Kaslana, it's time to turn around and leave—" A sucker punch abruptly cut off the masked man, knocking him back and cracking his clown mask. "—Why you little PIECE OF SH—"
Aghast at Siegfried's reckless action, Welt called out. "Siegfried! Are you mad? Get the hell out of here!" However, the Kaslana Knight refused to heed his words. "This isn't like last time, Mr Welt. I don't like it when people force me to do the wrong thing." Unholstering the other gun of Shamash at his waist, Siegfried aimed it at its twin, causing a stalemate.
"To be honest, I never really liked the idea of sacrifice. I never believed that anyone had to give up their lives so that the rest of us could live happily ever after." Closing his eyes and recalling his dearest memories, Siegfried continued. "I hate it if people had to die for my sake… that would really leave a bad taste in my mouth. And if my wife finds out that I allowed this to happen…" He opened his eyes and glared.
"She'll make me regret it for the rest of my cowardly existence."
As Welt gaped in astonishment, the clown gritted his teeth behind the mask. 'Damn this loose cannon… I can't kill Siegfried here. He's crucial to my plans…" Holding a gloved hand to the cracked portion of the clown mask, the dull green eye of Otto Apocalypse could barely be seen when up close. 'Very well then… if he's standing in my way of killing the AE Sovereign here, I'll have to let them both go.' Distantly, the sound of helicopter rotors could be heard approaching.
"Ah, it seems your backup has arrived, and I will be unable to retreat should I tarry longer." Picking up the white hat he wore that had fallen off during Siegfried's punch, the man placed it back on his head and gave a light bow. "May our paths cross again."
In a blink, his figure disappeared, leaving behind strange orange feathers that quickly faded away. "That clown… he's gone." Only the other stolen gun of Shamash was lying on the ground where the man had stood. "I really need to figure out how he pulled out all those tricks."
With Theresa having run back to Babylon Labs to alert Dr Einstein, Anti-Entropy had sent the helicopters to retrieve its Sovereign and his allies. With Welt Yang exhausted, Siegfried gravely injured and finally Shirou still passed out, all three were carried aboard and transported back to Babylon Labs for emergency medical care. The two Traced copies of Shirou's training swords were also brought back for analysis.
Using initiative as Schicksal Field Officer once again, Siegfried allowed Anti-Entropy forces to rest within the facility. However, Schicksal's database had no information on the mysterious clown-masked man… because unknown to most, Otto Apocalypse was interfering in places unseen.
Meanwhile, Schicksal satellites detected the Judgement-class Honkai dragon (codename still undetermined) escaping the outer atmosphere of Earth itself.