18: Knight of Betrayal
The sounds of clashing blades slowly fade as we make our way through the forest behind Ryuudou Temple. Of course, calling it a forest is a bit of an overstatement. All that's been left here is jagged husks of tree trunks, turned to charcoal from the heat of the flames. For some reason, it's only the mountainside above the cave that still has live plants on it - though those are starting to brown and die as well. The smoke constantly clouding the sky has choked them of the light they need to live.
"Man, this place is the worst…" I mutter as we approach the cave.
"...Is there something wrong, Senpai?" Mash asks.
"Ugh, it's the atmosphere. I'm sick of this dull red sky and all the smoke! I need fresh air and sunlight, dammit!" I whine. I may have spent three months of my life as a nocturnal NEET, but those days are behind me! Natsuki Subaru is a creature of the day now!
"...Well, it's a bit different for me." Says Mash, smiling. "I've never been allowed outside Chaldea, so getting to sightsee like this is kind of fun."
"Something super unforgivable just came out!" I exclaim. "Keeping Mash locked up like that… as expected, Magi on Earth are just way too gross! I mean, there were some real nutcases back home, but they were the exception, not the rule!"
"N-no, Senpai, it wasn't some kind of involuntary imprisonment! Um, for various reasons, I was born with a weak immune system - so I had to be kept under close observation. That's all!" Mash replies, frantically waving her hands back and forth.
...You know, the more Mash tells me about herself, the more obvious it becomes that she probably wasn't born under normal circumstances. Of course, considering herself inexperienced in 'being human' was already a pretty big sign.
"...Well, considering the amount of friends I've got who were born with weird circumstances, something like that is pretty much par for the course." I say with a nod. "Anyway, if you want to go somewhere not on fire after this mess is over, I'll try to figure out some way to break you out. I've somehow become a reliable senpai character, after all."
"Um, now that I'm a Demi-Servant, I'll probably be given a bit more freedom to go outside, so a big breakout is probably unnecessary." She says, blushing a bit.
"Mm. That's good, then. Anyway, we're getting close, so is everyone ready?" I say.
Mash's face straightens, and she gives a single nod.
"...I am as ready as I can be to confront a monster like that." Says Hanam with a sigh. "Unfortunately, without my Noble Phantasm, I'm unlikely to be able to land any kind of killing blow. Between her armor and that wind of hers, my dirks will be little more than an annoyance. If my Protection Against the Wind was active, I could maybe land a blow in melee, but…"
"That's fine. Even a small distraction could seal the deal, after all." I reply. "As usual, we'll be relying on you for the heavy lifting, Mordred."
The knight doesn't respond at all, silently staring ahead with a feral grin on her face - but looking more closely, that grin doesn't seem to be reaching her eyes.
"...Mordred?"
"Eh? Oh, um, right." She says, stumbling a bit as I call her name. "Don't worry about a thing. There's no possible way some copy of Father could take me on!"
"...Alright, we'll be counting on you, then. Remember, your Noble Phantasm can repel hers, but it won't surpass it. So do your best to stay on top of her and keep her from getting the room to use the thing." I say. "Oh, and whatever you do, don't smash the Grail. It'll spill gross mud everywhere, and I'm pretty sure it'll melt you if you let it get on you."
"Uh, right." She replies with a bit of a puzzled look.
"...Okay, unless anyone needs a last minute bathroom break, let's go." I conclude.
"Show yourself, you fake!" Yells Mordred as we enter the cave of the Greater Grail.
Naturally, Saber doesn't bother to chitchat. From her perch atop the stone rim, she raises her sword, awash with purple-black light. "[Excalibur…"
"Mash, I'm counting on you!" I yell.
"[Lord Chaldeas]!" Mash yells, and the now-familiar white wall deflects a torrent of energy from Saber's blade. If memory serves, she's gonna try to just use it again immediately, so…
"Mordred, by my command spell - close the distance between yourself and Saber, and strike her down!" I shout, with both my command spell and Mordred herself burning with red light as she explodes past the marble wall, blade raised.
Saber's own sword clangs against hers, black mana clashing and entwining with red - but Mordred safely finds her footing atop the wall, allowing her to follow up and lock Arthur into a melee battle.
And so, silhouetted by the faint burgundy glow of the defiled Holy Grail, the final battle begins.
A near indiscernible storm of sparks and mana - screeches and clangs of steel against steel - rages above us as Mash and I watch "Father" and "Son" clash. Hanam has been lending aid here and there with thrown knives, but beyond a bit of damage to Saber's hair, his efforts have been fruitless.
"My apologies, lord mage. Saber's instinct is simply too strong. As I feared, it seems I'm little more than dead weight in a fight like this." He says, as if reading my mind - I guess I must have glanced at him or something. "I've already expended a little over half of my dirks, and retrieval is near impossible at the moment."
"Well, that's just how it goes sometimes." I'm more than used to being dead weight in combat, after all. "We'll just have to place our faith in Mordred… so, [Cor Leonis]- ghk!"
I cringe as pain wracks my body. A thousand tiny discomforts that Mordred is laboring under - bruises, scrapes, and sores from the battle - add up to my being incredibly uncomfortable. Of course, that's expected of a battle between knights of this level. What's not expected is the absolute torrent of emotions that our connection carries to me. Uncertainty, fear, hesitation, sorrow, rage, and regret crash upon my soul at the same time that the physical injuries hit me.
I nearly puke from the pressure of it all.
"C-come to think of it, just when did this damn thing start transferring emotions, huh?" I mutter. "Seriously, can't these Authorities just stay consis-"
Skree-!
My words die in my throat as a screech of steel much louder than those before resounds through the cavern.
The sound of Excalibur Morgan punching cleanly through Mordred's armor, and out the other side.
"No…" I mumble mutely. Why!? Cor Leonis was active, so-!
{Master, a command spell.} Mordred's voice resounds in my head.
Oh. Oh.
It was a bluff. Duh. Did I seriously forget about Avalon this easily? My Second command spell burns bright - and Mordred grins as red lightning crackles around her. "[Clarent... Blood Arthur]!" She roars, and a wave of destruction erupts from her blade. However…
Saber kicks backwards, withdrawing her blade from Mordred's chest, and sending the knight careening backwards with a burst of black mana. Clarent's mana laser thing smashes through the wall of the cavern, arcing upwards and cleaving through the ceiling as Mordred is kicked onto her back. The cave of the Greater Grail cracks open like an egg, exposing the dull red, smoke-shrouded sky of Fuyuki as sediment, stone, and withering plants pour into the chamber.
"Do you think me fool enough to fall for the same trick twice, Sir Mordred?" Saber says, finally speaking for the first time this fight. "Battle Continuation was expected from you, this time. And now you have simply suffered a fatal wound for no reason."
Mordred stands, smiling as golden light shines from her wound - and from all her other minor injuries, which I feel sealing shut with Cor Leonis. "Sure, I've got that skill… but at the moment, I'm leaning on something different! You see, I managed to get my hands on a certain scabbard!"
"An incorrigible thief as always, I suppose. I don't know why I thought that a thug like you would fit in among my knights in the first place." Arthur says with a scowl.
(Rage bubbles in my gut, mixed with doubt and a slowly rising dread).
"You… Just where do you get off, pretending to be Father! Stop acting as if you're him!" Mordred shouts, rocketing towards her with another wild slash. "Father was perfect, so… there's no way he could get tainted by some curse!"
Mordred is easily repelled. Every one of her attacks is telegraphed long in advance, and the knight can't land a single hit - Arthur, meanwhile, lands blow after blow, utterly dismantling Mordred. Luckily, Avalon keeps any of said wounds from mattering too much - but I doubt the scabbard is unlimited in the amount it can heal, especially with its function already being distorted beyond its original purpose.
She was matching Arthur blow for blow before, but now…
Well, the reason is clear enough. I can tell from the steadily building dread I'm siphoning from her with Cor Leonis that her mind must be racing, desperately trying to deny the possibility that this person is actually King Arthur. And, of course, Mordred is someone who fights on pure instinct - any thought is an interruption, a potential stumbling block.
Not unlike a certain other loudmouthed blond back home, I suppose.
"You're wrong. Although, you surely already knew that." Arthur says coldly. "I am the very same King of Knights that you slew at Camlann."
"Bastard! You can't possibly expect me to believe that! You're too different! There's no way that Father would ever let Excalibur end up like that!" Mordred roars. Inside me, I can feel her fear and guilt reach a fever pitch, pounding at the walls of my heart. Don't say it. Please, don't say it.
"Different?" Arthur asks. "Yes, there is a difference between the 'me' you knew and myself, and that is-"
Don't say it don't say it don't say it-
"-I had not yet properly learned the lesson of Camlann."
I vomit in Mordred's place. The entirety of her physical burden is taken onto me. But, apparently I can't take all of her emotional pain - only a portion of it. And so, even though I'm giving it my best effort, even though I'm doing all I can to soften the blow-!
I'm still forced to watch as Mordred's heart breaks into a million pieces.
A/N:
To be clear, Mordred is misinterpreting Artoria's words.
Salter doesn't blame Mordred for Camelot's fall. She only blames herself. Her interpretation of Camlann is that she was lacking in the capacity of kingship, that she took the wrong path at some point - and that the cause of her failing is that she was 'selfish' and didn't realize that "a king has no room for luxuries such as mercy, kindness, or chivalry".
But to Mordred, that sounds a lot like "you're the reason I wound up like this".
Anyway, sorry for the lateness here. Stuff came up that occupied my weekend, and then I wound up behind on GudaGuda 3 missions so Monday and tuesday were busy, and then wednesday I had to take my car in because the check engine light was on.
Also, I procrastinated. That too.
Anyway, next chapter...Sunday, perhaps?
JD91B said:
Isnt Emiya Alter the result of some kind of mumbo jumbo with Kiara? How come he is appearing in this Emiyas mind? And thanks for the chapter.
Emiya was tainted by grail mud, he's being altered. It's just slower for improper heroic spirits like Emiya and Kojiro
Crown of Reaper said:
Huh, so EMIYA isn't in his Altered version but is influensed by it? Neat.
He IS being altered, but it's slow (per Heaven's Feel, Servants that aren't actual Heroic Spirits have resistance to grail mud).
In the first chapter you mentioned something about Barusu having fractured magical circuits. Will that influence his magecraft in some way, be unable to use any, or is it just the computer detecting Satella?
He can't use any of his own mana directly. Servants can still siphon it from him by contract, and his mystic code can pull mana from him to power it's functions, but if he casts directly into the world, ambient mana will flow into his soul through the wrong channels and overwrite his existence. Not fun.
tarrasque698 said:
If Subaru decides to learn magic in Chaldea, what would be its origin?
the attribute is probably darkness or yin
Subaru's origin is probably "Star".
Guest said:
Wait so Reinhard can solo every grand, the king of heroes and everyone else, and I thought he wast just top tier.
Uh, if you're talking about that tierlist thing in chapter 12, check it again. Reinhard is below Karna/Enkidu/Archer Herc/Artoria/etc., that is to say, two tiers lower than gil and several below the beasts and grands. He's strong, but only about as strong as Herc-serker. Reid is one higher, but even the original sword saint would probably get wiped by a serious gilgamesh (assuming the battle was on Earth. In Lugnica, Reid's fame bonus lets him pretty much roflstomp everyone except Satella and Volcanica).