35: Dragon Sword
The shockwave when Reid launches himself into the oncoming army of wyverns nearly knocks me off of my feet. Three swipes of his blade, quick as lightning and gleaming as bright, wipe out the first five of the dragons with ease. Then, as gravity finally starts to take hold, he anchors his sword firmly in the gut of a wyvern, hanging from the creature as it tries to keep itself aloft.
Using only the absurd strength of his right arm, the Stick Swinger catapults himself further into the air. For a brief instant, I see his sandaled feet make contact with the head of one of the still-living beasts, finding him a foothold amidst the swarm of leather-winged serpents.
And from there, his dance begins.
From dragon to dragon, the First Sword Saint jumps. Sword outstretched, a crimson ribbon trailing in his wake. He cleaves and butchers and maims, tearing through scales, claws, and teeth, as if they were all rice paper. Blood rains from the sky, along with entrails and organs, showering the flames of the forest-fire below with enough liquid to quench the flames.
It's absurd. It's patently ridiculous. There had to be a more optimal way to fight them. Something like this, where he bounces off their heads to gain altitude like a certain red plumber, is completely beyond the pale. This whole scenario feels more like something from an action schlock movie than something from real life.
"...Amazing! Senpai, who is this amazing person? He's fighting that whole army alone like it's nothing!" Mash exclaims.
"...Goddamn showoff." I mutter, rolling my eyes as I walk to where Mordred is sitting in order to apply much-needed healing magic to her leg. "Don't praise him for something stupid like this. Reid's got a trick that extends his sword's range anyway. He's probably just decided on a whim to give himself some extra challenge like 'kill every wyvern without touching the ground'. Honestly, this guy…"
The communicator on my wrist beeps, translucent blue hologram springing to life as the sleep-deprived face of Director Olga Marie Animusphere takes shape. She heaves a sigh that breaks off into a small fit of coughing, before continuing in a raspy voice. "S-so he's a friend of yours Natsuki? That's… a relief. There was a bit of panic on our end when we heard his class, but since the alien planet you visited seems like it was Earth-like for the most part we can probably push it aside for now."
"Oh, you're up already, Director?" I say with a smile.
"I wasn't sleeping! I wasn't sleeping! D-don't make fun of me, you bastard! I'll dock your pay! I'm the Director of Chaldea, so treat me with respect!" She screeches, sounding almost as if her voice box is tearing.
"Well, it's not like I joined for the money in the first place…" I mutter scratching my head. "Still, to answer your question… yeah, he's from the Other World, but I wouldn't say he's a friend or anything. Heck, if he thinks he can get away with it, he might kill me for… being ugly, or something? I can't remember the exact excuse."
Exact terms aside, I still don't know whether the reason he was disgusted enough to kill me was something to do with my innate nature, or if it was about the nonsense Louis was pulling at the time. Deep down, I want to believe it was the latter, but…
"Ugh, so not only do you summon a damn [Foreigner], but it's also one you have a bad history with!? Idiot! I figured out our broadcast wasn't reaching you, but you ought to have known even without me telling you that you shouldn't have thrown in those sketchy lines near the end of the summoning chant!" She groans.
"...That's confirmation, then. Since command didn't tell me to stop, I assumed it was an Astromancy thing. But if you say you were telling me to stop, and it was just that I couldn't hear you…" I turn to Prelati with a sigh. "I think I'm getting the hang of how you work, so let's hear your strangely reasonable excuse for this."
"Haha! You know, a proper Mage would have killed me by this point. You're a Hero to your core, huh? Well, it's not like I dislike that. In fact, I like that quite a bit! That's right, that's right, stay a Hero. I love Heroes the most." He winks at me, ever-present smile growing a bit disconcerting.
"That's nice and all, but it's not the requested reasonable explanation. I'll punch you, you damn brat." I deadpan.
"Right, right… Well, my thought process went something like:" He holds up a finger, acting as if he's about to give a serious lecture - and then, suddenly the Alchemist throws his arms wide with a laugh. "Wouldn't it be fuuuun?~"
My fist lands on the top of his head.
"Ow! Okay, okay, there's a reasonable explanation!" He says. "Look, getting a bunch of legendary heroes to fight against human history is really hard - they're heroes, after all. So our enemy altered their spirit origins and slapped Madness Enhancement onto the lot of them. Make them crazy, make them strong, make them destroy the word. With me so far?"
"...Sure." I sigh.
"Well! You may not be aware of this, but thanks to the writings of a certain coward," he spits with a brief scowl that soon returns to his usual manic grin, "-a lot of Foreigners have been given domain over Madness. So I figured, if we can count on the Planet to give us someone aligned with our goal saving humanity, then why not tweak the ritual and force the summoning of a Foreigner to gain a conceptual advantage over our enemy?"
"Ugh, it's not like I can fault his reasoning…" Olga says. "Poor communication aside, rigging the system like that is a pretty clever move… Except, how did you know a Foreigner would appear? As far as I know, this is the first confirmation that they even have Spirit Origins, let alone summoning them from the Throne of Heroes."
"Hm? Well, I didn't know if a true Foreigner-class Servant would show up, but as for aliens being spiritual entities, that's-"
He's interrupted as Reid lands, knees bent, a few feet away.
"There. How's that, you? Didn't even touch the ground once." He says.
I sigh. "I was thinking you were going to do something cool since you had actually drawn your sword this time, but in the end you just goofed around like always. I guess it'd be hard to use an impaled dragon as a handhold if you were using chopsticks, but…"
"Huh? Course I could do it, you. I can do anything. Just didn't want to, see? Cuttin' fools down with chopsticks is one thing, but stabbin' stuff with em… that's for little kids, you. 'S bad manners, stabbin' with chopsticks." He explains in his usual condescending manner. "In any case… Hey, you. Hottie with the shield, I'm talkin' to ya."
"E-eh!?" Mash says, blushing and pointing to herself. "U-um, are you talking-?"
"Course I'm talkin' to ya, you. Who the hell else would I be talkin' to, you?" Reid rolls his eyes. "Get over here so I can touch your tits, you. Got a good five minutes til' that big one gets here, so hurry up."
"Eh." Mash does her best impression of a deer in the headlights of a car. "Um, did you just say-?"
"Said I wanna touch your boobs, you. Come here so I can do it."
"Oi, leave her alone, bastard!" Mordred calls out from her seat leaning against the boulder in the clearing's center. "Who the hell taught you to talk to girls?"
"Huh? I'll get to you later, you. Just wait your turn, armor girl." He says.
"Who the hell are you calling a girl!?" she protests.
"What, want me to make you a-?" He begins to say yet another unforgivably crude line, only to get interrupted.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅-!"
With a fierce roar, the remaining burned-out trees on the north side of the clearing are uprooted and sent scattering around from the sheer force of the dragon's arrival. I barely dive to the ground in time to avoid having my head smashed off.
The Evil Dragon Fafnir smashes into the ground like a meteor, the green symbol on its chest burning like an alien star. Dirt and stone sprays through the air, and the hurricane conjured from its impact tears at my skin.
Blue flame smolders in his jaws, and then pours forth with such speed and force that it more closely resembles a laser beam than a jet of flame. And as the fire shoots from his jaws-!
"The hell's that supposed to be, you?"
Reid's blade flashes in a bright arc, blue glinting off his steel. An impossible strike, so perfect that I feel as though my sense of sight will be cleft from my brain. A blow that cleaves space and time, creating a black void in its wake that swallows up Fafnir's fire breath as if it never existed.
"What's with that, you?" Reid scoffs, approaching the Dragon. "Makin' fun of me, you? Don't wear costumes on the battlefield, you."
A claw falls on him like the hammer of a god, and his blade crashes against it, like an impossible bladed anvil.
"Uh, mister Stick Swinger! His scales make him pretty much invincible, so-!" Prelati starts to advise.
"Huh!? This crap, some kind of invincible armor? What, you stupid as well as ugly, you?" He scowls in response as his blade wipes another gout of flame from existence. "Just gotta cut the armor off, dumbass. In other words..."
He grins, tearing the eyepatch from his eye.
"Take that stupid thing off, you."
His sword slides effortlessly through Fafnir, and the Evil Dragon shatters.
Fafnir melts - scales, flesh and bone, sliding off, transforming into gold coins and gemstones.
The Evil Dragon disintegrates into a hill of treasure, and at the peak of that mountain of gold, a short, fat, balding man with a beard stands stark naked, in total shock.
"He severed the curse!?" Prelati exclaims. "That's…!"
That's right. It was mentioned before. The Evil Dragon Fafnir had once been a normal Dwarf, whose phenomenal greed had transformed his body into that of a dragon. But for Reid, who was able to sever the connection of my Cor Leonis back in the Watchtower, something like that must have been easy pickings, huh?
"The hell's this, you? Wearing money as armor, is that some kind of stupid metaphor, you?" Reid says with a laugh, picking up a handful of coins and letting them pour out of his fingers.
"You… don't touch.. my goooold!" The Dwarf howls, coins flying to his limbs, becoming scales and muscle once more. He scrambles towards Reid, fire pouring from his jaws, and-!
A splatter of red dye covers the pile of coins.
"That's just gross, you. Put some damn clothes on before running at a guy, you. You'll make people twitchy otherwise, you." Reid mutters to the corpse.
Slowly, as the wind blows, corpse and gold alike slowly dissolve into blackish-purple powder.
"Eh? The money disappeared too?" Mordred mutters. "What happened to 'you can't take it with you', huh?"
I chuckle. "Well, with the big threat out of the way-"
"Nah, that ain't it, you. The big one… just got here, young fish." Reid mutters.
"What do you-?" I start.
"This reading-!" Olga yells. "Enemy Servant, two kilometers out!"
Red and black bolts of light - no, arrows! - tear through what's left of the northern treeline, and once more I find myself thrown by Mordred so I can land and take cover behind Mash's shield.
Light as though hundreds of stars are being born fills the clearing as the Stick Swinger's weapon clashes with the onslaught of projectiles. At some point, reid starts laughing like a maniac.
"What's this! What's this, what's this, what's this! Who the hell is this guy!? Gettin' fired up here, you! Better be as good with a blade as you are with a bow, you! Hurry up and run out of arrows so we can fight like men, you!"
The arrows suddenly stop.
In the distance, I hear a faint response, a cry of pure agonized rage.
"Aaaarrrhhhhhh!" increasing in volume. Growing closer, and closer, until-!
A hole in space breaches the smoke and flames surrounding us. A hole in space, in the vague shape of a human form. A slanted red line glowing where his eyes should be, barely visible through the black fog pouring from his form. And gripped in each hand, covered in a spiderweb of glowing red lines-!
"Are those cannons!?" I shriek.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!" Roars the monster that I can only assume to be a Berserker, and hell takes shape in what remains of the once-tranquil forest clearing.
Class: Foreigner (Stick Swinger)
Alternate Classes: Rider, Assassin, Alter-Ego
True Name: Roy Alphard (Reid Astrea)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil (Chaotic Good)
Armament: Knives, Claws (Chopsticks, Sword)
Manifestation Cost: Medium (High)
Bio:
The eldest Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, from another world. Embodying the concept of [Bizarre Eating], he rampaged across the nation of Lugnica, devouring the [Name] and [Memories] of anyone he encountered, with no particular objective or pattern.
...Of course, with all that being said, Roy Alphard is basically irrelevant here. Shortly before his death, he ate the [Memories] of Lugnica's oldest hero, Reid Astrea. Perhaps Reid's memories proved to be too potent for Roy, or perhaps Roy's already mixed-up and fractured psyche finally reached the limit of how many lives it could hold - regardless of the cause, the result was that Roy lost his existence, and Reid returned to the world of the living for a time.
...On an unrelated note, Reid's parameters are lower than those familiar with his exploits might expect; in short, this is because he's not manifesting as 'the Servant Reid Astrea', he's manifesting as 'the Servant Roy Alphard, imitating the Human Reid Astrea'.
Parameters
Strength: D+ (B)
Endurance: D (B)
Agility: B++ (A)
Mana: E (B)
Luck: E (EX)
NP: EX
Class Skills:
Existence Outside the Domain: B
Riding (Mabeast): - (Sealed by Solar Eclipse, usually A rank)
Personal Skills:
Affection of the Witch: C
Roy is tainted by the Witch of Envy's Miasma. Most animals and people with good senses will find him repulsive, and some may even attack on sight.
Leaper's Technique: B
The talent of the 'Leaper', Dorekell, acquired through the Authority of Gluttony. Of course, it has manifested as a skill here, a testament to just how much Roy and Lye made this ability their own. Even if a certain Hero of Earth were to steal his Noble Phantasm, Roy would still have access to this skill, albeit at diminished rank.
Allows the user to boost his speed to a ridiculous degree, to the point that he seems to be teleporting around the battlefield. Fundamentally, it's a similar, but not identical, technique to the [Reduced Earth] skill held by Okita Souji.
(It goes without saying, Reid will probably never use this skill.)
Palm of the Fist King: B
The technique of the gladiator Neiji Rockheart, acquired through the Authority of Gluttony. As with the [Leaper's Technique], frequent use has allowed this to manifest as a skill.
Greatly increases unarmed combat skills, culminating in Neiji's crowning achievement, a palm strike that bypasses mana-based defenses entirely. A blow that he was only able to use once, in his clash with Lye Batenkaitos, one minute and twelve seconds before he was devoured by Louis Arneb.
It was but a single step. A mere glimpse of a divine martial art, a technique that would require [No Second Strike]. But such a dream will probably be forever beyond Neiji's grasp…
(Again, Reid will probably never use this skill.)
(Emptiness: B)
Not a skill held by Roy, but a Personal skill of Reid, acquired through [Solar Eclipse]. Should the Eclipse end, this skill will be lost.
Noble Phantasms:
?
Rank: A
Type: Anti-Army
Range: 1-200
Maximum number of targets: ?
?
Gluttonous All-Devouring Serpent: Gluttony
Rank: EX
Type: Anti-Unit
Range: 1
Maximum number of targets: 1 Person
The Authority of Gluttony, as wielded by Roy Alphard. By touching the target with his left hand and reciting their full name given at birth, Roy can devour their [Name], [Memories], or both. Giving an incorrect name will instead cause violent illness that, against any serious opponent, will probably prove fatal.
Those who have their Memories eaten will obviously become amnesiacs, and those who have their names devoured will be forgotten by the world around them. Those who have both consumed will fall into a coma and become impossible to rouse.
(Since he thinks it's gross, Reid will not willingly use this ability.)
Names and memories devoured by [Gluttony] can be used in a variety of ways by Foreigner. Technically, all of these uses are the same Noble Phantasm as [Gluttony], similar to [Gae Bolg]'s two uses, or [God Force]'s five forms. - but Roy thinks of them as separate Noble Phantasms, so they've been listed as such for the sake of convenience.
The Serpent Devours the Moon: Lunar Eclipse
Rank: -
Type: Varies
Range: Varies
Maximum number of targets: Varies
A Sub-Phantasm of [Gluttony]
Roy can utilize the abilities of those he or his siblings have devoured using this Noble Phantasm. This includes techniques, personal skills, and even some Noble Phantasms. Spirit-bound Weapons (I.E. Rem's Flail) are also fair game.
(Reid has access to this, but beyond using it to conjure up the sword of some random schmuck, he probably won't use it much.)
The Serpent Devours the Sun: Solar Eclipse
Rank: -
Type: Anti-Unit (Self)
Range: -
Maximum number of targets: 1 Person
A Sub-Phantasm of [Gluttony].
Roy can take on the form of anyone he or his siblings have devoured using this Noble Phantasm. This allows him to utilize abilities that may be impossible with only [Lunar Eclipse] - things like Siegfried's [Armor of Fafnir] or Heracles' [God Hand], that is, abilities bound to the body itself.
Of course, depending on the ego of the person he's taking the form of, there is a significant risk of Roy losing his existence.
(When summoned as a Foreigner, this Noble Phantasm is always active, trapping Roy in the form of Reid Astrea.)
?
Rank: -
Type: Anti-Existence (Self)
Range: -
Maximum number of targets: 1 Person
A Sub-Phantasm of [Gluttony].
?
A/N:
Sorry for the wait. Classes have started up again for me, which means I've been busy and sleep-deprived. Also Reid is hard to write and I'm not sure I did him quite right. Still, gonna aim for Monday for the next one.
Lancelot doesn't get a jet in Medieval France, because that's stupid. He gets cannons though. Those have been invented by 1430s France.
Review Responses:
IHev9Sun said:
I went and read the Re zero wiki page for Reid. Holy...fuck. Jalter is soo fucked.
Well, that's assuming he doesn't kill Subaru for no good reason again, so who knows lol.
Schwarzer said:
Ah, the chopstick swinger is here and here I am hoping for Beako to come home or at least Shaula.
Beatrice will, without a doubt, make an appearance eventually. But for now... Wait, and Hope.
Crown of Reaper said:
Gluttony. Out of all the sins that Barusu could get, he summoned fuckin gluttony. I'm not sure how to feel about this. At least he's a dragon slayer.
Well, (Roy) Reid is preferable to the rest, since Reid is a bit less awful.
Will he summon any of the Witches in the future? I can just imagine if he summons Satella, not the witch but the shy one.
He read their books in Taygeta, so they've been recorded in the throne.
Also, please no bunnies. Please.
No comment.
Fatts said:
Well boredom, and depression, and wonder hit me, ran at a track, with corona is still , agin lets go
Before that
Dude I think you should take a break, covod is here, and you should not try too do too much though then again your word count is not impressive
I feel worse when I don't write, so I'm gonna try to keep pace best I can.
As said:
Why is Subaru's alignment chaotic evil
Part of it is chaldea's system detecting Satella. Another part of it is related to Subaru's mindset at the time - Zelretch just told him to go to chaldea to get back to Lugnica. As far as he knew, he was about to abandon earth to [Apocalypse Conflagration], and he had no real other option. So yeah, he was feeling kinda evil at the time. Usually he's Chaotic Good, though.
Guest said:
Lack of detail. That's what come to mind, it can also be your strong point by going forward. So be you. Try a goal like, by September 19, 2020, I will have done thirty seven chapters of work. Or something. Quick question. How does Subaru feel about the world of nasu, with overpowered grail summoned sabers. Along with magic in his world. By the way why does the counterforce not sod something, Mordred is indeed similar to him. Considering their stories, the issue they struggled with it's not unlike them to be similar.
Yeah I'm not great at fleshing out the background environment things take place in. Got a nasty case of white room syndrome.
Subaru's first thoughts on the Nasuverse: "Wait, Earth was actually an Urban Fantasy setting!? Since when!?"
Guest said:
I liked the chapter. As a side note, Future Xorn forgot to add the answers of the reviews of Chapter 32 on the previous update.
Oops. Well, I'll get to it eventually.