80: Promises should be remembered.
"We need to hurry - Professor, that's your cue to pull out a strangely specific and useful gadget, ok?" I say.
"Are you making some obscure reference…?" He mutters in response.
"Doraemon is hardly obscure!"
"I don't remember that one from when I played Digimon…" He replies. "But unfortunately, without preparation time, I have nothing that will help us move faster."
"What about something like a trebuchet…?"
"Who do you think I am, Gongtai!? …Is what Kongming just said."
"So it's the old 'carry Subaru and run' again, huh?" I say with a sigh.
"That's impossible." He shoots me down. "You already saw this morning, right? My stamina is atrocious."
Dammit. Dammit! I already know just how a fight with Edmond Dantes goes, now that he's had time to prepare! "I'll use Cor Leonis, then! Or use [Chu Shi Biao] to get us some horses!"
He shakes his head. "I can only use that Noble Phantasm once, and this isn't the right time for it. There's nothing you or I can do to get us there in time, so-"
"-So we just leave them to die!?" I shout.
"So we believe in their ability to defeat Berserk Avenger." He responds. It's a nice sentiment. However-
"That's impossible!" I shout. I've already seen it once, after all. "We failed to eliminate him the first time, so he'll be coming prepared this time! He's got Item Construction, and with his Noble Phantasm there's no chance of Guillotine Breaker outrunning him! There has to be something! Please…" My voice breaks as I clutch Professor Velvet by his shirt.
His eyes flick downwards. Through blurred eyes, I can see it. The single Command Spell emblazoned on the back of my hand, which recharged this morning.
…Right, there was something like that, wasn't there? The two Servants I properly contracted, Mash Kyrielight and Mordred Pendragon. I could teleport one of them here.
But everyone else will die.
Impossible. There's no world where Natsuki Subaru can make a decision like that. But if things play out the way I expect, then-
"-Then, I'll help." Calls a voice from the top of the stairs.
She changed outfits - that maid cosplay of hers is nowhere to be seen, replaced by the garb of a peasant girl. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail, and I can see Berserk Saber's rapier tied to her waist - hey, why hasn't that thing disappeared? Is the Watcher class just that weird?
"Merry." Professor Velvet says. "Do you have something that would help?"
She closes her eyes. "I… I don't want to. I overheard you talking about Watcher… I hate him. He's a disgusting, horrible creature. But-" She opens her eyes again, and there's a spark in them that I haven't seen there before. "But if it will help you, Subaru, then… I can't hate everything he's given me. I-it's part of my job as a, um, fellow dedicated back-watcher."
"Merry…" My voice falters. Part of me wants to tell her she doesn't have to. Not to force herself, because that miserable fake smile on her face makes me sick. But there's no way I can say that, so instead- "Thank you."
Her fake smile relaxes into a smaller, more honest one - and then, face growing serious, she extends her hand. "-Blood calls blood. Ocean calls tide. The great father rescinds thy inheritance." Her face grows pale throughout her chant, arm shaking, and voice grinding into a rasping whisper as she heaves heavy breaths. And through it all, an absurd degree of magical energy fills the room. "Come, what is mine by right - [Frankreich Über Alles - Guillotine Breaker]."
At her words, a familiar crystal horse springs into existence, bounding towards the door with a dazzling spray of light. I barely manage to catch Merry as her legs give out - mana exhaustion, huh? Well, she's still conscious, so-
The light dies down, revealing the utterly annihilated door and wall, and a suitable degree of devastation to the town square as well. Merry lets out a choked scream of utter mortification, and- ah, she passed out after all, huh?
"Anyway, the truth was you could conjure a wagon after all, huh?" I ask Professor Velvet as we bounce along the road.
"It's a handcart, technically." He replies. The problem was simply that we didn't have anyone to pull it - speaking of which, this Noble Phantasm-"
"I can, um… confiscate any Noble Phantasm that is the property of the French Crown, as long as the user is within Watcher's Range." Merry mumbles, sparing a glance at the horse before returning to looking at her feet. "But…"
"It's hard?" I ask.
" 's not hard at all - the mana cost aside, I mean." She shakes her head. "It's easy to use. It feels so natural that I think I could forget - that this sword belongs to a Chevalier, and that horse belongs to a queen. It scares me."
"Ugh. That kind of ability is the worst kind." I shake my head.
We crest a hill, and the wheels rattle as they bounce off the road for a moment - and finally I can see it. The Chalk White wall of [Lord Camelot] - or I suppose it's [Lord Chaldeas] again now - looms in the distance.
[Lord Chaldeas] can't hold back Berserk Avenger's fire. I know that all too well - it might be different if she knew its true name, but I know that she can't hold him back like this.
And yet she does. For almost an entire minute, as I approach with dread in my heart, the wall holds. Even as Berserk Avenger's flickering forms come into view, and I can make out the multitudes of flaming blasts he rains upon [Lord Chaldeas], not a single crack forms in its pristine surface.
Closer and closer… Just a bit more! Please, just hang on a bit more - there!
"[Cor Leonis]!" My heart pounds in my ears, and I almost collapse as Mash's exhaustion wracks my body - but that's fine. If I can make it even a bit easier for her-
Fear surges through our link. Betrayal. Doubt.
The wall shatters in an instant, and black fire rains down on my friends.
"No!" Why!? What happened! I took her exhaustion away so why-?
"As long as I believe in myself, it won't fail. That's how this shield, the Round Table, Lord Camelot, works!"
My eyes widen.
"That… [Cor Leonis] thing of yours." She said. "Please, don't use that power anymore. It's scary. It's way too scary. Because… even though I was doing my best to keep you safe, you kept getting hurt! Even though Saber wasn't attacking you, you were still injured! If it wasn't for Avalon, you would have been killed!"
I promised. Didn't I promise her that I would trust her to defend everyone?
Afterimages of Berserk Avenger surround them.
"Ah, I'm the worst." I mumble.
I can see Jeanne raising her flag - but it won't be fast enough. The black fire of Edomond Dantes's Noble Phantasm is already in motion.
Please, not like this. Please, someone…
(My command spell flares.)
Black fire consumes everything - and then from within the inferno, a crimson meteor explodes.
Mordred, clutching Mash and Jeanne under both arms, craters into the hillside next to our cart, showering us with a cloud of dust. The Professor reacts almost immediately, a fulu talisman leaping from his hand to extinguish them, and for a moment, I feel a spark of joy.
And then the air changes again. The same as when Berserk Saber died, a pulse of more-ness emanates from Merry d'Lyon. Guillotine Breaker slows to a stop and lets out a mournful whinny.
In that instant, I understand that Marie Antoinette is dead.
For a moment, I think Mozart is too, but then a towering pillar of flesh and eyes surges upward out of the black flames and I realize that the truth is far worse.
"We're retreating." says Professor Velvet. A gust of wind launches Mash, Mordred and Jeanne into our wagon. "No, that's not quite right… We're re-routing to Paris. Around the Demon Pillar, obviously."
"Siegfried-" I start.
"Is already on board. He's astralized." The Professor says. And theres a moment where the only noise is the concentric rings of fire erupting around Demon God Amdusias and the flickering motion of Dantes dodging the blasts and firing back. "Now, Merry!"
"Y-yes, milord!"
A/N:
Sneaking in exactly a month later. Faster than last time, I guess. I believe I'll be having more free time soon, so expect slightly more common updates. Maybe. I'm not promising, because that's not the lesson of this chapter.
Note: Merry's Noble Phantasm is German because ancient Frankish probably sounded more like German than modern French. (Also it sounds cooler)