So the Ruler and Avenger Jeannes finally get their animation updates on JP Server. What a day to be alive now that I have both of them at NP 5 with Servant Coins to spare as to celebrate when it comes to NA. I'm already screaming in agony for another level 120 farms for two more Servants I love. First Arthur [Prototype], then Morgan Berserker, working on Scathach [Lancer] and now those two! Someone save me! TTVTT
"So that's that." Da Vinci noted as she and Holmes examined the countless Saint Graphs that Ritsuka collected from various summoning sessions to Chaldea's aid. Many Servants with connection to divinity were restrained in a sense they couldn't be summoned…with a few certain Roman Emperors dismaying that they did not qualify for divinity despite their protests. Given those guys were born in the Age of Man, where the gods left humanity and with the boons so did the divine essence in one's blood thin to the point of nonexistence.
Lucius Tiberius as per usual looking out the window in the Storm Border, Florent leaning on the glass as the Avenger eyed its faint movements on its own will. Flora chose Hakuno as her champion, and the blessings on the blade made it that it was bound to her alone during the reforging process. And so the sword was trying to make way to its rightful owner, away from him. Part of him was hurt since he was devoted to the goddess, but he also was ashamed of his past behavior in those damaged Saint Graphs. Sure, in the days of Ancient Rome women didn't have many rights compared to modern age he's heard of, but still, Hakuno was worth more than most women he's met in the past.
But he's missed his chances with his own blunders and her marrying that smug golden bastard of a king. Compared to what the Red Dragon did to him in the last battle for independence, Gilgamesh holds a special hatred in Lucius's heart. No one takes his woman and gets away with it. No one. "We're getting connections with Jeanne Alter! Signals loud and clear! There's a battle underway in her location!" one of the Nemos exclaimed on the speakers. That caught his attention since he recalled Hakuno was with that fellow Avenger Servant. He picked up his sword and made way for command, he wanted to see what kind of battles his beloved violet was dancing in.
He alongside a few available Servants, a few of the Saints of the Abrahamic faith as well were watching the static screen slowly regain visual. Then, she appeared.
It was Hakuno, holding a lance of unknown origin that blazed with a flame so bright it reminded him of a star. Her coat fluttered in the wind as a towering God loomed overhead, looking down at her with cold indifference. She bore resemblance to a modern hero in current fictional stories and honestly, the look fits her like a glove.
"To think that God would be here in the flesh, and a human mage fighting Him…" Amasuka Shiro noted with disapproval.
"He bares appearance to the Lord, yet merely an imposter. He stole thy sacred flesh and usher unto evil. It matters not, for the Evening Bell tolls for the Wicked God." The First Hassan spoke for the first time. His blazing blue eyes focused on the image before him as Da Vinci screamed in surprise.
"Rhongomyniad?! No wait! It's a new sacred lance not recorded in any of our databases! It bears similar readings to both it and Excalibur, but completely different at the same time!" the tiny genius exclaimed in both shock and excitement. Then a familiar all-knowing laugh caused a few people to turn to see everyone's (un)favorite magus walk in with a full-blown grin.
"That's her power! By channeling power into various weapons, they become sacred weapons that are meant to save the world! But since she's using Gareth's lance as the vessel of the power, she would have roughly twenty minutes tops before the weapon breaks from exceeding intended outputs of energy." he explained as Holmes cupped his chin in thought.
"That's why you've been insisting on making her an ally, she can make an armory of sacred weapons that could aid us in defeating the Alien God." the great detective deduced as alarms blared to life.
"We're detecting a Beast signal!" a Nemo Marine on the dashboard screamed out. The camera shifted, signaling Jeanne Alter's gaze turning to the woman walking beside Hakuno. Beautiful yet horrendous was to describe her. She was a beautiful woman, yet the dark powers and the serpents draped around her body oozed danger with every fiber of her being. This was also a First Planetary Output Saint Graph, surpassing Goetia's Secondary Planetary Saint Graph. This shocked everyone because this Beast was definitely the worst foe they could face right now after Koyanskaya.
"Lilith." spoke the deity, causing the more well versed of mages and heroes to pause at that name of notoriety. "You dare fight me still, why?" those oppressive, cold eyes gazed down at the Beast akin to a child looking down a puny ant. The woman scoffed at the question as a snake hissed at him.
"The humans are my children, is it wrong as the Mother of Humans to protect her offspring?"
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"Wait, wait, wait! Huh?! Lilith is the mother of humanity?! How?! Why!?" Goredolf freaked out like usual as Holmes, being the greatest detective in history, instantly deduced the answer from knowing her myth.
"Something happened in this Lostbelt that caused Lilith to stay with Adam, so there was no need to create Eve. Those two propagated and thus the humans of this Lostworld are her descendants." was his instant answer.
"Okay I get that much, but why is a Beast helping defend humanity?!" Goredolf demanded, feeling his sanity starting to leave at the idea of a Beast being an ally. Ritsuka was the first to respond.
"Perhaps it's because she's the mother of all the humans in this world." she answered. "Any true mother would risk their life to protect their offspring, even if it means becoming a Beast as a result of those desires." Several Servants actually nodded their heads in understanding of that kind of reasoning.
"Humanity has been on the back end of this world. I will lead them to a promising future as the sole God of this world. No other race will be permitted." the god stated as Hakuno pointed the flaming lance at him.
"Not if I have anything to say about it, Deus. You will face your crimes against the various worlds when you unleashed the Dark Messiah to destroy billions of lives across time and space!" Hakuno growled out in focused anger as Deus's lone gaze turned to her.
"You will understand the work I am doing. Mortals need a firm guiding hand, no independent thoughts or wills but my own. You would sooner kill one another than to lay down your arms if not for me to reprimand you. Freedom was never humanity's to begin with, one that will soon be corrected." the words that came out of the god's mouth caused alarm to the known saints and followers of this particular god, especially since he sounded tyrannical.
"That is not the Lord speaking…" Jeanne D'Arc whispered, her hands clasped in prayer. "It carries neither His warmth nor love. Only seething hatred and contempt." She looked at Deus from the screen sadly, "He has lost His way and only brings about pain and suffering."
"It doesn't matter for us." Lucius spoke up, uncaring for the Abrahamic Faith in its entirety. "What matters is that this god is endangering lives, with us potentially having to fight Him if Hakuno fails, which I doubt she would since I know about her reputation in godslaying. If there were a mortal capable of felling a mad god, then she's our best bet." he spoke with conviction and faith.
"You make it as if you were the one to make the choice for the children." a mixture of two voices spoke from behind the Jeanne Alter's visuals as the Servant turned to see a white haired boy around the age of fourteen with rubellite eyes calmly walking towards the fighters.
"Bell? No…Lord Elohim?" Hakuno's voice asked, her tone sounding surprised.
"I see, so the me of this world is possessing a mortal to speak. How far have you fallen, other me." Deus spoke with scorn.
"Look at what I have risen above." the boy countered with a gentle sternness that went against the cute boy's natural expressions. "You stole my body for your selfish ambitions, attempting to usurp the balance of power for a goal not possible to achieve with your current strength. I see that the other me has been consumed by arrogance, just like the other pantheons before their ruin." The voice was soothing, like a father chiding his child and getting them to admit their mistakes.
"Father, I…" Lilith began, only to see the boy's gentle expression. A kind smile as he shook his head.
"No need my daughter. I am merely borrowing this boy's body for this one fight, to protect this world from an evil using my face and power. You've earned your freedom after this." Elohim spoke as if He already knew what Lilith was going to say. For He did, as He watched all of His children since He fell. The Sixth Beast of Calamity had shedded tears at that, as Hakuno walked up to him.
"I'm sorry I have to end this conversation short Lord Elohim, but-!"
"Yes. Dialogue can wait until after we dispose of the Usurper." Elohim answered her immediately before glaring at Deus who began to chuckle before turning into full-blown laughter.
"Dispose me?" Deus mockingly, the massive God looking down at them like they were lesser than the dirt they were on. "I am beyond what those lesser gods are even in this weaker body. You really think that Servants, including Gilgamesh himself, could best me who rules all of Heaven and Earth?"
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"…Even Ishtar was more tolerable in arrogance than him, and that's saying something." the King of Heroes admitted, finding Deus's ego insufferable.
"Gil, using Ishtar as comparison with Deus, is a low bar of how unpleasant a god can be." Hakuko sighed. Nowadays, Ishtar is a complete joke in this world just as she was back in Proper History. Such a useless goddess.
"Uwah…I become like this when I become mad with power in a different time?" Elohim asked himself, looking completely mortified. Using Bell's body to express it made it more comical given how Bell's emotions are portrayed on his face.
"Yeah, this is why I rebelled back in Proper History." Helel dryly quipped up as Jeanne Alter scrunched up her face in disgust at the god's ego.
"I'd drop my faith in Him if I found out He was like this too." the Alter Servant agreed. And Gilles…was being Gilles and let's leave it at that.
Meanwhile, the Chaldeans were expressing their own dislike of Deus's arrogance in their own unique way and I'm not going into detail about it.
"You…!" Deus gritted his teeth, veins threatening to pop as his anger rose at the open disrespect He was receiving from them. He clapped his hands and the world shook. The legions of angels that in the background were fighting Gilles and his endless spawn of Horrors and Gareth-chan herself using only her shield and fists to combat the angels disappeared since the battlefield changed to a cloudy domain. "Arrogant children! Be disciplined!" he snarled as spears of ice and thunder appeared, surrounding them in an absolute kill-zone with no way out but to withstand the assault.
"Gate of Babylon." Gilgamesh stated boredly as the golden ripples leading to his treasury appeared, countless high quality Noble Phantasms appearing and firing against the endless onslaught that created a cloud of smoke from the collision of various powers.
"O' Radiant Stars, Fall From Heaven: The Lie of Lucifer!" Helel did not hesitate to activate his Noble Phantasm as well, the sky darkening as all the stars in the heavens converged their light into one attack that surged forth and descended upon Deus's figure. That split second, both Hakuno casted a Code Cast to negate any protection Deus would have conjured while Bell/Elohim fired an Argonaut Firebolt immediately.
Bell's own heroic desires to fight alongside Hakuno and these revealed heroes of another era overflowed with portions of Elohim's own divine power augmenting the already formidable power of the Argonaut Skill to the point the magic was akin to divine punishment as the attack of both Elohim and Helel would be overkill, which was intended with their current opponent.
*Battlefield-Hestia Familia-Haruhime*
Haruhime breathed gently, the golden flames dancing across her body providing warmth and power to her. These sacred flames were a part of Hakuno, given to the young Renard as a gift of protection. It lessens damage inflicted upon her drastically that can be improved if she wore better armor besides her current kimono. But that was one effect these flames had, for they were the reflection of Haruhime's soul, as her role as a supporter type Sorceress by improving her buffing spells she had been studying.
Hakuno once mentioned two friends by the names of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha she had met once in her past, of how they created a fox and tengu avatars made of energy to combat dangerous foes, which was inspiration for Vortigern at the time. Needless to say, seeing Vortigern once and hearing of its origins inspired imitation as well. Haruhime's golden flames gave form to a five-tailed fox avatar she now rode within to charge onto the battlefield to protect allies and escort the injured to safety. She had a limited time now, her training had paid off as she could run this form for fifteen minutes-pushing to thirty if she used the Moon Ring to resupply her magic reserves from the storage system it had. She prayed that Lili, Primo, Ais and Welf were doing better at their respective battlefields.
-Welf-
Another blade shattered against the hammer, the shock, confusion, and disbelief seen in the soldier's eyes as they tried to comprehend just what had happened when Welfs giant sword struck him down. Activating the Moon Ring's storage, five copies of Kazuki appeared. These Crozzo MagicSwords he personally created for this moment. This was a life or death situation, and the armies of the Empire were massive as their zeal and cruelty remained uncontested. Sheathing his nameless sword, he grabbed one of his Magic Swords and felt the flames flicker around him. These Magic Swords once caused his family to fall to the corruption of nobility as they lost their way by greed and vanity. But Welf was the last of his kin, and chose to redeem his family by using Magic Swords as they were intended: to protect others from evil.
His pride was cast aside for the sake of the two families that had taken him in, Hephaistos and Hestia. Two goddesses that were close friends, and the ones that accepted him into their Familia. Their connections to fire burned into the blessings on his back, and the Kazuki blades resonated with the flames. He would reduce the battlefield to ash in order to cleanse it of these terrible people who sought nothing but genocide against anything non-human.
It was that day, the name Crozzo would be hated not by elves, but humans as well as they were purged by flames from his Magic Swords.
-Lili-
When one sees a Pallum Supporter, they see a weakling. That would be the case usually, but Lili was better now. After the War Game with Apollo, Lili was sent to undergo training under Hakuno's orders. While the Pallum disagreed that she needed it, Hakuno insisted on it since everyone else despite their official roles in the Familia when exploring had some form of training in self-defense. So knives and spearmanship was assigned to Lili in the case her wrist-mounted crossbows were not a viable option in a situation she's not accustomed to. Bell had given her advice on how to fight with knives since they were his forte, and Hakuno taught her the basics and tricks her height and weight would allow her to do that ordinary spearfolk could not do. It all involves acrobatics, and Lili was forever thankful for the lessons this time around.
Lili had lost count of so many times she avoided being impaled by a blade's edge when she used the recently crafted Merlin-Killer Mark 2 to repel or allow her to dodge incoming attacks from these crazed zealots. She was sure going to tell Hakuno about the experience and that Welf's spear for the witch was working as intended. But for some reason, holding a spear felt familiar to her for some reason. Lili knew that the gods reincarnate people all the time after they die, but some things from a previous life carry over faintly despite having a clean slate in their new lives. With each deflection and impalement she made, the blood and memory from a different life surged into her spear technique.
Despite being a Level 1, Lili was fighting like a true veteran adventure despite being a mere Supporter. Her will to live, her devotion to her new family, and the trauma of the crisis years ago drove her to a battle frenzy. She wanted to live, she wanted to enjoy peaceful times with her family, and she wanted a happy life that was slowly coming true with each day. This entire second life, she will devote all to achieving happiness that her childhood lacked. And she will do so under Hestia's Blessing and by Lady Hakuno's side. With spear and knife at hand, Lili let the adrenaline inside her bloodstained body course with renewed vigor as she charged forward without fear.
-Raging Tempest: Ais-
First rule on the battlefield by Hakuno's words: Always expect the unexpected to show up. Either good, bad, worse, or all the above. The bad was that the Creature named Revis she heard about had shown up with strange plantlike monsters that she realized were perverse Spirits by her awakened senses from her time in Britain. Even Revis herself was a byproduct of these…corrupted abominations from the energy that serves as the 'woman's "heart" so to speak. The worst? Evilus decided to join in on the fun, attacking both sides without any restraint.
"What do you want, Creature?" Ais demanded, Desperate aimed at the inhuman foe before her.
"Either Avalon le Fae whose identity is still unknown, or you, Aria." Revis replied coldly, drawing an equally unnatural weapon to her side that looked like clumped meat with a blade attached to it as the pressure the woman emitted showed she was both serious and dangerous. But this was on Revis now, for Ais was Hakuno's sworn knight and lover. She knew her Lady she swore herself was Avalon le Fae and vowed to protect her at all costs. This Creature was aligned with Evilus, and were planning something sinister if these corrupted spirits were any implication. That instantly put Revis on Ais' personal hate list she just made.
Before Revis could even blink, the distance between the two was closed from Ais' instant Flash Step, honed from intense training as Revis barely blocked the attack with Desperate, only to jump back when Gwynt Awydd manifested in the young knight's other hand and bring the blade down. The shockwave from that attack combined with the dangerous killing aura surrounding Ais made both friend and foe back away, alarmed by such hostility as Ais pointed her Holy Sword at the one who had the sheer audacity of either capturing her or Hakuno. This time, she was honing in on Revis with nothing but pure annihilation of her foe's existence. No one was harming her Lady this time.
The sky was lit aflame in the heavens above with Hakuno's own personal fight, drawing upon her Heavenly King power as each separate battle would affect this Lostworld's destiny. All while being observed by Chaldea, the gods in Tenkai, and both the Gardner and Winnower who weave their own plans.