078 - Circle of Usurpation

Altera (Warrior)

The Sword of Mars clashes against the Sword of Mars and Altera finds herself losing ground. It's an unfamiliar feeling, unsettling and rather welcome, but it cannot be helped. Her earthling self is freshly-summoned by an entity whose magical energy reserves make regular magi look like fleas and carries a conceptual advantage as the destroyer of Rome fighting against its defenders.

… She also holds a very tangible advantage as a Saber Class facing an Archer Class in straight combat.

All things considered, it's no wonder Altera can't compete directly, but it has nothing to do with their nature as destroyers clashing with her own chosen role as a protector. That's her earthling's self mistake. A mistake Altera is very familiar with. It's a mistake she herself used to make all the time, after all.

Purity of purpose is a beautiful and terrifying thing. Power born from dedicating one's full self to the exclusion of everything else. A form of sacrifice that spares one the pain of loss, for there's no chance to experience what's being given up, no room for one to contemplate on the emptiness, nothing to miss. And yet, it's a sacrifice all the same, leaving a hole in one's heart that cannot be filled no matter what.

But there's a fundamental mistake in her earthling's counterpart life outlook. Purity of purpose is the realm of a machine, not a sentient being. The way her earthling counterpart calls herself a tool made for destruction is only hurting her. And she doesn't even realize it, too limited in scope to see the world as it really is.

This isn't her fault, that's how she was made, that's what she was born from, what's what she knew in life.

Nobody taught her any better.

It seems that class is in session.

"Altera, now!"

She disengages at her Master's call, slipping sideways and making her counterpart's eyes widen when the action reveals a handful of glowing jewels flying towards her face. Her counterpart tries to block with her blade, and she would have no doubt managed in time in normal circumstances, but…

"[Cybele]"

Her arm stiffens and gains a dull grey hue. It doesn't turn to stone, the obscene Magical Resistance of such a powerful Saber Class is enough to resist even the most powerful Mystic Eyes of Petrification in the world, but it slows her down enough to botch the parry.

For the first time since their fight started, a frown mars her counterpart's aloof countenance. A hint of the emotions she pretends not to have, that stubborn pride Altera is also maybe a little too familiar with.

"NaÏve!" Her counterpart growls in frustration, refusing to accept this outcome. "Anything I hold is Photon Ray!"

Her left hand clenches around thin air, and suddenly she's holding her blade in that hand instead, swinging freely and determined to defend against all odds. This all happened in the blink of an eye, a chain of semi-arranged actions perfectly pulled off in rapid succession thanks to their long experience fighting together. It happened so quickly that a regular warrior would've barely had the chance to take a single step in that time.

Altera isn't a regular warrior, she's not even a regular mighty warrior. The blink of an eye is all she needs to draw her bow and fire an arrow.

"No, you."

A rainbow arrow hits the blade of Photon Ray, knocking the sword off-course at the very last moment. Her counterpart recovers in time to course-correct and obliterate most of the gems with a blinding-fast parry, but the very first one has already made it past her defenses, smacking her straight in the forehead before exploding in a burst of energy.

Naturally, a Servant strong enough to mostly shrug off Medusa's Mystic Eyes cannot be harmed by conventional magic. But Rin already knew that. The explosive burst of energy blinding isn't an attack, but merely a side-effect that serves in equal parts as a distraction and to facilitate the main purpose.

"We got you now!" Rin crows viciously as a dark and thick liquid starts bubbling out from the position of the gem, rapidly growing in volume to swallow up space. "Sakura!"

These gems aren't a weapon, they are a delivery system. And that's Cursed Mud.

"Yes!" Sakura answers with steely resolve. "Swallow and consume!"

Somehow, Altera's earthling counterpart manages to break the hold and pull back before she can get swallowed, her entire body covered in thick smoke. If Altera's guess is right, she had to burn away her own flesh to escape the trap. Even if it wasn't the finishing blow Rin and Sakura were aiming for, she still took considerable damage in that exchange.

And then, as their opponent slowly studies them with a wary eye… Crimson Assassin pops up from nowhere to stab her in the back, only missing the spine due to a last-minute twist. Before the cheeky attempt can be punished, Altera herself charges in again, demanding her counterpart's full attention so Crimson Assassin can retreat unopposed.

Yes, purity of purpose is a terrible and beautiful thing. Compared to the Velver Corpus false machine, Altera cannot hope to win a direct clash. Standing alone, she would soon get overwhelmed by this relentless engine of destruction. But Altera isn't alone, hasn't been alone in a long time now.

The battle continues as the sun makes its way through the heavenly dome, Altera and Medusa taking the brunt of the aggression, tag-teaming the superior combatant to stall her out while creating openings for the rest to punish.

Rin and Sakura, Crimson Assassin, Haku and her Servants, even Olga each herself find their chances to sneak a strike of their own. Sometimes it works and Altera's earthling counterpart is weakened even further, usually it doesn't.

On a couple of occasions, Altera and Medusa don't make it in time to prevent a counter and someone is put out of commission. But those hasty counters are the result of lashing out in frustration, launched from disadvantaged positions and carrying little chance of scoring solid blows, so the worst-case scenario is ultimately avoided.

Gradually, as the battle rages on, Altera and Medusa find their support gradually thinning out. It can't be helped, everyone's exhausted after their own fights and there's only so much they still have to give before they need to tap out. What matters is that the enemy is running out of steam faster than they run out of support.

It's slow going, but it is going. A death by a thousand papercuts.

Eventually, by the time Altera and Medusa stand alone against this false machine, it doesn't look like an insurmountable enemy anymore. It looks like a frustrated girl who doesn't understand why things aren't going her way and cannot summon the self-restraint to pretend she doesn't care anymore. She's still a mighty warrior, but she has been harassed for hours, swinging at smoke with little to show for it, outmaneuvered at every step by superior numbers and coordination.

She's cornered and she knows it.

And then she somehow manages to take Medusa by surprise with a burst of speed and aggression that puts the purple-haired woman firmly out of commission and leaves Altera herself blinking in incomprehension, because that shouldn't have happened.

"Damn, she got me good." Medusa groans as she astralizes away. "I leave the rest to you."

It takes a moment for Altera to process what just happened and come to the obvious conclusion.

'You did that on purpose.' She accuses. 'Why?'

'This is your fight, kid.'

Medusa answers with a wheezing laugh. 'It only makes sense that you end it.'

"It's only you and me now." Altera's other self speaks up with regained composure after she finally gets what she perceives as a tangible advantage. "Show me what you can do on your own, 'me'."

Her blade is pointed forward and tricolor particles start swirling around the tip, slowly spreading into a drill-shaped construct.
Altera's bow is drawn and tricolor particles start swirling around the front, slowly spreading into a drill-shaped construct.

"First comes Destruction."
"First comes Destruction."

"I bless nothing."
"I bless nothing."

"I save nothing."
"I save nothing."

"I protect nothing."
"I protect nothing."

"I just destroy…"
"I just destroy…"

"Completely."
"Completely."

[Photon Ray - Sword of the War God]
[Photon Ray - Bow of the War God]

A swordmistress charges forward, an arrow is let loose. They both clash right in the middle. Equal speeds, equal forces, they are equally matched.

But…

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The arrow cannot grow mightier once loosened, while the warrior can still put more of herself into her charge. After a brief struggle, the Altera from Earth breaks through, crashing like a comet into the position where the Altera of the Moon is standing. Or rather… Where she was standing.

Standing in the thick of things, the swordmistress got blinded by the mighty struggle and failed to notice the bowmistress' repositioning. Projectiles can be countered through skill, but perspective is lost when one stands too close to the problem. That's the one advantage of fighting at a distance that cannot be overcome simply by throwing more might at the problem.

The Altera of Earth only has time to catch a white blur in the corner of her eye and look up before the Altera of the Moon falls on her from above with the bow split into two curved swords to chop both her arms. As the sun finally sinks down the horizon, Saber is felled by Archer.

"This is my… loss." Slowly, begrudgingly, the Altera of Earth concedes. "But… how? You shouldn't…"

"You still don't understand, it was never on my own." The Altera of the Moon lets out a small sigh and shakes her head. "Demon Lord Re'em provides."

"What?"

"It was well fought, 'me'." The Altera of the Moon ignores the question, simply pointing a stone pendant at her defeated other self. "[Circle of Usurpation]"

The pendant glows red and the symbol engraved within is projecting outwards as crimson light. A circle edged with swords containing an ominous-looking serpent-like creature. The Altera of Earth watches in fascinated curiosity as the creature seemingly comes alive, escaping the projection to pounce on her and swallow her whole.

"Demon Lord Re'em provides." Altera repeats, just in case she wasn't heard the first time, before turning away to make her way to her Master's side. "That's one job well done."

"What…" An unexpected voice makes her pause her steps. "What was that?"

Ah… it's the thing.

"L– Lev!?" Olga gasps in shock, staring at the source of the voice, somewhere behind Altera.. "What happened to you?"

"That thing is not Lev. Lady Director." Haku reminds the young woman, protectively stepping before her and spreading a hand to keep her from rushing ahead or doing something unwise. "It hasn't been for a while now."

"Oh, Olga, my favorite little disappointment. Worry not, the Scourge of God and I had some disagreements, I have no doubt I'll die soon." The thing states in a dismissive, uncaring voice. "But I'm not here for that and I most certainly am not here for you either. I'm here for this interloper… and that abomination it just used. What it did shouldn't even be possible. What are you, Interloper?"

Finally turning towards the thing, Altera sees what everyone's talking about. It's barely alive, with its form barely holding together. Just an amalgamation of black flesh with far too many eyes, haphazardly pushed into the shape of a man. Here and there, small shreds of pink skin and green fabric, horribly charred at the edges, hint at the disguise it once tried to hold.

Most importantly, there's a pulsating, gaping hole in the middle of the thing's chest, glowing with the blinding-white light of pure destruction. A spiderweb of glowing cracks spreads from there, covering its entire body and seemingly growing every pulse of the main wound. At this rate, the wound will consume the thing whole in a matter of minutes.

But it still saw the [Circle of Usurpation] in action. That's unfortunate, since the plan was to deny direct observation for as long as possible, but it's not a big issue either. The main weapon of the Cult of Re'em was never going to remain a secret forever. Now she's supposed to… Ah.

Her heart is beating faster, all of a sudden. It's this what they call stage fright?

"I have nothing to say to you. Let your master know the Demon Lord Re'em comes for him." Altera stiffly delivers practiced lines, hoping her nerves didn't affect her performance too much. And then, remembering the words of Romulus-Quirinus, decides to improvise a bit to cover for any possible blunder. "And not even he's safe from the Despoiler."

There, perfect. All according to plan.

… Why is Haku groaning?

"Have it your way. But know you have won nothing here today. This isn't the end, you'll never have the Grail!" The thing lets out a crazed laughter, the glowing cracks on its body growing brighter and brighter with every spasming cackle. "Did you think I would actually carry something so precious within my person? Fools! I delivered it somewhere it would be safe to continue pushing my design forward even without me!"

As soon as the taunt is delivered, the thing is consumed by a burst of white light, her other self's pure destruction finally overcoming the thing's unnatural resilience, and… the Singularity starts collapsing.

That's… not according to plan.

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