The Final Battle: Honor and Sacrifice
Krauss and Rider vs. Alexis and Saber
Keiji Oshiro walked silently through the forest, keeping a watchful eye out for the soothsayer’s sickly rats that signaled the path he should take. Ever since his defeat to that inexperienced girl, he had been dead set on achieving a resounding victory against her, and so he had taken advantage of the unique powers of the Assassin class. For days, his Servant had been stalking the girl and her Servant with his Presence Concealment skill, keeping an eye on their manor and waiting for an opportunity. And finally, it had arrived.
The girl seemed to think it was a good idea to walk into the nearby forest, alone, away from anyone that she could reach to for help. This was an opportunity if ever Keiji Oshiro had seen one, and one didn’t become a leading mage of their time by passing up opportunities. So, the soothsayer had followed the girl invisibly, leaving a trail of rats for Keiji to follow.
By not killing me, that girl showed me something. She showed me her weakness. A love of human life. He let out a soft chuckle and glanced behind him one more time. A young girl was following him, her eyes glazed over. She was about ten years of age, wearing a torn pink dress with a hanging bow. They might have been neat once, but a walk in the woods had changed that.
War is no place for the meek.Further ahead, a concealed Servant was watching a Master and her Servant look at the stars together. Seen from afar, they looked like two friends, happy to be with each other, sharing in each other’s company. But to a creature of magic such as Assassin, the flow of mana between them was obvious, a beacon in the night. That was the way the world truly worked, through the constant flow of power and energy, not fleeting emotions that so often meant nothing at all.
~~~~~~~~~~
Roland sighed, breaking the peaceful silence that had formed between him and his Master. “My first master, Charlemagne, was always interested in the stars. He loved watching them move, learning about how they went from place to place. If nothing else, he was a scholar.”
Alexis smiled and stood up. “Saber, about what you said earlier, I... I –”
Saber held out a hand, motioning for Alexis to stop. “Hold on. There’s a mage in the area. We’re going to have to fight.”
Alexis closed her eyes, feeling the familiar traces of mana in the air.
Roland’s right... someone’s coming closer. Five... Four... Three... Two – wait, what!? Another burst of mana had just appeared, this one from the opposite direction. Much closer. Alexis saw a familiar-looking man in a red cloak, plagued rats streaming off of him at top speed. It was all Saber could do to draw his sword and shield her as she jumped back and readied her Anthology.
As she prepared to use a spell against Assassin, she heard a clicking noise behind her. “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Alexis quickly wheeled around, and saw the man she had fought earlier – Keiji Oshiro – holding a stone shield and his golden rod. And next to him – Alexis blinked – Next to him –
Keiji grinned widely. “Please don’t be so quick to attack. You see –” and he slowly wrapped his free hand around the young girl’s throat “– I have a hostage.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Krauss stared up at the sky, peering at the few stars he could see through the light pollution of the city. Rider stood next to him, looking at the ground, silent unless prompted to speak. Krauss sighed and tapped his foot. They had elected to wait for obvious mana signals from a battle in progress before joining in, to let the other Servants tire themselves out before they defeated both. It was clearly their best option, but Krauss didn’t enjoy the waiting.
To break the silence, Krauss began to speak. “I’m sure that out of all the remaining Masters, we have the most noble goal. Death is a tragedy, and the holders of the Sanctum Key are murderers for not using their power to save themselves and others. And if that ends up demolishing the accepted system... ending
order, as you said to me so long ago... so be it.”
Rider suddenly stood up ramrod straight. “A battle is happening in the nearby forest. If we hurry, we can make it before it gets too far underway. Get on.” And so Krauss boarded Hannibal’s elephant one last time, knowing that this night would decide the final victor.
~~~~~~~~~~
The philosopher laughed. “Fufufu... now, I understand I can’t limit your actions
completely, since then you would sacrifice the child or find some clever way of disobeying me. You’re stupid, not insane. But I think it’s a fair deal to say... that you can’t touch me. Fight Assassin as much as you want, I don’t care, but so much as look at me the wrong way and this girl’s head is going to explode off of her body.”
Roland’s expression hardened into a steely glare, and Alexis straightened up icily, her hands curled into fists. “To kidnap and endanger an innocent – a
child – for the Sanctum War... that’s unforgivable,” Alexis muttered.
Roland simply tightened his grip on his sword and began to speak softly. “Alexis, we’ve fought this cretin before. Would you like the blessing of the Virgin Mary once more for protection from his plague?”
Alexis smiled. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
Assassin raised his hand, and another swarm of plagued rats flew out of his robes toward Alexis. Alexis smiled and held out her Anthology, which flipped to a page at blinding speed. Alexis held out her hand, and a stream of fire came out of it, forming a flaming ring around her.
Neo-Ignis. I should be safe from those rats as long as I keep it active.Saber glanced back at Keiji. He had walked up to a nearby tree, guiding his hostage by her hand. He embedded his golden wand into the bark of the tree, which began to wilt as his weapon gained energy, glowing with an eerie purple light.
Can’t do anything about it now. I need to focus on Assassin.Alexis stared through the fire, her eyes hot with fury.
We can’t attack the Master, or else that girl dies... but that gives him time to finish whatever energy-absorbing spell he’s using.~~~~~~~~~~
Rider was at the sidelines of the battle, his mana signature clouded by the heavy use of magic in the area. He was intently watching the action, looking for anything that he and his Master could use to improve their chances of victory. That was his only goal now, and nothing else mattered.
A battle between Assassin and Saber. Assassin’s Master has a hostage previously unaffiliated with this War, and Saber’s actions are limited because he desires to protect her.
So this Saber is one bound by a code of chivalry honor... a knight of some sort?
Yes. I propose a change of plans. The clearest path to victory would be taking advantage of this honor. Painting ourselves as a friend of his, an ally.
You’re right, the honorable are always so predictable... and our course of action is for the greater good. I doubt Saber will have any trouble taking down Assassin, especially with our assistance... and you think it may help us later? When we fight Saber ourselves?
Yes. We join the battle and save the hostage.
~~~~~~~~~~
Keiji looked at the battle, unimpressed by its progress. Assassin’s deft movements and barrages of plagued rats were holding Saber at bay for the moment, but it would only take one good strike from a weapon as powerful as Durendal to defeat his Servant. Normally, he would let Assassin’s plague gradually take effect, but the magical resistance and general fortitude of the Saber class would make that take a very long time.
I need to end this battle quickly. The Sanctum Rod is my trump card, but only a fool would use his strongest weapon when weaker ones would suffice.Keiji pulled out his Glock 17 from his pocket and shot a few bullets into the ring of fire that surrounded the enemy Master, hoping to kill her and end the battle then and there. He waited a couple seconds, shifting his Sanctum Rod to a new tree for another source of power. The fire remained stable.
Maybe Assassin can get a bird’s-eye view.Suddenly, there was a flash of light from behind him, and a blue wedge of energy shot between him and his hostage, knocking them apart. The wedge reshaped itself into a scoop-like object and lifted up the girl, then shot back toward the city before landing some distance away. Keiji spun around to face the intruder, and saw an elderly man rising into the air on a contraption made of similar-looking energy fields.
“Curse you!” Keiji yelled. “To interrupt a battle in progress is a grave breach of courtesy. My Servant and I will have your head for this.” He heard a noise behind him and jumped back. A handsome man with tan skin had suddenly appeared, riding a massive elephant and wielding a strange-looking bladed spear.
“Do you even hear what you’re saying?” he said. “You, who hypnotized an innocent child to act as your hostage, have no right to speak of courtesy. You are pure evil. My own goal of winning the Sanctum Key for my Master now pales in comparison to simply stopping you. I don’t want to imagine what the world would look like with you as the holder of the Key.”
Saber turned to the newcomers gratefully. “Rider, I presume? Let’s act as allies for the time being.”
Rider smiled warmly, but the light was missing from his eyes. “Of course.”
Keiji cursed.
It’s time, as they say here, to up the ante. He held up his hand, and a single Command Seal faded away.
Assassin, go all out. No need to conserve mana. I can end both of these cretins with a single attack.~~~~~~~~~~
Krauss flew above the battlefield, surveying the area. He was taking special note of the capabilities of the Saber-class Servant, which he would communicate to Hannibal at the earliest opportunity. The rats had shifted focus from Saber’s Master, so she had lowered the flames of her Neo-Ignis spell and joined the fight, launching the Spark spell in rapid succession. As Krauss scrutinized more closely, he noticed that chains seemed to be coming out of the ground around him, trying to knock his golden wand out of his hands as he blocked the fireballs with his shield.
Interesting technique she uses, with pre-stored spells. Faster casting, but more limited applications.Saber was intently following Assassin, who seemed to be struggling to dodge time and time again. Rats swarmed around Saber’s feet, but Saber’s sword seemed to be emitting an aura that the plagued rats struggled to cross. Hannibal, for his part, was using his elephant to block off Assassin’s potential avenues of escape.
Krauss was just about to start launching forcefields to support the attack on Assassin’s Master when Assassin suddenly stopped moving. Saber ran up to him and struck with his sword, but despite being at point-blank range, the blade glanced off.
Almost as if reality itself is bending... A field of shimmering green energy began to appear around Assassin, and Krauss called out to the fighters below. “A Reality Marble! Be careful!”
Assassin’s Master laughed. “Assassin’s Plague Sphere. It might not be the most flashy of Reality Marbles, but there’s no way to avoid it!”
The night sky seemed to grow even darker, and the shadows formed by trees grew into wreaths of darkness. A green orb appeared above Assassin, and within it were images of the sick and dying, of rats crawling over corpses, and of plagued sores and blood. It emanated a glow that extended across the land and sky. Wherever it touched, trees and grass wilted, and people became woozy and tired. Even Saber’s sword failed to protect him from the miasma, and he too began to succumb. Krauss had to cast a quick
”Erigo” to prevent him from falling off his flight forcefield.
Assassin himself was standing in the center of the sphere, his magic fueling the orb, laughing. He brought his pipes to his lips and began to play. Out of them poured a song that sounded different to every hearer, a song that mimicked the voices of those they held closest to their hearts. The voices seemed to be screaming, laughing, and crying all at once. Sometimes they even issued commands, but these commands were always insane and contradictory, leaving the hearer even more confused. Hannibal’s elephant trumpeted in fear, and began to run around wildly. Krauss could barely think, much less ask Hannibal for help. His forcefields drifted to the ground before settling next to him. As he glanced around, trying to see through the woozy darkness that covered his eyes, he saw that everyone around him was in a similar state, slowly drifting into eternal darkness.
And Rider, his mind empty of all but a single goal, with nothing to confuse or confound, who could always find a path to a given destination, was slowly moving forward.
~~~~~~~~~~
Alexis closed her eyes. She felt sick and tired, and when she was sick she should sleep. She liked the music that had suddenly started playing... it reminded her of Roland somehow. The way he was always there to protect her, the noble yet somehow charmingly naïve way he talked, the way he slept next to her... Her body sank lower and lower to the ground as her mind continued on this train of thought.
Roland...
Something seemed to respond to her.
Alexis!
Roland...? Is that you?
Of course it’s me! Now, we need to break this Reality Marble.
...Reality Marble? We’re in a Reality Marble?
Yes, I’ll explain later. What’s important now is that you go up to that orb and cast Spark on it. That will free us.
...Spark... that’s in the Anthology, right?
Right! Although maybe it would be a better idea to cast Smite... or, maybe use Conjure to create a weapon to break the orb with... yeah, that sounds right. Or use it on Assassin.Alexis remained fairly motionless, but her Anthology was flipping from page to page with each new spell mentioned. She felt a little bit better, well enough to get up and do what Roland had asked her to.
Okay, then. And Roland... about what you said earlier...The voice suddenly grew silent, and the warm feeling left her. Alexis was left disoriented and confused, blindly calling out for Roland as she stumbled toward the orb.
Roland! Roland!?
...What? This voice had a different quality to it than the last one, more tired than energetic.
Who are you?
Alexis? Is that you?
Yes, but who are you?
I’m Saber. Roland. We’re talking telepathically.
You don’t sound like Roland...
What!? Yes, I do. How could I not?
Are you still moving, Alexis?
Yes, I am. Don’t worry.
What? Going where?
Where you said. The orb.
What!? NO! Roland’s fear and desire to protect Alexis washed away the parts of the song of madness that his magical resistance hadn’t already taken care of. As he lifted his sword, the layer of rust over it disappeared, revealing its shining surface. He looked through the darkness to see Alexis stumbling toward Assassin, who had his hand outstretched to receive her.
I still can’t stand very well. Please, someone, anyone, help me. I need to save her. Please, God, guide my hand.Roland’s eyes lit up with holy fire, and a message from St. Peter – the rock, the foundation, and the rightful destroyer – poured out of his lips.
“O my God; smite all mine enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked!” Revitalized with the simple desire to
protect, Saber leaped forward at Assassin. Durendal increased in length until it was a massive ivory blade, larger than any man. Assassin stared at it in fear, but was unable to step back without breaking the Reality Marble.
“It’s time you learned the true power of...
DURENDAL!”
Durendal struck the green orb that was the core of the Reality Marble above Assassin’s head, cleaving it in two. There was a great flash of light, forming the shape of a cross, and the effects of the Plague Sphere disappeared. Alexis and Krauss could now hear the song for what it was – a meaningless collection of musical notes.
Saber looked down at Assassin, drained of mana thanks to the Reality Marble, with disgust. He lifted his blade up to end the battle once and for all, but there was a sudden noise from the sidelines.
“STOP!” yelled Keiji, the philosopher, his golden rod glowing with deadly purple energy. “My name is Keiji Oshiro, and I have one last invention to show you. This – this is the Sanctum Rod. I have nearly perfected the art of transferring and converting energy, and have found a way to return all energy back to its most basic form. The energy of the trees, powered by sunlight, powered by the fire of the stars... this wand can absorb that energy and amplify it. And now you shall taste that power, as the last thing you feel on this planet.”
Keiji laughed again, this time with an almost insane cadence. “Fufufufufu... I must say, it’s an honor to be destroyed by such a valuable weapon. I guarantee you, this will end up helpi–”
~~~~~~~~~~
The true threat had been in the Master and not the Servant – that was obvious from the beginning. Regardless of skill, an Assassin had almost no chance in direct combat against a Saber and a Rider, so therefore he was meant as a distraction. The true attack was coming from the flank, to surprise an already weakened foe.
And so Rider had spent the time he had gained during the Plague Sphere tapping into deep, ancient mana reserves, finding a Noble Phantasm he hadn’t found a need to use in more than a lifetime. To fulfill his oath, he would either find a path or make one, and he could see that he had no hope of defending against such an attack with his current tools and then defeating Saber. But he had found exactly what he needed.
Hannibal had done something no one else deemed possible: scale the Alps with an army. Placed in front of anyone else, this obstacle would seem insurmountable, and that was exactly what Hannibal intended to do.
His elephant trumpeted loudly, interrupting some unimportant words coming out of Keiji Oshiro’s mouth. Stones began to rise from the ground around him, stones he had no hope of controlling, since they exuded an aura of inevitable failure and defeat. They began to close around him, spikes jutting out, trying to cut into his flesh. He stopped talking and released the charge from his wand, a bright burst of purple fire that would raze even a Saber to the ground, but the stones blocked its path. It was simply redirected upwards, into the gap where the stones had not yet closed.
If I hadn’t sworn that oath, I wouldn’t have been able to climb it. It was only because I had no other option that I took that path. I suppose that I wouldn’t have been able to do this either. But is it really worth it, in the end?The stones closed, and the power from the wand turned back on its Master, frying Keiji to a crisp. Assassin slowly faded away into nothingness. As the stones retracted, they revealed that the fire had burnt a hole into the ground several feet deep. Keiji’s corpse was gone, burned into smoke and made into ashes.
His Master walked to his side and began to rise into the air again. “Good. One to go.”
~~~~~~~~~~
It was nighttime, so the park was empty of all but a few people. Thus, it was strange that an old but well-dressed man was sitting on a bench, his eyes closed, oblivious to the goings-on about him. An Asian man with a business suit sat down next to him, and the old man slowly nodded.
The old man spoke. “The last night, I believe.”
The other man sighed and put his bow at his side. “Yes. Not much time left for us.”
“No available Masters, not that I’d want to rejoin.”
“Really? Not at all?”
“No... this War was never really for me. I was summoned for my fame in crafting inventions, but the idea of harming people sickens me.”
“Strange... that’s a shift in the Sanctum War, to be sure.”
“Yes. I feel that soon, something about this war is going to change. What about you? Why were you summoned?”
“I gave my all to protect someone... I suppose that’s all a Servant in this War needs.”
“Mmm... how long do you have left?”
“A few days, maybe a week. Independent Action and all that. I see you’re running on fumes.”
“Yes, the last remnants of my mana... I doubt I’ll persist through the night. Thank you for being someone to talk to through my last moments.”
“I hope we get to see how the war ends.”
“I don’t.”
~~~~~~~~~~
The battle was over, and Assassin had been defeated. Alexis stood up slowly, and walked with Saber side by side to Krauss and Rider. Hannibal’s elephant had calmed down, and the two sides now approached each other.
What should we do?
Maintain the pretense of being fair and honorable fighters. Gather what information we can. Put the Master off guard. Attack her if need be.
You know I value human life, but I suppose a swift death is better than a slow one. Rest assured that I won’t be afraid to do what I have to.Saber bowed. “Well met. I am the Saber-class servant. Thank you greatly for your assistance in this battle. You performed a noble deed today.”
Rider bowed in return. “Anyone with a shred of humanity would have done the same.”
Alexis stepped forward. “Since we are the last two Masters in the War, I think we should introduce ourselves. My name is Alexis Conzette.”
Zain shook Alexis’s hand. “Zain Krauss. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Alexis raised her eyebrow. “Krauss? You mean the Krauss family? It’s funny, I met Johannes Krauss just the other day.”
Krauss’s eyes narrowed, but he kept his voice civil. “Yes, he’s my brother. I’m afraid we don’t talk much, anymore... sibling rivalry and all that.”
“Well, you seem like a good person. Perhaps once this War is over, you should reconnect with him.”
Krauss sighed. “Perhaps... but I’ll have all the time in the world to do so. If I may ask, what makes you want to fight in the Sanctum War?”
Alexis frowned. “I wasn’t sure at first, to be honest. My father, Daniel, planned to fight in the war with Saber, but he... he died before he got the chance. And so I used his catalyst to summon Saber, and became a participant in the War. But now... now that I’ve spent time with Saber, befriending him, fighting people with him who planned to use their magic to wreak havoc... well, it’s hard to say, but I think I want to use the power of the Sanctum Key to grant Saber a human life, without the pressure of the War on our backs. Of course, I’d use my power to stop anyone like Assassin’s Master from becoming too strong. What about you?”
Saber, meanwhile, was suppressing a blush with a shocked expression on his face.
What folly... she doesn’t plan to do anything. Simply maintaining her Servant, maintaining the status quo? She’s young, she lacks vision. “You were candid with me, so I suppose I must do the same. I feel like I’ve spent all my life waiting for my death, my power leaching away from me as time moves on. I want to use the power of the Sanctum Key to stop that from happening – to render my life, and the life of anyone who wants it, eternal.”
Alexis slowly nodded. “I see... Well, it appears we’re the last two Masters left. Perhaps we could each have a few minutes to recuperate before we begin this battle? I think we’re both a little shaken up after Assassin.”
“That sounds fair. In addition, is it fair to say that only our Servants fight? If I may say, we both seem like honorable people, and I wouldn’t want either one of us to come to harm.”
“I suppose that’s a reasonable request... Obviously, if you break the deal, I’ll be forced to do the same.”
“Naturally. Goodbye for now, Alexis, and let us make this a battle for the ages.”
Should we attack now, while they’re recuperating?
No. They trust us, but they are not fools – they would never let their guards down completely. It would be better to wait until the heat of battle, when the girl is distracted.
That attack you used... can you use it again?
It does drain my mana pools, but I haven’t used a lot of mana in our battles thus far. As this is the final battle, I will use whatever power is necessary to achieve victory.
~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as Saber and Alexis were out of earshot, Saber began to speak. “Alexis... you don’t have to... in fact, you
shouldn’t. I’m your Servant, nothing more. After this War, my duty is done and our contract fulfilled.”
Alexis stopped. “Saber, you said earlier that you loved me. And I think... I think that you should accept that, not resist it. You may be my Servant, but you don’t have to be! We can be equals... you heard what Johannes Krauss said. If it wasn’t for our bond, I wouldn’t have been able to command you in the first place!”
Saber’s eyes sparkled. “What... what are you saying?”
“I love you too, Saber. And I want to spend my life with you. But to do that, we have to win the War.”
“I... I understand. I’ll do what I can.”
The two spent their final moments of peace in each other’s arms, comfortable in each other’s presence. They each would have done anything to make that moment last forever, but no power on Earth could stop the passage of time.
~~~~~~~~~~
Krauss had flown up into the sky, while Alexis stood at the back end of the clearing. Roland and Rider faced each other. The battle would be between the two Servants only, so the Masters would not be put in danger, and the victor would determine who won the Sanctum War.
Roland drew his sword, while Rider sat atop his elephant, surveying the battlefield. Alexis nervously watched Roland’s back.
Fifteen... ten... five... four... three... two... one... start. Roland leaped into the air. He didn’t have enough height to reach Hannibal, but his blade was almost at the elephant’s head level. The elephant reared back its head and launched a burst of water at Roland. It didn’t do any damage, but it distracted him enough to make his strike miss.
“Water?” Roland yelled good-naturedly. “Is that the best you can do?”
Rider chuckled. “Don’t knock it if it works.” His elephant then began a charge. Roland leaped out of the way, but Rider caught him with his rhomphaia, dealing minor damage. As Roland stumbled back, Alexis saw Durendal gleam. A red aura appeared around him, and the wound on his shoulder healed.
Roland grinned. “Another power of Durendal. The blood of Saint Basil, bless his name, grants me regeneration. Can
your blade do that?”
“Come now, you’re comparing apples and oranges. My rhomphaia isn’t my Noble Phantasm, my steed is.”
The two rushed at each other and continued sparring.
~~~~~~~~~~
How are you doing?
I can’t get through regeneration without my elephant, and it’s hard to land a solid hit. Usually you would support me in situations like these, but you both agreed that Masters wouldn’t use magic.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
It probably only resulted in you seeming more suspicious. First rule of honor: it goes without saying, and violators are punished without mercy.
What’s done is done. Any trump cards? That stone trap you summoned?
I’m saving that for the girl. And this battlefield doesn’t favor my usual tactics. Trees are smaller than buildings, so my elephant can’t gain as much height.Saber and the elephant were now trading blows, the elephant blocking Saber’s strikes with its tusks. However, the battle was clearly going in Saber’s favor. Any glancing blows the elephant made healed almost immediately, while the elephant was becoming weary and scratched.
It’s not as bad as it seems. The elephant’s Battle Continuation skill means it can go for quite a while longer. I’m going to wait for an opportune moment before attacking the girl.
Still, Krauss thought,
we have to inflict damage in order to win. The tide of this battle needs to change, fast.Hannibal was silent.
~~~~~~~~~~
Alexis watched the battle eagerly. This Krauss man seemed to be intelligent, but not very strong magically, and Roland’s Noble Phantasm was much more powerful. This battle would be over soon, and then – and then –
Roland paused in his attack. “Come on, is that really all you can do? I suppose I’ll just finish this quickly. I doubt even an elephant can stand up to the wrath of my sword at full power.”
A wind with a nostalgic aroma began to blow through the area, centering on Roland’s sword. Alexis deeply breathed in and smiled.
If everything goes as I planned, this’ll be the last time I see this sight. Her eyes focused on Roland, the light reflecting off of his sword, the preparation for the final, War-ending attack –
Forcefield chains bound down Alexis, and a craggy stone spire closed around her, blotting out Durendal’s light. Her mental scream of anguish reached Saber instantaneously, and the light from his sword faded.
“What!?” thundered Saber. “We had an agreement!”
Krauss only sighed. “I’m sorry, but this is war. The life of one girl, however sweet and kind she may be, is not worth the failure of my goal.”
Saber looked to Rider, who lowered his head. “Victory at all costs. That is what I swore. A knight’s honor is only a tool, nothing more.”
Roland’s face was dark with rage. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll crush you anyway.” But the sense of impossibility that Rider’s Noble Phantasm had inflicted on Alexis had seemed to spread to him. The sense of this battle as an insurmountable obstacle, impassable without sacrificing one’s self, one’s very being. And on the other side there was nothing of value, only inevitable death.
The downside of a close bond – flashed through his mind
–what she feels, I feel. The light from Durendal, driven by his faith that God would grant him victory, faded away, and the blade rusted over once again.
With a pained expression, Roland looked up at Krauss, but his flight capabilities rendered him out of reach. He turned halfheartedly back to Rider, but Rider’s elephant now seemed as big as a mountain, able to crush him underfoot. Stone and forcefields began to form around him as well, growing up the sides of his feet, rendering him motionless and declawed.
Meanwhile, Alexis was struggling within Rider’s claustrophobic Noble Phantasm, feeling stone spurs slowly jutting into her arm.
It’s all pointless, I can never get out, I’ve lost... She closed her eyes and did her best to blot out those thoughts, knowing they were an effect of the Noble Phantasm. But she wasn’t very successful, and she found the fear at the edges of her mind.
A light. I need a light. Her Anthology, almost unconsciously, flipped to a page for a basic light spell. It activated, and a small orb of blue light appeared in Alexis’s hands. As she looked around, though, she only grew more afraid. The way the interior of the stone jutted out in strange lines and webs reminded her of a skeleton, somehow, and now she could clearly see the spurs that were burrowing into her skin.
Alexis shivered, and then winced at the pain it caused her. Her Anthology fell on the ground and opened to the back cover. Alexis struggled to retrieve it, but her eye caught on words written in the Anthology.
I don’t remember writing a spell here...I believe in you.He... he wrote this... for me... The dull pressure of inevitable failure was pushed to the back of Alexis’s mind, replaced by an urge to fulfill Roland’s expectations. Now was the time to think
Saber can’t attack the other Master because he’s in the air. I need to find a way to disable that. But he’s using two separate kinds of forcefields to fly... I can’t just Azzitire away one. But to use Azzittire to silence two spells at once... I would need Diablo. I’ve used it up already, but I think I remember the basic symbol... and there’s plenty of blood here to activate it.
Alexis dipped her finger in a gash on her skin and looked at the adjoining page of her Anthology, right next to the message that filled her heart with warmth whenever she looked at it. She began to draw.
~~~~~~~~~~
The opposing Master and Servant were slowly being consumed by Rider’s Noble Phantasm. Rider was running on fumes now, but he had enough mana left to persist in physical form. The battle was almost over. Rider’s elephant took a couple steps forward, ready to crush Roland underfoot.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Alexis’s stone cage
**** in two, with Rider’s mana unable to withstand the force of such a powerful Smite spell. Alexis herself walked out, puncture marks from the stone all around her body, her Anthology levitating next to her. Before either Krauss or Rider could even react, out of her mouth came two words.
“Diablo.” A red mist of potential energy appeared around Alexis.
“Azzittire.” This spell, from Alexis’s Book of Silence, was meant to temporarily disable the last spell that the opponent had used. However, boosted by the unstable energy of Diablo, it formed a bolt of black lightning that tore through Krauss. His forcefields flickered out, his Aegis Bracelets rusted over, and he began to fall to the ground. Hannibal caught him on his elephant, but he was now powerless to avoid Saber’s attacks.
However, while Diablo had boosted Azzittire’s strength, it had not altered its capacity. All of its stolen spells, hardened by years of constant use, had to go
somewhere. And so they were sent to the nearest pocket of mana storage – Alexis’s anthology.
As Alexis watched, black lines formed all across her previously pristine book, blotting out each and every one of her spells with their chaotic scrawls. She saw that even Saber’s message had been altered beyond recognition. Her book was still charged with mana – more than before, even – but all of the directions to use it had been corrupted beyond repair. She was defenseless.
Roland, help.~~~~~~~~~~
The stone cage prevented Roland from hearing anything that was going on, but through his mental link with Alexis, he felt that she had escaped somehow, and was in trouble. A tiny flame of hope appeared in his heart – not for himself, as he thought his fate already decided, but for his Master.
I have one option left. I swore not to do it, and knights keep their oaths... but the first rule of honor is to protect the innocent, and the second is to defeat the wicked. By doing this, I am fulfilling both.Roland’s magical resistance granted him a resistance to Command Seals, especially delayed-action or general Command Seals like the one that prevented him from using his final Noble Phantasm. Breaking the Seal would still leave him paralyzed for a while, but with the nature of this Noble Phantasm, it didn’t matter at all.
Roland blew on his Oliphant Horn, the one that would summon the great armies of Charlemagne. But the one rule of the horn was that it would always be used too late, when Saber’s fate was already sealed. A spike began to grow through Roland’s heart, leaching out his life-giving mana.
Outside, on the battlefield, a single note sounded, loud and clear despite the stone wall between Roland and the others. Alexis, confused at first, slowly realized what had happened and crumbled to her knees.
Inadvertently, Roland had discovered the weak point of Hannibal’s elephant, and thus Hannibal himself. His army’s elephants had been confounded before by horns in one of Hannibal’s final battles, and the horn itself was made from the hollowed tusk of a dead elephant. Rider’s remaining mana was too weak to resist such a targeted attack, and his elephant disintegrated into sand and rubble. Rider and Krauss fell on the ground, their hands scratched. Krauss was trembling with rage.
“They’re coming,” Rider muttered. “The army of Charlemagne.”
Krauss coughed. “I... I will
not be defeated by a mere child. You, who have hardly started your life, not yet tasted the dull decay of age, have no chance against me. Learn to respect your betters, and to do what is
truly right instead of simply following your petty emotions and base desires. Your Servant is dead, your dreams crushed. And while you may have disabled most of my spells, I have one spell so far buried, so little used, that it has escaped your reach. And now... I shall use it.”
Rider gasped in pain. What he was experiencing... a perversion of the Master-Servant contract, a reversal of the mana flow... all of the energy that Krauss had poured into him, to sustain his physical form, was being sent back. He was left enough to remain nominally alive, enough for the purposes of winning the Sanctum War, but all of his power was gone. The stone cage around Roland crumbled, revealing his dead body. And all of Rider’s mana was being used to fuel...
“ERADICO.” Solid fire leapt out of Krauss’s hand, fire that spread through the air and across the ground at his command. Alexis leapt backwards, but it soon surrounded her, and she screamed in pain as the red forcefield touched her skin, draining her mana and life force from her at devastating speeds. It engulfed the Anthology, slowly breaking the hold of all of its spells, the marks on its pages turning into oddly-shaped smoke. Slowly, the hold of her Azzittire spell broke, and Krauss’s Aegis Bracelets lit up again. He sent one to pick up the empty shell that was Rider, boarded one himself, and flew away just as the sound of the approaching army grew to a fever pitch. Some arrows were feebly launched at them, but by that time they were long gone.
“Funny, isn’t it?” Krauss said. “Even a Servant’s strongest Noble Phantasm can be avoided by something as simple as flight. It’s always the little things that end up defeating the most powerful of heroes.”
Krauss, still holding up Rider’s prone body with his magic, arrived at the home of the current holder of the Key. “I have won the Sanctum Key, using my Servant and the other tools at my disposal. I shall claim my reward of eternity.”
The man raised his eyebrows. “You have indeed won...”
“You sound disappointed, old man. Were you backing someone else?”
“No, you know I must remain neutral... but there was a girl that I met a short while ago. She seemed... pure of heart.”
“Well, you of all people should know that purity doesn’t lead to victory. Her life was a necessary cost.”
The old man’s hands trembled as he held out the Key. “I understand that you are the rightful winner of this War, and that the choices that you have made led you here... still, there must be a better way.”
“There is. Let me show you.”
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