The sky split open under the looming lights of the key of the world. The splintered shards floated down to their rightful owners.
That was more anticlimactic than I thought. No final song, no requiem, no real sense of fulfillment, only the open palms, clutching onto another burden.
To truly end everything, all the servants would have to disappear. Every last one of them. Lancer, Caster, Saber, and Berserker. Yes, this would be the end, the coda of the story, the final cadence. Lest we return, a la coda.
Sitting peacefully in her chair, she stroked her left glove. Gone will be one shackle, and then evermore. She sank into her chair, returning to her slumber in the world of the living. A second shell strolled out of a bush. It was no matter that the circuitry of the first one was completely and utterly smashed to bits. ALl she needed to do was reset, reroll, and try again.
It was a perpetual cycle. Waking up, satisfying her urge for sugar, doing whatever she pleased.
Gun in hand, she strolled through the ravaged grounds of the forest and hill. It was a colorful event and one to remember. She mused that Lancer would be ahead of her, walking forwards burning out the last of his youth. She would go collect the in person using this second body. Yes, everything is progressing normally.
The rain of flames and steel cascaded down upon them. [Dual Skill EX: Flame Resistance EX. Guardian Knight EX] Lancer rocketed forth into the air, catching a thermal formed by the swarming streaks. At his underside was a girl, similarly in the thermal as well as using the golden figure’s tailwind to not be buffeted by the air pressure of the swarming blades. Lacer smashes aside any and all weapons coming their way and they made a beeline for Avenger. A few flaming birds assailed them to no avail, smashing into Lancer’s body and tumbling off.
Flying out of the tailwind, Maria soared into Avenger, blazing a halo and creating a shroud of fire. The trident sunk into the wall of fire and tore clashed again the Shroud of Turin. The protective layering collapsed and her wings were clipped once more, crashing to the ground. [Dual Skill EX: Herculean Strength EX. Battering Blows EX.] With the two spear points, Lancer continuously smashed into the shield, concentrating each blow onto a single point. The polearm flimsily warded off blows as the shield was bashed into the ground.
A continuous flurry of attacks failed to dent the Kavacha but soon she was grounded once more. The cascade of blades whirred onwards, placing glancing hits on the duo. Six wings flapped furiously and circled around Avenger, slowly hacking away with an array of blades. The trident flew out in a routine fashion, this time going straight through the pink haired girl’s chest. She slumped over, sinking deeper into the shaft of the trident. The glowing lights faded and the wings on her back crumpled and faded away. A brief impulse of energy rippled through the weapon and burned away at the torso of the human figure.
Three, two, one.
The figure reignited and grasped onto Avenger’s right arm. A volley of weapons tore the head, pink hair and all off of the shell. A voice creaked out of the disembodied head. “I’ve always wanted to do this. Holding onto someone’s arm and then imploding? It’s an exhilarating thought, don’t you think?” The left hand crumbled away, revealing an ornate blade, giving off the familiar glow of glory and sinister intent. It was indeed a blade fit for a king. Avenger furrowed her brow but her right arm had been encased by the now amorphous lump of crystal. “EXC-”, the ground trembled and the air quivered, “ALIBUR!” A torrent of light burst into existence and slammed into the armored girl. Tumbling some distance, Avenger picked herself up with a grimace and Lancer’s assault continued. “Even a fake holds this much power, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of those,” mused the head.
As Lancer swung at Eve, she slacked her stance and allowed herself to be blown back by the attack, turning to minimize the damage and using the force to propel herself away to switch armaments. She landed near the Saber of Clubs once more.
Maria ((Testing out a new style.)) That should be an armor derived from Hinduism, in which case it should be from the Mahabharata. She didn't conjure up defensive armaments earlier as she didn't need them so i had assumed it was weaponry. This'll be hard to deal with. Let's see.... Mahabharata, the two artifacts that I can remember are the set of sun armor granted to Karna at birth and the spear of Indra. Actually, I seem to remember some claim on the internet about the Mahabharata being a nuclear war that was waged. It was quite amusing. I wonder if someone used the false quoting as a form of magical conduit, would they be able to unleash a nuke level spell? Probably not, none of the modern spells based on the deep integration of science of magecraft has formulate any results after all, well still and amusing concept. If I remember correctly, Karna was derived from the sun and had the power to battle divinity. Coincidentally, the Sword of Catherine happens to have the similar properties. Let's test my conjecture. The lance and trident clashed. Sparks scattered with each connecting blow. Lancer accelerated backwards, twisting his body to dash away. Avenger pressed on, shifting her grip on the lance for more reach, thrusting with each leaping stride. The lance twirled into the air and then fell upon the prongs of the trident. Avenger retreated. A bead of sweat fell to the ground with an audible plop. Another dash, another stroke. Sparks flying once more. Lancer jabbed and the prongs of the trident wedged the weapon, locking it in place. Pushing down on the polearm, Avenger propelled herself forwards and bashed lancer into the face. Staggering, he yanked his lancer, turning it with all his might. Avenger spun in the air and a kick smashed into her shield, sending her flying. Lancer bridged the gap, splitting the lance in half. Prying away her weapon, he smashed into her shield. once, twice, thrice. Avenger backpedaled, rotating and knocked Masamune backwards. Avenger grasped the trident near the tips and drew up the shield. The two spear points battered the vice defense. The grounded eroded away, inch by inch. Avenger’s lips parted, and a curt breath spat out. A flame descended down upon her from the sky, glancing off her face and sliding all the way down. Her silken face remained unscathed. The six-winged figure flung the weapon into the air, switching over to a dull blade, A wide stroke clattered against Avenger, unflinchingly reciprocating the attacks. Lancer charged, only to be smacked aside by teh butt of the trident. The trident sunk into the left flank of the winged girl and tore a shallow hole into the abdomen. The wound sealed itself promptly and the attack pressed on. Avenger took into the air, only to be slapped in the face by a glancing wing. The trident skewered them and the mass of pink was sent tumbling through the air, Lancer ran through the air, butterfly wings and mana thrusters at his back. A dance, an aria, a duet of whirring weapons. Portals spewed out projectiles, obstructing the path of the flight. A prong thrust into Lancer, a twirl parried the blow and her returned fire. Another salvo of exchanges passed. Maria sunk her flaming blade into the wax wings. Eve descended back down to the ground.
She finally arrived in the center of her painstakingly prepared array from over six hours ago. She beckoned Lancer to stand in the center and began to light up the magical array. Lancer peeled off his veil and unwrapped the mangled, metal staff that he kept securely by his side. Slowly, but surely, it began to show a lustrous glow.
Lancer firmed planted the staff into the center of the array whilst a second one a few meters of the the side had a rock placed into the center. Silvery light danced in Maria's hand and loosely turned into the shape of a sword. She stabbed it into the center of the stone. Caliburn.
The air quivered once more, a similar outline came to stir. A bastard sword of some sorts in both senses of the word. It was both large and dull, a strange sort of blade. As it fully formed, she strapped it to her waist. Curtana.
She continued toying with the air, and with each stroke a new line emerged. One, two, three, four, the spectral lumps fell upon the ground. Joyeuse. Durendal. Sword of Catherine. Lance of Longinus.
She wrapped the air around herself, and two more ghastly films developed. Shroud of Turin. Crown of Thorns.
With that her sculpting session ended and the items were scattered around on the ground. Waving her arms, the air gathered them up and jabbed them neatly into a circular formation around the staff in the center.
She **** open her mouth and then gently pursed her lips. She opened them once more and started, "King Richard III, I beseech of thee. Rise up ye Fallen King. Rise up and once more grasp the throne of the Lord." In a distant room, a young girl sat serenely in her chair, eyes closed, head down. Her left hand shimmered red, illuminating the room. With a booming echo, the light receded. A second mark had vanished. The hunched old man slowly trembled, his bones contorting and reforming. His hair grew out, his spine straightened, his gait was corrected, and his wrinkles faded away.The staff developed a singular prong on both ends and the metal slowly smoothed out. From a dull, murky black pearl, it became ornate, glistening with gold. The test of time had come to greet him in his life, once more would he now abandon his visage for another. In youth had come strength, charisma, and the seat of the world. He was back, he was Richard III.
The Fallen King could only trek upon the world for so long. After all, he was no longer the king, Britain was now in the palm of another. But for now, if but for an instant in the eyes of those above, it was his domain again. He was King, he reigned all, and he usurped the land. Yes, this was his battlefield and he intended to keep it that way. His ambition had paved the way for him in his lifetime and once more it would serve him. A lasting accomplishment would be enumerated amongst those to fight the strongest of servants and to obtain victory. yes, he would not let anyone stand in his way. No one. No one.
Accel Burst EX. Dash. Leap. Strike. Richard III concentrated energy into his feet and pushed against the ground. In a single push, he covered dozens of his normal strides. In one last kick against the ground, he rocketed himself into the air, sailing towards the battle between the swordswoman and Avenger.
Herculean Strength EX. Smash. Divine Protection EX Swap when required. With that, Richard slammed into the Eve's flank, knocking away Muramasa, battering the flying phantasms and let the momentum carry him through his attack.
Having recuperated from her initia shock and displeasure, she kicked her mind into high gear. She shut down her body and activated her parallel mind link between her primary shell and the core cube. She began to drown in her sea of consciousness.
She is of the higher denizens of Christian faith, from the aura our Christian King faces. She is of not a purity but of a vile mixture of the above and the beyond. Thus it must be so that she is the proprietor of original sin, Eve. As she is a Christian entity, how does one go about terminating her?
In conclusion, why the **** does it have to be Eve for goodness sake. Better gouge out my eyeballs now. As Maria rushed through the air with the cube flying to her left and Lancer running along beneath her, she took her index and middle fingers, and shoved it into her eye sockets, and crushing the mana tissue composing the eyeballs. She pinched the fake nerves, redrawing the shape of the eye. As it was nearing the original shape, she started engraving markings into them
Ekki hræðumst ek þat sverð Ekki hræðumst ek þat sverð Ekki hræðumst ek þat sverð
This line of magical text was overlapped three times per eye, creating a faux fusion of Norse and Christian magecraft. It began to singe her mind so she shut off the pain receptors completely.
Moving her palm onto the cube, the words were plastered onto each face of the cube. She intently stared at the giant array of swords and weaponry laid out amongst the skies.
"I recite upon to thee: 'Now, indeed, have things taken a right hopeless turn; for this man's eyes can dull any weapon.' Thus: 'Thou that is held within my eyes, I fear thee not.'"
Time is a ticking- when i get close enough, we shall start our dance, my King.
Her eyes drifted along the snow and followed the footsteps as they led away from the grave. Only the tracks that led away from it remained and even those were slowly eaten away by the elements. The snow slowly ebbed, fluttering like petals in the wind. She jaunted through the air, hovering over the mound of dirt.
"Well, away from the prying eyes of your friends and loved ones, I'll prepare my own eulogy for you. You who has been graced with the showers of affection and sorrow. They truly are all fools. It's cold out you know. Threats could be on the horizon, they could die at any moment, and it'd make it all the manners worse if it was pneumonia that ended them."
"Well, if we were to talk, I guess it'd be about our contract. Well, sorry about that. All I can say really. Yeah." Clasping her hands in front of her chest, she began pulling artistry from the air. The familiar mist coiled, condensed, and solidified. This time, a glistening apple appeared in her palm. Cradling it, she began once more.
"I was in an apple kind of mood the last couple of days. You accepted the apple quite willingly. COuld've been full of poison you know. It's synonymous with a lot of nasty ailments. In latin, mālum and mălum are quite similar phonically, with one being apple and the other being evil. The apple is the iconic symbol for death, sin, eternal life, and rebirth.Above all, the apple represents the tie between to people. I wonder, would he have joined your side if he had taken a bite?"
Maria chuckled as she continued onwards, "Yeah, perhaps he'd be dead two. Well, I guess you wouldn't want that now, would you. After all, your purpose for being in the war was to protect those dearest to you. Well, he's still alive. You were a young, naive fool and you paid for it with your life. Yes, in hindsight, a mirror may not have saved you, but having one would have been nice, no? Ah, well, I'll bequeath upon to you another apple. For the journey ahead. It'll be a long one."
"Ah, I'm in a sing songy mood so let's listen to this." The Maria shell began digging into the song remains stored within the crystal tissue.
As Lancer charged through the forest, he felt both a sense of impending doom and an exhilarating exaltation of the highest degree. The energies that he comprised with hummed with awe and gloom. It was a complicated feeling. But the one thing he knew for sure, was that it emanated from the building in front.
"There is a great person amongst us."
"Is that so my King? Someone more grandeous than you?"
"Very much so, my soul quivers due to the sheer aura they emit. Divine? Heathen? I do not know. This cloud is unclear, unlike the clear taint from that trash who walked upon this earth moments ago."
Although Maria was in a nice mood due to the lovely music she was enjoying by proxy, her expression sunk. "HahahahahahaahaHAHAHAHAAHAAA" A few miles away, the broken laughter echoed in a small, enclosed area.
I started the post before the Cody one. Didn't work as well after that so yeah, feel free to just use this and just continue on since I won't have time to fix it anyways before sometime very late.
"About time someone has a bright idea around here," Maria muttered as she flew by the coloured hair duo from her aerial trek. Although it may be an emotional time for all of as your friend has just perished, this is a war zone after all. The Germanic demon could have casually strolled up and shot you all without anyone being the wiser. Well, I'll come back to have a lil' chat with these two after paying my respects to the dead.
With her unfurled wings, she jaunted through the air, the only one unrestrained by the weight of the atmosphere around her. Clasping her hands in front of her chest, she began pulling artistry from the air. The familiar mist coiled, condensed, and solidified. This time, a glistening apple appeared in her palm whilst she hovered over the corpse.
"Well, seeing as pretty much everyone else here has offered an eulogy around here, i guess I'll make one as well. So, let's talk about apples. I was quite flattered that you ate the apple, could've been laced with slow acting poison for all you know. It takes either a brave soul or an ignorant one to accept. Refreshing nonetheless. In latin, the word for apple is quite phonically similar to the word for evil. Both malum, they only differ through the accent on the a. Yes, the apple has become the iconic symbol in the relationship between a man and a woman through the advent of the magecraft legacy left behind by Adam and Eve. Yes, the woman leads the way and the man follows her beckoning call. I wonder if your boyfriend will follow you to the grave? After all, the apple is a sign of mortality and at the same time, it represents an endless life."
She stopped talking and dropped the apple gingerly onto her forehead. She slowly backed away, into the air, turning.
"A mirror could've saved you in the past, but take an apple for the road. It'll be a long one after all." She flew above the boy with black hair and dropped an apple, smacking him on the head with an audible thud.
"Yo Kuroahoge, sorry to interrupt your touching scene but are you done moping yet? I'm sure your girlfriend appreciates- er, would appreciate your sentiments but it's about time that you wrap it up. You knew that you would incur your father's wrath when this happened. Yes, this is war. People die. You can save the mourning for later. She wouldn't have wanted you to die because you were rooted in one spot you know. What she wanted from the war was to protect those dear to her. You're still alive. Don't betray her expectations. There's still a bitter German wraith out there that you should shift your focus to."
[...Uh, you mean the one Club Archer stranded on a deserted island hundreds of miles away?]
Details, details. Better than saying she could've put a bullet through his head. I can change it to her telling him that she could've shot him?and constant viligence.
She mentally whistled, what had started out to be a potential slugfest between seven servants now had four of those figures incur casualties. The demon archer was burning itself out while the golden paragon archer looked as if his steroided state would be soon to follow. That just left the samurai, the information gleaming caster, a lancer on standby, and a missing Berserker.
Avenger had flickered out of existence, cutting through another servant as if they were human. She frowned.
Although Excalibur should lead me to believe that this is a Pendragon, something about that air of her's doesn't fit with that last name. So this means that it's most likely Sigurðr, Völundr, or Nimue. I can't think of anyone else it could be. Hmmm, this'll be an issue. If it's Nimue, that means I have to contend with the healing properties and magic of the isle of Avalon. Sigurðr means I'd also have to worry about the existence of Gram and if it's Völundr, well, I kind of want to just go home thinking about it. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Avenger destroying the world? That'll probably be the end result I suppose.
Well, dealing with Zamiel will be up to either this body or them down there. I can't spare any time of Lancer's last stand on a wraith or shade.
King, start moving. Soon, let us begin the final fight.
The shell with wings fluttered about, warming up with a salvo of magical pellets, bombarding the spirit with few prodding test rounds.
A sonorous whir rushed through the air. Before her non-existent eyes could blink, all the shell saw was the thud of two shadows. A girl and a woman. it was but two lights fading in a sea of many. She grinned.
Hmm, I never even got to use that part of the contract. A shame really, she was a nice girl. Naive, but with a nice personality. Well, I guess in the end it's good that she's dead. No need to kill her myself.
Kuroahoge surely isn't having a nice day right now. His girlfriend's dead, his father just killed her, his father is dying, his temporary servant has turned against him, yes, nothing could be going worse for him. Aaaaaaaaaah, if only I could make it worse you know? Hammer the nail in the coffin, yes, that would be quite fun.
With a grin plastered on her immobile body, the shell stirred. The bare backside split open, the robe torn to shreds. Four oscillating butterfly wings glimmered in the shade of the canopy above. it stretched. Her rugged outline crackled. The air grew heavy and sank down below it.
A pool of liquid surged, wrapping around its translucent body. A gown of black curled up, and billowed downwards. The masked split, and with it, the head shattered. A gap opened up, and curled upwards. Yes, it was smiling. Eyes soon followed, a nose as well. Ears ...... and hair. A jet of pink and silver flowed down.
You know, this reminds me of that show I watched about an elementary schoolgirl who was selected by a Kaleidostick to collect these seven class cards. I mean, I'm quite sure some mage went to Japan to make that show because there are a striking number of similarities between this and that.
Maria continued sitting in her inn room, having a nice cup of tea and some biscuits, unphased by what was happening a couple miles away from her. She took another bite and washed it down.
Why fight when you can just act like America or Britain and call in a drone strike and remotely There's less of a risk involved when you get an unmanned aircraft so that you can even kamikaze it into the innocent civilians if needed! Yes, the modern art of war was indeed the best. Well, I guess I'll have to mobilize.
A cube emerged from a bush bringing up a plate of biscuits, a tea cup, and a teapot with some Tieguanyin up to Avenger. A small voice crackled through.
Tea? At your service.
Well, I'll actually do something if someone dies. Or in a couple minutes, I want to finish this plate first.
"Hey, Courier. Rick wants you down in sector D4. I'll assume it's your usual delivery to Baemu Corp. After you do that, old Rat was said to tell you that he'll be in A1 to give you some sort of a job. Important stuff from the sounds of it."
"Ah, thank you very much sir," Lute responded whilst bowing. The man nodded him head in confirmation and walked away. The teen quickly limbered off towards his appointed destination.
D4, the morgue again. Guess Director Bolgan needs another dead body to experiment with again. The director's been asking for a lot more bodies lately, I wonder if the new product has some decomposition effect? Well, no matter, pays well enough so I'm not complaining. I'll need to get some fuel for the motorrad and the gauntlets I guess. Don't really want to lug around a corpse for the greater half of the morning using just my arm strength.
Lute veered off his course and entered the B3 mod workshop to get a new battery for his trusty steed and left his gauntlets there to charge while he grabbed the package. D4 was as dreary as always, with people fully covered in austere colors, toting around nothing but the dead. the dead that came here were used for various other sectors with the researches in the L district requesting the most. With the new false rejuvenation external mods they had there, the deceased now became popular subjects to experiment on. it wasn't so much of an ethical issue but more of a "hey, there's not enough test subjects!"
As Lute walked around reminiscing about the situation down here, he made it to one of the tents and picked up the package. He bowed and carried it of, heading back to B3 to get his now fully prepared gauntlet. There wasn't a scheduled tuning for another few days so the charge should last him until then if he used ti sparingly. He donned the gear and used it to hurry up his pace. He hurried along out of the Sewer Ewer and back into the land of the barren skies. Dismounting from his bike, Lute lugged the luggage up through the twin titanium plated doors of Baemu Corp, a place apply named after some sort of exctinct fauna that was said to be a great delicacy. He approached the familiar, glossy countertop with two alert receptionists on duty.
"Uh, I'm here to deliver Director Bolgan's Biweekly Care Package on behalf of Morgan's Pharmacy."
"Name please?"
"Haze. Haze, Lute."
"Stand in front of the scanner please? You're all set. Here's your guest pass for the day. The elevator you are looking for is accessible by making a right after passing the restrooms. Have a nice day."
"Thank you." Having deposited the item in the usual storage fridge on the 37th floor, Lute hurried back to the sewers to receive his next assignment. He wanted to get it over with quickly so that he would at least have some time to go see the Lucia concert. He had always enjoyed her singing. It was a bright light shining in the dark for all who lay their ears upon it.
"You called sir?"
"Courier, you have a big task ahead of you. A certain client has paid quite a large sum of money for a group of children to kidnap Ms. Lucia il Terminale. They've specified that it has to be a group of children undertaking this operation so I'm putting you in charge."
"Me? Why me?"
"You are one of the oldest ones who still count as being a child and many of the others already have some sort of assignment that they are in the process of completing. There's not much choice here. You also get paid to attend the concert of the idol that you like. isn't that reason enough?"
"... I don't really want to kidnap her though."
"Would it help if I were to say that the girl needs to get surgery relatively soon or she'll die? The client wants to hear the little bird chirp for years to come so it'd be a shame if her wings were clipped right here and now. The Corpus Noir also has their eyes set on her."
The man paused ans smiled, "So, what will you do?"
"... Very well." Lute plopped himself onto his bed and sighed. it was a lot to take in. This would be his biggest job to date, but it was also a giant leap in difficulty.
I just have to do it. To prove myself, to pay off the debt, and ......
His thoughts trailed off as he peered out the window, gazing down a long hall of dim lights and gray walls.
Having taken a nap on the flight over, she had already picked up a set of gear from the main Leicestershire complex and was now in a booked inn room in Market Bosworth. She donned the light kevlar body armor with magic circuit fibers woven through the middle of it. On top of that, she put on a simple blouse and skirt with a D level magic resistance incantation woven into it. She unleashed her mini auxiliary cubes which now numbered six in total. She had her body frames shipped over and started carrying those off on the main cube.
Each one of the frames mimicked her own physical structure, complete with with mask, long black robots, and a crystalline mana tissue muscles like those in her cube to allow her to remotely command them. In short, a large number of body doubles. One of them was fully equipped with a heat insignia and an oscillator to vary the mana flow in a semi realistic fashion. Yes, this was war, and now she would have to get serious.
Her fingers glossed over the tops of the tranquilizer Dragnovs. She let out a toothy grin.
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