[X] Plan: Moving the Pieces, A
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Mami let loose with a volley of gunfire from her muskets, rotating spent guns out of action and replacing them just as soon as she had fired. But her every gunshot was blocked by Sidonia. The black sphere stretched out in front of her, forming into a bulletproof shield of Grief which caught each musket ball as soon as it hit. Shells clattered to the ground, one after another, and Sidonia's sphere changed shape, spearing outwards in over a dozen black lances.
Oriko pushed Mami out of the way, throwing up multiple layers of barriers in the path of the black lances. They struck the outermost barrier, and both Mami and Oriko braced themselves, either for the weapons to pierce through Oriko's defences, or for them to curve around the barriers and strike at them from the flanks. They did neither. Instead, the black spears dug themselves into the transparent barrier layer and, like a spreading fungus, proceeded to infect the outermost layer. Oriko grit her teeth, trying to hold back a cry of pain as her drones were infected with Grief, but Mami could see her ally's hands shaking, and knew that Oriko couldn't keep it up forever.
But they didn't have to. Before the spears of Grief could break through and corrode Oriko's barriers, Sidonia recalled them, and sent them down the hall in the opposite direction. Scáthach, who had come in from behind to flank Sidonia, was forced to quickly bring up her spear as Sidonia's weapons shot towards her. She spun her weapon, blocking the black lances one by one, but each time she deflected one, it bent, curving around to Scáthach's flank and forcing he to block it a second. In that moment, Saber charged forward, and with his sword and spear he sliced through the blackness of the Grief weapons, severing them from their connection to Sidonia's sphere and halting the attack.
As soon as she was free, Scáthach ducked down low, sliding underneath Saber and invoking her Tiwaz rune to send a wall of spears erupting up from the ground at Sidonia. She brought up her shield of Grief, tossing it out in front of the approaching wall of spears and letting it stick, gumming up the spears and halting their advance. But as soon as it was stuck, Scáthach thrust her spear, and managed to pierce through the sphere of Grief, though she had to quickly withdraw it as soon as she saw fingers of black attempting to claw their way up the shaft of her spear. The sphere of black slipped off Scáthach's wall of spears, and Scáthach quickly leaped backwards as black lances of Grief shot out from the sphere.
Again, Saber sliced through the black lances, severing them from their connection to the rest of the sphere. At that moment, distracted by the team of Saber and Scáthach, Mami and Oriko opened fire on Sidonia, blasting her with musket balls and bolts of mana. Whipping her arm around, Sidonia directed what was left of the sphere into intercepting their combined attacks, and both musket balls and bolts of mana were stopped in their tracks.
"So, this is the limits of your ability to fight me?" Sidonia asked, turning her head in order to taunt Mami and Oriko. "You couldn't do the job yourselves, so you had to call on your cheap little pets to do it for you?"
"Cheap, you say?" asked Saber, brandishing his sword and spear at Sidonia as he slowly advanced towards her. "No more than you, brazenly stealing the servants of others and using them for yourself. Not to mention the way you hide behind that cheap shield of yours. Perhaps you should consider your own position before you insult another's."
Sidonia laughed at Saber's retort; "And you call me cheap," she said. "This is Grief from the Leviathan Seed itself. Call it 'cheap' all you want; your words don't make it so." Sidonia lashed out with her weapon, sending the swirling blackness towards Saber in the form of a single massive blade, which Saber cut through with a single stroke of his spear. Grief splashed across the floor, and Mami and Oriko took a step back as the sizzling black liquid cooked pockmarks into the floor wherever it landed. Sidonia curled her fingers into a clawed fist, and the splattered Grief which had fallen was pulled back in, returning to the sphere and giving it back its shape and volume.
Sidonia grinned again, and Saber took a step backwards, backing closer to his charges as sigils of fire appeared at Sidonia's sides. "Or perhaps you would prefer to feel the sting of my flames, if you think my weapon is 'cheap'." Just then, something wound itself around Sidonia, and she was thrown backwards with a cry of "What the-!" as golden ribbons and lengths of chain, wound around her legs, dragged her to the ground before slamming her into the wall as they snaked their way over her arms and her chest. Sidonia approximated the closest thing she could to a flick of her wrist, and her flaming spears shot out towards her targets. Oriko raised up a layer of barrier, and-
The spears stopped just short of reaching Oriko's barrier, before turning around and bolting towards Sidonia. Her eyes went wide, and before she had the chance to say anything, her black sphere had shot forward, converting itself into a shield which blocked the incoming lances, splashing their fire against the curved edges of her Grief shield. "You little-" Sidonia fumed. "What the hell was that? What did you do to my flames?"
A massive crimson spear broke through the wall, and it was only due to Sidonia's Grief shield coming to her defence that it didn't spear her through. "Ya like it?" asked Kyouko, sticking her head from the hole her spear had carved into the wall. "Bet ya never figured that someone else could use yer own flames against ya."
Kyouko drove her spear towards Sidonia, but only managed to crash it against the shield of Grief as it shot in front of its master. "You little whorespawn" Sidonia spat. "I'll make you pay for-"
Faster than her shield of Grief could react, Kyouko had slipped into Sidonia's zone of control, slamming her fist into Sidonia's jaw and sending the woman reeling backwards. "Don't- Don't ever talk shit about my mom again," Kyouko said. "She- She was a fucking saint fer how much she had ta put up with."
"Touched a nerve, did we?" Sidonia asked, thumbing away the blood dripping from her lip from where Kyouko had punched her. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to send her a nice card after I'm through with your corpse!"
Before either Kyouko or Sidonia could make a move- "Sakura-san, duck!" cried Mami. Kyouko hit the floor, and Mami- "Tiro Finale!" unloaded on Sidonia with a single blast from her cannon. Sidonia was quick to bring up her shield of Grief, but Mami's shot tore through the black sphere, striking Sidonia and sending her flying backwards. Before Sidonia could react, Mami had dropped, pressing her hands to the floor where ribbons of gold and red sprung up. They soared towards Sidonia, wrapping around themselves to create a wave of fists, pummelling Sidonia and only sending her flying further, before breaking apart again and becoming bindings which wrapped themselves around Sidonia, immobilising her. Sidonia's eyes shot to her sphere of Grief, but before it could change its shape, Mami had- "Tiro Finale!" unloaded on Sidonia with a second blast from her cannon. This time, with nowhere for Sidonia to be thrown, the shot erupted into a fiery blast upon impact, bathing the hallway in a warm red-orange glow as the flickering glow of flaming embers was spread out over the hall.
"You will not speak ill of Sakura-san's mother in my presence, Sidonia," Mami said, placing a comforting hand onto Kyouko's shoulder; "And I will not allow you to invoke her name to threaten Sakura-san with, either."
"Funny," Sidonia said. "I didn't think I was giving you a choice."
Scáthach was faster than Sidonia. The instant it looked as though she would break free from her bindings, Scáthach was on top of her, invoking her Tiwaz rune and piercing her through with several spears. In such close proximity, even though the black sphere attempted to spread out into a shield to guard its master, Scáthach's spears still managed to pierce her through completely. As one final hurrah, Saber approached, and with his spear he severed Sidonia's head from her body. Sidonia went silent, her body limp against Scáthach's spears as her head rolled off down the hall.
"Did we get her?" Kyouko asked, eyeing the presumed corpse carefully. "'Cause if not, then-"
Flames sprung up all around Sidonia's body. Mami and Scáthach were both forced to fall back before the flames could lick them, and while Kyouko did what she could, invoking her Sowilo rune and attempting to tear the flames away, they still managed to burn through the ribbons binding Sidonia's corpse in place. It fell forward as flames incinerated the ribbons binding it, but before it could hit the ground, the corpse rose to its feet, and from down the hall, the maniacal laughter of Sidonia's head could be heard. "You shouldn't have gone for the head."
Kyouko, Saber, and Scáthach all struck with their spears, while Mami and Oriko opened fire with their own weapons, but the swirling black sphere that had gone silent upon its master's death sprang into action, forming a dome around the headless body of its master, while also reaching out with a long, black tendril to grab for the fallen head. Saber moved in, slashing at the black tendril with his spear, but when he approached, the black ichor shot out and attempted to wrap itself around Saber's spear. Black fingers clawed their way down the length of the spear, and Saber-
Kyouko stretched out her hand, invoking her Sowilo rune as she called the flames dancing in the hallway to her, and she shot them forward, burning away the Grief that was attempting to climb down the shaft of Saber's spear. But it was too late. The black ichor had managed to grab Sidonia's head, and forcibly reattached it to her headless neck. An obvious, inflamed scar was left over from the forcible transplant, but it didn't seem to affect Sidonia in any way. "I've been preparing for this day for so long. You didn't really think it would be that easy to kill me, did you?"
Sidonia called flames into her hand, but Kyouko was faster, and she successfully tore the rest of the flames away before they could converge into Sidonia's outstretched palm. Without waiting for Sidonia to tear them back from her, she flung them, shooting the entire ball of flames clear through the wall and into god only knew what part of the city. In response, Sidonia held out her hand and, drawing in the swirling embers which illuminated the hallway, conjured a massive fireball in her grip. "Now all of you, on the other hand…"
Sidonia reeled her arm back, as if she were about to toss the fireball, when- It wasn't a gunshot, but something very close broke the sound barrier as it shot just past Sidonia's head. Whatever it had been, it was enough to tear through the fireball in Sidonia's hand, and whoever it was that had shot it had enough of a presence to cause Sidonia to turn her head. "Oh, it's you again, is it?"
There was Matou Sakura. At her left and right were two shifting blue things shaped like serpents. One of them had its mouth open: the source of the shot that had torn Sidonia's fireball apart, no doubt. Sidonia turned her head, analysing the situation. Matou Sakura, Saber, and Scáthach held her in at one side, while Mami, Kyouko, and Oriko held her in at the other. "I see," Sidonia said. "So, that's how it's going to be."
"We have you surrounded," Matou Ssakura said. "I'm assuming there's no chance we could convince you to come quietly, so I hope you've made whatever preparations you need in order to-"
"Oh, don't worry," Sidonia said. "I've made my preparations, all right." Sidonia held out her hand, and flames ringed at her feet in a circle as she said "I even made sure to hurry Caster along, so he'd have everything ready by today."
You're glad that Homura and Kirika agreed to let you take over on the battlefield in Kirika's place. You won't let your daughters throw their lives away for the greater good. You won't let them become you.
You arrive to find Lancer and Heracles locked in combat with Gudrun. For a two-on-one fight, the woman in the middle is managing to hold her own fairly well. She bats away lancer's spear thrusts with her massive, black-and-red sword – Dáinsleif – before, almost effortlessly, turning around and meeting Heracles' blows with strength that appears to match, if not outright exceed, his own, grabbing his weapon as he swings it and slamming it into the ground, before delivering a punishing kick with her leg that actually manages to make Heracles bleed.
You decide to take out the leg first. You ready your bow and, taking careful aim to not hit either of your teammates, loose an arrow. You'll see how Gudrun reacts to being shot with something simple before moving up to anything bigger, just on the off chance that she's able to bat your larger projectiles away and into either of your allies.
Your arrow embeds itself firmly in Gudrun's knee, causing her to buckle and miss her chance to block the swing of Heracles' weapon. You see it connect, hear a deafening echo as metal collides with metal, and Gudrun is sent flying with an obvious dent left in her plate from Heracles' attack. Lancer charges in as soon as Gudrun hits the ground, but she quickly recovers, tearing the arrow from her knee and blocking Lancer's spear with her sword. You can clearly see the blood stain growing under her armoured leggings, but the way Gudrun pushes forward, effortlessly battling Lancer's burning spear with her screaming, blood-cursed sword, it's as if she doesn't feel the pain at all.
Lancer unleashes a jet of fire from her spear, and Gudrun slices with her sword, sending a wave of black-red crashing into the flames and continuing onward, forcing Lancer to bring up several layers of barrier in order to defend herself from it, and even pushing so far into the surrounding city that you're forced to leap from your perch to avoid being torn apart by the wave as it advances. It's just like Saber from back then, you think, recalling the image of the black-corrupted King of Knights as she effortlessly blasted wave after wave from her sword without stopping.
Lancer pulls back and Heracles comes in next. He swings his massive weapon – some piece of debris scattered from a building somewhere, by the looks of it – and it's right on target. Gudrun brings up her sword, blocking the strike and batting it aside. Her sword instantly shatters the concrete slab as soon as it makes contact, but Heracles sweeps his leg underneath the blow, sending Gudrun flying and allowing him to grab for another weapon in its place.
You take the opportunity to unleash something a bit heavier, and your aim strikes true. Gudrun is pierced by your projectiles, but as before, she somehow manages to stand back up, completely oblivious to the pain she should be under as she tears your projectiles from her body. Lancer approaches, and Gudrun is forced to surrender her chance to tear the last one free as she brings her sword up to counter Lancer's blow. But Lancer is faster: she catches Gudrun's swing by the arm, and you take your shot.
The projectile strikes Gudrun in the shoulder, and Lancer gives Gudrun's arm a hefty twist. It doesn't succeed in tearing the arm off, but it does send Gudrun flying. She pulls herself up, tearing your projectile from her shoulder as she steadies her sword. It still doesn't look like she's actually in pain from anything you, Lancer, or Heracles have done to her, but you do notice that she's holding her arm with the injured shoulder a bit less tightly, almost as it the arm wants to hang limply at her side but she's forcing it to move.
"So, both her endurance and her tolerance for pain are through the roof," you say. "Homura, does that about match up with what you saw in your master's vision?"
"Yes. From what I could read, Gudrun's defensive parameters are incredible, and they're only being boosted by her having Dáinsleif in her possession."
"That's unfortunate. Sounds like our best shot at beating her isn't going to be through brute force, but by severing her connection to the infinite mana Sidonia is providing her with, as well as by taking Dáinsleif away from her. Heck, maybe we won't even need to do that last one. I'd bet it's taking a lot of effort on her part to keep Dáinsleif active, if it's really fuelling her parameters' rank-ups like you said. If we're able to cut her off from Sidonia's mana supply, maybe we won't even need to take Dáinsleif away from her."
So that means it's time for your secret sauce. As you continue to watch as Lancer, Heracles, and Gudrun dance to the tune of their weapons crying out, the lengthy, crimson spear takes shape in your hand, twisting as you take hold of it into a form more appropriate to your needs. You nock the crimson arrow on your bowstring, and take aim, waiting for your moment to strike.
You loose as soon as the moment presents itself, and your crimson arrow flies true, striking Gudrun between her breasts and sending her flying from the force of the blow. She flies backwards for several meters, her body ragdolling as your arrow pins her against the side of a piece of building. Lancer seizes her chance and charges in, spear blazing. Gudrun raises her sword up to block the strike, but as black and red mana charges up Dáinsleif's length, you see Gudrun's face twist into one of pain. She spits blood, and is only able to lift her sword enough to parry Lancer's blow, before being forced to kick Lancer away in order to regain her zone of control. She staggers forward, snarling in Lancer's direction as blood mixed with spittle flies from her mouth. With great effort, and forced to use the arm you already wounded, Gudrun tears your crimson arrow from her breast, casting it aside.
This time, Gudrun ignores the pain that's clearly written on her face as she charges mana along Dáinsleif's length. She takes aim at Lancer, and is about to swing, screaming the name of her Noble Phantasm, "DÁINS-" but is stopped before the last syllable can leave her mouth, by the same thing which stops you from taking aim at her again with a new arrow. You see a crack appear in the sky, and a massive hand, endless black wreathed in burning red, punches through nothing to take shape in the material world, and held in its grasp you can make out the familiar outline of Rider and his chariot.
"Hey sis, I've got good news." The battle between Lancer, Heracles, and Gudrun is like a blur. Gudrun is easily the slowest person in the fight, but even then you find that, watching the fight through Archer's eyes, you're having trouble keeping track of everything. It's just a blur to your senses, and only the touch of Kirika's hand on your shoulder is enough to bring you back to reality. "Hey, sis-"
"What is it?" You stop yourself, not meaning to have cut Kirika off. But you're on edge, and you can feel your nerves fraying with each second of battle that passes. "Sorry," you say. "What is it?"
"I've got good news," Kirika says. Good news. Finally. "So, Berserker just reported back to me that Nurse O was able to deal with the giant snake that was attacking our place. We can move Berserker and the Saints lady Berserker out of there, if you wanted to. Maybe if we used Berserker against that Gudrun lady, he could steal her sword from her and then we wouldn't have to deal with breaking it again." Kirika glances over to Assassin, adding "You know, 'cause Assassin's probably going to be out for the rest of this fight."
"I do," you say. "It sucks that we've had to hold them back this entire time." You look to Assassin as well, to confirm Kirika's news, and she nods her head. Her master would have told her, if Kirika's servant didn't. "Maybe..."
"Akemi-san, I regret to inform you that we have a problem."
When you see the sky breaking apart, you could have guessed that you had a problem. When you saw Sidonia's monster punch clean through Rider's duel field, with Rider and his chariot in hand, you have guessed that you had a problem. To hear Oriko saying anything to you, well that's just icing on the cake at this point. "As if we don't already have enough of them. Does it have to do with Sidonia's monster breaking through Rider's duel field?"
"While that's unfortunate to hear, no," Oriko says. So then it's something else. Great. "The servant Caren-san always speaks about having been intimate with; they were called 'Avenger', correct? I don't suppose she's ever mentioned to you the possibility that there could be more than one servant in the Avenger class? Because she's never said anything of the sort to me."
You feel a pit forming in your stomach at Oriko's words, and you have to ask, "Are you... Are you implying what I think you're implying?" As if asking will somehow change the answer you desperately hope that Oriko doesn't give you.
"Unfortunately, I am," Oriko says. "Sidonia is an Avenger-class servant."
[ ] Wat do?
