Caster's fetters have done their job preventing
Walpurgisnacht from moving further inland, but the devil's body continues to turn at a constant pace.
You have no idea what will happen when it reaches the full upright position. You wouldn't be stupid enough to presume the battle will get any easier from here, and every passing second is one second closer to the doom of the unknown.
Oh and look- Now you've got two city blocks being thrown at you to contend with.
Fun.
For as horrific a sight as it is to see two entire city blocks ripped from their foundations, the deep scars dug into the land where foundations no longer rest and the rain of steel and concrete which pelts everything underneath, you find that it's all becoming so
routine. You've seen this before, countless times, and the only thing this iteration of
Walpurgisnacht has done differently is increase the scale of its destruction. It's still terrifying to bear witness to such raw displays of power from a devil you've never been able to defeat before, but at the same time it's all so uncomfortably
familiar.
"No time for staring, beautiful!" Saber quips, forcing you to realise that you've been slack in your duty assisting with familiar control. Her sword swings, as wide as she can swing it, and building after building is torn asunder on the waves of her Noble Phantasm. You can't afford to stare, nor can you afford to stare as Caster steps up to the plate, pulverising the falling rain of concrete into rubble with his golden swords.
You have to help the others deal with the familiars, of which there are still fifteen. Soon to be fewer, you hope, if Berserker and Assassin keep their pace. Your arrows fly, blocking the path of escape for a familiar as it tries to flee from the dervish of violence that is your big sister's servant.
Fourteen. You can afford a moment's smile in the face of some small success.
"You're good as new, Sakura-san," Mikuni Oriko says as her healing of Kyouko concludes. "Can't do anything about your clothes, I'm afraid." You don't know if the falling debris was something her precognition didn't catch, or if she was so focused on hitting
Walpurgisnacht where it hurt that she forgot to keep her mind open, but you hope it won't happen again that something like that slips Mikuni's Oriko's mind, now more than ever. But with barriers up and her mind open, Mikuni Oriko gets to work, shielding you and your allies from whatever small but still hazardous shards of debris remain after Saber and Caster put their swords into it; and with two entire city blocks being thrown your way, that comes out to equal a lot of debris shards.
By the time the rain of stone and steel has finished falling, the area around the battlefield is scarred and littered with ruin. An outstretched arm conjures a barrier against an incoming familiar, which is soon skewered through with a length of clawed chain. "Thank you, dearest," Mikuni Oriko says. Her head was turned the other direction the entire time. Smiling at the recognition all the same, Kirika launches herself back into the thick of the fray, looking none the worse for it.
Fire and electricity flash past your vision in rapid succession, scorching nearby familiars, and Nagatsuki Miyuki calls out to Kyouko "You going to get back on it now that you're all healed up?"
Kyouko shakes her head as her spear carves a path towards the firing line. "Nah, she says. "Thinking I might try taking a crack at the big one, seeing as I'm all clean. Might as well see what kinda damage I can do ta it."
Were you close enough, or willing to pay attention, you might have noticed Nagatsuki Miyuki cock her eyebrow at Kyouko's remark. Thought maybe that was just her taking aim, before setting fire to another nearby familiar. "You? You can hit
that thing?"
"Sure as shit can, Four-Eyes." Kyouko wags her finger in the shape of her
Sowilo rune, wreathing her body in flames as she slams the pommel of her spear into the ground. "Big White, cover me!" she calls out, taking a knee as Mikuni Oriko throws up a barrier between her and any familiars who might take their chance. The ground splits, and the head and shaft of a massive crimson spear emerges from the shattered earth. As if acting with a mind of its own, the spearhead angles itself into position, aligning the tip of the spear with the form of
Walpurgisnacht in the distance.
If Kyouko has a name for the terrible weapon you've only seen her employ a scant few times, you don't hear it. The roar as the spearhead splits apart to unleash its devastating blow drowns out her voice; and almost drowns out the familiar cry of a
"Tiro Finale!" fired in unison with the crimson weapon. Kyouko breaks from her prayer stance, saying to herself "Been awhile since I gave that a try... Takes a lot more outta me than I remembered it doing..." as she cleanses her Soul Gem.
Two cleanses; that's one Grief Seed of Kyouko's that can't be used again until the battle is done.
Your own Soul Gem is looking to be in need of a cleaning. You do so when the moment in-between loosing your arrows presents itself. With two cleanses under your own belt, that makes one Grief Seed of your own that you can't use.
"Brynhildr Romantia!"
"Troias Tragōidia!"
"Gáe Bolg!"
You can barely make out the trio of servants doing battle high above you. Rider's chariot moves like the lightning it leaves in its wake, and against a form as massive as
Walpurgisnacht Lancer is but a speck in the air, even as she repeatedly collides with the devil at full force with her massive burning spearhead.
Walpurgisnacht is simply too large, its figure blots out all else around it. You can see McRemitz-san, however, repeatedly jabbing her kilometers-long blade of light into the heavens; and you can see Archer beside her. Your eyes meet his for just a moment; cold and steely, focused and determined, the only word he speaks when your eyes meet is the cry of
"Caladbolg!" leaving his mouth as he looses his screaming projectile.
"How much longer do you expect for this battle to go on?"
A short sword embeds itself in the head of an approaching familiar.
That leaves just eleven familiars left to be dealt with. Assassin is careful to retrieve the weapon from the puddle of corrupting ichor left behind. "Getting tired?" you ask.
"No, but I am worried for you, master."
"Don't be," you say. You hope another pair of city blocks is nothing to be worried about. "We'll have plenty of time to worry when that thing finishes righting itself."
[ ] Wat do?
(3)
