The plan is set. To take down King Arthur,
nothing is to be taken to granted. One path then, pitting a human against a Servant, power boosted with the best enhancement the Age of Gods can deliver.
Human. A preconception that one Master and
two Servants aren't willing to correct any time soon. For all his roughshod scoundrel look, Billy the Kid is not a
dumb Servant. At least, not in matters pertaining to her Master. The Holy Grail crammed him with all the information of the modern age and he's
pretty sure no one normal human can handle the upkeep of
two Servants with ease. Oh sure, it
looks like him and his Independent Action is doing all the work but, mused the Gunslinger as he flexed his newly reattached arm, that doesn't explain it all.
Granted, Medea of Colchis turning out to be a good medic is another explanation but
still.
Okay, he
may have a bit of a leg-up here in figuring it out but the identity of his current Master is... of no problem. It's not like she's
against helping the world from being burned.
And judging by the glances said Master gives him here and there, evidently she's playing the 'I know you know' game over this.
Preparation in Haste: 79 + 25 (Item Creation A) - 5 (Temple Destroyed): 99
Item Type: 1d3: 2
"Master, drink this." A game broken by the arrival of the Caster, holding in her careful grip a flask of golden-red liquid. It reminds him of the feel of the high noon, for some reason.
"What is this, Medea?"
"Something to
even out the playing field." He can almost feel the smugness of the witch from beneath of the cowl then. But before he could say anything, Hinako downed the elixir down and
then Billy sense it. His feeling
is right. A spike of the noon-heat irradiates from Hinako as she took a step bac-
No, she
shifted a step back. An involuntary step taking her a metre away from the clearing and bumping to a tree with a dull thud that got everyone looking her way.
"...Helios' Draught?" Said the Master, recovering from her bump and reacting as if nothing happened.
"Of a sort, If Saber would have her Mana Burst powered by the essence of the Corrupted Grail to an unlimited extent, then you will have my grandfather's blessings, for a limited time."
"How frequent?" The clipped answer came, accompanied with a contented exhalation. He wondered a bit on how intoxicating godly essences can be.
"Not so frequent that it would break your body," A lie, the three knew. "But enough that you should be able to use them comfortably."
"I... see. Thank you, Medea."
"Do not mention it. My price remains the
same." Yet, there's an undercurrent of relief there, Billy knew. Of course, pointing
that out wouldn't be the wisest thing at this point, so he will keep his calm.
And set about preparing to go up against King
Arthur.
Item Created! Helios' Draught confers an equivalent of Mana Burst A, counteracting Saber Alter's own MB. But HD's bonus is only active every other round.
Shielder's Rumination: 69 + 10 (Synchronicity Crit Bonus): 79
She does not know, still, the name of her saviour. The one who inhibits her body, and give her his skills, raiments, and longevity.
She
wishes so hard to know of it, if only to give thanks. For the life given. For everything.
But she knows it not. Why that is the case, it tugs at the mind and yet...
that is fine.
So what if she doesn't know? She will fight, of course. And she will learn what it means to fight with shield in hand and in comrades in her sides and her liege behinds her.
For the sake of the World, she will learn of that. And that is enough.
The walk — more of a harried jog — to the caverns that hosted the Greater Grail of Fuyuki was not without its perils. Blackened and charred ground that oozes corruption, deadened trees that aren't
quite husks with jagged branches and thorny brambles, all static obstacles that seems intent to disrupt the march of the Chaldeans.
Yet, there's nothing that the combined firepower of a Colchisian and the soothing sounds of a blessed Shepherd could not handle for more than ten seconds.
Calculating Time Elapsed since exiting the Church...
And yet, static defences are all that barred the way. No ghouls save for pockets of one and twos — heads instantly blown off by a venting Archer — and no amalgams of large make made themselves known.
And as they reached the spacious cavern that hosted the corrupted King of Knights...
Calculation Complete. 50 Minutes Elapsed.
Hidden Goal Reached!
...they find her standing alone. Arms holding her stabbed sword on the ground. A haze of black smoke suffusing her armour, equally black and covers all but her face. An imperious expression is held by the pale King, ashen gold eyes peering to the assembly of Chaldeans.
"You have arrived. I thought you would be late."
"If you'll excuse me, King, the traffic was
murder out there." Billy hollered from the side, the acoustics of the caverns making his voice reverberate oddly. Just in case, he made sure to be within diving distance to the Shielder's... shield.
"So it was." Dismissing the gunslinger, the monarch turned her gaze to Hinako. "Tell me, are you my opponent?"
"Yes."
"Are you intending to duel me one on one?"
Hinako raised an eyebrow. "Against the King of Knights? Why should I?"
A small smile graced the Saber's lips. "Good, you're taking this
seriously."
And just like that, a crescent beam of dark light erupted as Excalibur Morgan is swung at the assembled Chaldeans. And again. And again.
Scattering: 66 + 25 (Mana A) - 5 (Temple Destroyed): 86
And each time, the beams are met with a barrier of cracked air. Like glass panes, they shatter and crack and fracture but each crack refracts the energies away and in some cases,
absorb them entirely, leaving unbroken 'glass'.
But that is a status quo and in such a case, all Saber has to do is to give a bit
more to her swings.
So the Archers made their move.
Kingly Interference: 62 + 15: 77
An Outlaw's Obtrusions: 99 + 10: 109
A stone is parried, at the cost of the swings. A burst of energies from her misty aura carried her away from the danger of a monarch... and straight into the bullets of the gunslinger. Six bullets impacted her chest armour, cracking and chipping it in places, forcing her to stand ground. Another stone slung impacted her vambraces, shifting the grip on her sword just
so and allowed Billy to do the unthinkable.
Or at least, it would
be had Saber not been blessed with a seventh sense beyond the sixth. As it was, when Billy the Kid decided that the best way to grapple with the King of Knights is to do so in the literal sense, she was ready to cut him sideways, a burst of energy collecting on her dark blade making her thoughts clear.
But
that was expected. For that was the gambit.
"
Thunderer!"
As crystallization of his legends invoked, time slows down for the younger Archer. As he avoids his bisection, he takes aim and fires a trio of shots straight at Saber's heart. They do not pierce through the armour — for his Mystery is one with the Age of Man — but they took the wind and blood from Saber, knocking her back meters away.
The King Does Not Brook Flies: 69 + 25 (Strength A) + 25 (Mana Burst A): 119
It kept her busy for two seconds. And at the third, the air screams as wing-shaped blasts propels her towards Billy, who invokes his Noble Phantasms each and every single time death comes for him. He flits and feints and kept his distance, backpedalling furiously against the unceasing assault of Saber who, for all her strength and skill, managed only the barest of blows in exchange for stripping the armour piece by piece.
Which, when one's opponent is a scoundrel more at ease in range than in melee, adds up. For both sides. A nick here and a backhanded blow there, exchanged for the shattering of vambraces and knee guards. A wide blast of energy from Saber's off hand rid of the Archer at last, the limitations of his Noble Phantasm making itself known as the attack was undodgeable.
Tyrant King vs Shepherd King: 99 + 25 vs 42: 124 vs 42
And with a single burst of mana, a beam of light lanced through the face of the Israelite, whose intrusion into the close range was noticed the entire time by the Saber.
DPoG Check: 90 +15: 105
Unlike his younger self, he is protected with more than skill. With the barest of singes on his hair, a materialized shepherd's crook
slammed straight onto the rent armour on Saber's chest, cracking it further, to the consternation of the corrupted one.
"What you are doing is
foolish." She realized of course, the aim of the Chaldeans. Weaken her for a final confrontation with the sole Master capable of dealing the final blows to her directly.
"Maybe, but anything for a chance of beating you." The calm voice replied, as Excalibur is swung to lop off his head.
Saber vs Archer: 88 + 25 vs 79: 113 vs 79
DPoG Check: 26 + 10: 36
It didn't take his head off. But it gouged a line through his chest, crimson blood spouting through as the motes of light failed him before he was unceremoniously punched away with an armoured fist charged with the unlimited mana of the Corrupted Grail. The punch carried him far, almost crashing onto the edges of the cavern.
Combined Casting: Auto Success! Interruptions from Archers successful!
Two mages. One from the Age of Gods, the other, the prodigious yet-not-enough heiress to the Animusphere name. The latter can do much, given time, even here, she'd have ways to impede on the King of Knights in a manner resolute.
But with the first? With a guiding hand and knowledge arcane that many have forgotten or kept hidden?
A lot can be done. A lot
more can be done.
The ceilings of the cavern light up in sigils of Grecian make and origin. Ritual circles of numerous shapes and colours light the dim cavern in a kaleidoscopic purple lighting. While the two Archers give their best shot against the Saber, the Caster and Director chanted arias of power. And in this, Saber had let them, her corrupted state dismissed their magic as something she is impervious too.
True, Hinako thought. But as she had said to the Executor, monarchs can be quite
arrogant.
Meteors emerged from the circles, bombarding the ground — now clear of friendlies — in a shower of rocks and manifested star-stuffs. Each that would have hit Saber dissipated harmlessly. Dispersing into mana once more. But the ones that hit the ground exploded plumes of gas and smoke and more. Not normal plumes of star-stuffs either. Dust deliberately magical in such a manner that they would not
scatter. A magical smoke-screen that stays and blinds even the perception of Servants.
The Strike: 100 + 25 (HD) + 15 (Medea's Enhancements) vs 68 + 25 (MB A) + 25 (STR A) - 15 (Smokescreen)
140 vs 103
And Hinako
dashed, her heart suffused with the magical energy of the Sun God, into the smoke-clad ground. In here, she cannot see, but she didn't
need to. The essence she drunk tens of minute ago guiding her to the source of another, more powerful wellspring of corruption.
None saw her iris turn
crimson. Not even the King of Knights. In here, the thicket of magical smoke impaired even the judgement of the King.
But impaired as it was, the threat to her life is noted still. With intuition clouded but limbs functioning, Saber
shifted and the Rule Breaker met Excalibur head-on. Fae-craft clashed God-craft and for the moment, flickers of gold
radiance can be seen through where the dagger hits the blade. For the moment, the strike failed. For that moment, the unstable equilibrium would resolve in the Servant's favour.
In the next moment, a plume of sun's radiance moved Hinako's right hand and with it, the sword towards the chipped and damaged armour that covered Saber's chest. Black armour parted before the burst of Helios' enhancement. Corrupted spirit-flesh was next, to the seeming dismay of the Mud as it cannot repair the damage fast enough before the sword penetrated through the heart and out her back.
The King Does Not Kne- Strike Threshold Exceeded!
Before anything could be done, the weakening of grip on the fabled Excalibur gave her an opening. Hinako wasted no chance, driving the dagger in the moment of opportunity, ramming it
through the same opening where the heart and spiritual core resides.
The effect, to everyone watching, is hard to miss. Those attuned to magic can see the workings that kept Saber in place unravel, the sheer corruptive and energizing slurry mixture held within the Servant dissipating. Those that are attuned to combat braced themselves, as the released energy react in an explosive manner, scattering the dust plume all around the epicentre of the blast. For the sole inexperienced Chaldean, looking from behind the aegis of her Demi-Servant as the explosion subsided, could only see the form of Saber Alter herself without her armour. Black raiment in tatters and her form dissipating from two separate blades lodged in her heart.
And only Hinako can hear her last words, muttered below even the hearing of the assorted Servants.
"Good, Chaldea'll do." Releasing her grip on Excalibur Morgan, she disappeared in golden motes of mana.
Saber Alter moved from the world then, to the singular strike of Hinako Akuta and to the disbelief of everyone watching.
"Heavens me, Marisbilly sure knows how to pick his team, doesn't he?"
Everyone but one, Hinako notes. Seemingly appearing from nowhere is the form of Lev Lainur, his green stovepipe hat affixed atop his head as he looks at Hinako.
"Lev!" The Director of Chaldea starts running to the mage, the others following suit before-
'Maste-' 'Boss-'
"Director
stop." Hinako said with a sense of finality, putting herself in a battle-ready stance.
'On my mark Billy, prepare to shoot. Medea, prepare to defend.'
"Oh? Is there something the matter, Fourth Master?" Lev frowned a bit. It does not reach his eyes. "Aren't you glad that I am well?"
The Director looks between the tensing Master and the increasingly unsettling looking Lev. "Hinako, what are you doin-"
"Who
are you, Lev?"
"What
ever are you talking about, Hinako Akuta?" The man shrugs
too easily for someone under fire. "I am Doctor Lev Lainur, same as I ever was." At that, the man grinned. Rows of jagged sharp teeth visible to everyone. "And I am
furious that you all survived."
"Doctor Lainur y-you..."
"That's right, Olga Marie," His manic grin seems to split his face. "I
set up the bombs. I
killed you. It did not take, for reasons of
luck alone."
"Why?" The Director steadied herself, disbelief and shock and the start of betrayed
anger clear on her face.
"For the destruction of mankind. Nothing
more needs to be said." The manic grin stays, until it doesn't in a scowl. "But enough about me," He looks at Hinako. "Yo-"
Without warning, the Witch of Betrayal blasted. Six orbs of purple sudden death
disintegrated the body of Lev Lainur, the last of which scorched his stovepipe hat to ashes. A satisfied scowl is visible on her face.
"Revenge, it is
done."
And with that, two things happened at once. The first is the collapse of the cave, pieces of the cavernous ceiling falling to the ground, which itself is cracking at the seams. The second, is the hologram of Doctor Romani, who is in panic.
"You managed to defeat Saber Alter, good! Bad news, the Singularity is collapsing. I'm going to start the emergency rayshift now, everyone please stay together!"
"Wait!" Ritsuka shouted, holding in her hand a cup that
thrummed with power from where the Saber fell, unnoticed by everyone due to the intrusion of Doctor Lainur. "Is this-"
Medea's eyes widened. "That's the Grail. Come quick here
child, before you get swallowed by the ground." Shielder acted first, grabbing the Master's free hand and pulling her into the rest of the group.
A tense few moments passed by, as everyone gathered the center of the cave, the ground around beginning to vanish in ether-light before
everyone does so. A sudden shift and Hinako is back in the Command Centre, rubbles only partially cleared and-
-the Director, gasping for breath in her
real body, restrained to a floating medical bed. Beside her is the form of the second Servant Chaldea contracted, her perpetual smile aimed at Medea as she take stock of the formerly-deceased's condition, who seems to stare at her hands numbly.
"Thank you, Medea of Colchis. It seems that the Director is
fully fine, thanks to you. Now-" Her eyes trail towards the assembled Chaldeans, lingering more on Hinako. "For the Masters, your quarters are fine and unbombed. And for the Servants, there's spare rooms for you all."
"And who are you, missy?" Billy inquired simply, raising his eyebrow at the clearly
non-human being in front of him who beamed at the question.
"The one and only Da Vinci, of course~"
"And you're a woman becau-" At that, Hinako's exasperation made her reach for the gunslinger's shoulders and grabbed them firmly.
"
Later, Archer. Sorry, Da Vinci but I am
not in the mood to do anything. For now, I want to sleep for the rest of the day and you
two are going to follow me." Medea's attention flickered to her Master at that. "We're going to need to talk and... Ritsuka?"
"Y-Yes." Exhausted as she is, the youngest Master could not help but stiffen her spine at the attention of someone
who defeated King Arthur in a single strike.
"...Rest up. Tomorrow will be a big day." With that final words, Hinako walks away into her room as an exhausted victor for once.
Fuyuki — The Flame Contaminated City cleared!
Pick One:
[] Hinako Side — A Bonding Effort
[] Chaldea Side — Development Turn 1
[] State of the Singularities Part One
