pearypie
microwaving some barbies in your microwave
- Location
- Silicon Valley
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I'm Not a Regular Mom (FGO OC)
- Thread starter Blinktwice13
- Start date
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Only on one side of Merlin's face. Now he has a reason to hit Merlin on the undamaged side.
In Which the Chill Deepens
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A/N: So this starts with a fight and ends on comedy, so... be prepared for sharp tonal shifts. And the fights aren't exactly clean.
Content Warnings: Body Horror (Crying Warmonger), Mass Murder. General blanket combat warning. TamaVitch being a lil creepy.
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Ritsuka clenched his fist as the warriors charged across the snow, heading straight for the city. They roared as they ran, but he couldn't hear a single bit of bravery or resolve in it, only fear.
"She truly has broken them," El-Melloi II murmured at his side, eyes glinting. He frowned in disappointment. "I almost feel pity for them."
"Eh. We can give them a good death at least," Nobunaga mused. "Take aim!" She whipped her saber out and pointed at the attacking forces.
"NOBU!" The strange beings stood in a firing line, aiming their flintlocks at the oncoming enemy.
"But…" Ritsuka grimaced. "Can't we try and take them alive?"
"Compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share," Gilgamesh droned. "If Nobunaga's artillery does not bring them down, I will."
"Didn't think you were the sort to dirty your hands on this sort of thing," El-Melloi II mused. "Pulling out your weapons for mongrels like them."
"Hmph. They are fighting for their families. Even if Rome is not the threat, they are desperate to protect their loved ones from their 'queen' and the Beast. I may question their resolve, but I find no great fault with their motive." Gilgamesh lowered his eyelids. "It is worthy enough of a quick death from some of my less precious treasures."
"If Matthew was here…" Mash murmured.
"Yes, he could put them to sleep, or he could set them all ablaze with a single spell from his code." Gilgamesh rolled his eyes. "Ritsuka Tohsaka. What will you have us do?"
They were closing in. There was no more time for debate. Ritsuka's shoulders slumped. "I… Do what you have to, but if you can take them prisoner, do so."
"You heard the man! Fire, debilitating shots!"
Ritsuka's head snapped up as the Nobu began firing red lines of light from their flintlocks, raining artillery down into the fray.
"Tamamo's gonna be pissed that we made so much work for her," Nobunaga said gleefully. "Still, there's no such thing as a non-lethal weapon so expect fatalities." Her bloodlust dropped, replaced by a stony expression. "I won't say that empathy is a bad thing. These poor fools are trapped between us and the enemy. But if any are in a position to be a real threat, I'll cut them down. Mercy is a luxury of the strong, and if it gets too expensive to indulge then I won't. Not even for Chaldea, Master."
A bolt of orange hellfire raced across the snowfield, a woman's scream of fury scraping the vaults of heaven. It resolved into a chariot of black wood with iron skulls adorning it. Large spiked wheels spun, tearing snow from the ground and spitting it into the air behind. It was pulled by two large, misshapen beasts that bounded with great leaps. Their long ears dragged back from their skulls, and wide red eyes rolled in their heads. Steaming saliva trailed from their jagged teeth, and their fur was matted with mange. "CHARIOT OF BOUDICA!"
The warrior was a redheaded woman with a cape of black fur, and black leather armor. A silver crown sat on her head. Her face was distorted with hatred and rage as she ushered her coursers onward, heedless if her army got underfoot.
Ritsuka flinched as one did, slammed into the snow by a skeletal paw and torn asunder by the chariot's wheels.
"So she's taken the field," Caesar mused, making himself known. "I wonder if she's more Berserker than Avenger at this point, to be so careless…"
"There's something we're not seeing." El-Melloi II frowned, scanning the battlefield. "...and the snow isn't helping."
Ritsuka watched as the chariot came closer, burning its way through the snow. The men charged alongside it, flinging themselves out of its path as it rampaged onward. It was the clearest light out in the snowfield, except-
"Oh no," he whispered hoarsely.
"Hm?" El-Melloi II's eyes narrowed, following Ritsuka's gaze. "Ah, shit."
"What's the situation?" Nobunaga asked. "Should I engage directly? With that kind of chariot, I ought to have the-"
"Nero's down there!" Ritsuka hissed, watching the bolt of red dash forward, flaming sword in hand.
Caesar's eyes widened, moments before he flung himself from the parapet. His wings spread, carrying him down in a smooth glide.
Even as the distance grew, Ritsuka could hear him.
"Peerless army. Unmatchable stratagem. This is the creed of Gaius Julius Caesar! Veni! Vidi! Vici!"
A sea of red materialized, Caesar landing in a crimson chariot pulled by magnificent black stallions. The waves solidified, revealing themselves to be cloth that fell to reveal an army of legionnaires.
With a mighty cry, Caesar raised a blade with a cross-shaped hilt of gold and blue. "ADVANCE!" His chariot flew forward, and Ritsuka squinted as Caesar swept past Nero, snatching her into the vehicle.
"...how is one to use a sword from a chariot?" Nobunaga mused, frowning.
Ritsuka clenched his fist. "Mash?"
She nodded, eyes bright.
"By the power of this command seal - go protect Nero!" Ritsuka raised his fist high, an echo of red erupting from it as Mash vanished.
____________________________________________________________________________
"You are the living emperor! If you fall, this will be for nothing!" Caesar snapped, tugging the reins of his chariot as he circled Boudica. "By all means fight with your pride, but take some precautions, won't you!?"
Nero huffed. "I cannot simply remain in the rear while others fight for me!"
Boudica screamed in fury. "NERO!!"
"What did I just say!?" Caesar roared.
In a flicker of light, Mash appeared in the chariot.
Nero blinked. "How-?"
"Mash Kyrielight, here to defend Emperor Nero!" she proclaimed, moving to block the rear of the chariot with her shield.
"A rearguard! Excellent." Caesar's shoulders straightened as the army he called clashed with the Iceni. "...though that is the only good. What a waste." His lips thinned.
"We need to strike Boudica down." Nero held Aestus Estus high, flames dancing on its edge.
The enemy chariot pursued Caesar's, the driver screaming wordless obscenity as her eyes wept orange hellfire.
"Easier said than done. Her chariot changed- it's no longer a defensive means, but offensive. Her rage and despair warped it." Caesar snapped his reins with one hand, holding his blade to his side. "I have a trick or two, but we need to slow her down first."
Nero's head whipped sideways as she saw the green wave of magecraft block the entrance to the city. "Hakuno's sealed the gate!"
"Eh? But-" Mash looked at the battlefield, where the humans had already started to run - the artillery barrage continued in a rain of red light, gouging holes as the Iceni were driven off.
A wave of black flame erupted, branching around Boudica but heading directly for the city.
"Oh," Caesar said weakly.
"LORD CHALDEAS!" Mash screamed, aiming her shield overhead. The fire engulfed them as every human and every legionnaire burst into ash, Boudica continuing to charge at them.
Galahad, help!
...who could be doing this? How is this- no. This is beyond the powers allotted to… I see. Another change. Very well. This technique is similar to the king's sheath. It is brief, but if Caesar can make it to the walls, it will help you live long enough to escape.
Mash gripped her shield. "We need to fall back!"
Caesar needed no further encouragement, wheeling his coursers around and sheathing his blade, snapping the reins fiercely. "Go! Go!"
The roaring flames hissed with the voice of multitudes, hellish whispers filling the ears of the survivors.
The screams and whispers dominated the battlefield, even as the flames devoured all light.
____________________________________________________________________________
"Ceasefire!" Nobunaga snapped, eyes scrunched up in irritation.
"What's going on?" Ritsuka asked numbly. The fire was almost alive, flames expanding and contracting like some massive organ.
"Well, I'm not seeing any survivors down there aside from Mash and the Romans," Nobunaga replied dourly, nodding at the sphere of blue that barely held out against the flame.
Gilgamesh left his arms folded, but Ritsuka could see him tracking both Caesar's chariot and Boudica's.
"This is the work of a Caster at the bare minimum," El-Melloi II mused darkly. "Boudica would never be capable of it in any form."
"Can you do anything?" Ritsuka asked.
"No. Just from eyeballing it, no. It would take a Noble Phantasm directly aligned against fire to stop those flames. They won't breach the walls, but nothing going out there will survive. It's only thanks to Mash that they're alive." El-Melloi II leaned forward. "Nobunaga, can you see the source?"
"Nope. Whoever it is either hid themselves too well or is in that stuff, and I can't see anything." Nobunaga shook her head.
"Gilgamesh…?" Ritsuka asked.
He gave a ponderous sigh. "I will look into it once Mash returns. It won't be long now."
"ASHES OF ANDRASTE!"
A torrent of soot and - from what Ritsuka could see - bone erupted from the firefield, coalescing into humanoid shapes that hung in midair. He couldn't make out details, but from the look on Gilgamesh's face, they could be anything from in bad taste to a new addition to his nightmares.
"And so the 'Queen of Victory' dips into necromantic familiars. Not something I would expect from any of her incarnations…" Gilgamesh mused darkly. His eyes narrowed, and Ritsuka almost jerked away when he placed his hand on his shoulder and drew him to his side. "Do not move."
Immediately after, tendrils of black flame slammed into a wall of golden light, projected by shields emerging from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon.
"What the-!" El-Melloi II drew back, fortunately already behind the new barricade.
"This isn't her." Nobunaga's eyes glinted. "This is hellfire. Maybe not the kind I'm used to, but definitely hellfire. We've got a demon."
"Mash…!" Ritsuka clenched his fists, struggling not to leap to her side.
"My eyes are on her. The shield holds strong, even if she hasn't called its true name," Gilgamesh murmured over the whispers of the dark fire.
Boudica's chariot soared through the air, orange flame dripping from the wheels as she screamed. Her eyes were flat and black as coal, even as hellfire dripped from her mouth.
"Enjoying my little additions to her majesty?"
Slowly, Ritsuka turned.
Lev Lainur Flauros gave a small smirk, tipping his hat as he stood on the parapet, not outside walking distance from Ritsuka. "Lovely night, isn't it… Tohsaka?" With a wave of his cane, flames surged from his feet, slamming into a new set of shields.
Ritsuka grit his teeth. "All those people…!"
"Fodder for a little experiment. As it turns out, this Grail is excellent for modifying Saint Graphs." Lev flicked his wrist, and a golden goblet appeared in his free hand. Black flames eddied inward, towards the city - only to stop against a staticky wall of green binary code. He frowned. "Hm. I've seen bits of this, but haven't been able to discern the source…"
"Die confused."
Golden portals surrounded him, launching ornate swords, spears, and axes-
Only for them to be blasted back in a vortex of black flames.
"I'd say 'A for effort, C for execution', but I doubt that was anywhere near your best." Lev gave a mocking smile as more gouts of flame splashed against the shields. "You'll need to bring your top effort to so much as scratch me, Hero-King."
Ritsuka glanced at Gilgamesh. His eyes were narrowed, calculating. He turned back to Lev.
"I don't understand. Why? Why all this?" Ritsuka asked, pitching his voice to be heard over the flames and Boudica's mad screeching as she pursued Caesar's chariot.
"Humanity is a failed experiment. It's time to wipe the board and restart." Lev assumed a bored look. "Your rebellion merely prolongs the inevitable. Even if you did somehow - against all odds - stop the King of Magic, she would obliterate all of you."
"Daji?" El-Melloi II asked, crossing his arms.
Lev let out a bark of mirthless laughter. "That hodgepodge nuisance is barely worth my time, let alone the attention of a Grand. No. There's a puppetmaster whom even Beasts fear that lurks in the shadows. Given you're all going to die here, there's no point in explaining further. Just rest assured that even if you did win this battle, the war was lost as soon as she turned her gaze on our world."
Ritsuka grit his teeth. "We'll stop her, and you! This world isn't something you can just discard! For everyone's sake-!"
Lev shook his head with a pitying grimace. "Bold, kind, and compassionate. In all honesty, if it weren't for your defiance I could see you as part of the new humanity. But, we've made our play. Remus remains in his palace, freezing the world. Boudica and I are here, keeping the majority of you pinned with familiars and flame..." His grimace turned to a feral grin.
"Shit."
Ritsuka looked to Nobunaga, who went pale.
"The Beast. She's gone after Ophelia's group!"
Gilgamesh's eyes flashed in rage. "WHAT!?"
Ritsuka clenched his fist. "Doctor Roman! Can you contact Ophelia!?"
Silence, but for the flames.
Lev chuckled. "Silly boy. Why would I share a plot you could disrupt?"
And the flames reached a new height, preparing to swallow the defenders on the wall.
____________________________________________________________________________
The snow began to whip around us furiously, obscuring everything past a few feet.
"Reunion over! Time to run!" Illya yelped, gripping my hand and dragging me along with unexpected strength.
"Oi! What's happening!?" Cu roared, scooping Ophelia into his arms as he started to move.
In the near distance, I heard the jingling of a single bell.
"Bad stuff! SHIRO!"
Wait, Red's here too!?
A roar cut through the snowfield as a massive white form charged, tearing through the curtain of ice. A huge, furry creature came into view. With inhuman speed and grace, Illya snatched Ophelia from Cu Chulainn and flung her onto the beast's back.
"That's not Red!"
"Nope! It's my bear! Hunting-dog-bear!" Illya's eyes widened. "Incoming!"
Eerie yips echoed in the emptiness shortly before a torrent of shadow bore Spartacus to the ground. He laughed as the canid shadows tore into him, spraying blood into the air.
"Found you~" Warm breath puffed against my ear as something scraped along my ribs, trying to puncture my skin and failing. I looked down and saw a clawed hand, nails sparking against my armor.
Cu Chulainn grabbed my arm, his eyes wide, and yanked me to him,
"Ohoho~ playing coy, are we?" the woman teased. I whirled to see her.
Black foxes circled us, solid shadows that yipped and snarled. Several flew as Spartacus shot upright, his wounds bubbling closed in red light.
Pink hair, fox ears, amber eyes. A slinky black dress with the middle cut out in the shape of a fox's head. Hair curled around pins. A delicate fan held in one clawed hand, the other free. A single pink tail weaving behind her.
"...Tamamo-no-Mae?" I squinted.
Her eyes widened.
"What's with the cosplay and why are you attacking us?"
Caligula let out a low growl, clenching his fists. "Da...ji…"
Spartacus bellowed with joy, launching himself forward.
The snow kicked up at the impact and Illya leapt onto the bear, helping Ophelia upright. "We need to run, now!" Real fear entered her eyes.
Ophelia shook her head, clearing it. "We don't have the resources to fight a Beast. Disengage now!"
Sigurd snapped his blade to the side, several shadow-corpses dissolving around him. "I will cover the retreat," he stated coolly.
When did that happen?
Massive black tails exploded out from the snow, expanding in a vortex of violence. I barely managed to interpose myself between Cu and the closest one, which was bigger around than most trees.
We were sent flying with a single swat, the bristling fur leaving scratches on my armor and exposed skin. The pain stung, but it was nothing compared to what I was used to.
And it was nothing compared to the multiple limbs impaling Spartacus as he laughed maniacally, his flesh bubbling around them and struggling to reform.
In the distance, I managed to make out Illya carting Ophelia away-
"Get out of there!" Ophelia cried, panic clear in her voice.
Cu struggled to get up, only for me to send him sliding with an effort of will as the snow carried him away. "Wh-stop!" he shouted.
I managed to get him away in time.
The not-Tamamo crashed down on me, the whites of her eyes gone pitch-black and fangs sprouting from her mouth. "I am Su Daji," she purred. "Any resemblance to that vixen is purely coincidental." Her clawed hands snaked around my throat, nine bristling tails lashing behind her.
"Fair," I wheezed, the pressure of her grip penetrating my armor. "She looks better than you anyways."
Her pupils shrank as she hissed, tails lashing with the sound of tearing flesh. "You whelp." Her nails dug in, slowly sinking into my skin. I felt the blood start to trickle down my neck as I frantically grabbed her wrists, flames burning uselessly against her from my fingertips.
A blur of red came into view, only for Daji to reach up and halt Gae Bolg's swipe as it smacked into her palm. Slowly, her gaze turned upwards.
"Get off of him!" Cu roared, wrenching his weapon, trying to apply some sort of leverage.
"It's where he belongs - where all of you belong. Under my hands and feet," Daji snarled, forcing Cu to let go of his spear as he dodged a massive tail. "I'll pull all of you apa-"
A hand the size of my entire body reached down, plucking her from me and flinging her away.
Spartacus loomed, a multi-armed monstrosity. Covered in scar tissue and bulging muscle, he had no less than seven limbs and his mad smile. His body bulged and warped as a tail carved through his side, only for another arm to erupt and grip it in its passing. One of his free hands scooped me up, Cu's spear in my grip.
Turning his gaze to the rapidly swelling figure of Daji, Spartacus opened his mouth and roared.
A torrent of violet energy clashed with the whirling vortex of shadow, Daji's amber eyes slowly growing within. She gave no sign of noticing the attack.
She's transforming! She's attempting to Advent! Morgan cried out.
Well how do we stop her!?
I don't know! She's not a natural Beast, she requires a process to-
A blur of white passed beneath Spartacus, and I heard a yell.
"THIS BETTER WORK!" Illyasviel screamed, aiming her bow. With a line of light, a massive icicle transfixed Daji. "HIT IT, MASTER!"
I quickly swiped a rune in front of my face, and my sight zoomed in to see Ophelia riding forward, teeth grit in concentration. She tore the eyepatch from her face, revealing her mystic eye.
"Phenomena, schufen auf! Ich will es niemals glänzen sehen!" she screamed out, her eye flashing with crimson light.
Daji roared in fury, the shadows composing her body spasming wildly. A multitude of eyes opened, and her tails floated behind her. She had become a cephalothorax with massive teeth, nine tails studded with hellish orange eyes floating behind her.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" she raged.
Sigurd lunged forward, blade in hand. With a single swipe, he flung several daggers into Daji's mass, lodging them along her maw. No, wait… he punched them through the air, sending them slicing along her body. He lobbed his sword upward, letting it spiral before him as he drew his fist back once more.
"For Brynhildr!" he bellowed. "Let turn the wheel of destruction! Bölverk Gram!" And he slammed his fist into the hilt of the demonic blade, sending it flying.
It tore through the air, shearing the clouds above and sending snow spilling away - and as the blade hurtled towards Daji, I finally caught sight of Caligula.
"The goddess…! The goddess…!"
We'd traveled far enough that it was night, and the moon hung low in the sky. Somehow, its glow was different, even from the newly-freed moon in Orleans.
"I can see the goddess in sight! Flucticulus Diana!" Caligula howled.
The moon seemed to pulse, sending waves of light down upon Daji. I didn't know what it was supposed to do, but I couldn't see any visible effect.
Sigurd's sword, on the other hand…
It lodged itself in the bridge of Daji's muzzle, shortly before Sigurd himself appeared in a blur of motion. With a shout, he punched it forward, sending blue-green light erupting along Daji's body.
I was shaken from my stupor by Cu landing at my side, picking his spear out of my grip. "Thanks for holding onto that," he said in a faux-conversational tone.
"Uh." I blinked, staring as Daji shook her head-body, sending Sigurd and Gram flying.
He exhaled. "This… might be a little difficult."
Daji howled, eyes blazing as a shockwave of orange light bore Caligula down into the snow - and then all of her eyes turned to us.
No.
Turned to me.
"Ophelia and Illyasviel cleared the area, so if you've got something to use-!" Cu grit out, grabbing my shoulder.
I held my hands up, and swiped them apart.
Snow whirled, and with a crack like thunder, a miniature glacier encased Daji's body. A full simultaneous freeze, drawing on the moisture of the air and bending the results of Remus' Authority to my will.
"Spartacus? I know we've gotta overthrow her, but, uh… later? Please?" I squeaked.
His eyes (oh god there's more what the fuck) turned to me. For a long moment, his mad gaze rested there. Then he ponderously, almost regretfully, began to turn and leave.
"YOU DARE DREAM THAT THE WEAPONS OF MAN CAN HARM ME?"
Ruh-roh.
I whipped my head around as the ice shattered, Daji taking to the air as shadow dripped from her maw.
"I AM THE TREASURING BEAST. ALL ARE MY PLAYTHINGS, FROM THE GREATEST HERO TO THE LOWEST PEON. NO WEAPON CRAFTED OR HELD BY HUMAN HANDS CAN MARK ME!" Daji's voice was a cacophony of one, one voice layered over and over into a hellish storm as she descended.
She shrieked, and the force of it sent us all flying - I saw Caligula hurtle through the air, leg bent backwards, and Sigurd tumbled with his limbs pulled in. Illya managed to encase Ophelia and herself in a hollow sphere of ice as they spun through the sky.
I reached for Spartacus and Cu as they scattered, blood streaming from cuts peppering Cu's body.
Unfortunately, I was snagged by a tail, so was hauled in the opposite direction.
I was rotated so I faced Daji's slavering jaws, her eyes gleaming with fury. Chunks of frost stuck to her, leaving light scrapes that bled through her pitch-black fur.
...she got nailed by a demonic sword and some sort of lunar bullshit, and my attempt was what stuck?
"MANAKA SAJYOU WAS RIGHT. YOU NEED TO DIE HERE." The jaws opened, and I struggled against the tail's grip as she thrust me forwards, my bracers gleaming as I pitched back and forth.
"Well now we know Tamamo's better, you bargain-bin knock-off!" I screamed as she prepared to eat me.
Daji froze.
"That's right! You're nothing but a cut-rate fake! A pale imitation at best!" I yelled.
Fuck it. If I'm going out, it won't be quiet!
"AEGIS TITANIA!"
The metal flowed over my body, giving me claws, fangs, and my bladed tail. I drove my claws down into the limb grasping me, golden flames sparking as I dug into the flesh.
Daji yowled, flinging me away.
I flit through the air, hands weaving rapidly as runes fell to the ground. I felt the gems of my hairpin light up on my forehead, even as black lightning from my dagger flowed along my claws.
The earth beneath Daji bucked and bulged, erupting in a torrent of magma that hurtled skyward.
Daji shot out of it, shrieking in rage and pain, though the damage was negligible. "I WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY-!"
"GAE BOLG!"
A crimson explosion swallowed my vision, eradicating the forest around Daji even as a muscular arm whipped around my middle, and the scenery began to shrink as tunnel vision overcame me. Everything blurred as I was dragged at speeds I'd never managed to reach on my own.
"Couldn't leave you there," Cu murmured. "And don't send me away like that again."
"How about repositioning you so you can save me from something later?" I rasped, my voice enveloped in a metallic echo.
"Hmph. If you put it like that," he muttered, mollified. He held his hand out, and his spear slapped into his palm with a meaty thwack.
Daji shrieked, her body condensing back into the woman in the black dress. The nine massive tails acted as legs, propelling her after us.
She'll need time to try and Advent again, but your weapons are the only ones that can hurt her! As a hybrid, you're not half-human half-fae, but a new being entirely! A fae subspecies! So anything you make can cut through her Nega-Weapon-
Her what!?
NEGA-WEAPON. Her Authority of the Beast! Unfortunately, she's still a Beast, and the power she has and her endurance are too much for you! NOW SHUT YOUR ARMOR DOWN BEFORE YOU DIE, IDIOT CHILD!
With a squeak, the Aegis Titania retracted back to normal. ...I'd needed it to even scratch her, and that was just because it didn't play the same rock-paper-scissors everyone else's did. This was bad.
As Daji continued to rampage, tearing the woods down as we fled towards the manor, I felt my blood run cold.
So this was why Romulus was called. And if she managed to 'Advent' as Morgan put it, he'd have to come here - leaving all those innocents out in the literal cold.
Fuck.
"I'll have your blood! All of you! All of your everything belongs to ME!"
A pack of howling, yipping foxes dashed through the snow, the wind shearing around them in a vortex of destruction. The furthermost reaches sliced into Spartacus' back as he lumbered, causing him to grow even further. His eyes gleamed as I could feel him struggling not to turn and fight, carrying Caligula in one of his massive paws.
What were we supposed to do about this!?
A soft weight landed on my shoulder, even as Cu dashed away - keeping pace with Illya's bear.
I turned and my eye slammed shut as a rough tongue brushed my upper cheek.
"Fou."
____________________________________________________________________________
The flames curled around Mash's shield, the projected protection barely holding.
"We're almost there!" Caesar roared, snapping the reins. "Nero, signal Hakuno!"
This technique will momentarily shift you out of the time axis. It's up to you to put it to best use.
Mash grit her teeth. "Go!"
The chariot erupted from the flickering flames, piercing through a whirling gale.
"KEEP GOING!" El-Melloi II held his fan out, sweat pouring down his face. "I CAN ONLY BANK IT SO LONG!"
Tendrils of black fire snapped from a figure below, eradicating Nobu as they formed.
"I HAVE YOU! NERO!"
Mash recoiled as the mad visage of Boudica appeared from the flames, flanked by ashen wraiths. The queen pulled her arm back, sword in hand as she launched herself, screaming.
"Obscurant Wall of Chalk!"
And she flew through them, as though they were merely an illusion.
Caesar's chariot landed, the rattling wheels signalling their return-
"How did it go? Ah, yes. 'Ware the Ides of March."
Caesar gasped as a length of polished black wood erupted from his gut, impaling him from behind. Blood spattered from his mouth as he stumbled, the chariot dissolving.
"NO!" Nero swung her blade at the assailant, only for the weapon to withdraw and smoothly block Aestus Estus.
Lev Lainur Flauros smiled darkly as Caesar knelt, gripping the stones beneath him.
Boudica leapt from her chariot, sword held high as she plunged towards Nero's back. The wraiths followed in a cloud of hate and smoke.
Mash wavered, drained from using her Noble Phantasm and the new skill so close together. She couldn't… but she had to…!
Hefting her shield, she spun and caught Boudica's blade, knocking her off-balance and forcing her back.
Lord El-Melloi II kept the fire at bay, though Mash could see the sweat pouring through his clothes, and the way his legs began to tremble with effort.
"How unfortunate-" Lev began.
"Oh FUCK OFF!" Nobunaga snarled, appearing at his back and lashing out with her saber. He nimbly dodged, and Mash found herself dragged along with Nero by an invisible force.
Gilgamesh dropped the staff back into the Gate of Babylon, eyes glinting. "I leave the rest to you, mongrel." He pulled a small phial out, and began to pour it over Caesar's wound, causing it to hiss as it slowly closed.
"WITHOUT FAIL!"
Mash's breath caught as row after row of flintlocks appeared in the air as it warped and wavered around them.
"I am prepared to expose corpses to Three Thousand Worlds. Demon of the Sixth Heaven's roaring command!" Nobunaga swung her blade down, and the guns pointed at Boudica and the army of wraiths behind her.
The queen lifted her blade. "I'LL END IT ALL! SWORD OF BOUDICA!" Wind whipped around it, creating a vortex of sluggish orange flame that came crashing down.
"Behold! Three Line Formation: Three Thousand Worlds!"
The rain of red poured down, tearing through the reanimated army. Mash watched in awe as Boudica twisted and screamed, pelted by the gunfire as it carved through her body.
Still she charged, blade held high as she swung it down, cracking the parapet of the city as flames rushed towards them, the Queen of Victory's last defiance.
A barrier of crystal erupted, blocking the flame, and Hakuno stepped out of thin air. "And that is enough of that."
Through the crystal's reflection, Mash watched as Boudica faded in a swirl of sparks, a look of confusion and horror on her face.
"Hm. It seems my modifications caused her to burn out a bit early. Pity." Black flame resurged, forcing Mash to put her shield up.
Lev held the Grail high. "Unfortunately, I'm not leaving until I get what I came for!" Fire warped the air, plunging down towards-!
"SENPAI!" Mash made to run for Ritsuka, who stood behind the rapidly appearing form of Tamamo-no-Mae.
The rattle of chains filled the air.
"NO!" Lev screamed, the fire cutting short.
The fire banked, falling below the parapet. Outside of the city, the inferno continued, but the overwhelming power had decreased.
Mash turned her head as the Grail fell from golden chains into Nero's hand. She grasped it, and with a glint in her eye plunged it into her chest with a flash of light.
"This is far from over," Lev growled. He jerked as a wave of ice came up to his feet, stopping short at the whirlpool of black flame.
"Pick your poison. You burned out your sole backup, and even if you managed to exhaust three of us, the rest of us are more than ready to take you out." Tamamo slowly walked forwards.
Hakuno didn't taunt him. With a sweep of her hand, shards of crystal slammed into his body, sending Lev flying into the night shortly before he vanished in a swirl of flame.
Tamamo paused. "Or that works." She hustled to Caesar's side, kneeling. "Great. Cleopatra's going to be thrilled."
Caesar groaned, leaning upwards. "I'll endure. Is Nero…?"
"Hmph. She might actually be of use, now," Gilgamesh mused. He grimaced as Hakuno brought a folded parasol down on his head lightly.
"First off, don't. Second off, we're retiring you from the field, Caesar." Hakuno tucked it under her arm. "You did great getting her out of… that." She looked at the field of bubbling silicates, slowly cooling into glass.
"I did not do it alone." He glanced at Mash. "And were it not for her granting me greater defenses, I fear for my lady's reaction."
Mash blinked. "Huh?"
You've managed to transform the Self-Field Defense into a passive Endurance enhancement. Congratulations. I wonder how you managed, but… Galahad trailed off. No matter. You did what was needed. If Nero falls, this era collapses. She is not meant to perish yet.
Mash exhaled slowly, then dismissed her shield. "Senpai!" She moved as quickly as her leaden limbs would allow, reaching his side.
Ritsuka wrapped her in a tight hug. "You did great, Mash. I'm so glad you're alright." He breathed deeply. "Gilgamesh. How far can you go from me?"
His eyes gleamed. "I'm well suited to Independant Action."
"Go and find the others. You're the strongest - we need you to fight the Beast."
Mash jolted. "What!? She's going after Matthew!?"
Tamamo giggled. "Oh, I wouldn't be too worried. We'd know if she killed them, and… a certain something pursued them. They'll live."
"A certain…?" Mash frowned.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes. "Somehow, I doubt my craftsman's pet will be of much help."
Tamamo stared at him for a long moment, then flung her head back and laughed.
"...I'm gonna guess the fuzzball is more than he looks like, huh." Nobunaga scratched the back of her head.
Hakuno frowned. "That's ominous."
Cath Palug is a Beast in his own right. He only hasn't invoked Advent because he is judging humanity through you, your Master, and your brother.
Mash's eyes widened.
He slumbers, but his might is immense.
...Mash decided to keep that to herself, for now.
Wise choice. There's already enough to incite panic.
____________________________________________________________________________
Rays of light scythed through the pack of shadow-foxes, sending splatters of ichor to the ground.
Fou bounded through the air, enveloped in brilliant light that shifted from bright to dark colors and back again.
How dare. How dare she.
The tails lunged out, and Fou cast the illusion aside.
White fur, blue cloth, lavender eyes. The marks of Merlin as his master. But such had not been the case for over a year.
Matthew knew who and what he was. That should have been cause enough for fear, if not outright rejection.
"Fou, fou!"
"...I'm gonna call him Fou! Because that's what he says."
"Fou?" 'Fou' tilted his head, eyes widening as Matthew's hand gently cupped his ears and scratched.
The short teen smiled. "I've decided. Since you're not going to attack me or anyone, let's be friends!" He tilted his head, frowning. "Mm. I see. Don't care!"
Fou's paws paddled the air as he was scooped up, startling him.
"My Fou." Matthew nuzzled the top of Fou's head.
Fou gave a slow blink, then sneezed. Matthew snickered. "Cute."
Merlin. Cath Palug.
Altrouge. Primate Murder.
Matthew. Fou.
His name changed. His form changed. Whoever took him in and kept him gave him identity.
His fur was a mix of gold and silver. His bandanna was black to one side, and white to the other. One eye was green, and the other red as a ruby. And from his back sprouted two wings - a blackbird's and a butterfly's.
Daji recoiled on seeing him. "YOU!?" Her tails rapidly moved, coming up to shield her.
As though it would help.
"FOU! FOU! FOU! DIE, FOU!"
The little pretender screamed, scuttling away at speed through the snowfall.
Fou'd had his fill of snow. It wasn't like there wasn't enough to play in back at Chaldea.
And so he opened the gate to Avalon, mimicking his master.
____________________________________________________________________________
"Uh-oh." Merlin gave a slow blink. "Morgan? Moooorgan?"
The Faerie Queen peered out the window at the massive circle that appeared over the fields and forests of Avalon. "What. The Fuck."
BB hung over the windowsill, jaw swinging beneath her face comically.
"Well, it seems Cath Palug - sorry, Fou - has decided to reveal his true colors. In spectacular fashion." Merlin smiled politely. "I almost feel bad for whatever provoked him. Almost."
Morgan wheezed. "Not much brings me fear. But by all my courts am I glad that fuzzball's on our side."
"Matthew's side," Merlin corrected gently.
"Same difference," Morgan replied dismissively, composure back in place.
BB wheezed, slumping onto the floor. "I'll be good Mama, I promise, BB is a good girl," she babbled. The mana from the Reverse Side of the World continued to flow into some working she could barely hope to achieve - even in the Moon Cell!
"And everything went better than expected!" Merlin chirped.
____________________________________________________________________________
I watched, mouth open as the column of white light slammed into the snow below. A vortex of wind spiraled, and the scent of flowers filled the air.
"What the fuck is going on!?" Cu roared.
"It's Fou! He's drawing power from Avalon!" I cried out.
"HOW!?"
I closed my eyes against the blinding light as it continued to build. Warm wind battered my body, and the wounds I'd taken rapidly closed.
"How is this possible? Fenrir's Authority-" Ophelia began.
"Fou's better!" I cheered.
"How is your pet better than a Norse god!?" Illya shrieked.
"'Cause he's my Fou!"
The light dimmed, and slowly I forced my eyes open.
It was like spring in the pictures I'd seen. The grass was lush under my feet, the trees had leaves, and birdsong filled the air.
Fou hung in midair, facing down Daji - now wielding nine stubs instead of nine tails as she clung to a tree, shaking. Light revolved around him.
Slowly, she lifted a hand, darkness gathering-
"FOU! BUSTER BRAVE CHAIN FOOOOOUUUU!" Lightning lashed around his body, and he began to spiral like a corkscrew before vanishing.
With a sound like a cannon, he reappeared, paws lodged in Daji's gut as multiple images of him impacted all over her body. With a crashing sonic boom, she went flying into the distance.
"THIS ISN'T OVER-!" she howled as she snapped out of my range of vision, off towards a patch of dark clouds.
She's far from dead, but she is wounded. Most of the power went to confining Remus' influence to his castle. Morgan sounded just this side of giddy. She'll recover fairly quickly, but Fou bought you all time and flipped the board so you could go on offense. Now Romulus can hit the field without thousands of people turning into popsicles.
Fou slowly floated to the ground, wobbling on his paws.
"Fou!" I bolted forwards, Cu's fingers brushing my shoulder as he reached out. I knelt down and scooped him up. "Fou, are you okay? C'mon buddy," I pleaded, gently turning him so his belly was in the air and cradling his head.
"Kyau…" Fou gave a massive yawn and shut his eyes, tongue hanging out of his mouth slightly. His belly rose and fell steadily.
He was fine, just tapped. For now. Which, given he went off like a magic nuke, was understandable.
I nuzzled his head and held him close. "Don't scare me like that, fuzzbutt," I muttered.
He snored, the little bastard.
____________________________________________________________________________
Ritsuka watched as Nero flexed her hands, marvelling at her newfound strength. "If she has the Grail, shouldn't the Singularity collapse?" he wondered aloud.
"Even with it, too many irregularities remain," Romulus replied. He looked to Caesar's throne, where the man rested. "Even with what happened outside, I'm hesitant to send him out again."
"He nearly died," Cleopatra replied in a soft voice, stroking the man's hair. "Even with the medicine and whatever that was, he's still recovering." She looked up, eyes blazing. "Whenever we march, I'm going."
"Well that was a… how did you put it?" Tamamo smirked at Gilgamesh. "A 'craftsman's pet'?"
Gilgamesh sneered.
"No." Hakuno poked him in the side of the head, making him scowl. She turned her gaze to Tamamo. "Leave it."
Tamamo held her hands up, smiling cheerfully. "As you wish. I'll savor my 'told you so's in silence."
"Is Lev gone?" Mash whispered, leaning against Ritsuka in exhaustion.
"Doubt it. He teleported out as soon as he took a hit, and it didn't look like it connected well. He rolled with it." Nobunaga leaned against a pillar. "That bastard was flinging around fire magecraft I'm damn sure no human magus could manage. Not in the modern age."
"A Grand Magus might be able to do something of that level. I'd expect it of Barthomeloi or perhaps the Headmaster." El-Melloi II rubbed the bridge of his nose, eyes closed. "Lainur was above average, but not at that level. I don't think even Alba could manage that with his repeated Sea of Flames."
"Regardless, I can sense Caligula. He's taken damage directly to his Saint Graph. He won't dematerialize, but it is unlikely he will be of help against anything stronger than a human." Romulus frowned. "And then we have the Iceni."
"Were those all of them?" Ritsuka asked. His stomach clenched at the casual slaughter Lev committed for Boudica's familiars - familiars which were mowed down by Nobunaga without effort. On both a moral and a pragmatic level, it was an atrocious act. Even other magi would be offended by it.
"No. The women and children are now unguarded, save for the men who remained as a token force." Romulus folded his arms. "In Boudica's absence, they will try to flee."
"Let them. It's spring, they'll have a good chance of it." Cleopatra stood. "That woman was mad; there's no need for them to suffer for her sake."
"Daji and Remus are cornered. They'll fight back hard once we attack." Hakuno inclined her head. "It's entirely possible that Daji will unleash her full power, to say nothing of Remus."
"Then we'll bring them down." Nero looked up. "Caesar, Caligula, and a token force to protect Rome. The rest of us will split up and bring them down - those two and the magus."
"Divide and conquer…" Ritsuka muttered. "Gilgamesh and Romulus should fight Daji." He looked to the Lancer and received a nod and a smile. "Can anyone else keep up with them."
"Oh, I imagine I might be able to," Tamamo said airily. Ritsuka narrowed his eyes as he swore he saw her hair darken for a split second, along with her eyes flashing white. "Between the three of us, it'll be a fair fight. Maybe."
"Ophelia can take everyone else against Remus, and I'll lead Mash, Matthew, and Cu Chulainn against Lev." Ritsuka nodded.
"Are you sure you don't want me backing you up?" Hakuno asked, frowning.
"...arrangements may be subject to change," Ritsuka admitted sheepishly.
Gilgamesh chuckled. "Hakunon is very close to me in strength. She will be more than enough to safeguard the three of you."
"There'll be four?" Mash blinked.
"I wasn't including the Hound of Ulster, but she can protect him too - assuming he needs it."
Mash's gaze fell.
Gilgamesh smirked. "I merely posit this given your current exhaustion and your spirit's… reticence. You acquitted yourself adequately in today's sortie."
Mash looked up, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as her eyes widened in surprise.
The air crackled, and Roman's image appeared. "-ka! Rit- Ah, we connected!" Roman sighed in relief. "We're still trying to connect to Ophelia, but they're approaching an incredibly dense dead zone. That's probably Baba Yaga's domain. We lost contact with you, and got concerned."
"Lev attacked with Boudica. It took a lot of us to fend him off, but we did it. Boudica is out of the picture," Ritsuka reported. He placed a hand on Mash's shoulder before tucking her under his arm, steadying her as she swayed on her feet.
Roman's eyes narrowed. "What happened."
"The Iceni have been devastated. They're no longer a player." Cleopatra prowled forward. "Caesar is out of commission, and Romulus says Caligula has been similarly damaged. We have no other information about that group." She glanced at Romulus.
"Any child of Rome may lend me their eyes. A small girl managed to warn them of the assault, for all the good it did. Spartacus is malformed by his own power and gigantified, but Sigurd, Cu Chulainn, and Matthew are all whole." Romulus folded his arms. "Ophelia is somewhat drained, and the creature you call 'Fou' sleeps to recover his might."
"Who went after them?" Roman asked.
"Daji herself attacked. The 'Fou' repelled her single-handedly - no other was able to stop her, though Matthew was able to leave lasting damage." Romulus closed his eyes. "That is all that I have been shown."
Roman stared, breathing quietly.
"Doctor?" Ritsuka whispered hesitantly.
"I- I'm fine. Mash, are you alright?"
She gave a wan smile. "Tired."
"Right, I'll have Da Vinci reroute mana to you, and you go find a place to rest," Roman fussed. "Matthew's with multiple powerful Servants and Ophelia, he'll be alright. Boudica is done, and Daji sounds like she's licking her wounds." He swallowed. "Now we just have to hope Matthew's in a good mood and doesn't provoke the terrifying Thunder Witch."
Ritsuka slowly closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about it.
"It'll be okay." Mash smiled. "Things will be okay."
"It's been a long night. Morning is a way off, but I will personally take the watch." Romulus stepped forward. "You all did well defending the people. Your rest is well-earned. Take it."
"Don't need to tell me twice! All those Nobus and a firing formation? I'm beat." Nobunaga turned on her heel and wandered away.
Ritsuka opened his eyes and began herding Mash out. "I'll walk you to your room."
Mash hummed. "Matthew will be fine, right?"
"I hope so," Ritsuka muttered. "He's good, but I don't know how a Divine Spirit will take his attitude."
"I do not see any issues arising." Ritsuka twitched as Gilgamesh followed them at a sedate pace. "Though, I do have other concerns."
"...such as?" Ritsuka was tired, but humoring Gilgamesh was usually the safest bet.
"Hakunon is keeping her distance from Nero. This is unsurprising; the Emperor is still alive so lacks their shared memories. What interests me more is Tamamo's lack of fawning. My sight showed me that the woman could barely keep her hands off of Hakunon. This Tamamo-no-Mae stands aside, merely observing and commenting."
The air shimmered, and Tamamo stepped out. "Why, Gilgamesh. It almost sounds as though you have concern for someone beyond yourself!"
"Mongrel."
She gave a pointed grin, then turned to Ritsuka and Mash. "I wanted to commend your work. Both Mash and yourself."
"I didn't even do that much," Ritsuka protested.
"You had your Caster bank the flames so Caesar could escape, and placed Mash where she could do the most good. You tried to spare your enemy upon seeing them fighting under duress." Tamamo gave a knowing look. "If it weren't for Flauros, you might have saved them."
Ritsuka clenched his jaw and nodded.
"All in all… your primary focus is protecting. That's valuable." She paused. "Though there was your battle against the puppet known as Kotomine Kirei. So you can strike, if pressed."
Ritsuka's head snapped up. "How do you know about that?"
Tamamo smiled, placing a finger in front of her lips as she winked. "Spoilers." And she vanished.
"...hrm. That all but confirms it," Gilgamesh grumbled.
"Confirms what?"
Gilgamesh did not answer, merely walking away.
Ritsuka watched, then shook his head. He needed to get Mash to bed so she could rest.
Cryptic bullshit could wait.
____________________________________________________________________________
The manor loomed before us. After a few moments, I hopped up the steps, then knocked on the front door.
Ophelia followed closely. "Are you alright?" she asked once she was out of 'earshot'.
I nodded. "Yeah. We shouldn't expect a repeat of that, though. Fou's bushed."
"I see." Ophelia hesitantly reached down, then gently stroked his paw with a finger. "Caligula and Spartacus aside, we came out of that better than we had any right to."
"How's your eye?" I asked, frowning at her.
She touched her cheek. "It was hurting, but that… thing… Fou did healed it. I'm still in shock, somewhat."
I looked up at Spartacus, where he loomed like some twisted titan. Caligula sat in one of his many palms, too weakened to stand. Whatever curse Daji had nailed him with stuck even through Avalon's healing power.
Sigurd cleared his throat. "You are certain this is where the goddess dwells?"
A series of crashes came from inside, followed by a cat's yowl.
"...yes?" I replied hesitantly.
The doors swept open. Inside was an opulent foyer, with a spiraling staircase. The walls were decorated with paintings that flickered with inner life - landscapes, for the most part.
"Well, let's head in." Cu stepped forward.
Ophelia held a hand up. "Wait. We haven't been invited." She looked to me, then to Spartacus.
"Hey big guy, can you watch over Caligula out here? If you try to get inside, it won't be pretty." I waved at him.
Spartacus still smiled, his multitude of eyes blinking.
...poor guy.
We turned inside, and a scrap of paper fell to the ground.
Ophelia picked it up. "Enter the right one."
I narrowed my eyes, looking around inside before stepping in.
"Oh, so now we can go in?" Cu remarked.
"It's an invite, isn't it?" I blinked, shifting Fou in my arms as he slept. "We just need to find the right painting."
Cu and Sigurd stared at me.
"How did you arrive at that conclusion?" Ophelia asked.
"Well, it's all paintings in here. Also, I came from here, so…" Illyasviel shrugged. Her bear was nowhere to be seen.
"Ah." Ophelia blinked.
"So which one is it?" Cu asked, frowning.
Illya held a finger up, opening her mouth, and froze. "I forget."
Sigurd clenched his fists.
"Well, what're some identifying things about Baba Yaga?" I asked, tilting my head.
"She flies around in a mortar. Pestle optional," Cu noted.
"She lives in a hut with chicken legs," Ophelia added.
"...a chicken hut?" Huh, that sounds really familiar.
Waiiiit for it…
I frowned, marching in and glancing around.
Yup. Right back corner, a small painting. Straw-thatched hut with a pair of squatting chicken legs, one to each side. The door was open, and smoke billowed from the chimney, actually moving.
"Got it!" I called. I turned around. "Spartacus! Be good, okay? No smashing oppressors without me!"
"The weather is… un-oppressive?" His voice was still jolly and booming, but his tone was utterly flummoxed.
"...translation?" Cu Chulainn raised an eyebrow at me.
"Mostly I fear that means he'll sit pretty."
"We're wasting time," Sigurd bit out. He blinked, then glanced away. "Apologies. That was unbecoming of me."
I shrugged. "It's fine." I jerked my head and lead the way, everyone else following. "If it was Cu who got his head handed to him by a Beast, I'd be way more terrible than you're being now."
Cu Chulainn's lips twitched slightly before he gave in and smirked. "Aw. I'm touched."
"Love you too," I said absentmindedly as I started poking the painting with my free hand.
Illya giggled as Ophelia gave an exhausted sigh.
"You holding up alright, fearless leader?" I frowned as my finger sank into the painting, causing ripples on the surface. Well that answers part of the question, but now how do we fit…?
"I'm merely tired. I entered a contract with Illyasviel, and after that fight I'm… yes. Tired."
"Well, hopefully if we play nice this lady will do the 'sacred hospitality' thing. Maybe." I pushed my hand all the way in. "Uh."
The floor heaved, pitching us forward in a cacophony of yelling.
"I REMEMBER THIS PART!" Illya screamed. "I HATE THIS PART!"
She landed on her feet, helping Sigurd steady Ophelia.
I ended up flat on my ass.
"Ow."
"Up you get," Cu said with a small smile, putting his hands under my back and keeping me steady as I stood.
I looked around. It was… rustic. A forest with tall, bare trees surrounded us, and the hut was made of clay brick with a straw roof. The windows were dark, and the building felt almost alive.
I glanced at Ophelia, and she nodded.
With all the resolve I had to offer, I marched to the door and knocked firmly.
Slowly it creaked open.
"Welcome, Good Hunter, to the Hunter's Dream…" a breathy woman's voice entreated.
I squinted. "Pardon?"
"SURPRISE!" an entirely different voice shrieked.
Oh god it's her. That damned streamer who kept invading everyone on the forums.
"WHAT WHAT FROM THE CHICKEN HUT!"
The door slammed the rest of the way open.
"IT'S YOUR FAVORITE GRANNY!"
She stood in a sackcloth dress, a bright red handkerchief atop her head. Her teeth glittered darkly, knives of black iron set in a wrinkled face.
She also wore a pair of sunglasses with bright purple frames bedazzled with rhinestones, and had an air horn in each hand.
I flinched as she quickly fired them off three times.
BYNastyGranny? Baba Yaga? Huh? Huh? Morgan giggled. That's why you pay attention in history!
Mrglrgl…
"ANYways, it took you punks long enough." She turned around and slouched back inside.
We waited for a moment.
"GET OVER HERE!"
There was a chorus of yells as we were dragged in by snares of invisible force, colliding into each other. Ophelia barely managed to keep her feet thanks to Sigurd, but Illya ended up on the floor.
I ended up facedown on Cu's back, my legs straddling his waist and my face lodged between his shoulder blades.
"Save that for when you get to Chaldea, Pixiebob!" Baba Yaga jabbed my side with a gnarled wooden staff, because of course one of the archetypes of a wicked witch had one.
As though you know about such things.
Moooorgannn…
My, my!
Meanwhile, Fou napped in a basket on a counter and how did he get there.
"SO!" Baba Yaga clapped her hands together, and the sound of distant thunder rolled. "You survived a whole-ass Beast until the little shnookums over there bailed you out. Not bad, not bad. Of course, she's a bootleg so it's not like you tangoed with a twisted Earth Mother, but it's still amateur hour so you're doing fine."
"...bootleg?" I rasped, getting up. I left my hand low to brace Cu as he followed, an irritated look on his face.
"Yep! That little liar is Tamamo-Vitch, a fragment of the whole Tamamo-no-Mae born in a Moon Cell. Some sassy little so-and-so decided to stitch the real thing onto her, along with a particularly ornery nine-tailed fox from the far East." Baba Yaga planted her fists on her hips. "Now, a manufactured Beast is worthy of the title, but they also have glaring weaknesses just ripe for heroes to exploit. Grands are still required, but it's less 'get all Seven this fuckin' minute' and more 'get one and massive backup and pray'."
Ophelia cleared her throat.
"Hmmm? A question already?" Baba Yaga's… sunglasses… glinted.
"..." Ophelia hesitated.
"Go ahead, spit it out, I won't bite. Well, not today. You kids have an invite and you've been polite enough. A little spooked, but polite." Baba Yaga went to fold her hands, but noticed the airhorns. She flung them away, causing them to let out a final honk as they broke something made of glass. Then she folded her hands.
"I wanted to ask about Brynhildr," Ophelia finally said.
"Mmhm." Baba Yaga nodded, and waited.
There was a moment of silence.
I looked skyward for patience. To collect myself, not to address a higher power.
Aw…
I can talk to you in my head, prayer isn't required.
Well, true.
"So what are we supposed to do to heal her? I assume you have ideas." I crossed my arms. "Also, can we invite a… friend?"
"Sounds like you're not sure about that one, kiddo," Baba Yaga pointed out.
"Well, more like I trapped her in a bargain and she has no choice but to be civil."
The goddess turned her gaze upon me, staring for a long moment. Then she snorted and began to cackle wildly. "EheheheheHE! Well isn't that on fuckin' brand!? Not bad, Pixiebob, not bad! I like your moxie." She shuffled around the room, and kicked a door open. "Sure thing. She's in here, and she's a damn mess. Her Spirit Origin's fucked six ways to Woden's Day, and wouldn't you know, her Noble Phantasm's been broken to bits." She turned her gaze back to us. "Now I can keep people breathing, but soul-hurts like this aren't my forte. Neither's smithing, and you'll need both to put prettyboy's humpty-dearest back together again."
Sigurd stepped forward. "Is there anything I can do?" Desperation slipped into his voice.
"Oh, plenty. For her, not too much." Baba Yaga hummed. "Though just being around might help her withstand what's gotta go on." She rubbed her hands together. "So here's what I know. There's two things I can offer - things that I'm, oh… ninety percent sure will help."
A wooden table sprang from the floor, adorned with several glass jars.
"This here's for you." She held up a jar, and silvery metal gleamed inside. "So, once upon a maybe, Gram clashed with the spear of the Nordic Allfather, and got its shit wrecked." She glanced at Sigurd. "Someone who had way more talent than luck put that one back together. Kudos, kid."
Sigurd glanced away, abashed.
"Thing is, Divine Construct or no, Gungnir took a pounding too." She rattled the jar. "I got a forge out back and all the mundane materials you'd need. Some mystic ones too."
I closed my eyes and thought. "Give me the spear, the shards, ice from Nifelheim for quenching, and I'll need to access Muspelheim for the fire. The rest I have."
Baba Yaga gave a low whistle. "Well, I don't think any of us have Surtr on speed dial, so good luck with that. And don't even ask about that other place. Not to mention Ragnarok's been done for a millenium."
You know what Muspelheim is?
Dammit, I've been reading!
Noted!
Sigurd rubbed his chin. "If only we had someone who could go between the realms and ti-"
Fou let out a particularly loud snore, drawing my attention.
A chunk of ice glittered next to his basket, and a jar of white-hot flame sat next to it.
"...what the fuck he's unconscious." Baba Yaga stared.
"It's true! I mean, he must be an amazing familiar to have gotten those for you… in his sleep."
"Hi BB." I turned to see her smirking wickedly.
"Oh don't mind me. I'm just a wandering schoolgirl, here to help!" Her eyes sparkled. "Now, I think I'm reading this right… where are they?"
Baba Yaga reached under the table, and slammed a cage on top, eliciting startled caws. "One Huginn and one Muninn, ready to order!" She grinned widely.
A who and a what?
Morgan giggled.
"Hmhm… it'll be a little messier than in the Moon Cell, but I have the divine wiring to repurpose Brynhildr." She looked to me. "All that's needed first is that spear."
I rubbed my chin. "I'm better at making than remaking, but I'll do my best." I jerked as a hand landed on my shoulder.
"I have some experience." Sigurd nodded sternly. "We'll work together."
Ophelia glanced down, then her expression firmed. "I'll prepare the Bounded Field while you gather the pieces."
"Which leaves… me. What do I get to do in all this?" Cu asked, crossing his arms. He smirked at me. "Besides offering moral support." He twitched and caught a flying hunk of plastic.
"You get to get your ass beat by me in Third Strike!"
Illyasviel shuddered. "I died one thousand deaths…"
I stared for a moment, then began gathering glass jars. "Right, let's hustle before Granny decides to make him do the full training course as penance."
"GUTTER TRASH!"
"I… don't know that reference," Cu said with a frown as he followed her into a room with a multitude of screens.
Fou continued to snore louder as he rolled onto his back. Lucky bastard.
Content Warnings: Body Horror (Crying Warmonger), Mass Murder. General blanket combat warning. TamaVitch being a lil creepy.
____________________________________________________________
Ritsuka clenched his fist as the warriors charged across the snow, heading straight for the city. They roared as they ran, but he couldn't hear a single bit of bravery or resolve in it, only fear.
"She truly has broken them," El-Melloi II murmured at his side, eyes glinting. He frowned in disappointment. "I almost feel pity for them."
"Eh. We can give them a good death at least," Nobunaga mused. "Take aim!" She whipped her saber out and pointed at the attacking forces.
"NOBU!" The strange beings stood in a firing line, aiming their flintlocks at the oncoming enemy.
"But…" Ritsuka grimaced. "Can't we try and take them alive?"
"Compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share," Gilgamesh droned. "If Nobunaga's artillery does not bring them down, I will."
"Didn't think you were the sort to dirty your hands on this sort of thing," El-Melloi II mused. "Pulling out your weapons for mongrels like them."
"Hmph. They are fighting for their families. Even if Rome is not the threat, they are desperate to protect their loved ones from their 'queen' and the Beast. I may question their resolve, but I find no great fault with their motive." Gilgamesh lowered his eyelids. "It is worthy enough of a quick death from some of my less precious treasures."
"If Matthew was here…" Mash murmured.
"Yes, he could put them to sleep, or he could set them all ablaze with a single spell from his code." Gilgamesh rolled his eyes. "Ritsuka Tohsaka. What will you have us do?"
They were closing in. There was no more time for debate. Ritsuka's shoulders slumped. "I… Do what you have to, but if you can take them prisoner, do so."
"You heard the man! Fire, debilitating shots!"
Ritsuka's head snapped up as the Nobu began firing red lines of light from their flintlocks, raining artillery down into the fray.
"Tamamo's gonna be pissed that we made so much work for her," Nobunaga said gleefully. "Still, there's no such thing as a non-lethal weapon so expect fatalities." Her bloodlust dropped, replaced by a stony expression. "I won't say that empathy is a bad thing. These poor fools are trapped between us and the enemy. But if any are in a position to be a real threat, I'll cut them down. Mercy is a luxury of the strong, and if it gets too expensive to indulge then I won't. Not even for Chaldea, Master."
A bolt of orange hellfire raced across the snowfield, a woman's scream of fury scraping the vaults of heaven. It resolved into a chariot of black wood with iron skulls adorning it. Large spiked wheels spun, tearing snow from the ground and spitting it into the air behind. It was pulled by two large, misshapen beasts that bounded with great leaps. Their long ears dragged back from their skulls, and wide red eyes rolled in their heads. Steaming saliva trailed from their jagged teeth, and their fur was matted with mange. "CHARIOT OF BOUDICA!"
The warrior was a redheaded woman with a cape of black fur, and black leather armor. A silver crown sat on her head. Her face was distorted with hatred and rage as she ushered her coursers onward, heedless if her army got underfoot.
Ritsuka flinched as one did, slammed into the snow by a skeletal paw and torn asunder by the chariot's wheels.
"So she's taken the field," Caesar mused, making himself known. "I wonder if she's more Berserker than Avenger at this point, to be so careless…"
"There's something we're not seeing." El-Melloi II frowned, scanning the battlefield. "...and the snow isn't helping."
Ritsuka watched as the chariot came closer, burning its way through the snow. The men charged alongside it, flinging themselves out of its path as it rampaged onward. It was the clearest light out in the snowfield, except-
"Oh no," he whispered hoarsely.
"Hm?" El-Melloi II's eyes narrowed, following Ritsuka's gaze. "Ah, shit."
"What's the situation?" Nobunaga asked. "Should I engage directly? With that kind of chariot, I ought to have the-"
"Nero's down there!" Ritsuka hissed, watching the bolt of red dash forward, flaming sword in hand.
Caesar's eyes widened, moments before he flung himself from the parapet. His wings spread, carrying him down in a smooth glide.
Even as the distance grew, Ritsuka could hear him.
"Peerless army. Unmatchable stratagem. This is the creed of Gaius Julius Caesar! Veni! Vidi! Vici!"
A sea of red materialized, Caesar landing in a crimson chariot pulled by magnificent black stallions. The waves solidified, revealing themselves to be cloth that fell to reveal an army of legionnaires.
With a mighty cry, Caesar raised a blade with a cross-shaped hilt of gold and blue. "ADVANCE!" His chariot flew forward, and Ritsuka squinted as Caesar swept past Nero, snatching her into the vehicle.
"...how is one to use a sword from a chariot?" Nobunaga mused, frowning.
Ritsuka clenched his fist. "Mash?"
She nodded, eyes bright.
"By the power of this command seal - go protect Nero!" Ritsuka raised his fist high, an echo of red erupting from it as Mash vanished.
____________________________________________________________________________
"You are the living emperor! If you fall, this will be for nothing!" Caesar snapped, tugging the reins of his chariot as he circled Boudica. "By all means fight with your pride, but take some precautions, won't you!?"
Nero huffed. "I cannot simply remain in the rear while others fight for me!"
Boudica screamed in fury. "NERO!!"
"What did I just say!?" Caesar roared.
In a flicker of light, Mash appeared in the chariot.
Nero blinked. "How-?"
"Mash Kyrielight, here to defend Emperor Nero!" she proclaimed, moving to block the rear of the chariot with her shield.
"A rearguard! Excellent." Caesar's shoulders straightened as the army he called clashed with the Iceni. "...though that is the only good. What a waste." His lips thinned.
"We need to strike Boudica down." Nero held Aestus Estus high, flames dancing on its edge.
The enemy chariot pursued Caesar's, the driver screaming wordless obscenity as her eyes wept orange hellfire.
"Easier said than done. Her chariot changed- it's no longer a defensive means, but offensive. Her rage and despair warped it." Caesar snapped his reins with one hand, holding his blade to his side. "I have a trick or two, but we need to slow her down first."
Nero's head whipped sideways as she saw the green wave of magecraft block the entrance to the city. "Hakuno's sealed the gate!"
"Eh? But-" Mash looked at the battlefield, where the humans had already started to run - the artillery barrage continued in a rain of red light, gouging holes as the Iceni were driven off.
A wave of black flame erupted, branching around Boudica but heading directly for the city.
"Oh," Caesar said weakly.
"LORD CHALDEAS!" Mash screamed, aiming her shield overhead. The fire engulfed them as every human and every legionnaire burst into ash, Boudica continuing to charge at them.
Galahad, help!
...who could be doing this? How is this- no. This is beyond the powers allotted to… I see. Another change. Very well. This technique is similar to the king's sheath. It is brief, but if Caesar can make it to the walls, it will help you live long enough to escape.
Mash gripped her shield. "We need to fall back!"
Caesar needed no further encouragement, wheeling his coursers around and sheathing his blade, snapping the reins fiercely. "Go! Go!"
The roaring flames hissed with the voice of multitudes, hellish whispers filling the ears of the survivors.
The screams and whispers dominated the battlefield, even as the flames devoured all light.
____________________________________________________________________________
"Ceasefire!" Nobunaga snapped, eyes scrunched up in irritation.
"What's going on?" Ritsuka asked numbly. The fire was almost alive, flames expanding and contracting like some massive organ.
"Well, I'm not seeing any survivors down there aside from Mash and the Romans," Nobunaga replied dourly, nodding at the sphere of blue that barely held out against the flame.
Gilgamesh left his arms folded, but Ritsuka could see him tracking both Caesar's chariot and Boudica's.
"This is the work of a Caster at the bare minimum," El-Melloi II mused darkly. "Boudica would never be capable of it in any form."
"Can you do anything?" Ritsuka asked.
"No. Just from eyeballing it, no. It would take a Noble Phantasm directly aligned against fire to stop those flames. They won't breach the walls, but nothing going out there will survive. It's only thanks to Mash that they're alive." El-Melloi II leaned forward. "Nobunaga, can you see the source?"
"Nope. Whoever it is either hid themselves too well or is in that stuff, and I can't see anything." Nobunaga shook her head.
"Gilgamesh…?" Ritsuka asked.
He gave a ponderous sigh. "I will look into it once Mash returns. It won't be long now."
"ASHES OF ANDRASTE!"
A torrent of soot and - from what Ritsuka could see - bone erupted from the firefield, coalescing into humanoid shapes that hung in midair. He couldn't make out details, but from the look on Gilgamesh's face, they could be anything from in bad taste to a new addition to his nightmares.
"And so the 'Queen of Victory' dips into necromantic familiars. Not something I would expect from any of her incarnations…" Gilgamesh mused darkly. His eyes narrowed, and Ritsuka almost jerked away when he placed his hand on his shoulder and drew him to his side. "Do not move."
Immediately after, tendrils of black flame slammed into a wall of golden light, projected by shields emerging from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon.
"What the-!" El-Melloi II drew back, fortunately already behind the new barricade.
"This isn't her." Nobunaga's eyes glinted. "This is hellfire. Maybe not the kind I'm used to, but definitely hellfire. We've got a demon."
"Mash…!" Ritsuka clenched his fists, struggling not to leap to her side.
"My eyes are on her. The shield holds strong, even if she hasn't called its true name," Gilgamesh murmured over the whispers of the dark fire.
Boudica's chariot soared through the air, orange flame dripping from the wheels as she screamed. Her eyes were flat and black as coal, even as hellfire dripped from her mouth.
"Enjoying my little additions to her majesty?"
Slowly, Ritsuka turned.
Lev Lainur Flauros gave a small smirk, tipping his hat as he stood on the parapet, not outside walking distance from Ritsuka. "Lovely night, isn't it… Tohsaka?" With a wave of his cane, flames surged from his feet, slamming into a new set of shields.
Ritsuka grit his teeth. "All those people…!"
"Fodder for a little experiment. As it turns out, this Grail is excellent for modifying Saint Graphs." Lev flicked his wrist, and a golden goblet appeared in his free hand. Black flames eddied inward, towards the city - only to stop against a staticky wall of green binary code. He frowned. "Hm. I've seen bits of this, but haven't been able to discern the source…"
"Die confused."
Golden portals surrounded him, launching ornate swords, spears, and axes-
Only for them to be blasted back in a vortex of black flames.
"I'd say 'A for effort, C for execution', but I doubt that was anywhere near your best." Lev gave a mocking smile as more gouts of flame splashed against the shields. "You'll need to bring your top effort to so much as scratch me, Hero-King."
Ritsuka glanced at Gilgamesh. His eyes were narrowed, calculating. He turned back to Lev.
"I don't understand. Why? Why all this?" Ritsuka asked, pitching his voice to be heard over the flames and Boudica's mad screeching as she pursued Caesar's chariot.
"Humanity is a failed experiment. It's time to wipe the board and restart." Lev assumed a bored look. "Your rebellion merely prolongs the inevitable. Even if you did somehow - against all odds - stop the King of Magic, she would obliterate all of you."
"Daji?" El-Melloi II asked, crossing his arms.
Lev let out a bark of mirthless laughter. "That hodgepodge nuisance is barely worth my time, let alone the attention of a Grand. No. There's a puppetmaster whom even Beasts fear that lurks in the shadows. Given you're all going to die here, there's no point in explaining further. Just rest assured that even if you did win this battle, the war was lost as soon as she turned her gaze on our world."
Ritsuka grit his teeth. "We'll stop her, and you! This world isn't something you can just discard! For everyone's sake-!"
Lev shook his head with a pitying grimace. "Bold, kind, and compassionate. In all honesty, if it weren't for your defiance I could see you as part of the new humanity. But, we've made our play. Remus remains in his palace, freezing the world. Boudica and I are here, keeping the majority of you pinned with familiars and flame..." His grimace turned to a feral grin.
"Shit."
Ritsuka looked to Nobunaga, who went pale.
"The Beast. She's gone after Ophelia's group!"
Gilgamesh's eyes flashed in rage. "WHAT!?"
Ritsuka clenched his fist. "Doctor Roman! Can you contact Ophelia!?"
Silence, but for the flames.
Lev chuckled. "Silly boy. Why would I share a plot you could disrupt?"
And the flames reached a new height, preparing to swallow the defenders on the wall.
____________________________________________________________________________
The snow began to whip around us furiously, obscuring everything past a few feet.
"Reunion over! Time to run!" Illya yelped, gripping my hand and dragging me along with unexpected strength.
"Oi! What's happening!?" Cu roared, scooping Ophelia into his arms as he started to move.
In the near distance, I heard the jingling of a single bell.
"Bad stuff! SHIRO!"
Wait, Red's here too!?
A roar cut through the snowfield as a massive white form charged, tearing through the curtain of ice. A huge, furry creature came into view. With inhuman speed and grace, Illya snatched Ophelia from Cu Chulainn and flung her onto the beast's back.
"That's not Red!"
"Nope! It's my bear! Hunting-dog-bear!" Illya's eyes widened. "Incoming!"
Eerie yips echoed in the emptiness shortly before a torrent of shadow bore Spartacus to the ground. He laughed as the canid shadows tore into him, spraying blood into the air.
"Found you~" Warm breath puffed against my ear as something scraped along my ribs, trying to puncture my skin and failing. I looked down and saw a clawed hand, nails sparking against my armor.
Cu Chulainn grabbed my arm, his eyes wide, and yanked me to him,
"Ohoho~ playing coy, are we?" the woman teased. I whirled to see her.
Black foxes circled us, solid shadows that yipped and snarled. Several flew as Spartacus shot upright, his wounds bubbling closed in red light.
Pink hair, fox ears, amber eyes. A slinky black dress with the middle cut out in the shape of a fox's head. Hair curled around pins. A delicate fan held in one clawed hand, the other free. A single pink tail weaving behind her.
"...Tamamo-no-Mae?" I squinted.
Her eyes widened.
"What's with the cosplay and why are you attacking us?"
Caligula let out a low growl, clenching his fists. "Da...ji…"
Spartacus bellowed with joy, launching himself forward.
The snow kicked up at the impact and Illya leapt onto the bear, helping Ophelia upright. "We need to run, now!" Real fear entered her eyes.
Ophelia shook her head, clearing it. "We don't have the resources to fight a Beast. Disengage now!"
Sigurd snapped his blade to the side, several shadow-corpses dissolving around him. "I will cover the retreat," he stated coolly.
When did that happen?
Massive black tails exploded out from the snow, expanding in a vortex of violence. I barely managed to interpose myself between Cu and the closest one, which was bigger around than most trees.
We were sent flying with a single swat, the bristling fur leaving scratches on my armor and exposed skin. The pain stung, but it was nothing compared to what I was used to.
And it was nothing compared to the multiple limbs impaling Spartacus as he laughed maniacally, his flesh bubbling around them and struggling to reform.
In the distance, I managed to make out Illya carting Ophelia away-
"Get out of there!" Ophelia cried, panic clear in her voice.
Cu struggled to get up, only for me to send him sliding with an effort of will as the snow carried him away. "Wh-stop!" he shouted.
I managed to get him away in time.
The not-Tamamo crashed down on me, the whites of her eyes gone pitch-black and fangs sprouting from her mouth. "I am Su Daji," she purred. "Any resemblance to that vixen is purely coincidental." Her clawed hands snaked around my throat, nine bristling tails lashing behind her.
"Fair," I wheezed, the pressure of her grip penetrating my armor. "She looks better than you anyways."
Her pupils shrank as she hissed, tails lashing with the sound of tearing flesh. "You whelp." Her nails dug in, slowly sinking into my skin. I felt the blood start to trickle down my neck as I frantically grabbed her wrists, flames burning uselessly against her from my fingertips.
A blur of red came into view, only for Daji to reach up and halt Gae Bolg's swipe as it smacked into her palm. Slowly, her gaze turned upwards.
"Get off of him!" Cu roared, wrenching his weapon, trying to apply some sort of leverage.
"It's where he belongs - where all of you belong. Under my hands and feet," Daji snarled, forcing Cu to let go of his spear as he dodged a massive tail. "I'll pull all of you apa-"
A hand the size of my entire body reached down, plucking her from me and flinging her away.
Spartacus loomed, a multi-armed monstrosity. Covered in scar tissue and bulging muscle, he had no less than seven limbs and his mad smile. His body bulged and warped as a tail carved through his side, only for another arm to erupt and grip it in its passing. One of his free hands scooped me up, Cu's spear in my grip.
Turning his gaze to the rapidly swelling figure of Daji, Spartacus opened his mouth and roared.
A torrent of violet energy clashed with the whirling vortex of shadow, Daji's amber eyes slowly growing within. She gave no sign of noticing the attack.
She's transforming! She's attempting to Advent! Morgan cried out.
Well how do we stop her!?
I don't know! She's not a natural Beast, she requires a process to-
A blur of white passed beneath Spartacus, and I heard a yell.
"THIS BETTER WORK!" Illyasviel screamed, aiming her bow. With a line of light, a massive icicle transfixed Daji. "HIT IT, MASTER!"
I quickly swiped a rune in front of my face, and my sight zoomed in to see Ophelia riding forward, teeth grit in concentration. She tore the eyepatch from her face, revealing her mystic eye.
"Phenomena, schufen auf! Ich will es niemals glänzen sehen!" she screamed out, her eye flashing with crimson light.
Daji roared in fury, the shadows composing her body spasming wildly. A multitude of eyes opened, and her tails floated behind her. She had become a cephalothorax with massive teeth, nine tails studded with hellish orange eyes floating behind her.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" she raged.
Sigurd lunged forward, blade in hand. With a single swipe, he flung several daggers into Daji's mass, lodging them along her maw. No, wait… he punched them through the air, sending them slicing along her body. He lobbed his sword upward, letting it spiral before him as he drew his fist back once more.
"For Brynhildr!" he bellowed. "Let turn the wheel of destruction! Bölverk Gram!" And he slammed his fist into the hilt of the demonic blade, sending it flying.
It tore through the air, shearing the clouds above and sending snow spilling away - and as the blade hurtled towards Daji, I finally caught sight of Caligula.
"The goddess…! The goddess…!"
We'd traveled far enough that it was night, and the moon hung low in the sky. Somehow, its glow was different, even from the newly-freed moon in Orleans.
"I can see the goddess in sight! Flucticulus Diana!" Caligula howled.
The moon seemed to pulse, sending waves of light down upon Daji. I didn't know what it was supposed to do, but I couldn't see any visible effect.
Sigurd's sword, on the other hand…
It lodged itself in the bridge of Daji's muzzle, shortly before Sigurd himself appeared in a blur of motion. With a shout, he punched it forward, sending blue-green light erupting along Daji's body.
I was shaken from my stupor by Cu landing at my side, picking his spear out of my grip. "Thanks for holding onto that," he said in a faux-conversational tone.
"Uh." I blinked, staring as Daji shook her head-body, sending Sigurd and Gram flying.
He exhaled. "This… might be a little difficult."
Daji howled, eyes blazing as a shockwave of orange light bore Caligula down into the snow - and then all of her eyes turned to us.
No.
Turned to me.
"Ophelia and Illyasviel cleared the area, so if you've got something to use-!" Cu grit out, grabbing my shoulder.
I held my hands up, and swiped them apart.
Snow whirled, and with a crack like thunder, a miniature glacier encased Daji's body. A full simultaneous freeze, drawing on the moisture of the air and bending the results of Remus' Authority to my will.
"Spartacus? I know we've gotta overthrow her, but, uh… later? Please?" I squeaked.
His eyes (oh god there's more what the fuck) turned to me. For a long moment, his mad gaze rested there. Then he ponderously, almost regretfully, began to turn and leave.
"YOU DARE DREAM THAT THE WEAPONS OF MAN CAN HARM ME?"
Ruh-roh.
I whipped my head around as the ice shattered, Daji taking to the air as shadow dripped from her maw.
"I AM THE TREASURING BEAST. ALL ARE MY PLAYTHINGS, FROM THE GREATEST HERO TO THE LOWEST PEON. NO WEAPON CRAFTED OR HELD BY HUMAN HANDS CAN MARK ME!" Daji's voice was a cacophony of one, one voice layered over and over into a hellish storm as she descended.
She shrieked, and the force of it sent us all flying - I saw Caligula hurtle through the air, leg bent backwards, and Sigurd tumbled with his limbs pulled in. Illya managed to encase Ophelia and herself in a hollow sphere of ice as they spun through the sky.
I reached for Spartacus and Cu as they scattered, blood streaming from cuts peppering Cu's body.
Unfortunately, I was snagged by a tail, so was hauled in the opposite direction.
I was rotated so I faced Daji's slavering jaws, her eyes gleaming with fury. Chunks of frost stuck to her, leaving light scrapes that bled through her pitch-black fur.
...she got nailed by a demonic sword and some sort of lunar bullshit, and my attempt was what stuck?
"MANAKA SAJYOU WAS RIGHT. YOU NEED TO DIE HERE." The jaws opened, and I struggled against the tail's grip as she thrust me forwards, my bracers gleaming as I pitched back and forth.
"Well now we know Tamamo's better, you bargain-bin knock-off!" I screamed as she prepared to eat me.
Daji froze.
"That's right! You're nothing but a cut-rate fake! A pale imitation at best!" I yelled.
Fuck it. If I'm going out, it won't be quiet!
"AEGIS TITANIA!"
The metal flowed over my body, giving me claws, fangs, and my bladed tail. I drove my claws down into the limb grasping me, golden flames sparking as I dug into the flesh.
Daji yowled, flinging me away.
I flit through the air, hands weaving rapidly as runes fell to the ground. I felt the gems of my hairpin light up on my forehead, even as black lightning from my dagger flowed along my claws.
The earth beneath Daji bucked and bulged, erupting in a torrent of magma that hurtled skyward.
Daji shot out of it, shrieking in rage and pain, though the damage was negligible. "I WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY-!"
"GAE BOLG!"
A crimson explosion swallowed my vision, eradicating the forest around Daji even as a muscular arm whipped around my middle, and the scenery began to shrink as tunnel vision overcame me. Everything blurred as I was dragged at speeds I'd never managed to reach on my own.
"Couldn't leave you there," Cu murmured. "And don't send me away like that again."
"How about repositioning you so you can save me from something later?" I rasped, my voice enveloped in a metallic echo.
"Hmph. If you put it like that," he muttered, mollified. He held his hand out, and his spear slapped into his palm with a meaty thwack.
Daji shrieked, her body condensing back into the woman in the black dress. The nine massive tails acted as legs, propelling her after us.
She'll need time to try and Advent again, but your weapons are the only ones that can hurt her! As a hybrid, you're not half-human half-fae, but a new being entirely! A fae subspecies! So anything you make can cut through her Nega-Weapon-
Her what!?
NEGA-WEAPON. Her Authority of the Beast! Unfortunately, she's still a Beast, and the power she has and her endurance are too much for you! NOW SHUT YOUR ARMOR DOWN BEFORE YOU DIE, IDIOT CHILD!
With a squeak, the Aegis Titania retracted back to normal. ...I'd needed it to even scratch her, and that was just because it didn't play the same rock-paper-scissors everyone else's did. This was bad.
As Daji continued to rampage, tearing the woods down as we fled towards the manor, I felt my blood run cold.
So this was why Romulus was called. And if she managed to 'Advent' as Morgan put it, he'd have to come here - leaving all those innocents out in the literal cold.
Fuck.
"I'll have your blood! All of you! All of your everything belongs to ME!"
A pack of howling, yipping foxes dashed through the snow, the wind shearing around them in a vortex of destruction. The furthermost reaches sliced into Spartacus' back as he lumbered, causing him to grow even further. His eyes gleamed as I could feel him struggling not to turn and fight, carrying Caligula in one of his massive paws.
What were we supposed to do about this!?
A soft weight landed on my shoulder, even as Cu dashed away - keeping pace with Illya's bear.
I turned and my eye slammed shut as a rough tongue brushed my upper cheek.
"Fou."
____________________________________________________________________________
The flames curled around Mash's shield, the projected protection barely holding.
"We're almost there!" Caesar roared, snapping the reins. "Nero, signal Hakuno!"
This technique will momentarily shift you out of the time axis. It's up to you to put it to best use.
Mash grit her teeth. "Go!"
The chariot erupted from the flickering flames, piercing through a whirling gale.
"KEEP GOING!" El-Melloi II held his fan out, sweat pouring down his face. "I CAN ONLY BANK IT SO LONG!"
Tendrils of black fire snapped from a figure below, eradicating Nobu as they formed.
"I HAVE YOU! NERO!"
Mash recoiled as the mad visage of Boudica appeared from the flames, flanked by ashen wraiths. The queen pulled her arm back, sword in hand as she launched herself, screaming.
"Obscurant Wall of Chalk!"
And she flew through them, as though they were merely an illusion.
Caesar's chariot landed, the rattling wheels signalling their return-
"How did it go? Ah, yes. 'Ware the Ides of March."
Caesar gasped as a length of polished black wood erupted from his gut, impaling him from behind. Blood spattered from his mouth as he stumbled, the chariot dissolving.
"NO!" Nero swung her blade at the assailant, only for the weapon to withdraw and smoothly block Aestus Estus.
Lev Lainur Flauros smiled darkly as Caesar knelt, gripping the stones beneath him.
Boudica leapt from her chariot, sword held high as she plunged towards Nero's back. The wraiths followed in a cloud of hate and smoke.
Mash wavered, drained from using her Noble Phantasm and the new skill so close together. She couldn't… but she had to…!
Hefting her shield, she spun and caught Boudica's blade, knocking her off-balance and forcing her back.
Lord El-Melloi II kept the fire at bay, though Mash could see the sweat pouring through his clothes, and the way his legs began to tremble with effort.
"How unfortunate-" Lev began.
"Oh FUCK OFF!" Nobunaga snarled, appearing at his back and lashing out with her saber. He nimbly dodged, and Mash found herself dragged along with Nero by an invisible force.
Gilgamesh dropped the staff back into the Gate of Babylon, eyes glinting. "I leave the rest to you, mongrel." He pulled a small phial out, and began to pour it over Caesar's wound, causing it to hiss as it slowly closed.
"WITHOUT FAIL!"
Mash's breath caught as row after row of flintlocks appeared in the air as it warped and wavered around them.
"I am prepared to expose corpses to Three Thousand Worlds. Demon of the Sixth Heaven's roaring command!" Nobunaga swung her blade down, and the guns pointed at Boudica and the army of wraiths behind her.
The queen lifted her blade. "I'LL END IT ALL! SWORD OF BOUDICA!" Wind whipped around it, creating a vortex of sluggish orange flame that came crashing down.
"Behold! Three Line Formation: Three Thousand Worlds!"
The rain of red poured down, tearing through the reanimated army. Mash watched in awe as Boudica twisted and screamed, pelted by the gunfire as it carved through her body.
Still she charged, blade held high as she swung it down, cracking the parapet of the city as flames rushed towards them, the Queen of Victory's last defiance.
A barrier of crystal erupted, blocking the flame, and Hakuno stepped out of thin air. "And that is enough of that."
Through the crystal's reflection, Mash watched as Boudica faded in a swirl of sparks, a look of confusion and horror on her face.
"Hm. It seems my modifications caused her to burn out a bit early. Pity." Black flame resurged, forcing Mash to put her shield up.
Lev held the Grail high. "Unfortunately, I'm not leaving until I get what I came for!" Fire warped the air, plunging down towards-!
"SENPAI!" Mash made to run for Ritsuka, who stood behind the rapidly appearing form of Tamamo-no-Mae.
The rattle of chains filled the air.
"NO!" Lev screamed, the fire cutting short.
The fire banked, falling below the parapet. Outside of the city, the inferno continued, but the overwhelming power had decreased.
Mash turned her head as the Grail fell from golden chains into Nero's hand. She grasped it, and with a glint in her eye plunged it into her chest with a flash of light.
"This is far from over," Lev growled. He jerked as a wave of ice came up to his feet, stopping short at the whirlpool of black flame.
"Pick your poison. You burned out your sole backup, and even if you managed to exhaust three of us, the rest of us are more than ready to take you out." Tamamo slowly walked forwards.
Hakuno didn't taunt him. With a sweep of her hand, shards of crystal slammed into his body, sending Lev flying into the night shortly before he vanished in a swirl of flame.
Tamamo paused. "Or that works." She hustled to Caesar's side, kneeling. "Great. Cleopatra's going to be thrilled."
Caesar groaned, leaning upwards. "I'll endure. Is Nero…?"
"Hmph. She might actually be of use, now," Gilgamesh mused. He grimaced as Hakuno brought a folded parasol down on his head lightly.
"First off, don't. Second off, we're retiring you from the field, Caesar." Hakuno tucked it under her arm. "You did great getting her out of… that." She looked at the field of bubbling silicates, slowly cooling into glass.
"I did not do it alone." He glanced at Mash. "And were it not for her granting me greater defenses, I fear for my lady's reaction."
Mash blinked. "Huh?"
You've managed to transform the Self-Field Defense into a passive Endurance enhancement. Congratulations. I wonder how you managed, but… Galahad trailed off. No matter. You did what was needed. If Nero falls, this era collapses. She is not meant to perish yet.
Mash exhaled slowly, then dismissed her shield. "Senpai!" She moved as quickly as her leaden limbs would allow, reaching his side.
Ritsuka wrapped her in a tight hug. "You did great, Mash. I'm so glad you're alright." He breathed deeply. "Gilgamesh. How far can you go from me?"
His eyes gleamed. "I'm well suited to Independant Action."
"Go and find the others. You're the strongest - we need you to fight the Beast."
Mash jolted. "What!? She's going after Matthew!?"
Tamamo giggled. "Oh, I wouldn't be too worried. We'd know if she killed them, and… a certain something pursued them. They'll live."
"A certain…?" Mash frowned.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes. "Somehow, I doubt my craftsman's pet will be of much help."
Tamamo stared at him for a long moment, then flung her head back and laughed.
"...I'm gonna guess the fuzzball is more than he looks like, huh." Nobunaga scratched the back of her head.
Hakuno frowned. "That's ominous."
Cath Palug is a Beast in his own right. He only hasn't invoked Advent because he is judging humanity through you, your Master, and your brother.
Mash's eyes widened.
He slumbers, but his might is immense.
...Mash decided to keep that to herself, for now.
Wise choice. There's already enough to incite panic.
____________________________________________________________________________
Rays of light scythed through the pack of shadow-foxes, sending splatters of ichor to the ground.
Fou bounded through the air, enveloped in brilliant light that shifted from bright to dark colors and back again.
How dare. How dare she.
The tails lunged out, and Fou cast the illusion aside.
White fur, blue cloth, lavender eyes. The marks of Merlin as his master. But such had not been the case for over a year.
Matthew knew who and what he was. That should have been cause enough for fear, if not outright rejection.
"Fou, fou!"
"...I'm gonna call him Fou! Because that's what he says."
"Fou?" 'Fou' tilted his head, eyes widening as Matthew's hand gently cupped his ears and scratched.
The short teen smiled. "I've decided. Since you're not going to attack me or anyone, let's be friends!" He tilted his head, frowning. "Mm. I see. Don't care!"
Fou's paws paddled the air as he was scooped up, startling him.
"My Fou." Matthew nuzzled the top of Fou's head.
Fou gave a slow blink, then sneezed. Matthew snickered. "Cute."
Merlin. Cath Palug.
Altrouge. Primate Murder.
Matthew. Fou.
His name changed. His form changed. Whoever took him in and kept him gave him identity.
His fur was a mix of gold and silver. His bandanna was black to one side, and white to the other. One eye was green, and the other red as a ruby. And from his back sprouted two wings - a blackbird's and a butterfly's.
Daji recoiled on seeing him. "YOU!?" Her tails rapidly moved, coming up to shield her.
As though it would help.
"FOU! FOU! FOU! DIE, FOU!"
The little pretender screamed, scuttling away at speed through the snowfall.
Fou'd had his fill of snow. It wasn't like there wasn't enough to play in back at Chaldea.
And so he opened the gate to Avalon, mimicking his master.
____________________________________________________________________________
"Uh-oh." Merlin gave a slow blink. "Morgan? Moooorgan?"
The Faerie Queen peered out the window at the massive circle that appeared over the fields and forests of Avalon. "What. The Fuck."
BB hung over the windowsill, jaw swinging beneath her face comically.
"Well, it seems Cath Palug - sorry, Fou - has decided to reveal his true colors. In spectacular fashion." Merlin smiled politely. "I almost feel bad for whatever provoked him. Almost."
Morgan wheezed. "Not much brings me fear. But by all my courts am I glad that fuzzball's on our side."
"Matthew's side," Merlin corrected gently.
"Same difference," Morgan replied dismissively, composure back in place.
BB wheezed, slumping onto the floor. "I'll be good Mama, I promise, BB is a good girl," she babbled. The mana from the Reverse Side of the World continued to flow into some working she could barely hope to achieve - even in the Moon Cell!
"And everything went better than expected!" Merlin chirped.
____________________________________________________________________________
I watched, mouth open as the column of white light slammed into the snow below. A vortex of wind spiraled, and the scent of flowers filled the air.
"What the fuck is going on!?" Cu roared.
"It's Fou! He's drawing power from Avalon!" I cried out.
"HOW!?"
I closed my eyes against the blinding light as it continued to build. Warm wind battered my body, and the wounds I'd taken rapidly closed.
"How is this possible? Fenrir's Authority-" Ophelia began.
"Fou's better!" I cheered.
"How is your pet better than a Norse god!?" Illya shrieked.
"'Cause he's my Fou!"
The light dimmed, and slowly I forced my eyes open.
It was like spring in the pictures I'd seen. The grass was lush under my feet, the trees had leaves, and birdsong filled the air.
Fou hung in midair, facing down Daji - now wielding nine stubs instead of nine tails as she clung to a tree, shaking. Light revolved around him.
Slowly, she lifted a hand, darkness gathering-
"FOU! BUSTER BRAVE CHAIN FOOOOOUUUU!" Lightning lashed around his body, and he began to spiral like a corkscrew before vanishing.
With a sound like a cannon, he reappeared, paws lodged in Daji's gut as multiple images of him impacted all over her body. With a crashing sonic boom, she went flying into the distance.
"THIS ISN'T OVER-!" she howled as she snapped out of my range of vision, off towards a patch of dark clouds.
She's far from dead, but she is wounded. Most of the power went to confining Remus' influence to his castle. Morgan sounded just this side of giddy. She'll recover fairly quickly, but Fou bought you all time and flipped the board so you could go on offense. Now Romulus can hit the field without thousands of people turning into popsicles.
Fou slowly floated to the ground, wobbling on his paws.
"Fou!" I bolted forwards, Cu's fingers brushing my shoulder as he reached out. I knelt down and scooped him up. "Fou, are you okay? C'mon buddy," I pleaded, gently turning him so his belly was in the air and cradling his head.
"Kyau…" Fou gave a massive yawn and shut his eyes, tongue hanging out of his mouth slightly. His belly rose and fell steadily.
He was fine, just tapped. For now. Which, given he went off like a magic nuke, was understandable.
I nuzzled his head and held him close. "Don't scare me like that, fuzzbutt," I muttered.
He snored, the little bastard.
____________________________________________________________________________
Ritsuka watched as Nero flexed her hands, marvelling at her newfound strength. "If she has the Grail, shouldn't the Singularity collapse?" he wondered aloud.
"Even with it, too many irregularities remain," Romulus replied. He looked to Caesar's throne, where the man rested. "Even with what happened outside, I'm hesitant to send him out again."
"He nearly died," Cleopatra replied in a soft voice, stroking the man's hair. "Even with the medicine and whatever that was, he's still recovering." She looked up, eyes blazing. "Whenever we march, I'm going."
"Well that was a… how did you put it?" Tamamo smirked at Gilgamesh. "A 'craftsman's pet'?"
Gilgamesh sneered.
"No." Hakuno poked him in the side of the head, making him scowl. She turned her gaze to Tamamo. "Leave it."
Tamamo held her hands up, smiling cheerfully. "As you wish. I'll savor my 'told you so's in silence."
"Is Lev gone?" Mash whispered, leaning against Ritsuka in exhaustion.
"Doubt it. He teleported out as soon as he took a hit, and it didn't look like it connected well. He rolled with it." Nobunaga leaned against a pillar. "That bastard was flinging around fire magecraft I'm damn sure no human magus could manage. Not in the modern age."
"A Grand Magus might be able to do something of that level. I'd expect it of Barthomeloi or perhaps the Headmaster." El-Melloi II rubbed the bridge of his nose, eyes closed. "Lainur was above average, but not at that level. I don't think even Alba could manage that with his repeated Sea of Flames."
"Regardless, I can sense Caligula. He's taken damage directly to his Saint Graph. He won't dematerialize, but it is unlikely he will be of help against anything stronger than a human." Romulus frowned. "And then we have the Iceni."
"Were those all of them?" Ritsuka asked. His stomach clenched at the casual slaughter Lev committed for Boudica's familiars - familiars which were mowed down by Nobunaga without effort. On both a moral and a pragmatic level, it was an atrocious act. Even other magi would be offended by it.
"No. The women and children are now unguarded, save for the men who remained as a token force." Romulus folded his arms. "In Boudica's absence, they will try to flee."
"Let them. It's spring, they'll have a good chance of it." Cleopatra stood. "That woman was mad; there's no need for them to suffer for her sake."
"Daji and Remus are cornered. They'll fight back hard once we attack." Hakuno inclined her head. "It's entirely possible that Daji will unleash her full power, to say nothing of Remus."
"Then we'll bring them down." Nero looked up. "Caesar, Caligula, and a token force to protect Rome. The rest of us will split up and bring them down - those two and the magus."
"Divide and conquer…" Ritsuka muttered. "Gilgamesh and Romulus should fight Daji." He looked to the Lancer and received a nod and a smile. "Can anyone else keep up with them."
"Oh, I imagine I might be able to," Tamamo said airily. Ritsuka narrowed his eyes as he swore he saw her hair darken for a split second, along with her eyes flashing white. "Between the three of us, it'll be a fair fight. Maybe."
"Ophelia can take everyone else against Remus, and I'll lead Mash, Matthew, and Cu Chulainn against Lev." Ritsuka nodded.
"Are you sure you don't want me backing you up?" Hakuno asked, frowning.
"...arrangements may be subject to change," Ritsuka admitted sheepishly.
Gilgamesh chuckled. "Hakunon is very close to me in strength. She will be more than enough to safeguard the three of you."
"There'll be four?" Mash blinked.
"I wasn't including the Hound of Ulster, but she can protect him too - assuming he needs it."
Mash's gaze fell.
Gilgamesh smirked. "I merely posit this given your current exhaustion and your spirit's… reticence. You acquitted yourself adequately in today's sortie."
Mash looked up, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as her eyes widened in surprise.
The air crackled, and Roman's image appeared. "-ka! Rit- Ah, we connected!" Roman sighed in relief. "We're still trying to connect to Ophelia, but they're approaching an incredibly dense dead zone. That's probably Baba Yaga's domain. We lost contact with you, and got concerned."
"Lev attacked with Boudica. It took a lot of us to fend him off, but we did it. Boudica is out of the picture," Ritsuka reported. He placed a hand on Mash's shoulder before tucking her under his arm, steadying her as she swayed on her feet.
Roman's eyes narrowed. "What happened."
"The Iceni have been devastated. They're no longer a player." Cleopatra prowled forward. "Caesar is out of commission, and Romulus says Caligula has been similarly damaged. We have no other information about that group." She glanced at Romulus.
"Any child of Rome may lend me their eyes. A small girl managed to warn them of the assault, for all the good it did. Spartacus is malformed by his own power and gigantified, but Sigurd, Cu Chulainn, and Matthew are all whole." Romulus folded his arms. "Ophelia is somewhat drained, and the creature you call 'Fou' sleeps to recover his might."
"Who went after them?" Roman asked.
"Daji herself attacked. The 'Fou' repelled her single-handedly - no other was able to stop her, though Matthew was able to leave lasting damage." Romulus closed his eyes. "That is all that I have been shown."
Roman stared, breathing quietly.
"Doctor?" Ritsuka whispered hesitantly.
"I- I'm fine. Mash, are you alright?"
She gave a wan smile. "Tired."
"Right, I'll have Da Vinci reroute mana to you, and you go find a place to rest," Roman fussed. "Matthew's with multiple powerful Servants and Ophelia, he'll be alright. Boudica is done, and Daji sounds like she's licking her wounds." He swallowed. "Now we just have to hope Matthew's in a good mood and doesn't provoke the terrifying Thunder Witch."
Ritsuka slowly closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about it.
"It'll be okay." Mash smiled. "Things will be okay."
"It's been a long night. Morning is a way off, but I will personally take the watch." Romulus stepped forward. "You all did well defending the people. Your rest is well-earned. Take it."
"Don't need to tell me twice! All those Nobus and a firing formation? I'm beat." Nobunaga turned on her heel and wandered away.
Ritsuka opened his eyes and began herding Mash out. "I'll walk you to your room."
Mash hummed. "Matthew will be fine, right?"
"I hope so," Ritsuka muttered. "He's good, but I don't know how a Divine Spirit will take his attitude."
"I do not see any issues arising." Ritsuka twitched as Gilgamesh followed them at a sedate pace. "Though, I do have other concerns."
"...such as?" Ritsuka was tired, but humoring Gilgamesh was usually the safest bet.
"Hakunon is keeping her distance from Nero. This is unsurprising; the Emperor is still alive so lacks their shared memories. What interests me more is Tamamo's lack of fawning. My sight showed me that the woman could barely keep her hands off of Hakunon. This Tamamo-no-Mae stands aside, merely observing and commenting."
The air shimmered, and Tamamo stepped out. "Why, Gilgamesh. It almost sounds as though you have concern for someone beyond yourself!"
"Mongrel."
She gave a pointed grin, then turned to Ritsuka and Mash. "I wanted to commend your work. Both Mash and yourself."
"I didn't even do that much," Ritsuka protested.
"You had your Caster bank the flames so Caesar could escape, and placed Mash where she could do the most good. You tried to spare your enemy upon seeing them fighting under duress." Tamamo gave a knowing look. "If it weren't for Flauros, you might have saved them."
Ritsuka clenched his jaw and nodded.
"All in all… your primary focus is protecting. That's valuable." She paused. "Though there was your battle against the puppet known as Kotomine Kirei. So you can strike, if pressed."
Ritsuka's head snapped up. "How do you know about that?"
Tamamo smiled, placing a finger in front of her lips as she winked. "Spoilers." And she vanished.
"...hrm. That all but confirms it," Gilgamesh grumbled.
"Confirms what?"
Gilgamesh did not answer, merely walking away.
Ritsuka watched, then shook his head. He needed to get Mash to bed so she could rest.
Cryptic bullshit could wait.
____________________________________________________________________________
The manor loomed before us. After a few moments, I hopped up the steps, then knocked on the front door.
Ophelia followed closely. "Are you alright?" she asked once she was out of 'earshot'.
I nodded. "Yeah. We shouldn't expect a repeat of that, though. Fou's bushed."
"I see." Ophelia hesitantly reached down, then gently stroked his paw with a finger. "Caligula and Spartacus aside, we came out of that better than we had any right to."
"How's your eye?" I asked, frowning at her.
She touched her cheek. "It was hurting, but that… thing… Fou did healed it. I'm still in shock, somewhat."
I looked up at Spartacus, where he loomed like some twisted titan. Caligula sat in one of his many palms, too weakened to stand. Whatever curse Daji had nailed him with stuck even through Avalon's healing power.
Sigurd cleared his throat. "You are certain this is where the goddess dwells?"
A series of crashes came from inside, followed by a cat's yowl.
"...yes?" I replied hesitantly.
The doors swept open. Inside was an opulent foyer, with a spiraling staircase. The walls were decorated with paintings that flickered with inner life - landscapes, for the most part.
"Well, let's head in." Cu stepped forward.
Ophelia held a hand up. "Wait. We haven't been invited." She looked to me, then to Spartacus.
"Hey big guy, can you watch over Caligula out here? If you try to get inside, it won't be pretty." I waved at him.
Spartacus still smiled, his multitude of eyes blinking.
...poor guy.
We turned inside, and a scrap of paper fell to the ground.
Ophelia picked it up. "Enter the right one."
I narrowed my eyes, looking around inside before stepping in.
"Oh, so now we can go in?" Cu remarked.
"It's an invite, isn't it?" I blinked, shifting Fou in my arms as he slept. "We just need to find the right painting."
Cu and Sigurd stared at me.
"How did you arrive at that conclusion?" Ophelia asked.
"Well, it's all paintings in here. Also, I came from here, so…" Illyasviel shrugged. Her bear was nowhere to be seen.
"Ah." Ophelia blinked.
"So which one is it?" Cu asked, frowning.
Illya held a finger up, opening her mouth, and froze. "I forget."
Sigurd clenched his fists.
"Well, what're some identifying things about Baba Yaga?" I asked, tilting my head.
"She flies around in a mortar. Pestle optional," Cu noted.
"She lives in a hut with chicken legs," Ophelia added.
"...a chicken hut?" Huh, that sounds really familiar.
Waiiiit for it…
I frowned, marching in and glancing around.
Yup. Right back corner, a small painting. Straw-thatched hut with a pair of squatting chicken legs, one to each side. The door was open, and smoke billowed from the chimney, actually moving.
"Got it!" I called. I turned around. "Spartacus! Be good, okay? No smashing oppressors without me!"
"The weather is… un-oppressive?" His voice was still jolly and booming, but his tone was utterly flummoxed.
"...translation?" Cu Chulainn raised an eyebrow at me.
"Mostly I fear that means he'll sit pretty."
"We're wasting time," Sigurd bit out. He blinked, then glanced away. "Apologies. That was unbecoming of me."
I shrugged. "It's fine." I jerked my head and lead the way, everyone else following. "If it was Cu who got his head handed to him by a Beast, I'd be way more terrible than you're being now."
Cu Chulainn's lips twitched slightly before he gave in and smirked. "Aw. I'm touched."
"Love you too," I said absentmindedly as I started poking the painting with my free hand.
Illya giggled as Ophelia gave an exhausted sigh.
"You holding up alright, fearless leader?" I frowned as my finger sank into the painting, causing ripples on the surface. Well that answers part of the question, but now how do we fit…?
"I'm merely tired. I entered a contract with Illyasviel, and after that fight I'm… yes. Tired."
"Well, hopefully if we play nice this lady will do the 'sacred hospitality' thing. Maybe." I pushed my hand all the way in. "Uh."
The floor heaved, pitching us forward in a cacophony of yelling.
"I REMEMBER THIS PART!" Illya screamed. "I HATE THIS PART!"
She landed on her feet, helping Sigurd steady Ophelia.
I ended up flat on my ass.
"Ow."
"Up you get," Cu said with a small smile, putting his hands under my back and keeping me steady as I stood.
I looked around. It was… rustic. A forest with tall, bare trees surrounded us, and the hut was made of clay brick with a straw roof. The windows were dark, and the building felt almost alive.
I glanced at Ophelia, and she nodded.
With all the resolve I had to offer, I marched to the door and knocked firmly.
Slowly it creaked open.
"Welcome, Good Hunter, to the Hunter's Dream…" a breathy woman's voice entreated.
I squinted. "Pardon?"
"SURPRISE!" an entirely different voice shrieked.
Oh god it's her. That damned streamer who kept invading everyone on the forums.
"WHAT WHAT FROM THE CHICKEN HUT!"
The door slammed the rest of the way open.
"IT'S YOUR FAVORITE GRANNY!"
She stood in a sackcloth dress, a bright red handkerchief atop her head. Her teeth glittered darkly, knives of black iron set in a wrinkled face.
She also wore a pair of sunglasses with bright purple frames bedazzled with rhinestones, and had an air horn in each hand.
I flinched as she quickly fired them off three times.
BYNastyGranny? Baba Yaga? Huh? Huh? Morgan giggled. That's why you pay attention in history!
Mrglrgl…
"ANYways, it took you punks long enough." She turned around and slouched back inside.
We waited for a moment.
"GET OVER HERE!"
There was a chorus of yells as we were dragged in by snares of invisible force, colliding into each other. Ophelia barely managed to keep her feet thanks to Sigurd, but Illya ended up on the floor.
I ended up facedown on Cu's back, my legs straddling his waist and my face lodged between his shoulder blades.
"Save that for when you get to Chaldea, Pixiebob!" Baba Yaga jabbed my side with a gnarled wooden staff, because of course one of the archetypes of a wicked witch had one.
As though you know about such things.
Moooorgannn…
My, my!
Meanwhile, Fou napped in a basket on a counter and how did he get there.
"SO!" Baba Yaga clapped her hands together, and the sound of distant thunder rolled. "You survived a whole-ass Beast until the little shnookums over there bailed you out. Not bad, not bad. Of course, she's a bootleg so it's not like you tangoed with a twisted Earth Mother, but it's still amateur hour so you're doing fine."
"...bootleg?" I rasped, getting up. I left my hand low to brace Cu as he followed, an irritated look on his face.
"Yep! That little liar is Tamamo-Vitch, a fragment of the whole Tamamo-no-Mae born in a Moon Cell. Some sassy little so-and-so decided to stitch the real thing onto her, along with a particularly ornery nine-tailed fox from the far East." Baba Yaga planted her fists on her hips. "Now, a manufactured Beast is worthy of the title, but they also have glaring weaknesses just ripe for heroes to exploit. Grands are still required, but it's less 'get all Seven this fuckin' minute' and more 'get one and massive backup and pray'."
Ophelia cleared her throat.
"Hmmm? A question already?" Baba Yaga's… sunglasses… glinted.
"..." Ophelia hesitated.
"Go ahead, spit it out, I won't bite. Well, not today. You kids have an invite and you've been polite enough. A little spooked, but polite." Baba Yaga went to fold her hands, but noticed the airhorns. She flung them away, causing them to let out a final honk as they broke something made of glass. Then she folded her hands.
"I wanted to ask about Brynhildr," Ophelia finally said.
"Mmhm." Baba Yaga nodded, and waited.
There was a moment of silence.
I looked skyward for patience. To collect myself, not to address a higher power.
Aw…
I can talk to you in my head, prayer isn't required.
Well, true.
"So what are we supposed to do to heal her? I assume you have ideas." I crossed my arms. "Also, can we invite a… friend?"
"Sounds like you're not sure about that one, kiddo," Baba Yaga pointed out.
"Well, more like I trapped her in a bargain and she has no choice but to be civil."
The goddess turned her gaze upon me, staring for a long moment. Then she snorted and began to cackle wildly. "EheheheheHE! Well isn't that on fuckin' brand!? Not bad, Pixiebob, not bad! I like your moxie." She shuffled around the room, and kicked a door open. "Sure thing. She's in here, and she's a damn mess. Her Spirit Origin's fucked six ways to Woden's Day, and wouldn't you know, her Noble Phantasm's been broken to bits." She turned her gaze back to us. "Now I can keep people breathing, but soul-hurts like this aren't my forte. Neither's smithing, and you'll need both to put prettyboy's humpty-dearest back together again."
Sigurd stepped forward. "Is there anything I can do?" Desperation slipped into his voice.
"Oh, plenty. For her, not too much." Baba Yaga hummed. "Though just being around might help her withstand what's gotta go on." She rubbed her hands together. "So here's what I know. There's two things I can offer - things that I'm, oh… ninety percent sure will help."
A wooden table sprang from the floor, adorned with several glass jars.
"This here's for you." She held up a jar, and silvery metal gleamed inside. "So, once upon a maybe, Gram clashed with the spear of the Nordic Allfather, and got its shit wrecked." She glanced at Sigurd. "Someone who had way more talent than luck put that one back together. Kudos, kid."
Sigurd glanced away, abashed.
"Thing is, Divine Construct or no, Gungnir took a pounding too." She rattled the jar. "I got a forge out back and all the mundane materials you'd need. Some mystic ones too."
I closed my eyes and thought. "Give me the spear, the shards, ice from Nifelheim for quenching, and I'll need to access Muspelheim for the fire. The rest I have."
Baba Yaga gave a low whistle. "Well, I don't think any of us have Surtr on speed dial, so good luck with that. And don't even ask about that other place. Not to mention Ragnarok's been done for a millenium."
You know what Muspelheim is?
Dammit, I've been reading!
Noted!
Sigurd rubbed his chin. "If only we had someone who could go between the realms and ti-"
Fou let out a particularly loud snore, drawing my attention.
A chunk of ice glittered next to his basket, and a jar of white-hot flame sat next to it.
"...what the fuck he's unconscious." Baba Yaga stared.
"It's true! I mean, he must be an amazing familiar to have gotten those for you… in his sleep."
"Hi BB." I turned to see her smirking wickedly.
"Oh don't mind me. I'm just a wandering schoolgirl, here to help!" Her eyes sparkled. "Now, I think I'm reading this right… where are they?"
Baba Yaga reached under the table, and slammed a cage on top, eliciting startled caws. "One Huginn and one Muninn, ready to order!" She grinned widely.
A who and a what?
Morgan giggled.
"Hmhm… it'll be a little messier than in the Moon Cell, but I have the divine wiring to repurpose Brynhildr." She looked to me. "All that's needed first is that spear."
I rubbed my chin. "I'm better at making than remaking, but I'll do my best." I jerked as a hand landed on my shoulder.
"I have some experience." Sigurd nodded sternly. "We'll work together."
Ophelia glanced down, then her expression firmed. "I'll prepare the Bounded Field while you gather the pieces."
"Which leaves… me. What do I get to do in all this?" Cu asked, crossing his arms. He smirked at me. "Besides offering moral support." He twitched and caught a flying hunk of plastic.
"You get to get your ass beat by me in Third Strike!"
Illyasviel shuddered. "I died one thousand deaths…"
I stared for a moment, then began gathering glass jars. "Right, let's hustle before Granny decides to make him do the full training course as penance."
"GUTTER TRASH!"
"I… don't know that reference," Cu said with a frown as he followed her into a room with a multitude of screens.
Fou continued to snore louder as he rolled onto his back. Lucky bastard.
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So Fou is clearly the MVP of this chapter. Even getting materials while asleep. Can he do my Gilfest grinding for me?
Also looking more and more like Amaterasu!Tamamo
Also looking more and more like Amaterasu!Tamamo
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
God damn it, it's 11:40 pm I need my sleep... fuck it, I'll read it anyway...
Sleep is clearly for weak people
Tale Swapper
(Unverified Madman)
- Location
- Lost Among a Sea of Imaginings and Dreams
Well, FUCK.
...poor Boudica. Her historical self might have been a bit of a bitch, but no one deserves to die like that. And all her people too.
I'm seeing more and more evidence that 'normal' servants are going to become increasingly irrelevant, as has been stated prior. With that said, I wonder how Matthew is going to fix that deficit?
Also, can I have a ticket to the Chicken Hut? I kinda want to visit.
...poor Boudica. Her historical self might have been a bit of a bitch, but no one deserves to die like that. And all her people too.
I'm seeing more and more evidence that 'normal' servants are going to become increasingly irrelevant, as has been stated prior. With that said, I wonder how Matthew is going to fix that deficit?
Also, can I have a ticket to the Chicken Hut? I kinda want to visit.
Emral282
The Fluffy Tail of Now and Forever
- Location
- Moon Cell
- Location
- Caracas
I feel 0 iotas of pity for BB here.
I mean, Rome rolled over, told her she couldn't inherit the position of leader from her husband, had her and her daughters raped and punished harshly.
I think she's honestly justified in being turbo pissed at Rome in general for massively humiliating her and violating her. There is a reason why the Boudica Layer exists.
I mean, Rome rolled over, told her she couldn't inherit the position of leader from her husband, had her and her daughters raped and punished harshly.
I think she's honestly justified in being turbo pissed at Rome in general for massively humiliating her and violating her. There is a reason why the Boudica Layer exists.
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Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The gag was that it was BB, rather than Fou who got the goods. Was it from the Moon Cell? Was it from the actual place? Who knows?
That said, Fou can definitely do the Gilfest grinding by murdering everything in his path.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Well Galahad is unclenching slightly so Mash is on her way to becoming the tankiest tank that ever did tank. As for the rest, they just need to churn out Craft Essences by the job lot.
Tale Swapper
(Unverified Madman)
- Location
- Lost Among a Sea of Imaginings and Dreams
'Turbo pissed' excuses many things: the evident death of 70 -80 thousand civilians, many of them via torture, is not one of them. Granted, it may very well have been her soldiers following her mood, but it's still overkill to do things the way it fell. I'm not excusing the Roman atrocities put upon her. I'm just saying that she walked the path of vengeance without distinction, and that's a problem.
Evaunit02mark1
S-s-smell the Prey, S-s-start the Hunt.
You act like he hasn't already mugged gods before for shits and giggles.
Fou probably had that stashed away from the last time he partied so hard he caused Ragnarok.
- Location
- Not here
Amaterasu!Tamamo is now played by Alex Kingston
- Pronouns
- Male
So is all the materials are for recording her spear or for a new weapon
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Hold it. Ragnarok was in 1000 BC, Septem takes place in 50 AD. Surtr is dead, Muspelheim extinguished. And he incinerated Niflheim with the rest of the Nine Realms before the waters extinguished Surtr and washed away the ashes.
Heh. Lore says that all seven Grands are needed to fight one Beast at a time; we've beaten 4 and a bootleg in-game with only 1 Grand for Beasts II and I, and no Grands for III/R-L and the bootleg.
Reforging, most likely. It'll probably lack the anti-Sigurd property once they're done, too.
Zakara
Part-Time Heterodyne Specialty: Analysis
- Location
- Chaldea, Wandering Sea
I'm more amused than anything else that, at least in this continuity, Fou has a Gorilla deck. Nothing less for the Beast of Maximum Brute Force huh?
All the other Beasts have their own little tricks and conceptual advantages that allow them keep up with at least one or two Grands at a time. Not Fou. Fou keeps his place in the dead middle of the Beast Ranks through nothing more than sheer, unrivaled talent at murder.
All the other Beasts have their own little tricks and conceptual advantages that allow them keep up with at least one or two Grands at a time. Not Fou. Fou keeps his place in the dead middle of the Beast Ranks through nothing more than sheer, unrivaled talent at murder.
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Reality_Impacts
He Who Has Been Seen
- Location
- The Deep Abyss Of Madness
Ah, ending on a good note. And that little flashback with Fou getting his new name after Matthew found him was so cute my heart went boom.
- Location
- Caracas
He himself notes this in Solomon iirc, he excels at murdering primates, hence primate murder.
burningclaw2
The Power of the Tomato!
Is it wrong that I want to see Fou and Matthew playing games with Baba Yaga?
- Pronouns
- Kay
2 Hours and 15 minutes till Gilfest🥳. Now I noticed something this chapter, Baba Yaga said that vitch being a bootleg beast means that she has flaws that can be taken advantage of. Is one of them her having to really believe she is not tamamo/amaterasu because last chapter vitch lied to herself that she wasn't tamamo vitch or amaterasu.
This chapter matthew called her out on it twice and both times she froze up, the second time just before she killed matthew which would have pretty much won her the fight.
And Blink...thank you, thank you for avenging fou being stepped on by her in the lostbelt prologue. I was cheering so hard when fou went to town on her ass you glorious writer you! 😆
This chapter matthew called her out on it twice and both times she froze up, the second time just before she killed matthew which would have pretty much won her the fight.
And Blink...thank you, thank you for avenging fou being stepped on by her in the lostbelt prologue. I was cheering so hard when fou went to town on her ass you glorious writer you! 😆
- Location
- A beach
Some very cool fight scenes here. Spartacus turning into a body horror punching bag was pretty cool, as was Boudica's last charge. I don't think I need to comment on Fou's fight debut, but I will anyway. It was sick.
Also, normally I would assume that Flucticulus Diana really did do nothing, considering how powerful Daji is even if she hasn't advented. But with the way she's a stitched-together partially insane creature on several fronts already I can see it either legitimately failing against something like EX rank mental pollution or maybe it applied to all parts of her seperately and made her more unstable; hence why she didnt try to strategize even when she was getting her ass beat. Well, this is all just speculation.
Sigurd is... appropriately intense given the situation. I can't help but hope that 'fixing' Brynhildr goes well for his sake if nothing else.
Also, normally I would assume that Flucticulus Diana really did do nothing, considering how powerful Daji is even if she hasn't advented. But with the way she's a stitched-together partially insane creature on several fronts already I can see it either legitimately failing against something like EX rank mental pollution or maybe it applied to all parts of her seperately and made her more unstable; hence why she didnt try to strategize even when she was getting her ass beat. Well, this is all just speculation.
Sigurd is... appropriately intense given the situation. I can't help but hope that 'fixing' Brynhildr goes well for his sake if nothing else.
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Tweaked it, thanks for reminding me.
Avenger Boudica
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Boudica
Class: Avenger
Alias: Queen of Victory
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Basis: Historical Fact
Origin: Man
Consumed by her rage and hate, Boudica given reign to the darkness. Even beyond that, her Saint Graph has been tampered with. Fundamentally, an entirely different person from her Rider incarnation. Her base is pain.
Parameters:
STR: B
END: B+
AGI: C+
MAN: C
LUK: E
NP: A
Skills:
Avenger (A)
Oblivion Correction (A+): Normally it would hold a lower rank, but it has been tampered with.
Riding: B
Self-Replenishment (Mana) (C)
Vow to the Goddess (B)
Queen of Victory (A)
Outrage of Andraste (A): Functions as a lower-ranked Battle Continuation alongside Mad Enhancement. An added skill that came from the Demon God.
Noble Phantasms:
Chariot of Boudica (B++): Changed from a defense-type Noble Phantasm to an offense-type trampling assault. Pulled by demonic hares to symbolize her covenant with Andraste and twisted to fit her class container.
Sword of Boudica (B+): Now with additional 'fire'power. The flames of war seep from Boudica's body, giving this attack greater strength.
Ashes of Andraste (A): A high thaumaturgy appended to Boudica's Saint Graph. A technique that would never be used as a Rider, or normal Berserker/Avenger. Using dark power to animate the bodies of the dead to fight, it has a rank-up when creating incorporeal familiars through cremated targets. A symbol of how far the Queen of Victory fell, or was dragged - disgracing the lives of her beloved people, disgracing their deaths.
Class: Avenger
Alias: Queen of Victory
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Basis: Historical Fact
Origin: Man
Consumed by her rage and hate, Boudica given reign to the darkness. Even beyond that, her Saint Graph has been tampered with. Fundamentally, an entirely different person from her Rider incarnation. Her base is pain.
Parameters:
STR: B
END: B+
AGI: C+
MAN: C
LUK: E
NP: A
Skills:
Avenger (A)
Oblivion Correction (A+): Normally it would hold a lower rank, but it has been tampered with.
Riding: B
Self-Replenishment (Mana) (C)
Vow to the Goddess (B)
Queen of Victory (A)
Outrage of Andraste (A): Functions as a lower-ranked Battle Continuation alongside Mad Enhancement. An added skill that came from the Demon God.
Noble Phantasms:
Chariot of Boudica (B++): Changed from a defense-type Noble Phantasm to an offense-type trampling assault. Pulled by demonic hares to symbolize her covenant with Andraste and twisted to fit her class container.
Sword of Boudica (B+): Now with additional 'fire'power. The flames of war seep from Boudica's body, giving this attack greater strength.
Ashes of Andraste (A): A high thaumaturgy appended to Boudica's Saint Graph. A technique that would never be used as a Rider, or normal Berserker/Avenger. Using dark power to animate the bodies of the dead to fight, it has a rank-up when creating incorporeal familiars through cremated targets. A symbol of how far the Queen of Victory fell, or was dragged - disgracing the lives of her beloved people, disgracing their deaths.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
And in that moment everyone got a slightly better idea of just what Matthew's cute fuzzy little companion actually was.
Link
Oh come on. After carrying the team that hard he has a right to be tired.