The presence of a long-range attack that could reach him complicated things. Normally he would be able to use the great distance to keep shooting copies of Hrunting with impunity, adding more magical energy to each new shot to increase its power and, eventually, overwhelm the beast's defense. But with Leviathan capable of hitting back, he didn't have the time to increase the Broken Phantasm's power beyond the minimum necessary. The more he charged the power the less time he had to dodge, and not dodging when necessary would quickly lead to his death.
Rolling at the foot of the ex-hill he stood on a half-kneeling position, took aim and shot. Leviathan, in a display of agility impressive for its size, jerked its long body to the side to get out of the projectile's path.
Unfortunately for the serpent and all of Beowulf's opponents until it failed to penetrate the supernatural hide of Grendel's Mother, Hrunting doesn't miss. Ever.
Leviathan roared when the sword-turned-arrow exploded once again in its face and in the exact same point, further increasing the damage. As droplets of dark-blue blood stained its scales the Primal Beast growled in anger before roaring again. The swarm of monsters began to fly towards Archer's position with the serpent following almost immediately, another water jet cutter charging within his maw.
Archer had a split second to decide - left or right - before sprinting left, towards Mizarea. While it sounded beyond foolish to put the city and its inhabitants in danger, there was a fork in the road that would allow Archer to lead Leviathan and the monsters away from it. While the right road, towards Tzannis Plateau, would have forced him to pass close to where everyone else was still fighting. In essence, it was a tactic to keep the casualties to a minimum in exchange for...probably a lot of property damage. Yes, Archer had the inkling the local maps would need to be redrawn after the crisis was over.
"But first, I need to do something about you." After he outpaced another of Leviathan's jet cutter Archer kept running, a third Hrunting forming in his hands. At the same time, he Traced a few nameless E-ranked Noble Phantasms around him, broke them to push their rank to its original value and shot them at the incoming monsters. The projectiles all hit the head of the swarm in different points, the following explosions creating a blanket that stopped the rest in their tracks and hid him from sight. It was torn apart by Leviathan a second later, but the white-haired man was already gone by then.
The third shot was followed by Leviathan shooting its jet cutter in a sweep rather than a downward swing. Seeing the searing wall of water coming his way Archer quickly deduced the course of action with the highest chance of success. He dropped in a baseball slide and, keeping his body down as much as possible, projected his favorite defensive armament. "Rho Aias!"
The first layer of Ajax the Great's shield barely held together when Leviathan's jet cutter passed a scant meter above it, the displaced air, sand and water droplets moving at immense speed leaving behind a devastated, barren landscape.
Jumping back on his feet Archer discarded the fading Noble Phantasm and resumed running. "It's learning. The time at my disposal has been reduced by at least a third." More low-ranked Noble Phantasms were traced and shot at the approaching monsters. "Well, story of my life really."
[*]
Eugen, Gran and the rest of the crew watched as Leviathan kept moving farther and farther away. They tried to hurry after it, but they were already out of breath and the Primal Beast still nowhere close.
"I give up!" Io fell down on her knees with a wail. "I can't walk anymore!"
"I hate to admit it, but none of us is in the condition to continue." Katalina frowned, sweat running down her face.
"Shit! I'm sorry Eugen." Rackam clenched his fists. "We told you we'll stop Leviathan, and yet-!"
"Strange." While worried, the one-eyed man was also confused. "He's not exactly going towards Mizarea. He's... steering to the left. I'm sure of it. Whatever Leviathan is fighting; it's baiting him away from the city."
"Is it... another Primal Beast?" Gran looked at the blue-haired girl. "Lyria?"
She cupped her palms together, deep in concentration as she used her power to sense Primal Beasts.
"... No, I can feel only Leviathan. But..." She looked at the distant sea serpent, who was made to reel back by a red flash once again. "Even if it's not a Primal Beast, for a brief moment I can sense great power within each one of those red flashes."
Far away, on the observation deck of an airship, the Black Knight was observing the actions of Leviathan. Next to her, a girl in a black dress with light-blue hair tied up in twin-tails looked out of the window with a blank expression while hugging a stuffed cat.
"I expected that crew to fight and calm Leviathan, but that Primal Beast is stronger than I expected." She tapped a finger on the hilt of her sword. "But then, what is it fighting? Doll, what do you sense?"
The girl leaned close as if listening to something only she could hear. After several seconds of silence, she spoke with a quiet voice. "... Something... powerful..."
"Another Primal Beast?"
"..." She shook her head. "I don't know."
[*]
Back in Mizarea, people were watching in apprehension the battle between the titan and its unknown opponent.
"I'm scared..." One kid whimpered before feeling a small hand gently rubbing his head. Turning around he came face-to-face with a smiling Zahlhamelina. "Big Sister?"
"Shhh. It's alright, everything's going to be alright." The Harvin said with a soothing voice. However, once the kid calmed down she looked at the distant Primal Beast with a frown. "I thought Leviathan was supposed to bring the blessing of healing to Auguste's ocean. But if he keeps raging like that..."
"Yeah. This is shaping up to be a real mess." A tall, busty woman dressed like a pirate approached from Zahlhamelina's side. "And yet, someone is clearly already out there, fighting that big snake."
The Harvin tilted her head. "Uhm, you are...?"
"Name's Sig. Just a passing pirate." She said that as if it was perfectly normal. "Yer want to go out there and do the same, I'm right? It's written all over yer face. Want to join me and my men? Against that, we can use all the helping hands."
"...Normally I would say it's too dangerous, but-" The rest of her words was drowned out by Leviathan's roar.
Everyone watching witnessed as the ring around the Primal Beast's head began to spin even faster, the water creating a spinning aura of reflecting water around its body. The next time a red bolt was fired it stopped at the edge of the barrier, hovering there for an instant before bouncing back in the opposite direction.
[*]
With a grunt, Archer dispelled Hrunting after the third failed attempt to pierce the Primal Beast's barrier.
"A ward strong enough to not only block a B-ranked Broken Phantasm, but also reflect it back at its sender? A nice trump card to have."
The sea serpent reared back its head, the smell of the sea sharply increasing in intensity. The monsters divided into two waves to keep the area in front of their master empty, while behind the beast an immense wall of water was quickly rising up and gaining speed.
He grimaced, "Correction. I guess Leviathan has decided to stop playing around."
He looked around, first at Mizarea and then in the direction he came from.
"... No escape routes left. But I guess this place is good enough. Either it works, or I'm dead. Hell, I'm probably dead even if it works."
"Heh," He snorted. "Yes, this is truly the story of my life."
Raising his bow in his left hand he held up the right one, palm facing upward.
"... I'm not sure my usual one is going to be enough. I need
that version... ugh, it's a good thing nobody's here to see me embarrassing myself."
Archer allowed himself a small grimace before schooling his features and closing his eyes.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Glowing lines appeared on his right arm. Above his palm, something as tall as him began to take form.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."
First was a sword hilt as long as his own arm, followed by a circular guard covered in spikes.
"I have created over a thousand blades."
The blade, if it could even be called that, coiled into a giant, wicked-looking spiral. By the time he was done, what Archer was holding resembled more a jousting lance than a sword.
As he locked it and began to pull back the bowstring cracks from which shined a rainbow-colored light began to appear on the weapon's surface, its form compressing and elongating into a more aerodynamic one.
The wave created by Leviathan was now half as tall as the Primal Beast, the immense mass of water harmlessly passing around it to continue its path. The monsters, heedless of the danger behind them, kept flying towards their prey.
Archer opened both eyes, raising his bow and fixing his aim by using not his eyes, but his trusted sense of smell. The projectile in his hands was less a weapon and more a jigsaw puzzle around a luminous core of pure power.
"Overflow, rainbow. Beyond the spiral's horizon! Ultimate Rainbow Sword!"
[*]
Lyria's eyes shot wide open. "What-"
"...is that?" Behind her helmet the Black Knight gaped at the black-dressed girl's shocked expression, showing more emotions in that moment that she ever did in the last ten years.
[*]
The shadow cast by the wave covered the land. Yet, even in the darkness, a light refused to perish.
"CALEDFWLCH CALADBOLG!"
[*]
For those watching from afar, it was as if the sky itself was split apart by a soaring shooting star that left behind a trail of a rainbow.
The immense wave was about to crash down on the land when a brilliant bolt of light pierced through it, space itself distorting at its passage. The swarm of monsters was annihilated as a simple aftereffect of it passing in an area far away from them. Behind it left a majestic rainbow, its rays falling down like a great tapestry.
The bolt of light tore through Leviathan's barrier like it wasn't even there before reaching its head.
The next instant a titanic explosion of rainbow light swallowed the top of Auguste's Primal Beast, its mind marveling at the power of an intensity it hasn't witnessed since The War before its body was torn apart into subatomic particles along with space itself.
Such was the power of an A+ ranked Anti-Army Broken Phantasm. Such was the power of the sword said to be the prototype of all magical swords in history, including Excalibur.
[*]
It was a thoroughly soaked and tired Archer that dragged himself through the streets of Mizarea, where the citizens have gathered to celebrate both the end of the war with Erste and the cessation of Leviathan's rampage. But even if the sight of all those smiling people filled him with happiness he really wasn't in the right mood, or shape, to join them. Firing Caladbolg has prevented him from being directly crushed by the water above him, but when the rest landed he'd found himself at the bottom of a new lake. Swimming to the surface and going back to Mizarea has exhausted the rest of his already dwindling forces.
"Sir Archer?" The figure of Zahlhamelina materialized before him, a concerned look on her face. "Are you alright?"
"..." He thought about it. "...I could use some assistance."
He admitted before falling on his face and fainting.