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#Post#: 21073--------------------------------------------------
Sanctum ~ Omake
DIR By: Zenwarrior54
Date: February 25, 2015, 8:43 pm
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The losing writers from writer-versus-writer battles in Sanctum
will be posted here. The winning ones will appear in the
thread. This material is non-canon.
For example:
Username_A: Fred VS Alex (Night 2)
Battle post
#Post#: 21466--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sanctum ~ Omake
DIR By: jamesgames
Date: March 6, 2015, 2:47 pm
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This should be moved to C.S.T. Discussion.
#Post#: 21470--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sanctum ~ Omake
DIR By: nitrox116
Date: March 6, 2015, 3:04 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
It's on the fence, but it's still writing that's not meant to be
a farce, so I think it can stay here.
#Post#: 21529--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sanctum ~ Omake
DIR By: widm1999219
Date: March 8, 2015, 12:42 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Sanctum Night 1 Entry:
Mosaiah
Click. Clack. Click. Clack.
The iron boots of the mechanized made their metallic clack
against the ground, at each step. It walked a stiff walk,
posture straight, and directly front. It's surface was hidden,
however, by a series of clothing, hiding it's unnatural robotic
makeup.
Underneath, was metal plating, bounded by glass, inside and out,
strengthening and increasing its weight. This robot was the
result of magecraft by Caster, and the glass of Mosaiah,
scouting several blocks ahead of the two for endangerment.
Earlier, Caster had described to the female, the Sanctum war,
and the risk of fight each night. Mosaiah had suggested the
combination of powers to create a bulky fighter to attempt to
rival the strength of an average servant, albeit, likely not
entirely successful.
For several hours, the glass and robotic night scouted ahead,
Mosaiah and Caster behind, heading towards what they believed
to be the industrial district. Mosaiah hoped, that this location
might be a good hideout and gathering area for materials.
The scout continued forth, unquestioningly, however, at one
point, it detected vibration. It stopped. after a moment, still
sensing the vibration, it stepped forward again, a few paces.
Suddenly, through weakened, old walls, a giant mass charged
forth, breaking down, and clouds of dust erupted, a loud
thundering bang.
The scout had been knocked with a tremendous force, into an
opposite wall. It was pinned by the moving mass, and yells where
heard from on-top, however the scout was not fully conscious to
understand them. As the dust cleared, it showed a large
elephant, with tusks. Staying still, the scout remained, and the
elephant backed away slightly.
"Oh, what do you have here?"
Able to decipher and relay those words, the scout jumped, with
great strength, to the side, away from the elephant. Hitting the
ground, the artificial entity kept face forward at the new foe,
knees bent, and hands held forward. Dents. There were slight
dents in the metal and cracks in the glass. However, those were
promptly mended, from the outside support.
While it slowly healed, the elephant turned itself, facing
towards the scout. Some of the glass within the scout, moved by
Mosaiah, generated into a clear, large broadsword. The scout
raised it's arm, moving another, and then holding the glass
sword with both arms. It was solidified, and then reinforced. A
voice, once again coming from a distant area.
"I see, so you are Saber? Tell me! Or is your mind numb, perhaps
the Berserker? No matter, you shall be slain here, Knight or
Beast!"
Cracking the ground, the elephant charged forth again, running
at a quick speed at the scout. In response, as the elephant came
close, the robotic glass figure jumped up, then slammed its foot
onto the elephants face, lifting itself more upwards. THe
elephant's momentum continued to push forward, as the scount
made a front flip after jumping off the skull of the attacking
animal, creating a spin by through the weight of the blade
around, and taking a slice into the backside of the elephant.
The scout above continued it's direction forward, the animal the
other, passing each other, and the scout then landing behind,
the elephant slowing down and yelling in pain. As the scout
stood itself back up, turning around, it suddenly felt itself
become lighter. A crash. Its glass broadsword, as well as its
entire right arm, was then off, sliced clean, a detectable,
yellow hinted force-field hugging tightly to its side.
As the scout had its attention turned towards its newly lost
arm, the elephant had recovered, turned, and prepared. Upon a
thud of a foot, the elephant charged forth a third time.
Snapping into action, the metallic scout, liquefied the glass of
the sword on the ground, the glass flowing up into its left hand
and into a thin spear shape, as the scout jumped to the side.
The elephant passed the side of the scout, the scout turning,
and thrusting the hardening spear up into the stomach of the
elephant.
...
Off in the distance, on-top of a building, Mosaiah and Caster
watched the proxy battle. Caster had noted, that the enemy
master and Servant, where not necessarily with the enemy
elephant, however where known to be present due to their mana
output. Mosaiah frowned. While her guardian mixed with the robot
proved to be a viable fighting force, the inability to locate
the servant or master bothered her.
Even if the scout won against the elephant, they'd be unable to
pull out or relocate the robot without a large chance of an
ambush of the real enemy. While they could easily make more of
these sub servants, she hoped to not give up the disguise of it
being a real servant.
"Master, I highly suggest we retreat for the time being. We are
not ready for a full on battle at this time, we need time to
prepair."
As Caster spoke, he seemed to have had a pained look on his
face, watching the suffering animal in the battlefield. She
seemed to have shown a great distaste towards the fight,
overall.
Mosaiah nodded, turning her back towards the fight sharply, and
waved her left hand at Caster.
"Whatever, just get it out of there somehow, and we're done
here."
"As you wish..."
...
The elephant stumbled, in great pain, and falling to one knee.
The scout, while standing upright, had slower movements. The arm
that had been cut off, dematerialized, itself obtaining mixed
orders. It turned its body back towards the animal, generating
more glass from inside its body, into a small ax.
It then, however, received an order from Mosaiah, telling it to
stop. It obeyed, and then, from on-top a distant building, a
small glass spear was shot, traveling, and then striking the
ground close to the two mindless combatants. A bright light
flooded the area.
The robot and disguise dematerialized, leaving the glass figure.
The entity then melted itself down quickly, back into fluid-like
form, seeping into the crevices of the building and streets,
fleeing the fight, and leaving the elephant alone in the area
once the light faded.
Caster and his master had fled the area quickly, heading back to
the opposite direction from where they were heading.
#Post#: 21531--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sanctum ~ Omake
DIR By: widm1999219
Date: March 8, 2015, 12:44 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
(Really hard time deciding which one was better between this and
the canon. Not much changes. Doesn't really matter anyway.)
Night 1 Battle: Saber VS Berserker
David appeared at the edge of the construction site, fast enough
that it seemed unlikely even if he had ran the whole way.
Berserker turned, then slowly stalked towards David. David
recoiled in fear for a fraction of a second, before stepping
forward, putting on a brave face. Berserker did not appear to
notice, but one could never be certain with the servants of that
particular class.
Berserker turned back to the sword and stared at it, tenderly,
almost lovingly. He ran his meaty hand down the length of the
bronze blade, but it did not cut him. Instead, it seemed to glow
brighter at his touch, responding to his prana. David
interrupted his musings, and Berserker almost growled in
annoyance.
“So, since it’s clear you can understand me, and
seeing how we’re going to have to work and fight together
from now on, I don’t suppose you want to, say, show me
what you can do? Or at least draw a picture or something.
Berserker leapt to his feet obligingly.
“Wow, that actually wor-”
David was silenced as Berserker pressed his meaty hand against
his mouth. He sensed…. others. One other. Enemy. Strong.
Very strong.
The pair stayed still for what could have been a minute or an
hour. Saber and Alexis sprinted through the hole in the fence,
which Berserker had smashed through as he arrived. Saber stepped
forward, brandishing a rusty sword.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexis frowned. “How far?”
Saber turned. “We’re nearly there. If you’d
accepted my offer to carry you and run, we’d have arrived
by now.”
”Know your boundaries, Saber. I do not want you to carry
me. I do not want to you to even think about carrying me.
Clear?”
“Crystal, ma’am.”
“Good. Which servant to do you think it is?”
Saber hesitated a fraction of a second before his reply.
“With prana this unrestrained, the aura is… almost
certainly the Berserker.”
The mad tyrant…
“You see that crane over there? Judging by the aura he
releases, which is roughly spherical, he’d be right at the
base.”
The pair strode on in silence.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
“Berserker, I take it. And his master. A pleasure.”
“HULK SMAAAASH Rawwwwr.” Berserker responded
unceremoniously.
“Careful, Alexis; if he’s so far gone that he
can’t even talk, his mad enhancement must be potent. Just
stay as far out of his way as you can; there could be a lot of
collateral damage here.”
“I told you, you don’t need to worry about
me.”
“Wait!” David cried. “Who are you?”
“I am Saber, servant of the sword.”
Berserker, tired of this talk, hefted his sword and growled,
smashing it down into the ground. An eruption of asphalt,
gravel, and stone shot upwards into the air, and David quickly
shouted: "Araho Duco!" The eruption violently shot towards the
pair. Saber, however, stepped forwards, in front of the girl,
directly in the way of the rock storm. An ungodly noise, a
thousand impacts in a second, assaulted David’s ears, and
he clasped his hands around them. When the noise was over and he
looked up, however, Saber was unharmed. He seemed to have moved
back a foot or so, but his armor looked pristine as ever. He
stood just as tall and calm as before.
Berserker ran forward, the ground pulverized underneath his
heavy footfalls. Saber charged as well, and their speed was such
that only blurs were visible. David, meanwhile, turned to
Alexis, who he could now see was holding a tome.
In a second, without Alexis speaking a single word, a barrage of
conjured fireballs hurtled toward David. David sprinted behind a
wall of cinder blocks, faster than a human would have ordinarily
been capable of.
Of all the Magi out there; my first battle of the war against a
fire user. Why does God hate me?
David angrily launched cinder blocks at the girl. They moved
much slower than the fireballs had. All were dodged. Even with
projectiles moving that slow, the girl was surprisingly
dextrous. Perfect.
”DUCO!”
The cinder blocks that littered the area immediately behind the
girl flew back at her, taking her by surprise the girl was
knocked down, stumbling, and David took the opportunity to get
his bearings.
Berserker and Saber’s battle had utterly destroyed the
terrain. Not a single square meter of earth was spared, but
rather than slowing them down as broken earth should, David
thought the two seemed to have been moving even faster than when
they had started. Saber and Berserker parted, the exchange
stopping as abruptly as it had begun. Berserker was scratched
up, but he was holding up fairly well. Saber moved a little more
stiffly, implying a few bruises, but his armor and sword had
protected him from most of the fighting.
Alexis had stood up too, and was watching with interest and awe.
If they keep going at it… they might fight for hours and
wreck the whole city before one of them runs out of juice.
Alexis turned to David and quickly cast the organization spell,
opening her tome to the desired page in an instant, and shed an
amount of prana, concentrating on David’s location. A web
of metal chains appeared, holding him, binding him fast.
David growled and focused on the links in the chain. Each link
repelled the one above and below it, stretching the chain,
putting stress on it. A cinder block managed to smash through it
in time for him to dodge the fireball, not in time for him to
back away. The second fireball grazed his arm, and the sleeve of
his coat caught fire.
Alexis charged forward to capitalize on the advantage, and David
swept off his coat, rolling to the side, clutching his left
forearm in pain.All of a sudden, Alexis felt like she was
running underwater instead of through air. David, on the other
hand, moved quickly, easily overtaking her, and his punch
somehow sent her flying backwards.
She twisted in midair, so as not to land on her arm and break
it, and instead skidded backwards. When she could stand again,
she counted no less than three bruised ribs. One may have been
broken. She had no hope of dodging the next cinderblock, which
knocked her down again in her unbalanced state.
“ALEXIS!” A familiar-sounding voice shouted. David
had turned to nursing his burnt forearm when the shout reached
him. Saber was brandishing his sword, unable to turn his back on
Berserker without potentially getting hit. All of a sudden, his
demeanor changed. Gone was the chivalrous knight, replaced by
the ice of a hardened warrior. His sword glowed with sinister
light, and the rust melted away. An oppressive amount of Prana
filled the air, like a thunderstorm was brewing.
Saber slashed, and this time Berserker didn’t simply shrug
it off. He clearly and visibly reacted, stepping back. blood
slowly beginning to leak out of the slash across his right
pectoral. In a flash, Saber was at Alexis’ side; the girl
was blacked out, and Saber was staring at her limp body as if
the pain was his own.
Saber glared down at Alexis, and in another flash he was at
Berserker’s side, sword slashing, opening another gash on
his upper arm. He would have slashed again, had David not
intervened. For the briefest of seconds, Saber’s blade
flattened against his armor, as if held there magnetically.
Saber pulled it off with remarkable ease, but the fractional
delay still allowed Berserker to back up away from the strike
and reach his own sword.
A similar flood filled the air, but this not so much prana as it
was pure force. If Berserker hit something with this sword, then
that thing would move. Despite the hyper-speed,
Berserker’s swing seemed to David to take place in slow
motion. He could make out the three syllables emblazoned onto
the blade, black on bronze. E-Ko-To.
E-Ko-To’s slash followed through, and sure enough, Saber
moved. He was shoved backwards, and it was unclear whether it
was due to Berserker’s strength or that of the sword. The
armor wouldn’t hold for too long against strikes like
that.
Indeed, the fight had gone from a slogging match to a truly
exquisite bout of swordplay, and when the blades clashed,
strength fought for purchase against prana, and sparks would
fill the sky. The battle could have lasted seconds or minutes
until Saber managed to parry Berserker’s sword straight
downwards. The ground was utterly pulverized, and rocks erupted
upwards once again. David, doing all that he could do at the
moment, dragged the rocks diagonally towards Alexis. Realizing
what was happening, Saber raced to put himself between the rocks
and his master, deflecting them with his sword back towards
Berserker in lightning motion. However, even one as proud as he
knew when a battle was a lost cause; for while he could hold his
own against Berserker, doing so while protecting Alexis was
nigh-impossible.
Besides, it wasn’t like Berserker was going to back down
anytime soon. A prolonged fight here would only be mutually
assured destruction, at best. Saber frowned and lifted
Alexis’ body, then turned to David. “This quarrel is
over.”
In a blur, he was gone.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Aftermath: David and Berserker:
“We can’t stay here. And I think taking you to my
house would be a bad idea. I have a campsite, though, not too
far from here, that I used to conduct training exercises.. I
think you’d like that. Follow.”
David turned, and the behemoth slugged on behind him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Aftermath: Saber and Alexis
“Alexis! Do you hear me? Alexis!”
“Hu…. huh?”
“Don’t worry; you’re safe. I could hardly
leave you in the battlefield.”
“You mean the con- construction site? What happened over
there? How long was I out?”
“Not too long. Everyone else is still asleep. And to
answer your first question, quite a bit happened. The other
magus knocked you unconscious, so I had to disengage from
Berserker to protect you.”
“I see. Well, I’d rather sleep now, since it
wouldn't do for me to be exhausted tomorrow. Don’t let
anyone see you, alright?”
“Yes. Have a nice sleep.”
#Post#: 21535--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sanctum ~ Omake
DIR By: widm1999219
Date: March 8, 2015, 1:07 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
((More consistent/smaller assumptions))
Night One: Keiji and Assassin vs Madame and Archer
In Keiji’s laboratory, he and his heroic spirit, the soothsayer,
are huddled together at a computer in hushed discussion.
Keiji turns to the soothsayer, “Don’t do anything destructive
without my consent first. Keep the phone I gave you on at all
times. Wait for my sign.”
The soothsayer frowns but nods in agreement, grabs his bag, and
leaves the room in a rush.
Keiji looks at his phone and sees it’s 1:00AM. Time to go. It’s
about a 30 minute drive to the newly negotiated meeting spot --
an abandoned warehouse at the edge of the city. There is no way
he was going to meet on her turf as she had demanded. He wants
to arrive early, so he heads to the parking garage, locates his
silver Mercedes, and speeds off.
As Keiji drives, he thinks about the battle ahead and his
strategic plan. How lucky he is to have an associate who knew
Madame when she was younger. Certainly not many people know her
personal details, for if they did, her vulnerability would be
obvious. Keiji smiles, confident in the night’s outcome.
Keiji turns off his car lights as he drives into the dark, empty
lot. Although there appears to be no one else there, he senses
that he’s not alone. His plan is to use magic, but he slides his
Glock 17 into his waistband. He pulls his suit jacket over the
gun….it never hurts to have firepower as backup.
Keiji exits the car and quietly closes its door. The moment he
turns around, he is blinded! He is stunned but quickly recovers.
Raising his hands with a slashing motion, the powerful spotlight
dims, flickers, then dies out. Total darkness! He is filled with
the intensity of the absorbed power and ready to fight! He scans
the rooftop -- she’s gone! His prior research into her skills
helps him realize she truly does have the power of invisibility.
This was going to be harder than he thought. He would use the
darkness to his advantage. With a swoop of his arms, dust,
rocks, and debris silently rise from the ground and form a dense
cloud. He is hoping her eyes had not yet adjusted to the
darkness to perceive his next move. A forceful push with his
hands sends the cloud straight towards the roof.
The dust, rocks, and debris pelt the rooftop with great force,
revealing Madame’s shape on the right side of the roof. Suddenly
the cloud is heading right back toward him! She must be a
Rebounder! He jumps behind his car to avoid the cloud’s impact,
but before he’s fully shielded he is nicked in the temple by a
brick fragment. The pain radiates through his head and he feels
nauseous. Rocks and debris pound his car, and window glass flies
everywhere. Keiji laid on the cement in pain.
Madame’s clear, strong voice echoes in his head, “It is obvious,
Professor, that you have no defensive skills. All your tricks
are brute force. Not very interesting. I knew you were but a
small stepping stone to my victory, but nevertheless, I expected
more of you. No matter how strong your offense is, I will simply
send it back to you and you will suffer from your own skills.
So, are we done here? I’d like to rest a bit before my 7:00AM
breakfast meeting.”
That’s it! he thinks. With his head throbbing, he stands. In his
fury, he screams to her, “There are other ways to bring you
down!”
It would take great strength to topple the warehouse, especially
with his painful injuries, but he was determined. Teeth gritted,
growling intensely, he curls his hands into fists.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Look behind you.” Madame says
with a smile.
Keiji turns to his side and takes several steps back so that
Madame stays in his field of vision. He glances behind. There,
less than 20 feet away, stands an archer with a flaming arrow
pointing straight at him. He could practically feel the heat,
even from this distance. With the thought of being hit by that
burning arrow, Keiji uncurls his fists. Isn’t that something…?
thinks Keiji. They have the perfect combination -- Madame’s
defense with her heroic spirit’s offense, but it isn’t enough.
“Although I would take great personal delight in delivering you
your death, it is generally frowned upon by our magical peers.
This is ever so sad for me. A lost opportunity. But I must
follow my logical mind over my heart’s desire to see your blood
color this lot crimson red. So I’m giving you the chance to bow
out, admit your failure, your pathetic weakness, your….”
“Stop.” Keiji interrupts. “There is more than one way to fight,
you know. Yes, there are the classic offensive and defensive
skills. But there is also unorthodox means such as espionage,
sabotage, infiltration, abduction, ransom, and assassination.
The way of the ninja, you might say….the way of my Japanese
ancestors.” As Keiji spoke, he concentrated on absorbing her
energy to boost his own, and he could see her fatigue begin.
“What are you getting at, Professor? This is not a lecture and I
am not your student. Why delay the inevitable? Admit your
defeat.”
Keiji replies, “First call off your archer, then I’ll make my
point. Believe me, I’ve got something you want to hear and I
won’t do it under threat.”
Madame, frowning, nods her head and the archer lowers his bow
just a bit.
Keiji was ready to deliver his ultimate blow -- he had kept it
in his back pocket to use in case all else failed. It is the one
thing she couldn’t defend against.
“Well, as you likely know, I have a heroic spirit also. You may
be wondering who or where he is right now….”
At just that moment, an eerie sound of sweet, light music was
heard from around the corner of the building. Madame’s eyes
darted around, revealing her growing tension and anxiety. Where
is that sound coming from? she wondered.
“Ah, right on time! Allow me to introduce you. Meet the
Soothsayer of Youth!”
The soothsayer rounds the corner, his pipe raised to his lips,
with the sweetest of all sounds emanating forth.
Madame looks confused, then bursts into laughter, “Oh,
Professor, I’m terribly frightened! Please call off your sweet
piper as this music has me shaking in my boots!”
[spoiler=This portion assumes she has children.] Then Madame’s
laughter abruptly stops and her eyes grow big. For at just that
moment another figure, small with brown curly hair, rounds the
corner, following the piper, with a dazed, trance-like look.
“Jonathan!” she whispers in shock. How had he come here? She had
always kept him a secret, separate from this magical part of her
life. Now he was here, and they both were vulnerable. What have
they done to you....? she thought.
“Yes, how quickly the tables can turn, Madame.” Keiji says
smugly. “My heroic spirit has proven quite useful.. Your son
here was quite an easy catch....unlike you, he has no defensive
skills whatsoever. It’s sad, really, to see such a little, weak
thing so vulnerable. Clearly untrained.”
Thinking quickly, Madame motioned to her archer and he
immediately redirects his bow toward the piper. The arrow hisses
through the air. The piper, as though he had eyes in the back of
his head, takes the boy by his shoulders and whirls him around
as if he were a shield. The arrow pierces Jonathan directly in
the chest and the boy crumples to the ground. The piper tosses
him aside and dashes toward the Mercedes.
Madame screams and runs towards Jonathan, waving her arms wildly
in seemingly odd patterns. So focused on Jonathan, she’s unaware
that she is at the edge of the rooftop.
Keiji, in shock over this unexpected turn of events, watches
Madame, drained of her energy and exhausted, stumble and fall
from the rooftop. Almost without thinking, he uses his powers to
ease her fall and she lands lightly on the ground.
As the Mercedes peals out of the parking lot, an unconscious
woman and dead boy lay on the cement.[/spoiler]
#Post#: 26359--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sanctum ~ Omake
DIR By: nitrox116
Date: July 14, 2015, 5:14 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]The Final Battle: Honor and Sacrifice
Krauss and Rider vs. Alexis and Saber[/center]
Keiji Oshiro walked silently through the forest, keeping a
watchful eye out for the soothsayer’s sickly rats that signaled
the path he should take. Ever since his defeat to that
inexperienced girl, he had been dead set on achieving a
resounding victory against her, and so he had taken advantage of
the unique powers of the Assassin class. For days, his Servant
had been stalking the girl and her Servant with his Presence
Concealment skill, keeping an eye on their manor and waiting for
an opportunity. And finally, it had arrived.
The girl seemed to think it was a good idea to walk into the
nearby forest, alone, away from anyone that she could reach to
for help. This was an opportunity if ever Keiji Oshiro had seen
one, and one didn’t become a leading mage of their time by
passing up opportunities. So, the soothsayer had followed the
girl invisibly, leaving a trail of rats for Keiji to follow.
By not killing me, that girl showed me something. She showed me
her weakness. A love of human life. He let out a soft chuckle
and glanced behind him one more time. A young girl was
following him, her eyes glazed over. She was about ten years of
age, wearing a torn pink dress with a hanging bow. They might
have been neat once, but a walk in the woods had changed that.
War is no place for the meek.
Further ahead, a concealed Servant was watching a Master and her
Servant look at the stars together. Seen from afar, they looked
like two friends, happy to be with each other, sharing in each
other’s company. But to a creature of magic such as Assassin,
the flow of mana between them was obvious, a beacon in the
night. That was the way the world truly worked, through the
constant flow of power and energy, not fleeting emotions that so
often meant nothing at all.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
Roland sighed, breaking the peaceful silence that had formed
between him and his Master. “My first master, Charlemagne, was
always interested in the stars. He loved watching them move,
learning about how they went from place to place. If nothing
else, he was a scholar.”
Alexis smiled and stood up. “Saber, about what you said
earlier, I... I –”
Saber held out a hand, motioning for Alexis to stop. “Hold on.
There’s a mage in the area. We’re going to have to fight.”
Alexis closed her eyes, feeling the familiar traces of mana in
the air. Roland’s right... someone’s coming closer. Five...
Four... Three... Two – wait, what!? Another burst of mana had
just appeared, this one from the opposite direction. Much
closer. Alexis saw a familiar-looking man in a red cloak,
plagued rats streaming off of him at top speed. It was all
Saber could do to draw his sword and shield her as she jumped
back and readied her Anthology.
As she prepared to use a spell against Assassin, she heard a
clicking noise behind her. “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Alexis quickly
wheeled around, and saw the man she had fought earlier – Keiji
Oshiro – holding a stone shield and his golden rod. And next to
him – Alexis blinked – Next to him –
Keiji grinned widely. “Please don’t be so quick to attack. You
see –” and he slowly wrapped his free hand around the young
girl’s throat “– I have a hostage.”
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
Krauss stared up at the sky, peering at the few stars he could
see through the light pollution of the city. Rider stood next
to him, looking at the ground, silent unless prompted to speak.
Krauss sighed and tapped his foot. They had elected to wait for
obvious mana signals from a battle in progress before joining
in, to let the other Servants tire themselves out before they
defeated both. It was clearly their best option, but Krauss
didn’t enjoy the waiting.
To break the silence, Krauss began to speak. “I’m sure that out
of all the remaining Masters, we have the most noble goal.
Death is a tragedy, and the holders of the Sanctum Key are
murderers for not using their power to save themselves and
others. And if that ends up demolishing the accepted system...
ending order, as you said to me so long ago... so be it.”
Rider suddenly stood up ramrod straight. “A battle is happening
in the nearby forest. If we hurry, we can make it before it
gets too far underway. Get on.” And so Krauss boarded
Hannibal’s elephant one last time, knowing that this night would
decide the final victor.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
The philosopher laughed. “Fufufu... now, I understand I can’t
limit your actions completely, since then you would sacrifice
the child or find some clever way of disobeying me. You’re
stupid, not insane. But I think it’s a fair deal to say... that
you can’t touch me. Fight Assassin as much as you want, I don’t
care, but so much as look at me the wrong way and this girl’s
head is going to explode off of her body.”
Roland’s expression hardened into a steely glare, and Alexis
straightened up icily, her hands curled into fists. “To kidnap
and endanger an innocent – a child – for the Sanctum War...
that’s unforgivable,” Alexis muttered.
Roland simply tightened his grip on his sword and began to
speak softly. “Alexis, we’ve fought this cretin before. Would
you like the blessing of the Virgin Mary once more for
protection from his plague?”
Alexis smiled. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
Assassin raised his hand, and another swarm of plagued rats flew
out of his robes toward Alexis. Alexis smiled and held out her
Anthology, which flipped to a page at blinding speed. Alexis
held out her hand, and a stream of fire came out of it, forming
a flaming ring around her. Neo-Ignis. I should be safe from
those rats as long as I keep it active.
Saber glanced back at Keiji. He had walked up to a nearby tree,
guiding his hostage by her hand. He embedded his golden wand
into the bark of the tree, which began to wilt as his weapon
gained energy, glowing with an eerie purple light. Can’t do
anything about it now. I need to focus on Assassin.
Alexis stared through the fire, her eyes hot with fury. We
can’t attack the Master, or else that girl dies... but that
gives him time to finish whatever energy-absorbing spell he’s
using.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
Rider was at the sidelines of the battle, his mana signature
clouded by the heavy use of magic in the area. He was intently
watching the action, looking for anything that he and his Master
could use to improve their chances of victory. That was his
only goal now, and nothing else mattered.
A battle between Assassin and Saber. Assassin’s Master has a
hostage previously unaffiliated with this War, and Saber’s
actions are limited because he desires to protect her.
So this Saber is one bound by a code of chivalry honor... a
knight of some sort?
Yes. I propose a change of plans. The clearest path to victory
would be taking advantage of this honor. Painting ourselves as
a friend of his, an ally.
You’re right, the honorable are always so predictable... and our
course of action is for the greater good. I doubt Saber will
have any trouble taking down Assassin, especially with our
assistance... and you think it may help us later? When we fight
Saber ourselves?
Yes. We join the battle and save the hostage.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
Keiji looked at the battle, unimpressed by its progress.
Assassin’s deft movements and barrages of plagued rats were
holding Saber at bay for the moment, but it would only take one
good strike from a weapon as powerful as Durendal to defeat his
Servant. Normally, he would let Assassin’s plague gradually
take effect, but the magical resistance and general fortitude of
the Saber class would make that take a very long time. [i]I
need to end this battle quickly. The Sanctum Rod is my trump
card, but only a fool would use his strongest weapon when weaker
ones would suffice.
Keiji pulled out his Glock 17 from his pocket and shot a few
bullets into the ring of fire that surrounded the enemy Master,
hoping to kill her and end the battle then and there. He waited
a couple seconds, shifting his Sanctum Rod to a new tree for
another source of power. The fire remained stable. Maybe
Assassin can get a bird’s-eye view.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light from behind him, and a blue
wedge of energy shot between him and his hostage, knocking them
apart. The wedge reshaped itself into a scoop-like object and
lifted up the girl, then shot back toward the city before
landing some distance away. Keiji spun around to face the
intruder, and saw an elderly man rising into the air on a
contraption made of similar-looking energy fields.
“Curse you!” Keiji yelled. “To interrupt a battle in progress
is a grave breach of courtesy. My Servant and I will have your
head for this.” He heard a noise behind him and jumped back. A
handsome man with tan skin had suddenly appeared, riding a
massive elephant and wielding a strange-looking bladed spear.
“Do you even hear what you’re saying?” he said. “You, who
hypnotized an innocent child to act as your hostage, have no
right to speak of courtesy. You are pure evil. My own goal of
winning the Sanctum Key for my Master now pales in comparison to
simply stopping you. I don’t want to imagine what the world
would look like with you as the holder of the Key.”
Saber turned to the newcomers gratefully. “Rider, I presume?
Let’s act as allies for the time being.”
Rider smiled warmly, but the light was missing from his eyes.
“Of course.”
Keiji cursed. It’s time, as they say here, to up the ante. He
held up his hand, and a single Command Seal faded away.
Assassin, go all out. No need to conserve mana. I can end both
of these cretins with a single attack.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
Krauss flew above the battlefield, surveying the area. He was
taking special note of the capabilities of the Saber-class
Servant, which he would communicate to Hannibal at the earliest
opportunity. The rats had shifted focus from Saber’s Master, so
she had lowered the flames of her Neo-Ignis spell and joined the
fight, launching the Spark spell in rapid succession. As Krauss
scrutinized more closely, he noticed that chains seemed to be
coming out of the ground around him, trying to knock his golden
wand out of his hands as he blocked the fireballs with his
shield. Interesting technique she uses, with pre-stored spells.
Faster casting, but more limited applications.
Saber was intently following Assassin, who seemed to be
struggling to dodge time and time again. Rats swarmed around
Saber’s feet, but Saber’s sword seemed to be emitting an aura
that the plagued rats struggled to cross. Hannibal, for his
part, was using his elephant to block off Assassin’s potential
avenues of escape.
Krauss was just about to start launching forcefields to support
the attack on Assassin’s Master when Assassin suddenly stopped
moving. Saber ran up to him and struck with his sword, but
despite being at point-blank range, the blade glanced off.
Almost as if reality itself is bending... A field of shimmering
green energy began to appear around Assassin, and Krauss called
out to the fighters below. “A Reality Marble! Be careful!”
Assassin’s Master laughed. “Assassin’s Plague Sphere. It might
not be the most flashy of Reality Marbles, but there’s no way to
avoid it!”
The night sky seemed to grow even darker, and the shadows formed
by trees grew into wreaths of darkness. A green orb appeared
above Assassin, and within it were images of the sick and dying,
of rats crawling over corpses, and of plagued sores and blood.
It emanated a glow that extended across the land and sky.
Wherever it touched, trees and grass wilted, and people became
woozy and tired. Even Saber’s sword failed to protect him from
the miasma, and he too began to succumb. Krauss had to cast a
quick ”Erigo” to prevent him from falling off his flight
forcefield.
Assassin himself was standing in the center of the sphere, his
magic fueling the orb, laughing. He brought his pipes to his
lips and began to play. Out of them poured a song that sounded
different to every hearer, a song that mimicked the voices of
those they held closest to their hearts. The voices seemed to
be screaming, laughing, and crying all at once. Sometimes they
even issued commands, but these commands were always insane and
contradictory, leaving the hearer even more confused.
Hannibal’s elephant trumpeted in fear, and began to run around
wildly. Krauss could barely think, much less ask Hannibal for
help. His forcefields drifted to the ground before settling
next to him. As he glanced around, trying to see through the
woozy darkness that covered his eyes, he saw that everyone
around him was in a similar state, slowly drifting into eternal
darkness.
And Rider, his mind empty of all but a single goal, with nothing
to confuse or confound, who could always find a path to a given
destination, was slowly moving forward.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
Alexis closed her eyes. She felt sick and tired, and when she
was sick she should sleep. She liked the music that had
suddenly started playing... it reminded her of Roland somehow.
The way he was always there to protect her, the noble yet
somehow charmingly naïve way he talked, the way he slept next to
her... Her body sank lower and lower to the ground as her mind
continued on this train of thought. Roland...
Something seemed to respond to her. Alexis!
Roland...? Is that you?
Of course it’s me! Now, we need to break this Reality Marble.
...Reality Marble? We’re in a Reality Marble?
Yes, I’ll explain later. What’s important now is that you go up
to that orb and cast Spark on it. That will free us.
...Spark... that’s in the Anthology, right?
Right! Although maybe it would be a better idea to cast
Smite... or, maybe use Conjure to create a weapon to break the
orb with... yeah, that sounds right. Or use it on Assassin.
Alexis remained fairly motionless, but her Anthology was
flipping from page to page with each new spell mentioned. She
felt a little bit better, well enough to get up and do what
Roland had asked her to. Okay, then. And Roland... about what
you said earlier...
The voice suddenly grew silent, and the warm feeling left her.
Alexis was left disoriented and confused, blindly calling out
for Roland as she stumbled toward the orb.
Roland! Roland!?
...What? This voice had a different quality to it than the last
one, more tired than energetic.
Who are you?
Alexis? Is that you?
Yes, but who are you?
I’m Saber. Roland. We’re talking telepathically.
You don’t sound like Roland...
What!? Yes, I do. How could I not?
Are you still moving, Alexis?
Yes, I am. Don’t worry.
What? Going where?
Where you said. The orb.
What!? NO! Roland’s fear and desire to protect Alexis washed
away the parts of the song of madness that his magical
resistance hadn’t already taken care of. As he lifted his
sword, the layer of rust over it disappeared, revealing its
shining surface. He looked through the darkness to see Alexis
stumbling toward Assassin, who had his hand outstretched to
receive her.
I still can’t stand very well. Please, someone, anyone, help
me. I need to save her. Please, God, guide my hand.
Roland’s eyes lit up with holy fire, and a message from St.
Peter – the rock, the foundation, and the rightful destroyer –
poured out of his lips.
“O my God; smite all mine enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of
the wicked!” Revitalized with the simple desire to protect,
Saber leaped forward at Assassin. Durendal increased in length
until it was a massive ivory blade, larger than any man.
Assassin stared at it in fear, but was unable to step back
without breaking the Reality Marble.
“It’s time you learned the true power of... DURENDAL!”
Durendal struck the green orb that was the core of the Reality
Marble above Assassin’s head, cleaving it in two. There was a
great flash of light, forming the shape of a cross, and the
effects of the Plague Sphere disappeared. Alexis and Krauss
could now hear the song for what it was – a meaningless
collection of musical notes.
Saber looked down at Assassin, drained of mana thanks to the
Reality Marble, with disgust. He lifted his blade up to end the
battle once and for all, but there was a sudden noise from the
sidelines.
“STOP!” yelled Keiji, the philosopher, his golden rod glowing
with deadly purple energy. “My name is Keiji Oshiro, and I have
one last invention to show you. This – this is the Sanctum Rod.
I have nearly perfected the art of transferring and converting
energy, and have found a way to return all energy back to its
most basic form. The energy of the trees, powered by sunlight,
powered by the fire of the stars... this wand can absorb that
energy and amplify it. And now you shall taste that power, as
the last thing you feel on this planet.”
Keiji laughed again, this time with an almost insane cadence.
“Fufufufufu... I must say, it’s an honor to be destroyed by such
a valuable weapon. I guarantee you, this will end up helpi–”
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
The true threat had been in the Master and not the Servant –
that was obvious from the beginning. Regardless of skill, an
Assassin had almost no chance in direct combat against a Saber
and a Rider, so therefore he was meant as a distraction. The
true attack was coming from the flank, to surprise an already
weakened foe.
And so Rider had spent the time he had gained during the Plague
Sphere tapping into deep, ancient mana reserves, finding a Noble
Phantasm he hadn’t found a need to use in more than a lifetime.
To fulfill his oath, he would either find a path or make one,
and he could see that he had no hope of defending against such
an attack with his current tools and then defeating Saber. But
he had found exactly what he needed.
Hannibal had done something no one else deemed possible: scale
the Alps with an army. Placed in front of anyone else, this
obstacle would seem insurmountable, and that was exactly what
Hannibal intended to do.
His elephant trumpeted loudly, interrupting some unimportant
words coming out of Keiji Oshiro’s mouth. Stones began to rise
from the ground around him, stones he had no hope of
controlling, since they exuded an aura of inevitable failure and
defeat. They began to close around him, spikes jutting out,
trying to cut into his flesh. He stopped talking and released
the charge from his wand, a bright burst of purple fire that
would raze even a Saber to the ground, but the stones blocked
its path. It was simply redirected upwards, into the gap where
the stones had not yet closed.
If I hadn’t sworn that oath, I wouldn’t have been able to climb
it. It was only because I had no other option that I took that
path. I suppose that I wouldn’t have been able to do this
either. But is it really worth it, in the end?
The stones closed, and the power from the wand turned back on
its Master, frying Keiji to a crisp. Assassin slowly faded away
into nothingness. As the stones retracted, they revealed that
the fire had burnt a hole into the ground several feet deep.
Keiji’s corpse was gone, burned into smoke and made into ashes.
His Master walked to his side and began to rise into the air
again. “Good. One to go.”
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
It was nighttime, so the park was empty of all but a few people.
Thus, it was strange that an old but well-dressed man was
sitting on a bench, his eyes closed, oblivious to the goings-on
about him. An Asian man with a business suit sat down next to
him, and the old man slowly nodded.
The old man spoke. “The last night, I believe.”
The other man sighed and put his bow at his side. “Yes. Not
much time left for us.”
“No available Masters, not that I’d want to rejoin.”
“Really? Not at all?”
“No... this War was never really for me. I was summoned for my
fame in crafting inventions, but the idea of harming people
sickens me.”
“Strange... that’s a shift in the Sanctum War, to be sure.”
“Yes. I feel that soon, something about this war is going to
change. What about you? Why were you summoned?”
“I gave my all to protect someone... I suppose that’s all a
Servant in this War needs.”
“Mmm... how long do you have left?”
“A few days, maybe a week. Independent Action and all that. I
see you’re running on fumes.”
“Yes, the last remnants of my mana... I doubt I’ll persist
through the night. Thank you for being someone to talk to
through my last moments.”
“I hope we get to see how the war ends.”
“I don’t.”
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
The battle was over, and Assassin had been defeated. Alexis
stood up slowly, and walked with Saber side by side to Krauss
and Rider. Hannibal’s elephant had calmed down, and the two
sides now approached each other.
What should we do?
Maintain the pretense of being fair and honorable fighters.
Gather what information we can. Put the Master off guard.
Attack her if need be.
You know I value human life, but I suppose a swift death is
better than a slow one. Rest assured that I won’t be afraid to
do what I have to.
Saber bowed. “Well met. I am the Saber-class servant. Thank
you greatly for your assistance in this battle. You performed a
noble deed today.”
Rider bowed in return. “Anyone with a shred of humanity would
have done the same.”
Alexis stepped forward. “Since we are the last two Masters in
the War, I think we should introduce ourselves. My name is
Alexis Conzette.”
Zain shook Alexis’s hand. “Zain Krauss. It’s a pleasure to
meet you.”
Alexis raised her eyebrow. “Krauss? You mean the Krauss
family? It’s funny, I met Johannes Krauss just the other day.”
Krauss’s eyes narrowed, but he kept his voice civil. “Yes, he’s
my brother. I’m afraid we don’t talk much, anymore... sibling
rivalry and all that.”
“Well, you seem like a good person. Perhaps once this War is
over, you should reconnect with him.”
Krauss sighed. “Perhaps... but I’ll have all the time in the
world to do so. If I may ask, what makes you want to fight in
the Sanctum War?”
Alexis frowned. “I wasn’t sure at first, to be honest. My
father, Daniel, planned to fight in the war with Saber, but
he... he died before he got the chance. And so I used his
catalyst to summon Saber, and became a participant in the War.
But now... now that I’ve spent time with Saber, befriending him,
fighting people with him who planned to use their magic to wreak
havoc... well, it’s hard to say, but I think I want to use the
power of the Sanctum Key to grant Saber a human life, without
the pressure of the War on our backs. Of course, I’d use my
power to stop anyone like Assassin’s Master from becoming too
strong. What about you?”
Saber, meanwhile, was suppressing a blush with a shocked
expression on his face.
What folly... she doesn’t plan to do anything. Simply
maintaining her Servant, maintaining the status quo? She’s
young, she lacks vision. “You were candid with me, so I suppose
I must do the same. I feel like I’ve spent all my life waiting
for my death, my power leaching away from me as time moves on.
I want to use the power of the Sanctum Key to stop that from
happening – to render my life, and the life of anyone who wants
it, eternal.”
Alexis slowly nodded. “I see... Well, it appears we’re the last
two Masters left. Perhaps we could each have a few minutes to
recuperate before we begin this battle? I think we’re both a
little shaken up after Assassin.”
“That sounds fair. In addition, is it fair to say that only our
Servants fight? If I may say, we both seem like honorable
people, and I wouldn’t want either one of us to come to harm.”
“I suppose that’s a reasonable request... Obviously, if you
break the deal, I’ll be forced to do the same.”
“Naturally. Goodbye for now, Alexis, and let us make this a
battle for the ages.”
Should we attack now, while they’re recuperating?
No. They trust us, but they are not fools – they would never
let their guards down completely. It would be better to wait
until the heat of battle, when the girl is distracted.
That attack you used... can you use it again?
It does drain my mana pools, but I haven’t used a lot of mana in
our battles thus far. As this is the final battle, I will use
whatever power is necessary to achieve victory.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
As soon as Saber and Alexis were out of earshot, Saber began to
speak. “Alexis... you don’t have to... in fact, you
[i]shouldn’t. I’m your Servant, nothing more. After this War,
my duty is done and our contract fulfilled.”
Alexis stopped. “Saber, you said earlier that you loved me.
And I think... I think that you should accept that, not resist
it. You may be my Servant, but you don’t have to be! We can be
equals... you heard what Johannes Krauss said. If it wasn’t for
our bond, I wouldn’t have been able to command you in the first
place!”
Saber’s eyes sparkled. “What... what are you saying?”
“I love you too, Saber. And I want to spend my life with you.
But to do that, we have to win the War.”
“I... I understand. I’ll do what I can.”
The two spent their final moments of peace in each other’s arms,
comfortable in each other’s presence. They each would have done
anything to make that moment last forever, but no power on Earth
could stop the passage of time.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
Krauss had flown up into the sky, while Alexis stood at the back
end of the clearing. Roland and Rider faced each other. The
battle would be between the two Servants only, so the Masters
would not be put in danger, and the victor would determine who
won the Sanctum War.
Roland drew his sword, while Rider sat atop his elephant,
surveying the battlefield. Alexis nervously watched Roland’s
back. Fifteen... ten... five... four... three... two... one...
start. Roland leaped into the air. He didn’t have enough
height to reach Hannibal, but his blade was almost at the
elephant’s head level. The elephant reared back its head and
launched a burst of water at Roland. It didn’t do any damage,
but it distracted him enough to make his strike miss.
“Water?” Roland yelled good-naturedly. “Is that the best you
can do?”
Rider chuckled. “Don’t knock it if it works.” His elephant
then began a charge. Roland leaped out of the way, but Rider
caught him with his rhomphaia, dealing minor damage. As Roland
stumbled back, Alexis saw Durendal gleam. A red aura appeared
around him, and the wound on his shoulder healed.
Roland grinned. “Another power of Durendal. The blood of Saint
Basil, bless his name, grants me regeneration. Can your blade
do that?”
“Come now, you’re comparing apples and oranges. My rhomphaia
isn’t my Noble Phantasm, my steed is.”
The two rushed at each other and continued sparring.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
How are you doing?
I can’t get through regeneration without my elephant, and it’s
hard to land a solid hit. Usually you would support me in
situations like these, but you both agreed that Masters wouldn’t
use magic.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
It probably only resulted in you seeming more suspicious. First
rule of honor: it goes without saying, and violators are
punished without mercy.
What’s done is done. Any trump cards? That stone trap you
summoned?
I’m saving that for the girl. And this battlefield doesn’t
favor my usual tactics. Trees are smaller than buildings, so my
elephant can’t gain as much height.
Saber and the elephant were now trading blows, the elephant
blocking Saber’s strikes with its tusks. However, the battle
was clearly going in Saber’s favor. Any glancing blows the
elephant made healed almost immediately, while the elephant was
becoming weary and scratched.
It’s not as bad as it seems. The elephant’s Battle Continuation
skill means it can go for quite a while longer. I’m going to
wait for an opportune moment before attacking the girl.
Still, Krauss thought, [color=lightblue]we have to inflict
damage in order to win. The tide of this battle needs to
change, fast.
Hannibal was silent.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
Alexis watched the battle eagerly. This Krauss man seemed to be
intelligent, but not very strong magically, and Roland’s Noble
Phantasm was much more powerful. This battle would be over
soon, and then – and then –
Roland paused in his attack. “Come on, is that really all you
can do? I suppose I’ll just finish this quickly. I doubt even
an elephant can stand up to the wrath of my sword at full
power.”
A wind with a nostalgic aroma began to blow through the area,
centering on Roland’s sword. Alexis deeply breathed in and
smiled. If everything goes as I planned, this’ll be the last
time I see this sight. Her eyes focused on Roland, the light
reflecting off of his sword, the preparation for the final,
War-ending attack –
Forcefield chains bound down Alexis, and a craggy stone spire
closed around her, blotting out Durendal’s light. Her mental
scream of anguish reached Saber instantaneously, and the light
from his sword faded.
“What!?” thundered Saber. “We had an agreement!”
Krauss only sighed. “I’m sorry, but this is war. The life of
one girl, however sweet and kind she may be, is not worth the
failure of my goal.”
Saber looked to Rider, who lowered his head. “Victory at all
costs. That is what I swore. A knight’s honor is only a tool,
nothing more.”
Roland’s face was dark with rage. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll
crush you anyway.” But the sense of impossibility that Rider’s
Noble Phantasm had inflicted on Alexis had seemed to spread to
him. The sense of this battle as an insurmountable obstacle,
impassable without sacrificing one’s self, one’s very being.
And on the other side there was nothing of value, only
inevitable death. The downside of a close bond – flashed
through his mind –what she feels, I feel. The light from
Durendal, driven by his faith that God would grant him victory,
faded away, and the blade rusted over once again.
With a pained expression, Roland looked up at Krauss, but his
flight capabilities rendered him out of reach. He turned
halfheartedly back to Rider, but Rider’s elephant now seemed as
big as a mountain, able to crush him underfoot. Stone and
forcefields began to form around him as well, growing up the
sides of his feet, rendering him motionless and declawed.
Meanwhile, Alexis was struggling within Rider’s claustrophobic
Noble Phantasm, feeling stone spurs slowly jutting into her arm.
It’s all pointless, I can never get out, I’ve lost... She
closed her eyes and did her best to blot out those thoughts,
knowing they were an effect of the Noble Phantasm. But she
wasn’t very successful, and she found the fear at the edges of
her mind.
A light. I need a light. Her Anthology, almost unconsciously,
flipped to a page for a basic light spell. It activated, and a
small orb of blue light appeared in Alexis’s hands. As she
looked around, though, she only grew more afraid. The way the
interior of the stone jutted out in strange lines and webs
reminded her of a skeleton, somehow, and now she could clearly
see the spurs that were burrowing into her skin.
Alexis shivered, and then winced at the pain it caused her. Her
Anthology fell on the ground and opened to the back cover.
Alexis struggled to retrieve it, but her eye caught on words
written in the Anthology. I don’t remember writing a spell
here...
I believe in you.
He... he wrote this... for me... The dull pressure of
inevitable failure was pushed to the back of Alexis’s mind,
replaced by an urge to fulfill Roland’s expectations. Now was
the time to thinkSaber can’t attack the other Master because
he’s in the air. I need to find a way to disable that. But
he’s using two separate kinds of forcefields to fly... I can’t
just Azzitire away one. But to use Azzittire to silence two
spells at once... I would need Diablo. I’ve used it up already,
but I think I remember the basic symbol... and there’s plenty of
blood here to activate it.
Alexis dipped her finger in a gash on her skin and looked at the
adjoining page of her Anthology, right next to the message that
filled her heart with warmth whenever she looked at it. She
began to draw.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
The opposing Master and Servant were slowly being consumed by
Rider’s Noble Phantasm. Rider was running on fumes now, but he
had enough mana left to persist in physical form. The battle
was almost over. Rider’s elephant took a couple steps forward,
ready to crush Roland underfoot.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Alexis’s stone cage
cracked in two, with Rider’s mana unable to withstand the force
of such a powerful Smite spell. Alexis herself walked out,
puncture marks from the stone all around her body, her Anthology
levitating next to her. Before either Krauss or Rider could
even react, out of her mouth came two words.
[i]“Diablo.” A red mist of potential energy appeared around
Alexis.
“Azzittire.” This spell, from Alexis’s Book of Silence, was
meant to temporarily disable the last spell that the opponent
had used. However, boosted by the unstable energy of Diablo, it
formed a bolt of black lightning that tore through Krauss. His
forcefields flickered out, his Aegis Bracelets rusted over, and
he began to fall to the ground. Hannibal caught him on his
elephant, but he was now powerless to avoid Saber’s attacks.
However, while Diablo had boosted Azzittire’s strength, it had
not altered its capacity. All of its stolen spells, hardened by
years of constant use, had to go somewhere. And so they were
sent to the nearest pocket of mana storage – Alexis’s anthology.
As Alexis watched, black lines formed all across her previously
pristine book, blotting out each and every one of her spells
with their chaotic scrawls. She saw that even Saber’s message
had been altered beyond recognition. Her book was still charged
with mana – more than before, even – but all of the directions
to use it had been corrupted beyond repair. She was
defenseless.
Roland, help.
[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]
The stone cage prevented Roland from hearing anything that was
going on, but through his mental link with Alexis, he felt that
she had escaped somehow, and was in trouble. A tiny flame of
hope appeared in his heart – not for himself, as he thought his
fate already decided, but for his Master.
I have one option left. I swore not to do it, and knights keep
their oaths... but the first rule of honor is to protect the
innocent, and the second is to defeat the wicked. By doing
this, I am fulfilling both.
Roland’s magical resistance granted him a resistance to Command
Seals, especially delayed-action or general Command Seals like
the one that prevented him from using his final Noble Phantasm.
Breaking the Seal would still leave him paralyzed for a while,
but with the nature of this Noble Phantasm, it didn’t matter at
all.
Roland blew on his Oliphant Horn, the one that would summon the
great armies of Charlemagne. But the one rule of the horn was
that it would always be used too late, when Saber’s fate was
already sealed. A spike began to grow through Roland’s heart,
leaching out his life-giving mana.
Outside, on the battlefield, a single note sounded, loud and
clear despite the stone wall between Roland and the others.
Alexis, confused at first, slowly realized what had happened and
crumbled to her knees.
Inadvertently, Roland had discovered the weak point of
Hannibal’s elephant, and thus Hannibal himself. His army’s
elephants had been confounded before by horns in one of
Hannibal’s final battles, and the horn itself was made from the
hollowed tusk of a dead elephant. Rider’s remaining mana was
too weak to resist such a targeted attack, and his elephant
disintegrated into sand and rubble. Rider and Krauss fell on
the ground, their hands scratched. Krauss was trembling with
rage.
“They’re coming,” Rider muttered. “The army of Charlemagne.”
Krauss coughed. “I... I will not be defeated by a mere child.
You, who have hardly started your life, not yet tasted the dull
decay of age, have no chance against me. Learn to respect your
betters, and to do what is truly right instead of simply
following your petty emotions and base desires. Your Servant is
dead, your dreams crushed. And while you may have disabled most
of my spells, I have one spell so far buried, so little used,
that it has escaped your reach. And now... I shall use it.”
Rider gasped in pain. What he was experiencing... a perversion
of the Master-Servant contract, a reversal of the mana flow...
all of the energy that Krauss had poured into him, to sustain
his physical form, was being sent back. He was left enough to
remain nominally alive, enough for the purposes of winning the
Sanctum War, but all of his power was gone. The stone cage
around Roland crumbled, revealing his dead body. And all of
Rider’s mana was being used to fuel...
“ERADICO.” Solid fire leapt out of Krauss’s hand, fire that
spread through the air and across the ground at his command.
Alexis leapt backwards, but it soon surrounded her, and she
screamed in pain as the red forcefield touched her skin,
draining her mana and life force from her at devastating speeds.
It engulfed the Anthology, slowly breaking the hold of all of
its spells, the marks on its pages turning into oddly-shaped
smoke. Slowly, the hold of her Azzittire spell broke, and
Krauss’s Aegis Bracelets lit up again. He sent one to pick up
the empty shell that was Rider, boarded one himself, and flew
away just as the sound of the approaching army grew to a fever
pitch. Some arrows were feebly launched at them, but by that
time they were long gone.
“Funny, isn’t it?” Krauss said. “Even a Servant’s strongest
Noble Phantasm can be avoided by something as simple as flight.
It’s always the little things that end up defeating the most
powerful of heroes.”
Krauss, still holding up Rider’s prone body with his magic,
arrived at the home of the current holder of the Key. “I have
won the Sanctum Key, using my Servant and the other tools at my
disposal. I shall claim my reward of eternity.”
The man raised his eyebrows. “You have indeed won...”
“You sound disappointed, old man. Were you backing someone
else?”
“No, you know I must remain neutral... but there was a girl that
I met a short while ago. She seemed... pure of heart.”
“Well, you of all people should know that purity doesn’t lead to
victory. Her life was a necessary cost.”
The old man’s hands trembled as he held out the Key. “I
understand that you are the rightful winner of this War, and
that the choices that you have made led you here... still, there
must be a better way.”
“There is. Let me show you.”
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