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DracoLunaris
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Skuld
(Former)Tohsaka Manor, Foreigner's Lowlands
(Former)Tohsaka Manor, Foreigner's Lowlands
The boundary field collapsed under the constant and unremitting assault. There was no defense that could oppose the greatest Noble Phantasm of the war, System Keuranos. The destruction of Ajax and Skuld would be a mere matter of course. The second coming of the God of Thunder eradicated everything it touched lacking any distinction. It was nothing short of a divine judgment on whatever Tesla pointed his hand at. The storm and even World dropped on Fuyuki were nothing compared to it in terms of its capacity for annihilation. Well, at least in terms of 'pin-point eradication'.
The figure of Caster faded away as the lightning contacted it. No, it was better to say it was overwhelmed and completely destroyed. There would be nothing left of them after such an attack.
It was over in a moment.
Tesla had ended the drawing of mana from the Tohsaka leyline and eradicated two servants in one simple stroke. With that, there was nothing left for Archer to do here. No, with the use of SK in his injured state, fighting simply wasn't possible. Receiving support from both his master and the leyline would be required. If he even attempted to fight, there was no doubt that servant Archer would fade away almost immediately. Everything had a cost and of course, the strongest attack would have the greatest fee. Tesla would return to the Church and rest until he could properly fight again.
But.
Just before that.
The impossible happened in a singular instant. A power inherited from the Age of Gods. A mystery beyond modern magecraft. Spatial Transference through multiple dimensions as a form of high speed movement, perhaps? Or it could have been a form of innate time control instead.
It didn't matter either way, the result was certainly the same. In an imitation approaching Magic, the Berserker who had been previously standing near Skuld appeared behind Shuten and Tesla not twenty meters away. Their line of retreat had been completely cut off.
No, not only that. He was far stronger than he had been before this point.
---
An interface with the land, the capacity to calculate(see) an overlooking view, and a blanket of familiars across the entire city. Thanks to that, Tesla's arrival was no surprise to Caster beyond his new friend. An Archer class Servant with long range prowess. By not approaching her directly he was openly showing hostility. The choice going forward for Caster was clear.
The great ritual had already been completed for awhile, so by this point she was just taking mana from the surrounding area.
That was of no particular importance to her.
Skuld did not need to consider if he was betraying her or not, at least for now. The moment he had arrived, she activated the 18 original runes to form a barrier that could stop even a great Noble Phantasm.
Caster supplemented it with shields prepared using the various engraved formula on both the air and ground. Each one was at the level of A rank thaumtaurgy, forming a defense equivalent to a castle wall. It was an insanity that only took a moment with the level of preparation that was already here.
Yes. This was the power of Caster. By preparing in advance and deploying as many defenses as possible in an instant, she constructed a Fortress out of nothing. This was a requirement to fight in the first place. Caster was the weakest class, but they were also Magi. Cheating was the only way to win against other Servants.
They were great Heroes with mysteries that exceeded magecraft. Not only that, many had high level magic resistance after all.
But she had no intent to remain. Activating those defenses was only to cover a retreat. Of course Skuld would not face a man she had a non-aggression pact with. It would be unfortunate for her to sour relations with one of the caretakers for one of Fuyuki's cardinal leylines. It wasn't like he properly knew it was someone he had a non aggression pact with. Caster simply left using instant transportation, taking Ajax and Serafina with her.
A skeleton crew of familiars were left to maintain the field and defenses, while she did not bother to remove her mirror image. It would be interesting to see Tesla's reaction to that afterall. Very interesting.
The party on top of the Tohsaka leyline was already gone by the time he began to actually use his greatest attack.
Skuld
(Former)Tohsaka Manor, Foreigner's Lowlands
(Former)Tohsaka Manor, Foreigner's Lowlands
Though it was deep in fall today was rather pleasant. The sun contrasted the cool air, making a comfortable atmosphere. Well, at least to the average person. The current atmospheric composition was in no way average. There was an abundance of the 'Greater Source', a large increase in the atmospheres mana. That is to say, the lifeblood of the planet itself was particularly strong here. No, it was somewhat the same anywhere that Storm had hit. The area had been wiped clean, refreshed, and renewed. That was the precise reason Skuld had decided to expand and reinforce the Tohsaka leylines today. It was simply convenient. Nothing more, and nothing less. Surely.
"Well then," A simple gesture with her free hand toward the tree growing in the center of her territory. There was no one to listen to her words here. Familiars were of course familiars. From her perspective, they might as well just be an extension of their user. Something like her cute apprentice was something else entirely, but that was now beside the point. Time to leave.
"▂"
Skuld spoke a phrase, and the world obliged. No. It wasn't a phrase but rather, a fragment of a 'song'. It was high-speed movement between dimensions. Something mimicking actual 'teleportation'. Naturally, not even a moment had passed and she arrived at her destination. As soon as she arrived, her Noble Phantasm was slammed deep into the ground with the strength of a Servant.
Caster got to work.
These were the new fields of Miyama- her specific location was the ruin of the Tohsaka house though there was, practically speaking, nothing left to be called a 'ruin'. That mattered little to her. Instead, she activated her own defenses, deployed runes, magic circles, and activated her various mystic codes. Her familiars had already gone to work preparing the leylines and laying the 'string', so she immediately started the ritual to seize the 'land' for herself. Somehow, they had done a great deal of prep work last night without anyone noticing. It had surprised even her, especially with a Magus capable of seizing all the familiars in Shinto in one night. She was particularly paranoid about that one.
Just to be safe, she made use of her Noble Phantasm to take an 'overlooking view' and combined that with the vast incoming data from the dense swarm of familiars near here. When she could, she'd additionally interface with the land itself.
This place had been prepared the night beforehand, so she ensured a boundary field was put up to interfere with anyone attempting to spy. In the first place, her actions here couldn't be hidden. Caster was essentially seizing this land then taking as much mana as possible. But at the very least, no one could see the epicenter of it on a whim.
After she had control, Skuld would certainly pillage as much of the local mana as she pleased too.
Interlude IV
[Mountain Stars I]
Ruler(?)
? ? ?, ? ? ?
? ? ?, ? ? ?
Fuyuki was one of the port cities that greatly benefited from the opening of trade with the west. It had grown rapidly after the start of the Meiji era, becoming a city with nearly five hundred thousand souls contained within. It was a third the size of Tokyo. After a few hours, the dust finally settled. The storms final aftereffects ended. And it became absolutely clear that-
The beating heart of Fuyuki had been destroyed. No, that wasn't right. It was gauged out in a single moment of naked force. The cursed fire was gone, surely. However, the center of the city contained within the foreign district, parts of Miyama proper and the commercial district had been smashed by an entire world.
Not only that. But a wild storm had been released on the city shortly after, which could destroy even a Servant. How could wooden buildings, let alone people, survive that? A storm to end all storms had turned practically all of the urbanized parts of Miyama into wild land. The outlying areas with sparser population had survived, along with nearly all the native district- though flooding in these parts did get bad. Even the river itself had turned against Fuyuki, overflowing into the city wherever it could've.
It was no surprise that the death toll was already at one hundred fifty thousand. This number, surely, would raise as time went on. If the destruction had occurred during the day, many more would have died- but thankfully, that wasn't the case. Survivors from Miyama were being ferried across the river and being set up in various camps. The largest were in Shinto proper, the Railyards, and the Eastern Farms.
This truly was a disaster at the national level for Japan itself. But, that wasn't the end of it. At the crack of dawn, the city nor its refugees allowed even a moment of rest. Within an hour of suns first light, a great earthquake occurred- the shocks from its power felt across both Miyama and Shinto. At the very least, there was only minor damage done to the infrastructure of what remained in Fuyuki.
Irrelevant of how little damage it caused, the fact it occurred at all was a more than ominous start for the day.
However.
A plain parchment found its way to each and every master participating in the war- delivered by Lesser Ruler. Signed by Greater Ruler, it contained a simple yet almost war shattering offer.
Interlude IV
[Mountain Stars II]
■■■■■■■■
Near the Coast, Riverside
Near the Coast, Riverside
It was dark, wasn't it?
In the first place, someone with poor eyesight couldn't see very well.
This was night after all.
So if someone were to trip and fall in the river, that was expected too.
The result, of course is endless terrible injuries.
This man had all of them and more.
Part of his ribcage missing. Part of his skin missing. Part of his flesh missing. Part of his sanity missing.
Was that why this man was floating down the river, eyes glued to the sky above him?
No. It was worse than any of that.
Part of his heart missing.
. . .The look on his face was one of a destroyed man.
Someone removed from normal humanity.
Someone isolated.
Someone alone.
Someone,
Lonely
I think, in that moment I-
In the first place, someone with poor eyesight couldn't see very well.
This was night after all.
So if someone were to trip and fall in the river, that was expected too.
The result, of course is endless terrible injuries.
This man had all of them and more.
Part of his ribcage missing. Part of his skin missing. Part of his flesh missing. Part of his sanity missing.
Was that why this man was floating down the river, eyes glued to the sky above him?
No. It was worse than any of that.
Part of his heart missing.
. . .The look on his face was one of a destroyed man.
Someone removed from normal humanity.
Someone isolated.
Someone alone.
Someone,
Lonely
I think, in that moment I-
His body was, naturally, paralyzed. Not only had he experienced enough damage to shock his spiritual core, the various poisons of the river began to affect him. Tesla was in a vulnerable position where 'even a mouse could kill him'. That was a misnomer, of course. A servant could never be killed by a mouse, or 'normal' human. If this carried on, he would wash out to sea and be carried away. Most likely, he would die. A Servant could not maintain their existence after losing a limb, at least not a normal one.
Just cuts was never enough. But losing a limb was a eventual death sentence to any normal servant. He was utterly immobile at the moment, unable to even properly form coherent thought to contact his master. A shared perception with his master was impossible for the moment.
So, of course, it was only natural.
Tesla never reached the ocean on his own. After leaving his so called 'Lover' behind for quite some time, something unsightly appeared.
The Thing had Great Horns, that would certainly remind him of the dragons of so called mythology. Its skin was scaley and of a darker hue, though it was difficult to make out much more at night.
What was more relevant-
In its mouth, a partially devoured human head dangled. Its face was twisted into utter horror. They had most certainly died of some nameless insanity long before they were made into food.
But judging by the size of the Things claws, it was no scavenger.
Put simply, it was a 'Monster with the Authority to Devour All Heroes".
"▂▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▅▅ ! ! ! ! !"
An inhuman screech that would've caused even a Servant to cover their ears.
And then-
For a moment, they must've locked eyes. Its glare was inhuman and draconic. Its tail swished for but a single moment, while it unfurled bat-like wings. It happened at the speed of Servants.
It leaped forward, head still in its mouth. It lept for him. The Thing came for his life.
With such speeds a normal human wouldn't even notice the event taking place, it tackled Tesla into deeper into the water. For a moment, its claw like nails seemed to embed themselves into his torso. Flesh was ripped into ribbons.
But.
The river was swelling, seemingly out of nowhere-
The Fae Storm that followed the shield. The endless wind and lightning and hail that could kill even a Hero. The storm was pushing them both out to the ocean-!
Quickly, the pair became a twirling ball of claw, robotic arm, pink flesh, and peerless scale. It was like a ballet of Death.
But.
The Thing seemed more concerned with its own survival, and not its new morsel.
It seemed like, perhaps, once more, fate had intervened to save Archers life. If that magical storm hadn't came, he would've died. That was the last thought he had.
Because in the end-
Tesla blacked out, seemingly sinking further down into the ocean.
@floodtalon
Day Three has Begun
Eidolon
Temple Gate, Mount Enzo
Temple Gate, Mount Enzo
The image merely tilted its head in response to the girls various inquiries. So, then, 'that' was how this meeting was going to be. Pitiable, but not especially disadvantageous. The somber glare of the setting sun set the tone of this entire meeting. That was perfectly fine though. Any meeting between Magi should be somber. Still, the long wait had left somewhat of a bad taste in her mouth. Unfortunate, but-
Not unexpected in the slightest.
"Really, now. I have no interest in some cursed-fire. Something like that happening goes hand in hand with a war of this scale, don't you think? This town was bound to burn sometime, so I don't see the fuss." It was the truth. Even if this Holy Grail War had included 'only' seven servants, it was bound to result in massive destruction. Infact, considering everything, this situation was rather tame. The fact that it had come this far in the first place at all was rather surprising. These were Heroic Spirits, right? It said some interesting things about those involved in the war, at least.
"You shouldn't fret over such inconsequential matters, dear. A top-class Magus should treat this as the footnote it is." Could a formless 'thing' smile? It was doing something very close to that. A simple wave of 'its' hands, and the conversation shifted subjects.
"I'd like a non-aggression pact and access to your Temple as a resource. In exchange, I'll have a familiar direct you to a cache of supplies in Miyama. It's close to that fire, so I'd run. I'll take you getting them as a sign of trust, and thus, accepting our deal." The image became fainter, and started to almost evaporate. It was clear Caster wasn't going to wait on a response from the girl. In a few moments, it would fully disappear, leaving Berserker, Serafina, and one of Casters raven familiars alone. It was like an illusion being revealed as nothing but smoke and mirrors.
"Ta~"
@Vocab
Interlude II
[Nightmare (I)]
Great Fire of Fuyuki, 1888
Miyama City
Miyama City
Moments after both Tesla and Shuten launched their attack, a 'wave' came crashing toward them. It was the river tide of the Styx, rolling flames consuming all in their wake. Humans, buildings, animals-
All were burned away as the fire moved toward them at speeds even a Servant had to acknowledge.
How could it be moving so fast in this singular instance? Hadn't the Noble Phantasm of the now defeated Saber, Roland, pushed it away?
Even if it used souls, houses, and the planet itself as fuel, it would not normally reach them this quickly.
However.
It was only natural that it would reach them. After all, this fire used another 'fuel'. From the moment Lady Trieu had used her Noble Phantasm, the result had been decided. She, who released grudges- Had served to only invite the fire toward the group fighting a death match.
It was like throwing oil on a burning building, or coal in a barbecue. If they did not immediatly flee, all of them would certainly be washed away in a tidal wave of fiery curses.
Swirling torrent and debased fury. The fire was Hades personified. All that it touched was burned away, but not purified. Its black tongues licked at all without distinction. Wood. Men. Women. Children. Animals. Familiars. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■. Even the lifeblood of the Star was not exempt. One could call it the fires of Hell, but that was definitely a misnomer. In the first place, the Lake of Fire was meant to torture and punish.
The only thing this half materialized wish could do was burn away everything in its path. No, it definitely was not the 'Fire of Hell'. It was the "Fire of Purgatory" which gobbled up sins themselves.
Those unfortunate enough to be near the blazing fumes were driven to insanity. It was a matter of course. They were minds blasted by a mixture of fear and 'rebellion against all things'. It was an orgy of depravity and destruction unmatched on Earth in many years, at least at the scale it was currently reaching. At this rate, even the Captain of 'that' ghost ship would be mildly impressed.
The firestorm itself was reaching the city proper, punishing the city of wood, flesh, bones, and spirit- using all without distinction as its fuel. The 'thing' it was becoming had become 'sensitive' to 'living things', and had begun actively seeking out 'fuel'. Within the abyssal fires of purgatory, something similar to faces started appearing. When watching the inferno, it started to watch back.
The starting penalty is
now
five
Everyone.
die
Night Two has Begun
Friend, this doesn't take place after WW2.
Yes
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